A Birth day

Ruby smiled at Angus as he walked down from upstairs with Finn close by ." Morning, Bacon, eggs Toast a full English breakfast " she said then heard him mention the fruit trees and bushed "They sound perfect for baking when they fruit, we could make pies and I agree with your choices all are great for cooking" she placed the whisked Eggs into the pan and began stirring gently to make then bind as she added salt and pepper to it then cut up some fresh tomatoes " I forgot the kids were meant to cook this morning but I did tell then they were doing it tomorrow" she added the tomatoes to a bowl and left it to one side. " I agree with your choice of bushes and trees all sound perfect " she added sausages to a tray that had been coking in the oven and smiled as they seemed cooked perfectly. Sending them over to the warmer she continued to make the scrambled eggs then sent those over.

Aria began running the trail noting each marker as she ran she knew she could easily fly it but she knew she also had to run and refucus her center as she put it. Soon she came to the assault course and began to make her way threw it watching around her for if Marcus would join her.

"Pies, jam, jelly, wine, syrups for pancakes and ice cream, or just a lovely ice cream. There are a lot of things that can be done," he told her. "Thank you. Breakfast looks great."

Marcus ran the trail at his regular running pace. He knew the trail by heart, but he also knoew that wildlife could and would make sudden appearances, and that could cause even the most experienced runner to slip and fall and get hurt. So, he always ran it with his eyes wide open. He saw Aria deviate to try the assault course. He groaned, not really excited about doing that course this morning. He stopped, debated it for a moment, and then, reluctantly followed her. He knew the course, and he knew the obstacles. He knew some of them also had booby traps. He knew Robert changed those at random frequently. It was not a course anyone could do half asleep. He deliberately didn't run it right beside Aria because she needed to fully meet the course and it's difficulty level and surprises on her own. He noted the markers were color coded yellow today. Well, that wasn't quite so bad, then. It wasn't the easiest, but it wasn't the hardest either.

Some traps were into mud puddles, Some were enchantments to change a runner's hair into any sort of wild color, like neon green. Some were surprises like exploding bubbles that made loud noises. Some dropped a large crate of grass clippings from the estate's mowers onto a runner. Any sort of surprise could and did happen on this course. Marcus knew, for the most part, what to look for to avoid the booby traps. He also knew there were other traps that were consequences of failing an obstacle. He had seen Jack, as good as Jack was, get dropped into the mud on more than one occasion on this course.

Ruby smiled and nodded " well we'll be stocked for winter" she said smiling at him " good idea, and your welcome" she said placing down a pitcher with fresh squeesed apple juice on the table.

Aria ran best she could untill she hit a mud puddle that was deeper than she anticipated and fell head first into it " bloody hell" she cried out as she sat waist deep in the muddy puddle "I should have checked out this assault course first before running it." she said trying to stand up in the puddle but giving up now that her clothing was driping with brown mud. Aftr a moment she saw some one come running " hey could you give me a hand?" she asked " the sides on this puddle are steper and slipper than I can manage" it was now she saw it as Marcus " oh god, I must look like the monster from the black lagoon" she said wringing mug from her hair.

"I've seen worse," Marcus laughed. He reached down to her so she could grab his hand, and then he pulled her out. "You wanna keep going? If you're lucky, you'll run into a water hazard before too long and you can get a chance to rinse some of that off. You do know it isn't fair for me to run it right beside you, not your first time through, anyway. You need to run it by yourself the first time so you get to see what you do without some of us that have been through it several times do with it, but I'll be happy to follow you, if you want."

Angus heard the sounds of Edward, Simone, Evan and Tara next door, and he smelled some of Simone's baked goods.

"Well, the grown ups are up next door, at least," Angus said. "Smells like Simone baked again this morning." It was only a couple minutes later when Edward came over.

"Your paper was delivered to our place," he told them, laying the paper on the table and set a plate of pastries on the table. "And Simone made some strawberry turnovers. She made some breakfast empanadas--basically, oversized pasties with sausage, scrambled eggs, cheese, onions, bell peppers all tucked into pastry crust. They were quite nice, actually. So, now that you're a couple of days away from New Orleans, are you feeling better?"

"Somewhat, yes," Angus said. "Edward, Ruby and I are talking about maybe a couple of days away, just the two of us. Could we borrow one of the boats?"

"Of course. Are you looking for excitement or..."

"Privacy. Just complete privacy."

"Then, why don't you take the small houseboat? I just upgraded it to a much nicer one. This one is nigh onto a five star rating. I think you'd like it. You can manage a houseboat with your eyes shut, anchor it out in the middle of nowhere and take all the time you like. If you want it, let me know, and I'll reserve it for you."

"We'll discuss it. But--if we went, do you suppose we could find someone to watch Caprice for a couple days?"

"That isn't the question," Edward laughed. "We'd have to make a raffle for it, and draw numbers to see where she'd end up. We'd take her, Evan would take her, Rosaria and Carlo would jump at it. Jessie would take her, Robert and Kate would take her.. How much longer of a list do you want?"

"I get the picture," Angus replied.

"I think a couple days away is just what you need," Edward replied.

"

Aria chuckld and took his hand as he helped her out of the mud hazzard " ok I think I'll just run the main trail save the assault course for another time." she said letting the mud fall from her to the ground "come on" she said and began running slower this time as the mud started to dry on her and flake off her as she ran " you said Jack fell on the assault course too?" she asked.

Ruby smiled as the others arrived bringing food with them " well this will be a wonderful breakfast with my English breakfast too" she said then nodded as Angus spoke of the time away. She could not help chuckle at the list that Edward rattled off of whom would take Caprice while they were away. She smiled as Edward said it was just what Angus needed " I agree." she said as she handed out cups of fresh made coffee and or juice for those who wanted some.

"Oh, I think just about everyone has fallen on either the running track or the obstacle course," Marcus said. "They're enchanted to different difficulty levels, and the obstacles change frequently. And--employees are expected, as a condition of employment, to run one course or the other at least three times a week, but I can promise you that Robert runs seven days a week. The only way someone is excused from running is if they're benched for some reason or on holiday. And, I do know he has held up paychecks for some folks if they dont do all the running and don't have good reasons for not running. Likewise, if they're benched and they still try to run, he'll still hold a check. He expects his instructions to be followed."

Angus heard a tapping somewhere, and it took him a moment before he realized Pip was at the kitchen window. He flicked his fingers to open the window, and Pip flew over and landed on his shoulder, dropping a message accidently into his coffee cup. The little bird was excited about something, and he screeched a high pitched cry right in Angus's ear. Angus looked at him.

"What? What's the deal, Dude?" he asked. The little bird looked at a piece of bacon on Angus' plate, and Angus broke off a bite and gave it to him. That seemed to make everything right again. Angus fished the soggy message out of his cup and opened it.

"Well, it's from Robert. He wants our five fugatives to go back tonight to Colorado and finish the course," Angus said. "Looks like the washing machine might be busy today. He says Kieran and Fi will be here between 6:30 and 7 to pick everyone up."

"We'll be ready," Tara said. "And then I'll take the girls back home. They 're due to start their lessons again with their tutor soon anyway."

"You sure?" Edward asked her. "You don't have to rush off..."

"We're not," Tara said, "but the girls really do need to get prepared for a new home schooling year."

"If you say so," Edward said.

Aria ran and listened to Marcus "Oh, so thats why the colored flags?" she asked as they drew close to the end of the trail. Ruby looked up at where the tapping was coming from and saw Angus open the window she chuckled as Pip dropped the note in his coffee by mistake.

" I'll get you a fresh one" she said taking his up and poring out the old coffee and refilling it placing it down just as Pip ate the bacon. Hearing him say th kids had to return to colorado she nodded " I'll get on that" she said finishing her food and palcing the plate into the sink before starting the drier with some of the kids clothing an placing the rest in the washer. "I hope the girls catch up with there school work quickly." Ruby said sitting down with a cup of coffee beside Tara. " I have mad respect for those who home school." she said it was now Caprice cried out from upstairs and Ruby stood up " I'll fetch her" she said smiling to Angus.

"For the most part, yes," Marcus said. "Sometimes a color code might be something other than red yellow or green, and those can mean different things. I saw a purple one a short way back, and that means that Robert's teaching some sort of class on the field at the end of the assault course. We're always welcome to join those, and they could be anything. He's done some jiu jitsu, boxing, wrestling, yoga. One never knows until they get there but he's always got a reason for whatever he's teaching. I have no idea what he's teaching this morning. We'll find out when we get there."
"Well, we did try to send our girls to Beaubatons because it was so close, but they really just didn't do well there," Evan said. "They were so incredibly homesick, both of them, that they both ended up in the infirmary. They were a complete mess."

"That's whnn I offered to help them talk to the headmistress to arrange a home schooling program for them," Edward said. "Now they study at home Monday thru Weds and they go to Beauxbatons one day a week for some classes there. They go in the morning and join their friends for breakfast, go to classes with them all day, have supper with them, and come back by bedtime. It's normally a Thursday. And since their school days are so long Mondays through Thursdays, they're normally off Fridays through Sundays."

"That gives them time for their assignments and to practice their spells and potions over the weekends. So far, their marks have been top notch all the way through. And, the girls have always been raised to speak both English and Italian, but now, they're also learning Spanish and French and German," Tara said.

"And, they both know that if they want to drop any of the language classes, they can, but they really do enjoy them. They're making friends at Beauxbatons now from Spain, Germany, France--all over Europe," Evan said.

Aria ran close to him and listened as he spoke "That's a good thing to do" she said " maybe we can stop and watch what he is teaching today?" she asked

Ruby returned with a clean and dressed Caprice and sat with Tara. She nodded and smiled as Tara spoke of how Evie and Faith and how she schooled them " if it works for them thats great" she said " I guess as long as they get an education thats all that matters and being bylingual is something special too" she added as she set Caprice in her high chair with a plastic spoon and her bowl with some scrambled eggs and toast in it.

"I don't see why not," Marcus said. "I've joined the classes from time to time, depending on what it is." When they neared the end of the course, Marcus saw what it was. "Ah, I see. One of his favorites. It's tai chi. He's actually very good with that. He believes it resolves a multitude of issues. And it seems he has about six of the grounds crew taking thie class. Good for him."

"Well, they will actually graduate from Beauxbatons," Edward said. "Evie's only got one two more years to go, and Faith has three, but I see no reason they shouldn't succeed with flying colors. I don't think they know what they want to do when they graduate but whatever they want, I think they'll probably do well with it."

'Evie is considering potion making," Tara said, "but she's not certain of it. And Faith very good with plants and is thinking about perhaps herbology, but they have plenty of time."

As they were sitting there talking, Pip suddenly yanked out a lock of Angus's hair. Angus cast him a foul look.

"Lining a new nest, are we?" Angus asked Pip, and Pip screeched at him, dropping the hair on the table. Angus sighed, gathering it all up and handing it back to him. "Come on. Take it and go, Mate, before you rip it all out." He stood up and took the owl to the window and sent him on his way, closing the window again. "Oh, Edward, I plan to stake out where I think the new trees and bushes should go so that if the landscapers come while Ruby and I are gone, they wont buggar it up."

"Need a hand with that? It isn't like I haven't planted an orchard or twelve," Edward said.

"And I've planted a couple on the grounds," Evan said. "Lets all go, and we'll get it done in a third of the time."

"Sounds fine to me," Angus said.

"Well, if we're done eating, let's go," Evan said. Angus nodded.

"We'll leave you girls to it, then," Edward said, and the three of them went to put out some stakes and labels for the landscapers, leaving Simone, Tara and Ruby.