LONDON CALLING

Jess chuckled at Kats words " oh with Jack around I never have that problem" she said and smiled as Abby toddled over chuckled and gathered the ingrediants for chocolate scones. Rolling out the dough Jess used the cutter to cut cercles for the scones then lightly brushing milk and egg wash over the top befoer popping them on a tray , but not before putting two with a letter A on them " these are all Abbys" she told her then placed them into the oven to cook.

Jack looked at Michael and nodded "looks good..old man" he said in retort to being called junior. " and no I don't need a head start." Jack started to climb his fingers esily finding holds as he began to climb. " well you coming." he asked jumping to another hand hold in the rock " wonder what he wants us to find up there." Jack said climbing higher.

Michael enjoyed a friendly competition, and, as he saw it, there were no disadvantages. If Jack won, it gained Jack some self confidence with his climbing, and if Michael won, he perhaps got a little bragging rights, and he didn't have to grill the meat. Either way, it would work out fine.

"I think I'm as curious as you are," Michael said, using a bit of a more unconventional climbing style. It was a bit different from Jacks' style, but for Michael, it allowed him to be a little more fluid and perhaps a wee bit faster. It wouldn't help him to overtake Jack and the advantage that he had for being younger than Michael, but it might even the odds just a wee bit. The other thing that had occured to Michael was that if the wolves had been to the top, they were likely to find an easier way down once they made it to the top themselves. Wolves were, after all, not mountain goats. They would know the easiest way down.

Kate put her scones on a baking sheet to put into the oven, and she set them near the oven, thinking that she didn't want the sweet scones to pick up any of the savory aromatics by putting them in the oven at the same time.

"I'll start chopping some aromatics for the soup," Kate said, taking out garlic, onion, celery, carrots, and some herbs since they were often the foundational ingredients of a lot of different soups.

"What do you say to Aunt Jess for making some chocolate scones for you?" Kate asked Abbey.

"'Tanks!" Abbey said cheerfully. She watched as she saw the puppies crawling back into the carrier Michael had brought them in, and she went over to see what they were doing. They were curling up with Faline and were starting to nurse.

"What are they doing, Abbey?" Kate asked.

"'Seeping," Abbey replied.

"Sleeping? Are they?" Kate peeked into the carrier. "Ah, they're eating their lunch, but you might be right. They might take a nap with their mama after their tummies are full, just like you sometimes take a nap when your tummy is full."

"Nah. I'm big now. I no need naps." Abbey said.

"Okay," Kate said, deciding not to argue the point. Abbey would take her nap anyway. Kate just didnt feel like arguing with her. She was hoping that all was going well for Jack and Michael.

Jack kept climbing upward untill he found the top only to find a pair of feet stood infront of him as he pulled himself up and sat looking out over the grounds. " your spry for an old guy" he said chuckaling, "but I bow to your supiriority. " with that he stood up and gave a quick bow chuckaling as he did.  

Jess smiled at Abby and continued to make more scones " your very welcome " she sw the pups head to the carrier and smiled " Im guessing they will need to stay together for a while." she said " befoer we take them home, can't seperate a mother from her pups, right" turning she noticed two figures stood at the top of the mountain and chuckled again " I think Jack just learned not to underestimate Miachel, he always forgets." she shook her head and wondered what they were doing up there.

Jack finally stood up and looked around, as he did he noticed part snapped branches and brush marks on the ground. " possible camp site?" he asked kneeling next to the ground brushing away some dirt to revel burn ground under the light dry dirt. " they tried to hide it."

"You made me work for it, though," Michael laughed good naturedly. "That was fun. We shall have to do it again sometime." He followed Jack over to where he was checking the ground, and he joined him.

"Yes. Definitely," Michael agreed, "though I don't think they were here all that long. One night or part of a night. It doesn't look like they were really dug in like they might have been if they had been here for a few nights. I would have expected to see a lot more ground flattened and a lot more ash in the fire pit there. No signs of cooking. The fire was used for warmth, it looks like. So, if the fire belonged to Gelding's female shapeshifter, what was she here for? And why was she hiding out on our grounds, and how long was she here? You do realize it is not at all beyond Gelding to have someone camping here for a period of time just to muck with us so that when we found out he'd put her here right under our noses, it would get us upset good and proper about it. The more disconcerting idea is that she wasn't here camping out to muck with us and that she had some other diabolical purpose to it. Either way, it isn't very comforting."

"I doubt you'll need to be without your pups very long," Kate told Jess. "Michael has been able to rehome the pups within just a few days. And, I think I could be persuaded to have Michael bring Otto here and keep the dogs here until the puppies are weaned. It will make Robert crazy, but it might be just the thing I need to get him to finally consider taking me away for a romantic weekend for two. He's been talking about it for years, but he's not done it yet. I say, bring the ruddy dogs until he can't wait to get a weekend away." She laughed, but a part of her was serious about the idea.

Jack listened and nodded his agreement " yeah not enough ash as you said " he said then his nose caught scent of soemthing and moved to a bush " definatly female" he said scrunching his nose " and not one atuned to the out doors." He noticed a rustle from another bush as a small pup wandered out in its mouth sat a small leather bag. Jack knelt infront of it and it dropped it right in the palm of his hand. "Thankyou little one" he said softly to it, reatching into his pocket he took out some dried meat and gave a small peice to the wolf cub. Happy with its reward it ran back into the bush.

Jack stood up and walked over to Michael bag in hand " hum guess she lost this in her hurry" he said opening it for michael to look inside.

Jess nodded at Kates words " I'd feel better knowing they were fully off their mothers milk before taking them." she said peeking into the carrier as they slept. " though they do look cute sleeping. She stood up and returned to the kitchen to check the scones.

"Well, well," Michael said, impressed that the wolf pup found another clue. Michael took the bag and opened it up. "It's a spell powder of some sort," Michael said. "Not sure exactly what it is, but I'm guessing Robert or Gabe could figure out what it is. Maybe that's how she got in. I don't know. We'll know more when they figure out what this powder does. I have seen Robert figure out powder or potion ingredients and then be able to track where the ingredients come from enough that he can figure out who bought those ingredients. I don't have any idea if the ingredients to this are rare enough for that or not, but we definitely need to try. Our new canine friends are certainly earning their keep already. How much do you want to bet that the gap in the unplottable spell is very near here? I bet it's within either eyesight or earshot, one or the other."

Kate put her scones in the oven when Jess's were done, and she started to sauté the aromatics in a large stockpot. She was considering a steak and vegetable soup with a richly flavored broth, maybe with a bit of red wine to add some additional layers of flavor, knowing that most of the alcohol would cook out of the stock.

"Steak and vegetable soup alright?" she asked Jess. "I think I have some homemade noodles up in the freezer that we can stir in. Since they're homemade, they won't take any time at all to thaw and cook if we add them to the broth. What do you think?"

Jack nodded and handded the pouch to Micahel " best you hold on to that." he said wiping his hands on his trousers as he moved to look past a bush " okay theres a path this way, wanna take it back down?" He asked moving the bush to one side to show him the slight incline of the path downward.

Jes looked at Kate as she started to chop herbs and veg for a soup when she spoke Jess smiled " sounds perfect, want me to make some bread rolls to go with it?" she asked then heard her mention the home made noodles in the frezer. Moving to it she lifted them out and placed them into a pot to start cooking. " I think it would make a very warming and hearty meal Kate." she placed some salt in the water and put a lid on.

Jack started down the path noting part way it split off to the left. " you thik they went that way?" he asked "that way obviouly leads back to the farm. It was now he sniffed the air " Kates cooking soup." he told Michael.

"Sure," Michael said. Something made him a trifle uneasy, but he couldn't figure out what it was. Just to be safe rather than sorry, he drew his wand and went with Jack down the path, figuring it ultimately led back towards the house and the barn.

"Bread rolls--what a good idea. There might be someone who doesn't want a sandwich or a scone. I think that's a good thought. There's some fresh creamery butter I bought just the other day in the fridge," Kate said. She cut some bite size pieces of steak, cutting them against the grain to make them tender and also paper thin so that it would maximize flavor. Then she made a bit of a dry rub and infused it into the meat before she added it to the stock pot. She sauteed the steak and then added homemade beef bone broth, a bit of dry red wine, some worchestershire sauce, and a few other things to create the base for the soup. Then she added Jess's herbs and vegetables and a bit of tomato paste, and salt and pepper for an additional level of flavor and just a wee pinch of sugar to reduce the sourness of the tomato paste. When she was satisfied with the way the soup was going so far, she added the noodles and turned the flame down to let it simmer.

"When you get a chance, Jess, give it a taste and tell me what you think, would you? See if you think it needs anything?" Kate asked.

"I think one of us should go left," Michael said, "and the other should go down the other path. What do you think? Eyes sharp, and wands at the ready. If there's the slightest sign of trouble, send up a flare, and I'll apparate to you. And I'll do the same if I run into trouble on my side."

Jess looked at kate and begsn making the rolls " I know Jack eats anything" she said " though I think Jessie might still need to find his pallet." she nodded when Kate sugested she try the soup to see if it needed anything more. Taking a spoon she took a small amout and blew on it then tasted it " wow this is good, nope dosn't need anything more, its perfect." she said then continued to roll out the dough for the bread rolls.

Jack looked at Michael and nodded " agreed " he said taking out his wand. " might lead us to the break in the charm." He slowly walked left keeping his eyes sharp for any signs any one had been down the path. " Look, some one slipped here" he said motioning to the disterbed soil and uprooted grass. " obviosly they lost their footing being in a hurry, not wolf ." he added moving so Michael could look at it. He moved alitle way down the path and could see a small land slide. " think I found our break" he said glancing around as he felt as if someone or thing was watching them both. He let out a soft growl in warning but kept his stature ready to fight.

Michael heard Jack find some soil disturbances, and he hurried to catch up with him. He took a look, and he saw Jack was right.

"Spot on, Jack, but look, it isn't actually muddy, so perhaps they're just klutzy. A klutzy woman shapeshifter. Now that's a novel thought. I don't like her already," Michael said, slightly amused. And then Jack found something else, and he saw Jack become more alert. He had felt the same sort of sensation back at the fork in the path. He began to search, starting to realize there was something familiar in the feeling he was having.

"You didn't happen to bring a shovel, did you?" Michael asked, looking at the base of a tree. "Soil's been disturbed here. I think someone buried something here." He took out his pocket knife and began to use it to dig in the earth, and he came up with an odd talisman. It was a gold pendant of a snake, without a chain. Just the pendant itself, and the eyes were set with tiny chips of obsidian. Michael felt dark magic oozing from it, and he recognized the energy at once.

"This is how she found the farm," Michael said. "I've seen these before. The Unspeakables have collected some of these from some of their past missions, and they're locked safely in a well protected vault in the Ministry. Don't ask me how I know, but what these are are markers. They send a traceable magical signal to someone who has a matching pendant. I don't know if we'll ever know who placed this here originally, but she followed the signal, and this is how she found the farm's location. With the location marked for her, it would have been child's play for a shapeshifter to get in." He pocketed the pendant. "I'll wager you Gabe can deactivate this thing. I think you're right, Jack--I think we may have found what we're looking for. "