A Birth day

"I think I'm going to set it all aside for a bit and go out and work in the garden with Minos," Angus said. "Some fresh air would be a good thing." He picked up the books and put them on the top shelf of his bookcase and then he went outside.

"I think he's trying to wrap his brain around the fact that your father tried to kill his parents by cutting a deal with James," Marcus told Ruby. "I don't think he has any great love for his parents. I think its more about how many decades of hatred run between the Tylers and the Donohues. I think he thought he was the sole cause of it, but he's finding out that he's just the unfortunate link between two families that hate each other, rather like the Montagues and the Capulets. So, for the moment, he's trying to separate himself and dig around in the dirt a little. The diary does suggest, though. that somewhere out there is a great large sum of Donohue money that Suzanne and Tom would both like to get their hands on, and since it belonged to Benjamin, it very likely belongs to Angus or Edward."

Ruby listened to Angus as he closed the ledger and placed it on the mantle then headed outside with Minos " yeah, seems that way and I never thought of u like Romeo and Juliet" she said watching him outside. She heard Marcus talk again and nodded " well if we find it , the Donohue's can have it back, my family must have solen it from them and I don't condone that, not one bit, I will help him find it" she said as Aria walked over to them.

"we will find it together, just let him sort his thoughts" she said and Ruby nodded to Aria and Marcus. "Good, I think we need to focus on getting dinner ready" she said and chuckled " those boys eat like an army even if they only had breakfast not long ago" she glanced out at Angus " Marcus think you could stay with him, or should we leave him to his thoughts?" she asked

"I'll go out with him," Marcus said. "You two can sort out dinner. He's fine, I think, and we all know there isn't any love loss where his parents are concerned. I think maybe he's frustrated. This huge power struggle and continuing attacks because of money." 

He picked up the newspapers and went out to sit with Angus and read while Angus was working. It wasn't long before the Fae had Angus all caught up in gardening tasks, and Angus did seem to be enjoying it. Marcus was reading through the papers, and he saw an article in the financial section that gave a listing of the richest wizarding families. And right in the number three spot was the Donohue family--Edward, to be precise. Marcus got up and went inside. 

"You two should know about this," Marcus showed them the article, "because I don't know if this is going to get Tom all fired up, but look at this. We already knew that Edward was wealthy, but finding him in the papers, in the top three, is liable to get Tom all hot and bothered. Just be aware that this was attention that this family did not need. There could be a security risk with this. We need to make sure that we keep the protections up. Just so you know."

Aria listened to Marcus and nodded " no love lose on Ruby's side ether" she said softly. When he said he would sit with Angus Aria patted his arm " okay" she said and then moved to the kitchen. She was halfway threw the veg when Marcus walked back in. Placing down her knife she walked over and looked at the paper " damn , I didn't know who was in the top three." she said as Ruby looked up a she finished her cheese cake.

"I knew but it doesn't bother me in the least , I'm not part of the Donohue's for money, unlike my mother with Tom, But your right I'll send word to Jack to get the grounds men to double up the protection spells" Ruby said a she wiped her hands dry and wrote a note to Jack who not even five minuet's later walked in the back door.

"okay so why do I have to double up the grid?" he asked as Aria showed him the paper " shit, okay" he said placing it down " I'll get Jessie and we'll do a walk round." he looked around and pause as he saw Angus out side with the fae. " um sorting out his head?" Jack asked as he thumbed towards Angus.

"That might have been the original plan," Marcus said, 'but I think they have him doing something with them that's gotten his attention. Something else you should know about, Jack, just in case the feud continues." He told Jack about the Gringott's vault for Diamond and about finding the books and finding the history between the Tylers and the Geldings and the Donohues, including how James was contracted to kill Angus's parents but he bit them instead. "Not sure I know why James was paid to kill them and then he wounded them instead--unless he was going to try to find the money for himself, which does seem like a very James-like thing to do."  

Edward came over while they were talking.

"What's this about Benjamin and Eileen?" Edward asked. Marcus filled him in.

"Doesn't surprise me on iota. Benjamin was always into some money scheme, especially after I disinherited him for how he treated his kids. I think its very likely these little pots of cash will just keep coming up from time to time. The shame of it is that if he had just behaved like a semi-decent humanoid, he'd have had enough money that not only would he not have had to do these little illegal scams of his, but he likely wouldn't have needed to work another day in his life. I suppose its what he got for all the bad karma he caused. Ah well, Simone and I are off to Tuscany for a couple days. If you need us, just let us know, and we'll come back. Fair enough?"

"Sounds fair to me," Marcus said. "Be careful, though. Just in case the news of your wealth causes people to want a piece of it."

"Meh. That list gets published about once a year, and the truth of the matter is that their information is outdated. If they were up to date, they would see that with the money that Angus has already earned, what he's inherited and what he will someday inherit from me, that would shove him right to the top of the pack. Still, let us keep that under our hat, shall we? Did you notice that Brian and Robert are in the top ten? That's more inaccurate information because Robert and Brian keep some of their funds divested so that nosy buggars like the press can't find out how much they really are worth. Okay, well, we're off. Stay safe, you lot, and shout if you need us." He went back to get Simone so they could go.

Jack listened to Marcus and nodded his head but stayed quiet as Edward spoke " ha good idea" he said looking at the list to se himself near the bottom " well that's really outdated" he said and chuckled " I agree with Edward let others worry, we all know what were worth isn't in galleons" he said and placed the paper down on the table. Ruby heard Edward say he had Simone were heading out and nodded.

"have fun" she called and chuckled as she finished the veg Aria had started and dressed the joint ready to go in the oven later. Waving as Edward left she slid the roasting tin with the veg in into the oven but did not turn it on yet. Aria moved to check the babies who were sat watching Marcus intently. Aria sat with them and played with them for a while until they decided it was nap time and lay down.

Marcus sat down with Reginald's diary, and he began listing clues that Reginald was describing. He believed it started at a certain point in a woods, at a certain big rock. A rock that Reginald called the Fisherman's Face.

Sam and Victor came in from outside, and they each had a stringer of fresh fish they'd caught at the pond. 

"Look what we got," Sam grinned, as they each held up their stringers of nice trout.

"Beautiful," Marcus said. "Well done, Boys. I'm sure those will be delicious. You got an extra large haul today. Ruby and Aria are fixing a nice lunch, but maybe we can either do something with them for supper or tomorrow. You know how to clean them?"

"Nope. Thought we'd leave that to someone else," Victor said. 

"As long as we're talking about fish, do either of you know about a place called Fisherman's Face?"

"Its a stupid rock," Sam said. "Why?"

"You know where to find it?"

"Yeah. Its way back in the woods where our dad's cabin was," Sam said.

"The very back section of woods was a section that we weren't allowed to go to," Victor said. "So of course, we figured out how to get around the magical fence he put up, and we went back there all the damned time. Its' way back in the back in that section. Ugliest rock I think I've ever seen."

Ruby listened as Marcus spoke of reading her fathers diary and thought about it but came up blank then the boys arrived with fresh fish " oh I know how I'll do that as I'm not squeamish" Aria said walking out and taking the fish from the boys " oh those are a good size"she said and carried them into the kitchen. Both women listened to the boys talking as they worked.

"Maybe you can take Marcus and Angus there when your able and show him , I'm sure the magical fences are long gone." Ruby said looking at Marcus wondering if she should tell them about what was going on between the two families and now Gelding. Aria gutted and filleted the fish then placed them on a tray slipping them into the freezer.

"there ready to use for fishcakes or just frying or even with pasta?" she said as she cleaned up her work area.

"Sure," Sam said. "We could go any time they want. Dad had about fifty portkeys to that cabin, and we nicked a fair few of them. Not sure why he wanted that many portkeys there, but we can go any time."

"I'll see if Angus is free, and then maybe you can take us," Marcus said. 'Unless you're going to serve lunch soon, Ruby? We don't want to interfere with your roast. Sam, tell me about this rock."

"I can do better. I've got a few pictures." Sam went upstairs and came back with a box of photographs. He sat down, opened the box, and went through several pictures. He found a picture of a very worn looking rock, and he handed it to Marcus. "That's it. I suppose, if you look close, you can see that it is sort of shaped like a head, with eyes and a nose and a mouth and then there's this business over here on the right that looks sort of like the bowl from a pipe on what would be the left side of the man's face. I agree with Victor, though. Its ugly." 

Marcus looked at the picture as Sam laid out several more pictures. Then he noticed some scratchings on the rock in one of them.

"What's this?" Marcus asked, showing Sam.

"Oh, just some scratches in the rock. That's inside the pipe bowl," Victor said. "Sam and I used to make mud pies in that bowl when we were little."

"Those aren't random scratches. That's a rune of some sort. Not sure what it means, but that's definitely a magical rune of some kind. Maybe Minos can tell us what the rune means," Marcus said. He picked up the photo and took it outside and asked Minos to see if he could read the rune. Minos looked at it and nodded. 

"Minos says it means fire," Angus said, translating. "He says it means its a picture of what he's calling a burning bowl. He says that with the right herbs and the right spell, the herbs could be burned in the bowl. Sometimes it opened a portal of some sort. Sometimes it summoned a being. Different spells in different bowls caused distinctively different reactions. He says that if the herbs that belong in the bowl are still growing around the area where the bowl is, he might be able to burn the herbs in the bowl to find out what the bowl goes to."

"Might be an interesting trip sometime," Marcus said. "Thank you, Minos." He took the picture back inside and told Ruby and Aria what Minos had said about the bowl.

Ruby looked at Marcus and chuckled " its actually Angus idea" she said smiling " but yeah could go after dinner" she said but when Victor said he had photos she chuckled " even better" she added as she watched him return with a handful of old photos . Aria walked over and looked at them seeing only an old rock when Marcus pointed out the bowl she looked at it and nodded.

Both women watched as Marcus took the photo out to Minos and returned soon after to tell them it was a burning bowl " oh so you burn the herbs in the bowl?" Aria asked " I've seen small ones around in New Orleans, but nothing that size" she added as she looked at the image with the runes in it.