A Birth day

Jack saw them slow down and slowed to them listening as Marcus spoke to them "he's right, First thing Robert told me when I got here was, what he says while on a mission goes, or was it don't question him...one of those two, but Marcus is right communication is key, its why we all get along, Yu long knows that so does Jessie, were not sers as Marcus said so can't know what the other is thinking and part of being part of a team is communicating and understanding what the other members need at that time, and anticipating it and knowing each other strengths and weaknesses." he said and put his hands on his hips " you'll learn that with time and trust me, you'll get it eventually, Jessie is still learning that but he's improving with Yu's help and our trust that Yu won't steer him wrong." he said then tapped his foot " now, can we run Im itching to wear off this excess energy" he told them.

Ruby saw Simone enter and smiled "you're looking much better," she said standing to walk over with Caprice who reached out to touch the doe. Ruby moved her hand from the uncooked doe and chuckled " hum looks like she'll take after you in the cooking department Angus." she said as Caprice moved her doe-covered fingers as if checking the texture and then giggled.

"I thought you guys were the big cheeses here," Sam said, picking up the pace to run because Jack wanted to run.

"Us?" Marcus laughed. "Noooo. Not us. That would be Robert."

"But he's old. Does he have any skills?" Victor asked. Marcus burst into laughter.

"Just a couple," Marcus teased. "You do know he was Minister of Magic, right?"

"He was?"

"He was. There are two things you probably should remember. First, Robert's in charge. Second, don't get on is bad side," Marcus said. He looked at Jack. "Does that cover it?" He dashed past the boys just for fun. "Come on, you tykes. Bring it if you've got it."

"Oh, no, no. You don't get to beat us," Victor said. "Not happening." He and Sam shot past Marcus, which was exactly what Marcus had wanted.

"I'm feeling better," Simone said. "Edward made me a potion to help ease some of the sore spots on the claw marks. It definitely helped." Angus tasted the sauce, and he immediately recognized the taste.

"This is my grandmother's secret recipe sauce. the one Edward said she never wrote down. This is it," Angus said. "It's one of my favorites." He got out a couple slices of bread and broke them into bite sized pieces, dipped a couple of them in the sauce and handed one piece to Ruby and one piece to Simone. "Taste," he told them. "This is the taste I grew up on."

Jack listened to Marcus and shook his head " he's right, Robert is the big boss." Jack thought for a moment then shook his head " nope Marcus you got it" he said and took off ahead running full speed so they would not catch up to him just yet. He laughed hearing them challenge Marcus as he got ahead of them.

Ruby smiled and nodded to Simone " that's good " she said then smelt the sauce as Simone made it. She smiled as Angus recognised the taste of the sauce. Taking the bread from him she ate it and smiled more " humm tastes wonderful" she said dipping her finger in the sauce she blew on it and gently let Caprice suck it off her finger gently. Caprice giggled and cooed as if she too loved it. " double approval" she said smiling at him.

Edward wandered over with a bottle of beer in his hand. Simone took a bite of the bread, dipped it in the sauce and looked at Edward.

"Angus wants you to test the sauce. Taste," she said, feeding him the little cube of bread. Instantly, Edward recognized the taste. It took him right back to when his Caprice was alive.

"Oh my god," Edward said. "How on earth..."

"It was in one of your old books," Simone said. "I showed it to Angus..."

"This was hers," he said.

"Did i get it right?"

"Perfect," Edward said. "You're spot on with it. Add your parmesan rind, and you'll have it." Angus added a large piece of parmesan cheese rind to let it cook in the sauce.

The boys ran as hard as they could, and then, all of a sudden, Sam got a bad charley horse, and, not expecting it, he fell flat on the blacktopped trail, and scraping the side of his leg, his forearm, and the entire side of his face. Victor fell over him, and would have thrown himself into a tree, except that Marcus caught him by the waistband of his running trousers and pulled him back from the tree. He hadn't seen Sam fall soon enough to catch him, but he did manage to save Victor.

"My leg," Sam said, clutching onto the leg with the charley horse. Now both legs hurt, along with his arm and his face, and he was starting to bleed.

Jack skidded to a stop when he saw Sam fall over then tried not to laugh as Victor almost followed suit " okay " he said walking back over to him. Checking his injuries he looked to Marcus " we'd best get these looked at and that Charley horse needs a cold pack on it" he said picking Sam up in his arms. " do not wriggle or I'll drop you" he warned him. He waited for Marcus to speak" or we could do a field dressing on them?" he suggested placing Sam down on a fallen tree close by the trail. Taking his canteen he pored some water over the wound on Sam's leg and arm.

Ruby chuckled at how surprised Edward was at the taste of the sauce " you didn't know it was in the book?" she asked letting Caprice suckle on her finger still as she watched Angus put some parmesan into the sauce " that will taste divine now" she admitted before moving to sit on a stood to watch Simone and Angus cooking together with Edward looking on.

"Let's do some field dressings for now and then get him to the main house to Robert for a bandage or two," Marcus said, gently massaging Sam's leg to try to get the spasm to let go. "I have had those, so I get it. Those are so painful. We'll get it stopped. And I know it isn't the first face plant these trails have ever seen. When you get home for summer, you can train with us on a regular basis, and you'll have fewer charley horses."

"These suck," Sam complained.

"Yes. They certainly do." Marcus drew one of the mini patch kits out of his pocket and he used the limited supplies to wrap the scrape on Sam's leg. The other scrapes would have to wait til they got him inside.

"I had no idea Caprice ever even wrote it down," Edward said. "In her last days, while she still had the strength, she would write little notes and poetry and tuck them away in my books that were either in the bedroom or in the library. I had no idea she actually wrote any recipes down. I haven't had this since the last time she fixed it because, as hard as we tried to duplicate it, it just wasn't the same." He kissed Simone. "Thank you for finding it."

"My pleasure, but it was more like a happy accident," she smiled.

Jack took out his kit and bandaged Sams arm " I'll carry him " and don't tell him I told you this but I believe Jessie fell close by too when he first ran this course, might have been twice not sure." he chuckled " I know he came off the assault course a lot of times before he got it right, still not beat my time though" he said chuckling as he finished wrapping Sams arm then moved to;ift him into his arms. " okay time to head back" he said and began to walk back to the main house.

Ruby smiled and looked at Edward " maybe she wrote it down for you to find later to enjoy with your family" she said softly and took hold of his hand gently.

Victor and Marcus followed Jack who was carrying Sam. When Jack said Jessie had fallen on the track too, Victor laughed.

"Typical Jessie," Victor said. "Sometimes he's a klutz. Sam isn't normally quite so bad because he's usually not as impulsive as Jessie and more focused on what he's doing."

That added up with what Marcus's impression of Sam was. Sam had always struck Marcus as being a deep thinker, always pretty focused and intense, and Victor seemed to be confirming that. As Sam was getting to know people here, he was coming out of his shell, and they were seeing there was a lot to like about him. Sam was smart, sensitive, funny and opinionated, and Marcus liked that about him. Victor was more of a closed book. Marcus believed he was just as much of a deep thinker but Victor didn't talk as much as Sam did. He was a bit more stand offish and was a little harder to get to know. But it was obvious that the two brothers were their own inseparable best mates. They weren't so unlike Marcus's own kids.

Robert was in the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of coffee. After being up all night working on the burning dusts, he had allowed himself a bit of a nap, and now he felt draggy and tired. He was regretting his decision to nap. The kitchen was starting to smell good with Nicky's preparation of supper for those who lived in the main house.

"Smells good, Nicky," Robert said.

"I hope so," Nicky smiled. "It's is a barbequed, shredded chicken for some good sandwiches on some fresh baked ciabatta sandwich buns that I added some toasted, diced onions to the top of. There is also macaroni and cheese, green beans with garlic and bacon, a fruit salad, and, for dessert, some fresh strawberry shortcake."

"I am suddenly a lot hungrier than I was two minutes ago," Robert laughed.

'There will be plenty, and I'm sure there will be some leftovers," Nicky said. "So you just bring that appetite with you to supper tonight."

Jack chuckled as he walked with Sam in his arms " oh yeah, Marcus you
are so right, he still is a little but is getting better at not relying on others " he said seeing the house looming in front of them. He took a sniff of the air and smiled " hum dinner almost ready" he said " smells like chicken" He added and continued to walk up to the door.

Pushing open the door he moved to place Sam in a chair " okay I'll talk to Robert he'll have you right as rain, but then I have to go tend the animals, you'll be okay." he said and moved to talk to him about what had happened. Once done he nodded to the boys and headed to the barn as it was not just the main house's feeding time but the animals too.

Robert was still standing in the kitchen when Jack came in with Sam, with Victor and Marcus following. Robert put down his coffee mug and went over and looked at Sam.

"He did a faceplant on the trail," Victor said.

"What did you do, Sam? Did you slide into that faceplant?" Robert frowned.

"Charley horse," Sam said, still clutching his leg.

"Thank you, Jack. I'll get it from here. Well, Sam, let me get that first for you. That will resolve part of your pain," Robert said. He reached down and laid his hand on Sam's scraped and bleeding leg and released the charley horse, and Sam relaxed instantly "That one was really in there. Better?"

"Much. Thanks," Sam said, as Kate came into the kitchen with Pip on her shoulder.

"Oh dear," she said. "That looks painful."

"He's a bit of a mess," Robert said. "We're going to go downstairs and clean him up and do some patching. He's going to need a plaster or two." Kate went over to Fudge's tree, and picked him up.

"Fudge," she said, "take Pip and go over to Simone and tell her about Sam, would you, Dear?" The little bowtruckle nodded, and Kate put the bowtruckle on Pip's back and gave Pip instructions about going to Angus's. Then she opened the door to let Pip out of the kitchen. The tiny owl took flight flying over and landing on Angus's kitchen windowsill, pecking at the glass.

Robert took Sam downstairs, with Victor's help.