A Birth day

Ruby looked at Marcus and took a long deep breath in and brought her anger down. " your right , she's possibly picked up from Angus" she said and looked to Angus " maybe she could talk with Kate and Khaat when she comes home since they are seers too, she must be very sensative if she picked up from that far away." she heard Marcus mention the things he'd packed for Angus and looked back at him. " you think I could use any of those?" she asked " I only have my wand and one dagger." she accioed them and showws Marcus what she had.

Jessie and Yu looked at Angus then to Marcus " look after them both" Jessie said to him " if anything happens to them I'll be coming after her never mind you or Robert or even Edward" he said softly and smiled as he held Caprice in his arms as he stood bouncing her Yu held out his hands and took Caprice from Jessie.

"They will be fine" Yu told Jessie as he took his hand " calm and relax" he said making Jessie relax. He looked to Marcus and smiled " pressure points, they help calm him"

It was after supper that night that Robert finally gave Ruby and Angus and Marcus the all clear to go to New Orleans. Robert said that Marcus and Barnett would be arriving a bit before Angus and Ruby. Beau and Iya had already departed, and Robert and Kate and Michael were ready to leave as well. Edward and Simone had already gone, too. Angus wasn't sure what Robert's thinking was in making him and Ruby and Marcus one of the last teams to leave, but he was sure there was some wisdom behind it. In the meantime he had packed some extra weapons for Ruby into his own bags, as she had asked. He wanted her to feel confident in fighting this time.

It was Lee that ported them to New Orleans, and when they arrived, the heat and the humidity descended on Angus like a hot, wet blanket. It was stuffy and damp. It was only 2 o'clock in the afternoon here, and the full heat of the Louisiana summer afternoon was upon them to greet them. Angus was glad he had changed to lightweight tan cotton trousers and a thin, white gauze shirt with slip on shoes. Because their place was a cabin in the bayou and there was all sorts of wildlife around, Lee had suggested they not wear sandals.

When they ported in, Angus could tell someone was already there. The house had been opened to air.

"Stella, we're here," Lee called. A stocky woman in her 50's came out onto the porch. Her graying hair was piled up informally on top of her head, and she was wearing gauze capris and a peasant style gauze tunic with sneakers.

"This is Stella," Lee told Ruby and Angus. "She a member of our advance team. They go in and set up our houses and the ID's. She's here today to finish bringing in the groceries and making the house look lived in. You are supposed to have been living here, off and on, for some time. We have you here with a very loose cover since Marie isn't going to believe any cover we give you anyway. You're here, Angus, with an alias of Dr. Martin Cooper, and you're supposedly a professor on British history on a research trip to find out more about the British army's involvement in the war of 1812. There actually was quite a lot of British military involvement here in Louisiana at that time, and that's what you're researching. We've packed you, of course, several books and quite a lot of background on it, so I suggest you study up a bit.

"Ruby, we have equipped you with a really thin cover as well because she's not going to believe you just happen to be here with him unless you are already associated with him so there's no point in us trying to create a deep cover for either of you. You are now Pippa Cooper, Martin's wife. You and Barnett are here to do a feasibility study to determine if you can find traditional, historic American southern recipes that would be translatable fare for a possible new museum here in New Orleans dedicated to the same war that Angus is researching. Marcus is going to be Barnett's very devoted husband who is a weapons collector. He's here to accompany her and to try to find any antique muggle weapons to add to his collection. We've gotten pictures of some of Robert's best pieces and we've made them into a portfolio for Marcus's use to legitimize him. They will be James and Libby Smythe.

"Stella will be popping in and out initially every day or couple of days to bring you anything you need or to deliver anything you need delivered," Lee said. "As for transportation, you have an old pickup truck--presuming one of you can drive an American standard transmission. a Jeep wrangler, an air boat, and a speed boat. Robert tells me one of you is alright with boats."

"That would be me, I presume," Angus said.

"Good. Well, all the vehicles are gassed up, and the keys are hanging in the kitchen. Stella and Luke will unpack for you and finish readying both houses. Stella, this is Angus and Ruby--or Martin and Pippa. Did James and Libby arrive?"

"They did, but Libby isn't happy that she is expected to share a bedroom with James," Stella told Lee.

"Too bad. That's the gig. She'll have to adjust," Lee said, inflexible with it.

Ruby arrived with Angus and took his arm as they walked over to a house and heard Lee talking to them about their covers as they entered Ruby looked around the room "This is beautiful" she said softly but then brought herself back as she saw several people stood in the room. She listened to Lee then lanced at everyone in it seeing a woman standing in the corner with her hat over her face at first she didn't recognise her but then she smiled seeing Aria stood in a White crop top blouse with pull-string pants and brown leather sandals.

Poking Angus she pointed to Ari " I have never seen her out of uniform" she said softly. When Lee spoke of Marcus and Aria teaming up Ruby watched as Aria walked over to stand next to Marcus.

"If I have to share a bed with you hope you don't snore...dear," she said her arms folded across her chest "Also hands to your self " she looked at Lee " I'll persavere because its for a good cause" she turned to look at Marcus before turning away from him. " so wheres my..our room?" she asked with a sigh.

"Persevere?" Marcus looked at her, with an amused grin that she believed for some reason that she had to muster up to share a room with him. "Oh lord, you're just a barrel of monkeys, aren't you? This'll be fun." Angus laughed.

"You're in the other house," Lee told Marcus and Aria. "These two houses are both L shaped, and they rather fit together to create a center courtyard. They're very popular here because, in the city, they provide privacy. Out here, there's a lot of privacy, but the courtyards do also help to make the outdoor space a bit safer. Be very careful in the open outdoor spaces. There are absolutely alligators here, poisonous snakes, poisonous spiders, killer bees, poisonous moths, and a few other things. Do not go anywhere outside by yourselves. Just don't do it. If you see a snake or an alligator just get the hell out of their way. Give them a wide berth. If they get into the house, you page us. We'll come and handle them. You want to be outside, use the courtyard or the backporches. Each house has a back porch that extends the full length of the house, so it really gives you, for all practical purposes, a center courtyard that has a back porch that wraps all the way around it. It's a beautiful space. We have put layers of protections on that center area to try to keep the dangerous wildlife out but let's not fool ourselves. It is possible that something could still get in. This is an exceptionally dangerous area here. Be extremely careful. If you need a guide or someone to help you get around, you will be able to call Stella or Luke. They understand this area. So does Beau and Iya. if you need help, you speak up. Got it?"

Ruby chuckled at Angus's words " I agree so much fun" she said seeing how Aria seem to not like the idea one bit and how Marcus seem to rise to the challange. Aria stood listening to Lee and sighed "What does he think we'll do with them dance the fandango?" she said under her breath. " yes we got it " she said to Lee as she looked across the courtyard to the other house then back to Marcus as she picked up her bag and placed it over her shoulder.

Ruby chuckled and looked around the house "it's just as I pictured a house in this local to be" she said " I can't wait to start looking around " she added hoping he would understand she wanted to get the lay of the land for when the time comes to get the creole woman.

"I think that's an excellent idea, Ruby," Marcus said. "The more we know about where things are, the better off we'll be."

"New Orleans itself is about 56 miles from here, and its just west of here--actually a tad southwest. It isn't a hard drive but it does take a little," Lee said. "Stella, you have maps for them, right?"

"Maps and muggle phones so they can navigate around. And we also have a map of this area around here. There are also a number of tiny towns and villages where you can go to pick up essentials or just go meet some locals and try some local cuisine if you like. The water outside your door where the boats are docked is Lake Pontchartrain. You're actually on the north coast of the lake. New Orleans lies on the south coast of the lake. This area rains--a lot, and that can make some of the roads flood easily because parts of New Orleans and this area is actually below the water level. They've had to build levees and things to keep the water out. So, if we get a lot of rain, you might be better to apparate around, if you can hit alleys rather than to make us go obliviate a crap ton of muggles."

"I've bookmarked a lot of the shops and restaurants on your phones for you," Stella said, handing them each a phone.

"Oh, and your paging devices," Lee said. He hand a ring box to Marcus and one to Angus. "Since you're married couples, we decided the easiest way to give you alarm devices was to put then in your wedding rings." Angus opened the box and saw a man's ring and a woman's ring. He took the woman's ring and handed it to Ruby and he took the man's ring and gave the box back to Lee. Marcus did the same.

"And how are they activated?" Angus asked.

"There are a number of stones in the rings, but each ring has one stone that is bigger than the rest. If you press the large stones, that's what actually activates the alarm, but you need to use a double tap to do it. A single tap isn't enough," Lee said. "We did that because we know how easy it can be to bump a ring against something. That's why we did the double tap sequence."

Ruby nodded and listened to Lee as he spoke again seeing the rings she smiled as Angus put hers on her and then put his own on " I like ours better but I don't like the idea of damaging ours" she said and slipped off her ring and slipped it into the box before closing it and passing it to Angus " I'll want that back when this is over" she said with a smile " as nice as this one is, that one is mine" she added as she kissed his cheek gently.

Aria looked at the ring and then at Marcus, slipping it on she clenched her fist around it and headed for the door " we ready to settle in?" she asked " before you ask yes I was listening do not fuck with the wild life I got that" she told Lee. " and getting the lay of the land will help if we need to have a gettaway plan" she added then looked to Marcus " well come on hubby." she said directed to Marcus.

"I feel henpecked already," Marcus teased, following her.

"We'll leave you to settle in," Lee told Angus and Ruby.

"I'll be back in the morning," Stella said. "You'll see there is a vintage galvanized milk box on each of your front porches. They do serve a purpose. We leave you fresh items there in the mornings--newspapers, fresh pastries, milk or cream if you need it, that sort of thing. We normally deliver before daylight so we aren't seen. so make sure you check them as soon as you get up because the cooling charm to refrigerate the box doesn't last more than two or three hours. If you need something, you can leave us a note in the box. We can normally get it to you pretty quickly."

"Thank you," Angus said. "We're pretty self sufficient, but fresh pastries are always welcome."

They apparated out, leaving Ruby and Angus alone. Angus wandered through the house to get the idea of where things were. He found the jeep keys and the truck keys and took them from the hook and left out the kitchen door. He found the vehicles sitting in the drive. There was a bright red new Jeep wrangler, but what caught his eye was the vintage chevy pickup truck. It had been restored and was a gorgeous turquoise blue color. It was an absolute classic.

"Sweet!" he said. "They can have the jeep. The truck is ours."

Ruby chuckled again as Aria walked across the coart yard to their side and opened the door pacing down her bag she lay down on the bed then sat up " okaym which side do you want?" she asked motoning to the bed she now lay on. Sitting up she took off her hat and placed it on a chair close to the bed and lookd around " hum not bad" she said to her self as she moved to stand in the window looking out over the coartyard.

Ruby chuckled as she watched Aria and Marus leave. Following Angus she looked at the truck hoping he would chose that one and she grinned when he did " its a classic, Its perfect" she said moving to look inside it hearing him she laughed " as you said sweet" she said smiling at him " besides I think their more a jeep couple anyway. It was now she heard Aria call out to her.

" we are not." Aria called and moved back into the house to face Marcus.

"Sorry, I've got the truck keys. You get what's left," Angus called back.

"The jeep is fine," Marcus said. He stepped out on the porch. "Hey, ever been on an air boat?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Not to actually drive one," Marcus said.

"That's alright. Even you could manage it. We'll take it out maybe a little later so everyone learns to steer it. Even kids can do it down here. The thing to remember is that the thing does not have brakes."

"What?" Marcus frowned. Angus went back in and closed the door. Marcus looked at Aria. "Alright, Libby," he said. "I am James from now on. We won't be used to our cover names unless we start using them. I'm not particular about which side of the bed I have. You pick and I'll take what's left."

Angus checked the pantry and the fridge and the refrigerator sized freezer.

"Nice," he told Ruby. "We are very well stocked. Someone's done their homework. We have top quality fruits and vegetables, some great looking meats and seafood in the freezer, and she's left us some bread..." He took it and smelled it. "Oh, lovely. It's actually an Asiago cheese bread with some caramelized onion. That will make some great toast in the morning with just butter on it. We will probably want to eat supper again tonight since it's not even quite three in the afternoon here. Do you want me to cook something, or should we go check out one of the local restaurants a bit later? Maybe we should take a drive and see what's closeby."





"I'll show you," Angus laughed.