Back at Dawn’s cabin the storm was still howling wildly outside, but the girls were fast asleep as Kristina kept the fires burning and kept watch. She was sitting on her mattress, shared with Sky and Storm, with her back against the wall and her gun in her hand. Suddenly Storm woke up and stared into the other room, growling. ”Come Storm,” she said, “we will take a look.” 

She figured the noise was due to the storm outside, but she wanted to satisfy her curiosity anyway so she could relax again. Then there was a loud EEEEK! All of the girls woke up and grabbed their guns. They ran over to Storm. Meowr!=Ghost come and take my human, put arm around neck, she go limp, he drag her into wall! Ghost all white, glow too. ”There is no such thing as ghosts,” said Sky. 

The girls found Kristina’s guns and flashlight, but even with all 3 cats looking, they could not find a hidden door. Meowr.=Ghost not need door, just walk through wall. ”Well, Kristina is no ghost,” said Sky, “so she cannot go through the wall.” Meowr.=Rusty disappear when human ghost Kat disappear, and he not ghost. ”Hmm, he has a point there Sky,” said Astrid. 

“That does not help Astrid,” said Sky. ”Oops, sorry Sky,” she replied. ”Why do these old places have secret passages?” asked Dawn, rather frustrated. ”To hide something,” said Crystal, “you know, the lady at the hotel said this place was haunted by ghosts. How did she know that?” ”From local legends,” said Sky, “it seems everywhere you go there is some kind of local legend.” 

“She never should have gone off by herself,” said Sapphire. ”True,” added Sky, “none of us will do that again, right everyone?” They all agreed, but right now they could do nothing so they reluctantly went back to bed. Astrid, Tiia and Crystal stayed awake to watch. Nothing more happened and in the morning they began searching again. The storm was still howling outside and their SUV’s were half covered with snow. 

Sky tried calling home again, but still no service was available. ”Perhaps it is something inside the house that is preventing our phones from working,” suggested Crystal. They tried opening the door, but the snow was too deep and the windows all seemed to be stuck. Finally they found a window that would open and Charly crawled out and tried to call, but still nothing. 

So she fought her way through the snow to get further away from the house. But her phone still would not work. As she turned to go back she noticed a shape in one of the windows on the top floor. She returned to the window and Sky gave her Tiia and said to carry her further from the house and see if she can send a message. Charly told Sky what she had seen upstairs but she still told Charly to take Tiia out further. 

She walked back to where she was before and Tiia sent a message. This time it went through and they returned to the house. Poor Charly was tired out after wading through that waist deep snow, even deeper closer to the house. ”It worked,” she told Sky, which made everyone feel much better. However, they realized it would be a day or more before help came. 

So they all set out to go upstairs, but Sky said 4 of them would stay behind and protect their gear, plus one cat, Ginger. Crystal, Sapphire, Charly and Chantelle stayed behind. The other five and two cats went upstairs. Meanwhile… EEEEEK! That was Muffin as she came sliding into the library where I was sitting comfortably. I did not need to stay in the clinic. 

Although my back was very sore, there was no damage done, so I could return home again. Bridgette came home too so she could keep an eye on me. Meow,meow!=Big storm at house, cars not work, human Kristina disappeared with ghost last night, not come back. Human Sky say need help! I called Rock right away and told him. 

“There is no way to get there Steve,” he said, “we cannot fly in this weather and all the roads up that way are closed.” ”Have you never heard of snowmobiles?” I asked, “See if you can get some, buy them if need be, but get them, and bring lots of gas along, get sleds for them too, but get up there!” ”Okay Steve,” he said, “will see what we can find.” 

“Also, let me talk with Aari,” I said. ”I am here Steve,” he said. ”Your two sons were here yesterday trying to cause trouble,” I told him, “they had some photos of Aasta with them. They also brought 3 friends which we disposed of quickly. One of your boys kicked me rather hard so I am moving around rather slowly right now, but Aasta is safe. I told them she was my girlfriend.” ”Thanks Steve,” he said…

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.