Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Tuesday’s Tails. #30
Good morning everyone! So nice to see you again today! A bit warmer this morning at 19F (-7C) and a very strong south wind. It was mostly clear earlier but the clouds have moved in once more. It is supposed to be a high of 36F (2C) by this afternoon, but cooling off again starting tonight. Seems it will be up and down like that for the next 2 weeks. But at least it will not be getting too cold. Jasper and Chase have been putting on a good show of fun to watch the last couple of days. Chase always manages to stay just ahead of Jasper as they run through the trees.
They have quite the highway system going from tree to tree. And they are not running slowly, they are really speeding along, up and down the trunks of the trees and along through the branches. Several times Jasper has taken a daring leap from one branch to a lower branch trying to land right on Chase and twice he has made a direct hit! Then the two squirrels have a “discussion” briefly until Chase breaks free and runs off with Jasper right behind him.
Once Chase managed to knock Jasper off the branch during one of their “discussions”, but it did not take Jasper long to catch up with Chase again. Once they both fell as Jasper landed on top of Chase, landing in the snow below. It was only about a 10 foot (3meter) drop and they kept their “discussion” going right down and after they landed, like nothing unusual had just happened. But the chase soon continued and Chase was finally chased away by Jasper.
But Chase was back again yesterday and they were doing it all over again. They keep it up for about an hour, one day was an hour and a half, without a break. After it is over then Jasper lies down on a branch and rests for a while, then he comes over here to get some peanuts. Jasper does a good job of protecting his territory. Only Slim can beat him in a fight, but then, Slim can beat any of the squirrels. Just remember, I had 9 squirrels around here earlier this summer, until Slim showed up and chased them all away, though he sure had a hard time convincing Jasmine to leave.
Now Slim spends most of his time across the street. He almost didn’t make it one day, just missed getting hit by a car, so he ran back. But after waiting a few minutes he tried again and managed to make it that time. But I imagine one time he will not make it, like other squirrels and chipmunks before him. Thank you so much for stopping in, have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
The Investigators, Inc. Mystery Of Baldwin’s Friend. Chapter 6.
Now we join Rock and Annelie as they go check on Alex’s house. “This is the place,” said Annelie. “Hmm, looks like there’s a road around to the back of the house,” said Rock. So he told the driver to go around that way so the car would be hidden from view. There was a car at the back but since Alex is not married and has no apparent girlfriend right now, they just figured it was an extra car. Rock looked around but could not see any evidence that Alex had a security system, which he thought was odd.
But maybe it was part of his plan to show he had nothing valuable in his house. Which can only mean that he does. Rock put his arms at the door frames right at the locks and “crack” at each spot. Then he just pushed the door open easily. Annelie looked at Rock. “Door frames are flimsy and easy to break,” said Rock, “so you can be in very quickly and quite quietly.” “I’m glad you’re on our side Rock,” she said. Rock just smiled. Hmm, maybe Annelie is getting through to him. The other 4 men went quickly through the house to make sure no one else was around, and the place was empty.
And there was no security system that anyone could see. “You sure this is the right house?”, one of them asked. “It is,” she said, “so tear the place apart until we find a safe, or some hiding place where he might keep his important information. I will check his computer. Don’t worry about being neat, we want him to know we were here.” So they all started moving furniture, tossing things around, ripping pictures off the walls. Rock finally went upstairs to the main bedroom, which was huge, so he figured it must be the one Alex used. He went to move the bed, but it stayed put.
“That’s kind of odd,” he said to himself. He looked under the bed but could see nothing. So he started looking for a switch, otherwise he would just break it apart. The bed frame was solid walnut with large round legs. Rock tried turning them but nothing. Then on the back of one leg he felt something that seemed to be a round button, but was level with the leg. He pressed it and he heard a click. He then was able to lift the side of the bed, including the floor. He looked under with his flashlight but the space was empty. “That can’t be,” he thought and started to feel along the edge of that open space.
Although it was just a tiny crack he felt, he reasoned it must be a drawer in that spot. But he could not pull it out. So he decided to push that button once more and the drawer opened right away. He emptied the contents which included many CDs and DVDs, plus papers, notebooks, and a large amount of cash. He put it all in a bag he had with him and brought it downstairs to Annelie. She looked at just one CD which had names, addresses and phone numbers of a lot of people, including some that were obviously very important.
“Take these back to Kat right away,” she said to Rock, “this is what we want, take Bill with you to drive. I am going to stay a bit longer with the other men to finish looking over the info on the computer, then we will head out.” “Okay,” said Rock, “but you should probably come too.” “With the guns these guys have, I will be okay,” she told him. So off they went and Annelie had one man looking out back and one out front, the other man went to the basement to mess things a bit.
After Rock had been gone for a few minutes Alex drove up at the back and he had 2 men with him. “Alex is here Annelie,” said the man watching the back. She called the man up from the basement and he and the front man went out and around back. Annelie and Sam waited at the back door. But half way up the walkway to the back door Alex saw the hidden car behind the garage and turned around. The two men came out from behind some bushes and shot one of his guards, but the other guard shot both of the men.
Annelie and Sam came out the back door just as Alex pressed a button and the entire house was engulfed in a roaring fiery explosion with debris covering Annelie and Sam. Annelie had been on the phone with Kat telling her what Alex was driving when this happened. Kat recognized the sound. “Car 5, pick up Alex, this is what he is driving,” said Kat, “do what you want, but bring Alex back to me, alive! Car 3 head to Alex’s house and check for survivors, fast!”
To Be Continued.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
