The Flight Of The Vulture

Chapter 28: A Little Bit Of Joy

August 5th, 2006

Belle, Vivi and Ed arrived at Augusta's home promptly at nine-thirty in the morning. Luna had given them very meticulous time schedules with pain of death hovering over everyone if they didn't follow them explicitly.

Belle had been to Augusta's property a couple times. It was a pretty looking victorian farm house with a decent size property and a wrap around porch. The inside was impossibly pristine, almost too pristine.

Belle knocked on the door, with a few garment bags in her hands.

"They are missing." Augusta explained with a huff as she answered the door.

"Who?" Ed asked.

"Samantha and Neville!" Luna exclaimed pulling them all inside the door.

"Again?" Belle asked watching them run around. She was trying not to laugh.

"What do you mean again?" Vivi asked scrunching her face as they were lead into the kitchen.

"It does seem to be an uncomfortable habit with them doesn't it?" Luna observed entering the kitchen. She looked flustered and out of breath as she opened all of the cabinets.

Vivi's eyebrows raised, "I'm confused."

"Freya the woman who blackmailed Jack and killed Kai Jones," Luna explained as she lifted the tablecloth off of the table and looked underneath, "I mean she's done a lot more than that, but we don't have hours to go through it. She threatened and attacked Sam a few months ago. Then Samantha decided to face her and Neville decided to go with her instead of stopping Samantha like he was supposed to!"

"But they neglected to tell any of us they were leaving." Augusta said from the sitting room, waving her wand making all of the drawers open up. Her face was red, quite an opposite from her normal paper thin skin. "Their penchant for trouble does nothing for my nerves."

Ed was full on laughing as he leaned closer to Belle and whispered, "Do they think they are hidden in the drawers?"

"They've been found in odder places." Belle asked as she watched everyone run around. "Has anyone checked behind Neville's Greenhouse?"

Luna began laughing as she opened a door in the kitchen, "First place I checked aside from their rooms."

"Maybe they are at Sam's apartment?" Ed suggested with a shrug.

"They are on the property." Luna exclaimed turning to look back at them, "Duke wouldn't have let his Samantha go anywhere without him."

"Where is Duke?" Belle asked looking around and putting the garment bags down.

"On the stairs I think." Luna said, still digging through the closet.

Belle left everyone in the kitchen and made her way over to the large stairway in the hallway off of the foyer. Belle  knelt down to Duke who was calmly sitting on the stairs. "Do you know where they are?"

Duke danced around in a little circle before flying up the stairs. He flew up to the third floor to an incredibly clean room.

Duke crawled beneath the bed and before Belle could look under, she heard voices.

"Shit!" Samantha's voice exclaimed. "We've overslept Nev!"

"I'm sure we haven't. Five more minutes." Neville's voice sleepily sounded.

"Duke get off my face." Samantha grumbled. "Luna is going to kill us."

Samantha crawled out first with Duke pulling her hand with his tail. Her face was completely red as she stood up and noticed Belle. She was still in her floral nightdress and her hair was in quite a crazy state. "Hi mum."