LONDON CALLING

"He was in the laundry hamper," Mira said. "It'll teach me to check our pockets much more carefully. I owe Fudge a huge apology, but I don't speak bowtruckle."

"I do," Simone said, coming in. "Why do you need to speak bowtruckle?" Mira related the story, and Simone nodded. "Let me try." She went over to the tree and then spoke gently for a moment with Fudge. "He accepts your apologies, and once I explained the laundry system to him, he thought it was quite funny. So you're alright again. Now, is that lunch I smell?"

"It is," Mira said. "Abbey and I made grilled cheese and tomato basil soup. It's in the dining room."

"Bless you. Edward definitely needs a bit of a break," Simone said. "I'll go tell people that lunch is on." She went out to the garden and told Ruby and Edward that lunch was ready, and that they should both come and eat. She found Kate just finishing the gardening in the kitchen garden patch. Then she went up and told Marcus. In the meantime, Mira put Abbey in her chair and gave her a grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of soup.

"I'm starving. And to think, its just now noon, and I've put in a good seven hours already in this garden. If I work the afternoon too, I might get it all put in by supper time. And that'll be good because its supposed to rain all day tomorrow. A good soaking for new plants is just what a garden needs to get it settled in good. But right now, my stomach thinks my throat's been cut. I'm definitely going for lunch." As they went into the main house, Edward washed his hands too, and when Ruby asked about whether they've reached the mountain, Edward shook his head.

"Nah. Not yet. They've not even reached Budapest yet. When they reach Budapest, that''ll be tonight about supper time, so I think they'll stop for the night. Then, they've got another ten hours after that to get to the mountains. I'm guessing they'll start out at first light tomorrow and go as straight through as they can and as quickly as they can. If they manage that by mid afternoon, they'll get a good portion of the trek up the mountain done by nightfall. They'll probably reserve the climbing and the business at the mine for the next day and go straight back down the following day. Repelling goes faster, so they might pick up some time there if the weather holds. Then they have to travel down out of the mountains and back to Budapest. So, three days, I figure, to get up to the mine and to be able to start back down. And then another two days to get back to Budapest and back on the train. Once they're on the train, they've got 36 hours to home. If I know them at all, though, they'll try to find some short cuts wherever they can. If they find their magic works, they may try to apparate some short hops or Michael might try to make a couple portkeys. I know they're all going to be most anxious to get home."

"I like cheese sammiches," Abbey told Ruby. "Papa says Stickee no like 'em though."

"He won't eat your lovely cheese sandwiches, that's true," Simone told her with a little giggle. "But Ruby's right. It is a very lovely lunch, and we need to keep those recipes. You really are a very good little helpful in the kitchen. And I bet Ruby makes super cheesecake. I think we should have some after we finish our soup and sandwiches."

"Abbey, I have a tiny corner of my garden that doesn't have any plants. I think you should decide what I put there. What should I grow?"

"Chocolate!" Abbey said.

"Chocolate?" he laughed. "Chocolate trees won't grow around here, my sweet."

"But chocolate mint would," Simone said.

"Oh, yes," Edward said. "That would indeed."

"Whazzat?" Abbey asked.

"What's that?" Edward echoed, and she nodded. "Chocolate mint is a green plant, and the leaves taste like chocolate and peppermint. Your papa could make a wonderful tea with it, or I could make an extract with it that you could add to candy and cookies. It would be quite nice. Shall we try it, Abbey?" She nodded.

"Anyone ready for some of Ruby's cheesecake?" Simone asked.

"Me!" Abbey chimed.

"Me too," Edward said.

"And me," Kate said. "Sounds like cheesecake all around, Ruby."

"Oh, this is lovely, Ruby," Simone said. "Really silky. You've got a knack with cheesecake, you know. I think we should plan on having one for supper on the night our lads get home from the mountains--especially knowing how much Angus hates it there. What flavor do you think he would like?"

"Aggie likes chocolate and ornge."

"Chocolate orange?" Simone clarified. Abbey nodded. "I've never heard of a chocolate orange cheesecake."

"Angus made one up just around Valentine's Day. I bet if we looked, he's got that recipe written down somewhere."

"Aggie likes cow too," Abbey said.

"Yes, he does," Edward laughed. "His favorite food is a nice piece of beef. You're an observant little tyke, aren't you? You notice everything."

"She's spent most of her little life in this kitchen with him, and he talks to her all the time. She should know a thing or two about him," Kate said. "And about cooking."

"But we could do a nice supper--not a party--just a nice homecooked supper for them that night when they come home. They should be getting home just about supper time that night anyway," Edward said.

"If you help Edward in the garden, Ruby, Abbey and I could sort out some of those boxes of kitchen things in your place. She knows her spoons from her forks and her butter knives. She can sort out your cutlery for you while I sort out the dishes and the pots and pans," Kate said.

"Absolutely," Edward said.

"I'll be along in a moment," Simone said. "You two go ahead." She helped Kate and Mira clean up the lunch dishes and put the leftovers away. Then she got out three insulated mugs and filled them with ice and added some refreshing summer citrus tea to each mug and put the lids on. she took them out to the garden with her and gave one of the large mugs to Edward and one to Ruby and kept one for herself.

Kate and Mira went over to the duplex and started to unbox some of the kitchen equipment. Kate found the silverware organizer and put it down on the floor where Abby could reach it and put the box of cutlery down on the floor and showed Abbey where the spoons, the forks and the knives went in the organizer. Abbey picked up on it immediately and started sorting them out properly while Kate unpacked the plates and bowls and mugs and saucers and put them in the cabinets. Kate kept a tight watch on Abbey, but Abbey seemed like she was an old hand in the kitchen, and she impressed Kate. She could see Angus's role modeling and teaching in everything Abbey knew about the kitchen. She knew Angus doubted himself, but the more she watched Abbey, the more she saw that just by being with her, he had had a strong hand in the bright young child Abbey was becoming. She had no doubt he was going to be a great father someday.

The train crossed the border into Hungary, and Angus knew they were just a couple hours from Budapest. He packed his things so that when they pulled into the station, he was ready to get off the train and find a driver to take them to the hotel. He wanted to screw Budapest and cover as much by car as they could, but he understood why Michael believed a fresh start in the morning was a better option. They'd been on a train about long enough. They all needed to stretch their legs, get a hot shower in a roomier shower and perhaps try to find a fireplace to send a floo message home. Maybe. That made sense to Angus, if the magic worked here, and he wasn't sure about that.

Angus got off the train, and Brian and Michael followed. Angus knew this station well, and he knew that from here on, he was their guide. That was his job. He found, of all unexpected things, a stretch limousine that had been stood up for its expected fare. Angus talked to the driver in Romanian, and the driver agreed to take them to the hotel for half price. And since it was a stretch limousine, there was more than enough room for them all in the same car.

Michael had made reservations in the best hotel in the city, and in the biggest suite they had, and at a ridiculous rate. Brian wanted to know how Michael had managed it, and Michael finally admitted that Marcus's connections because of his work in Bulgaria had allowed Marcus to get the best suite in the house for a heavily discounted price.

They checked in, and found it was a three bedroom suite. Two of the bedrooms each had a king sized bed. The third had two twin sized beds. There were two bathrooms that looked like they easily could have been in any muggle millionaire's home. The bellhop brought up four bottles of ice cold craft beer, promising they were amongst the best beers in Budapest. Michael had made reservations in the restaurant for 8 pm. And since it was only 6:30, they had time to all shower and shave before supper.

"The restaurant is five star but you won't need your tuxes," Michael said. "The suit coat you have on is fine. If you have laundry, leave it for the room attendant. They'll do the laundry overnight and return it clean and pressed by morning."

"I'm going to hit the shower," Angus said.

"Shower number two is up for grabs, if you want to go first, Jessie," Michael offered.