"Well, that's just it," Jasper says with a quiet, distant smile of his own. "I'm not sure I have any idea. I've read a lot of books on philosophy—most of the languages I know, I picked up for that reason—and all that distilled wisdom makes me awfully secure in saying 'I don't know.' But I know who I'm not, anymore." Sometimes that's the difference between veering off and attacking a distant hiker whose death would be chalked up to a mountain lion attack, and staying the course and going after the mountain lion.

He can hear Alice wrapping up her conversation with Esme. She's told them they'll stay here in Forks for a week, while Alice takes care of a few pesky details that hadn't been tidied up before they'd disappeared. They'd like to come back to Forks one day, maybe sooner rather than later, if they can evaluate the rumors about them. Not as easy without Edward around, but...Jasper lifts his head a little, suddenly thoughtful. Maybe they wouldn't need a telepath to help with that.

"Alice didn't say anything to you about being turned, did she?" he asks absently, still caught up in thoughts of asking Natasha to suss out rumors in town about the Cullen family's sudden disappearance. "She never brought it up with me, there wasn't the time."