A Birth day

aria listened to them talking and chuckled when Angus said they were all squibs "Awe, now that's not a fair fight" she said "For them, but it also means she scraping the bottom of the barrel for men to work for her." she said and chuckled again when Beau and Angus said they used it to their advantage " I agree nice" she said and chuckled when Marcus told them lunch was on her she also caught the look between Ruby and Angus and saw Ruby smile back to him.

It was now she heard Lya warning to not approach the creole woman if they saw her " as he said , understood." she said then heard Marcus say about going shopping again "I have never done so much shopping in my life" she said to Ruby " but the company's good, so I don't mind. " she teased Marcus laughing a little as he said they should make a move and called her Mrs Smythe. " if I must Mr Smythe." she said and chuckled as she moved to the door way. " I do hope we at least see her today that would be a break threw." she said as they headed to the Jeep.

"Well, yes. It could mean that. It could also mean that she didn't actually intend to have to ever have much of a battle with Angus," Iya said. "It might mean she's not willing to pay much. But--if she really believed Angus was a pushover, she hired the followers then simply to try to intimidate Angus, then."

"Well, then she's stupid," Marcus laughed. "She has no clue about how driven a Donohue can be. No self respecting Donohue ever wimps out on a good brawl."

"Exactly," Angus said. "I wish I could have been a fly on her wall as they told her that we skunked all fifty of them."

"That will be quite ugly," Iya said.

"She's killed people for far less," Beau said. He headed to clean up and change quickly.

"Then if we see her, we deal with her with shields up," Angus said.

"Oh, absolutely," Iya said.

"Good advice," Marcus said. "Well see you later." He and Aria headed for the jeep. Angus got up and got some chilled water bottles to take on their trip into the bayou. He wasn't going to take food because he didn't want to draw the local wildlife, but he was going to take fresh water. He got the boat keys and looked at Ruby.

"I'm going to go double check the boats to be sure that they still have full tanks," Angus told her. "I won't be far." He headed outside.

Ruby heard Angus and looked at Lya then back to him "Okay stay safe, you know what we were told yesterday about the local wildlife" she said as she as she watched him leave for the boat. " you don't think she thinks he's a push over right?" she asked Lya "because she's a fool as Marcus said is she does, he's very driven when he's fighting." she picked up a water bottle for herself and filled it with fresh water for herself and attached it to her belt.

Aria climbed into the jeep and chuckled "Well we at least have the element of suprise to our advantage if she underestimates Angus that much" she said tucking her jacket in as she closed the door and opened the window to let the hot air that had built up over knight out and the cool air of the morning in. " okay Mr James let go" she said and chuckled knowing her wand was tucked away out of sight but within reach should they need it " we might have a Marie impersonator to interview" she looked around the area and frowned " did you notice the animals have gone quiet?" she said looking over to Marcus.

"I did notice," Marcus replied, opening the Jeep door for her. "Hopefully whatever is out wandering about this morning presents no real threat to our friends on their bayou tour."

"I will," Angus called back to Ruby. He walked down to the little wooden dock where the boats were tied. As he reached the airboat he saw a little alligator, just about three foot long, that had gotten ballsy enough to crawl onto the airboat to enjoy the morning sun. "Listen, Mate, this is not the place for you," he said. The thing hissed aggressively at him, and he rolled his eyes at it. "I'm not having it today, Pee Wee. This rinky dinky little boat isn't big enough for the both of us." He grabbed the thing by the tail and dragged it off the boat into some long grass where it continued to hiss and snap at him.

"Hey," Beau called, laughing and going outside. "Are you playing with the gators?"

"Just a little one," Angus said. "He is not going to sunbathe on the airboat. I'm not having it. Not having his snarky attitude either."

"You're gutsy for a Brit, I'll give you that," Beau said, going up to him. "I don't normally see a Brit just walk up to a gator and grab him. Wrestle gators often, do you?"

"Nope. That was my first. They're not so common in England."

"Then how'd you know to grab him by the tail?"

"It was just the closest end to me," Angus said. "And it was the easiest end to grab."

"You did alright, but next time you need one moved, call me. They can be quicker than you realize."

"Fair enough," Angus agreed.

"What are you doing, anyway?"

"Checking the fuel tanks," he replied.

"Oh. I can help," Beau said. He checked the small speed boat. "This one's good."

"So is this one," Angus said.

"Done any boating before?"

"Some," Angus grinned.

"Well, can you steer either one of these?"

"I could mange either of them," Angus replied.

"Okay, well, whichever one you want, I'll drive the other."

"That's fine. Ruby might like to try the airboat since, I presume, she hasn't been on one before." He looked towards the house. "You coming, Ru?"

Aria chuckled and nodded as she followed Marcus "Agreed but as you and I both know Angus is capable of taking care of any wildlife that gets in his way" she said heading to the shop again.

Ruby heard him call out and walked out the door " IM COMING!" she said pausing as she saw the grumpy gator not far from them "Um..new friend?" she asked side-stepping it until she reached the boat "Wow this will be fun, never been on anything like this" she looked at Beau " you sure it's safe?" she asked him knowing Angus wouldn't let her on it if it wasn't, but she was teasing as she climbed aboard.

"He was on the boat, and I told him he couldnt come. So he got snarky with me," Angus said. "He seems to be missing the tip of his tail, though, so maybe he lost a fight before he ran into me."

"Oh--he's the one missing the tip of his tail? I saw him last night. I think he's hoping to mooch some human food," Beau said. "He need to be careful. The big dudes will attack him if he gets too close to them. That's probably how he lost part of his tail."

"I'll try not to toss you overboard," Angus teased Ruby, seeing Iya following Ruby down to the dock. "You actually can take your pick of which boat you want--the air boat or the speed boat. I don't think the speed boat will actually be speeding, though."

"You should try the airboat, Ruby," Iya said. "You might enjoy it. I'll go with Beau in the other boat." She got onboard, and Beau cast off the line, got aboard and started the engine.

"It's pretty simple," Angus told Ruby, casting off the line. "The big fan at the back is what actually pushes the boat across the surface of the water. It steers with an accelerator pedal and a rudder. There aren't any brakes to fiddle with. If you want to slow down and stop, you just take your foot off the pedal--somewhat similar to a muggle car. You sit on the right, I'll sit on the left for now, and if you want to try steering, we'll just switch places."

He started the engine and motioned Beau to go ahead, figuring they would follow Beau since he knew the area. Iya gave him some directions, and they took off through the bayou. It really was beautiful country. The cypress trees were beautiful, draped with spanish moss. It made the area seem to have a magic all its own. Angus decided he could like it here. It was primative and untamed, but it was still beautiful. The speed boat weaved in and out of little patches of land, and it gave the waterways almost the feeling of a maze. Angus kept up easily, though, and he really was having a good time steering the airboat. He wanted Ruby to know how to start, steer and dock both boats, just in case she needed to know. He was planning on showing her because he wanted her to be able to take care of herself if she needed to for any reason.

Ruby looked at the gator and chuckled "Awe poor thing" she said as she looked at both boats " I'll go on the air boat thank you" she said and listened to Lya with a smile. Before she set foot on board she pulled out a scarf and wrapped it around her hair " I heard they can mess up ladies' hair so, not today" she said with a smile as she finally stepped on the boat holding onto Angus's hand, as she set her other foot on the boat tipped and she fell into his arms " hi" she said and chuckled making her way to sit down as he spoke.

Shesmiled at him when he said she could steer it if she wanted " you think I could?" she asked smiling " it does seem simple, what ever way the ruddr goes is the opasite to how we go" she said watching him as they pulled out into the bayou. She watched as the water washed against the boat and how th gators scattered as they passed only one or two snapped at them making her laugh.

Finally, Angus saw Beau point out a little dot of land to Angus. That, apparently was where they were going. Beau pulled the speed boat up to a rickety looking little dock and tied the boat there, turning off the motor. Angus pulled the airboat up to the other side and docked it and turned it off. Beau and Iya got off their boat and walked down the dock to the shore. Angus looked at the coast, and his blood was already running cold, like ice in his veins. He had not ever been here, except in his dreams. Even so, he knew this was the place, and he felt like he already knew every inch of it.

He got out of the boat, onto the dock, noticing the dock was sturdier than it looked, and he offered his hand to Ruby to help her off the airboat. They walked up to the shore and met up with Iya and Beau.

"This place has been used for generations for voodoo ceremonies. There are a lot of these places back in the bayou," Iya said. "This isn't the only one, but there must be some reason she's picked this one. Maybe we can get a clue or two while we're here."

"Iya, is she here?" Angus asked.

"No. Not at the moment. I would feel her if she were," Iya replied. "I expected we would see maybe a couple of her people here, but I don't feel any other energies other than ours. I think we're alone."

"That's just as well," Angus said. "Maybe we should split up for now and just take a look around."

"Good idea," Beau said. "Where are you going first?"

"I want to see that shack, and I don't know why. But I've seen it every time I've dreamed about this spot." He looked at Ruby. "Let's check it out. Just make sure you keep your eyes open. It's up here, behind some of the trees."

Ruby sat next to Angus and watched as Beau pulled into a shake by the waters edge. She looked around it and saw the magical quality it held " its almost magical" she said and looked at Angus " do you think maybe it sits on a layline?" she asked " I read about them there strong magical lines that the earth has." feeling the boat stop she stood up and took his hand in her own to step onto the dock.

She nodded as he spoke " so this is whr she brings you when you sleep" she said softly as she moved with him to the shack " Im already keeping my eyes open, shame shes not here" she said seing something small and luminecant dart from a tree then back flikering as it did. " pixies" she said to her self recognising it from her time at Hogwarts.

"I don't know. Maybe. Maybe she's been here long enough that she's left some of her magical items or something. Maybe that's where the pixies came from. I don't know," Angus said. When they got to the shack he tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. He went around the house to the back door, and, using the lockpick Michael gave him, he unlocked the door and opened it.

It opened into a cobbled together kitchen with whitewashed walls, rough looking wood cabinets that had been painted white at one time, a large old farmhouse sink, and an old 1950's stove. There were no cabinets, but there were open shelves with pots and pans, dishes, jars and jars of all sorts of things--food, magical ingredients for potions, all sort of mish-moshed together. One wall had cast iron skillets, kettles and dutch ovens hanging on it. There was an old 1940's or 40's fridge. Angus looked inside. There were a few things in here. Some were fresh, some not so much. This was not a place someone was living in. It was set up more like a kitchen that someone might use occasionally--like a weekend lake house or something.

"She's not living here," Angus said. "Nobody's actually living here." He walked through a dining room with mismatched salvaged furniture, to a living room with more salvaged old furniture. He found a couple bedrooms. There were some changes of clothes here. A woman's things in one room, and some men's things in the other--the mens clothes, he noticed were all various sizes. This was being used, he guessed as a changing area for their voodoo ceremonies and productions.