Well, we have officially begun our new case, with Matt in charge of the expedition to the castle. Matt took 5 of his Knight Riders along and Kristina is going too with 5 of her team. Kat and Jennifer decided to keep it at just 12 team members since they had to go in to the castle by helicopter, with all their supplies. However, the remainder of each team is ready to go help if necessary.

Kat sent Aletia along with them, from my team, since she is a nurse, so Kristina dropped one from her team so she could go. While I am on recovery, my team will stay at home unless needed on the case. They will still have duties here, such as helping to guard the chateau. They used 2 helicopters to transport everyone and their supplies to the castle that afternoon. Only one chopper could land at a time, but that was okay.

Each helicopter was quickly unloaded and then they left and will be staying at a city away from this area even though they could have been kept closer. But Kat and Jennifer thought that might make them easy targets for sabotage. The girls are thinking well and handling things easily without help. I will give advice if asked, or if I see a major problem in their decisions. The team will be staying at the castle at night as well. That way they can find out if anything is going on out there.

They also have 5 cats with them, Storm, Tiia, Bandit, Tracker and Squirrel. They also have Angel with them since she is on Kristina’s team. It was decided that having a real ghost along just might be handy if there are some fake ghosts out there who just want to try and scare people away. Although there is no evidence of anyone going out there and it would be easy to tell. So I think this will be a simple case.

If that gas was actually an old device to guard something valuable, then the team needs to find out what that is and deliver it to the owner. But they do need to be careful of more traps. Other traps will likely be different, but can be just as lethal. There may be tunnels under that castle, though considering the rock beneath them is granite, making tunnels would be difficult way back when that castle was built. It could go back a thousand years.

And there could be a treasure of jewels and gold awaiting the team, hidden out there somewhere. I will admit, it would sure be nice if I could be along on this case since it is more likely to be something normal for a change. However, that is not to be this time. Unfortunately Jennifer and I can’t go on a honeymoon either. But, maybe if I’m real nice to Samantha. Hmm, might be worth trying. The next day I asked Samantha to come to my room while Beryan was giving me a massage.

“Would it be possible to okay my health just for a short honeymoon?” I asked very nicely. “Not a problem Steve,” she said. Wow, I couldn’t believe it was so easy. Then she added, “I will do that in 2 months.” “Now, you know that’s not what I meant,” I said, “can’t you please make an exception right now, just for a 5 day honeymoon?” “Steve, do you ever read your own rule book?” she asked, “It says that leader 1 is not allowed to go on any type of vacation while there is an active case in progress.

Kat and Jennifer share the title of Leader 1 at this time, therefore neither of them can go anywhere until this case is over. It’s on page 7 of the rule book. You should read it sometime Steve, it is quite enlightening.” Beryan giggled. “So you see, I can’t give you a temporary health reprieve certificate because of that rule,” added Samantha. Now Beryan was giggling so much she had to stop massaging my back. Sigh.

Samantha left and a few minutes later Cynthia came bursting into the bedroom and jumped on the bed beside me, obviously very excited. “Guess what I have for you Steve?” she asked smiling. “Don’t you knock?” I asked. “I didn’t think we needed to during the day,” she said. She was right, of course. “Besides, this is important!” she insisted, “It has to do with…” “Wait,” I said, “if it has to do with the case, it is better not to tell me or I might get in trouble.”

“Well, it is about the case,” she pouted, “but you won’t get in trouble if no one knows about it, and only you and I know about it. Oh, and Beryan now, but she won’t tell, will you Beryan?” “I don’t know anything about what you are talking about,” she said, giggling again. “See?” said Cynthia, “So, you’re safe. Now, can I tell you what it is?” “I am sure this will get me in trouble somehow,” I said, “but I would like to know what it is you’re so excited about.”

“I have been searching our rather extensive library and I found a book about castles across Europe,” she began, “the book is a hundred and 40 years old! And, it talks about the castle we are investigating right now!” “Really? Did you bring the book with you?” I asked, trying not to sound too excited. “Aha! Now you’re just as excited as me!” she said, “And yes, I brought it with me. It wasn’t easy getting it out of the library without being caught. Kat was in there and I knew she wouldn’t allow me to bring it to you.

I used Midnight to help hide the book so it would look like I was carrying him. Here it is, good thing it isn’t any bigger, or I would never have gotten away with it.” “You are being a very naughty girl Cynthia,” I said, “doing something like this could get you 5 or more demerits. So I will have to report this to leader 1… just as soon as I am back in that position.” I then smiled at her, she giggled and handed me the book. It is quite a large book, complete with drawings of each castle mentioned, and sure enough, the castle of our case is mentioned in there.

All three of us began to look at the drawings which also listed what each building was used for, which is a great bit of information. Then I remembered the door was not locked. “Door, lock, open at my command,” I said and the door went into automatic lock. Then we all turned back to the book. “Cynthia, you will have to hide the book with you,” I said. “We can put it in my bag when we leave,” said Beryan. “Why do we have to be so secret about it anyway?” asked Cynthia.

“Why did you hide it from Kat?” I asked in return. “Oh, right, you’re not supposed to get involved,” she said, “and if I don’t hand it over to Kat, oh my, big trouble for me.” “Correct, so it is best to keep this a secret for now,” I said, “we are a bad trio for sure.” “Kind of exciting though,” said Beryan. “I agree,” said Cynthia. Meow!= Someone coming! I managed to unlock the door just in time and Jennifer came in. “Are you helping with Steve’s massage Cynthia?” asked Jennifer.

“Uh, no, um, I know this is supposed to be kinda your honeymoon time, but I was wondering if maybe my older brother day could be changed to this week,” she said. “Steve can’t make such decisions right now,” said Jennifer. “Um, yeah, I found out, and, well, forget it,” she said with her head down. Jennifer lifted her head up again. “Why the tears?” she asked.

“Well, my older brother day was moved 4 months because of Steve being on recovery,” she said, “and, well, it doesn’t matter…” She started to walk out. “Come back her Cynthia,” said Jennifer, “how does tomorrow sound?” “Honest? Like, for real?” she asked with a huge smile. “Yes, for real,” said Jennifer. Hmm, helps to have a double reason for coming to see me. Anyway, that book is an interesting one and just might give us some valuable information…

To be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.