"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.