LONDON CALLING

"Thanks," Angus said. He was aching too much to refuse the offer of pain potion. He took just a small sip, just enough to take the edge off, and handed the bottle back to Jessie. "I appreciate it. Yeah, falling asleep in a restaurant would be awkward anyway. You'll like the Tuica. I've had my share of it, and probably a few other people's shares too." That made Brian and Michael laugh.

"Tied one on with the tuica, did you?"

"I did. More than once. It can cause a fierce hangover if you have enough of it," Angus said.

"Home brew generally is," Michael said. "So do you remember the first time you had it?"

"Yeah, and so does Edward. I was eight."

"Eight!" Brian exclaimed. "Edward let you drink when you were eight?"

"Well, it wasn't his fault, actually. We were here one summer and the heat was god awful over a couple of days. We camped out up in the mountains, not far from where we're headed, and we ended up camped with a handful of sheep herders. They were passing around an earthenware jug of water and one of tuica. The first jug that got to me, I chugged whatever was in it straight down, enough to have been a full pint and then some."

"And it wasn't water."

"Oh, hell no, it wasn't. Evidently I was a giggling little idiot for an hour, and then I passed out. At least that's what Edward tells me. He only found out it wasn't water when the other jug reached him, and he expected tuica and got water."

"Was he irked?"

"No, actually, for some odd reason, he found the whole thing hilarious. My gran was not amused, though."

"

"Can't say I never gotten drunk again, because I have. But it never happened again on my grandparents' watch until was an adult," Angus said. "More because Edward never wanted to get another lecture from my gran."

"She would like it," Angus agreed. "And I'd gladly do it--except that its Romania. Not my choice of a holiday spot." Breakfast arrived, and it looked and smelled great. Brian and Michael were starving. They tucked into it and enjoyed it with gusto. Angus took more time with his. His appetite was off. He did try, and he ate his fill. He didn't finish it like the others did. Angus reached for his wallet to pay for the tab, and Michael laid his arm on Angus's.

"I've got it, Lad," Michael said. "Angus, are we going to be able to rest a bit at Ana's or will we need an inn?"

"If Ana found out I was in town and didn't come to her first, she'd have Sergio track me down and drag me by back my hair," Angus said. "We'll be more than welcome. We'll be family there."

"Then that's where we're going," Michael said, making a firm mission decision for the team, which was something that was out of his character. "We're not walking. We're apparating--as soon as we leave here. Understand? It isn't an option. It's an order--as a founding member of this organization. It's now an order."

"I don't need a bloody order," Angus was angry now. He got up and walked out of the restaurant. He had barely hit the street when everything spun. Someone caught him, and before he could right himself, he heard someone speaking to him.

"Angus? Angus, is that you?" the voice asked. He pulled himself together and looked up to see that it was Sergio who had caught him and put him on his feet again. "It is you! What on earth are you doing here?"

"There are four of us. We're on a mission. It's of extreme urgency. Can you and Ana help us?"

"We're yours as long as you need us. But what's wrong with you? Are you alright?"

"Yes. Just overtired."

"Well, that's a lie, but you'll tell me later," Sergio said, taking is lie for a simple temporary brush off. "Let's get your friends and then go home, where you can tell us all about it."

Brian and Michael saw what had happened too, and Brian had scooped up his bag and Angus's and had hurried outside. Michael had paid the tab, left a tip and picked up his own bag and hurried out behind them.

"These are your friends?" Sergio asked Angus. Angus nodded. "I am Sergio Dalca--Angus' Romanian brother. If you are his friends, then you are my friends also. You will not need an inn. Ana and I take care of our friends."

"Can you apparate us?" Brian asked. Brian was encouraged by the strong devotion and friendship that Sergio had for Angus, strong enough to call him his brother, and Brian got the feeling that Sergio didn't call anyone a brother easily or lightly. In its own way, it gave Brian hope that the mission might be more manageable than it had looked in the wee hours this morning.

"Of course," Sergio said. "Take hold, and we'll go." Brian and Michael grabbed hold, and when Jessie had grabbed on, Sergio apparated them to their mountain cabin, and he started shouting for Ana.

The dark hair woman came around to the front yard from the back where she had been tending the garden. She was wearing a pair of bright yellow wellies that were muddy from the garden. She saw the men there and then she picked out Angus.

"Angus!" she shouted, overjoyed to see him. She came at a run to him, and in a moment she had flung herself around him in a huge hug, and she kissed his cheek. He kissed her cheek too. "I have missed you so much! How long can you stay?.." She stepped back and looked into his face, and the joy seemed to drain out of it. "Angus?"

"We're on a mission, Ana," he said seriously. "If we don't complete it in time, people will die."

"A mission. Yes. It's always a mission. But that's not all of it, is it?"

"He's alright," Brian said. "He's tired. He needs a bit of a rest."

"Come in. Come in and tell us everything. Then we'll know how to help," she said. Brian was sizing up Ana from the first moment he saw her. He took her as a woman who was tough as nails. She wasn't afraid of much of anything, and she was a fighter through and through. And so was Sergio. Angus had done well. He'd brought them to fierce allies.

"Very good to meet you all," Sergio said. He easily gathered Angus under his other shoulder. "Let's go inside."

"Come," Ana motioned to Brian and Michael. Sergio helped Jessie to bring Angus inside to a deep comfortable leather chair and lowered him there.

"It...what's the word...lays back," Sergio said. He pushed back the back of the chair. It was a recliner.

"Ah. We call those recliners," Michael said.

"Recliner. Yes. It is very comfortable. A good place to rest," Sergio said. Brian was going to say something to Angus, but he looked at Angus and saw that Angus had fallen into an exhausted sleep already. "He cannot possibly handle a mission like this," Sergio said. "Tell us all. What is this illness?"

"Not an illness, not like you think," Brian said. "Someone attempted to kill him less than twelve hours ago. It was very late last night. He was swimming in the pool at our hotel, and someone used a sticking charm to stick him to the bottom of the pool. If Jessie here hadn't been there, Angus would have died."

"I must get the healer at once," Ana said, ready to go for help.

"No need. I am a healer," Brian said. "He'll be alright if we let him rest for now. How far are we from the gemstone mines?"

"Perhaps 14 to 16 hours, if we take some of the old paths," she told him, going through to the kitchen. "You drink coffee?

"Yes. We all do. Thank you," Michael replied. "How much climbing is there?"

"If we take the old paths, there are climbs on just two different places. Much less than the path that most of the tourists want to take now. Idioti. [romanian word for idiot]Perhaps an hour's worth altogether, but they are not for amateurs," Sergio said. "Angus is not fit for such a climb."

"He already knows that," Brian said.

"He was going to try to accomplish it anyway, though."

"He doesn't feel he has a choice. He knows the way, and we don't. We were planning on tethering him and hauling him up."

"We know the way, Ana and I," Sergio said. "You need to leave him here, and one of us will stay here to tend to his needs. The other will go to take you. We can both make the climb. Ana is a better nursemaid than I am, but if there is any risk of any enemies coming here, then Ana should go with you, and I should stay to protect him. Could there be trouble coming here?"

"Yes. A pair of shapeshifters, maybe more. We don't know. Maybe only the two."

"Shapeshifters," Sergio said with pure disgust, as if he believed shapeshifters were vermin. "They are not immortal. They can be dealt with. There are far more deadly things than a shapeshifter. So what is this mission?"

"In our area there is a man who has been taking wizarding children and giving them to muggles-for a price."

"Thomas Gelding. We know of him here too, but he has been unstoppable. I guard my children vigilantly so that they do not fall prey to him. There is supposedly someone who goes and get the children back if he can find them, but I do not know who this man is."

"We work for that same man," Brian said. "All four of us."

"Who is he? Who is this man that goes to rescue other people's children for them? I have been trying to find him for years."

"Robert Lupin," Michael replied.

"Oh, come now. I only know of one Robert Lupin. Everyone knows that name. He surely would not be bothered by a task like this."

"There is only one Robert," Michael said. "How do you think he has managed to go to different parts of the globe to bring people's children home? It takes someone of his caliber to form an organization, fund it, and run it."

"This mission. Are you after a child, then?"

"No. There is a sorceress that has been working for Gelding and giving us a great deal of trouble. We had her contained, but then she escaped. She has been most difficult to deal with. We are looking to find a way to capture her again. She had a staff with a large gemstone."

"A large blue green egg shaped stone, yes?"

"Yes. How did you know?"

"Oh, Ana and I know her," Sergio said again in disgust. "She's a pain in the fundul. We have run into her before. That stone is what amplifies her power."

"Yes. We know. We managed to get the staff and break it. We intend to go to the mine, get a duplicate stone, mend the staff, put the duplicate stone in it and use it as bait to recapture her with." Sergio was keenly interested now, and his eyes almost sparkled. He had a love for adventure like they did, Brian was seeing.

"It is a very good plan. That staff amplifies her powers but it is also her biggest weakness. She will do nearly anything to get it back. I like this plan. This is why you need to go to the mines."

"Yes. We need a stone. Can you help us?"

"Yes," he said with smile. "It is not an easy task you undertake, but it can be done."

"Our fear is that the shapeshifters might have been Gelding's spies that were planted within our organization and that they know our plan. They are trying to stop us from reaching the mine. We fear the miners could be in danger."

"Do they know you are here?"

"We don't think so. Our original plan was to travel here without magic, but we did use magic to get here, so we are considerably ahead of schedule."

"Traveling here by magic is most dangerous, but I like that plan too. You have been very brave or very foolhardy. One or the other. Either way, i like it. We have a little time, then.  The miners have run into greedy wizard before. If they know that trouble is coming, they can protect themselves, and they are quite efficient at it. We will make this climb, get the stone, and warn the miners. It is a good day's work," he laughed. "I like you people. You're fun."

Ana brought a tray with cups of Romanian coffee and gave everyone a cup and then sat down with Sergio.

"One of us will go with them up to the mines, and one of us will stay and tend to Angus," Sergio told her. "There could be two shapeshifters coming, though."

"Bah. Shapeshifters. No problem," Ana said, unconcerned. "I will go see the old man in the village. That will solve that."

"What old man?" Brian asked.

"That is a very good thought," Sergio said. "There is an old man in the village. He makes some very nice 'toys.' He will know how to make a shapeshifter amulet. It will help either ward off or identify a shapeshifter. We could use a couple of them, but even one would help. It isn't as clever a plan, but it will work. An amulet to identify the shapeshifter so we can deal with them."

"Now that is a plan I like very much," Michael replied.

"I presume Ruby is his woman," Sergio said. "Well, if she truly loves him, she would not want him, as he is now, even considering trying to go mountain climbing if he cannot even manage being on his feet. It sounds like he is very fortunate that he is even still alive, much less that he managed to make it this far."

"Another 24 hours will make a massive difference," Brian said.

"It is possible, if these shapeshifters know he is injured, they will be counting on you delaying your trek up to the mines because you need him as a guide. They may see their plan as being successful because they have managed to incommode you. Perhaps at least part of their purpose was to buy time for them to get to the mine before you. If that is the case, then by leaving him here and proceeding up to the mine as soon as possible, we can be up and back before the shapeshifters get there." His mind seemed to be racing. He looked at him. "You know, the old man knows many of the old ways. He has told a story about a dark wizard centuries ago in these parts that was finally captured by being trapped inside of a stone. It is a very old story, but if it is possible to make such a stone, then it might be worth your while to get more than one stone. Maybe the old man could duplicate her staff stone and enchant it so that it would capture a dark magic worker when they attempted to use the staff."

"I like the way you think," Brian said. "And, maybe we can take a second stone, just in case."

"Of course. It would be foolish to take all these risks to come all this way and leave with just one stone," Sergio said.

"Multumesc," Ana replied to Jessie when he complimented their home. "It was the home I grew up in. My parents left it to me when they passed away. Now it is mine and Sergio's and our children's. My parents would be pleased to know that this house knows again the sound of children and that it again is a safehaven for friends."

"Ana comes from a long line of warriors. Peace keepers. For generations, lightworkers have known this house to be a waystation for shelter, food and aid of all sorts.  She and I are honored to be the next generation of peace keepers. It was how we met Angus. He and his grandfather used to come here years ago, and they would always stay with Ana's family while Edward and Angus were on their missions.  With Edward and Angus, it is always the same--always about a mission.," Sergio said.

Ana looked at Jessie, "you would like to meet the old man, I take it?"