Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Morning Coffee At Steve’s Country #24.
Good morning to all of you on this somewhat frigid Christmas Eve day! I made sure there was extra coffee this morning, we will definitely need it. First thing this morning I get dressed to go outside, that takes about 10 minutes with all those extra clothes so I can put food out for the birds. Then a loud “CREEAAAK” as my door slowly opens against that mass of cold air. Then “CRUNCH, CRUNCH…” as I walk on the snow across the deck to the feeders. Then “BOOM, POP, CRACK…” as the wood deck complains about the polar air enveloping everything this morning. I put the food out as quickly as possible today and return inside to warm up from that bone-chilling cold that penetrated right through my clothes within minutes. Such is life with a temperature of -31F (-35C).
I pity those poor birds living outside in that numbing cold. Especially those little chickadees, nuthatches and redpolls. There isn’t much to those tiny birds. Chickadees were here bright and early this morning as usual, quickly getting at those seeds, though I think all of them went for the suet first. That’s a quick source of energy for those little birds, helping them to stay warm while they start working on the sunflower seeds which are a longer lasting source of energy and vitamins for them. Chickadees and nuthatches will often, if they are able, hide some food close by where they roost for the night so they have some food available first thing in the morning to give them a good start for the day. I have watched them both take a sunflower seed with them when they head off to their roosting spots in late afternoon.
This morning Theodore showed up the same time as the first chickadees and he was certainly fluffed out trying to keep himself warm. While he stood on the feeder eating he kept one leg up hidden under his feathers, then after a bit he switched legs. Not easy keeping those long legs of his warm in this weather. He will spend the day switching legs like that except for when he has to walk around. But he had himself a good breakfast then disappeared somewhere else for awhile. He will be back again later I’m sure. Heloisa, the female hairy woodpecker was also here very early today, she’s getting a bit braver so hopefully I can get a pic of her soon. On a warmer day. Muffin and I thank you all for stopping by today and we hope it’s not so cold where you live. MERRY CHRISTMAS to each and every one of you as well from Muffin and I!!
Steve and Muffin.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
20/20 Investigations, Inc. The Wilderness Staircase. Chapter 12.
I felt a gun against my back…it was Carole. “I’m surprised you left me alone, Mr. PI,” she said. “That was a big mistake on my part,” I replied, “I also forgot to search you for a gun.” “Yes, it’s small, but at this range it will be very effective, now drop your gun,” she said firmly. I did toss my gun on the floor ahead of me. Then Gisela must have seen Muffin over to the side and she turned and fired 3 times. Muffin slid a bit on the floor, then she lay limp and lifeless. “Call your other cat,” yelled Gisela. “Come over here Mr. Cat,” I said loudly. He came over dragging his tail. I could tell he didn’t like the idea of giving up without a fight. When he got close I gave a small nod to him which he caught right away. “Now the jewels,” she called out. “They are over in that second oven,” I said. Jakob went over and found them right away and brought them to Gisela. “Thank you so much,” she said with a smile, “now, of course, we can’t leave you alive so….”
Right then I said “meow” nice and loud. “Thwock!”, and Carole screamed! Mr. Cat shot the gun out of her hand, breaking her wrist in the process. Then another “Thwock” and Jakob fell to the floor. A perfect shot by Muffin. Buying those bullet proof jackets for the cats paid off nicely! Then Gisela and Diane tried to leave and Mr. Cat pulled back as best he could and shot. It was a long shot across that big room but he hit Diane on the back and she fell screaming. Muffin was moving around more close to me when Carole managed to pick up her gun with her left hand. “Thwock!”, and Carole screamed again! Muffin got her leg close to her knee, that must have hurt! I took the gun from her.
Muffin came over, meow, meow!=I okay, we chase human Gisela! “Okay you two, let’s go!”, I said and off we went. Gisela had gone down a trap door which led to some spiral stairs again heading down quite steeply. “Stay close to me,” I told the cats. We descended the stairs and came to a small room where Lena’s body lay on a bed, but we couldn’t stop just then, we needed to catch Gisela. Finally we get to the bottom where there was a large natural cave which had two trucks parked inside. Gisela was just starting to back out when we got there so I shot a couple times, but missed her. She shot out the side window, I could feel the sting 3 times and fell down. I could hear Gisela laugh as she drove away. I felt Muffin rubbing her head against mine, then all was quiet and dark. It was only a few minutes when the police arrived. We had managed to get through their jamming device by taking my little scrambler out to the edge of the hill and turning it on full. That allowed Muffin to call for help and give our location for the police. But they arrived just a little too late.
I opened my eyes, the room was bright and sunny, and the cats were bouncing on the bed like kangaroos! They both came up and started to lick my cheeks. I looked around and saw someone sitting in a chair beside my bed…it was Lena! Carole just said that Lena was dead, they had beaten her, but not killed her. Finally after 2 weeks I was getting out of that hospital, the cats were jumping again with excitement! Meow,meow!=Lena invite us to her place for Christmas! Meow.=Yes, she have real big house, lots of room to stay. Meow,meow?=We stay? Please? “Looks like I’m outnumbered anyway,” I laughed as we all walked out of the hospital to the awaiting taxi and then off by plane to Lena’s house for Christmas. Unfortunately Gisela managed to get away and disappear, will we meet again? Carole and Diane were arrested, and the real jewels were returned, apparently they had been recently stolen and there was a nice reward waiting for us. It will definitely be nice to relax for a few days anyway. But if we only knew….
The End.
But what awaits our trio of PI’s? We will be back with all new adventures starting with “The Missing Cat” on January 1st!
Picture of Mr. Cat kindly supplied by his human, Nina.
All chapters of this story, and other stories, can be found on my home page under, 20/20 Investigations, Inc.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
