I grimaced in horror as she grabbed my left hand and then dropped it just as quickly.

"Huh. I saw him put it on you. . . .Did I miss something?" she asked. She concentrated for half a second, furrowing her brow, before she answered her own questions. "No. Wedding's still on."

"Bella has issues with jewelry," Edward explained.

"Edward, don't be rude," Esme said.

"Sorry... I just kind of wish she would wear the ring," Edward sighed.

"Me too," Esme sighed as well.

"What's one more diamond? Well, I guess the ring has lots of diamonds, but my point is that he's already got one on -"

"Enough, Alice!" Edward cut her off suddenly. The way he glared at her...he looked like a vampire again. "We're in a hurry."

"You just had to say that," Edward grumbled.

"You should have told her what it was," Alice shrugged.

"But then she wouldn't have taken it," Edward muttered.

"I don't understand. What's that about diamonds?" I asked.

"We'll talk about it later," Alice said. "Edward is right - you'd better get going. You've got to set a trap and make camp before the storm comes." She frowned, and her expression was anxious, almost nervous. "Don't forget your coat, Bella. It seems...cold."

"Great," Edward said, his face dark for some reason that had Alice really wondering what it was he was thinking of.

"I've already got it," Edward assured her.

"Have a nice night," she told us in farewell.

It was twice as far to the clearing as usual; Edward took a long detour, making sure my scent would be nowhere near the trail Jacob would hide later. He carried me in his arms, the bulky backpack in my usual spot.

He stopped at the farthest end of the clearing and set me on my feet.

"All right. Just walk north for a ways, touching as much as you can. Alice gave me a clear picture of their path, and it won't take long for us to intersect it."

"North?"

He smiled and pointed out the right direction.

"I guess she doesn't know directions off the top of her head," Jasper chuckled.

I wandered into the woods, leaving the clear yellow light of the strangely sunny day in the clearing behind me. Maybe Alice's blurred sight would be wrong about the snow. I hoped so.

Alice hissed at that.

The sky was mostly clear, though the wind whipped furiously through the open spaces. In the trees it was calmer, but much too cold for June - even in a long-sleeved shirt with a thick sweater over the top, there were goose bumps on my arms. I walked slowly, trailing my fingers over anything close enough: the rough tree bark, the wet ferns, the moss-covered rocks.

Edward stayed with me, walking a parallel line about twenty yards away.

"Am I doing this right?" I called.

"Perfectly."

I had an idea. "Will this help?" I asked as I ran my fingers through my hair and caught a few loose strands. I draped them over the ferns.

"Yeah it will help, but I don't think that you really need it," Jasper laughed.

"Yes, that does make the trail stronger. But you don't need to pull your hair out, Bella. It will be fine."

"I've got a few extras I can spare."

It was gloomy under the trees, and I wished I could walk closer to Edward and hold his hand.

"That would kind of ruin the purpose of the trail though," Emmett smiled.

I wedged another hair into a broken branch that cut through my path.

"You don't need to let Alice have her way, you know," Edward said.

"Don't worry about it, Edward. I'm not going to leave you at the altar, regardless." I had a sinking feeling that Alice was going to get her way, mostly because she was totally unscrupulous when there was something she wanted, and also because I was a sucker for guilt trips.

"Ah, I can see that we'll have a beautiful friendship together," Alice smiled.

"That's not what I'm worried about. I want this to be what you want it to be."

"Er...I don't think she's wants anything when it comes to this," Emmett said.

I repressed a sigh. It would hurt his feelings if I told the truth - that it didn't really matter, because it was all just varying degrees of awful anyway.

"But the least awful is the way I want it," Edward smiled.

"Well, even if she does get her way, we can keep it small. Just us. Emmett can get a clerical license off the Internet."

"Hm...I think that's a brilliant idea," Emmett laughed.

"You will not do that," Rosalie said, looking disgusted. "Vegas would be better than that."

"Come on, babe... it would be hysterical!" Emmett still laughed.

I giggled. "That does sound better." It wouldn't feel very official if Emmett read the vows, which was a plus. But I'd have a hard time keeping a straight face.

"See," he said with a smile. "There's always a compromise."

It took a while for me to reach the spot where the newborn army would be certain to cross my trail, but Edward never got impatient with my pace.

He had to lead a bit more on the way back, to keep me on the same path. It all looked alike to me.

We were almost to the clearing when I fell.

"Well, at least it was only once," Emmett laughed.

I could see the wide opening ahead, and that's probably why I got too eager and forgot to watch my feet. I caught myself before my head bashed into the nearest tree, but a small branch snapped off under my left hand and gouged into my palm.

"Ouch! Oh, fabulous," I muttered.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Stay where you are. I'm bleeding. It will stop in a minute."

He ignored me. He was right there before I could finish.

"I've got a first aid kit," he said, pulling off the backpack. "I had a feeling I might need it."

"Always be prepared - a good motto when you're with Bella," Emmett laughed.

"It's not bad. I can take care of it - you don't have to make yourself uncomfortable."

"I'm not uncomfortable," he said calmly. "Here - let me clean it."

"Wait a second, I just got another idea."

Without looking at the blood and breathing through my mouth, just in case my stomach might react, I pressed my hand against a rock within my reach.

"Ah...that really will make the trail strong," Jasper smiled.

"Her hand might get infected, though," Carlisle frowned, "but I'm sure it's just a scratch... it'll be fine."

"What are you doing?"

"Jasper will love this," I muttered to myself.

"She's got that one right," Emmett chuckled.