Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Saturday’s Solitude. #28
Good morning to everyone on this beautiful November Saturday! It’s an unbelievable 41F (5C) this morning with blue sky and the sun warming the trees, slowly making it’s way down to this level. The birds are busy, there were 4 juncos out here along with the early chickadees. The chickadees were anxiously awaiting me to arrive with their breakfast, hopping onto me as soon as I got out there with the feeders. Each one was going dee or dee dee to greet me as I gave them their seeds. Blue jays were third to show up this morning.
The white-breasted nuthatches were next, coming up to me on the railing, or sitting on the pole looking down at me, but not quite brave enough to land on me yet. They looked so happy as I hung the feeders and they were jumping on them right away. Except for one, he likes the main feeder best and waited until I tossed a cup of seeds on there for him and the evening grosbeaks, who were just beginning to slowly show up one or two at a time.
But soon the trees were full of these chirping yellow birds, so cheerful sounding on this Saturday morning. Yesterday there were more than 100 of these evening grosbeaks around, their numbers just keep growing. That will likely change once winter arrives, just as it did last year, and numbers will drop as some of these birds head further south. Though they don’t usually go much further south. It was so nice and calm this morning also, not even the tiniest movement of air out there.
That didn’t last long and it is quite windy out there now. There was also a very heavy dew, something we don’t normally expect this time of year. But it’s nice to have this weather now and then, shortens the winter considerably which is the best part. It’s actually nice enough to be outside with a cup of coffee enjoying all of the late fall scenery. Though I have to admit, late fall scenery with it’s bare, desolate looking trees, is not really my favorite time of the year.
However, beauty can always be found, and this time of year that beauty is provided by the colorful birds that abound. At least they are much easier to see right now with no leaves to hide them. I have to stand however, since everything is wet outside from the dew. It is truly a beautiful Saturday morning. And here, even in town, I can enjoy Saturday’s solitude. I hope you all have a beautiful weekend and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
The Investigators, Inc. The Lost Doll. Chapter 10.
“Keep quiet, you little idiot!”, yelled the man that Rock had brought in earlier. Now Rock is a rather big man, he stands 6 ft 6 inches tall and weighs about 300 lbs, maybe a bit more, he won’t say exactly. And he sure isn’t fat, he’s all muscle, kind of built like…a rock, which is why everyone calls him that. A good man to have as your friend, but you wouldn’t want him to get angry with you. Well, that man got Rock angry, so Rock grabbed him and put him against the wall and “crack!”, then one punch to the man’s stomach and he was out. Kat was back over with Muffin bandaging her wound now. “Would you like Rock to break your arm like that?”, she asked the young woman. “N, n, no!”, she cried, “ke, keep him away from me!”
“Okay, then let’s start answering some simple questions,” said Kat, “like, what is your real name?” “It’s Carol Woodbury,” she said slow and quiet. “Good,” said Kat, “now, this is the needle you were going to use on my husband. I’m going to use it on you.” “NO, no!”, she yelled, “it will kill me!” “So you knew it was poison,” said Kat, “and you were planning to kill my husband with it.” The woman just put her head down. Kat came back over and said, “my patience has run out girl, did you know it was poison?” “Yes,” she said very quietly. “Now, where are my two friends?”, asked Kat. “I, I, can’t tell you that,” she said. Kat gave her another hard slap, almost knocking her out of the chair. “Where are my two friends?”, demanded Kat.
Meanwhile in a secret room…”I told you to bring Kat to me, not Jennifer!”, growled the man, “I can bargain with Kat, not with her!” “Sorry, but I thought she was Kat, they look alike,” said the second man, “how do you know it ain’t Kat?” “Because I have green eyes and Kat has blue eyes,” said Jennifer and she then took out her contacts. “Idiot!”, said the first man, “lock her up with the other one. I want Steve and the only way to get him is with Kat, now…” Then he stopped. “Oh, hi Bert,” said the first man.
“Maybe you’re not the right man for this job,” said Bert calmly. “Hey, I’ll get things done, just wait,” the first man said. “No, you wait,” said Bert, “we need that doll and haven’t been able to find it. That PI and his crew are the only hope we have right now. Leave them alone, this is worth too much money for petty quarrels you have with this PI. After we have the doll, then you can do what you want with them, but for now, leave them alone. Let those two girls go and give them the proper antidote for the PI so they can get back to work.
Oh, and the prisoners that the PI’s have, kill them before they say anything more. And here’s Danny, which we rescued from the tree he was tied to, don’t hurt him, he may not be much, but he’s family.” Then Bert and his bodyguards turned and walked away. “What’s next boss?”, said the second man. “What?”, said the boss, “are you deaf now? You heard what Bert said, now get it done, fast! And make sure you blindfold those girls when you take them out of here.” He took a couple of men with him and left. “Idiots, that’s all I ever get, idiots!”, said the boss.
Now, back to us… Suddenly Jennifer and Annelie were pushed back into the room by the three men. Rock turned but 2 of the men had guns pointed at him so he didn’t try anything. The main man then quickly shot Carol and the man and off they ran. By the time Rock ran across the room and down the hall to the stairs, the other men were gone. “Are you two okay?”, asked Kat. “Yes, we’re fine,” said Jennifer, “they gave us this and said it would help Steve.” Kat let Muffin and M.C. sniff it and both said it was okay. “It’s really our only hope to save Steve,” said Annelie.
“Okay,” said Kat, “let’s give it to him and get some medicine into him quickly.” Kat put Muffin beside me and M.C. curled up around Muffin, they were both purring. Kat sat on the floor next to me and Jennifer came over. “How are you doing Kat?”, asked Jennifer quietly. “I’m tired Jenny,” she answered, “guess I wasn’t rested enough for this.” “Yeah, it was supposed to be an easy case, just find a doll,” said Jennifer. Then Kat fell over onto Jennifer who was sitting on the floor beside her and Annelie came running over…
To Be Continued.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
