LONDON CALLING

Jessie and Jack both nodded " we'll send word once we have her back" Jessie said Jack moved to Jessie and then looked at Kate " can you show us where the estate is?" he asked relative to the alley?" he needed to know so they could port close but not that close they would be spotted. Jack took out an old folded map and spread it over the kitchen table. It showed diagon alley and Hogsmeade in detail hoping she could show him where would be safe for them to port too.

Meanwhile Ruby sat on a branch quietly watching as men passed back and forth under her. A shadow caught her eye to her left but she staid on her branch, " I hope he shows soon" she thought to herself.

Kate looked at their map and waved it away. Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade wasn't going to do them any good.

"Not England, Lads. Paris. Gelding lives in Paris. To the best of our knowledge, he does not have a place in England. He became an ex pat years ago. This is what you need."

Always the artist, she got a piece of paper and a pencil and drew a quick but very good looking sketch of the location of Gelding's house, the alley that ran behind, the back gate, the front street where the front entrance was, as well as the cross roads that intersected both the front street and the back alley.

"There is also a servant's entrance on the the left side, as you're looking at the front gate. Over here." She marked it with an x. "Brian has always surmised that the deliveries go through there."

"They do," Angus said. "As well as staff shift changes, but there seem to be fewer of those in the last few months, according to Owens. He told me that in the last six months there were construction crews that appeared to be doing something in the main house. Trucks of lumber and supplies going in, contractors arriving and departing. And very little movement of staff shift changes since then."

"Ah," Kate said with a knowing smile. "That dirty buggar has copied us. He's done some remodeling in the main house and he's carved out some employees' quarters so that he can keep his staff around him. Clearly when you and Robert were there last and stuck old No-Brawn-No-Brains to the ceiling, he didn't want to let you know that his staff was now largely in house. And, here's something else you might find helpful. Right here," she pointed on the left side of the map, right across the street from the delivery entrance, "is an office building. Six floors. On fifth floor, is a little 24 hour coffee shop that just happens to look down over Gelding's yard. I doubt Gelding even knows its there. So, you could do at least some of your stake out in comfort with a cuppa."

"Why don't I know about that?" Angus frowned.

"Because you didn't take the time to talk to the muggle secretaries that work in that building, my boy," she smiled, patting his cheek. "Is any of this helpful for you lot at all?"

Jessie and Jack both face palmed realising it was in Paris and not England " thats why your orgnising this and not us" Jessie said as Jack groaned. They listened to her and nodded making a note of all the areas. " okay coffee shop it is" he said and Jack nodded " get a lay of the land and changing of guard then sneak in." He clarified. and thought about what they would need to take with them. " preperation is the key." Jessie said almost mimiking Roberts words.

Ruby sat and sighed boarded now she ported back to the farm and undid the charm. " god that was a waste, nothing happened and I saw nothing." she said Jessie walked over to her and sat her down " what?" she asked as he lent over her.

"you went rouge, we don't do that." Jessie said " we are a team you wait till the leader tell you to go, now Roberts off god knows where and were left to sort out scoping the estate by our selves, you though are staying here untill told to come and assist." he looked up at Kate " if you think thats sufishiant punishment." he pointed her to stay sat as she tried to stand up.

"Technically, she works for the ministry and not us," Kate reminded Jessie. "Though I daresay Robert might well do worse to her if he found himself in the mood to do it. Ruby, let me explain something. This team depends 100 percent on trust--trust in each other that we are open and honest with each other. Now, Michael didn't follow form by popping off by himself, but Robert and I went to Hogwarts with him. We were in the same house, for goodness sakes. Michael is a very reliable man of his word. His word very much is his bond. He makes very few promises because he takes them so seriously. He will not break his word. He promised Remus to make sure Khaat and Teddy were alright, and he's lived his life, taking that as a lifetime responsibility since Remus is no longer here. Robert was completely wasting his breath to try to get him to veer off the path that Michael believes his promise to Remus puts him on. That's why he's buggared off by himself. It infuriates Robert, but he understands it.

"As for you," Kate said, "your wand test was to scope out your fighting abilities, but you'll have to earn your trust as a team member. I expect you'll get a pass for this little faux pas, but surely, if you want to join the team, you won't get a pass a second time." She looked up at Jessie and Jack. "If you can use her, take her along. That's up to you. You realize you could scout out Gelding's place all night and not see a bloody thing. Check in periodically." She went to a drawer in the kitchen and opened it and got out, of all things a muggle cell phone.

"You don't see this," she told Ruby firmly, since muggle technology was forbidden. "Check in every so often." She handed the phone to Jessie. "My cell number is in the contacts in the phone. We have too much to lose to not be connected."

Jessie stepped back letting Kate talk to Ruby who now hung her head " I understand and Im sorry." she said softly " ushally the ministry leave me to my own devices but.. your right." she said Jessie nodded at Kates words.

"if we need her we'll send for her." he said and took the phone. " will do and I have used one of these before." he said opening it and bringing up her contact number. Then he closed it and placed it in his pocket. Jack looked at Jessie and nodded.

"All right are we ready or is there anything else we need to do?" he asked looking to Kate and Jess. Jess stood up and walked over to Jack.

"Just be careful not to be seen." she said and kissed Jack " I want you back in one peice." she added and Jack chuckled softly.

"I will." he replied and looked at Kate " alright if theres nothing else we'll get to the coffee shop."

"Oh, I almost forgot. Wait. You'll need muggle money. It's a muggle coffee shop.," Kate told them. She reached into an antique dog biscuit tin she had on display on a kitchen hutch cabinet and got out a handful of paper muggle money and handed it to them. "Here. This should get you through the night, unless you eat one dinner after the other all night. You do that, and I'll have you running the obstacle course for the next three days to run it all off. Now, be careful, and get going."

When they had gone, Kate looked at Jess and teased her just a little. "I wasn't going to tell them that this place makes exceptional designer donuts at night for the workers to buy in the morning. I wonder if I should notify the coffee shop that Jack is coming so they can put on extra donut makers tonight."

"Kate," Angus said. "I'd like to go just take a look at the lodge. Might I take Mira and maybe--maybe Ruby and go see? If you need me here, I won't go."

"Gabe and I and Jess are here," Edward said. "Where is Brian?"

"With Abbey, I believe," Kate said.

"Leave him be, then," Edward replied. "Being a dad is a very important job. For tonight, let's let him do it. Do you want to go with Angus and Mira, Ruby?"

Jack took the money and handed it to Jessie who counted it and nodded " should well be enough " he told her and together they ported to the coffee shop. Jack paused and too a deep breath in Jessie groaned at what he too could smell. " oh god doughnuts" he said shaking his head " only two no more we need to stay focused, and only with some tea." he added Jack chuckled and nodded.

Jess looked at Kate and chuckled to her self " oh they will be out by morning" she said hoping Jack would watch hw many he ate." if I know Jack he'll behave while on a mission." she told Kate. Ruby looked up at Angus as he spoke.

"I wouldn't blame you for not wanting me with you" she told him " but I will do as you say to the letter." she stayed sat down in her chair listening to the others talk of Brian and how he was now a doughting father to Abby. She wished her own was like that and had not pushed her and Jessie away.

"Kate," Edward began.

"I do understand the need for second chances," she said, "especially when my daughter is missing. Right now, we need to put all that aside and take any and all help we can get, and I think Robert would agree with me. Alright, Ruby, you may go with them. Angus, show us a rough map of where the lodge is so that if you end up needing backup, we know where you are." Angus nodded and accio'd a folding paper map of Paris and the surrounding area.

"We're over here in the Bagnolet neighborhood," Angus showed her, and she nodded, knowing Paris rather well. The lodge is over here, in Indre."

"Its practically in our backyard, then," she said. "Not that far. An easy apparating spell away."

"Yes. Indre is a rather rural area near Paris, and he's on the outside edge of Indre. There's a large wooded area there, and the lodge is inside of it. I think he must own it. And here's the thing. There's an old cemetery in that estate, and even an old abandoned chapel."

"Then there could be perhaps a mausoleum or something?"

"Well, no, I haven't seen one of those, but let's not rule out that in that area, with the chapel being as old as it is, there could well be some sort of catacombs or something. And there's some sort of old structure here that I haven't been able to see or get to. I've flown over it on my broom, but I still can't see what it is. It's about the size of a large house, but I've never seen activity there, and it's deeply covered by thick trees and fauna growth. It must be abandoned."

"I say we concentrate our efforts at this lodge then and the estate, especially if Jack and Jessie end up with a quiet night at Gelding's main estate. And that wouldn't surprise me a bit. My gut says that since Robert was able to walk straight in, Gelding isn't fool enough to hold Khaat there. I like this lodge area, myself--unless we can find some other real estate holdings in France that point off in a different direction."

"Agreed. Alright, I'll take Mira and Ruby and we'll see what we can find."

"Do you want me to go along?" Edward asked Angus.

"The more the merrier, I say," Angus said. "It's a large area, and as thick as the woods are, it could be hiding even more."

"I'll stay so that Kate has someone to float to any other place that might need some sort of backup," Gabe said.

"Thank you. I appreciate that. She also knew she had Jess and Brian that could go if need be. And if Robert returned, he surely could go.

Ruby looked at the map and nodded "Theres the rue foreal, that passes close to it, If you need me to I could scope out from there?" she asked drawing a line on the map with her finger to the north and skirted around to the west. Jess looked at Angus and nodded " all right " she said standing abck to wait for every one to be ready. She took a deep breath in and focused herself.

Jess stood and looked at Kate" we can do this , she'll be home soon" she said softly hoping to add some reasurance to Kate.

"It's worth a try, Ruby," Kate said. "Remember, all, you're scouting. You're not invading. This is high stealth. Don't get caught. Keep your medallions about you. Oh. I almost forgot. Ruby, take a medallion in case you need it to summon help. You'll find the doubloon spins. If you spin it to the left, it sounds an alarm to others who also have medallions and summons them to you. If you turn it to the right, it takes you right to where someone summoned an alarm from. I remember it this way, I turn it to the left if I don't want to get left behind. I turn it to the right to be taken right there. Angus can help you with it if you need it. Safety first, and good luck." She handed Ruby a medallion, and at this point, she didn't know if Ruby was using it temporarily or if she had actually joined the team.

"Let's get going then," Angus said. "Grab hold, since I know where this lodge is."

He ported them to a bank of a rather large creek. The night was clear, and while it wasn't a full moon, it was bright, and the stars were spectacularly clear and vibrant. They would have some light to work by without having to necessarily have their wands lit all night long.

"The lodge is that way," Angus said to them quietly, pointing through the trees behind them. Look for a large slanted boulder. The trail is right on the left of that. It's a thin trail so you have to look close. The lodge is protected by a black iron fence, so don't go plunging ahead, The spikes on the top of the fence would be painful, but once we reach the fence, we can split up and try to scout out the perimeters at least. It's worth a try."

"I'm on it," Mira said, walking towards the trees, looking for the slanted boulder. Angus and Edward followed.