Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. The Major Case. Chapter 13. Lost at Sea.
Poor Kristina was tired and could not possibly swim any more with those big waves. She was just trying to keep us all floating and that was even getting difficult for her. Meowr!=Me see island over there! Kristina had almost fallen asleep when Storm meowed his message. She looked and sure enough, there was an island and not too far away. It did not look very big, but at least they could rest properly and dry out.
The waves were pushing them in the general direction of the island anyway, so it did not take much swimming to get us all on the small sandy beach. And the beach was facing the sun nicely, which would help them dry off. Kristina did a good job and got us all on that beach quickly. I was still unconscious, something that had Kristina worried. She checked to make sure I was still breathing, and Storm listened to my heart.
Meowr.=Thumper still thumping good. “Nice going Storm,” said Kristina, managing a weak smile, “he is still breathing good as well.” Lying in the sun like we were dried us off very quickly, although it took longer for Storm to get his fur dry right down to his skin. He decided to go exploring and see if anyone lived on the island, and see if he could find any mice, he was quite hungry now. There were no mice, but he did find some beetles and a couple of spiders, so that helped a bit.
When he got back Kristina was sleeping beside me. Meowr.=That good, she need sleep. So he lay down in between us and fell asleep too. Kristina woke up to Storm patting her nose gently. “Why did you wake me up?” she asked. She was feeling very thirsty now, and hungry. Meowr.=Look at sky, storm coming. He was right, and they would not have much time to build a shelter.
Meowr.=Not need shelter, when me explore, find shelter ready made, kind of in middle of island. Also there is nice cold water come out of ground close to shelter place. “Well, show me where Storm,” she said. It was not too far away, and it was a good solid little one room cabin. Then Storm showed her the spring with such beautiful cold water. Kristina wanted to just keep drinking, it tasted so good. But she had to bring me over to this cabin quickly before it began to rain.
She dragged me all the way to the cabin without stopping even once until we were at the door. Then she brought me inside and put me on the small bed. There was even a couple of blankets, two chairs, a broken table and some dishes in a makeshift cupboard. Now if only there was some food, but unfortunately there was none. But she did fill a large jar with some of that spring water.
“Well, at least we will not go thirsty,” she said to Storm. He then went around the little cabin and found some spiders to eat. Meowr?=You want spider? Very juicy and good. “Um, no thanks,” she said, “you can have all you find.” Meowr.=Okay, maybe I can find beetle for you, they almost as good. We had only been in the cabin about 15 minutes when the rain began. “I wonder who built this cabin?” she asked herself.
It began to rain hard now. “Well Steve,” said Kristina, “I sure hope you do not mind sharing that bed, I am just too tired and sore to sleep on that wood floor.” So she moved me over and climbed on and Storm came up too and went right under the blanket. By morning the clouds were gone and the sun was shining brightly again. Kristina was getting quite worried now, especially since no one found us yet. Did they drift that far off course?
There was a very nice, sharp knife in the cabin, plus a small club, something she knew how to use very effectively, if any undesirable characters showed up. The cabin could not be seen from the shore and that was a good thing. “Well Storm, I am getting very hungry now,” she began, “reminds me of when I was a young girl. My Dad died when I was six and my Mom when I was 8. I went to live with my aunt and uncle. They would often punish me by locking me in my room and not feeding me for 2 or 3 days.
My uncle would get drunk a lot and do bad things to me. My aunt made me do things I did not like. Hmm, I need a cat of my own so I would not feel so lonely.” Meowr.=Me know, me understand. Me too feel lonely sometimes. Then he looked and his ears went up. Meowr.=Look like boat far away. Kristina could see it too, but for some reason she did not feel good about seeing it. Storm tried his transmitter once more. Now that it was thoroughly dry maybe it would work.
Meanwhile… Muffin began jumping on Sky very excitedly. Meow,meow!=Wake up, no time for sleep, wake up! “What is it Muffin?” asked Sky sleepily. Meow,meow!=Get message from Storm, get message from Storm! That woke up Sky quickly and she got her phone and connected to Muffin’s transmitter. A map showed up on her phone pinpointing where the signal came from…
To Be Continued.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
Wednesday Words. #3 Country Pleasures.
Good morning to everyone! I hope you are having a great day so far! It is cloudy and colder this morning with a temperature of 7F (-14C). There is a little wind, though nothing serious. Once again there are not many birds here this morning. Even the chickadees and nuthatches were late arriving again today. Usually they show up while it is just barely getting some daylight.
But today, as with most days lately, it was about an hour after daylight before they arrived. That is really something I have never seen in all my years of feeding birds. This has been a long winter for some reason, and yet it began later than usual. Plus it has not been that cold, except for that 2 week period before Christmas. We have had a lot of snow, though not much this month.
Perhaps it is all the cloudy days that has made this winter seem worse than other winters. And it is not just me, I have heard others say the same thing, it has just been a tough winter. And the only real difference is the number of cloudy days. Normally January is a sunny, and cold, month. We have had 2 sunny days this month. But then there is summer. But this is not about that, even though it might seem like it. I do like to think about country pleasures.
There are many of them to think about too. Like chipmunks, those cute little rodents that crawl all over me during the summer, looking for their peanuts. Standing on their hind legs to look at me. They have to be one of the cutest animals around. Then there are squirrels, a little noisier than chipmunks, and much more bossy, but still cute little critters which can also be quite friendly. And, of course, squirrels are here year round, while chipmunks stay in their little homes all winter.
Both are country pleasures. Then there are my bird friends, some only here in the summer, while others stay year round. I like birds. They are really quite fascinating animals. And they are tough as well, especially those that spend the winter here. Such an amazing variety of sizes, shapes and colors. Even here in the north we have some very colorful birds and not just in the summer, but in winter as well.
Birds are a real country pleasure, any time of the year. Another real country pleasure is walking the trail to the river and enjoying the beauty down there. And it is very beautiful, all along that trail. And a nice quiet place to spend some time.
That is my place of real solitude. A place of real beauty, with wildflowers, mushrooms, tall pine trees, rocks, thick moss and thick mats of pine needles. Thank you for reading my thoughts for today, I will continue tomorrow. I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
