Fee Fi Fo Fum

"I'm glad it's helping," Robert said. "I'll give it another check after dinner tomorrow night, but I think you'll find it makes a big improvement for you. Now, while you're relaxing, I'm going to go see what my other patient's injuries look like. Have a good evening." He took his bag and left Jack to continue putting the cream on Jess's back.

He found Khaat in her room. He had actually expected to find her downstairs, but she was on her bed, with pillows back under her leg. Marcus was there, fiddling with the latch on the largest bedroom.

"Did you misbehave to get back up here?" Robert asked.

"No," Marcus answered for her. "I brought her back up here and made sure she behaved. Brian has Abbey in the bath, so I brought Khaat back up myself."

"Thank you," Robert told him. "What are you doing?"

"Tightening the latch on the window," Marcus said. "It's not tight enough for my liking. With your permission, I'm going to go around the house and put an additional layer of protection charms on the house's doors and windows, just as a precaution. If James does happen to someday make it onto the grounds, I do not want him having an easy time of it if he thinks he wants to get into the house."

"By all means," Robert said. "And I think you and Jack should go check the barn so the animals are safe, and check the guest house and the workers' cabins so we know that everyone who lives or works here will be as safe as we know how to make them."

"Of course," Marcus said. "I'll talk to Jack about it either later tonight or tomorrow after their shopping trip. Whichever happens first. I doubt he'll have any problem with securing the buildings."

"Go ahead if you want," Robert told them. "By the looks of this leg, I might be here a bit."

"I'll be fine tonight, Marcus. The rest of the evening is yours," Khaat said.

"I appreciate it, but I'll rest easier if I know things are as secure as we can make it," Marcus said. "Let's go, Jack. I think we should go to the worker cabins first since we have people living in them, then the barn, and then the guest cabin since it's empty. If we check the cabins together it will go faster, and I'm sure the workers would appreciate that since they're early risers. What do you think, Jack?"

Brian finally got Abbey out of the bath and he took her to her room to read her a bedtime story and tuck her in. It was a time of day he particularly enjoyed.

Meanwhile, Robert settled in to check Khaat's leg and to set more healing spells in place.

"Perhaps by foot, at least for the cabins, since they're all close together," Marcus said. "I might want to take horses tomorrow in daylight sometime to set some enchantments around the guard towers. I have no idea if a transformed werewolf can climb or not. Wolves don't climb, but I don't know about werewolves. Still, I think we need to be sure that our guard towers are secure because they have such good views of the estate. We do not need James having that sort of a view if we can prevent it. I also saw an area on the map that Brian has marked out for a possible play yard for kids. I'm going to talk to him about moving that closer to the house. He's got it right on the edge of the woods, and I understand the idea of wanting shade, but still its too far away for security purposes. I'll show it to you on the map later if you want."

He headed towards the guest houses and once he explained what he and Jack were there for, they easily got access. Marcus wanted to check the latches on the doors and windows and he wanted to cast protection spells on every door, every window, and every house.

"Doors, windows, or spells, Jack?" Marcus asked.

"Ok," Marcus said. He cast protection spells on the windows and doors, and on the cabin, inside and out to try to make sure that the families inside were safe from dark magic or dark intentions. The family that owned the cabin were grateful for whatever extra protections they could get. They had read the evening papers that spoke of the two dead blonde women in Diagon Alley, and they were afraid. Marcus did his best to reassure them that Brian took safety very seriously and that was why they were adding additional safe guards, just to be sure everyone was safe.

"One down, and five to go," Marcus said when they left the first cabin. "I think the biggest job is going to be reassuring these families that if we can keep them safe, that we're certainly going to do that. I think if we talk to them about not going to Diagon Alley alone, that would help. That, and if they see anything, they need to say something to us. They need to tell us. Let's keep going. By the way, what do you think you're going to look for when you go shopping for Jess? And what exactly do you know about shopping for a woman, anyway?"

"I know I haven't mentioned it, but I technically am married--technically. My wife and I have been separated for nigh onto ten years because...well, she's not interested in being a mother and definitely not interested in being my wife. She has a wandering eye for any young, rich playboy who will buy her all sorts of expensive things. I have stayed married to her because she is sometimes not herself, and she needs someone to make decisions for her." That was the kind way of saying that Evelyn wasn't always emotionally well.  He didn't blame her for it. He understood it wasn't anything she asked for, but he also knew that she sometimes needed someone she could trust to make wise choices for her until she could make them for herself again. Marcus had always been Evelyn's port in the storm, and he knew it might always be that way. They were clear with each other that they could see whoever they liked, but the marriage gave him a way to protect her when she needed it.

"At any rate," Marcus said to Jack, "its a long story. Suffice it to say that we're together for...convenience. Someday I'll explain it, I suppose. But--in that time I have learned a couple of rules about shopping for women.  First--get the bloody sizes right. If you get something too small, they kneejerk to thinking that's the size of woman you want and they believe they need to diet to accommodate you. Get the size too big, and they think you think they're fat, and they're off again to dieting. So get the bloody sizes right. Check her closet and her drawers and check them for yourself.

"If you buy underthings--you really do have to get those right. Not just sizes but also the style she likes. Nothing makes a woman more buggy than to have underwear or bras that don't fit or are uncomfortable. That's probably the cardinal rule.

"Let me give you an example. I've already sized up Khaat's closet. I need to know what sort of a woman she is and what she wears because those things can be important considerations in protcting her, especially from someone who already has designs out for her. She obviously doesn't like turtlenecks because she only has a few, and they're in black and next to her other 'mission wear' things. So I doubt I'd buy her any of those.

"She dearly loves high heels. She has piles of them, and particularly stilettos, so those would be a safe bet for her, although, they're a pain in the ass for me when a woman loves those. Women don't run well in stilettos.

"She likes shoulder bags, classically cut skirts, blouses, jeans, comfortable sweaters, and she has a lot of green things--probably because of her necklace. There isn't one ruffle in her closet. Not one, so I wouldn't bring her a blouse with ruffles. And she likes things to fit well. How they fit is important to her. She also likes Brian's shirts because she has obviously pilfered some of them. She loves shawls of all sorts, so those are safe bets. I know her sizes, and I know her perfume preferences. Check some of those things for Jess, and take notes if you need to. Take a cue about what she already has and what she likes. You'll be safe that way. Make sense?"