“How do you feel this morning Bernard?”, asked Carine. “I’m feeling so much better since we came here last week,” I said, “I no longer have that anxiety, but that pain in my head still seems to be getting more often, hitting me every day now.” “Yes, I know,” said Carine, “more than once a day sometimes. That bang on the head must have done something inside. You really need to see a doctor Bernard, something like that can be very serious if you let it go too long.”

“Yes, I guess you are right,” I admitted, “okay, contact that small clinic you mentioned and see if I can get an appointment.” “Good,” said Carine smiling, “I will do that right away.” “I had that same dream again last night too,” I said, “I was at that old house with a gray cat, we saw that ghost again too. But this time there was a car burning outside and I found some dishes made of gold.” “Hmm, that must be something from your past,” said Carine, “or your dreams are just very interesting!” “Yes, they are so vivid, clear, almost like it was real,” I added.

Meanwhile with my team back in Paris…”Okay everyone, time for another meeting,” said Baldwin, “it seems after only a week everyone is more discouraged than the first time we were here.” “True enough,” said Kat, “really, we don’t even know if John dropped Steve off in Paris or if he took him somewhere else since he knew we found out about his plans.” “Yes, I thought about that too,” said Annelie, “that would be something John would do.” Meow,meow.=My human was here, me smell scent, remember?

Meow.=But we lose scent quick, and only you smell it. Muffin sinks down lying flat on the chair beside MC. “Well,” said Baldwin, “maybe we should leave it up to the police to look for Steve. We will have all police in this part of France on the look out for him. John could not have taken him too far from Paris.” “That is true,” said Jennifer, “right now I would like to get my hands on John!” “Me too,” said Kat angrily, “he is the one responsible for all of this!”

“Maybe if we find him we could make him talk and tell us where he left Steve,” said Kristina. “Yes, that might be a better way to do things,” said Baldwin, “okay then, we head back home and concentrate on finding John. He has had a good head start to get away and hide.” “Actually, it has been so long that he might not expect us to chase him now and he will come out of hiding,” said Annelie. “Sorry I was not much help,” said Melanie, “but John does have a hideaway down in Panama that he uses sometimes.” “Then we will start there,” said Kat.

“Good,” said Baldwin, “off we go back home then.” And that is what they did. From there they did some research for the area where Melanie said John had his place. Chung still did not know what that fourth drug was in that mixture the so called doctor gave me and he needs that to find an antidote. But he also needs me. Poor Muffin and MC were really having a tough time, MC felt bad because Muffin felt so bad.

Now back to Carine and I…It has been 6 weeks now since we first met and we have kept our promise to just remain friends, although in our new town we are pretending to be married. Otherwise we would not have been able to rent our room over the bakery where Carine worked. Carine’s previous employer gave her two wedding rings and an engagement ring because she felt that Carine and I would be married some day. Well, they certainly help right now as we pretend to be married.

Meanwhile, back at the chateau…”How about going to get some of those delicious cinnamon rolls from the bakery Kristina?”, asked Baldwin. “Oh no, not me!”, she exclaimed, “the owner of that place flirts with all the women that go in there, and especially with me! And he is married! I will not go back there again. But there is another bakery in the town west of here, they have good cinnamon rolls too, it just takes longer to get them.” “I think there’s are even better,” said Annelie, “I will go with you.”

“Okay,” said Kristina, “I’m ready now.” “Okay you two kittens, time for you to get out and have a ride,” said Annelie, “it is not good to just sit inside all the time.” Meow.=That good idea Muffin, we go too. Meow,meow.=Okay, we go, but I probably not enjoy it. “Not with that attitude little one,” said Annelie, “you know, we need everyone to stay in a good mood so we can think right and be able to find Steve…and John!” Off they went with the cats sitting on Annelie while Kristina drove. They never realized on that sunny day what was going to happen to them…

To Be Continued.

©2022 Steve McLeod.