Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his world belong to J. K. Rowling

Part 3/Chapter 14

They were tired when they arrived home, but Pat took Bellamy's hand, and led him past the swimming pool, to a new door. "It's a few days early, but happy birthday!" she said, as he looked, surprised, at the bubbling spa. "There's a lock on the door," she murmured, as she went to it. "Will I lock it?"

Bellamy nodded, and Pat came back to him, undressing him, slowly, caressing, before slipping off her own clothes and entering the hot, bubbling water. A spa is always much nicer when you don't have to wear clothes. But Bellamy had learned from Angelo. No sex in the spa, though close by was all right.

There were other changes that Bellamy noticed, but not until morning. After Pat went outside, he had a closer look at the high cabinets that were set in a half dozen different rooms. Two of them had rifles in. The magic on them was Archie's, he could tell, and the cabinets, and the rifles inside, were not supposed to be noticed. He opened one, and felt again. Bellamy was very good at feeling spells. He was satisfied. No child or stranger would be able to open these cabinets. Maybe they were right, he thought. He never wanted another of his employees to die for him.

He strolled outside then, immediately quickening his steps as he noticed three new horses in the paddock that held the riding horses. Peter was home from school for the summer holidays, and was with Archie and Victor, leaning against the fence of the paddock.

Archie turned to him. "Like the spa?"

"Love it," said Bellamy, enthusiastically, and spent five minutes saying just how wonderful it was.

"Pat specified a lockable door," said Archie, his eyes twinkling. Bellamy quickly asked about the new horses.

"General defence principles," said Archie. "We should have enough horses that anyone who wants, can ride. It gets you across the property quicker, if needed. Peter was just trying to decide which he wanted."

Bellamy greeted the tall stripling, and discussed the horses.

"They're all yours, of course, Boss," said Peter. "Five-year-olds. Paul sold fewer than usual this year, and Dad said I could choose one if that's all right with you."

"Of course," said Bellamy. "I don't even know these horses," and he ducked under the fence and whistled. Two black mares, one with a slash of white across her rump, raised their heads from the grass, and looked at him. A bay gelding trotted straight across and nuzzled him. Bellamy went from one to the other, talking to the new animals, until Jester nudged them aside, baring his teeth at the bay. The new horses retreated.

"Pat's with Caradoc," said Archie. "It'd be a good time to go for a long ride, if you'd like to join Peter and me."

So while Caradoc and Pat were in deep discussion about new rifles, defence training, and the advisability of allowing the pony club to continue using the property, Archie, Peter and the boss cantered their tall horses across the moors. Peter was on the black mare with the odd slash of white on her rump. 'Shasta,' he called her.

Two hours later, Pat sat with Sybil on a garden seat, and rose to her feet as three horses turned into the drive, and then raced as hard as they could around the perimeter track. Shasta was in the lead, Jester not far behind, and Archie's bay trailed. She frowned at Bellamy. He'd obviously been off the property, and was conspicuous because of his long hair, and because he used no saddle or bridle, though there were reins attached to Jester's halter. In the spa that evening, she told him that from now on, whenever he went off the property, he should saddle his horse properly, in order not to stand out. Also, that on Monday, she'd like him to have his hair cut. Bellamy looked at her in surprise and said that she was probably right.

Monday, Bellamy found Ursula, and asked if he could take Margaret with him when he want to town. Margaret always loved going with him, and Bellamy had the skill of apparating with a passenger. It was not a common skill, but aurors could all do it, and Archie had also learned. None of the others could, though.

Margaret looked at his appearance after the haircut with some disapproval. He looked far too ordinary now for her liking. But he sat with her afterward, and they had an ice-cream each, and Bellamy listened as Margaret told him about Pam and Bess at school. "We don't play with boys, of course," she said, but had to add that Ricardo thought she was beautiful and wanted to go steady. Bellamy looked at the serious eight-year-old. She was not going to be beautiful in a conventional sense, but she had a lot of character.

In August, the Pony Club again had their gymkhana at Bellamy's place. Caradoc and Pat had decided between them that the occasional use reduced any possible mystery which might arouse curiosity. When consulted, Bellamy was pleased, "They had fairy floss last year!" And the Saturday of the gymkhana, he and Margaret spent a part of the day eating fairy floss and watching children steering their ponies toward small jumps in the optimistic hope that they could get over without falling off.

During the next months, Pat and Victor became more skilled with the rifles, and Pat continued to practise with the handgun. Even at home, she carried it.

She decided that, after all, she would learn to ride a horse. It was not for pleasure, but because, she, too, thought that they were potentially useful for defence. But Victor looked at the precious wife of the boss, now showing her pregnancy, and organised to buy a couple of sedate, middle-aged ponies, 14hh, not much taller than Margaret's grey pony. With Pat's height, she could swing herself on the back of one of these ponies, without any need for saddles, and at a moment's notice. Once she was confident, a hitching rail was built, close to the door of the house, and there was always either Toby or Jedda left there, although not saddled. Margaret often left her pony there, too. She was still not close to Pat, but was beginning to imitate what she did.

The day that Bellamy returned and found three ponies hitched to the railings, he asked Pat if she didn't think she was going just a bit too far. But Pat smiled. "I know a lot of your history, now, and I don't think you would ever have survived if you'd not been very, very cautious for a lot of years."

Bellamy grinned sheepishly, and said maybe not. Pat had been trying to keep her recent reading away from her eyes, but he'd seen the pile of books in her portion of the library. Bellamy knew most of what went on around him. He knew that all the rifle cabinets now had loaded rifles in them, and knew now what had been in those heavy boxes he'd sent to Caradoc at Pat's request.

Beth arrived, and spent a few weeks with them as autumn started. She smiled to herself at the developments in the relationship between Bellamy and his wife. They were so happy together, and she was amused at the way Pat organised him. Julie had appeared to organise him too, but she knew that it was only on the surface. With Pat, she wasn't sure how far it went, but he'd certainly never taken as many safety precautions in his own home before. She even watched a drill once, when an alarm sounded, Pat swung a leg over Jedda and raced straight across to the other side of the property, to confront a pretend intruder. Beth wasn't quite sure that she altogether approved. Pregnant ladies were supposed to be coddled, not act as if they were the chief defender of the home.

Old Caradoc watched from his comfortable chair on the front porch, and young Margaret spent the rest of the day trying to do the same as Pat, but finding it far more difficult than the tall woman.

There was an early spell of bitterly cold weather, but for two hours every day, whenever Margaret and Bellamy were not around, most of the staff were at defence practice. Archie usually presided, as Caradoc preferred a warm fire, or a hot spa to soothe his aches, rather than exposing his old bones to a biting wind.

It made Beth think, a bit. Should she herself take a few more precautions? Her island home was precious to her, but hardly any of the islanders came to her for help any more, and sometimes she felt a distinct hostility. Beth now lived again in the small home where she'd lived with her first, and only true husband, Jeremiah. The home was a mile or so away from the village, close to the beach, and with a beautiful garden, overgrown now that she'd lost her magic. Beth seldom went out any more, too heavy to walk far, but she had a devoted helper who went into the village for groceries whenever needed, and her other needs were few.

Bellamy asked her about the possibility of her coming to live with them, remembering what Kate had said, months before. Beth looked at the window, rattling with the hail that hit it, and said, as she had before, that Noonga Tuku was her home, that it was where Jeremiah was buried, and also, it never hailed! Beth could know the minds of those around her, to a far greater degree than anyone else. And Beth had such a wisdom. Bellamy trusted his daughter to know what she needed.

Pat was still well, carrying the baby easily, and was happy to agree when Bellamy asked whether she'd come when he did three weeks in three different countries of South America. He could have apparated home each night, but thought the Ministry didn't know his range, and he liked to think he had some secrets left. Besides, time differences were a problem. It was easier if he had his wife with him.

Through the first three weeks in October, Bellamy worked Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico, and Pat came to know the aurors almost as well as Bellamy. One evening, at dinner, Alexander was talking about his son, Kupec. "A Gryffindor prefect," he said, inadequately hiding his pride.

Bellamy was surprised. "You must have started early to have a son that age!"

"I married Tilsa when we were both just nineteen," Alexander said, and added, "The best thing I ever did." His pride in his wife and son were obvious.

"Is your son as black as you?" asked Bellamy.

Alexander grinned. "Yes, and big, too. Dieter told me you said you liked big, black men - you said you liked Kingsley, Jebedee, and even Nathan-who-carries-a-knife! But we never could work out why you said that Nathan carried a knife."

Pat looked questioningly at Bellamy, but Bellamy shook his head. "He's telling tales - I was drunk."

Katrina mentioned that her son was only about a year older than Kupec, and Therese's son was almost the same age.

"Didn't I hear that Tristan was a prefect, too?" Bellamy asked Katrina.

Katrina nodded, "Slytherin prefect."

Bellamy concealed his surprise. Not many of his descendants were Slytherins.

Therese turned the subject. "My son, Hugo, is always in so much trouble that no-one in their right minds would make him a prefect!"

"Have I met him?" asked Bellamy curiously.

Therese shook her head. "You were long gone when he was born, but he's redheaded, green eyed, and developing into a very big man." She smiled, fondly, "He's got a wonderful sense of humour."

"Tristan?" asked Bellamy.

Katrina answered, "Average size, dark hair, almost black eyes." It was a purely physical description.

"Wizarding families always seem to have so few children," commented Pat.

Graham said, "It's why we stay such a small minority, so many have just one child, and a lot never even marry."

"Any particular reason?"

Graham shrugged. "I don't think so. My wife and I had no children. She didn't want any."

"What about your family, Henry?" asked Pat.

Bellamy answered, "Ginny had three children to me, one to her first husband, and was pregnant again when she died. But Luna only had one, and Julie and I only had one, too."

"You've got a big family now, though."

Bellamy smiled. "My daughter, Margaret, had nine, and that's where most of the Abercrombies and Davenports come from."

Pat had a lot of time to explore while her husband worked. She was always accompanied by Therese and Katrina. The three women fended off an attack one afternoon, though it was not an attack that had anything to do with wizardry. The four potential kidnappers were left, three stunned and with boils, one with a bullet hole in his right wrist. Pat suggested they keep it quiet, but the twins said they'd have to tell Dieter. It was that night that Pat talked to her husband about hiring the twins as live-in security guards if they were agreeable, and if he decided he could trust the twins' husbands. Bellamy was a sociable creature - he enjoyed having a lot of people around, and he very much liked Katrina and Therese. He hadn't missed the fact that Pat had become very friendly with them, too, having finally lost her mistrust of their motives.

There was an opportunity for Bellamy and Pat to meet the girls' husbands at a small dinner party just the following week. Jack Smith and Barry Ridgecombe met the approval of Bellamy, and he gave Pat the nod. Therese was very interested, but Katrina was hesitant, and, at last, said that they'd let them know.

A week later, they put the alternative proposition to Bellamy, that they were happy to do it, but not live-in. Their families would not be told where he lived. Bellamy smiled, delighted, and started to give them the apparation coordinates, but Therese said they already knew. Bellamy frowned at them, and suddenly reddened. It was ten years ago, and he'd forgotten that they'd kept an eye on him for a while - a lot like guards in fact.

***chapter end***