For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
We sat thinking about this new clue, but we were clueless about what it meant. Then Celestine went into the kitchen to get something to drink and I followed close behind. However, I stopped as I went through the doorway and looked. “Hmm, I think we have a clue for our clue,” I said enthusiastically, “but first, do you have any boards lying around this place, something that is solid?” “Yep, in that shed out back,” she said, “let’s go look.”
Sure enough there was a nice solid looking board just a little longer than 6 feet, so I brought it back inside. Then I pushed the sideboard “aside” like it said to do. “Nothing but a wall,” she said, “great detective work Steve.” Then she laughed. “Very funny,” I said, “there is a door here somewhere.” But, after searching for half an hour I had to admit defeat. “This is beautiful parquet flooring,” I said. “Yes, I really love this room because of that,” said Celestine, “but look at that, there’s a piece that doesn’t match. It must have been replaced.”
“You are right little sis,” I said, “and it’s in the shape of an X. Let’s stand on it and see what happens.” When I stood there, nothing happened, but when Celestine joined me, that piece of flooring sunk down just a bit and a wall panel slid open. “We found it!” exclaimed Celestine. “Yep, let’s go inside before it closes again,” I said. I went in first with the board, then Celestine followed, then Sir Night came too and the door closed.
“Good thing I remembered to bring my flashlight,” said Celestine, “I don’t like walking in the dark in a strange place.” “Neither do I,” I admitted, “especially since there might be a hole in the floor up ahead, which is why we need the board.” Sure enough, it was only a few feet from the entrance and our floor disappeared. At the bottom were pointy wood stakes. “That would be deadly enough,” I said, “these clues are getting dangerous.”
I slid the board across the opening and we walked across without any problem. We then came to the end and our passageway went two directions, though going left only went about 2 feet and stopped. Going right was the only choice, but the floor slanted downward which didn’t feel so good. Celestine was quite scared by it and I didn’t really like it either, but, nothing we could do about it. Then we came to the end of that passageway too. “Well, my Queen, what shall we do?” I asked.
“Well, my King, you must know the answer,” she said, “that’s what the riddle says, without you I can’t find a thing.” “Hmm, I can see why,” I said, “you’re too short to find it by yourself, so, up on my shoulders with you.” I got down and she climbed onto my shoulders. Then I stood up and she could see a small latched door which she opened cautiously. Inside was another envelope which she took and I let her down off my shoulders. “Looks to be another clue, my dear Queen,” I said. “I do believe you are right, my dear King,” she said, giggling.
We then went back to the beginning and standing on a spot marked with an X, the door opened again for us. However, we got a bit of a surprise when we came into the dining room. There stood our bearded “friend” and his chubby bodyguard, plus 2 other men, the ones that had been with them in the restaurant. “What are you doing in Celestine’s house?” I demanded. “I just wanted to talk with Celestine about selling her house,” said the bearded man, “I knocked, but no one answered and the door was unlocked so we came in to see if perhaps there was a problem.”
“It’s possible I might have forgotten to lock the door,” said Celestine, “but that’s no reason for you to come into my house uninvited! Now, go, or I will call the police!” “You did forget to lock the door,” I said, “so I locked it. Now, how did you get in here Whitaker?” “I already told you,” he said indignantly, “now, let’s talk about selling the house.” “Give me your keys,” I said, walking over to him. Chubby stood in my way, so I told him to move. “Move me,” he said, grinning. “If you insist,” I said, and with two good kicks he was lying on the floor groaning.
But, while I was busy, one of the other two men ran over quickly and grabbed Celestine and put a gun to her head. “Now, let’s talk about selling your house,” said Whitaker, smiling. “Put your guns down now,” I told those men. Suddenly they were yelling and tossed their guns onto the floor. I called Celestine over to me. “Now, those keys,” I said. He reluctantly took out his keys, about 2 dozen in all, but I recognized the key for Celestine’s house quickly, and tried it. Sure enough, it worked nicely, so I removed it.
“We could call the police and have you arrested for this,” I said, “but I won’t this time. However, stay away from my sister and I or next time I won’t be so nice.” “What about our guns?” the men asked. “Those are my guns now,” I said, “and I do know how to use them Whitaker.” They quickly left after that. Celestine sat on the couch and started to cry, so I sat beside her, put my arm around her and she put her head on my shoulder.
“I don’t think I have ever been so scared in my whole life Steve,” she said, “they could have killed us, they could have killed you!” I would like to have told her that they couldn’t kill me, but I can’t do that just yet. I did ask Jennifer, but she said no to that idea. She didn’t like what happened this afternoon though, Celestine could have been killed. I certainly couldn’t argue that point. She suggested it might be time for some help, but I said not quite yet, I don’t really think that Whitaker will try anything again for a while.
Although he might send more of those young guys after me, but they are not much of a problem. However, Jennifer was adamant, so while Celestine was in the bathroom I called Sky and she showed up with Angel. “Wow, beautiful house,” said Sky. “Unfortunately you two will have to stay at the hotel down by the beach,” I said. “Yes, we know,” said Sky, “just dropped in to let you know we’re here, now we’ll go until you need us. And don’t forget to call please, Jennifer wants Celestine safe.”
They then walked away and out the door, without opening it. Sir Night was watching this and his ears went straight up. Meower?= “What happen to other human people?” “What other people?” I asked him. He looked at me, then at the closed door. Meower.= “Right, me go eat now, empty tummy play tricks on mind.” “Who were you talking to?” asked Celestine as she came out of the bathroom. “Oh, Sir Night,” I said, “he wanted to go eat because his tummy was empty, so I said that would be okay.”
“Is that a hint?” she asked, “We haven’t even looked at the latest clue yet and you want to eat.” “Almost forgot about that clue,” I said, “yes indeed, let’s take a look at it.” Meanwhile, back at the chateau. “Here’s your donuts Jennifer,” said the twins together. “Um, I only asked for Cristy to come,” replied Jennifer. “Well, I came along to guard the donuts,” said Misty, “there are lots of sneaks around here that might try to take one.”
“Like you, for instance,” said Jennifer. “Right!” said Misty, “No, wait, I mean, not me, um, or, uh, rats.” “You may take one and leave now Misty,” she said. “Thank you!” said Misty and she quickly grabbed one and quickly left saying, “oooo, hot, hot!” “This is Code S Cristy,” said Jennifer, “hopefully you remember that one?” “Yep, sure do,” she replied, “it’s top secret, I don’t tell anyone, not even Misty.”
“Right,” said Jennifer, “and if you do, that’s an automatic 3 months inactive duty, with extra chores. Now, get me Jazzy please, so that no one knows about it. And take a donut.” “That one is easy,” said Cristy, then she grabbed a donut and went over to the laptop saying, “ooooo, hot, hot!”
To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.
Well, we were up nice and early, it was barely getting daylight. Having to be together at all times does have some problems to it since she’s a woman and I’m a guy. So, when it comes to bathroom breaks and showers we have to do it differently. I stand in the hall while Celestine is in the bathroom, the door is open partially and Sir Night is inside guarding. He can then warn me of any problems. It’s a little harder when I’m showering since I can’t hear very well in the shower, but hopefully nothing will happen at that time.
Normally we have some of the girls along, so they can handle these situations. And it bed, she is under the sheet, I am on top, an effective barrier for accidental moving around. And, Sir Night sleeps between us. These precautions were set in place back when I was married to Kat, and they just stayed in place. When we sat down to eat breakfast, Celestine was sad again and she looked at me.
“I’m sorry Steve,” she said, “I should not have slapped you. Sir Night told me what you tried to do and I moved at the last second, so your kiss on the nose ended as a kiss on my lips. It was just a natural reaction to slap you, not because I was mad at you, honest.” “Apology accepted,” I said, “and I will try to be more careful next time. This must be a long hike you have planned if we have to leave so early.” “Well, it takes a while to drive to the hiking trail,” she said, “and, I have to pack a picnic lunch for us too.” “Hey, I can help with that,” I said.
“Good, start by cutting some slices of bread,” she said. “Do you bake your own bread too?” I asked. “Yep, I’m a decent cook and a great baker,” she said, smiling. “I think you’re a great cook too,” I said, “I’m surprised you’re not married yet.” “I’m too young to get married,” she said, “besides, I have not met a man I would like to marry.” “How old are you?” I asked. “You should never ask a woman about her age, it’s bad manners,” she said giggling, “how old are you?” “I’m 32, I was 27 when I started my investigator business,” I told her.
“Hmm, okay, I’m 21,” she said, “and I will gladly show my drivers license to prove it if necessary.” “No proof needed,” I said. “Am I too young to join your investigators?” she asked. “No, we have some women younger than you on our team,” I said. That seemed to make her feel better and soon we were off, driving to this hiking trail. “I hope you’re in good shape for hiking,” she said after we parked. “Good time to ask me,” I said, “it might have been better to ask before we got here.”
It was not a mountain, exactly, just a high hill, and we didn’t go to the top. About half way there is a nice lookout spot with tables and a grassy area. We chose to eat on the grassy area, which is why Celestine brought a blanket for us to use. It was truly beautiful up there. Celestine and I talked the entire way up to the picnic spot, nothing serious, just talking. It was nice to be in a place where we didn’t need to have 4 or 5 bodyguards along and we could just talk about normal things.
This is something I miss, and need. Jennifer and I need to start doing this on a regular basis, after all, we are both ghosts, why do we need bodyguards? This would be a big help to me for relaxing. I mentioned this to Celestine. “How much time do you get alone with your wife Steve?” she asked. “Well, most nights we are alone,” I said. She sat there blinking again, just like Misty and Cristy. “You’re going to make me dizzy blinking like that,” I said, chuckling. “Hey, this is no laughing matter,” she said, “and what about family time?”
“Um, well, um, the girls spend a lot of time with the women on our team,” I said. “That is not what I asked,” she said firmly, “family time is you, Jennifer and your 2 daughters.” “Yes, well, not much time,” I said, with my head down. “Look at me,” she said, still firmly, so I did, “you will change that when you get home. And I don’t mean to think about it, I mean do it!” She was right, very right and things are going to change. Finally it was time to leave and down we went, but, near the bottom of the hill there were 4 young men standing around and I sensed trouble.
“Hold my hand,” I said, “those guys are trouble, I know it.” Celestine grabbed my hand and held on tightly. “I thought they looked like trouble too,” she said. “Sir Night, you get ready to jump off me and run ahead of those men a little ways,” I said. He had come along with us too, I didn’t like the idea of leaving him home alone right now. As we got closer the men stood across the path. “You and the cat can go, lady,” they said, “but your boyfriend stays here, we want to talk with him.” I told Celestine to walk ahead and wait for me. The men let her pass and she kept walking.
Then I went up to the men and they took out knives and attacked me. I touched the chests of the first two and they went flying back several feet and laid on the ground unconscious. I then gave another one a backhanded slap, knocking him out cold. I then kicked the last one in the stomach, then touched his back and he fell to the ground, unconscious. I could have killed them, but that would have involved the police, this likely won’t, at least not as much. Celestine had already called the police, so we waited until they arrived and told our story which the police believed.
Then they arrested the men who were just waking up at that time. “You are a fantastic fighter, Steve,” said Celestine, “I was worried sick that they would kill you, I mean, it was 4 against one.” “They didn’t know much about fighting,” I said, “guys like that work on fear mostly, but they seldom can fight well.”
Back at home we got the next clue out and Celestine read it, “Now ’tis time to push aside straight and tall, then you will find a hollow wall, a board of six, strong and true, to keep the spikes from pushing through, next a turn, but left or right, one is dark, the other is light, here the queen will need her king, or you’ll not find a thing.” “Well, that’s a really helpful clue,” Celestine said sarcastically. That got me laughing, and laughing, and laughing.
I think it might have been too much for Celestine and she decided to jump onto my lap. Then she pushed my mouth closed and kissed me. Meower!= “Oooooo, that one super long!” Then she sat down beside me again. “There, that will teach you for laughing at me,” she said, “and if I get a chance to meet your wife, I will tell her exactly what I did, and why.” I looked at her. Then I quickly grabbed her, put her across my lap and spanked her, and she screamed the whole time. Then she sat beside me again.
“Didn’t hurt,” she said, pouting. I put my arm around her. “I love you little sis,” I said, smiling. She looked at me, then we both began laughing. Meower.= “Human people very strange sometimes.” Meanwhile, back at the chateau, Jennifer was talking with Sky and Angel. “How close does Angel have to be to you,” asked Jennifer, “so that she could go with you if Steve should call you?”
“I can fix it so that if we are in the same room, she will come along,” said Sky. “Do that please,” said Jennifer, “then always stay in the same room together. Steve really is in danger, I can feel it, but mostly someone else that is with him. Please protect them both…”
To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.