We were moving along at a good pace now that we stayed on a more level walk. But I doubt we were moving as fast as our pursuers. ”I am rather surprised they do not try following us with a helicopter,” said Aasta. ”If they did that, then our team would be able to see it,” I said, “and I am sure that Lauren has thought about that too.” 

“Oh, guess I am not thinking too good right now,” said Aasta, rather dejected. ”Do not worry about it,” said Kat, “we all do that now and then.” She smiled at Aasta which made her feel much better. Whatever Kat uses to protect herself, I hope it does not require batteries since there is no way to recharge them up here. Aasta kept telling me to be careful, watch my step, lean on her if I get tired. 

It was nice to see her so concerned about me, but then…she stepped on a loose rock and fell. Down she went, rolling for about 50 feet, then hit a tree which stopped her. We all went quickly down to where she was lying. ”Are you okay?” I asked with a very worried look. ”Yeah, I am okay,” she said, “just a bit embarrassed. Here I keep telling you to be careful and I am the one that trips.” 

I helped her up and we returned to where we were and continued walking. Aasta was behind me as usual, and Kat in the lead. The cats just kind of went wherever they wanted. Meowy!=Human Aasta hurt! I called Kat to stop and Aasta slowly caught up to us. ”Guess I twisted my ankle when I fell,” she said, “you might need to leave me behind or you will never get away.” 

“No,” I said, “Lauren wants you more than the rest of us, you are worth a lot of money to her.” ”But I do not have daddy’s inheritance yet,” she said. ”But Lauren does not know that,” I told her, “she thinks your dad is dead, and now with your brothers dead too, then you have the inheritance. Plus you are worth a lot to her in other ways too.” 

“But at least the rest of you would get away,” she protested. ”No,” I said again, “we are staying together. I promised your dad that I would look after you, even if I get killed doing it. Even if I did not make that promise, I still would not leave you behind. So no more talk about that, and that is an order.” I then smiled at her when I said that last part. 

“Not fair,” she said, “you get to give me orders and I cannot yell at you.” ”Would you feel better if you could yell at me?” I asked. ”Yes, I mean no, I mean yes,” she said, “I think.” ”Okay, Kat and the cats will turn around and cover their ears,” I said, “then you can yell at me and you will not get in trouble for it.” 

They did so right away. ”Feel better now?” I asked Aasta. ”No, I don’t,” she said, “I apologize Steve, I am frustrated because I’m causing problems for everyone. I’m sorry for taking it out on you.” Meanwhile, at home. ”Why are the cats collars not working?” asked Baldwin. ”Maybe Lauren took them off,” answered Matt. 

“I hate logical answers to my questions,” grumbled Baldwin, “and how come we cannot find Lauren?” ”I am trying Mr. B.,” answered Annelie, “but she is not an easy woman to track down. I hate to add this, but, it is possible Lauren killed the cats, her profile says she absolutely hates cats.” ”Thank you for that bit of cheerful news!” exclaimed Baldwin, “From now on do not add comments to your answers, unless they are helpful!” 

Unfortunately our team do not know that we have escaped Lauren’s clutches for now, otherwise they could be out looking for us in the right area instead of heading to the city to look for Lauren. She had sent a crew out to pick up their truck while it was still dark so the team would not know anything about the crash. 

Kat had something to do with that crash, I know she did, but how she did it is something I would like to know. Also why we did not fly around in the back of the truck like the guard did. Very odd. Kat suggested we just wait for our enemies to show up and ambush them. We could do that since we did take the weapons from the guards in the truck, but Lauren would just send more after us. 

“Maybe we could send Rusty home to get help,” suggested Kat, “he is the fastest cat.” Meowy.=Send me, Rusty better fighter, he needed here. I not so fast, but take out some stuff in backpack and make light, then I go faster. I better for message than for fight. 

Meow,meow.=Snowkitten right, she best for messenger part, I train her good for that. So Muffin and I gave Snow instructions and off she went down the mountain toward the road. I sure hope she does not run into trouble, but Muffin is confident she will be okay, so that helps. I think Aasta was the most worried, she still feels responsible for all of this…

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.