20/20 Investigations, Inc…Stone House, Chapter 11.

The pilot told me to wipe my gun clean of fingerprints and give it to him, and take his gun instead.  That way I won’t be held by the police for shooting that man.  He also said that an ambulance would be waiting and take us both and drop me off with the next contact.  That man would take me to my next destination, which would be Switzerland, not Spain.  People are watching for me so we have to work fast.  This is amazing, I still don’t know what is going on and yet there are people in different countries waiting to kill me.  Where is this mysterious JR anyway?  I helped the pilot back into his seat and he managed to land the plane very nicely even though he was obviously struggling to remain conscious.

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Rickie the ring-billed gull.

There indeed was an ambulance waiting for us and came rushing over to the plane, taking the pilot, myself and Muffin, with our luggage too.  It was a bit crowded in there but we did it.  They called for another ambulance and the airport security came out to guard the plane until the police arrived.  By then Muffin and I were safely out of sight.  They also informed the police, when they called, that the passenger had gone crazy after an argument with the pilot, whom he initially stabbed.  Then he pulled out a gun and started shooting, so the pilot took out his gun and shot the man.  No mention was made of Muffin and I and since only one passenger was registered for the flight, then they won’t be looking for us.  And Muffin and I had gone over everything I had touched, to remove any fingerprints.

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This is Pocket, my chipmunk friend.

Meow, meow.= I really scared, don’t like not knowing what is happening.  Yes, I’m with you Muffin, but hopefully things will settle down soon.  It wasn’t long and we were racing down the highway and in a little while we were at a hospital and dropped off the pilot.  Then we were back on the highway and traveled about an hour.  We were then dropped off at some kind of small cafe.  Our next contact was supposed to meet us inside, a man wearing a brown leather jacket.  And again we had a number code to identify each other.  Muffin and I go inside and the manager came over quickly and was upset that I brought Muffin inside.  I told him I wouldn’t be here long and I couldn’t leave Muffin outside by herself, and besides, she was in her travel carrier.  Meow, meow.=Let me at him.

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One of several squirrels along the river path.

Our contact waved us over, I was able to get a coffee to go and we were quickly in his car and traveling down the highway once more.  Apparently we needed to be in a hurry.  What else is new?  Our contact, whose name was Dave, spoke very good English.  I thanked him for introducing himself and commented on his good English.  Why shouldn’t it be, he said, I’m from Canada too.  Cool, another fellow Canadian.  After another hour we turn onto a smaller road where we went for another half hour before coming to what he called an airport.  Not much of an airport, I commented.  Dave laughed.  We wanted something a little less obvious, he said.  I think you succeeded on that part, I replied.  But there was a nice plane waiting for us and soon we were back in the air headed for Switzerland.

I asked if Muffin could come out of her carrier and Dave said, sure, she can have the run of the plane.  Meow, meow.=Nice to get out and stretch legs.  I hear you and Muffin can talk to each other, said Dave.  We can understand each other, I replied.  Then he told me JR was in hiding and waiting for us to arrive.  My new job was to be JR’s bodyguard.  I asked him if he knew this mysterious JR.  Sure do, he said, her name is…right then he gets a call.  He went from cheerful to very serious.  Trouble up ahead, he says.  Now what?

To be continued.

Steve and Muffin.

©2020 Steve McLeod.

Daily Pics #122.

Good morning everyone and welcome to our special edition of the Daily Pics series!  Now, you might just say, “what is different?”.  I admit, it doesn’t look very different, but it is as you will see as we go along today.  I hope you will enjoy it.  There is nothing like starting the day with a hot cup of coffee (I think I heard that somewhere before) and sitting on a nice bench down by the river.IMG_3397 

There we can enjoy the beautiful scenery and listen to the many birds singing away from the trees.  And sometimes swinging away from the trees or crawling all over the trees like this little “brown creeper”.  It spends the day starting near the bottom of a tree trunk, usually, and climbing in a spiral way up the tree looking for insects.  Then on to the next tree to do the same thing.  And on and on throughout the day.  I followed this little bird around for 20 minutes before finally getting it’s pic.IMG_3787

Yesterday we saw a couple of pelicans soaring together from the previous day and now we have another one soaring alone and coming out a bit more clear than the other two.  It is terribly hard to get these birds in perfect focus since they are constantly moving and I am standing there looking straight up and trying hard not to get dizzy and fall down and break all my arms, or something.IMG_3801

And there is so much incredible scenery along the shores of this river, every direction, on both sides of the river.  Like this look down the path from the bench where I’m sitting yesterday.  A path among the many pines, and some other trees too, gives it a very relaxing feel.IMG_3416

And then, along with all the other wildlife we get to meet a very tiny bird, the chipping sparrow.  This is our smallest sparrow, about the size of a chickadee, and a very friendly little bird.  I have had these little birds sit on my hand which is always fun.  They just arrived yesterday, a few days earlier than usual, their normal time is around May 5th, and they don’t usually change that date much.IMG_3019

Well, I hope you have enjoyed our special edition today.  Happy Friday to all of you, stay safe and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2020 Steve McLeod.