Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. The Lost Doll. Chapter 1.
Well, we have all had a good rest after our last case, and nothing new has come in for 3 weeks now. But today there is a lot of mail, so perhaps there will be something for us. And I was right. “Look at this,” I said, “a nice easy case for us to handle for a change.” “What’s it all about?”, asked Kat. “An older man lost a family heirloom, an old doll, that he wants to give to his granddaughter,” I explained, “but he doesn’t know what happened to it and wants us to help find it for him. And he says he’ll pay whatever we normally would charge.” “Hmm, that sounds almost too easy,” said Kat, “probably has it packed away in his basement or attic, or maybe he even gave it to someone else already and just forgot.”
“Well, whatever it is I think it would be good for us, and just maybe we can find out what happened to it,” I said. “I agree,” said Kat, “you call him and I’ll start packing.” “Wait a minute,” I said, “I think you should take it easy for a while yet, this is something the cats and I can handle. And I can take Rock with me too.” “Can’t take Rock,” Baldwin reminded me, “he’s at a family reunion in New York.” “Right, I forgot about that,” I said, “well, I can take Annelie, she collects antique dolls, so she might be very good to have along.” “I agree,” said Kat, “but I’m still coming too. It’s an easy case, perfect for me right now.”
“She’s right,” said Baldwin, “how could this be a problem?” The cats go off to play while we talk things over. Meow?=What is doll? Meow,meow.=Not sure. Meow.=I go ask. M.C. comes back and goes to Annelie. Meow?=What is doll? “A doll is a toy that children play with,” she told him. He goes back to Muffin. Meow.=Doll is toy for kids to play with. Meow,meow.=Oh, that is nice thing. Meow?=What is antique? Meow,meow.=I think it something old, but not sure. Meow.=I go ask.
He comes back to Annelie. Meow?=What is antique? “An antique is something that is very old,” she told him. Meow.=Thanks. He goes back to Muffin. Meow.=You right, antique is something very old. Meow,meow?=I wonder what it made of? Meow.=I go ask. He comes back to Annelie. Meow?=What is antique doll made of? “Well, it could be made of different things,” she explained, “probably it had a cloth body with head, hands and feet made from glass, bisque, or china.” Meow.=Thanks. He leaves again.
Meow=It made from cloth with head, hands and feet made from glass, biscuits or china. Meow,meow?=That odd, wonder why they use biscuits? And how they make it from china? China is country. Meow.=I go ask. He comes back to Annelie. Meow?=How they make doll from China when China is country? “Not that kind of China,” she said, trying not to laugh, “china is very fine porcelain, like Kat’s fancy dishes that we use sometimes.” Meow.=Thanks. He turns to leave.
“M.C., why don’t you ask me these questions?”, I ask him. Meow.=Because want correct answers. “What??”, I said rather loudly. He turned and ran as fast as he could, though he had some trouble getting started on that polished marble floor. We all laughed. I called the man and made arrangements to take the case and told him I would be bringing my wife Kat, Annelie and our two cats. He said that would be fine, he has lots of room to stay in his house. We were soon in the air, traveling by commercial jet this time.
Meow,meow.=Man on other side watching us a lot. “Yes,” said Kat quietly, “I noticed that too.” Then Muffin disappeared. I know where she went, and soon she was back with the man’s passport and wallet. One of these times she will get caught and I will be in trouble. Hmm, according to this his name is Charles Wheeler and he is a PI from London, England. That’s interesting, but why would he be watching us? Muffin returned the passport and wallet without getting caught while the man slept, or at least pretended to sleep.
The man that hired us, Danny Winters, met us at the airport and took us to his house which he said was “just a bit out of town”. That was a long “bit”, but it was a nice road at least. He lived in an old house, but well kept. It was 3 and a half stories tall, a rather large place for one man. His wife died a few years ago and he has a housekeeper come in once a week. He said she’s a bit odd, but does her work well. He has 3 sons and a daughter. But only his daughter and granddaughter ever come to visit him. He wants to make sure his granddaughter gets this doll before he dies.
To Be Continued.
Photos of M.C. are kindly supplied by his human, Nina.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Monday’s Musings. #26
Good morning everyone! It’s another dark morning, and rather chilly as well. I’m going shopping early so I want to get this posted early, otherwise it will be very late. Those evening grosbeaks are really going through the sunflower seeds, it’s a good thing I ration them or they would be all gone by now. I didn’t see Theodore yesterday, which is kind of odd. Jasper was here for a while and eating sunflower seeds too, instead of taking peanuts. That was certainly a surprise. But there is one blue jay that has really taken a liking to sunflower seeds too, and will also pass up the peanuts for seeds. Very strange behavior for a blue jay. Maybe he hit his head or something.
Two different bird species arrived from the north yesterday, Bohemian waxwings and common redpolls. These are two of our winter birds and it’s a bit odd for them to show up with no snow in the forecast. It does happen sometimes, but it’s still a bit odd. There was about a dozen waxwings and around 40 of the redpolls. They don’t normally show up in large numbers like that, usually it’s just one or two at the beginning and then gets more over the following weeks. I tried for some pictures, but the birds were not cooperating yesterday and it was kind of cold standing out there. Oh well. How about a bit more of our October Hike…
Dad and I climbed up onto that sunny hill to have our lunch. Coffee outdoors really tastes so much better. If that’s possible. And it is. Dad took off his backpack and stared. “My new backpack”, he said quietly. “Oh, I didn’t want to spoil your hike by telling you that your backpack frame was bent a bit,” I said. “Spoil my hike?”, said Dad. “My backpack is ruined,” he said, “not a word of this. When I get home I’ll quickly put it in the workshop.” I laughed. Loud and long. Dad chose to sit on an old tree stump. “Are you sure that’s wise?”, I asked. “Certainly”, said Dad as he kicked it, “nice and solid”. And he sat down. Amazing how fast he stood up again.
Then he yelled and started waving his arms. Then he ran. For a big man he could run fast when he wanted. And here I thought he was tired from our little hike. He disappeared from view down the other side of the hill. He came back after awhile. “Working up an appetite?”, I asked. “HAHA”, said Dad. He chose a rock to sit on this time. Apparently when he kicked that tree stump it disturbed some wasps who were living there. I tried very hard not to laugh. “I can see that smile”, said Dad, “where’s my sandwiches?” “In your backpack,” I said. He looked, “what’s this?” “Your sandwiches”, said I, “when you hit that tree you also flattened your sandwiches”. “What about the other one?”, inquired Dad. “I think that’s both of them”, I said. Dad just looked, shook his head and said, “Bonehead!” At that point I couldn’t hold back any longer. I laughed. Loud and long.
Hmm, guess we will wait until later to finish this, I don’t want this post to get too long. Have a wonderful Monday everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 