Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Wandering Through Wednesday. #10
Good morning everyone! I am glad you stopped by for a cup of coffee this morning. Muffin and I are always happy to see you! It is a rather cold morning here today. The sun is shining so beautifully, the sky is a brilliant blue, and it is cold. Plus it is very windy which makes it feel even colder. Quite the difference from yesterday. That north wind brought in another blast of winter cold. But it should be gone by the weekend, hopefully. And we will be back to more normal winter temps for March.
We might even get above freezing one day next week. The birds are busy feasting this morning once again. Yesterday afternoon there were a couple of female pine grosbeaks show up for a while. So not all have taken off for the far north just yet, there are always a few that stay behind a little longer. Most likely they are younger females. I am surprised that the pine grosbeaks left so early this year, considering it is not an early spring.
That sky is just so beautiful today, not a cloud anywhere that I can see, just a wonderful blue in every direction. There are not as many redpolls this morning, around 30 of them, noticeably less than the last couple of days. They are obviously heading north early this year too. Jasper was here early this morning, before 6:30, I was quite surprised to see him out there. Munching away on sunflower seeds. These days he seems to prefer them to peanuts. He always has been kind of an odd squirrel. Guess that’s why I like him so much. And he is friendly.
Chase was here yesterday too. That ended in a chase when Jasper spotted him trying to eat “his” seeds. So off they went running through the snow and up into the trees. Running high to the tops of the trees, then back down at amazing speeds, jumping from branch to branch, plowing through the snow on the branches making it fly off in every direction. Jasper almost catching Chase’s tail a couple of times, but they never did actually fight. It was all chasing. Amazing how long they can keep it up too before they need to rest.
At one point Chase got ahead a bit and jumped to another branch and lay down right away. So Jasper stopped and lay down on his branch. After a bit Chase got up quickly and began running off while Jasper was looking the other way. But I guess Jasper heard him and off he went too. But Chase had a good lead this time and they both disappeared into the trees. I enjoy watching those chases. Those squirrels sure get good exercise! Well, I hope you enjoyed your coffee, thank you for stopping by today. Have a wonderful Wednesday and God bless!
Steve and Muffin. (Praying for the people of Ukraine)
©2022 Steve McLeod.
The Investigators, Inc. The Castle Mystery. Chapter 10.
Suddenly there was a voice heard by everyone in the different parts of the castle where they were located. “I am the true ghost of this castle,” said the voice, “not like the other people who pretend to be ghosts and live in the corridors below. This is my castle, and it is my treasure you are looking for. You must stop right now and leave. Otherwise you will all die, one by one. This will be your only warning. So far the killing has been done by the first intruders, except the cook, that was me.
So listen to me all of you, run for your lives or die right here, it is your choice, but no one will steal my treasure. To show I mean business, the man below will die.” Then a ghostly figure was seen on the walls where each one could see it, except for Kristina and I, we saw nothing and heard nothing. “What are you trying to do?”, asked the woman. There was no answer. She turned around and saw her partner lying on the floor, he had been stabbed.
She pulled out a gun and walked around but found no one in the room they were using. That means there is another hidden door in there somewhere. She did not believe in ghosts, therefore someone else was in there and after the treasure also. In the living room Elsa had fainted because of all this, even Stewart was terrified. “I have read in that book about a ghost that haunts this castle and guards the treasure, but have heard or seen nothing until now,” he said.
“There is no such thing as ghosts,” said Rock firmly, “someone here is trying to scare us, that is all.” “Yes,” said Carine, “Rock is right, and that is what this is all about, that is why the McMasters hired us, to find that treasure and get rid of the other treasure hunters.” “That is true,” said Annelie, “but now both of the McMasters are dead, so our part here is done.” “You are not going to leave us here alone, are you?”, asked a terrified Elsa who was now awake again.
“No, we are not leaving yet,” Annelie reassured her, “we have to find our friends first, and we will take you out of here too.” Elsa seemed much relieved hearing Annelie say that. Meanwhile… Jennifer frowned a bit after hearing that voice, and she too did not believe it was a ghost. She also realized my signal was coming from above her, so she went up the stairs. Meow,meow.=Someone come up stairs. Candace and Angel got ready to shoot…but were happy to see that it was Jennifer that came up.
“Are we glad to see you Jenny,” said Angel. “I am happy to see you 3 also,” answered Jenny as she picked up Muffin for a hug. “Steve must be down this passageway,” pointed Candace. Off they went and the first door they came to was locked. “Let me,” said Angel, “I am good with locks.” She had the door open fairly quickly and Muffin rushed in first. She was horrified by what she saw and ran back to the door. Meow,meow.=Only Jennifer come in now, you watch door.
When Jennifer came in she understood why Muffin didn’t want the others inside. I was out completely. “I, I don’t know if Steve is…” said Kristina faintly. “He is alive Kristina,” said Jennifer, “but it is bad.” Then she took off her backpack and went to work. She had to open the locks herself this time but she did it okay. MC has been teaching her. Meow,meow.=It okay to come in for Angel to help Kristina now. She went in and was torn between tears and anger with what she saw.
Meow,meow.=Can go help Jennifer carry my human, I watch. Candace went in and helped Jennifer carry me out, while Angel helped Kristina to walk. “I am sure if we continue up the stairs we will get up to the main level of the castle,” said Jennifer. So up they went. The stairs kept getting narrower so they had to carry me differently but managed to make it to a door. It was the first door that MC and Muffin had found at the end of the hall next to a door leading outside to where I had been sitting and disappeared.
The door was easy to unlock and open from this side and they were soon in the hallway. Candace called for Rock, hoping he was around to help them. Rock looked down the hall and ran fast. He carried me and the girls carried Kristina who was too weak to walk any further. They put us both on the bed in the main bedroom we had been using.
To Be Continued.
©2022 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 