Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. Bernard’s Secret. Chapter 10.
Annelie spotted Melanie, but not soon enough but then, “Thwock!”, and Melanie fell to the floor. Annelie ran over and picked up the gun, then checked Melanie. The girls and MC came running in. “She’s dead,” said Annelie. Meow,meow.=She try kill my human, then going to kill Annelie, I needed to stop her. And Muffin looked up at Jennifer with sad eyes. Jennifer picked her up, “hey, don’t worry Muffin, you did the right thing just now, or Annelie would be dead.” “Yes, I admit it was my fault,” she said, “I got distracted and it doesn’t take long.” “True enough,” said Jennifer, “lesson learned, almost too late.”
Candace came in just then. She had come over from Baldwin’s house after finishing up her duties there. She is wanting to join the team full time and is just waiting to see if she passed her tests and security check. “What has happened?”, she asked after coming into the library. Jennifer filled her in on the details. “Hmm,” said Candace, “so you were left in charge Jennifer?” “Um, yes, I was,” she said slowly, “I’m the one to blame for all of this, not Annelie.”
“According to the rule book, there should always be two people guarding a prisoner,” began Candace, “and if that cannot happen, then the prisoner is to be restrained with handcuffs and ankle cuffs.” The girls and cats all look at each other. “Wow, I really messed up,” said Jennifer, “seems all I can think about is what is happening to Steve right now, so I am not thinking right.” “We all know the rules,” said Kristina, “seems like we all messed up, not just you Jenny.” Jennifer was crying at this point and Candace went over to sit beside her and give her a bit of comfort.
The cats came over too and starting purring. Meow.=We mess up too, we know rules also. Meow,meow.=That why I come back to library, I remember not right that Annelie be alone. “Well, at least one of us was thinking right,” said Jennifer trying to smile. “So what is going on?”, asked Baldwin as he and the others came walking in. Jennifer told him what had happened. “Okay,” said Baldwin, “time for a refresher, everyone to their rooms and go over the rule book again, there will be a test tomorrow. Cats too.
But first, we vote on Candace, she passed all her tests 100% and she passed her security check.” So they all voted to have her join the team, then they went to their rooms to study. Everyone passed the test the next day. I woke up one morning, this was my third day in the clinic. Kara came into the room, “how are you feeling this morning Bernard?” I frowned and tried to say something, but nothing happened. “I’m sorry,” she said, “here is your tablet.” I look at it but do nothing. “Do you forget how to use it?,” she asked so pleasantly and then showed me what to do so I could talk.
“Why am I in the clinic?”, I ask. “Melanie had been giving you poison, in small doses, so Chung has been clearing your system out,” she explained. “What is your name?”, I ask her. “It is Kara,” she answered, still so cheerful and pleasant, “do you not remember me?” I shook my head ‘no’. “Who is Melanie?”, I ask. “She was a member of your PI team,” said Kara, “do you not remember her either?” I shook my head ‘no’ once again. Then Chung came in and Kara talked to him quietly. “Do you remember me Bernard?”, asked Chung with a big smile. “Yes, I remember you,” I said, “why do you keep calling me Bernard?” “Do you remember your name?”, he asked. I thought for a moment…
Meanwhile, back at the chateau everyone is getting more acquainted with Candace who is going to be a good addition to our team. She also has a fantastic memory, much like Melanie did, and she has amazing knowledge of 100 different countries around the world. She needs instruction in fighting techniques, but is excellent with several different types of firearms. Just before supper I come in with Chung and Kara. I look around the library at everyone, my eyes finally stopping at Kat.
“Hi Kitten,” I said quietly, “I am back.” She came running across the room, throwing herself at me, nearly knocking me to the floor! Good thing Kara was standing there to catch us! Everyone then came over for a hug, except Carine, she was not sure what to do. “Steve, do you remember?”, and Kat pointed to Carine. “Yes, I remember Carine,” I said, “if it was not for her I would not be here today.” Kat told her to come and give me a hug too, which she did.
To Be Continued.
©2022 Steve McLeod.
Tuesday’s Chatter. #7
Good morning to all of you! So glad to see you here with Muffin and I again this morning! It is a cloudy morning and a bit milder than it has been, though it still felt cold out there when I was out feeding the birds earlier. Something has happened to my birds the last couple of days. Well, the grosbeaks anyway. There are maybe 15 to 20 each of the pine and evening grosbeaks now. That is a big drop in numbers from what I had last week! Still lots of the smaller birds though. Especially those redpolls.
Watching them yesterday they had filled all the feeders and they were literally all over the snow outside, like watching a multitude of ants crawling around on the ground. Plus they were on the roof of the house next door and in the trees as well. I am sure there must be close to 200 of them now, too hard to count them accurately, but I can get past 150 before they fly up into the trees. But there is always more than what I count. There are a couple of possibilities for the drop in numbers. One could be that shrike who seems to enjoy hanging around here.
But the shrike generally goes for the smaller birds when they are plentiful, but they will take grosbeaks too, even though pine grosbeaks are the same size. Then there is the neighbors dog who comes running onto the deck barking at the birds and scares them away. That could also be the problem. Birds don’t like that. According to some studies done, dogs can be more of a problem than cats, just because of the noise factor of barking, which birds do not like. Cats, being more of a hunter, come in quietly, might catch a bird and then leave the area quickly.
It is a more predator/prey relationship which the birds are used to and can live with. But a large dog bounding toward them barking, well, that just scares them. I am not against dogs by the way, I like dogs. I admit that I like cats better, but I still like dogs. Kind of like squirrels and chipmunks. I like squirrels, but I like chipmunks better. Oh well. There is a male pine grosbeak sitting in the tree outside my window right now, very much fluffed out! All the birds are fluffed out these days, trying to keep themselves warm.
The trees are all covered in frost this morning. It would be so picture perfect if the sun was shining and the sky nice and blue. Frosty trees do not show up nearly as nice against a cloudy background. We are supposed to get another 4 inches of snow today. We have not had any larger snowfalls this winter, but we are getting a lot of small ones, and it adds up. Looks like it will be a very late spring this year, takes a long time to melt so much snow. Oh well. Time for more coffee, thanks for reading today! Have a great day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2022 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 