Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
20/20 Investigations, Inc. The Wilderness Staircase. Chapter 9.
While I was watching over Lena as she woke up, the cats were on the other side of the bedroom by the fireplace talking quietly together. Hmm, I need to find out what they are talking about, but without Lena around. That won’t be easy. “What happened?,” asked Lena, “my head is pounding.” “That’s because you were hit on the head, likely by David, so the cats killed him,” I told her. She just sat there, I don’t think she’s fully recovered just yet. The cats came over finally and we all started talking about the latest note which I had just shown to Lena. “So that’s why this is going on,” said Lena, “there’s a treasure that John is after. But why include me in this treasure hunt?” “Probably to ensure that I will help look for these hidden jewels, I explained, “John knows the cats and I are good at finding hidden treasures and he knows I won’t just step up and offer to help him.”
After about an hour Lena was feeling fine again and hungry. “I’ll go make us something to eat,” she said. And as she left added, “David and Diane seemed like such a nice couple, hard to believe they would join up with that John character.” “So true,” I agreed, “Muffin, you go with Lena and don’t let anyone get near her. And call out if anything at all happens. Mr. Cat and I are going to look around for a bit, but we won’t be far away.” Meow,meow.=Okay, I watch real close and call for help if something happen. “Good girl,” I said as she quickly caught up to Lena. Since my scrambler was still working it was safe to talk in our room. Hmm, John could be using a scrambler just like this, only a little bigger to block us from calling out from here. I just need to find it. “Okay, Mr. Cat, what were you and Muffin talking about?,” I asked.
Meow.=Just talk about case, very confusing. Not think that David and Diane would be part of this, they hire us to find out what going on out here. “Yes, that’s true,” I said, “but it could have just been a way to get us here to help look for the treasure.” Meow.=Not seem like that kind of human people, Muffin agree. “Did you hear what Lena said about David and Diane just now?”, I asked him. Meow.=Yep, not strange thing to say. “But it is strange,” I told him, ” she was knocked unconscious at her home and she knew nothing until she woke up here. At least that’s what she told us. So where did she have a chance to meet David and Diane?” Meow.=Oh, that right, I miss that one, so she lie somewhere, why she do that? “That’s what I would like to know,” I said, “now, what else did you talk about?” Meow.=The notes, they not written by John, not same handwriting, not even close. We say it written by human woman. We say it written by….
Right then Muffin screamed loudly and we took off running to the kitchen! Lena was gone and Muffin was lying on the floor bleeding. I picked her up gently while Mr. Cat watched carefully and we went back to the bedroom. I put Muffin down on a blanket and examined her wound. She had obviously been sliced with a knife on her side up near her shoulder. It wasn’t deep though so she will be okay, but she’s also unconscious which is odd. Meow!=Look here! I looked on her back and there was a tiny dart. It must have had something to knock out Muffin. The slash on her was a warning of what they could have done, had they wanted to. They went too far now, forget the hidden jewels, it’s time to fight! “Okay Mr. Cat,” I said, “what about those notes? You said they were not written by John, that’s what I figured too, but I couldn’t think of who might have written them.” Meow.=Muffin and I think they written by human woman named Candy from ‘Country Estate’ case, twin of Jessica. “Hmm, I knew the notes were not written by John, and John doesn’t seem like he would be smart enough to do all this,” I said, “Candy is someone who could do it however, except she is supposed to be dead.”
To Be Continued.
Picture of Mr. Cat kindly supplied by his human, Nina.
Previous chapters of this story, and other stories in this series, can be found on my home page under 20/20 Investigations, Inc. Thank you for reading.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 
No like cats to get hurt.
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Me neither, that’s why I’m in a fighting mood now! It doesn’t look good for Lena either since she disappeared after Muffin gets hurt!
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This is soooooo much more suspenseful when I have to wait for you to post the next chapter! 🤭😬. Nice job, Steve, I love it! 👍😁
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So glad to hear that! It does make a difference when having to wait. And weekends are worse, nothing till Monday now!😳😳🙀🙀🕵️♂️👩
Thanks Beverly, have a great evening!😁😸🌙
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Oh no, two more days of suspense!😳😳. Lol. Oh well, it is okay. It is important to enjoy the weekends. 😄 Looking forward to reading the wrap up next week. You’re welcome, Steve! Thanks, have a great evening as well!😁🌙
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Thanks Beverly! Saturday is such a busy day for me,😳😄 so I usually only do one post, but I might need to add an extra chapter this weekend so I can finish on time!🤔😀
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You’re welcome, Steve! Understandable…hope it all goes well! 😄
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Beautiful cats.
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Thanks so much Jeanne!
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My pleasure. 🙂
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Lena disappears at the most convenient times! I wouldn’t want to eat any food she prepared. 0proceed with caution!
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Yes, this time it really doesn’t look good for her, right after Muffin gets hurt! We’ll have to wait for Muffin to wake up so we can find out what happened. Yep, think I will make some different food for us!😳🙄🙀🙀🕵️♂️
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Poor Muffin ! That was cruel ! Good pics of the cats ! Matches well with the words spoken by them ! ☕️☕️🙀😾🕵️♂️🎄
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Yes, and Lena disappearing right then doesn’t look good. Will have to wait for Muffin to wake up and see what she has to say.😠😾😾🕵️♂️👩
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Oh, poor Muffin😿 I haven’t read Country Estate, so I don’t know who Candy is but this is getting exciting and dangerous🕵️♀️
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Candy was Jessica’s twin sister and Jessica was my girlfriend at the time. Candy killed her and took her place, but the cats figured it out after awhile. That’s also when Mr. Cat joined our team. Candy is dangerous.😳😾😾🕵️♂️👩
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Wow! I need to read that soon.
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Characters from the earlier stories sometimes show up again later on. So it can help to know where they came from. “The Stone House” is Muffin’s big story. Have a great day D!😀😺
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That sounds interesting! Thank you! You too!☕😸
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Thanks!
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Oh, no! I don’t like Muffin getting hurt and Callie is very upset about it! And now, Lena has disappeared! I missed a chapter and will backtrack! Seems my email notifications got messed up the other day when Google had its meltdown. 😿 😾to Muffin 💖 from Callie!
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Yes, poor Muffin, we will have to wait until she wakes up to find out what really happened. I don’t know what was on that little dart, but hopefully something to just knock her out for awhile. Lena disappearing right then doesn’t look good for her, now I’m really worried! I’ll let Muffin know when she wakes up out of this Callie, Muffin is a tough one!😠😾😾🕵️♂️👩
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😬
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That Lena!!!! How dare she hurt Muffin😡😾wait until MR. CAT get’s his paws on her!!😡
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Well, we can’t blame Lena yet, but it definitely doesn’t look good for her.🤔
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It sure does not! Mr. Cat will need to keep a close eye on her.
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If she comes back. Muffin will be able to tell us more when she wakes up.
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She’ll be sharpening those 18 claws!😳😲😉
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Yep, look out whoever did this!
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Told you, You cannot trust Lena, Now David and Diane🤔 hmm, I wonder why they have come inside. Case is getting more interesting with more people involved in the case.. Candy is a surprise. Let’s see who is doing what 😎
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Perhaps, but we don’t have proof that Lena did anything yet, we still have to wait for Muffin’s report. Yep, Candy is a surprise, what is she doing here? There might be more surprises around the corner, or in a tunnel, or….😳😾😾🕵️♂️👩
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Tunnel 🙄😳🤔 hmm, sounds interesting, so who are we going to meet in the tunnel ☺️ Hope Candy doesn’t shock us, or Lena does or anyone does, let’s wait for Muffin report , maybe Muffin has a surprise for us😊Have a wonderful week Steve ✨💐🤗
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Yep, we have to wait and see what Muffin has to say before we can do anything more.🤔😾 There might be a big surprise!🤔 Or not.😂 Have a great evening Simon!😀😺🌙
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Have a Great Monday Steve 😍😍😍
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Yep, time to climb those stairs again, or maybe find a new tunnel, or fight with a ghost, or sleep…
Have a great evening, don’t stay up too late. We’re going into lockdown this week again.😳😺🌞☕☕
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What😳😳😳 Lock down? Again? Whats is happening 🤔 we live in mars it seems, no mask, no sanitizers 😁
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The virus is getting much worse in our province so time for a lock down again, only 2 weeks for us in the north, though it might be extended.😳🙄😷
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🙄wish it doesn’t extend. 😕Dan corona.
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Yes, things are getting bad here.😬😳😷
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😐 It’s pretty hard to breathe under mask.😕 I’m afraid of the next generation 😐
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Lots of people say that, I have never had a problem wearing masks which is nice, but I have never had to wear a mask longer than 4 hours, usually just 2 or 3 hours.😁😷
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The breathing problem gets worse having a mask on. I wanted to be free 😁😁
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Oh no….poor Muffin! I hope she’s ok! You must get to these assholes 🙀😾🙀😾
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Yes, we need to find these people and find out what is going on here. It’s more than just the jewels, they are after me for some reason. Perhaps today there will be some answers. Strange things happen very soon!😳😾🙀🕵️♂️👩
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