For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
It was a good thing that Kat and her Wildcats were close to the airport since the other girls got slowed down in traffic due to the accident. That amount of time could have been enough for Elodie to get away with Chloe and go back to Canada. That would have made it harder to get Chloe back again. Now, while waiting for Elodie to regain her senses, one of her women said that Elodie had her ownership papers for Chloe, and she showed them to Kat.
“These papers mean nothing here,” said Kat, “people do not own other people. Now, all of these girls are friends of our ours and you don’t want to fight with me and my Wildcats, we will tear you apart.” “That girl owes me a lot of money!” yelled Elodie, “And she is going to work for me until it is paid in full!” I decided to enter the conversation at this point. “Miss Arsenault, my name is Steve and all these women, excluding Kat and her Wildcats, work for me,” I said, “and that includes Chloe. Now, how much does Chloe owe you and why?”
“She should have been working for me for the last 5 years,” said Elodie, “and she would have made for me a minimum of $500,000.” “That’s a lot of money,” I said, “but there is a little problem, she did not need to work for you. So, she decided to go elsewhere, where she was given a better deal. Therefore, she owes you nothing. So, I would suggest you go back home before you make me angry. I want you to remember something, you are like an ant, and my organization is like a giant.
I can step on you and squash you any time I wish. I am going to let you go this time, but if you show up again, I will make sure you regret that decision.” “What importance is she to you anyway?” Elodie asked angrily, “By the looks of things you will not miss one woman, you have many others!” “She is my sister,” I told her, “so that makes her very important to me.” “She has no family!” she shouted, “I checked, so you are just lying to me!”
“Chloe and I have been out of touch with each other for a few years,” I said, “due to circumstances beyond my control. But I can prove that she is my sister, so there is nothing more to say about that. You need to stop shouting and talk like an adult.” I guess she didn’t like that last comment to much. “If you were here, I would spit in your face!” she shouted again, “Chloe is mine! I bought her so she belongs to me!” “If I was there, I would slap you good and hard,” I told her.
“Oh, let me do that for you Steve,” said Jennifer, and she slapped Elodie. “That was my wife, Miss Arsenault,” I said, “now, I would suggest that you forget all about Chloe and all of those women. Just go back home while you have the chance and do not return. If we see you again, we will destroy you.” I then told the girls to let Elodie and her friends go free, even though I didn’t really want to. The girls kept the guns those women had and they searched the SUV to see if there were any other weapons.
Elodie said nothing more, she and her friends just left quietly. The Wildcats made sure they got on their flight, which they almost missed, and once the jet was in the air, the Wildcats left. We are going to have a leaders meeting to make some changes to our rules. There are times when exceptions need to be made for accessing different files. Plus, Penny and Brook need to have the ability to access these files too, not just Annelie, otherwise we could end up having problems at some point.
There always seems to be something pop up that we haven’t thought about. Sigh. Later that day Oskar came to me with a possible case for us. A friend of his just inherited a house after his parents died in an accident. However, the house is only part of the inheritance, the rest, which is money, is hidden somewhere in the house but they have been unable to find it. The man’s parents preferred to keep their money hidden at home rather than put it in a bank. I thought people stopped doing that a long time ago.
Oskar’s friend is not wealthy and would only be able to pay us if we found the inheritance. It actually sounded like a fun case, so I told Oskar we would take the case, even if we didn’t get paid. Oskar was very happy and couldn’t wait to tell his friend the good news. Beryan came in as Oskar left, to give me my massage, which I was ready for. Muffin and Storm had been here when Oskar told about the case and they were looking at each other with half closed eyes.
Meow, meow?= You want right or left this time? Meowr.= Me bite left leg last time, so bite right leg this time. Chomp! Chomp! I yelled and jumped, which scared Beryan! She thought perhaps she had hurt me. “Why did you cats bite my legs?” I asked. Meow,meow.= You supposed to vote on case before say yes. “But it’s just a simple case,” I told them. “We have had simple cases before,” said Beryan, “and they became not so simple, remember?”
“But this is Oskar’s friend,” I reminded her. Jennifer came in at that moment, thankfully. “Where is Sky?” she asked, “I can’t find her anywhere.” “Sky, would you please come here?” I asked in my normal voice. She appeared sitting on the bed beside me, smiling. “I know you are not in trouble, so maybe it is something else important?” she asked. “Um, yes, I hope so,” I said, “Jennifer has been looking for you.” Amerie was here now too, she came along with Jennifer.
“I just wanted you to see the rooms I have picked out for you to choose from,” said Jennifer, “one is very nice, looking east and I know you like sunrises. That one is private, just for you. The other room also faces east, it is much larger, but you would have to share it with Amerie.” “I would be so happy if you would share the room with me Sky,” she said, “it is lonely being by myself. I am sure we would get along just fine.” She was smiling so nicely. Sky looked at Jennifer.
“You are sure it is okay for me to be visible all the time?” Sky asked. “Absolutely, you are one of the family you know,” said Jennifer, “and we have a big surprise for you too, in the library on the top floor.” Sky went over to Amerie. “I would be very happy to share a room with you Amerie. I agree, we will get along just fine.” Amerie gave Sky a big hug and off they went.
“Um, was Sky in here all the time?” asked Beryan. “I have no idea,” I replied. “Well, if she was somewhere else, how could she hear you when you were just speaking normally?” she asked again. “I wish I could answer that,” I said, “but Sky can hear me, no matter where she is, whenever I say her name. And she just suddenly appears.” “Oh,” was all that Beryan said.
After a while as she was massaging my back she decided to speak up again. “That is cool,” she said. “But I’m only supposed to do that if I’m in trouble,” I said, “or if there is something else very important that comes up.” “I wonder how she gets there so fast?” she asked. “Something else I can’t answer,” I said.
To Be Continued.
©2024 Steve McLeod.
DISCLAIMER: This post is for information and interest only, it should not be considered a guide to edible wild mushrooms. Always go with a knowledgeable person when picking wild mushrooms.
Hi everyone and Happy Friday! Well, we are back with another interesting mushroom to look at today. There are so many different species of mushrooms, some are easy to identify and some are definitely hard to identify. I have photos of many of our mushrooms for this area, but most are found all across northeastern North America. I have been amazed to find out that so many are not edible and many being very toxic.
Today, however, we have something a bit different, the Wood Ear mushroom. It is also called Jelly Ear and Tree Ear. It grows mostly on upright, dead and decaying conifers and hardwood trees, but also on logs and stumps of these trees. It is gelatinous and quite rubbery and has a translucent quality to it. The color of the one in may photo is a tan color, but it can also be light to darker brown.

Wood Ear Mushroom, also known as Jelly Ear and Tree Ear.
They also develop veins and wrinkles on both the upper and lower parts. The mushroom can grow up to 6 inches (15cm) across. It has no odor or flavor but it is edible, though as mentioned, it is a bit rubbery. Personally, I don’t think I would want to eat this one, but that’s just me. That rubbery texture doesn’t sound appealing.
Also, if you are taking certain medications, such as for blood thinning, it is best to stay away from this mushroom. When dried it becomes tough and very dark but returns to normal with the addition of water. They can be found from spring through fall (most commonly found in fall) and are fairly common in our area. I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2024 Steve McLeod.