Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Fabulous Friday. #5
Good morning and Happy Friday everyone! It’s a chilly morning, but not that bitter cold like we had. It is -17F (-27C) this morning, the sun is shining on the tops of the trees right now, the sky is a wonderful blue and I cannot see any clouds around at all. The birds are busy enjoying their breakfast, today there are more evening grosbeaks than pine grosbeaks, which is interesting. At the moment there are only a few pine grosbeaks which is very odd.
The evening grosbeaks do a lot more “arguing” at the feeder than the pine grosbeaks. The pine always seem to get along so much better, seldom do they “argue”. And the little redpolls run around in between the pine without problems, but with the evening they are chased away much more frequently. Meanwhile the chickadees and nuthatches are quite content to use their hanging feeders. I thought I had lost my white-breasted nuthatches, but at least 2 were here yesterday, so perhaps I am just missing the times when they show up.
I am sitting here with my coffee, watching the birds the best I can through the frosted windows. There are some beautiful patterns in that frost, but, it does interfere with my birdwatching, just a little. Oh well. Milder weather is on the way beginning this weekend and continuing through next week. So hopefully I can spend some time outside with the birds once again.
Today is a big day around here. February 2 is Groundhog Day here in N. America, maybe some of you have a similar day. That is where a groundhog forecasts when spring will arrive. If it sees it’s shadow that day then we have 6 more weeks of winter, if he does not see his shadow then it will be an early spring. Now, for those of us here in the north, we can’t lose, either way it will be an early spring. Now, Muffin says she can do just as good, if not better, than some rodent.
So, around here Feb. 4 is Muffin’s Spring Forecast Day! She saw her shadow this morning as she sat in the window, that means an early spring! Muffin does things backward to the rodents. An early spring for us means that the snow is gone by the end of March. So now we have to wait and see if Muffin is right or not. She did good with her forecast last year. But we have more snow this year, that generally means a late spring. But even a lot of snow can melt fast. Time for another cup of coffee. Thank you for reading, have a great Friday and God bless!
Steve and Muffin. (top featured image is part of the path at the river)
©2022 Steve McLeod.
The Investigators, Inc. Bernard’s Secret. Chapter 3.
Well, I just had my third injection of whatever Chung made to combat this other drug I had been given. At least I don’t get those severe headaches anymore, but I still cannot remember anything before the time that Carine and I met. I must admit, it is very frustrating not having a real memory. Especially since I am married to a wonderful woman that I do not even know. Right now I still love Carine and I feel guilty for doing so, and I feel so bad for her too. Will this ever end? Or will I need to begin my life over without really having a past? Frustration.
Meanwhile…”If you would like to join our team Carine,” began Kat, “you are very welcome to do so. I wanted to give you time to think about it and whatever you have decided, we will help you out in whatever way we can.” “I really would like to join your team,” said Carine quite happily, “but I am so surprised you want me now that you all know my past. I am not really sure however, what I can do to help you.” “That part is easy,” said Annelie, “we could sure use our own masseuse!” “Yes,” said Kat, “that alone is enough. But your knowledge of drugs is also very important.”
“But I do not know how to handle a gun,” said Carine. “Neither did I,” said Kristina, “but we have a great training program.” “And all of us girls live here at the chateau,” said Jennifer, “Rock lives with Baldwin at his house.” MC jumps up on Carine’s lap. Meow!=And you my adopted human! “Thank you so much MC,” said Carine, “I am honored to be your adopted human.” He purrs. “Now,” said Baldwin, “we could use some cinnamon rolls from that bakery again.”
Kristina laughed, “okay, I will get some if Rock comes with me.” “Sure,” said Rock, “then I can make sure we get enough this time.” Everyone laughed. Off they went and the cats went with them just for the ride. Rock had to park around the corner, the main street past the bakery was full of cars. “Maybe the bakery has a sale today,” said Rock, “hope they are not sold out of cinnamon rolls.” “I will get you some Rock,” said Kristina, “don’t worry.” And off she went around the corner. Meow,meow.=Maybe should not let her go alone. “Oh, good idea,” said Rock and he went after her.
He just got to the corner and saw a crowd of guys around Kristina, and they all had clubs! One hit Kristina and that infuriated Rock! He took off running into the middle of them like a raged bull. The cats saw him run off and knew something was wrong so they jumped out the window and ran around the corner. “Run Kristina!”, yelled Rock and he cleared a path through the crowd for her. She got out, covered with blood. The cats both pressed their alarms, then went into action.
Meanwhile…”Double alarm from the cats!”, yelled Jennifer. The girls and Baldwin grabbed their guns, but they had no time to put on their vests. They told Carine to stay with me and Baldwin left a couple men to guard us. He also took 2 men along and off they went quickly to that town with the bakery. Now back to the fight…Rock might have done better, but some of those clubs had metal spikes in them and the leader had an iron pipe which he used to hit Rock on the head and down he went.
The cats started with their slingshots, “Thwock!, Thwock!”, and down went two men. Then again, but they both missed, because the men kept moving around too much. They tried again and took down 2 more men. One of the men shot at the cats but they moved too so he missed. Once again they shot their slingshots, “Thwock!, Thwock!”, Muffin got the man with the gun and MC got another man in the lower back which stopped him completely.
Suddenly two cars arrive blocking the street both ways. Baldwin and his men get out of one and the girls get out of another, with guns ready. The gang dropped their clubs and a police car arrived, plus the ambulance from the clinic. The police searched the men from the gang. Rock and Kristina lay on the ground, covered in blood, their bodies limp. They took Rock in the ambulance and the girls took Kristina’s body in the car. The cats went with them. Baldwin and his men stayed to help the police.
The day had started great, but now…Back at the chateau the girls told Carine and Bernard what happened. “But why?”, asked Carine. “It must be a warning from someone,” said Kat, “this gang has not been seen around here before. I hope this will not change your mind about joining us.” “No, it does not,” said Carine, “I know about gangs and what they do to terrorize people. I am here to stay and fight against these things.” “That is good to hear,” said Jennifer smiling.
That night, for the first time in nearly 3 weeks, I had that dream again as I fell asleep while reading on the couch again. Muffin woke me up, then meowed for Carine who came running in. “That dream again, it is so real,” I said, “and Muffin was there again too.” Meow,meow.=Tell me everything you remember from all dreams. Me think might have answer.
To Be Continued.
©2022 Steve McLeod.
