Chapter 5
After finishing lunch, the Hotchners walked through the park together. The two men following them stayed back, but they stayed close enough to keep an eye on them. "Why are they following us?" Jack asked his parents after a quick glance at the men behind them.
"They're keeping an eye on your mother. They want to make sure she behaves herself," Hotch told him with a grin. Joey, who Hotch was carrying piggy-back style, giggled.
"Hey!" Kahlan laughed and smacked him on the chest.
"We should have made clues for them to see if they could find us," Wyatt suggested as he nudged Jack with the basket. Jack laughed.
Hotch shot Kahlan a grin, but she shook her head and then glanced at the kids with a look that told him she didn't want the kids to be in on their game with the agents. He chuckled.
They got to the park entrance and took a taxi back to the hotel. "We have to check out in the morning, anything special you all want to do before we leave London?" Kahlan asked the family as they made their way into the hotel.
"We could take a tour of London's most haunted places," Hotch suggested with a grin.
Kahlan's look of horror made him laugh.
"That would be awesome!" Wyatt agreed. Jack nodded his agreement, too.
"Go put your stuff away," Kahlan told the kids as she opened their door and then turned to go to her and Hotch's room.
Once they were in there alone, Hotch pulled her to him in a hug. "Thank you," he told her and gave her a kiss.
"For what?" she asked once she pulled away.
"For this morning. That was fun. I have to say I have never had to find anyone I love by following clues."
She giggled. "I'm glad you liked it," she told him as she put the basket away. "The kids really put a lot of thought into it."
"I bet," he told her as he pulled her back to him. "You really don't want to go on a haunted tour?"
"No!" she told him quickly as she shook her head.
He looked at her questioningly. "I would have thought you would love something like that."
She shook her head again. "No."
"Kahlan Lavonne Hotchner," he started as he looked her in the eyes. "Do you believe in ghosts?" She looked away from him without saying anything. "You do!" he half laughed as he shook his head. "How could someone with your intelligence believe in ghosts?"
"Intelligence has nothing to do with it! And when you've seen the shit I have. . ." she pulled away from him. "Just because you don't believe in it, Aaron; doesn't mean it doesn't exist."
He wasn't sure but he thought he saw fear cross her face for just a split second. What the hell have you seen, Babe? He knew, though, from her look that she was completely serious.
"Take the boys. Go, have fun, but I am not going with you," she told him earnestly. "And I don't think Joey will want to go, either."
"Well, her I can understand, but even if you believe in it, I still thought you would want to see it," he told her as he studied her again.
"You can stop profiling me, Aaron," she told him rebelliously. "You want me to admit it? Fine! I'm afraid of the paranormal," she told him and started for the bathroom.
He pulled her to a stop by grabbing her arm and turning her back to him. "You're not afraid of anything," he told her seriously as he looked her in the eyes. "Well, except ants," he added.
She shivered in disgust at the mention of one of her arch nemesis. "I'm not afraid of them, they just give me the creeps," she demanded. "But you're right. I'm not afraid of any living thing," she started and then stood up taller. "But how do you kill something that you can't see or something that's already dead?" she asked him with raised brows obviously expecting an answer.
He let go of her and took a step back. "I guess you can't." She huffed. "Kahlan, you know that most of that stuff is faked, or the person who reported it is questionable at best."
She nodded. "Yes. About ninety percent of it is faked or can be explained away scientifically," she agreed. "It's the other ten percent that bothers me." He went to say something, but she stopped him. "I have seen things with my own eyes, and I have felt things; and I was not suffering a psychotic break at the time," she told him defiantly.
At the time? Jesus, Babe, are you saying you have at some other time? He took a deep breath. "Alright, Kahlan. I'm sorry. I thought with your love for the macabre, that you would like something like that."
She looked at him sheepishly. "I love all of that stuff, but I know it's fake."
"So Joey believes in it, too?" he asked with a glance towards the kids' room. He could understand a little kid believing in it, but he was still shocked that Kahlan did.
Kahlan licked her lips. "She's seen a couple things. You'd have to ask her; but don't do it in front of the boys."
XXX
After ruling out the haunted tour, they all decided to go to the Tower of London. Dave and Cindi joined them and after a quick taxi ride they spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening exploring the famous tower.
As they were exploring the grounds, Joey found the ravens. She was fascinated by the seven birds. The Raven Master was telling all of the visitors about the ravens, and he explained that legend has it that if six ravens ever left the Tower that the tower and the Kingdom would fall. While everyone was listening to the Raven Master, Joey kept inching closer and closer to one on a bench. She talked to it and it made strange grunting noises as it talked to her. Some of the other visiting children tried to talk to the other ravens, but they ignored the kids. The Raven Master then went on to tell the crowd that the ravens only let him near them and they only responded to him. Joey looked at him defiantly, and moved even closer as his attention was focused on the gaggle of children asking a bunch of questions.
Hotch and Kahlan both saw what Joey was doing and Hotch winced as Joey got within a couple of feet of the large bird. "You need to stay back, Angel," Hotch told her quietly not wanting to draw the Raven Master's attention.
"She's fine," Kahlan assured him as she smiled at the bird talking to her daughter.
"Those damn things can be mean," Hotch told her as he inched closer to his little girl.
Suddenly, the raven jumped from his perch on a bench and landed on Joey's shoulder. The crowds' gasps made the Raven Master turn, and he looked about ready to have a heart attack as Joey giggled and reached up to pet the raven's back. Hotch froze and Kahlan grinned, but the Raven Master walked to Joey quickly. "Don't move," he told Joey as he got closer.
The raven cawed at him loudly, and the man froze. "George, that little girl does not want you on her shoulder!" he told the raven.
"I don't mind," Joey told him with a smile.
The raven nuzzled Joey's hair away from her neck and ducked in behind it hiding his face. Joey giggled.
"Well, I never!" the Raven Master exclaimed as he laughed. "George doesn't even really like me!"
Several of the kids laughed as George turned around and looked at the Raven Master. The raven then put his beak up against Joey's cheek effectively giving her a kiss. Kahlan laughed and Hotch cringed and hoped that it didn't bite her. "He likes me," Joey told him with a smile.
"Here, see if he'll eat out of your hand," he told her as he held out some seeds.
Joey took them and held them up to George, but he cawed and pushed her hand away with his beak. "He doesn't like them," Joey insisted as she threw the seeds down. The other ravens came over and started eating them.
"Aren't ravens meat eaters?" Kahlan asked him.
"They're omnivores," Wyatt told her.
"Here, Joe, see if he likes this," Jack told her as he crumbled up a cookie in his hand and then gave her the crumbs.
She held them up to George and he ate them greedily. Joey giggled.
"A bird with a sweet tooth," Hotch said as he shook his head. "Leave it to Joey."
"What was that?" the Raven Master asked Jack.
"A maple cookie."
The raven Master laughed. "That's why you're always trying to get in the squirrel feeders," he told George. George let out a sort of bark and kissed Joey again. Joey giggled.
"And, no, Bella, you are not allowed to keep him," Dave told her with a smile.
"I wouldn't take him from his friends, Poppi," Joey assured him.
Jack crushed up another cookie and threw it on the ground for all of the other ravens.
George looked at Joey and then looked at the ground. Joey giggled. "You can go down there," she told him as she put her hand up to him. He stepped into her hand and wrapped his talons around three of her fingers. She gave him a kiss on his head and moved him to the ground. He hopped off of her hand and joined his friends. Joey beamed.
"I'll make sure to put some maple syrup on his food every day," the Raven Master assured Joey. Joey looked at him expectantly. "And a cookie once in a while, too," he added with a smile.
"Hear that, George?" Joey asked him and he cawed at her which made everyone laugh. "See you later, George. It was nice to meet you," Joey told him as she squatted down in front of him. He hopped a few times and then cawed at her again. She laughed and stood up and went and grabbed her father's hand.
"Let's go inside," Wyatt said and then led the way.
XXX
The boys joked as they made their way down into the Tower's dungeon. Hotch held Joey's hand and Kahlan brought up the rear on the narrow steps. Dave and Cindi chose to look around in the gift shop.
Hotch shook his head as Joey went around and explained to the boys what each medieval torture device was. All of the kids joked about who and what kind of people had been tortured in the tower. Wyatt went on to explain about some of the famous prisoners the tower had housed. Hotch looked over to Kahlan who was standing off to the side silently. He went up behind her and kissed her neck. "What are you thinking about?" he asked her quietly.
"Nothing," she told him as she shook her head.
"What's this one used for, Mommy?" Joey asked as she pointed to one of the big apparatuses.
Hotch thought he saw a ghost of a wince cross her face as she glanced at it. No!
"Traditionally it was used for quartering," Kahlan told her dryly.
Hotch watched her as she bit her lip and turned away from the wooden monstrosity. Really, Babe? Exactly what is it used for today?
"What's quartering?" Jack asked.
"Where they tear off your limbs," Joey told him with an evil smile.
"You would know that," Jack told her as he shook his head.
"Drawn and quartered is where they tie your limbs to horses and they pull you apart," Wyatt explained as he made his way around the room.
Kahlan chuckled as several mothers quickly pulled their children away from Wyatt and Joey.
"Come on," Hotch told them as he grabbed Kahlan's hand. "Let's get back to the surface and go find some place to eat."
The kids all agreed excitedly and ran up the stairs in front of their parents.
As they made their way down the street, Hotch glanced back and looked for their SIS companions. "They must have finally realized we aren't a danger," Hotch told Kahlan.
She chuckled. "Nah. They've just had a shift change." Hotch turned back and studied everyone behind them. "In the van across the street," she told him as they kept walking.
He saw the van and shook his head. "And how did you know?" The van didn't have any side windows and there wasn't anyone in the front seats. He didn't doubt her; he just wanted to know what gave it away because he didn't see anything out of the ordinary with it.
"The yellow and black sticker in the corner of the windshield is what allows it in and out of the MI6 garage."
He looked at the sticker. He could hardly tell what color it was from their distance. He shook his head. She must have seen it as soon as we came out of the tower. Sure, enough, though, the van started its way slowly down the street towards them. He huffed.
After another block, they found a nice restaurant and they went in and ate dinner.
Kahlan leaned over and whispered into Hotch's ear. "We can let Mom and Dave take the kids back, and I can show you around the city."
He smiled and looked at her. "Yeah?"
She smiled and asked everyone if it would be alright. They all agreed, and after finishing eating. Kahlan got up to go speak to the waiter. Hotch watched her questioningly.
"What is she up to?" Dave asked him.
"I have no idea," Hotch told him honestly.
After a few minutes, she came back with a smile. "What?" she asked as they all looked at her.
"What did you do?" Dave asked her.
She giggled. "I can't take Aaron on a nice tour of the city with those idiots following us."
Hotch looked back toward where the waiter had been and then looked back at his wife. "Let me guess, you are having dinner delivered to the van." The kids laughed.
"Yep, and as soon as it goes out, we will slip out the back," she told him with a devious grin.
He chuckled and took another drink of his wine.
When the meal was ready, the waiter came up to let Kahlan know it was time. Hotch and Kahlan kissed the kids and bid everyone goodnight. She then led him through the restaurant's kitchen and out the back door. They emerged in an alley and Kahlan pulled Hotch along it and then turned down a side road. Within no time, they were back out on one of the main throughways.
"So where are you taking me?" Hotch asked as they walked hand in hand.
"You'll see," she told him with a grin.