A Birth day

Ruby smiled seeing Angus now awake " good to see you up , we didn't want to wake you as you looked like you needed it" she said kissing his cheek " and yes Rosaria told us off for not getting our coffee from the one beside the bed" Ruby and Aria chuckled.

"sorry we're just not use to having it there Aria apologised to her then looked at Angus " so why were you down here and not in a comfortable bed?" she asked and looked to Marcus knowing he had already got the story from him " and when are we going out?" she sked finishing her food and moving to place it in the sink, washing it she placed it on the drainer.

Ruby looked to Angus and smiled " she came back didn't she?" she said softly and took his hand. then let it go so he could eat as she refilled his cup with fresh coffee since she had seen he had drunk the first rather fast.

"Well, it wasn't a loss," Marcus said, "because I found the coffee and had a nice big tall mug of it, and Rosaria delivered the other tray to Angus in Edward's office, and he had a mug of it when I woke him up. It did not go to waste."

"Morning," Angus greeted Ruby. "Sorry. I was talking to Edward on the floo and dozed off."

"She did come back," Angus told Ruby. "She left me this." He handed her the large antique silver cloak pin.

"We don't need to go out," Marcus said. "Angus and I already went back out and checked the yard and the graveyard. No sign at all of any disturbances."

"That's why I was talking to Edward--because she came back," Angus said.

"I told him I think that pin is really old, and the hallmark on the back looks really similar to some Celtic marks I saw in Dublin some years ago," Marcus said. "but Michael is the authority on antiques and jewelry, not me."

Ruby smiled and nodded as she then looked at the pin " its beautiful" she said then saw the design " doesn't each design have a specific meaning" she asked as she turned it over in her hand , it was then she saw an engravement on the back and smiled showing Angus 'To C Love Forever E." she read " Edward was very romantic back then" she said with a smile as she gently handed it back to Angus.

Aria chuckled and looked to Marcus as he spoke " all right, so why don't we send for Michael?" she asked " it might very well have another meaning and as you said he'd know what it is.." she then heard Marcus mention the coffee trays and nodded " goo they were used and not waisted." she added as she dried her hands and walked back to sit next to Marcus again.

"They do have meanings," Angus said, "but I have no idea what. I presume she knew, though, and I honestly never thought to ask Edward. I could ask Michael."

"You could or we could still go sailing if you want. The weather looks pretty good right now," Marcus said.

"Yeah. The skies are clear, so we'd do alright. You do any sailboating?"

"Some, yes. Enough to be a decent deckhand," Marcus smiled. "Should we asked Tara and Evan?"

"We can, but I don't know that they'll go because Evan is scheduled to work, and Tara knows the girls are due for those tests today. She'll want to be at the house because of the tutor coming," Angus said. He spoke briefly to Carlo, and Carlo went to talk to Evan. "I sent Carlo to Evan to ask about a ship and also if he and Tara want to go along."

Carlo came back a few minutes later with a set of keys for Angus and told him in Italian that Evan and Tara were passing this time but definitely wanted to go next time, and all four of the girls wanted to go too. Rosaria and Carlo set in right away to pack a hamper for them for lunch.

"So that means our next trip will take a a lot bigger sailboat than this one," Angus said.

"What'd Evan choose for us?" Marcus asked.

"It's a nice one. It's a Bermudian Schooner," Angus said.

"I figured we'd get a sloop."

"Nah. This one is bigger than that. It's a three mast ship. We can still handle it, though. It'll be fine," Angus said.

Ruby looked to Aria who smiled as the boys spoke of sailing and she saw Rosaria pack the picnic. Aria looked to Carlos and smiled as she spoke " gracias carlos, es una buena eleccion"("thank you Carlos , that is a good choice") she said and looked to Ruby " its a long ship and beautiful when under full sail" she added as she helped Rosaria pack some of the food into the basket to take with them to the ship.

" sounds like when we went sailing together" Ruby said smiling to Angus " now that was a memorable time" she could feel her cheeks flush a little at the memory of how they had spent their time together. Aria chuckled a she placed in a large bottle of home made lemonade and a bottle of wine.

Now with the basket packed she looked at the boys as Rosaria placed a table cloth over the top of the food. "So shall we head to the ship, captains?" she said with a chuckle as did Ruby.

"Do yourselves a favor and pack an extra change of clothes and make sure everyone has a jacket, Marcus said, "just in case it gets wet and cold. For that matter, we could pack one go-bag that has a change for everyone."

"He's right," Angus said. "We probably won't use it, but I certainly have seen people get unintentionally wet, and dry clothes are a real blessing. I mean, we could take our chances on drying these clothes magically, I suppose, but they have to get the ship ready for us, so we'll have an hour or so before we can set sail. The ships aren't always necessarily kept at the ready all the time, especially ones that aren't so readily used." He looked at Ruby. "How about I go up and toss in just an extra change for each of us just in case?"

Ruby looked at Angus and nodded " that sounds a good idea, want me to come with you, you never know what the weather will do right?" she said as she smiled at him. Aria looked to Marcus.

"The single bag sounds good I'll grab the jackets while you grab our change of clothing too" she said heading out to the hallway and finding a closet with Jackets in. Taking down four warm water proof jackets she lay them in the living room across the back of the sofa for the others to chose one.

Ruby walked into the living room and chose a light coloured jacket with a pattern on that fit her well. While Aria took a dark blue one with a fake fur collar leaving a black and a grey one. Ruby sat and waited knowing Angus would chose the right stuff to wear if they got wet.

"Exactly," Angus nodded. Marcus went upstairs and got a change of clothes for Aria and for himself while Angus got clothes for himself and Ruby. Marcus packed them into a duffel bag that Angus had in his closet and they brought the jackets back downstairs.

When the bag was packed, Angus took the duffel and Marcus grabbed the picnic hamper, and Angus apparated them to the ship company. He looked for the ship and couldn't find it. That was frustrating. He went into the office, and he asked about the ship. They pointed to the maintenance dock that was on the other side of the dry dock building. Angus walked down to the maintenance dock and found out that the ship was ready and was just tied to the maintenance dock because they had so many charters using the main docks.

He walked back up where he had left the others, and he motioned to them.

"It's back here," he called. "It's ready. We can leave any time." Marcus followed Angus to the ship and got on board. Angus took the duffle and the hamper and set them in the galley below deck.

"Come aboard, Ladies," Marcus called, "and we'll get underway." Angus filed a sailing plan with the charter office and did a check of the ship before he readied the bridge to leave.

"Ready to cast off, Captain?" Marcus called.

"Whenever you're all ready to go, you can cast us off," Angus called back, starting the engine.

Ruby followed Angus and Marcus to where the ship was moored and smiled " wow she's impressive" she said and Aria chuckled nodding as they walked towards it then waited for the boys to check it out. Once Marcus called and said they could board Aria jumped aboard with no problems while Ruby took her time then headed for a seat to sit down on. " when Angus says we're ready we're good to go" Ruby said and smiled seeing Angus at the helm " he looks at home up there " she said and glanced to Marcus.

Aria came back up from the gally and smiled to them both " foods stowed away for now," she turned to Angus and chuckled " we're ready to cast off when you are captain." she called up to Angus and chuckled.

Angus steered the ship out onto open waters. The waters were pretty calm, and the sky was overcast but it wasn't unpleasant. Marcus came up on the bridge.

"Looks like smooth sailing," Marcus told him.

"It does indeed," Angus said. "I'll take it out a bit, maybe thirty minutes or so, and then we'll hoist the sails."

"I'll be ready. I'll go below and make more coffee."

"That'll be welcome today. It'll be cooler than the girls probably realize because the wind will make it feel cooler. You should find some thermal mugs above the stove. That'll help keep the coffee hot."

"I'm on it," Marcus said. He went downstairs, made a fresh pot of coffee, found four thermal mugs with lids and poured coffee for everyone. He took coffee to Ruby and Aria. "This will feel pretty welcome once we open the sails. It'll get a bit breezy." He took coffee to Angus, and they discussed Angus's basic itinerary for the day's sailing. "The girls might be interested in learning how to hoist a sail or trim it. Any objections to teaching them?" Marcus asked.

"None at all unless you let one of them fall overboard," Angus teased. When they got out far enough, Angus idled the engine and then came up on deck to give Marcus a hand. "Either of you want to help hoist the sails?"