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For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
This is going to be a tricky operation, getting Carmeline out of prison. We will need quite a few people involved in this one, even with using the ghosts. And, because there is a possibility of someone watching the chateau, I need to leave some ghosts behind to help with protection. I wanted to leave both Jennifer and Kat at home since they are the strongest of the ghosts, however, Jennifer didn’t like that idea and Kat agreed with her. That meant I was outvoted and needed a new plan.
Jennifer said we needed Celestine with us to help with Carmeline, so she would go along as my wife which would help to keep her identity a secret. I thought it would be better to leave her at home where she would be safer. I was outvoted again. There are a lot of volunteers for this case, too many in fact, so I need to trim the numbers a bit. Those who can speak the Hungarian language will get priority, however, that didn’t give us near enough. Kat will be coming, therefore her Wildcats will also come. Dawn and Misty will be coming as well, so half of each team will also come along.
Carine will stay home with Jennifer since the Black Wolves will not be along on this case, except for 5 men which will be joining us. Now, because the chateau is likely being watched, how do we get out of here without being seen? While Jennifer and I were lying on the bed talking, Storm came in, jumped on the bed, sat up straight and flipped his long tail around touching his forehead. That’s his version of saluting. Jennifer looked at him. “Stop saluting or I will make you help Misty look after Steffie for a whole month,” she said, “and shave all the fur off your tail.”
Amazing how fast he can move that tail, flipping it underneath of himself and sitting on it. “Much better,” she said. Anyway, Storm volunteered his team of cats for this mission as well. That would be too many, but I told him to pick 6 cats that have certain qualifications, and I gave him a list. When Storm returned, there were 9 cats in total. “I said 6,” I remarked. “No, it number 9,” replied Storm. “It’s a 6,” I said again. “No, it a 9,” he replied. I look. He had the paper upside down. Sigh.
“That’s okay,” I said, “9 is better anyway, I wasn’t thinking properly.” He stood up nice and straight as did all the cats. I could hardly say no now that he picked them. Now, how to leave. “You forget that we are ghosts,” said Kat, “we will leave at night, no need to hide, we’ll just use the van blankets, using them at night is perfect for hiding them.” Now why didn’t I think of that? “No need to pout Steve,” said Jennifer hugging me, “you can’t be expected to think of everything. That’s why we have several leaders and advisors.”
That part is true, and it was my idea originally too, to help take some pressure off me. It was a full moon, so we didn’t need to use lights for driving. We decided to drive all the way since we will need transportation while in Hungary anyway. It does take longer though and we are in a hurry, but if they don’t know we are coming, it should be okay. We left after dark and everything went well. Once morning arrived we took off our disguise with those van blankets which help to make our vans invisible.
Not that they really turn invisible, but it looks like it to anyone watching. We could have taken the shortest route, but that would seem too obvious, so, we took the longest route which would take us about 15 hours, actually a little less. That’s still not bad. We all take turns driving and everyone gets a chance to sleep a bit too. The guys were especially good at the sleeping part, seems they don’t need to be comfortable to sleep, they just need to close their eyes.
We will have our jet available to take us out of here in a hurry if that becomes necessary. Sienna would like us to bring the vans back though, she’s funny that way, always wanting us to bring our vehicles back from a case. We arrived at our destination just in time for lunch, but our group checked into our hotel first, then went for lunch. The other two groups went for lunch first, then checked into their respective hotels. We all ate at different restaurants this time, but it won’t be that way all the time.
After lunch we drove out to the prison. There were both men and women in this prison, so we went over to the women’s wing and went inside, Celestine and I that is. Interestingly we were refused visiting rights since we were not relatives and were not on the list of approved visitors. Even putting 5,000 euros on her desk didn’t change her mind. She was about to pick up the money though, but I was quicker. “Uh, maybe I could allow you 10 minutes,” she said, “but you will have to go into her cell to visit, after all, she is a dangerous criminal.”
“That’s fine,” I said. “But only your wife can go in,” she said again. I took out a second envelope with another 5,000 euros and she grabbed in quickly. “I guess I can make an exception in your case,” she said smiling. We were escorted by two very large women guards down a long corridor, then we made 3 turns, then arriving at a checkpoint. We were checked a second time now for weapons, drugs or any electrical item, plus pens, pencils and anything else that could be used as a weapon.
Then we walked down another long corridor passing numerous cells, every one of them had people in them. I wonder how many are actual criminals? Are there any others in here like Carmeline with no hope of getting out? Kind of sad to think about. We finally arrived at the cell and the guards let us in, then they locked the door and walked away. That was kind of interesting, but perhaps they are just giving us a chance to talk privately.
Carmeline’s two cellmates were pretending not to listen and we talked briefly about what happened, then I put us in a bubble and Celestine told her friend we could speak without being heard now. Carmeline pointed under her bunk but I assured her that no listening device would work either and to just trust us. Celestine then told her we would be getting her out of this prison today.
“Perhaps you didn’t notice that the guards walked away,” said Carmeline, “that means you won’t be going anywhere, although some male guards will likely come to take your husband away to the men’s side.” “Well, they better not try that,” I said, “we walked in today and we will walk out today as well.” Then Sky made herself visible. “Where did she come from?” asked Carmeline.
“This is Sky,” said Celestine, “she works with us and will be staying with you until we return later. Don’t worry, only you can see and hear her. And this is Kitty, she will also be staying with you. You’ll just have to trust us in this, I know it doesn’t seem believable, but Sky will tell you a bit more.” “I don’t know how you did that, it’s amazing,” said Carmeline, “but they still won’t let you leave.”
To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 
The rescue seems to happening quickly. You and Celestine go to visit and have Sky and Kitty with you, invisible. Do you also have a few cats with you in the cell? There are so many unknown variables that you could not have known, when you made your plans. Also there are people in the shadows with power and influence controlling things. Interesting that your bribe was initially refused. It seems they thought they could have the money without letting you in. How many unexpected surprises will there be? You will need to leave quickly.
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