Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Saturday Sharing With Coffee! #6
Happy Saturday everyone! It is a nice mild February morning here starting off with a temperature of 21F (-6C), but the temp is already climbing, on its way to a high of 36F (2C), if the forecast is correct. It was nice and clear earlier, but the clouds have moved in again and we might get some rain or freezing rain later today. Now, grab a coffee and we will see if I made it off that ledge or not, so back to our story we go.
When the tree broke, I fell and slid through the snow to the edge of that ledge on the cliff. I stopped dangerously close to the edge in fact and I just lay there not wanting to move. But I could not stay there either, so, I carefully rolled over away from the edge. Unfortunately I had hurt my knee when I fell this time, on the opposite leg to my twisted ankle. That ankle was really throbbing by this time and had gotten quite swollen.
Saw a couple Blue Jays on that snowshoe walk, like the one above.
I knew it was necessary to get out of there quickly, before my knee and ankle got too swollen and stiff which would make it impossible to get out of this spot. Although I was dressed warm, I doubt that I could survive the night too well if I had to stay there. Besides, no one knew where I was anyway, so help would not be coming along too soon. It had now gotten quite windy too, which made things feel even colder. I sat back down on that rock to look things over again.
I looked at the other dead tree. Why not? Do I have a choice? I moved it over and checked it. It did not seem to be as solid as the other one, and the branches were smaller. Sigh. Well, it is the only way to reach that little tree, which looked more like a twig, but I was hoping it was bigger under that snow. I began to climb that old tree and got near the top, but I still could not reach. I managed to clear snow away from that twig with a snowshoe and it was indeed bigger than it looked, there was even branches on it.
Hairy Woodpeckers are usually a common sight, like the one above.
Now, can I hook my snowshoe onto it? Yes! But it would not stay in place. Oh well, I climb a bit higher so I am now standing right at the top of this dead tree. I could not reach that little tree with my hand, but my mitt just slid off of it. So I took my mitt off and grabbed that little tree with my bare hand. It held, and I pulled myself up high enough that I could grab that other little tree, a balsam.
By pulling and sticking my feet in the snow I managed to climb up to the next ledge, which was not much bigger than me, but it was closer to the top. My hands were cold now, so I put my mitts back on and sat in the snow to rest for a bit. Both my knee and ankle were very swollen now and the pain was getting worse all the time. I looked up, there was a large pine not far from me at the top of the cliff and a Hairy Woodpecker came flying along and landed on the tree. He looked down at me and called loudly.
Maybe trying to encourage me? It was not so steep now as I struggled my way through the snow up to that pine and sat down beside it. Made it. But there was still a long way to go back to the car. No way I could use my snowshoes now so I had to walk through that snow, which at times was nearly waist deep. I walked in the direction of an old trail of mine I had made about 2 weeks before this, walking would be easier then.
Canada Jays are often encountered, like the one above.
I spotted a couple of Canada Jays flying through the trees, stopping now and then to look for food behind the bark. I had to stop several times to rest, but I finally made it to my old trail. But because my knee and ankle were so bad by that time, walking was still slow. This little trip shows the importance of having someone with you, even if you do not plan on being gone long. Or at least let someone know where you will be, and stick to your plan.
Of course, this was back before cell phones were getting popular, might not have worked back there anyway. It was nearly dark by the time I got back to the car, but I made it, a bit sore and cold. It took a few days before my knee and ankle were back to normal. Just in time to try again! Have a wonderful weekend everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
The Investigators, Inc. The Secret Estate Case. Chapter 4. The Chase.
Sky, Macey and Angel were off running right behind MC and Storm. They are the fastest runners we have on the team, but I doubt they will catch that wolf. Wolves are fast and can run through the trees better than people. Storm is the most likely one to catch up to the wolf, maybe he can get it to stop which would give the girls a chance to get close enough to shoot it. Rock was in the chopper and had it in the air quickly.
“Rock, if you see the wolf, try to shoot in front of it,” I called to him on the phone, “that might stop it or turn it back towards the girls.” “Right, shall do Steve,” he said, “we will get Muffin back!” I knew that he would be out of calling range very quickly due to that force shield around this place that stops any calls from our phones.
I was right, poor MC ran out of steam fairly quickly and had to stop, but Storm kept going and saw the wolf turn, so he turned too in time to get alongside the wolf and he gave a huge leap landing on the back of the wolf. That got the wolf to stop and he dropped Muffin to try and get Storm off his back. Angel tripped quite close to where MC stopped, so she stayed with him, knowing she could not catch up now anyway. Macey was now in the lead and really began to get her legs moving now when she saw the wolf in the distance.
She had her gun out and while still running at full speed she shot 3 times. The wolf howled and fell on its side and Storm jumped off and stood by Muffin to protect her. The wolf got up, Macey had stopped now, took aim and fired 3 more times. The wolf fell, dead. Sky had caught up by then, but let Macey finish the wolf while she ran over to Muffin. “We got the wolf,” Angel said to Rock, “and Muffin, but she is hurt.”
Rock flew back to the pad at the house, but kept the chopper running. I told him if Muffin is hurt bad that I wanted him to take her directly to Chung, then come back as quickly as he can. When the girls returned, Marlene looked at Muffin and wound bandages around her and said she should be taken back. Rock was soon on his way. It will be a while before he gets back here. “Thank you MC and Storm,” I said, “you did very well today.”
Meow.=Me fail, Storm save my Muffin. Meowr.=No, not true, we both save Muffin. Me just have long legs, made to run. “He is right MC,” I said, “you gave your all on that chase, that is the best anyone can do.” I picked him up and cuddled him. “I think you both need to relax for a bit and get your bodies cooled down,” said Marlene. “Good idea,” I said, “and thanks so much girls, I would have had a hard time if Muffin had been lost.”
We all sat outside for a bit, while John, Kristina and Astrid buried Marven in the garden where it was easy digging. “Well, guess it is time to go inside and explore this huge place,” I said, “all 25 rooms of it.” “Plus an attic and 2 basements,” added Sky. “And we will not be alone while we do it,” said Tracy, “I wonder how many men are out here?” “Not too many,” I replied, “or they would have attacked us by now.” “Well, two did try earlier,” Sky reminded me.
“True,” I said, “so there are 2 less we have to worry about, plus Marven is no longer a threat. Trying to find the remainder might not be easy though.” “And we probably should try to find them, if possible,” added John, “hard to relax knowing that there are others around wanting to kill us.” We went in and picked out 3 bedrooms to use. The 3 of us guys will be in one, the girls will split into 2 of the bedrooms. We moved extra mattresses into the girls rooms from other bedrooms.
Rock will not likely make it back before dark, so he will stay in a hotel in town and come out early in the morning. The main safe had been opened and contained a lot of papers but nothing interesting. Obviously the people ahead of us did not find the jewels yet, or they would have gone. We checked one of the other safes marked on the floor plan we had.
It was locked but MC helped in opening that one quickly. It was a hidden safe so might not have been found by anyone. Nothing exciting in it anyway, more papers, including the deed to the place which Mandar will be happy to have. The next safe was hidden behind a radiator, which was no longer used. MC had that open quite easily, these old safes are easy for him. He moved aside and I opened the door. That is all I remember until…
To Be Continued.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
