It didn’t take long to walk that 2 km to the old house. We are here, close enough to see the back of the house, but still well into the trees where they shouldn’t see us too well. There is an outside door to the cellar, plus a door in the kitchen that also leads to the cellar. There is an old shed to one side. Meow,meow.=There is noise of motor in old shed. Meow.=Yep, me hear it too. Strange, I can’t hear anything. But we move over that way and once we got closer I could hear it too. Someone just came out, I gave the nod to Mr. Cat and…”Thwock!”, direct hit and the man fell to the ground. We go over to the door. I tell Mr. Cat to get ready in case someone else is in there.

I throw the door open but there is no one else in there. This is where they are keeping the generators. I see they have soundproofed the building so they won’t be heard easily. I thought of turning them off but it might actually be better to keep them on, so we can surprise them more easily. I put the man’s body in the shed and close the door, but I don’t lock it, just in case we need to go back in here. The outside cellar door has been replaced and a good lock put on it, so we go into the kitchen. Hmm, a new door here as well. I decide to put the cats new breathing masks on them, Baldwin had these specially made for the cats, a very handy thing. I put mine on as well.

The cats are ready with their new weapons also. They practiced with them at the chateau and they work perfectly. They attach to the side of their backpacks, one side shoots a sleeping dart, the other side shoots a tear gas bomb, small, but efficient. Oh my, I wonder if I really felt like this on cases before. I feel like turning around and running the other way. But then I look at Muffin, these people almost killed her. And we need to stop them before they get their plans beyond the planning stage. I just wish we knew how many to expect down there. And what kind of traps they might have waiting for us. I took some keys off that other man, one must fit this lock. Hey, this is the one.

I look at the cats, they nod their heads, it’s now or never. I unlock the door and we start down the stairs…slowly and quietly. There is a hallway with a door about half way down…and a guard. He turns…”Thwock!”, Muffin got him and down he went. Mr. Cat shoots off some tear gas and it lands right by the door. Now we move fast! The door isn’t locked. I throw it open and both cats shoot more tear gas. There’s coughing but also shooting. I fire back across the room as we run inside. More shots. Thwock! Thwock! I keep firing. I caught the sight of someone leaving through the door and ran after the person. As he ran up the stairs I saw him press a button and there was a large explosion! There was dirt and wood everywhere.

I was half buried and the cats were busy trying hard to dig me out. Meow,meow.=Not worry, all bad people dead, except one get away. It was human John. I’m digging too, but my legs are trapped under some rocks that used to be the cellar wall. There was a couple of large rocks we just couldn’t move. Meow.=We need to leave soon, bad human Pete set timer to destroy room. “Then we need to get out fast,” I said, “you cats leave now, get outside and call for help.” Meow,meow.=No, I not leave you this time, we stay together. I look at her, she has tears in her eyes again. I smile at her and give her a hug. “Right,” I said, “from now on we stay together.” Meow?=Me too? “Yes, Mr. Cat,” I added, “you too. Now, we have to figure out a way to get these rocks off my legs.” I start looking around the room, we’re in a race with time right now, and we don’t know how much time there is…

To Be Continued.

Previous chapters of this story, and other stories, can be found on my home page under “The Investigators, Inc.” and “20/20 Investigations, Inc.”

©Steve McLeod.