Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. The Old House. Chapter 9.
We all ran downstairs and Susan met us at the bottom of the stairs, face covered in tears as she is yelling, “he got her, the ghost got her!” “Who did they get?,” asked Kat. Then the look on Susan’s face! She suddenly stopped crying and yelling and just stared at Kat. That told me a lot right there. “But, but, it can’t be you!,” Susan exclaimed, “the ghost just took you and carried you off right through the wall.” “Oh my, now this is really getting exciting!,” burst out Tracy Kendall, “a real live ghost carrying someone away, why couldn’t it have been me?” Hard to believe really, and I almost agreed with her for a moment, but I held back.
“Let’s go check your room,” I said, so Kat, Susan, the cats and I went to look at things. “The ghost carried Kat, um, you, right through that wall,” said Susan. “I’m sorry Susan, but I was upstairs talking with Steve and the cats, it was Jennifer that was with you,” Kat said, “see, I have blue eyes, Jennifer has green eyes.” Susan gets a real puzzled look on her face. The cats check the wall. Meow.=No door here on this wall. So they go check around the room. Meow,meow.=Door over here on this wall. I just nodded to the cats. “Perhaps you just had a bad dream,” I said, “Jennifer is probably in her own room now sleeping, although she shouldn’t have left you alone like that.” “I wasn’t alone, Kat, or Jennifer I mean, was with me,” she said, “I know I wasn’t sleeping.”
“Sometimes when we get excited it can be hard to tell what is real and what isn’t,” I said, “maybe we should all have some tea, and then go back to bed.” So we all went to the kitchen. Meanwhile, “You got the wrong woman, you idiot, let me check her eyes…they are green!,” said the woman. “Well I didn’t know, those two look so much alike, ” said the man. “Well, now you know, put this woman back, I want Kat and Brenda, not this woman!,” she said, “and try not to get caught. I do like the thought of making Susan look like she’s crazy though, so put this one back in her own room.” So he did while we were having tea.
Now, back to us. Jennifer came walking down the stairs holding her head. “Wow, I feel like a truck hit me,” she said, “I just woke up, laying on the floor.” The look on Susan’s face again. She knows something that is going on here, that’s why King was killed, he was starting to tell me, so someone got scared and killed him. I don’t think Susan will break that easy, unless Kat and Jennifer can make her think she’s going crazy. She was obviously acting before, so she’s part of the plot. But what is the plot? What do these people want? And why? Finally we all head back to bed, but this time Susan is with Jennifer and Annelie across the hall from Kat and I.
We moved a bed into the sitting room for Kat and I, there’s a clue in this room and I need to find it. That little book disappeared, so that’s no help, but there must be something else here. And John must be involved somehow. Meanwhile, “Do you two girls think you can get the real Kat for me?”, asked the woman. “No problem,” said the second woman, “I can kill that PI now too.” “NO, that will come in time, but not now, be patient,” said the main woman. “If we wait too long he’ll get away, I say kill him now,” said the second woman.
“You will do what you’re told or someone else will do the job,” said the first woman. “I can do the job, I’ll wait,” said the second woman. The third woman, who would be going with the second woman, said nothing. As the second woman left, the first woman said to the third woman, “watch her, don’t let her get out of hand, stop her if she does.” The third woman just nodded and went out. They came to the doorway of the sitting room and looked in, a small table lamp was still on so they could see everything easily, but they couldn’t see the cats.
As they quietly entered the room, the cats quickly jumped on their backs, all claws digging deep! The two women screamed and turned to leave but Jennifer and Annelie were there with guns ready to stop them. The cats jumped off and the two attackers were told to sit on the loveseat. Then Annelie brought in Susan and sat her down on a chair. “What’s going on?,” asked Susan angrily.
To Be Continued.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Monday’s Musings #20.
Good morning everyone! Happy Monday to all of you! It looked like there was a beautiful sunrise this morning. The sky was pink and purple and so bright off in the east. But for me it was mostly hidden by the hills and trees. I imagine it would have looked fabulous from my neighbors place up on top of the hill. A picture worthy sunrise I would call it. It is mostly cloudy right now, but the clouds are breaking up and it’s supposed to be a beautiful, sunny, September day. I say it that way because it’s not supposed to be warm exactly, but a typical September day.
But it will be sunny, and that’s the main part. Even when it’s cool, it’s still nice to have that sun shining brightly, and places in the sun away from the wind will feel nice anyway. I put some chicken bones out for the crows this morning and they have been happily carrying them away. There is still tiny bits of chicken on the bones which is what the crows want, but they will even swallow the smaller bones whole. My herring gulls really enjoyed the chicken bones. But they have been gone for a long time now. Ricky was here though and got his share as well. The blue jays have been busy getting their breakfast and now need some more, so I will be right back. There we go, they sure don’t waste time coming down for those peanuts!
So far I have only seen one chipmunk, and that is Coffee. And he was slow getting here this morning. Usually there is 3 or 4 of them waiting for me when I go out to feed everyone first thing. This morning there were no chipmunks, until just now when Coffee showed up. Must all be sleeping late this morning. It is rather cool, so that could be the reason. Although it was cooler yesterday morning and they were all on time. But it is darker this morning with all the clouds so maybe they don’t realize how late it is. I’m sure they will show up soon. At least I hope so. The bear was around last night again, seems to be a nightly thing now. Like the chipmunks, they know that winter is not far off. And bears need to put on weight to keep them through the winter. Chipmunks just gather extra food.
Squirrels stay around all winter, though they still hide food away for the winter, but that is mainly for the colder days. On normal winter days the squirrels will still be found collecting pine cones from the trees. The ones they gather in the fall are kept in piles around the base of trees, rocks or logs, scattered all around their territories so it’s easy for them to find during the harsher parts of winter. That way they use up less energy, and in the winter months that is something that is very important. Squirrels near bird feeders have it easier than their forest cousins. Hopefully I can make it down to the river regularly this winter so I can give treats of peanuts to my friend Scramble. Well, time to head out shopping, have a wonderful day everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
