For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Lying down my leg was paining so badly it was hard to sleep so Stan gave me some pain relief medicine and because it was a needle, it worked very fast. The night went by quietly and quickly. The guys brought food with them and a propane powered cooler and camp type stove to use. Nice to have some coffee again. My leg was still bothering me a lot and I could tell Stan was a bit worried about that. But he cleaned it up good and put a new bandage on it. During breakfast we talked a bit about what to do next. “The caves are a logical start,” I said, “a voice came out of one after we had been in there, so my guess is a secret room.”
Meow,meow!=It ghosts! We stay away from caves, too dangerous, not like idea. Meow.=I agree with Muffin, something not feel right about caves, we in danger going there. Hmm, both cats are against the idea. Since we had no other lead, off we went to the caves. We checked both of them but there was no sign at all that there might be a secret room in either of them. I had the phone number of the store in that village so I called it. A man answered and I could hear other voices in the background. I asked what time they were open during the day. He said 8 to 8 every day. Hmm, we were there at 5 yesterday. I thanked him and hung up. I told the others. Either the place is actually open or the call is redirected somewhere else. But we had to check.
So off we went back to the village. No one was there and now all the buildings were empty, no furniture or anything, even the store was completely empty. What is going on here? I decide we should go look at the insect man’s house, so we followed the trail and…there was the house, just as it was the first time! There wasn’t even any sign of a fire around the place. It was totally engulfed with flames when we left, how is this possible? Meow,meow!?=See? I told you ghosts here! “Forget the ghosts Muffin, no ghosts built this house overnight. We left here at 6 yesterday, it’s now noon, so they had 18 hours to rebuild the house. With the right crew it could easily be done, especially if everything was ready to go. We looked around but no sign of the insect man or any insects.
We decide to head back to the hotel. Once back there was a recording device on one of the porch tables. I turn it on. “Hi Steve, you likely already know who this is, if not you should give up the PI business. I never thought you could get Lena off the island, but you did it. She’s the one I want because that will hurt you more than anything. I can’t get at her now, so you have won this round. Go ahead and call your boat, you are free to go. I already left last night so you won’t find anything more here. But I will be back sometime, you can’t stay hidden forever. Good luck, I’m watching.”
Hmm, that’s it. Meow=that Katharina, no doubt, she change voice a little, but it her. Meow,meow=Yep, we can tell vibration, every human different, like fingerprint, it definitely Katharina. “Well, I agree with you two on this one,” I said, “but how will we ever find her. I guess we may as well call the boat.” Stan did that and the boat came within view. A small boat was soon on the way to pick us up. “That’s not our boat,” said Mike, “take a look.” He was the only one with binoculars. The others looked and agree, it was a different boat. “Okay everyone,” I said, “get ready to welcome our guests.” We all started to run and hide.
Someone in the boat started to fire at us. Mike and Will were down. Then I was hit and fell. The cats ran up as close as they dared and shot their fire bombs. The boat was immediately in flames! One man jumped out and Stan shot him. The large boat disappeared. Then Stan came over to me, I wasn’t hurt bad and called Baldwin. He got in touch with his boat and it was soon here to pick us up. None of the guys were killed, only wounded. The bullet just grazed me and Stan had me patched up quickly. He didn’t like the idea of leaving me, but I insisted. Everyone, except the cats and I, went on the boat. And Katharina gets away. Or has she?
To Be Continued.
Pictures of Mr. Cat are kindly supplied by his human, Nina.
Previous chapters of this story, and other stories, can be found on my home page under “The Investigators, Inc.” and “20/20 Investigations, Inc.”
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Katherina has popped back up like a bad penny. Be careful Steve!
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Yes indeed, I never would have thought so. She wants Lena, which is why I didn’t go back with the others. But now that I know who it is makes things a bit easier, I know a little about how she thinks and that helps me.
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Or has she??🤔🤔🤔 Sounds very ominous!!😬😬 But han you find Kathrrina?? Wher in the World could she be??😮😯😲😳
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Yes, could be ominous for sure. Where is she? Could be anywhere, except where she says she is. But I couldn’t leave right then and risk leading her to Lena. Now, what’s next?🤔😳🙀🙀🕵️♂️
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That’s the question!! You can’t go to Lena!! Now we know she is after her!! But you can’t stay on the Island forever!! You have a life to live and and a spouse that needs you!😬😬
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When I figured it was Katharina I knew she wanted Lena, not me. But now, maybe she will come after me and show herself. I have to deal with Katharina first, once I find her, or she will keep hunting us and we will be always on the run. 😳😳
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That’s not a good scenario!!😬😬
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So true, I have to start doing the hunting instead of being the hunted.😠😾😾
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Yes… but it has to be done carefully!!😬😬🤐 You could endanger Lena and not even know it!! How will you keep in touch with her safely?? Is she willing to be a part of it?? How long might it take??😮😯😲😳
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Very carefully. Right now Lena doesn’t know what’s going on. I’m not staying in touch with Lena except through Baldwin, he let’s me know what is happening, that’s all. How long? A very good question. And now, another problem is happening that I haven’t told anyone.😲🤯
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Oh no!!….. Now what??? What about your friends and family? Any of those could be used against you!! How do you communicate with them?? Oh my… I have a headache 😫🤕🤕
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PI Steve’s only family is Lena, and Muffin. That’s why at the last minute I decided to send the cats…well, that’s for the next chapter. Yes, my brain is acting up too. I’m not due for my booster shot for another month. What if it wears off early??😬😨😱
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😮😯😲😳😬😬😬
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My thoughts exactly.🤔😳😬
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Ya but maybe…. you’ll be regular you🙄🤔 ah.. ya well let’s hope that it doesn’t wear off before🤭🤭🤭
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Exactly what I was thinking too!😄🤸♂️ Thanks! How’s the day going?🤔😁
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Going great! Gorgeous weather today. Probably head out on the pontoon this afternoon for bit to enjoy the sun. You??
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Kind of cool today again, but the sun shines part of the time which is nice and only a light wind which is also nice. The morning has been great! I spent quite a while out playing with the chipmunks and the new one is already taking peanuts from my hand! All but the new one were crawling all over me!
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They must have chattered to him your okay to take a peanut from😂😂😂
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Somehow I don’t think they would tell him, just means more competition for those peanuts! They all kept chasing him, but he kept coming back anyway.😁 It is a male though. Still would like to know where all the females are. There must be at least one.🤔😹
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So his name is??? Riley?!
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Muffin won’t be picking the winning name until Monday, giving more people a chance to put in a name.😺
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It’s only fair!😁😊
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I thought you went pontooooning?🤔
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Nope changed my mind. Been doing a kittle financial forecasting instead. I’ve got to make up my mind when to leave my job.
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You can do financial forecasting? Cool. I tried that once. Scary. I summed it up as ‘cloudy with showers and intermittent heavy downpours’.😲😲🙀🙀😳😳
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Yep! Take what you have divide it by how long you want to live… then look for three more jobs!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
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Sounds risky.😬😬😂😹
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Getting up in the morning is risky too!!😂😂😂😂😂😂
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Only if I hit my head.🤪
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LOL 😂😆 Yould always wear a bike helmut!!😂😂
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In bed?🤔 Are you crazy?😲 I don’t exactly move fast when I’m sleeping.🙄🚲
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Yeah, but you don’t need to worry about helmut hair!! Safety First!!🤕🤕
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You don’t want me to sleep.🤨😒
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When you’re sleeping you won’t even know the helmet is there.🤭🤭🤭
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You don’t want me to sleep!!!😬😒😒
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I want you to be safe!😂😂 Oh what to do?? Go ahead and take your chances!! You lived this long taking chances!! live dangerously😂😂😂🤪🤪🤪🤪
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I live in the north, life is always dangerous up here. It’s not my fault.🙄🙄
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Oh… blaming Muffin??😲😲😲 Oooooo…. that’s dangerous!!😬😬😬😬
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Wait until I tell her what you said!😾😾😾
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Me??? You said it!!😛😛
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Nope, you said it! And Muffin will believe me.😁
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Oh yeah!!🤨🤨
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I’ll just let her read it for herself.😛😛
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Unless you change it you will be in deep trouble with her!😛😛😛😛
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I don’t need to change a thing.😛😛😛😛😛😛
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Hmmmm 🙄🙄🙄🤔🤔🤔🤔 Are you sure you didn’t hit your head today??
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Why would I do that?🤔 It hurts.😳🙄
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I don’t know why you do what you do… are you sure your brain is okay??🤭🤭
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What does my brain have to do with anything?🤔😳
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Now that is a great question!! As Dorothy once asked the Scarecrow…. what would you do with a brain if you had one??😂😂
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Thank you!😁😁
That wasn’t very nice of her, making fun of a clueless scarecrow.😲🙄
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That’s what gets for scaring all the birds!!😂😂😂
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No wonder he scared the birds, he never combed his hair, I mean, straw.🙄🙄
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That could be it!!😳😳😲
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Exactly! I agree!🤯🤯
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Well, got to go, good night Dusty, talk tomorrow!
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Ok Good Night!😴😴
I do hope you sleep well!😁
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Okay then forget the helmet.. you must have some of those ace badages around… wrap your head with a couple of those!!! Nice and soft your goid to go!!
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Why don’t I just tie a pillow to my head with duct tape?🤨🙄🙄
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Hey!!!😁😁 GreT idea!!! Can we??😂😂
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It does have advantages.🤔
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Yeah!! If you wear it all day you can take a nap wherever you are!!😁😁
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That’s what I was thinking too!😴
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The intrigue continues ! What more can your body take ? I noticed that you did not take the cats’ advice…hmmm…☕️☕️🕵️♂️🙀🙀🌴⛴🇨🇦
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So true, but those caves were the only clue we had. But nothing was there.😳🙀🙀🕵️♂️
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Wow this gets stranger and stranger all the time
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Laughter; After a thousand years still your best entertainment value
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Yes indeed! And it isn’t finished yet.
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Oh My!!
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18 hours to rebuild a house…that’s a pretty impressive job what Katharina is doing! Of course she wants Lena! I hope you’ll get her first! 😾😾
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Well, I know it can be done, just needs to be a pre fab house and a crew of guys can do it in that time. But everything would have to be ready and close at hand. Yes, I need to make sure Lena is safe.😠😾😾👩
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Ohoh it’s Katharina, how dare she, and her evil plan. Your smart brain helped you escape from there, and treat your body with some respect, how many bullets it can kiss and take it 🙄 you should be more careful 🧐.. and find that witch Katharina and show her who you are.😎
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Right, I’ll show her!!😠 Or she’ll show me!!😳 Which one will it be?🤔😾😾 Just wait and see!!🙄 You won’t believe what happens in chapter 12!😲😲🙀🙀
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Now, you are promoting this ❤️😍😉 you are already doing this 😁I need to go read the next one, problem is, I’m losing lot of time thinking 😂😁 and that’s useless 😂
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What?😲 Thinking is useless?😳 Why didn’t someone tell me that sooner?🤔 All that time wasted. Sigh.🙄🤯
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I’ve been wasting thinking useless things, I am saying thinking is good, but what I was thinking is useless. You are a legendary thinker 😉 not like the one I do 😂
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I don’t know, I can do useless thinking as good as anyone!😳🙄 And I’m a legend at that too! I think.🤔🙄
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