Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Winter Ramblings. #2
Hi everyone! It is cold, windy, cloudy and snowing here at the moment. Kind of a typical winter day. We still don’t have much snow, however. The southern part of our province is certainly getting a lot of snow, up to 55 inches (140cm) in places. That was from one snowstorm. We had a snowstorm move through here yesterday and we got 4 inches (10cm). But it is generally too cold and dry up here to get huge amounts of snow.
Normal for the whole winter is about 6 and a half feet (2 meters) of snow. Though it was only about 3 or 4 winters ago that we had over 10 feet (about 315cm). But that is for the entire winter. And the southern part of the province is affected by the Great Lakes, which are not frozen, so storms pick up a lot of moisture from those huge lakes and drop it as snow. We are not affected by those lakes, thankfully.
Looking across a small bay of our lake with some light snow falling in the distance.
Hmm, the sun is actually trying to break through those dark gray clouds. The temperature is dropping too and will continue to do so until tonight when it should reach around -15F (-26C). Well, it’s easy to tell there isn’t much to talk about around here, except the weather. Anyway, have you ever had someone break into your home but not take anything? To keep with my little series on break ins, this happened to me. I was away one day and when I came home I got a phone call.
This was before cell phones. I was home only about 5 minutes when someone called me. It was a young woman, who obviously had seen me arrive home. That was unsettling in itself since it meant she was not far away. She said I had a beautiful cat. He sat in the window a lot, so nothing unusual there. But she said he was so friendly and purred so nicely. Okay, that was unusual. Then she mentioned that I had a lot of nice antiques and even mentioned some of them.
The highway coming through our town, railroad in behind that, light snow falling.
Nothing unusual with that as they could be easily seen from one of my windows if I forgot to close the drapes, like that particular day. Then she began to mention things that could not be seen through the window. Okay, now we are back to unusual. She even mentioned the beautiful oak dresser I had at the time and what clothes I had in each drawer, even mentioning the colors of my T-shirts and the order they were placed in the drawer.
I had to check that one since I wasn’t sure myself, and she was right. I don’t know about you, but it made me feel kind of strange knowing that someone had been in my apartment and had gone through everything I owned. But she did not take anything, she told me that too. I even checked thoroughly afterward and nothing was missing, not even some money that was sitting on the dresser. She wanted something else from me. I told her that was an odd way of asking for it.
Apparently she was associated with some “friends” as she called them, meaning one of the gangs in town. She would check places to see if it was worthwhile to rob. Saves time for the others, she said. So, if I gave her what she asked for, she would tell her “friends” that there was nothing worthwhile to steal at my place. What she wanted was a “fun night” with me, as she put it. I talked to her for a bit and told her no. Then I got permission from my landlord to change the locks and put something better on.
Boat docks looking rather lonely this time of year. Off to the left is one of the outlets to our river going under that bridge. Soon ice will begin to cover our lake.
She called back a couple of days later and said she noticed I had changed the locks and I keep my drapes closed so she can’t see in anymore. So she said that wasn’t very nice of me. I said it wasn’t very nice for her to enter my apartment without permission when I wasn’t home.
She agreed and told me she had told her “friends” there wasn’t anything to steal at my place, so I didn’t have to worry. I thanked her and she hung up. I never heard from her again. It was a rather unusual experience, but I was thankful that nothing serious happened. Oh well, I hope you all have a great day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2024 Steve McLeod.
The Investigators, Inc. The Hotel Case. Chapter 11.
The room was very bright so I closed my eyes again for a few moments. I felt someone pick up my hand and hold it, then someone kissed me. I opened my eyes again and looked around, there was just one person in the room with me and it was Amerie. She standing beside my bed, holding my hand still, and smiling so cheerfully. “Where is Jennifer?” I asked weakly. “She cannot be here all the time Steve,” said Amerie, “so Katresa and I take turns to help out.”
Her smile disappeared when she spoke so I sensed that something was wrong. “I need some water,” I said, “please.” “Good thing you added please to that demand,” she said, sort of scolding me a bit. “I’m sorry,” I said, “another sip please.” “Do not drink too much at once,” she said, “you were hurt very badly. The doctor gave you medication to relax you so you could sleep, but drinking too much might not be good for you.” “May I be alone for just a few minutes please?” I asked.
Amerie looked at me, frowning somewhat. “I could get in trouble, leaving you alone,” she said. “Just 5 minutes, please?” I asked again. She sighed. “Okay, 5 minutes, no more,” she said, “and I will be standing right outside the door. Here, you push this button if you need help.” She then went out of the room. I tried very hard to speak normally, but the first time was not much above a whisper. The second time worked, “Sky, please come,” I said.
I then said the same thing a second time and felt a hand in mine on the other side of me. I turned my head and Sky was there smiling at me. “Are you the real Sky?” I asked, “Or part of my daydreams?” “I am real,” she said, and she leaned over and kissed me, “convinced?” “Yes, thank you for coming,” I said, “you will stay from now on, right?” “I am not sure if I should,” she said. “I want you to stay,” I told her, “Jennifer also wants you to stay. Did she talk to you?”
“I hid from her so she couldn’t,” said Sky, “are you sure she wants me to stay?” “Yes, I am sure,” I said, “we all want you to be a part of the Investigators again.” “We, or just you?” she asked. “We,” I said again, “I know what you are thinking, but it will work just fine, like it did with Kat and Jennifer when they came back. You underestimate Jennifer. Please talk with her, please.” “Okay, I will talk with Jennifer,” said Sky, “Amerie will be back in the room very soon, so I must go again, but I am close by.”
“Please stay,” I said, “Amerie knows about you, she would be very happy to see you here.” “I will think about it,” she said, “but for now I will stay invisible. Jennifer is still looking for me, tell Amerie to call her back because you know where I am.” She then disappeared just as Amerie came in the door. “Your 5 minutes is over,” she said smiling. “You are very punctual,” I said, “that is good to know. Get in touch with Jennifer and tell her to stop looking for Sky and come back to me. I must talk with her.”
Amerie just looked at me. “You are on health leave,” she said, “I should not obey your orders, I could get in trouble.” “I am too weak to communicate directly with Jennifer,” I said, “but this is important. I will not eat or drink until she returns and we get a certain problem resolved.” She sighed again. “The second time you wish me to go against the rules,” she said, shaking her head. “But you will do it for me, right?” I asked. She called Jennifer and gave her my message.
“Steve, if you haven’t eaten anything by the time I get there,” said Jennifer, “then you will be in big trouble! And I don’t like the idea of not looking for Sky.” “You don’t need to look for her,” I said, “I know where she is.” “Why didn’t you say so in the first place?!” she said. Amerie looked at me again. “I am not stupid,” said Amerie, “Sky is in this very room.” “Yes, I am, Amerie,” said Sky. “That is why you wanted to be alone,” said Amerie, “you do not trust me maybe?”
“That is not it Amerie,” said Sky, “but Steve knew I would not appear if you were in the room.” The three of us talked for a while, then we heard footsteps coming toward my room and Sky disappeared. Kat came in and slammed the door shut. She didn’t seem to be too happy about something, it had to do with someone not eating. Then she asked about Sky, who then reappeared. Sky asked Amerie to stay while we talked which made Amerie very happy. However, we did most of our talking once Jennifer arrived. At the end of it all, Sky will be staying with us.
Since I had been rescued, Rock called off breaking those 3 men out of prison. I imagine Granger figured that would happen after he disappeared, or maybe that is why he disappeared, knowing the team was getting close to rescuing me. We did discover those 3 men were high up in Granger’s organization and prison was definitely the best place for them. Without them his expansion into Europe will be much more difficult, and that is fine with us.
But, he did escape from us, and that is not a good thing. It looks like he will be slippery, like his uncle Toledo. We found out that Granger was Toledo’s favorite nephew and he trained him personally. That will make Granger a very difficult foe to fight. However, Matt and his Knight Riders did a lot of damage to Granger’s European plans, so perhaps he will stay on the other side of the ocean for a while longer. The Investigators are now a lot stronger with the return of Sky.
Kat, along with Sky, fixed our communication system between the ghosts and myself so that high voltage electrical charges will not interfere anymore. Sky’s ability to work with electricity had a simple explanation, though we are keeping it a secret for now, especially knowing that Granger watches us, or at least had been, so we want to make sure he doesn’t find out too much about our ghosts. It was good that we gave Carmen a new identity since Granger knew her from before.
Fortunately she picked up her two caracals after the time she knew Granger, or that would have been a real giveaway. So, she remains safe as Hannah, though nothing is really foolproof, but it helps anyway. Well, no one can say that our vacations are dull, although it would be nice to have one that is dull for a change. We won’t give up trying anyway.
Nicole and her younger sister are staying with us temporarily until they figure out what to do. It certainly has been a hard time for both of them. No one in their extended family wants them around and will not help them in any way. All because of things Nicole had to do working for Emerick. Both Nicole and her sister are receiving counseling from Galyna.
Annelie will be fine, but it will still be a long recovery. The cats are all doing fine as well, though Tracker, Storm and Midnight need to take it easy for a while. As for me, it looks like I will be on recovery for a long time too. That’s it for this case, or vacation, or whatever it was. I wonder what will come our way next?
The End. A new story will be coming soon.
©2024 Steve McLeod.
