Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer [173]
Alice kept searching for the future, but the things she found were unrelated to what she was looking for. A new trend in the stock market; a possible visit of reconciliation from Irina, though her decision was not firm; a snowstorm that wouldnt hit for another six weeks; a call from Renée (I was practicing my rough voice, and getting better at it every day-to Renées knowledge, I was still sick, but mending).
We bought the tickets for Italy the day after Renesmee turned three months. I planned for it to be a very short trip, so I hadnt told Charlie about it. Jacob knew, and he took Edwards view on things. However, today the argument was about Brazil. Jacob was determined to come with us.
The three of us, Jacob, Renesmee, and I, were hunting together. The diet of animal blood wasnt Renesmees favorite thing-and that was why Jacob was allowed to come along. Jacob had made it a contest between them, and that made her more willing than anything else.
Renesmee was quite clear on the whole good vs. bad as it applied to hunting humans; she just thought that donated blood made a nice compromise. Human food filled her and it seemed compatible with her system, but she reacted to all varieties of solid food with the same martyred endurance I had once given cauliflower and lima beans. Animal blood was better than that, at least. She had a competitive nature, and the challenge of beating Jacob made her excited to hunt.
Jacob, I said, trying to reason with him again while Renesmee danced ahead of us into the long clearing, searching for a scent she liked. Youve got obligations here. Seth, Leah-
He snorted. Im not my packs nanny. Theyve all got responsibilities in La Push anyway.
Sort of like you? Are you officially dropping out of high school, then? If youre going to keep up with Renesmee, youre going to have to study a lot harder.
Its just a sabbatical. Ill get back to school when things slow down.
I lost my concentration on my side of the disagreement when he said that, and we both automatically looked at Renesmee. She was staring at the snowflakes fluttering high above her head, melting before they could stick to the yellowed grass in the long arrowhead-shaped meadow that we were standing in. Her ruffled ivory dress was just a shade darker than the snow, and her reddish- brown curls managed to shimmer, though the sun was buried deeply behind the clouds.
As we watched, she crouched for an instant and then sprang fifteen feet up into the air. Her little hands closed around a flake, and she dropped lightly to her feet.
She turned to us with her shocking smile- truly, it wasnt something you could get used to-and opened her hands to show us the perfectly formed eight-pointed ice star in her palm before it melted.
Pretty, Jacob called to her appreciatively. But I think youre stalling, Nessie.
She bounded back to Jacob; he held his arms out at exactly the moment she leaped into them. They had the move perfectly synchronized. She did this when she had something to say. She still preferred not to speak aloud.
Renesmee touched his face, scowling adorably as we all listened to the sound of a small herd of elk moving farther into the wood.
Suuuure youre not thirsty, Nessie, Jacob answered a little sarcastically, but more indulgently than anything else. Youre just afraid Ill catch the biggest one again!
She flipped backward out of Jacobs arms, landing lightly on her feet, and rolled her eyes-she looked so much like Edward when she did that. Then she darted off toward the trees.
Got it, Jacob said