Kat, Aasta and I, along with Muffin, Snow and Rusty, kept walking through the night. We also kept going higher and higher into the mountains. Finally it was beginning to dawn and it looked like it would be a nice clear, sunny day. ”How come your alert warning chip is not working Steve?” asked Aasta. ”Why does yours not work?” asked Kat. 

“I never got the new one yet,” she said, “there was not enough for everyone so some of us had to wait, but the old ones were removed.” ”Same with me,” I said, “I let them put mine in Sky instead. Today was the day we were supposed to get the new ones.” ”What about you Kat?” asked Aasta. 

“I never had one of the old ones,” she explained, “I was on the list for a new one though. What puzzles me is that the cats collars do not work. Their batteries should not all die at the same time.” ”Hmm, that is odd,” I admitted, “hmm, I have just had a bad thought, we need to check ourselves, they may have put some trackers on us, and perhaps that is why the cats collars do not work.” 

The cats began checking their collars while Aasta and Kat checked each other. ”One of you will need to help me,” I said. ”That means you Kat,” said Aasta, as she sat on a rock. ”Why me?” asked Kat. ”Well, you cannot expect me to do it,” said Aasta, “you were married to Steve and you still are, sorta.” ”She has a point Kat,” I said. 

“I wanted to go up higher and look around,” she said. ”Okay, get going, but do not stay away too long,” I said, “and try to keep us in sight.” ”I will Steve, do not worry,” she said. ”I like to worry, gives me something to do,” I said smiling. Off she went and I turned to Aasta. ”This is important,” I said. Sure enough, there was a tracker on me which I told Aasta to set on a rock for now. 

However, that means we do not have much of a head start, and they now know what direction we are going. Kat returned and I told her the bad news. ”We will have to change direction,” she said, “go around this way and come back home along here.” ”Um, that will take days,” said Aasta, “and we have no food, or water.” 

Meow,meow.=We have food, we willing to share. ”Thanks Muffin,” I said, “but you do not have enough for 3 hungry humans. Now, we need to get going again before they come looking for us. We will leave the tracker here and they will think we have stopped to rest, so they will perhaps take the opportunity to capture us again.” 

“Right,” said Kat, “how are you feeling Steve?” ”I am okay for now, but I will not be able to climb any higher, we need to stay level for a while.” That is what we did and we made much better time doing that. 

Meanwhile, “They seem to have stopped,” said Henderson. ”Good, send some men out after them while they are resting,” said Lauren, “we cannot let them escape! And call Jack and Morgan again, find out what is going on out there at the Cabin!” 

Meanwhile back at the hidden cabin. John, Miles and Alfred stared into the large safe. ”Don’t go inside just yet,” said Alfred, “allow time for fresh air to fill the room nicely first. I sure never expected this.” John and Miles agreed. Storm and Tiger had joined them now and they peeked in the door. Meowr!=Skinnies! Whole pile of them! 

Skinny was the name Muffin gave to a skeleton way back and it stuck ever since. There was indeed a pile of skeletons over in one corner of the room. They had obviously been there a long time though. That safe must be a place they use to hide certain people they kill. Though it does not really make much sense. 

There were small, but strong, wood boxes in the room as well, but most were empty, a few had bricks in them, which also did not make sense. John is a big, strong man and he tried to move a box of bricks but was unable to do so. Alfred came over to look and smiled. He then took out his knife and scraped a brick. 

The bright gold from underneath was now visible. Interesting way to store their gold. Some bricks were silver. Some bricks were just bricks. So, there really was not that much value. Something is missing. They counted 13 skeletons in that one corner. 

That was the strangest part of all this, but there must have been a reason for putting them in that safe. Storm and Tiger were sniffing around in different parts of the room. Storm was curious about the skinnies, he had never seen so many before. Meowr!=Me maybe find something, maybe! 

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.