LONDON CALLING

"He's being affected by a dark spell or a dark creature or something," Angus said, trying to catch his breath. Angus hit his medallion to summon Robert, and Robert appeared there a moment later. "I think I'm okay," he told Ruby. "It was my own fault. I saw that wound on his flank, and that's all I cared about. I should have paid more attention. That was a beginner's error. I know better than that."

"What have you got?" Robert asked.

"Look at his flank. There's a wound there, and black smoke coming out of it," Angus said. Robert looked and saw the same thing the rest of them were seeing.

"Ruby, go into the barn, and go into the lean-to section of the barn, into the supply closet there. You should find a red canvas messenger bag. Go get it, and bring it straight back," Robert told her. "I'll make sure the hippogriff didn't kick the brains out of Angus while you're gone." Then he looked at Jack.

"Jack, get a few extra men to help you," Robert told Jack. "I'm going to try to sedate the bastard so I can get a better look, but once I hit him with a sleep spell, he's going to fall like a rock. This one weighs over 73 stones. You're going to need help, and you're going to have to combine your magic to put him down. Just let me know when you're all ready." Then he went to Angus.

"Did he kick you?" Robert asked.

"Yeah, but I'm alright," Angus said.

"Where did he get you?"

"In the ribs," Angus said. Robert laid his hand on Angus's ribs.

"One or two that might be either bruised or broken. I can't tell from here. They'll be painful either way, broken or not. I'll bind them for you when we get back to the house and make sure you get some pain potion. Here." He cast a pain relief spell.

"Thanks," Angus told him, knowing that binding them was all Robert could do anyway.

"That's temporary, you know. No more fiddling with the large animals for a couple weeks. Get yourself back to the kitchen til I get back. Just behave yourself. Nigel's looking for a reason to come straight back as it is."

"No," Angus told him. "I'll deal with you, but he hasn't been gone long enough for me to miss him." Robert burst out laughing.

"Understood. Alright. Back to the house with you and behave til I get there."

Ruby and Jack looked at Robert as he arrived, Jack called for their largest men six of them " alright, this beast is going down, hard and fast be ready. " he told them while Ruby ported to the barn moving quickly she found the bag Robert requersted and ported back to him.

"This the one?" she asked placing it down next to Robert as she looked at Angus and listened to Roberts dignosis of his injuries. " I'll find Jess but I think she started her shifts again and isn't done till one, I'll take him back and get him wrapped for now." she told him she chuckled as Angus said he'd not had long enough to miss him yet.

"That's the bag. Thank you. Now, as for Angus, there are some rib binders down in the sickbay," he told Ruby. "They're in the large walk in supply cabinet. Open the door at the very back of the room. They're on the second shelf up from the bottom, on the left hand shelves--towards the middle of the shelves I think. They're sealed in plastic bags to keep them clean. Labeled as chest belts. Make sure you get the right size. He's going to need an extra large because he's built up his upper body strength. Don't wrap it overly tight. I can adjust it when I get back if I need to.

"And if you're going to keep cleaning out the fridge, you're going to need help to do it," Robert told Angus. "No lifting of anything over about 5 pounds until I can check you better. Take the help where you can get it for the next hour or so. Understand?"

"Yeah, fine," Angus said, frustrated with himself. Robert helped Angus to his feet.

"Take him back to the house, and I'll catch you both as soon as I can," he told Ruby. Then he turned to Jack, drawing his wand. "Ready? Use your wands to hold him and lower him. On three, then. One...Two...Three..." On three, he fired a strong anesthesia spell to knock out the hippogriff.

Ruby nodded she understood him " alright" she said taking hold of Angus and porting them back to the house to the sickbay. Walking to the cupboard Robert had mention she found the extra large chect belt and brought it out. " okay we got to get that shirt off." she said smirking but she undid the buttons and took out the chest belt to wrap around him. "let me know if its too tight, okay" she asked.

Outside Jack and the six men all held out their wands ready " we're ready " he said aiming as Robert coundted down. at the moment he fired the sleep spell Jack and the men fired theres catching the hypogriff and gently lowering it to the ground. Now Jack could see the wound better and shook his head " whom ever did this knew what they were doing, looks similer to what Jess told me came out of Edward." he said not wanting to touch it. alright every one watch for movement that could indicate hes waking up." Jack told them each focused on the hypogriff while Jack stayed at Roberts side to help in any way he could.

"I'm sure it will be fine," Angus told her, laying his shirt aside. He let her bind his ribs, and he noticed that it was easier to breathe almost immediately. "Thanks," he said. "It's fine. Now, I really do have to get to ordering some supplies or we won't be cooking anything tonight. If you're free, you could help me with finishing cleaning out any expired food in the fridge and then doing the inventory. The quicker I get those done, the quicker I can order a shipment of groceries for us. They're transported here by our restaurant supplier by magical supply truck. They can be here generally within 3 or 4 hours of my placing an order. Sometimes sooner, but if I don't get this done before long, they won't be able to make it here today.

Robert watched Jack lead the men through securing and lowering the hippogriff.

"Oh, very well done, Men. Thank you. Don't go far, in case he isn't alright when he wakes. Now, let me see what I can do with this." He sat down on the ground next to the hippogriff. Would you accio a jar from my potions workshop upstairs, Jack? Gonna have to put whatever-it-is into something." Robert got out a surgical kit and laid it on the ground and unrolled it to open it up. "If any of you lot are squeamish, now would be the time to look away."

Robert made an incision and clamped it open, and when he did, the black smoke poured from the wound. There wasn't much blood, ironically, but a great deal of black smoke and then some sort of black, tarry ooze. Robert was careful not to touch the ooze itself but he did some exploration to find whatever was causing it.

"Ah, there it is..." he said. He picked up a pair of forceps and drew out some sort of extra large black creature that reminded him of an overgrown slug. It was disgusting, Robert thought. But as soon as head end of the creature came out of the hippogriff, the slug started with a loud, shrill, ear piercing scream. The men put their hands over their ears quickly because it was so painfully loud. Robert chucked the thing into the jar. Then he fired a wandless magic silencing spell into the jar at the thing to shut it up before slamming the lid down on the jar.

"Noisy little bastard," Robert scowled. He set the jar aside, and then flushed out all the black ooze from the wound, finally seeing regular circulation and blood flow returning to the hippogriff's wound. Satisfied, he closed the wound and then cast a pain spell. "I'll wager that was the problem. If the dark arts magic wasn't bad enough, I'll bet it hurt like the devil. He should feel a good deal better when I wake him. Let me know when you're able to help me wake him and raise him." He cleaned up the medical supplies and put them in the bag and set the bag and the jar outside the paddock.

Ruby smiled and nodded to Angus " of course I'll help." she told him " you tell me what to get rid of and I'll clean the fridge." she knew the dilivery would be a large one since he'd been cleaning out the fridge since he had gotten up " the paper work can wait a bit longer and thats quick for diliveries." she told him as she finished binding his ribs.

Jack heard Robert and accioed a jar with a cork lid, placing it down he watched as Robert took out the creature. The other men covered there ears but Jack rolled his eyes and endured the sound until it was in the jar and quiet. He watched his men breath out at the silance. " okay ready your selves for revival " he said and they all moved into position and readying their wands. " okay we're ready Robert." he said

"Our supplier treats us very well because, well, first of all, this is Robert that we're talking about. We do get first rate service since it is going to the former minister," he told her. "And that does help us to stay supplied with pretty much anything we want. And I think that's why we get delivery so fast. That's part of it, but it does help too that the supplier knows I am always looking to pack a lot of nutrition into anything I make. Our dessert and snack eaters would be surprised how I've altered recipes of all of their foods, including snacks and desserts so that they're loaded with extra nutrients. Even the cinnamon rolls are packed with extra vitamins and minerals." When she asked him about what to clean out, he cast her an amused smile.

"Pitch any veg or fruit that has enough fur that it needs a leash and a name," he teased. He was sure she could recognize any moldy or furry foods. "Meats and dairy will be labeled as to their expiration date. Anything past their due date or that looks or smells bad, just get rid of it. In fact, I try never to just chuck something in here without dating when I put it in the fridge and when it needs to come out. Black marker is the date it went in, and red marker is the date I put on it that it needs to be out by. But I do try, when I clean out the fridge, to write it down on a list so that I can replace it if I have to. I started a list on a clipboard but I'm not sure where I left it when Edward came into the kitchen. Might be on a shelf in the fridge. I generally can haul out the bad foods to the compost pile myself when I get it all cleaned out, but I might have to ask Jack or Jessie to help me today."

"Alright," Robert told them. "I'm going to wake him on the count of three. Give him a moment to get his eyes open and then he's going to start to try to struggle to his feet. That's when you'll need to raise him. I don't want him pulling out those incisions if we can help it. I'll wake him, and Jack, you give them the command to raise him. I'll do what I can to help you get him up. Hopefully, he's considerably calmer then. If not, I'll try to cast a calming spell on him."

Ruby listened and chuckled at his discriptions " all right." she said listening more to how he kept tally of what was good and what was bad. When he mentioned Jack or Jesie she nodded "i'll ask Jessie since Jacks with Robert" she said and smiled at him " don't worry it will all be clean and ready for the fresh new batch, and I did notice Jacks not put on much weight even though he eats a lot of sweet stuff, that was a good idea." she told him finishing up his binding and holding up his shirt " all right as much as I love seeing you shirtless we should get you dressed she smirked at him her hand brushing over the binding gently.

Jack listened to Robert and nodded " you heard him guys, on the count of three." he said and watched as Robert cast the spell as they watched Jack saw him try and get to his feet " now guys gently lift him to his feet" he told them " thats it " he said as the hypogriff was set gently on its feet again. Now Jack watched as it lowered its head and began munching. " huh, a total change" he said smirking " I think he'll be good now"

Angus slipped his shirt back on, leaving it partly unbuttoned simply because he was a trifle uncomfortable and the shirt felt restrictive now. He went upstairs, and Edward, who was now eating a chocolate scone and drinking his espresso, saw the rib binder straight off.

"You do know that clumsiness is not a Donohue trait. You don't have to work so hard at making that happen," Edward teased. "You really have been a magnet for things lately, Boy. It's probably a good thing Ruby is learning just to patch you up and send you back out to go do it again. What'd you do this time? Broken rib?"

"Robert doesn't know yet. I just got too close to an angry hippogriff," Angus said. "I think it was hexed, actually."

"Okay, now is that sarcasm, or are you serious?" Edward asked.

"No, I'm serious. He had a wound to his flank that was oozing black smoke."

"Oh, that's not good."

"Robert's on it, so I presume he knows what he's dealing with," Angus said. Edward got up and looked out the kitchen windows.

"Evidently, he's dealt with it because they're getting the beast up already," Edward said. "I have a better question. Someone got that thing into me without me knowing about it. And something's gotten into the hippogriff. How are they getting by all the security to do this dark arts attacks? I think we can presume it was either Gelding's people or James's, Probably Gelding's though. But--how are they doing it?"

"Good question," Angus said. "Suppose we need to go take Kate and Mira and Jess and go through your house, and then maybe through Benjamin's? If that doesn't work, we might need to go through this house. Maybe our seers can find something we can't."

"That might be worth a thought."

"Anything you're particularly hungry for this week, Edward? I could use some ideas for menu planning."

"Some sort of really lovely, comforting ravioli, maybe with a garlic butter sauce."

"I have just the thing," Angus said. "That's easy. And any ideas about a dessert?"

"A nice, traditional lemon ricotta cake with almonds, if you can do it. Your grandmother's was the best."


"I remember," he said. "I'll give it my best shot."

"You probably shouldn't overdo until Robert decides how badly you were hurt. A hippogriff kick could have killed you."

"Not likely. It wasn't my head or anything."

"Now that, I wouldn't have worried about," Edward teased.

"I know, because there won't be much damage to an empty space, right?" Angus asked him.

"Well, if there had been anything up there between your ears, you wouldn't have gotten that close to a pissed off hippogriff in the first place. The evidence speaks for itself, doesn't it?" Edward laughed.

"You're right. I can't argue with that. Ruby, anything you're hungry for? Or anything you've heard someone mention they'd like?"

Ruby smiled at Edward and headed to the fridge she found the list on the upper shelf and showed Angus she'd found it and continued to clean out the fridge as she listened to them talking. Hearing Angus ask if ther was anything she fancied for lunch she shook her head "nope, what Edwrd sujested sounds delightful but you know Jack , meat anything with meat is his preferance." she said dropping some veg into a bin for the compost heap. She then cleaned the shelves and put them back ready for fresh goods to be placed on them.

Once done she moved to Angus and handed him the list " all clean and empty ready for the dilivery dear" she said smiling as she sat down with a glass of lemonade and one of Angus's scones.