A Birth day

He laughed when she called him her sexy swashbuckler. The kids hurried downstairs with their bags and Caprice's bag, and Marcus had his bag and Angus's and Ruby's.

"I think I got it all," Marcus told them. "Did someone pack the baby?" he teased.

"Folded her up with the socks," Edward teased.

"Clean ones I hope?" Marcus asked.

"They'll be clean until she wets on 'em," Edward replied.

"Your bag is a clean go bag," Marcus told Angus. "I've got the rest with me in my bag, and I told Anise and Ginger to pack the same way. Anise's bag is a clean go bag, and Ginger's got the rest." Simone had two bags and the baby. She set Edward's bag beside Angus's, and Sam looked at Anise.

"Take this with you," he told Anise. "Just in case." He handed her the new knives he got for graduation.

"These are yours, though," she frowned.

"All the more reason you'll have to come home," he smiled at her, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

"I have never left anyone behind," Angus told Sam. "And I'm not about to start now."

"I'm with you and Anise. Jessie? You going to Romania with us to get those kids?" Edward asked.

"Go get your sword," Edward told Angus. "Your good one--just in case. Take it with you. Hopefully you won't have to draw it, but take it. It's the one thing you can use one handed unless you take a pistol. Take one or the other as a backup for your wand. I know it's broad daylight but we've both seen stranger things. Hopefully we can get grab the kids and go, but let's not be stupid either."

"Fine," Angus said. He went to Edward's office and loaded a pistol and tucked it in his waistband. He opened the weapons case and saw his swords sitting with Edward's. There was his silver longsword there, and that had been the blade Edward had been talking about. That was his good blade, but he reached instead for his silver shortsword, not the blade Edward had been talking about, but they were only going to pick up children, and it was not at a time of day when werewolves could transform anyway. And, he could still use wandless magic. He wasn't unarmed. He brought the shortsword and an additional belt to hang the scabbard from. He locked up the cabinet, and came back out.

"That's the one you want?" Edward questioned.

"For now," Angus said. Edward nodded, and he came over and took the additional belt, attached the shortsword scabbard and fastened the belt around Angus's waist. Angus looked at Jessie, who had no other weapon other than his wand. Angus took the pistol out of his waistband and offered it to Jessie.

"You're welcome to take it if you want. So you know, don't muck with the bullets with your bare hands. They're silver. I've got more in my pocket. If you need it reloaded, I'll be happy to do it," Angus said. "A backup isn't a bad idea, even if you never fire it," he told Jessie.

Angus, Edward and Anise ported in behind Jessie and ended up in front of Sergio's place. They heard the voices of the two kids, and Angus called to the children. They looked out and a moment later, they raced from the house and they wrapped their arms around him, almost tackling him to the ground. They spoke to him in rapid Romanian about their parents and their brother and the attack that had happened right at the edge of the woods, at the very back of their yard. They had never had a werewolf that close to the house ever. Before Angus could ask them if anyone else had been hurt, there were more voices--a man and a woman. And then Edward hailed them. Angus looked up. It was Sergio's parents. They came out, and they gave Edward a big hug. Edward and Angus hadn't seen Sergio's parents in years. In fact, Edward had to confirm for Sergio's parents that Angus was indeed Angus.

Angus motioned to Jessie and introduced them. "This is Sergio's father, Emil and Sergio's mom, Nadia. I haven't seen them in decades. Edward is telling them they're not safe here, and he's telling them we've come to take them to safety and that we'll come back and hunt whoever did this, hopefully before someone else gets hurt. It is taking just a wee bit of persuasion." Angus sent the kids to stay with Edward for just a few minutes.

"I want to take a look at where the boy was attacked," Angus said to Jessie. He walked around the house and back to the backyard. It didn't take him long to find the spot because there was a lot of blood on the ground. Angus took a careful look at saw some tracks leading back into the woods, and what he saw was unsettling. The tracks were small. Really small. This did not at all look to Angus like the tracks of an adult beast. He continued to follow the tracks back into the woods, got a fair distance away and he saw a lot of unsettled ground and then a mixture of human and werewolf tracks, but they were all about the same size. Angus believed this was where the human had become beast. And what unsettled him more was that it looked very much to Angus like this werewolf was a child. It flew against everything Angus believed in. These were his godchildren, but, by the same token, he had not ever taken the life of a child, even a werewolf child. There had to be another way.

"Yeah," Angus told Jessie. "That was my thought too. I'm not going to eliminate a child, Jessie. I can't do it. There has to be a different resolution. Tonight is the tail end of the full moon, but maybe we can track this child and somehow get them under control before dark. We need to talk to Edward. This has a whole new priority on it now. Let's see about getting Sergio's family safe and making a plan with Edward for this kid."

He went back to the house, and he found Edward inside with the kids, getting them to gather up some toys and books, and Edward was shrinking then and tucking them into a drawstring pouch that Angus believed was probably one of Ana's. Angus heard rustling upstairs, and he took it to mean that the grandparents were hastily packing.

"Edward, let Jessie do that for half a tick. We have a problem," Angus said. Edward handed Jessie a couple toys that needed shrinking and took a few steps away from the kids. "Edward, we found the tracks of this beast--but we're sure. This is a child."

"Oh no," Edward said. "I did not see that coming."

"Nor did we," Angus said. "I am not going to kill a child."

"Well, that is certainly less than desirable, that's for sure. Alright. First things first. Let's get the family back to the estate. How about Jessie and I take the grandparents and the kids to the estate, and we'll come straight back. You and Anise can start to track this as best you can, and we'll catch up with you in a few minutes."

Angus and Edward walked back to Jessie and the kids.

"Edward suggests you and he take the kids and Sergio's parents to the estate and then the two of you come straight back. We'll need to get Robert to tell us what the proper size is for a wolfsbane dose for a child. Anise and I will try to get a headstart on the tracking, and then you two can catch up to us. We'd like to get this settled before dark. What do you think?"

"Food," Anise said. "We should take food. This child will be hungry. Food will help lure them out or help them trust us."

"And clothes of some sort. Could you two stop in the village and get a pair of trousers and a shirt or a sweater of some sort for a child on your way back, Jessie? We can resize them. Their clothes most likely are too damaged for them to wear anymore," Edward said. "Good idea, Anise."

Edward went with Jessie to take the kids and Sergio's parents to the estate.

Anise and Angus went into the house and took some cookies, a sandwich, some bottled water, and some fruit. They packed it in a paper sack and then they went to the woods and they started to try to track this child. The beast's footprints went in all sorts of different directions, as if the creature had been highly agitated and was just running wildly in a panic. They saw beast footprints, blood drops, and it wasn't going in any sort of straight path.

"Poor thing," Anise sighed. "They're frightened out of their minds. Then Angus found clothes. Well, shreds of clothes chucked into the hole of a tree. He found a pair of ripped up black tennis shoes, a pair of jeans, and a tee shirt with dinosaurs printed on it. Everything in him said this was a boy--a little boy. Surely a boy that was perhaps six or seven. What a hellacious way to grow up. And it resonated with him that this was some of the same sorts of experiences that surely Remus would have had.

"It's a boy," Angus looked at Anise, showing her the tee shirt.

"He's a little bloke too," she nodded.

"Sorry," Edward said. "It took a moment to find Sergio and Ana, but Sergio and Ana are bilingual, so that will help orient the kids and Sergio's parents. And Robert is going to bring in a translator to be an extra hand. So, that's this much sorted them. We need to get back and see what we can do to help. Kate has a box of clothes that had some clothes that she meant to drop off at a charity shop, and I found a pair of kids trousers, a tee shirt, and a hoodie. Didn't see any shoes. I'm guessing it might have belonged to one of Jack and Jess's kids that they outgrew. That can work for this, especially since they were going to give them to a charity shop anyway. I did give Robert a heads up that we are hunting a child, and he gave me a vial of wolfsbane with some dosing instructions according to size. And Michael packed a ham sandwich, some cookies, a couple apples, and one of those juice box things the kids like. So we have clothes and food. so i think we can go straight back now--unless you can think of I'm forgetting something maybe?"