The Investigators, Inc. The Case of Steve’s Daughter. Chapter 8. Water?

Aari and the remaining Black Wolves are going to try and keep an eye on Wendy Wilder while Kat and her Wildcats are coming to look for us. Even though 5 of the Wolves are back at the chateau and Rock is with Kat, that still leaves 20 of the Black Wolves. Carine also stayed behind with the Wolves, just in case a ghost is necessary for some spying, or protection for Aari. Kristina is with Kat. They are hoping to fly in to us with a helicopter if possible, but they are not sure if they can get one to fly that far from the nearest airport.

“That Mr. Flynn must have used a helicopter,” said Rock, “we just need to have one big enough to haul the water, and us, to them.” “If we can get enough of them,” said Kat, “then we can carry them out with us.” “One would do it,” he said, “we would just need to make several trips.” “Yes, but that might not be quick enough Rock,” she said, “it’s been a long time without water in that hot desert.”

Meanwhile, back to us cave dwellers. It is night once again and cool, which is nice. If we don’t get water tomorrow we will be in trouble. That little we had helped a bit, but it was nowhere near enough in this heat, and it is showing on all of us. I am very weak and lie down most of the time. I can barely see now, my head pains constantly and it’s getting hard to talk. That part is affecting others too. Right now we are all outside enjoying the cool night air.

The cats are excited, seems like Storm has found another lizard for them to enjoy. Misty knows not to go and see what the excitement is all about now. “Storm is good hunter,” said Steffie. “Yes, he used to live in the desert,” said Jennifer, “so he knows how to find food.” “And water too!” exclaimed Steffie. Poor Misty groaned when Steffie said that, so Friskie told her not to talk about lizards anymore. We all stayed awake throughout the night and early morning and by mid morning we were all sleeping again. Sky and Kitty were once again looking for water while Jennifer, Angel and Friskie were on guard duty.

Jennifer was outside sitting on a rock, looking around, hoping to see Kat arriving, but so far there was nothing. Then Steffie came outside to see Jennifer. “Hey Steffie, you shouldn’t be outside,” said Jennifer, “now go back inside the cave.” “But daddy real sick,” she said. So Jennifer came back inside with Steffie right away. I was unable to talk now and I couldn’t see a thing, but I could feel Jennifer’s cool hands touching my hot face. Jennifer communicated with Sky and Kitty to come back right away, then she said Sky’s name and both her and Kitty were right beside her.

“Tell Angel to come inside and you two take our place guarding,” said Jennifer. Soon Angel was there beside me too. I was unable to communicate with Jennifer, but I received her messages and squeezed her hand to let her know. “Your hands nice and cold Auntie Jennifer,” said Steffie, “too bad you not able to make ice cubes.” Jennifer just smiled at her. If only she could make ice cubes, but if she could do that then she could make water too. “Angel, give Steve a little strength, but not too much,” said Jennifer, “I’m going to talk with Misty.” She went over and put a bubble around her and Misty so no one else could hear them.

“Misty, wake up!” said Jennifer. “Misty is sleeping, call back later,” said Misty without opening her eyes. “Misty, I need your help, Steve is dying!” exclaimed Jennifer. Misty’s eyes were wide open now and she sat up right away and looked over at me. “No, look at me,” said Jennifer and she turned Misty’s head. “How can I help?” asked Misty, “I’m not a doctor.” “I need some hydrogen,” said Jennifer, “do you know where I can find some?” Misty’s eyes got big again. “That could kill him!” Misty yelled, then she looked around, “Oh good, no one woke up.”

“I have a bubble around us so no one can hear us,” said Jennifer, “if I can find some hydrogen then I might be able to make some water.” “Um, it’s not that easy Jennifer,” said Misty, “you can’t just put hydrogen molecules and oxygen molecules into a bowl and mix them up to get water.” “I figured that, but one thing at a time,” she said. Then Misty showed her something, a canister of hydrogen gas. “I used it to inflate the air mattress,” she said, “I didn’t read what was in it until afterward. Kind of dangerous this stuff, but it worked.

Jennifer just looked at Misty and shook her head. Then she took the air mattress and went outside. “This ground is hard,” said Misty to herself as she tried to sleep again. “How do you plan on doing this?” asked Angel. Jennifer had brought Angel outside with her and sent Friskie inside to stay with me. All the ghosts can make themselves cold, so that’s what Friskie did and she then laid down next to me. “How come Steve is worse off then the others?” asked Angel. “Steffie told me that Steve gave most of his water to her,” said Jennifer, “he told her that men don’t need as much water as little girls. Stupid daddy.”

“He just wants to make sure that Steffie survives,” said Angel, “she is the most vulnerable.” “I know,” said Jennifer sighing, “but he could have told me what he was doing. Not that I could have helped him anyway I guess.” “Um, how do you plan on making water from this?” asked Angel. “Just watch,” said Jennifer as Kitty came along with the empty water bottles. Soon the bottles were full of fresh water. “We better not tell Misty how we got that water,” said Kitty, “she has a weak stomach.” “Good thinking,” said Jennifer. Once back inside the cave Jennifer called out, “Fresh water has arrived everyone!”

That certainly woke everyone in a hurry, though some of the girls were too weak to do more than sit up. “Don’t drink too much, just small sips,” said Kitty as she handed out water to everyone. Unfortunately not everyone listened to her and poor Misty was once again running outside and around behind the cave. “Amazing how much energy she has,” said Milena, “I couldn’t even walk outside right now.” In a few minutes Sky came inside, dragging Misty with her. “She was too weak for the return trip,” said Sky sighing…

To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod.