For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Hi everyone! Well, it is kind of a mix of sun and clouds this morning and still continuing cool. It was just 45F (7C) this morning, earlier, but it has warmed up to 57F (14C) now. And we should hit a high of 68F (20C) by later this afternoon. Yesterday’s high was just 62F (16.5C). But it is supposed to warm up again beginning tomorrow and going throughout the week. And lots of sunshine.
That part will be nice for sure. Speaking of sunshine. It reminds me of a time years ago when I still had my cottage. It was a very warm day, which was a good thing as it turned out. I decided to go walking around the property, which was 162.5 acres (65.8 hectares) in size. On one part of the property there were some natural springs, several of them in fact.

More rainy day photos.
Each was in a hole about 4 feet ( about 120cm) across and 3 to 4 feet (about 90 to 120cm) deep. The water was crystal clear and very cold, about 39F to 40F (4C), and it would stay that way year round. So these holes filled with water never froze. Now, most were open and easy to see, but some had tree roots growing over them which over time had come to be covered with moss. That made the holes impossible to see.
I fell into a hole once because of that. On this day I was being careful walking through that area but it had rained the day before and the moss in that area was wet and slippery. As I walked across some tree roots I slipped and down I went into that cold water! Good thing it was a hot day. Some of these holes, however, had rather soft bottoms, and others were firm bottomed. This one was soft and I started to sink quite quickly.

We have had a lot of them this summer.
I grabbed the tree roots and started to pull myself up. But then I heard something, so I stopped and looked around. Off to one side of me was a bear! This was around noon, so it was a little odd to see one still active. I thought perhaps it was coming over to get a nice cool drink. I hoped that was not the case, however.
It was about a hundred feet away when I first spotted it, and for some reason it stopped and started sniffing the air. Perhaps it could smell human scent. But then he began walking again. I was getting nervous again. This was not a good spot to be caught. But then, no spot is a good spot to be caught by a bear. It stopped again and stood on it’s hind legs, sniffing. It was about 50 feet away now. Then it dropped to all fours and quickly walked away.

Much more than normal.
That was a relief. Then I thought I heard the lapping of water. At that point I realized what happened. The first bear moved away because there was another bear coming from the other direction. I slowly turned my head. Yep, that was the problem. It was that big, brown female. She seems to be the boss in this area, and easily the largest bear at around 600 pounds. She normally has a cub with her too, though I did not see one.
She was at one of the springs about 50 feet behind me. I can’t move or I will attract attention. The lapping stopped and I heard her walking. She just kept walking off to my left, not looking back toward me at all. She did have a cub with her too. I waited until she was out of sight, then I pulled myself out of the water. My legs were very cold by this time.

Still, that can be good, it keeps things nice and green.
It really wasn’t a long time that I was in the water though, it just seemed like it because of the bears. I decided that was enough exploring for one day and headed back to the cottage. I put some dry clothes on and sat in the sun to warm up nicely. We always did have a lot of bear activity out there. Oh well. Seems to be mostly cloudy now. Sigh. I hope you all have a great weekend and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2024 Steve McLeod.
Kendra was planning to replace Eddie with Brick, but she will have to come up with a new plan for that. It seems a ghost visited Brick and his friend before they could get rid of Eddie’s body and, well, Brick and his friend are now dead too. Through an anonymous tip, the police found the 3 bodies early this morning. Now I wonder who would have phoned in that tip? I give a little chuckle after saying that to Jennifer. “You are so terrible sometimes Steve,” she responded, giggling along with me.
That “mark of the Kat” should keep them guessing for a while, although it will likely bring some attention to the Wildcats. But I’m sure we can handle that little problem, after all, they have us for an alibi. When Jennifer was there yesterday checking things out, invisible of course, she saw what kind of envelope the photos were in. So, when we were there it was a simple matter to take some photos of the photos and put the originals back into the envelope we brought with us.
When I checked the man’s phone I noticed he had called a woman named Kendra after Mandar called him. The name sounds familiar, but I can’t really place who she is exactly. I need to find out though as it is likely related to our case. Muffin didn’t remember who she is either which is odd, so maybe this Kendra isn’t someone we know. I will get Annelie to check it out anyway.
Meanwhile, the police are making a phone call. “Miss Cutter?” he asks. “Yes, this is she,” responded Kendra. “I am so sorry to bother you so early Miss Cutter,” he began, “this is the police calling. We found 3 bodies this morning and your name and phone number was on the one man’s phone. I was wondering if you could tell us who he is?” “That sounds like Eddie, my groundskeeper,” she said, trying to sound shocked, “the other two men are likely his helpers that he brings along with him.
But I am certainly shocked about this news, I cannot imagine why someone would want to kill them. Eddie was such a kind man, not an enemy around of which I am aware. (silence for a minute) Yes, I will be coming in for my breakfast and will stop by to identify him for you. Oh my, this is just so shocking to happen in our nice town.” “Who was that? asked Tony. “The police,” she answered, “they found the bodies of Eddie, Brick and that other guy.
All had those five scratches on their cheek and a note pinned to each one saying, ‘the mark of the Kat’. I do not like this at all. It must be those Wildcats, but who hired them and why? And why right now? This is messing with my plans, we need to get things done quickly with Mandar so I can get my money.” “You really planning to give him the kids?” asked Tony. “Yes, Mandar is not stupid,” she said, “if I don’t give him the kids then he will hunt us down, and he has the money and patience to do it too! Now, I’m off to town for breakfast.”
“Are you sure that is wise, with all that is going on?” he asked. “I do not hide from anyone!” she exclaimed, “People should be hiding from me!” Off she went and it just so happened that we picked her favorite restaurant for our breakfast too. That was mainly because it is in our hotel, which made it convenient for us. Jennifer, Dawn, Aasta and myself were sitting at a table when she came stomping in and right over to our table. “That is my table!” she demanded, “You will have to move.”
Jennifer looked at her. “Your name isn’t on the table,” she said calmly, “so you will have to go somewhere else.” This restaurant was completely full at this time due to all the extra people in town. I could see that Kendra was getting more angry by the second. “You may join us, if this waiter would like to bring a chair for you,” I said nicely. She just stood there glaring at me, but the waiter brought a chair for her and she sat down. “I will just pretend you are not here,” she said sarcastically.
“I wish we could do the same,” said Jennifer. The other girls giggled. “Since you girls are finished, why don’t you go do some shopping,” I suggested. They both look at me. “Right, I forgot,” I said and handed them my credit card. Right after they left, more people left as well, so there were now 3 other empty tables. “There are empty tables now,” said Kendra, “you may leave now.” “Yes, you certainly may,” responded Jennifer.
Kendra just glared at her with such hatred. Jennifer just smiled nicely. Just then Kat and some of her Wildcats came bouncing in, flipping and flying through the air like acrobats, with Kat landing right on top of our table. That caused Kendra to scream and jump! “Hi Daddy!” said Kat in her usual little girl voice, “Did you miss me?” She jumped down and kissed me. “I always miss my Kitten,” I said. “Aww, you are always so nice Daddy,” she said, “I just love you. Who’s your new friend?”
“This is Miss Kendra Cutter,” I said, “and this is my very good friend Kat.” “Don’t you teach your kids how to behave in public?” Kendra asked angrily. “I don’t think I like her very much Daddy,” said Kat. “Oh, now, be nice Kitten,” I said. “I will for you Daddy,” she said smiling, “I had a job yesterday and got to play with my new cat toy, me and my friends.” “Now Kitten, I told you not to play with that thing when you’re working,” I said, “someone might get hurt with that.”
“I know Daddy,” she began, “but I just had to play with it this time.” “Who did you work for this time?” I asked. “Matt,” she said smiling. “I told you to stay away from him Kitten,” I said, “he is a bad man and will get you in trouble.” “But he seems nice to me,” she pouted. “We’ll talk about it later,” I said, “have you and your little friends had breakfast yet?” “Nope, not yet,” she said. “Well, go eat your breakfast and tell the nice waiter that I am paying for it.”
“Oh, thank you Daddy!” she screamed and off she went. “Are they all like her?” asked Kendra. “Yes,” said Jennifer, “kids in women’s bodies.” “Then they should be locked up somewhere,” growled Kendra. “Perhaps you should be locked up Kendra,” said Jennifer. We then got up and left. Later when she was back home. “Some tough gang of Wildcats!” yelled Kendra, “They are just kids that haven’t grown up in their minds yet, just in their bodies.
But that one did say she played with her cat toy yesterday which that guy said was something dangerous to play with. And she did a job for a guy named Matt, who apparently is a bad guy of some kind. This guy knew me, but how? I want to see pictures of those Investigators.” Tony showed her photos of the leader, Steve and his wife. “No, that’s definitely not them,” she said, shaking her head, “so how did he know me?
And I want to know more about this Matt guy!” “Hey, there used to be a guy named Matt on the Investigators team,” said Tony, “that was before the Investigators had a big split.” “They broke up?” she asked, “Why didn’t you tell me before.” “Just found out while you were gone,” he said, “but they split three ways. This Matt took a bunch with him and started their own gang…”
To Be Continued.
©2024 Steve McLeod.