LONDON CALLING

Yulong and Jessie walked around the grounds finding at least three traps and pulling them up after setting them off. Jessie pulled the steak hat and held the last one down when he heard a snap and Yu curse. Moving over he saw Yu with his arm caught in the trap.

"Thought it was tripped already," he said throwing gritted teeth as Jessie moved quickly and pried the jaws open so Yulong could pull his arm out and sit back. Jessie let the trap snap closed and pulled it out of the ground before heading to check Yu, Finding several puncture wounds he took his shirt and ripped some off it and tied it around Yu's arm.

"We should get you to Kate," he said helping him to stand as several men walked over " get those to the shed please," he asked and walked Yu to the main house " sorry Kate could you look at Yu's arm he got caught in a trap," he said moving his hand tht had been keeping pressure on the wounds.

"Oh, dear," Kate said when they came in with Yu. "I'm not a healer. I'm sorry. I'll send for Edward. He has some abilities. I'm sure he can help at least until Khaat or Robert get home."

She sent a paper bird over to Edward's duplex, and Edward and Simone both came in short order. Edward took a look at Yulong's arm.

"Come downstairs with me to the sickbay. We'll disinfect it, do some healing spells on it to close the bleeding wounds, and then we'll wrap it just to keep it from doing any seeping--just in case. Robert has the right strategy with things like this. He believes they should heal from the inside out," Edward said to Yulong.

"Can I be of any help?" Simone asked.

"I think I've got it," Edward said. "Thanks anyway."

"Well, then, perhaps I can lend a hand in the kitchen. Is there anything I can do, Angus?"

"Caesar salad or garlic breadsticks?" he asked. "Or you could call everyone to the ploughman's we've set out in the dining room for lunch."

"I can handle that," she smiled. She summoned everyone for lunch and then devoted herself to making salad and breadsticks for supper. As she was doing that, a young, pretty black woman arrived with a couple large suitcases. She presented her letter from Angus, and the guards brought her to the house. The guard knocked on the door, and Kate answered it.

"This woman has a letter from Angus," the man said. "Said she's new on staff here."

"Oh, thank you," Kate smiled. "And you must be Zoe Ricard. Angus has told us all about you."

"Is that good or bad?" Zoe laughed.

"All very good, I assure you. I'm Kate Lupin. Come in, and we'll get you settled in. You can leave your bags anywhere, and we'll get them. Could I offer you something? Tea or coffee, perhaps?"

"Coffee sounds wonderful," Zoe smiled.

"Everyone," Kate called, "this is one of our new chefs, Zoe Ricard."

"Hey, Zoe," Angus called, waving. "Glad to have you on board. Lunch is on in the dining room if you're hungry."

"I might take you up on that. It's still breakfast time at home, you know, but I was excited about getting started so I skipped breakfast."

"Well, help yourself," he smiled. "It's that way." He pointed the direction to the dining room out to her.

Yulong looked at Kate and nodded then looked at Jessie " would have been better for Khaat or Jess to look at it" he said softly and Jessie blushed. He heard and saw Edward enter and moved toward him leaving Jessie at the counter in the kitchen. " of course" he said following Edward down to the sickbay where he took off his shirt to show the wounds revealing his tattoos. " I got caught in a trap," he said simply placing his arm on the counter. He listened to Edward and nodded " of course"

Jessie saw the new person enter and smiled at her when introduced he nodded " welcome" he said and offered his hand " hope you like it here." once shook he placed his hand back in his pocket as he waited for Yulong to appear.

"They rightly detest those sorts of traps here. I've seen wounds from these traps before. We certainly want to ward off any possible infection because a lot of trappers don't give a rat's pajamas about infection. Jaw traps are often filthy dirty," Edward said. He found a bottle of disinfectant and some gauze. "The nice thing about Robert's potions is that he does try to make them as least invasive as possible. This version does the job but doesn't burn. Can't say I like the smell, but I guess we can't have all things." He sponged the wounds with disinfectant and then used some healing spells to close the wounds from the inside and cast a pain relief spell. Then he dressed them and bandaged the wounds. "That should hold you for awhile. "You lot save the traps if you find any more. I'd like a look at them, if I might. Never know what we might learn from them about whoever set them. There. That should do it. You should be right as rain in a couple of days, I should think. Maybe you and Jessie can get some lunch before you go back out. Looked like a rather five star gourmet ploughmans, if there is such a thing. Hopefully, they've set out some beer. Ploughmans should always be accompanied by a decent ale. Coming?"

Zoe found the ploughmans, and although she had heard what a ploughman's was supposed to be, she'd never had one. Still, there was something appealing to being able to fix a plate with any number of nibbles on it, and she popped a top on a bottle of bottle of ale and cast a spell on it to chill it. Being an American, she liked her beer cold.

"Go get some lunch, Angus," Kate said. "I'll put the lasagnas in the oven and then start on the Victoria sponge. Where's Ruby? I hope she and Abbey aren't going to miss lunch. It could be a long time until supper."

Yulong listened to Edward and nodded " yes " he said " there in the barn for now" he said then winced alittle as Edward cleaned the wounds. Once clean and bandaged he breathed out and slipped his shirt back on as he heard mention food was ready " we will thankyou" he said and headed back up to the main rom where he saw a relived Jessie stood befoe Jessie could speak he smiled " Im fine." he told him " now food" he moved to grab some ploughmans lunch and sit at the table with a glass of soda as not wanting beer. Jessie did the same just as Ruby and Abby walked in , Ruby was giving Abby a piggy back ride.

"okay down we go food ready and knowing Angus its going to be delishous" she said setting Abby down on her booster seat then pushing her close to the table. Before she went and got food for them both " looks delishious as always Angus." she said kissing his cheek before heading to the table.

"Glad you like it," Angus smiled. "Sometimes there's just no substitute for some comfort food. This is Zoe. She's one of our new chefs. Zoe, this is my fiancee, Ruby, and Brian's daughter, Abbey."

"Nice to meet you," Zoe told Ruby. She looked at Abbey. "And I've heard about you. I hear you like to make cookies and that you are a good helper in the kitchen." Abbey nodded.

"Aggie teached me," Abbey nodded.

"That's Abbey-speak for Angus," Angus laughed.

"Aggie--I like it," Zoe said.

"Zoe is going to help cook for us so I can do other things," Angus told Abbey. "You can help show her around after lunch. She is going to need someone to show her where everything is, and you're very good with that. Oh, Zoe, we've already prepared supper, so we won't need you today. It'll be a good day to get unpacked and settled in and get acquainted with the estate and where things are. If there's something you need..." As Angus was speaking, he noticed that Zoe's attention was suddenly drawn to Abbey's pocket. He looked and saw Fudge in her pocket.

"Oh, that's Fudge. He lives here," Angus laughed.

"Is that a...a bowtruckle? I've never seen a real one," she said.

"It is indeed," Angus said. "Would you like to meet him?"

"Yeah," Zoe said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, come on, then, Fudge. You have a new friend," Angus said. The bowtruckle climbed out of Abbey's pocket and went over to Zoe to shake hands.

"Oh my," Zoe said, shaking hands. "You're an amazing little fellow."

"There are a lot of creatures here of all sorts," Angus said. "We'll introduce you. Do try to not go any further than the kitchen garden after dark unless you have one of the crew with you. The estate is very large, and there are some dangerous areas and some dangerous animals."

"By the size of the house, I'm going to have enough to do indoors just to find my way around," Zoe laughed.

Ruby smiled at Zoe and nodded " and you too" she said smiling as Fudge poked out of Abbys pocket then walked over to Zoe " he is that" she said standing and picking him up " I should put him in his tree with a treat while we eat." she said moving to the kitchen and placing Fudge in it , Taking out a cube she placed it next to him." there you go." she said and returned to the table just as Jack walked in and stopped.

"so whose the new face?" he asked " oh all the traps are gone but I put the men on high alert just incase we missed any" he said glancing from Angus to the new woman. He took a deep breath in and stad stood where he was as Jess joined him.

"hon, go wash those paws of yours they're fithy." she said and Jack went to the kitchen sink and washed his hands before returning with some food and sat down. Jess sat down " Im Jess darkheart , that hugh lummoks is my husband Jack." she said with a smile.

""Her name is Zoe, and she's one of the new chefs Angus hired. She'll be staying in Angus' room until we get some of the new cabins and apartments built. "She's from New Orleans. Angus said she's exceptionally skilled."

"Nice to meet you," Zoe told Jack and Jess. "Angus told me it is a rather large clan. I'm used to having large guys around. I've got two cousins back home that are over seven foot tall, and built just about like him. They play professional football--American style football, not soccer. So tell me what sort of food does everyone here like to eat?"

"Anything that isn't still moving," Angus laughed. "So long as it lays still on the plate, they'll eat it."

"Good to know," Zoe laughed.

"We have a couple of werewolves that do tend to have higher meat needs and..."

"Werewolves?" Zoe looked wide eyed.

"Don't worry. They're housebroken," Angus teased. "Moet of the time anyway. Don't you lot have magical creature at home?"

"Well, sure. My mom has a wampus cat, and just about everyone I know has owned a pygmy puff at one point or another," she said.

'i think you're going to fit in just fine," Angus smiled. "Can you take the breakfast shift in the morning?"

"Of course. What does everyone like for breakfast?"

"Pancakes!" Abbey piped up.

"Ifyou eat one more pancake, you're going to become a pancake," Angus told her.

"Pancakes are my favorite too," Zoe said to Abbey.

"There," Kate said, satisfied. "Victoria sponge in the oven. When you finish your lunch, I'll show you the house. Jack, do you mind helping Zoe with her bags after you eat? She'll be using Angus's old room upstairs for a bit."

Jack looked at Angus as he said some of the werewolves were house broken and gave a low growl " hey, pipsqueak might not be, but I am" he said glancing at Zoe " nice to meet you" he said quickly and continued to eat. Jess smirked and looked at Angus.

"nice to meet you Zoe and Angus is right, meat and veg are prefered but Jack loves Meat too much," she told her hearing Abby she chuckled and shook her head " a balanced breakfast, yes with pancakes is good" she smiled still as she continued "I'm a healer at st mungos, Jack manages the grounds staff here and a wolf pack in the hills." she added as she ate her food then heard Kate " that should be a wonderful treat," she told her.

"Well, I think I'm going to like it here," Zoe smiled. "Nice to meet you, Jess and Jack. It seems like you're one big, happy family."

"So what do you do in your free time, Zoe?" Kate asked.

"I do a lot of things, but I jog every day. When the weather's good, I swim. I like tai chi, I read. I do needlepoint and watercolor painting and I make a little jewelry now and then," she said.

"Well, you'll have a lot of company then," Kate smiled. "You've tapped into the interests of just about everyone here. I'm sure someone will be jogging this evening after supper if you want to go with them."

"I'd like that," she said, "if I'm not imposing."

"Not at all," Kate said as Zoe finished her meal. Zoe was going to pick up her plate and take it to the kitchen, and Kate smiled. "Leave it. We'll get it. Come. Let me show you around the house. And maybe a short walk around some of the things on the grounds."

"Perfect," Zoe smiled.

"Oh, by the way, everyone," Angus said. "We'll have two more staff members arriving tonight after supper. Nicky is the other chef joining our staff. He'll be taking the second shift kitchen duties, and his wife, Shannon is our new housekeeper. They have two children. Molly is 4 years old, and their son Lucas is just six months. They have the last vacant cabin until the construction is finished on the new cabins and the 8 unit apartment building that we're building. Nicky is Jamaican, and Shannon is as Irish as they come."