The Investigators, Inc. Married. Chapter 10.

At the last minute I decided to send the cats back too and stay here alone. The cats didn’t like that idea too much, but they did go along with it after I talked to them. That was hard. But why am I staying? Katharina said she already left, but did she? One thing I have learned about Katharina, she is never where she says she is, therefore I don’t believe she left the island. So this is the best place to look for her. And I didn’t want the cats getting hurt. Speaking of hurting, my head feels like it’s going to explode. It’s like before, when I was nowhere, same kind of feeling.

I’m supposed to get a booster shot to keep this under control, but that isn’t for another month. It’s wearing off faster than it should. The doctor said that once I feel symptoms, it could come back completely within 24 hours. I have to fight this. Somehow. Now, what to do? It’s not a big island, but it’s big enough to hide on, that jungle growth is thick. I wonder if there are more caves beside the 2 tourist caves? Maybe I should check that out. But first I need a plan of some kind. I’m sitting on the deck thinking about things. I call out Katharina’s name nice and loud. No answer. I try again.

Then some rustling in the jungle growth to my right and out steps Katharina, with 6 men. They are spread out quite a bit. Could I take them all right now? Probably not. If they were closer together I could probably do it. “You should have gone with the others,” said Katharina as she moved in closer. “You’re brave coming so close,” I answered. “Not really,” she said, “I don’t believe you would shoot me out here, you would never get away alive. And I’m sure you want to live.” “That’s true,” I said, “so now what?” “I found it hard to believe you sent away those fur balls of yours,” she said, “I thought you were inseparable. Anyway, now it’s time to play for awhile. You’re the mouse and I’m the cat. If you can survive for 24 hours I will leave you alone for good. And I will give you 1 hour head start before we come looking for you.”

“That’s nice of you,” I said, “but what if I don’t go anywhere?” “Then my job will be that much easier,” she said. “Can I ask for a slight change to the rules?”, I ask. “Such as…?”, she asked. “I’m tired, let me sleep for a while and start the game at 6am,” I said. “Why should I do that?”, she asked. I was about to answer, but she continued. “Okay, we start the hunt at 6am, so you better be gone by then,” she said. Then she and her men disappeared. Well, at least I can sleep for a while, I really do need that. Can I trust her to keep her word? Doubtful.

I go to my room, make something to eat and then lay down on the bed. My head is pounding, I can barely hang on, can’t think at all right now. How will I handle this cat and mouse game? I hear purring beside me. I sit up and look around. The cats are not there, but I’m hearing things. This is not good. Meow,meow=Take pills that doctor gave you. I turn on my flashlight. No, Muffin isn’t here. But that’s it, the doctor did give me some pills in case this happened. “Now, where did I put them?”, I ask myself. Meow.=Little side pocket on backpack. I turn around fast. Nothing. It sounded like Mr. Cat was right behind me.

I look in that pocket and sure enough that’s where they were. I take two. In about half an hour I was feeling much better. Maybe I’ll stop hearing things now. That was just weird. It felt just like before. I don’t want to go back there again. I slept well and was awake at 4am. I didn’t trust Katharina to stick with her time schedule, so I wanted to make sure I was out of the way early. 24 hours. Not much time…and yet it could feel like years I’m sure. I have a new gun to use, it’s quiet. It shoots 2 different kinds of darts, one for sleep and one for a permanent sleep. Now they can’t hear me shooting, which gives me an advantage. What’s that? I hear a noise in the lobby…

To Be Continued.

©2021 Steve McLeod.