For a smile as wide as a country sunrise

Good morning on this cloudy Saturday! It’s also the warmest morning we have had in quite a while and it feels very nice. And today we are supposed to get some showers later which is also nice as it will help to melt the remaining snow that still shows up in patchy spots. Yesterday was very nice and sunny, but once again very windy, but the wind was from a different direction this time, still made things feel a bit chilly though. But I decided it was time to check out my path down to the river again. I was quite surprised to see that there wasn’t much snow and ice left along the way. I didn’t go all the way to the river, but did go more than half the distance. I still have to be a little careful with my walking, even though it’s been 6 and a half months now. But that muscle will never be the same so I will have to be much more careful from now on. But the other 2 muscles are being strengthened to take over the work of the damaged muscle so that should make things more or less normal anyway. More about my walk later.
And now for some more beautiful white bird pics to enjoy…

A herring gull last summer down by the river. It was always sitting on this rock and I took it’s picture several times, hopefully I haven’t shown this one before.
I did show a similar pic of these white pelicans last year, but that time there was more of them in the picture. They always love to sit on these rocks and preen their feathers with those huge beaks of theirs. Sometimes I have counted at least 80 birds on these rocks. They are big birds with a wingspan of up to 11 feet (about 3 meters and 30cm I think).
I hope you all have an enjoyable Saturday, please stay safe and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
© 2020 Steve McLeod.

It isn’t really too long before I wake up, my head still feeling a bit dizzy from whatever was in that briefcase. Muffin is still lying beside me so I try to wake her up. This would naturally affect her more than me due to her small size. It was some kind of gas that knocked us out, but why? I looked in the briefcase, my wallet was in there and a note was inside my wallet. Muffin is awake now, though a bit wobbly, so I read the note to her.

“I’m sorry for this, but I had to make sure you are who you claim to be. My life is in danger and I just don’t know who I can trust right now. You were highly recommended to me by a mutual friend though I can’t give the name of this friend in case this note was to fall into the wrong hands. I don’t want our friend to be involved in this. I stumbled onto something important which is in the small black leather case. I need you to protect this, don’t let anyone have it, not anyone! There are two handguns in the wall safe of your room and the combination is here in the briefcase. Also in the safe is £2,000 for you to use anyway you like and I will give you more as needed.

Everything else that you will need is in the briefcase. I know this sounds like something weird, but I really do need your help. Please, protect that leather case and protect me. Your first task will be to find me, I can’t tell you where I am. But thinking of our friend and how you helped our friend, will lead you to me. I have left 2 cars for you to use, take your choice. The one car is very fast, you might need that at times. If you would rather not take the case, just call my lawyer, he will arrange for you to go home. But…please help. JR.”

Well Muffin, what do you think? Meow, meow!! We not scaredy cats, we best PI’s, we help JR!! Okay, I totally agree with you Muffin, this is our case and we’re going to do it! At least we know something now, even if it’s not much. I checked around for the wall safe, nicely hidden behind a wall panel down by the floor and behind a chair. The money and guns were there so I took them out and put the black leather case inside the safe. It’s too late to do anything tonight, so we may as well have something to eat and get a good night’s sleep so we can have a fresh start in the morning. We both slept very well and were up early and had our breakfast. It was still too early to go into town so we decided to look around the house. It’s a big place for sure, 8 large bedrooms, living room, kitchen and large dining room, a game room and a nice large and comfortable looking library.

Wish I had more time to spend in this library, but I doubt there will be time for reading. Hmm, maybe I will come here later and read a bit. Meow, meow!=Car outside on road, man looking at house. I look out the window, sure enough, a nice shiny black car with a guy staring at the house. I get out my mini scope, yep, it’s the man from the plane and there is someone else in the car, but I can’t make out who. Probably the woman that was with him on the plane. Meow, meow?=Maybe I go out and get close to car? No Muffin, not this time, I don’t want you spotted out there. At that point the car drove away. How did they know this was the right house? They likely found out already that the address is a fake one, so maybe they are just looking at all the stone houses in the area. That could be a lot. Or is someone helping them with information?
To be continued.
Steve and Muffin.
© 2020 Steve McLeod.