Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. The Inheritance. Chapter 12.
The fireplace swung shut once we were inside the passage but my strong flashlight lit up the area very nicely. I told Mr. Cat to take the lead but just ahead, not too far, and Muffin I put on my shoulder to watch behind us. I really don’t like surprises and there have been too many already tonight. We turned right away and went down stairs, 3, then 4 levels and we were in the stone passageways under the chateau. We could still hear the roaring of thunder down here, but it had a different, eerie sound to it. We were still going down, but a gentle slope then we came to the end with a passageway going to the right and left. Hmm, which way to take. Suddenly a loud tumultuous type laughter! Calanthe grabbed hold of my arm, “that’s Francois, I would know that laughing anywhere!” I heard an odd noise. Meow,meow!=Door close behind us! Sure enough, and no time to try to escape either.
“Guess that means we don’t go back that way,” I said trying to speak calmly. “I don’t like this,” said Calanthe, almost in tears. “Neither do I, but obviously Francois wants us to go a certain way,” I said, “so we will.” “Why is…”, Calanthe started to say. I put my fingers on her mouth and whispered to her that we need to be careful what we say down here, Francois is likely listening. She nodded. I figured going left would take us to that old cellar, nothing exciting there. “We’ll take the right passage,” I said and off we went. We soon came to a fairly large room where people had obviously been looking for the treasure. “I think people are wasting their time looking for that treasure,” I said. “Why do you say that?”, asked Calanthe. “It was probably found by family shortly after, or perhaps found by some enemies that attacked the chateau way back,” I said, “or it could have been used to give enemies so they wouldn’t be killed. These are all very likely possibilities.”
This part of the passageway was narrow so we had to walk in single file. Meow!=Danger here! We stopped and I aimed my flashlight at the floor. Mr. Cat was too light to set off the trap. I pulled him back then stepped carefully and…wow, sharp wood spikes came out of the floor, about 3 feet (nearly a meter) long! Calanthe screamed which echoed through the passages. “It should be safe to walk through them now,” I said, and it was. Once past they went back down again. A very nice trap, I wonder what else might be down here. “Francois wants us dead,” said Calanthe trembling. “Yes, you’re right about that,” I answered her, “but he has had plenty of opportunities, I think he wants to scare us first.” We come to another room with some old furniture. It was wasn’t large, but we go inside to look around. Just as we get inside there is a loud ‘whump!’ behind us and a heavy wood door had shut. “Guess we will be in here for awhile,” I said, “at least there is some beds in here.” Muffin jumps down and joins Mr. Cat looking around the room. They checked the beds for us and gave the all clear, meaning no bugs or mice.
I lay down on the one and Calanthe on the other. But her bed was suddenly pulled through an opening in the wall before she had a chance to jump off. By the time I got there the door was closed. I hate to think what will happen to Calanthe now. “Well, well my PI friend, you are not doing so well tonight,” said this voice, “but things could get better, if you decide to help me.” “Why should I help you?”, I asked. “For one thing, there is no way out of this room except through that wood door, and that would not be easy,” said the voice, “for another thing there is Calanthe, I’m sure you would not want harm to come to her. And then there is Linnea, I’m sure you would not want her to die either, that would be very bad for a PI to lose his client like that. So, do we have a deal?” “I haven’t yet heard what the deal involves,” I said, “but I won’t say yes to anything unless Calanthe and Linnea are returned to me first.” There was silence, a very long silence, perhaps I pushed too much this time. Half an hour went by and still nothing, then an hour. This is not good. Meow,meow.=Air getting bad fast. She’s right, the air in here won’t last us very long…
To Be Continued.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 
Things do not look to good but there has to be something hidden that will come to light. You will get out of this.
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Yes, at least I know that Francois is the suspect we want. Now to get out of here and hopefully rescue Linnea too.
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I still don’t like it. How was it that calanthe knew which bed to lie in? It would have been embarrassing if you would have been sucked through that wall.
Laugh a while See what happens
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But don’t forget, I lay down first. So she didn’t get a choice. Perhaps each bed worked that way?
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Are you sure she didn’t hint you into a direction. I’m Sorry I still don’t trust her
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No, she didn’t. But I’m curious why it took so long to get her back. Getting new orders perhaps?
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I think
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Well, another situation and not a good one ! Calanthe is a real mystery ! Watch out ! …great pics of the cats to accompany what is going on…had to chuckle even tho’ it is a serious event ! ☕️☕️🕵️♂️👩🙀🙀
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Yes, hard to know if Calanthe is trustworthy or not. Yep, the cats give it some humor at times! Now, what’s next?🤔🙀🙀🕵️♂️👩
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This does not seem good, appears as though both sides are in conflict 😹 Keen to see how you all escape 🙀🕵️♀️
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Yes, it’s at an interesting spot, yet I’m still not quite sure what is happening. Hopefully more will be revealed soon. I would like to know how we escape as well!🤔😾😾🕵️♂️👩
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Oh no…trapped! But who is behind all this? I hope they’ll give you Calanthe and Linnea! 😾😾
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Well, Calanthe said it was Francois’ laugh we heard, so I will assume the voice was his as well. I’m sure he is behind this, but what next? What does he want? I have to take a chance and stand my ground, no deal without Calanthe and Linnea. Hopefully it works. Who knows, Linnea might be dead already.😳🙀🙀🕵️♂️👩
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But who is this Francois? Do you know him from before? It is strange his behaviour 🤨😾
Hopefully she’s not dead 🙀
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Francois is the cook, his parents owned the chateau before Linnea’s relatives got it. I haven’t even seen him yet, could he be someone I know?🤔🙀 There is still something strange here. Why all the killing over this treasure that might not exist?😳 There is something else I’m sure.🤔
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That’s what I think too…there’s something else…
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Perhaps today we find out!
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This is a big trap 😳 get out before anything happens… I’m sorry I am too late to read this. 🙄. Here I am trying to catch up with all your posts 😋🥰 . Have a lovely day….
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It is a big trap and it only gets worse!😳🙀🙀 Rats, I shouldn’t be giving clues!🤔🙄
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Yes no clues 😳 you’ll find a clue soon… let me continue reading…😁
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