For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
I just fell to the ground, the pain was so bad. “Steve needs help you two,” said Kat. Chomp!, Chomp! “AAAA”, I said as quietly as possible. Meow.=That always work. “Good thing,” said Kat. “Yes, it certainly is a good thing,” I said, “but for how long?” Meow,meow.=We keep biting till leg full of holes if we have to. “Thanks, but I hope that won’t be necessary,” I said. Meow.=Chop, chop coming. “I don’t hear anything,” said Kat. “I don’t hear it either,” I said. Meow,meow.=But it come, not far away, over there. “That hill with all those pines on top is probably blocking the sound nicely,” I said, “I just hope it’s for us, and not for our ‘friends’ over there.” Meow,meow.=They catching up to us fast.
“Come here Muffin,” I said, and loaded a flare onto her launcher. Up it went to warn the helicopter that trouble awaits. I had one more grenade and put it on top of the gas tank of one quad. That explosion destroyed the 3 quads that were together, the other one was further away. Suddenly the helicopter came over the hill and just above the trees, which is definitely why we couldn’t hear it well. It shot four rockets at the other men and landed quickly on the road. A guy jumped out and called for us to hurry. Kat and I jumped in, then the guy and the helicopter was in the air and the door closed.
“Hey, the cats!,” I yelled. That was the last thing I remembered and the helicopter flew off quickly leaving the cats behind on the road. Muffin and M.C. just sat there staring at the helicopter as it disappeared from view. Meow?=Now what we do? Meow,meow.=Not know, but that not helicopter from human Baldwin, that enemy helicopter. Meow.=Oh, that mean big trouble for them. And for us, now we stuck out here in forest. Meow,meow.=I call for help again, but we go hide on hill first. Meow.=Okay. Off they went to the top of the hill where Muffin called Baldwin again. But Baldwin wasn’t there, he was at some meetings in Australia. Calanthe got the call for help however.
“No, that can’t be!”, she yelled. “What happened Calanthe?”, asked Jennifer. “Baldwin’s helicopter must have been hijacked by one of Steve’s enemies and took them somewhere,” she explained, “but they left the cats alone in the forest!” Calanthe called Baldwin but he was in a very important meeting and couldn’t be disturbed, a secretary told her. “You better disturb him right now or you won’t have a job!”, yelled Calanthe, “this is an emergency!” Baldwin was soon on the phone and he too was shocked at the news. “It’s going to take 2 or 3 days to get another helicopter out there,” said Baldwin, “and without Muffin with them there’s no way to track Steve and Kat.”
Calanthe was devastated by that news and just sat down staring. “One of Baldwin’s jets is at the airport,” said Jennifer. “That’s right!”, exclaimed Calanthe, “that’s the answer.” Soon it was dark, the cats were spending their first night alone in the forest. Some men had come and picked up the other men that had been chasing us. Apparently they had just been knocked out with some kind of gas. The cats climbed one of the pine trees and slept on a large branch that night. It was a quiet night, but they still didn’t sleep well. Soon the sun was just peeking over the treetops and they came down from their sleeping spot. Muffin stayed sitting on a large boulder while M.C. went hunting.
Soon he was back with 2 mice for their breakfast. Meow,meow!=Oh, you such good provider M.C.! Meow.=It easy catching forest mice, they not know much about us cats. After breakfast they sat looking around. Meow,meow?=Where they take my humans? What they do with them? What we do now? Meow.=We not able to help them right now. We need to stay right here so they can find us easy. Meow,meow?=What if they not come? Maybe they forget us and just look for my humans. M.C. sits right beside Muffin and puts his tail around her. Meow.=Don’t cry Muffin, I here with you, we be okay. They sit and look across those miles of empty forest from their high hill lookout. They both felt very much alone right then…
To Be Continued.
Pictures of M.C. are kindly provided by his human, Nina.
Previous chapters of this story, and other stories, can be found on my home page under “The Investigators, Inc.”
Β©2021 Steve McLeod.
Good thing the cats are together and helping start the rescue. This game has turned deadly! But I am sure that you will get out somehow.
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Separating us from the cats was a smart move for them. But is this the same group? Or has someone else entered this game? And where are we now?π€π±ββοΈπΎπΎπ΅οΈββοΈ
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That is not going to end well for you when Muffin finds you!π€¨ you left her and Mr. Cat alone in the forest!!π¬π¬π³π²π²π²
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I didn’t do that! It was whoever kidnapped us! We thought it was Baldwin’s men, but obviously it was someone else, but who? The people after us or someone else entering this game?π€π€π±ββοΈπππ΅οΈββοΈ
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Ohhhhh I hope not! That could really complicate this case!! And maybe you won’t make it out alive π²π²π³π³π€―π€―
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Huh, two of your comments just came through, this one and another one. How odd. This was one question. You squeaked that one in!ππ
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Ohhhh how nice of you to notice!πππππ€£π€£π€£π€£π€£
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GOOD MORNING Steve!
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Good morning Sleepy!ππ΄
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I am having supper with my friend and his wife tonight. I’ll let you know when I get home.
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Okay, I’ll be here.
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Thank you
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Are you still there?π€
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Slightly.
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Hi! How are you?
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Not well. How about you? Good supper?
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Yeah, pork steak, he can’t eat it and they wanted to use it up and get it out of the house. He sent the invite on my way home. So it was very last minute!
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Oh, that sounds delicious!
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It was very!π
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What’s up? Back again?
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Nope, head and stomach, maybe I spent too much time out in the sun today.
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Was it very warm today?
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Up at 97 by late this afternoon. Didn’t think it would make it since it was cloudy most of the morning.
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Did you not get enough fluids?π¬
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Um, well, um, probably not.π
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Silly!! You gotta watch that stuff on hot days! It’s supposed to be in the 90’s all week long here,. How about there?
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Only 2 more days here, then it really dips down to the 60s.π₯Ά
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Brrrrrr…..π₯Ά
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I know, after this it will feel terribly cold. But it’s time to move into fall. The nighthawks were migrating this evening, so summer is over.π¬π¬
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Oh no…. not already??π²π²π²π€―
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Yep, summer is gone by the weekend.
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Don’t say stuff like that!!π¬π¬
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It’s the truuuuuuuuth.π³π³
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Lalalalala I can’t hear you!! Lalalala…..πππππ
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Put those hearing aids back in!π€¨π€¨
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Nope they’re recharging! Still can’t hear you ππππ
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What was that?
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Huh?? What did you say?? π 𦻠π
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My landlord down south called me and said the battery on my truck went dead. So they charged and then started it up and ran it for a while. All is good again. Her daughters been helping me look for work there. Which has been very helpful.
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That can happen when it’s not being used.
That’s very nice of her. Any possibilities?
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Tesla, flextronics, AMD, Apple plus others. Just need to get noticed! I started using LinkedIn app. Now hoping it might get a few more looks than indeed and the others.
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Get in with Tesla, they’re going places!
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No! I wanna stay there!πππ
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But you might get a free trip to Mars.
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Quit hoping!!ππ I’m staying right here where I can pester the daylights out of you!!ππ
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But they might need a vice president to look after sales up on Mars. You could get in on the ground, um, floor. Ground anyway.ππ€£π€£π
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You go first and check out the facilities!!ππ
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No bathrooms up there, just one big litter box.ππΉ I know you haven’t had time to read today’s chapter, so if you want to take a minute to do so, that’s okay.
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Thank you very much! I will be right back!ππ
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Okay.
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I am right back!!ππMiss me?? Of course you did!! That was a silly question!!
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Yep, I was waiting for you to leave. But I see you did and came back again. That’s good. Glad you read the story. My poor kittens.
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I know!!!π€¨π€¨π€¨π€¨ I hope they aren’t too uncomfortable!!π¬π¬π²π²π²π³π³
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They had fun with the fireflies anyway. At least that small lake is close for drinking water. And they have a nice safe bed in the tree.π€π€π³π³π²ππ
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But they’re all alone!!π²π²π²
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I know they don’t have a phone. Time for bed, good night Dusty!πππ΄
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Good Night π΄ π₯±
Talk tomorrow?ππ
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Most naturally!
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Sweet Strawberries π π πππ
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π€π€π€π€π€π€
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It means I’ll be happy to hear from you!π
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Oh good! Hi. Good morning, how’s things going?
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Fantabulously marvelous ππ
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Is that good?π€π€
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That’s the bestest best as best can be!
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But is it good?π€π€
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Very gooder!!ππππ
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πππ
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Exactamundo!!π
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But it’s Wednesday. Shouldn’t it be something like exactowedno?π€π
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So much trouble ! And it is still unclear who the enemies are ! Well, I believe it is someone very close to you ! The cats will figure out something to do ! βοΈβοΈπ΅οΈββοΈπ©ππΌπΌππ
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Hmm, but are these the same enemies that have been playing this ‘game’? Or has someone new entered the game? Will the cats stay and wait for help, or will they try to find their way out and get lost in the forest?π¬π±ββοΈπππ΅οΈββοΈ
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It is a pleasure to meet you
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Good morning Vincent! So nice to have you here at Steve’s Country! I hope you enjoy it here with us, thanks so much for following!
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Hmmm, perhaps it is a good thing you and the cats are separated! Their instincts will help them find their way out of the forest and then they can find help! πΌππΎπΎπ³π³βοΈβοΈπΈ π
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But that could take days, and how will they communicate? Without their collars they are just ordinary cats meowing. Better for them to stay where they are so Baldwin can find them, and then try to find us, if they can, and hopefully in time. I may not have much time left.π¬π±ββοΈπΎπΎπ΅οΈββοΈπ²π³
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Hmmm, I have faith in the cats and they may be smarter than you think! πΌ
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Quite possible, but it’s a long walk for little feet.πΊπΊ
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