For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Well, our fake ghost visitors discovered they were no match for our real ghost. Jennifer just touched the back of their necks and they fell to the floor unconscious. That is a new one for me, I did not know she could do that. Perhaps another invention from Kat, I will ask about that later. Right now, or at least when our fake ghosts wake up, we will begin to ask some serious questions of them. Annelie has searched out that family history very thoroughly and there are no living relatives anywhere.
These two definitely look like John Silverton and his wife when they were young, but that is something that can be done with a little surgery or even just a mask. Making a mask to wear can be very realistic and that is something we can check on before they wake up perhaps. Unfortunately, they were not wearing a mask as Jennifer and I checked them closely. Oh well, it will be interesting to hear what kind of story they came up with to justify their claims to any Silverton family treasure.
Since there are no heirs, if there is any treasure it will automatically go to the present owner of the property. I called Rock and Bear to take these two people down to the living room for us, after we put handcuffs on their hands and feet. I don’t want them trying to run away. It was nearly morning now anyway, so we decided to stay up and get some breakfast. However, when we got to the kitchen, Martha, Rock’s mom, was already there getting ready to make pancakes and bacon for breakfast.
The cats were all eagerly waiting, bouncing up and down all over the floor. “By the way,” I said to Jennifer, “why didn’t we sense these ghostly visitors in our room?” “I guess we must have been too tired,” she answered as she tried to help Martha. However, Martha said the coffee was ready and to help ourselves while she finishes breakfast. That meant she didn’t want any help. So, we got some coffee and went to the living room where Amerie and her friends were already sitting with some coffee.
“I still am not sure if I should forgive you for lying to us,” said Amerie, “telling us that Cricket was dead and yet she is still alive.” “I’m very sorry Amerie,” I said, “but in our business we must be very careful at times, especially when it concerns the lives of others. But, Cricket is dead and buried. Katresa is my younger sister.” I apologized to each of them for the deception and they all agreed to forgive me.
“How come Katresa and Amerie get to be your sisters,” asked Suzette, “but not us?” “I can’t wait to hear this one,” said Jennifer quietly, as she sipped her coffee. Just then our two captives began to wake up. That was perfectly timed, at least for me. “Okay,” I said, “let’s start at the beginning, who are you and why are you here? And forget your story about being John Silverton and his wife. If you were truly ghosts, we would not have you secured right now.”
“I told you this wouldn’t work, you idiot,” the woman said to her companion. A little questioning brought out some truth from these two. They had read about the family history of this place and also discovered there is a family treasure in here somewhere. They have spent three years at the house looking for it, on their days off and after work. They both have jobs in the city, he is an accountant and she works as a secretary.
But, so far they have found nothing and can’t even figure out what the clues mean. We didn’t know there were clues to help find this treasure, that makes it a little more believable. I asked them for the clues. The woman repeated them for us and Dawn, who had joined us by now, wrote them down. Simple clues really, which were, “Down under the ground, Where it may be found, Just find a nice door, Right there on the floor, No need to be quick, Look behind the brick.”
We had already found the spot, in the underground rooms beneath that shed out back. So, after breakfast, which Martha insisted we eat before our treasure hunt, we then went to the shed and down to the end of the long tunnel to the bricks behind the door. The only large tools we had were axes, so Rock and Bear began chopping away at those bricks. It didn’t take them long and that brick wall came tumbling down. Behind it was a… large rock. Well, so much for easy clues.
Everyone was rather disappointed in that. Suzette, however, was standing there looking quite happy. Dawn looked at her. “I don’t remember you wearing that necklace at breakfast,” she said to Suzette. “I was not wearing it before,” she said, “I just now found it, along with this lovely gold bracelet.” “Where did you find those?” asked Jennifer. “Behind the brick, like the clue said,” she replied. Then she took us into one of the rooms and behind a wood box was an opening in the wall where a brick had been.
While the guys were smashing the brick door to pieces, Suzette was carefully chiseling this brick out of the wall with a hammer and knife she found in the room. She stood by the opening and smiled. She reached inside and began to pull out more jewelry and some gold coins, about a hundred altogether. “The clue did say, behind the brick,” she explained, “not bricks. I like to figure out problems and clues.” She had a nice big smile on her face now, as did all the girls.
“Maybe I did not save your life, but I was a big help now, yes?” she said. “Yes, you were a very big help Suzette, thank you,” I said. “Maybe big enough help to be your younger sister too?” she asked, blushing a bit. “This should be more interesting than the other,” said Jennifer smiling. Theresa wanted to give us some of the treasure, but we declined. She did insist that we take the gold coins for our orphan fund though, so we accepted that.
Alfred looked at the jewelry and said all the stones and pearls were genuine and all set in pure gold, with a few in silver. There were three perfect pearl necklaces. He estimated that if sold at auction, the jewelry would likely bring at least a million dollars. As for the White Cowboys, they disappeared from the area completely which was good. So, now we are heading back home to relax for a while. Rock and Bear are staying behind for now, to help Theresa and Martha get settled into their new house.
We never did discover what happened to that disappearing window, I completely forgot to ask our “ghosts” about that one. Oh well. We turned those “ghosts” over to the police to deal with since they did commit some crimes. It is nice to relax while we fly home. It seems the only time we truly get to relax these days, is when we are flying. And now we wait to see what will come our way next.
The End. A new story will be coming our way very soon.
©2024 Steve McLeod.
After leaving the nightclub we drove over to the house that Amerie and her friends had been using and where our other van with the stripes was now sitting. Three cars arrived and we quickly hopped in and off we went. I then phoned the police to inform them that two of our vans had been stolen, one was black and the other was black with red and white stripes. I then told them what hotel we were staying at so they could come and see us if they wanted to.
I had to have Amerie do the talking since no one at the police station could speak English. That is not uncommon in this French city of Montreal, Quebec is a French speaking province. About an hour later the police arrived and told us they had found our vans and it was likely they were stolen by a gang they thought had been disbanded, the Blackbirds. One of the police officers was sure that he had seen Amerie in jail not long ago, however, we had our cover story to refute that idea.
Annelie had made up fake ID for the girls and sent them on one of our jets and they arrived that evening just before the police arrived. That was very close, or we might have had a problem. So, our 5 ‘bad girls’ now had France passports with new names. Annelie did an amazing job on those passports and likely these police officers had never seen one anyway. I breathed a sigh of relief when they left. “Why does my new name on here have the same last name as you Steve?” asked Amerie.
“You are officially, well, sort of, my younger sister for now,” I informed her, “I hope you don’t mind. We will change it for you once we are back in France. Annelie, who looks after these things for us was in a hurry. I hope you are not offended by that.” She giggled, as did her friends. “I think she was hoping that it meant you would be married briefly,” said Suzette, giggling some more. “That is not true Suzette,” she said.
Perhaps it wasn’t, but Amerie sure was blushing. “I am happy to be your younger sister,” she said, “maybe I can stay that way?” “I am sure we could arrange that Amerie,” said Jennifer. Anyway, we were able to pick up the vans in the morning and off we went to Toronto where our jet was waiting for us. Good thing we had these ‘bad girls’ with us so they could translate for us when dealing with the police. “Where are we going now Steve?” asked Caleigh.
“We are heading off to a haunted house to try and catch some ghosts,” I said, trying to sound very excited. “You do not believe in ghosts, do you Steve?” asked Colette. “Yes, I do,” I said, “at least I believe in some ghosts. Come and sit beside me Amerie.” She did so. I held out my hand to her. “Are you still brave enough ‘bad girl’?” I asked, smiling. “Yes, for this I am very brave,” she said, also smiling. I held her hand and soon we had disappeared.
Amerie’s friends had their eyes wide right now and Suzette came over and felt the seats where we had been. She then looked at Jennifer who was reading a book. “Where did they go?” Suzette asked her. “Oh, they disappeared,” said Jennifer, “we ghosts can do that you know. However, Steve is not a ghost like Kat and I, but we gave him the ability to disappear to help with protection.” “And whoever I touch will disappear with me,” I said from the other side of the plane where Amerie and I were now sitting.
Amerie was really giggling now. Her friends seemed a bit scared though. “Come Suzette, show me you are just as brave as Amerie,” I said. She looked at me with a bit of a frown, then smiled and sat beside me. “You must be brave enough to hold my hand though,” I said. “Steve, I am brave enough to hug you,” she said, “even with your wife watching.” She then put her arm around me and we disappeared. I then did this with the other 3 girls as well.
They all thought it was amazing fun. Soon we were at our destination in the city close to the town where the black house was located. We all went out there to see how things were going. Unfortunately the trap that Matt and the boys had set still had not caught any ghosts. “If they are really ghosts,” began Amerie, “how do you catch them?” “That is a good question,” I said, “but I don’t believe they are real ghosts. Something must have scared them away temporarily, maybe there are too many people here.”
So, we decided to reduce the number and all of the Knight Riders left except for Rock and Bear since they are family. The Wildcats also left, except for Kat, so, our 3 ghosts, Dawn, Beryan and myself stayed. Amerie and her friends asked if they could stay too. I wasn’t so sure about that since they are new and I didn’t want them getting hurt, or killed. But Jennifer thought it might be a good idea, so, they are here too. It still seems like a lot of people, but it is much less than before at least.
That night Jennifer and I woke up suddenly when Jewel tickled our faces with her paws. There, at the foot of our bed, stood two people, a man and a woman. They were dressed in clothes that looked the same as the last Silverton’s who lived her. I could understand the man looking like John Silverton if he is a distant relative, but the woman looked just like his wife. We lay there looking at this couple, then I asked them who they were and why they were in our bedroom.
“This is our house,” said the man, “you are intruders and we want you and your friends to leave.” “You are not ghosts,” said Jennifer firmly. “And you have no claim to this house,” I said. “It is our house,” said the man, “I am John Silverton, the owner of this house, you must leave or you must die.” Jennifer then disappeared which didn’t seem to shock our intruding Silverton’s. Jennifer then reappeared behind them, touching both of them on the neck and they fell to the floor…
To Be Continued.
©2024 Steve McLeod.