For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Just as we were leaving Martin’s house another car began to follow us. Sherry was driving this time but Jennifer and Sky have been teaching her how to drive, their style of driving. This should be scary. “Seatbelts everyone,” I said, “now you can practice what you have been taught Sherry.” “Hang on Fluffy!” she said, “And off we go!” She wasn’t kidding.
That car was almost flying down that street and she suddenly turned right and we almost missed that turn, then she turned left down a lane which was quite narrow and I was just hoping we wouldn’t hit someone. The car following us passed the lane, but they backed up and came down after us. However, someone backed out of their garage stopping that car completely so we were able to get away nicely.
“We lost them already,” said Sherry, sounding rather disappointed. Personally I was quite happy. I told her to change over to another street. “I have to go over 2 streets, the next one is a one way, the wrong way,” she told me. “How did you know that since the GPS is not activated?” I asked her. “Fluffy told me,” she said, “Kat made Fluffy untrackable, so he’s perfect when we can’t use GPS.”
“Who is Fluffy?” I asked Jennifer. “I’ll tell you later,” she answered, “but he’s Nakedra’s toy cat.” “She doesn’t need him now,” said Sherry, “since you promised to get her a real cat.” “I promised that?” I asked Jennifer. “Yes, and you will not change your mind either,” she replied. “Why don’t I remember that conversation?” I asked. “Because Sky asked you for Nakedra,” she said. “So that’s how she did it,” said Sherry, “sneaky.”
We were back at our hotel now, thankfully, that conversation was confusing me. Kat and Sky were with us now as we planned our next move. Cristy had filled us in our Mr. Cairns, so had Jazzy, since she knew this guy personally. She said he can’t be trusted in anything, not even his friends trust him. I then talked with Aari to see what might be the best way to deal with Cairns.
First thing he said was to come on strong and never back down. It would likely be best to show up as new competition in town, and make sure I’m well protected. Then Cristy told us something that was rather shocking. Although I didn’t really want to do it, Jennifer and I tuned into a certain porn site and there before us was the 3 children we are looking for.
This site belongs to Mr. Cairns and it made Jennifer and I want to put him out of business tonight. But, we first need to get those kids out of there, wherever “there” is located. That evening we went to pay Cairns a visit, the “we” being Kat, Jennifer, Sky, Angel, Milena, Aasta and myself. “Someone here to see you Mr. Cairns,” said Eddy. “Who is it?” he asked.
“She just said ‘The Kat’,” replied Eddy, “and she sure is one beautiful gal, actually, all those gals are.” “Emerald, I want to know who this Kat person is,” said Cairns. “Right away Mr. Cairns,” she said calmly, though she was very nervous as always. His employees are always nervous, they never know when their job will be over and they will quietly disappear.
Jazzy gave me that information. We had decided that Kat would be the new competition moving into the area, it might be safer that way than using me. I will be her Lieutenant this time, like I was one other time, only in a slightly different way. Sometimes I think I’m confused all the time now. Oh well. We waited at a table in his bar, about 20 minutes actually.
“Obviously he is checking on you Miss Kat,” I said casually. “If he waits too long, I will just go marching in there,” said Kat, “in fact, we all will, whether he likes it or not.” “Okay, Miss Williams, Mr. Cairns will see you now,” said Eddy. We all stood up to go along. “Sorry, only Miss Williams is allowed to come along,” said Eddy.
“Mr. Cairns will learn that I do what I want,” said Kat (we gave her the last name of Williams for this case), “my people come with me.” Eddy then took out a gun and told us all to leave. A couple of other guards showed up quickly with guns also, but they all dropped them quickly when they got too hot to handle. Then Aasta and Milena put their hands on tables and swung their legs around knocking out 2 of the guards.
Sky took care of 2 others with one hit each, knocking them several feet across the room. A little electrical jolt helped her with that. Meanwhile, the rest of us went down the hall to Cairns office. He had been watching the fight and as we came in 4 men were waiting at different positions in the office with guns ready. Cairns also had a gun.
As we entered each of them yelled and tossed their guns to the floor, saying how hot they were. “They will remain hot until after we leave,” said Kat, “you will soon learn, Cairns, that I do what I want.” Then she tossed a photo onto his desk. “What is this supposed to mean?” he asked sneeringly. “That woman and her kids are friends of mine,” said Kat, “you have them and I want them, alive and unhurt.
If they turn up dead, so will you. I am not afraid of people like you Cairns.” “I don’t know what you want me to do,” he sneered again, “they mean nothing to me, she probably ran away from her abusive husband. Happens all the time.” “I don’t like to play games Cairns,” said Kat, “those kids showed up on a porn site that belongs to you.”
“I don’t get involved in things like that lady,” he said, raising his voice now, “so leave my office and get off my premises before I call the police.” “Go ahead,” said Kat, “call the police.” He tried his phone, which wasn’t working. So he tried his mobile phone, but it too didn’t work, neither did any in the office. “Emerald, go get Eddy to call the police,” said Cairns. I was standing next to her and pulled my gun out.
“Stay seated,” I told her. She sat down again. “Emerald, I gave you an order, do it!” he demanded. “She can’t obey you at the moment,” said Kat, “my lieutenant is preventing her from leaving. Surely, even someone with your low level of intelligence can see that. Now, about my friend and her children, I want them back, alive and unhurt. I will not repeat myself again.”
“And I told you I don’t even know these people!” he shouted, “Now, get out of here!” Kat went around behind the desk and gave Cairns a hard back handed slap, almost knocking him off his chair. That’s when his 4 guards attacked. Sky shot bolts of electricity at two of them, killing them instantly and Angel jumped, turning into the lion and killing the other two guards. Emerald’s eyes were so wide when she saw that and she began to plead with me not to kill her.
“Emerald,” yelled Cairns, “you’re a coward and you’re fired! Get out of here now!” “You can leave when we do,” I told her. “If you wish me to leave this area Cairns,” said Kat, “then I would suggest that you return my friend and her kids. You have 24 hours to think it over. Remember, alive and unhurt and you will be too.” We then left, but as we drove away, “We’re being followed again,” said Sherry…
To Be Continued.
©2025 Steve McLeod.
Hello everyone! Happy March to you as well! I know, I’m a bit late for that one, but this is my first Coffee Time post this month. Time goes by so fast. We did have some nice weather, especially on this past Monday when the temperature reached a high of 45F (7C), which was very nice indeed.
It’s a bit cooler today, and right now, at noon, the temperature is 16F (-9C) and it isn’t expected to get much warmer today. There is also a strong, and cold, north wind blowing making it feel a bit uncomfortable outside for walking. It is also extremely slippery on the sidewalks, so for me, it’s best to stay indoors. I have most of my plants repotted now.

A sunny, cold day at the river.
I still have 2 African violets to repot, but they are blooming so nicely right now I don’t want to disturb them. It’s always best to wait until flowering stops before repotting any plant. I took pics of my repotting experience, so I will be writing about it very soon, and I will give some tips that I have learned over the years. Not all plants are the same, they each have their preferences.
But, more on that later. I still have one calathea to repot as well. That one might be a bit tricky. It has grown a lot and the stems of this variety are quit thin and break easily. So, I will need to be very careful with that one. But I need to buy another pot for it, which is why I haven’t repotted it yet. I forgot to buy another pot when I went shopping on Monday. Sigh.

Same day.
I bought some small aloe plants recently, very small plants. I already have the aloe vera variety which is the most common variety of aloe plants, the kind that are most often found as potted plants. But, I picked up three other varieties, the tiger aloe, tiger tooth aloe and lace aloe. They were just tiny plants about 2 inches (5cm) tall and are now about 3 inches (7.5cm) tall.
But, more on that later. I think I said that already. I wasn’t going to talk about plants today. I was just going to make a quick mention of it. But the subject of plants kept growing. Now that the repotting is nearly done, I can get back to my spring cleaning.

One more photo.
That way I can have it done before the nice spring weather arrives. After all, I don’t want to be stuck inside when the weather is nice outside. We don’t get much of that real nice weather, so I like to take advantage of it when there is some. So, now is the time for spring cleaning. For me anyway. Maybe I’m just kind of strange that way.
Well, actually, I’m just kind of strange. I don’t mind admitting it. Oh well. Time to get back at some cleaning, and some rearranging too. I like to change things around now and then and get a new “look” to the room. Until next time, have a great day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2025 Steve McLeod.