A Birth day

Ruby took the soda from Angus and laughed as he said Marcus was using peperoni as bait, she watched as he sat down and began to talk again. She listened and nodded as she opened her can and took a drink before she spoke. " I guessed as much , you never sleep alone unless it was after a nightmare from her" she said listening more she nodded " if they stood between you and them then whom ever they are they were on our side, the right side" she said softly to him hearing that he saw his grandmother again she smiled " figured that too, when you had the blanket pin, Marcus said it was from Ireland and very old too" she set down her can and moved the tiller to her left gently so the ship turned slightly to the right away from a wave.

" Hey are we due any bad weather?" Aria called back to Angus " coz those clouds do not look very friendly" she said pointing to some really dark clouds in front of them.

"Yeah, Edward said it was a cloak pin she inherited from her mother, and her mother had inherited it from her father. So it already goes back to my great great grandfather. Edward said he buried my grandmother in her cloak and that cloak pin, so he says it proves she really was there and..."

He heard Aria ask about some clouds in the distance. He got up and went towards the bow, and looked across the horizon.

"Could be a sea storm. They can blow up quickly out here, especially in winter," he told her. "Hey, Marcus, let's furl all the sails, just in case. I'll start up the engine so that we have more maneuverability in case we need it quickly. "

"Aye, aye, Captain," Marcus bounced to his feet, and Angus took the fishing pole and the tackle. He stowed them down below til he could get to them to put them away properly, and then he went to the cockpit to start the engine. "Ladies, I could use your help," Marcus called. "Give him a minute to turn the ship. I'll loosen the sails a bit, and then you two crank them back down for me."

"I'll help you roll them back up as soon as I get her heading straightened out," Angus called.

"You've got a few minutes," Marcus told him. He loosened the sheets so Ruby and Aria could furl the sails back down again. Then the sails could all be rolled up and the halyard adjusted. When Angus turned the ship, he was noticing that the wind was going to pick up.

"Watch yourselves," Angus cautioned. "If the sea starts to get rough, you all get below, and I'll handle things up here. I don't want any of you swept overboard."

"I was a Navy man, remember. I have some sea legs," Marcus smiled, 'but I'll make sure the ladies are safely below if it comes to that, and then I'll keep working on getting the sails and the lines taken care of."

Aria and Ruby heard Angus and both nodded " ok" Ruby said and tied off the till before moving to Marcus , she watched him and slowly copied him while Aria watched then dove to do what he had done quickly " there tied up " Aria said then looked at the storm " okay Ruby down we go" she said almost bumping into Marcus " oops , you might have sea legs I sure don't" she said and chuckled as Ruby chuckled and headed down to the cabin below. Ruby paused and looked at Angus " be safe" she said then headed down to sit inside the cabin hearing things moving inside the cupboards but nothing falling out.

Aria regained her balanced and walked now slower to the cabin she looked back at Marcus " I'll be glad when this is over, it was such a lowly day, please don't be long." she said and chuckled as she headed down to sit with Ruby seeing the sky darken even more and the sound of rain start to hit the portholes.

"We're fine," Marcus called back to Aria. "He and I are used to it, and besides, we're safer if he keeps us moving than if we tried to dock somewhere. Don't worry." Angus helped Marcus finish securing the sails and the lines. Then he joined Angus at the cockpit. "This almost came up too quickly, even by sea storm standards," he told Marcus.

"Yup," Angus said. "I know. That's why I want you to go below with the girls."

"And that's why I'm not going to," Marcus said. "I think we have to be open minded enough to consider that there might be some witches or wizards that specialize in all sorts of water spells or that talk to sea creatures."

"If they're actually here, though, then none of you are safe with me."

"I don't give a damn. You can stew about it all you like but you can't make me leave. And I am absolutely positive that everyone who is living at Brian's estate is going to give you the same exact answer, so just get a grip. You're not falling on your sword in this mess. It just isn't going to happen."

"I hear you," Angus said as Marcus took the navigator's chair, sitting beside Angus. Angus was trying to focus on the conditions at hand. He had no way of knowing, right now if this was magic or mother nature, but he felt like he wanted to be prepared either way.

Ruby sat and watched the waves hit the port holes while Aria held onto her seat to stop from falling to the floor , she felt this was unusually quick even if Angus had said it was normal, now with Marcus and Angus at the helm both girls sat and hoped that it would pass quickly. Ruby stood up and walked to the port hole and looked out just as s wave crashed against it and she quickly sat back down " best idea yet, stay sat" she said chuckling as Ruby did the same glancing up she could just make out Angus and Marcus in the wheel house.

Ruby hoped the storm would not last for long as she was starting to feel queasy in her stomach and looked around for a bucket. Aria noticed the green tinge and moved the bucket that was by her foot to beside Ruby in case she needed it " thanks , too rough for me" she said taking a dep breath in as she ship dropped again from a wave.

The storm was setting in fast, and then Angus saw on the horizon some sort of an old ship--a really old ship, and it made him shiver. It reminded him of an old clipper ship from the age of pirates. And that made no sense at all to him.

"Company," Marcus said quietly. He did not want to alarm the girls. They were safer below deck if they were attacked.

"I wonder how many are aboard," Angus said, trying to calculate the odds.

"More than four," Marcus replied.

"Yeah, That was my guess too..." And at that moment, some sort of a spell seemed to wrap the sailboat into some sort of shield or bubble.

"Oh, that can't be good," Marcus said, dreading what he just felt. Marcus drew his wand, and he tried to cast a lumos spell. Nothing happened. He tried to cast a wandless spell, and nothing happened. "Damnit. Try yours," Marcus said. Angus tried his wand and tried wandless magic. Nothing happened. He tried medallion, and it was completely dead. Marcus tried his and it was dead.

"The girls' powers and wands and medallions are all going to be dead too, aren't they?" Angus said, trying to be calm.

"That would be the goal of kidnappers, my friend," Marcus said. "We're all being disabled on purpose."

"This is not going to go well, is it?"

"Not til we can try to brawl our way out of it," Marcus repied. At that moment, someone from the old ship started firing at them. Marcus and Angus saw the four of them were sitting ducks, and there wasn't one thing any of the four of them were going to do about it.

"Get a life vest on, both of you! Do it now! Hurry!" Marcus shouted to Aria and Ruby down in the hold. "Hurry!" Marcus was going to find a length of rope, hoping to tie everyone together, and he left the wheelhouse to go find it.

Angus turned on the muggle radio and managed to get through to the shipping company, but there was a lot of static because of the storm. They weren't going to get an exact message. He issued a mayday and attempted to give their position but he didn't believe the signal was holding well enough for them to have received it.

And then, suddenly, everything was a ball of flame, wood shards, and shrapnel. It tossed him up in the air and then down, down, down, into black water. He knew immediately what had happened. He was praying he was going to find Ruby, Marcus and Aria and that, maybe, just maybe, all four of them would survive this.

Aria felt the bubble wrap around the ship and moved to the stairs when she heard Marcus call to put on their life vests moving back Ruby had already grabbed them and put her own on but no sooner they did the ship tipped sending both flying into one of the sides Ruby hit hard against the door frame to one of the bedrooms and landed out cold Aria moved to help her but was flung back hitting her head on the sink and she slid out cold to the floor.

Angus pushed himself to the surface and saw only bits and pieces of what used to be the ship, and most of it was on fire. Someone had deliberately blown them up. He tried to find some sign of life somewhere, and the first sign if it was Marcus's green polo shirt. He found Marcus floating face down in the water, and he grabbed him and found a piece of the deck. He hoisted Marcus up on the piece of decking and checked him to make sure Marcus was still breathing. Satisfied, he left him for a moment to keep looking.

And then he saw blonde hair. He swam to the blonde hair and grabbed it, hoping it was Ruby. It was Aria. Not disappointed in finding her, but still worried for Ruby, he looked around to see what he might use for Aria. He had to swim a short distance to get it, but he found one of the foam mattresses from the sleeping compartments down below. It was buoyant, and he grabbed her and dragged her up on the mattress and checked to make sure she was breathing. Two down and one to go.

He was noticing that there was blood in the water, and he hadn't seen any significant bleeding wounds on Marcus or Aria. He began to panic, thinking he'd lost Ruby. He wasn't prepared to raise six kids alone. He had to talk to himself to keep the panic at bay. It took him a few minutes but he found her finally, and at least she was face up. He managed to find what was left of the dining table in the galley, and he used that to get her up out of the water. He saw land that was probably a mile or so away, but that was the best he had.

He found sails, some rope, and the one floating box of miscellaneous tools that had not sunk.He loaded the stuff he found onto the tabletop with Ruby and he lashed his three companions together. Then all he needed to do was to swim the distance, dragging his companions, til he got to dry land.

By the time he got to land, he was completely exhausted. He dragged them one by one, up the sandy beach just enough to get them out of the water. Then, drained, he had to sit for a bit and rest. There was still a storm coming. He didn't have much time.

He was able to take a minute to assess himself. He was the one who was bleeding, damnit. There had been a door to the wheelhouse with a window in it, and now there was a big piece of the plate glass window lodged in his bad shoulder. He remembered his maritime training. If he moved the glass, he might cause even more bleeding. He was going to have to live with it for the moment.

He discovered they were on a teeny tiny island, more of a sandbar than a remarkable stretch of land really, but it would have to do. He found some craggy rocks, and then he found one of them was stretched out a bit above the sand, creating a natural shelter of sorts. He dragged Marcus, Aria and Ruby up the beach and under the rock to get them out of the wind and rain that was certainly going to come and dragged the large plastic toolbox up with them. He shivered, but, looking out at the coast, that damned big ship had caught up with the wreckage. He didn't care make a fire right now. The smoke and the light from a fire would give them away for sure. Well, Mother Nature-4, Crooks-0.

And so he sat down to wait.

Aria woke with a start calling for Marcus as she then held her head as it thumped hard and painfully. " what the hell happened?" she said siting up on sand. For a second she paused then looked down " sand, I don't remember there being sand on the boat" she said and looked around , seeing Ruby and Angus she started to stand but then sat back down " Angus , where is Marcus?" she asked worried he might still be out in the water.

Ruby woke slowly and with a groan " Angus?" she aid wiping her hair from her eyes and looking around seeing him she sat up and moved to hug him only to see the glass in his shoulder and she sighed "Robert wont be happy, he just fixed that." she said as she slipped off her life jacket and sat down next to him.

"He's right here," Angus said. "On the other side of me. He's still out, but we're all alright. We're without a boat, but we're alright." He was glad when Ruby finally woke. When she commented on his shoulder, it made him laugh. "Hopefully finding all four of us alive will reduce his frustration with my shoulder. I'll just be glad if it isn't Nigel that finds us. He'll really blow a gasket if he sees it. I want to make a fire but do you both see that big old fashioned ship that looks a bit like an old pirate frigate? That's what blew us up. They're the ones that bound our magic, and they're still looking for us. They're sailing about in our wreckage looking for our bodies. With a little luck, I bled out enough that it drew a few sharks, and that should help whoever that is to think that the sharks got us. We'll know soon enough if they bear off and go away. Still, even if we make a fire, we have to try not to cause much smoke or much light. Especially if we're still here when it gets dark."

Marcus started to move and, in doing so, he accidently belted Angus's sore arm. Angus winced hard. That hurt, damnit. But Marcus soon woke.

"Where are we? And where is everyone?" Marcus asked.

"We're all here," Angus said. "Near as I can figure, its a bloody big sandbar. Or a miniature island. Take your pick."

"Island. It might have food. Sandbars don't have food," Marcus said, sitting up. He saw Ruby and Aria were there. "Good. We're four for four. Everyone alright?" He got a look now at the glass in Angus's shoulder. "Except you. Of course, its you. Are you trying to make me look like I'm slacking?" Marcus teased.

"Yep," Angus replied. "Hired the frigate, bound your magic and my own, and then blew the boat up, just to make you look bad to Robert."

"Idgit," Marcus retorted.