Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
20/20 Investigations, Inc. The Wilderness Staircase. Chapter 3.
Poor Muffin, she almost fainted and Mr. Cat came running back to her right away. He looked in the library, his eyes got big and wide as he stared at 3 coffins leaning up against one of the bookcases, one big one with my name on it and two small ones with their names. The one with my name was closed. Meow!=We hurry Muffin, get coffin open quick! Meow,meow!=Here stool, we push over to coffin! Meow!=Good idea! They managed to push that heavy stool over to the coffin and Mr. Cat stood on that so he could push harder higher up while Muffin pushed at the lower end. They pushed harder and harder and finally the lid opened and…Meow,meow!=My human! He got blood on chest! Meow!=Pull leg so we can get him out of there! So they each pulled on my pant legs and got me to slide out of the coffin. Mr. Cat sniffed the blood that was on me. Meow.=That not human blood, they try to trick us.
Meow,meow?=Ghosts play tricks? Meow.=Not know, ghosts maybe very tricky. We need to be careful and…HEY, where you go Muffin?! Right then Muffin comes running in with a cup of water that she held tightly with her teeth. She brought it over and dumped it on my face. “What? What happened?”, I sputtered. Meow,meow!=He awake and okay! And she gives me a big hug. I get up and sit on the stool and look at these coffins. Meow.=Ghost try to make us think you dead and put you in coffin, there one for Muffin and me too. “That was no ghost that hit me on the head,” I said. Meow, meow?=How you know not ghost? You see who did it? “No Muffin, I saw no one, but no ghost could hit me hard like that,” I tried to explain, “what would happen if you bit a ghost?” Meow,meow.=Bite go right through ghost, nothing there to bite, probably bite my own tongue.
“Right, so how could a ghost hold something to hit me with?,” I asked. Meow.=Hmm, that good question, must be human people. “Exactly,” I said, “there are other people out here.” Then I looked at the coffins again and the names on them. “David and Diane told us that no one but them knew about us coming here,” I said to the cats. Meow, meow?=That right, so how anyone know our names? “Right Muffin, only David and Diane knew our names,” I said. Meow.=That mean they lie to us and tell someone else, or…they are doing this. “You two are really thinking today,” I said, “that’s what I’m thinking too, but what I don’t understand is, why would David and Diane want to scare us like this when they hired us in the first place? Or did they perhaps talk about us coming here and someone heard them?
“We decided to eat and go to bed early that night and get a fresh start at looking around in the morning. It was getting cool so I decided to get a fire going in that nice large fireplace that was in our bedroom that we decided to use instead of staying out in the main area. We were right next to it anyway. I had an axe so I chopped up the coffins and used them to burn in our fire. That way too the cats felt better about not having to look at them. The fire also lit the room quite nicely for us. I got my air mattress out which was nice to have rather than sleeping on that cold stone floor.
The cats curled up next to me and we all lay there just thinking a bit. There certainly is something going on out here, but what? It is certainly an out of the way kind of place to do anything really. And there is no evidence of people coming in or going out of here. The only trail into this place was the one we used and it was barely noticeable, no one else was using it, that’s for sure. And this place is so dusty it would be easy to tell if anyone was walking around in here. The only footprints were ours…except in the library. It is an old place, perhaps some secret passages are in here. But that still doesn’t tell us how people get here. Soon we were all asleep…
To Be Continued.
Picture of Mr. Cat kindly supplied by his human, Nina.
Previous chapters of this story and other stories can be found on my home page under 20/20 Investigations, Inc.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
Morning Coffee At Steve’s Country #7.
Good morning everyone! The coffee is on, nice and hot, so just help yourself to as much as you want, then sit back and relax as we check on the day. Well, it’s cloudy with ice fog once again this morning, but still not too cold. Perhaps when that colder weather hits the bird feeders will be busier than they are lately. Hopefully that will be the case anyway. My 6 blue jays are here still and enjoying their breakfast of peanuts. They might actually like the fact that there is fewer of them around right now. That way they each get more peanuts!
Speaking of peanuts, I went out to add some sunflower seeds to one of the feeders yesterday afternoon and Jasper was out there with a peanut in his mouth. So I said ‘hi’. Chip. “You’re looking happy today,” I said. Loud chip. “Really? You found a mate? You should bring her around and introduce her,” I said. Chip, and he looks over to the trees. I look too. What do you know, another squirrel sitting in a small tree. “Good for you Jasper,” I said, “she looks very nice.” Loud chip. “Oh, she isn’t cooperating? Take your time, she obviously likes you or she wouldn’t be here.” Chip. “She just wants to run around the trees? Good exercise, you have put on a few ounces. She just wants you to stay nice and healthy.” Chip. “No, I wasn’t saying you’re fat, but you need to stay in shape in case any other male squirrels show up. You have to fight them off now.”
Loud chip. “That’s what you’re supposed to do.” Chip. “No one told you that? Well, it’s not that bad, mostly just running with some scratching and biting in between.” Chip. “Well, maybe no one else will show up.” He looks at me, then at the female squirrel. Off he goes to take the peanut to her. Poor Jasper. Hopefully no other males show up. Guess I will need a name for her. They spent most of the afternoon running around through the trees. Jasper was slowing down near the end, but she wasn’t. He had to keep stopping to rest. Certainly was fun watching them though. Well, I hope you enjoyed your coffee this morning, thank you so much for joining us, have a wonderful Monday and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
