Hunting Thingamajigs

"We're far safer here than in a tent," Angus said. "We can use some of the furniture from the tent in here. We really don't need to sit on rocks all evening." Michael set about making a fire too provide light and just the little bit of warmth the cave needed to be comfortable.

"How about you lot find some of the easy chairs from the tent and get them out?" Michael suggested. "And there are white canvas hammocks we can use to sleep in tonight. They each have their own mosquite netting and pillows and blankets. They're enchanted so that they can simply hang in the air without having to be tied to anything. Use balls of bluebell flame to light the cave. Those can float if you simply suspend them. If you can set up the tent, Angus and I can work to prepare us some sort of dinner."

Khaat heard what sounded to her like a roaring sound outside the cave. She walked back to the entrance and saw that where they had just been was not being deluged by a rain so heavy and blinding that she couldn't see two feet outside the entrance of the cave.

Brian walked over to her. "Its very normal here for it to rain like this," he said to her gently. "It will clear up by morning. Its not the rainy season here. So it'll be alright." She nodded.

Cassidy reaching the bag and took out the furniture while Jim re-enlarged it and set it in place the hammocks he placed at one end of the cave for privacy cassidy watched Khaat and looked out of the cave entrance " wow that's heavy" she said as Jack chuckled.

" its ok that's how rain is here , right Angus?" he asked " I saw it on the discovery channel once" Jim now chuckled as he placed the last hammock in place then looked back at her and the rain.

" won't last it never does here" he said cassidy moved to sit in one of the comfortable chairs next to the fire.

"When did you watch muggle television?" Brian laughed. "But yes, thats what they get here. Sheets and sheets of rain." Brian expected it would rain all night, most likely and then clear up by sunrise. He was hoping that it didn't make the humidity unbearable for hiking the next day. He had lived through that before, but he knew some of the rest of them weren't used to it. It made him just a little anxious.

MIchael could guess what Brian was fearful of. He redirected the group's thinking towards dinner. He decided to take some pork pieces and put it with some potatoes and cheese and dried apples in a one dish meal. He soon had it braising all together over the fire and smelling delicious. He made a quick batch of dough and put in some more dried apples and tucked them inside, making some sweet cinnamon apple pasties for dessert and baked them in foil in the coals of the fire. As a last touch, he put on a pot of Robert's special almond tea, knowing that it always brought a bit of comfort to the crew.

Brian diverted Khaat back to the chairs and had her sit. He stood behind her and started to massage her shoulders and her back and her neck. It felt wonderful. She simply closed her eyes and let him work the soreness out of those muscles.

Jim chuckled as he sat with cassidy , Jack looked at them all " hay it was educational and it was when Jess wasn't well that time nothing else was on so I put on a muggle tv program" he added Cassidy watched the rain fall and sighed.

" in its own way its beautiful" she said and Jim nodded.

" out here it has a purpose, to keep all this jungle alive with animals and plant life" he said and cassidy nodded still looking at the sheet rain out side.

"Come eat," Angus said, drawing out the bowls and handing them to Michael. Michael dished up his pork dish for them one bowl at a time, and handed them out to them.

"Angus, get into my bag," Michael said. "Into the muggle shaving kit." Angus frowned. He opened Michael's pack and found the chocolate brown colored leather shaving kit and opened it. It was loaded with tiny shrunken bottles of alcohol and wine, each wrapped in white packing styrofoam. He laughed and found a wonderful white wine and drew it out and opened it. He got the tin coffee cups and poured them all some wine in their cups.

"Who else brings a vintage like that into the rainforest?" Angus laughed.

"We do have the right to be civilized, do we not?" Michael said.

Khaat took a sip of the wine. "Its lovely, Michael. Thank you for thinking of it,"

"Let me know how the pork is," Michael said. She tasted it. It was incredible.

"I want that recipe for fall, Michael, for Sparks. I like the hint of cinnamon. It really adds to the pork. Its wonderful," she said.

Jim chuckled and sipped his wine and nodded at Khaats words " ow I think this would be a best seller in sparks in the fall" he said and ate some of his own " its simple yet filling and warming too" he said finishing his last bite cassidy finished hers and smiled.

" it was perfect " she said " so is the wine " she sipped the wine and sat back in her chair watching the others she wondered just what they were getting into with this mission and just what was the mysterious artifact they wee hunting down.

Michael was eating and enjoying the wine when his very sensitive hearing heard something outside. He got to his feet and set his bowl and his glass next to Angus. He accio'd a rain poncho.

"Don't go too far from your wands, would you? I thought I heard something," he said. He put on the poncho and snatched up his wand and went outside in the blinding rain. He listened and walked farther up the path. Then he saw it. Fingers. Thin, pale femine fingers with graceful long well manicured nails. He knelt and searched the underbrush. She was young and beautiful, with long dark hair, pale skin, full lips, dressed in some sort of odd looking gothic styled flowing white long dress. It was covered in blood and so was she. Her throat was covered in blood. Her ice blue eyes were open. He thought she was surely dead. But then the eyes moved, meeting his. It startled him. He touche her wrist and got a faint, irregular pulse. He picked her up and carried her back to the cave.

"I need help! Now!" he ordered.

Jim stood up hearing the sound he held his wand at the ready along with cassidy and Jack both took up defensive positions around Khaat as they waited to see if Brian could find what it was that had made the noise out side both Jack and Cassidy watched the entrance anticipating trouble from out side. Jim accioed his poncho and moved out following Brian's trail to where he found him crouched by a woman.
"Better get her inside so we can take abetter look at her and tend those wounds" he said over the drum of the rain all around them.

Michael brought her into the cave, as Angus drew out an extra white hammock and suspended it in the air at waist height so they could tend to the girl. Brian gave Michael a hand and they put her in the hammock.

"Get me water," Khaat stepped in and took charge. "We need to clean her up so I can see." Angus poured a basin of water and handed it to Cassidy and handed her a washcloth to use. Khaat checked her vital signs. The woman had had a near fatal loss of blood. Khaat wasn't even sure why she was alive, and she couldn't begin to explain why she was conscious. The body scan she did showed only multiple wounds to her throat. No other. That, a serious lack of food and water, and the very critical blood loss.

"Will she live?" Michael asked.

"I don't know yet," Khaat said.

Cassidy took the bowl and started to clean up the girl getting rid of all the dried and fresh blood soon she was as clean as she was going to get and cassidy poured out the water out side refiling it with cool rain water. crossing back over she heard Khaats words and spoke softly " who is she?" she asked " she looks like something from a Gothic movie " she added and placed a cool cloth on the girls forehead. Jim stood watching his wand out and still in his hand he wasn't sure on the girl so staid close beside the bed and Khaat he knew better than to to trust any stranger, half dead or not.