For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Soon morning was here, the sun was just rising over the distant trees. Kat was still sleeping so I didn’t wake her up. The cats wanted to look around a bit so I let them go. I made some coffee and oatmeal and managed to find some blueberries close by to add in with the oatmeal. Kat and our prisoner woke up at the same time. I noticed the prisoner kept looking at Kat in a way that seemed like she knew her. She asked for some food too. “You can have some food,” I said, “but first you do some talking.” She looked over at Kat again when I said that. “Can I at least have some coffee first?”, she asked. So Kat gave her a cup of coffee.
“Now, let’s get with some answers,” I said, “who is behind all this? And don’t forget, I just might decide to tie you up in the sun over there when we leave, unless we get the answers we want.” She again looked at Kat, which kind of annoyed me. “Look at me and talk!”, I said firmly. Just then there was crashing through the trees, Kat and the other woman yelled. I turned and a bear was chasing the cats! I grabbed my gun and shot several times hoping to scare the bear away, and it worked. The bear stopped and looked, the cats ran behind a boulder next to us. I ran at the bear, yelling and shot the ground next to the bear and it ran off the way it came. The cats jumped on the boulder and sat there with eyes blinking.
Meanwhile I turned and spotted our prisoner had gotten free and was fighting with Kat. Somehow that woman had gotten hold of Kat’s knife and Kat had her gun out and…one shot and the woman fell to the ground. I ran over, the woman was still alive. “Who is behind this?”, I asked again. She looked at Kat and said, “her”. She died shortly after. Kat looked shocked. “You, you don’t believe that nonsense, do you?”, asked Kat. “Of course not”, I said, “she was just trying to cause trouble between us, and it won’t work.” The cats just sat on the boulder, eyes blinking.
“How did she get free?”, I asked Kat. “That was my fault,” she said with her head down, “she said she would talk if she wasn’t tied up, so I cut the rope off her hands and feet. Then she grabbed my knife and came after me, so I took out my gun and shot her. Sorry I messed things up so badly.” “Don’t worry about it,” I said, “we have all made mistakes as PI’s. Which brings us back to the cats. Why was that bear chasing you?” Meow,meow.=We find baby bear, so we go over to make friends. Meow.=Yep, but mommy bear not seem to like that, so she chase us back here.
Meow,meow.=Yep, that sure scary, thought she going to catch us for sure. Meow.=Yep, very scary, we stay away from bears now, guess they not like being friends to cats. “Well, your timing couldn’t have been worse,” I said, shaking my head, “but it’s a lesson learned for all of us. Did you find anything interesting while you were out?” Meow,meow.=Yep, they have little car thing parked in trees. Meow.=Yep, maybe there is road. The woman had no keys, so I checked the man that came up last and he had keys on him. We went back to the quad and drove to the road, which wasn’t far away, and it kept going in the direction we wanted to go, so off we went. It didn’t take long on that quad to arrive at the lake we wanted.
It was also a welcome rest from all that walking. I parked off the road where the quad couldn’t be seen easily and everyone got off…except me. I just looked around. That feeling was coming back again. “Are you getting off?”, asked Kat, with a worried look on her face. I got off the quad and picked up my backpack, but that sudden sharp pain in my lower back made me drop it again. It also brought me back to reality. I told Kat what had happened. “Take some of your medicine, quickly,” she said. “I don’t have any, they took all our medications,” I said. Now Kat was really worried. “When are you supposed to take the next dose?”, she asked. “Yesterday,” I said. We all sat looking at the lake and the distance to the first island. It was definitely farther than it looked on the map. “I’ll never make it,” I said, “not with my shoulder, and now my back.” “So now what?”, asked Kat.
To Be Continued.
Β©2021 Steve McLeod.
I was expecting poison in the coffee! To kill the Woman… she disposed of her either way! What medication are you supposed to take?? How did I miss that?? Oh my…. you’ve got real problems now!! You can’t swim and no way around the lake??π¬π¬π¬π€π€π€π€ What to do now?? Can you use the tires from the quad to help float from island to island??π€π€π€ Oh man!! I don’t like this one bit! Not one bit!!πππ³π²π²
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She didn’t really try to kill the woman, she was just protecting herself. This is my “nowhere” medicationπ€― which I take every 3 months so I don’t end up back there again, if I do, the doctor said there would be no coming back.π€―π¬π³ No way around the lake because of the river flowing in and out, strong current so no crossing the river, even the lake has current since it’s not very big. But I have a plan, if it works, but it’s our only hope I think.π€π€π±ββοΈπππ΅οΈββοΈπ¬π€―π²
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Well as long as you have a plan!!1ππππ What is it BTW?π€π€
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Yep, plans are always good, providing they work, and my plans always…often…usually…sometimes…well, let’s forget that one and just say, plans are good! Have to wait for the next chapter to find out what it is though.ππ±ββοΈπΎπΎ
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Oh okayππ How do we know it will work?? I think maybe we should go over it just to make sure??πππ€π€
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That’s what we’re doing right now. Kat is thinking about it, Muffin isn’t sure, M.C. says yes, I say yes, so we win and now we do it.ππΈπΎπ±ββοΈ
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Sure…πππ
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Thanks for agreeing with us Dusty!ππΈπ πΎπ³π
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But of course!! I wouldn’t have it any other way!!πππ
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Me too! However, Muffin looks at it a little differently.πΎ
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She’s always been reliable with her intuition!!ππ
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That’s good, very safe reply.πππ
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I know your feet are still sore from yesterday!π€π€π€π€
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Actually it was just one feet,π€π not both feet. And it’s feeling just today! So HA!π€―ππ
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Well then HA HA yourself!πππππππ
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Thank you, thank you!ππ
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Absoposalutely ππ
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Now if I could just remember why?π€πππ
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Me too!! Hurry up will ya?? It’s driving me crazy π€ͺ π
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I’m already ahead of you, x3.πββοΈπββοΈπββοΈhuff,huff,huff
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Three steps us not 3xπ€¨ππ
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tis too, tis too, when it’s three birds in one day!π€¨
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Only if you… say so!π€π€π€
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I do, I do! 3 of my gulls fell to the ground among the raspberry forest today and it wasn’t easy getting them out of there. One just fell down a few minutes before 8, so I had to go out and help him find his way out of there. Terrified the whole time!π¬π² I think he was too.π€π
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Why did they fall??ππ€
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Happens sometimes when too many try to land on the feeder together. Their long narrow wings don’t give much lift, so if they fall off the feeder they can’t get airborne so they end up on the ground. They need a long runway to get in the air.
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Okay I see interesting
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I should have a bigger feeder, but maybe I’ll have to stop altogether. I’ll wait and see what my new landlord says. The gulls will be gone soon anyway.
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I was wondering if maybe the berries were fermented and that caused them to get disoriented.. π€
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Berries? I don’t feed them berries. Besides, these are gulls, they don’t eat berries. They like bread and wieners, french fries, popcorn, the good stuff.ππΏπππ
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I didn’t realize that.. I thought they eat anything!
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They will eat most any meat. Not veggies or berries or fruit, or potatoes, things like that.
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Hmmm…. I learned something today!!πππ
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It happens to the best of us.π³π³
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Good thing it’s not very often!πππ
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So very true. Just think, all that new information to remember along with all the old information. Easy to get information overload!πππ€―π€― It was cold here today, only got up to 59, and just briefly at that. Cloudy, windy, too cold for August.π¬π₯Ά
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Yikes! That is cold for Mid August!!π³π³ I hope that doesn’t mean an early fall and winter!!π²π²
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I know, that’s what I was thinking too.π¬π¬ But it is supposed to warm up for a couple daysππ€ΈββοΈ before going down again,π€―π but not so cold this time.ππΊ
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I hope that’s right!
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As long as we’re not left behind in the forecast.πππ€£π€£
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LOL π π π€£
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Thank you.
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Of course you’re welcome!!
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Of β³πT U.
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You’re Welcome again!ππππππ
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π T U A π€
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LOL π π π€£ πΉ π
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Have trouble with that one? Time for bed again. Good night Dusty!ππ΄π΄π Talk tomorrow!π
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Yep! I had nothin!!πππ€£π€£
Good Night You!!π΄π΄
Sleep Well!!πππ
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I’m glad it’s Friday tomorrow. I know for you it’s another day but this commute is a drag!!
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Yep, another week done and you can relax for a bit under those tropical oak trees! Don’t forget the umbrella though.πβπ³
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I’m more concerned about the squirrels!!πππ
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That’s why the umbrella!π€£π€£
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Oh yeah… throwing acorns at me!! πππ
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Yep, just think of those raindrops as acorns raining down on you!π€£π€£π€£π°π°π°π°
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I don’t need to think it!! They do it!!ππ
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They’re so cute!ππ
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Ha!!ππππππ
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I knew you would agree.π€ππππ
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Yeppadiddley!!ππ
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Oh, goodlywoodly one!ππ
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Same 2 u!!ππππ
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I’m a little concerned about my friend that was in the hospital.. he has congestive heart failure.. he still needs to see the cardiologist yet for treatment options whatever they are… What a year!! First my brother now him….
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How long does he have to wait to see the cardiologist?
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I don’t know he wouldn’t tell me.. Soon I hope..
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Yep, sooner the better.
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I know.. he’s stubborn and thinks it’s hopeless anyway so he’s being stupid.. and you know how much I like using that term!
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And here I thought you didn’t like the word. Yes, sometimes people just kind of give up, but there could be something that can be done.
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I know… just need to wait and see.
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Yep, try to encourage him to keep looking positively at the situation and talk to the cardiologist.
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Yeah.. I’ll do what I can.. but ultimately it’s up to him.
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Yep, that’s true enough.
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I agree with Dusty ! Why would Kat cut the ropes off the prisoner…you never do that …the police can do that…that really gets me ! …to get to the other island you would have to build a raft…thatβs not going to happen…if you used the wheels from the quad, what about the cats ?…another thing, Kat is too βhandyβ with the gun ! Hmmm…π΅οΈββοΈπ©πΌπΌπ€βοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈβΌοΈ
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Well, you must remember that Kat is not a seasoned PI yet, and all of us have made mistakes, the cats too, even today bringing that bear back here. They were out scouting around, they shouldn’t have been making friends with a baby bear, it’s in the PI handbook which they know better than I do. A raft would be ideal, but would be too hard to make without tools to do it. Kat will learn to control herself in time, we must remember her past, she has to change her thinking in some things and that will come. I do have a plan, if it works, otherwise we are in big trouble!π€π±ββοΈπππ΅οΈββοΈπ³π¬
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Whew! Too many close calls going on! Kat needs to shape up fast or all of you will be in more trouble, which seems you have enough to deal with as it is! βοΈβοΈπ₯£π₯£π»π
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Yes indeed. I’m sure Kat will catch on as we go along, this is only her second case, and the first one put her in the hospital for most of it. But now we are in a tight spot, we need a way out fast, but can we do it?π³π±ββοΈπΎπΎπ΅οΈββοΈ
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Yes, with help from the cats and some words of wisdom for Kat!
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She did better in today’s chapter, even though things, oops, better not say anything.π³π
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Hmm So who do you believe??
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Laugh It’s something to do do on a lonely day
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Kat is completely trustworthy.
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That’s my story and I sticking to it Till death do us part πππ
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