LONDON CALLING

"Yeah," Michael said. "Oh, so you know, Ruby, Nigel wants to try Angus with six small meals rather than three standard meals. He thinks the nutrition will absorb better and he thinks that, right now, with his strength so limited, he'll have less trouble eating with the smaller meals. He would like to avoid Angus not eating well because he gets too tired. He sent a note to Lily, and Lily adapted the meal plan, so now we have both--whatever he does better with. And I sent over two or three days worth of snacks. When we eat, I'll send him what we eat, just in a smaller portion. It's worth a try, I think. I'm almost ready to set things out in the dining room. Do you have time to get the dining room set up? I'll put the tray together for Angus and Andrew while you do that, if you can."

He made a tray with a regular portion for Andrew and a smaller one for Angus. He had also tried his hand at a much healthier cookie recipe. He had made, instead of peanut butter cookies, almond butter cookies, and he had added some chocolate chunks and some chopped almonds for additional texture. Then he had added just a dollop of chocolate ganache on the top to decorate them. He thought they turned out pretty well. He wasn't telling everyone that he was feeding them the same high nutrition dishes that he was serving Angus because, frankly, he didn't want to run the kitchen like a short order cook in a diner. He was going to just see how people felt if they ate a ridiculously healthy diet for a few days.

"Yeah, that was a concern for Nigel and Robert both, so Nigel thought this was worth a try," Michael said. "In order for things to regenerate, the body needs to be given all sorts of extra nutrition so it has building blocks to work with, basically."

Michael had fixed a tray for Andrew and Angus and had floated it over to the duplex. With that job done, he took the quinoa and fresh vegetable pilaf to the table, and then made a separate trip for the spinach salad with the warm bacon dressing, and then one final trip for the chocolate and almond butter cookies.

Andrew took lunch out on the back terrace for himself and Angus, and he saw Angus had slept part of the morning. He set out lunch on the outdoor dining table and then moved one of the chairs away so Angus could simply sit in his chair to eat. Then he woke Angus for lunch and moved the chair to the table before he sat down at the table with Angus. Then they ate lunch together.

Edward and Simone went over to the kitchen when Michael called everyone, and they were talking about how good it was to see Angus outside, even if he was sleeping.

"I didn't see him out," Michael said.

"Andrew took him out on the back terrace behind the house. It overlooks the garden and the woods, and the view really is very nice," Edward said. "I don't know how much he really saw of it because he looked like he slept most of the morning."

"That's alright," Nigel said. "He's going to do that for awhile. Remember he's only a couple of days out of critical condition. He needs a little time, but the fact that Andrew got him out in the sunshine and fresh air is a good thing. That's good for him physically, as well as for his morale. Michael, this is excellent. I really like the fresh chutney."

"Thank you," Michael said. "I like good fish, and this was some exceptional salmon this time. It was just begging to be used. I think Ruby and I are going out to the woods for a little this afternoon, but I should be back in plenty of time to cook supper."

"Well, we generally do eat pretty healthy here," Michael said. "We don't do a lot of fried foods or junk foods, really. And most everything is as fresh as we can get it."

"Well, it certainly gives you more nutrition if its fresh," Nigel said, "And the fact that you don't fry much of anything in grease, and that you don't load things down with salt, all of that helps. It sounds like Angus has sort of tried to set up this kitchen to do mostly healthy cooking."

"He has always tried to encourage us to limit junk foods and he's always trying some new healthy thing or another," Kate said. "So now, we get to show him what we've learned and we get to fix some healthy things for him." She tried one of the cookies too. "These are really nice. Tell me these are just decadent."

"I could, but they're not. They're made with almonds, almond butter and some other healthy things."

"Well, even chocolate can be healthy in moderation, though," Nigel said. "Dark chocolate is loaded with antioxidants, and its jam packed with essential minerals that we all need."

They were just finishing when Andrew floated the tray back over. Michael intercepted it, and he checked what was eaten and what wasn't.

"Well, that might be the ticket," Michael said. "He did much better today. Ate probably three fourths of it."

"Much better," Nigel said. "I'm satisfied with that."

"If we're tree climbing, we won't use those crampons," Michael said. "They're too harsh on the trees because they have so many spikes on them. We'll use tree climbing spikes. Some climbers call them spurs, but I've got some down in the equipment room. I'll go get them. I have to get Hiss anyway." He went up to his room and got Hiss and then went downstairs and got the tree climbing spikes instead. He brought up two sets of spikes and a gear bag with tree climbing gear in it. He loaded up her things and his.

"I'm sure Kaden does miss Jessie," Michael answered Ruby. "But he's also wise enough to know that Jessie's health comes first." he made a silent mental note to ask Robert if he had sent a message to Jeffrey about Reginald so that they could protect Jessie.

Edward and Simone decided that, since there were men on the grounds and in the house to protect Angus, they were going to go back to Simone's house and get more of her things and then take steps to either sublet it or close it down temporarily. They told Kate, so that someone knew where they were.

Michael picked out some very sturdy oak tree, and he chose them deliberately because they weren't a straight up and down shaft. The limbs were strong and went in just about every direction, and it would be an easier climb for a first effort.

"These are better for our work today," he told her. "Let's try that one first." It was a tree he would have freehanded without all the equipment but this was a lesson, and he had to model the right behavior. He showed her how to put on the tree climbing gear since it was a little different. Then he started up the tree first, showing her proper techniques, with some little adjustments in how to use her arms and legs that would make it easier for her to climb without having the same emphasis on upper body strength that most men used. He knew her physiology would make her approach it differently, so he kept that in mind and told her to follow him up but at her pacing.

"Yep. That's it. Use your dominant foot first always. Push with your legs and your feet til you can grab the branch you want and then pull yourself up so that you can sit on the branch. When you get to that branch, take a look at where you are and decide the next one you want to work your way up to. Since I'm taller than you, I may, at times, pick a branch that is a bit too far away for you. Don't feel badly about picking a closer branch if its easier to get to for you. Don't try to reach out too far, and don't choose a branch that doesn't feel like it will hold you. There's a branch to your left that has a large crack in it. I saw it as I went up. Don't pick that one. Try to make your next move either straight up or to your right. I'm going to send Hiss down to tie onto you as a safety line, just as a precaution."

He had Hiss tied around himself where he was, and he sent the other end to tie onto Ruby just to make sure that even if she did slip, he had her anchored.

Angus woke from a bit of a short snooze and saw Michael teaching Ruby how to climb a tree. He approved of Michael's way of thinking. Trees first, climbing walls second, rocks next. Oak trees weren't as straight up, and it would give her some confidence and help her build her judgment skills for when things go harder.

Looking in the other direction, he saw a shadow moving in the woods on the other side of the duplex, away from where Ruby and Michael were working. It sent alarm buttons off in Angus's head. He automatically reached for his wand, and it wasn't there. But then he remembered he couldn't use it anyway. He saw Lee's outside guards, one posted near Edward's garden, and the other had just gone around the house on a walking patrol. He knew there were four guards inside, two in Edward's house and two in his own.

He had remembered to tuck the loaded pistol in his belt, and the knife was in his pants pocket. He wasn't able to see clearly what had moved through the trees, whether it was an animal or a person, but it made his heart beat faster. And he was concerned now for Andrew, who was unaware. For now, he wasn't going to sound any alarm. He was just going to watch, hoping he was just on alert about some random wildlife. He was partly kicking himself for becoming nervous over a shadow, but it made him realize how very helpless he felt without his feet and without his magic. He knew the vulnerable figure he certainly looked like, sitting out here on his terrace in a wheelchair. If Tyler came now, he was sure that Tyler's one thought would be how much of a sitting duck Angus now was.