Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. The Mysterious Hidden Cabin. Chapter 5. Lockpicking.
I was still talking with Aari about his two sons. ”Steve, you should have taken care of those sons of mine too. They are dangerous and want to kill Aasta so they will get the inheritance. I should never have told them I took them off my will and all goes to Aasta, though I did not give her new name, just Macie. Please watch over Aasta Steve, I know about the photos, I also know how they got them, that is why I took them off my will.”
“I will make sure Aasta is safe Aari,” I said, “I promise you that.” ”Those boys like to work at night, so be extra careful then,” he said. ”I will have her stay with me in my bedroom,” I said, “it is completely safe, no one can get in after I lock to door.” I was hoping you would do that,” replied Aari. ”That is, if she wants to,” I said.
“You forget easily Steve,” he said, “do you not remember what she said before? She meant that.” ”Yes, I remember,” I said. ”You should let Mac and Matt deal with those two boys,” he said, “they know how, they are likely in that hotel in town, they never stay in a fancy hotel.” ”I will look into it,” I said. We then hung up so the guys could go look for some snowmobiles.
I do not like this at all, two things going on at once is not good. I sent Mac, Matt, Tracy, Penny, Cinnamon, Aoife and Roxette to town to see if they can find out anything. The guys wanted to go alone, but I thought some pretty women might be good bait to bring those rats into the open. Mac agreed it just might work, especially since they did not see any of these girls. Off they went to town.
Meanwhile, back at the cabin. Rock and his team found the snowmobiles and sleds they needed and figured out how much gas they needed to bring with them, plus other supplies. Then off they went to try and reach the girls before nightfall. The girls were still trying to find Kristina but found nothing, she really did vanish. Their only clue was being dragged into that wall under the stairs.
Somehow there is a door on that wall that opens, but why can the cats not find it? Something is not right. ”Storm,” said Candace, “could you maybe use this pin to open that lock?” Storm looked at it. Meowr.=Yep, maybe it might work, me try. The girls went back to the third floor and noticed that all the furniture had been moved around and the white sheets had been removed. But why?
It made no sense. Anyway, Storm got busy with the lock while Candace held him in place. Soon the lock was open and Sky threw the door open quickly with Storm and Tiia running inside the room and hiding. This room was very nice and filled with lovely furniture. And there was no dust anywhere. ”Looks like someone lives here,” said Dawn, “must be that person pretending to be a ghost.”
“Right,” said Sky, “but where is he now?” They spread out, looking throughout the room. At the far end was another smaller room and Sky opened the door quickly again. ”Kristina!” she yelled. Kristina was there, hanging on the wall, tied to iron rings that were fastened to the wall. The girls quickly cut her down and began to carry her downstairs.
Then they heard shots, so the two girls carrying Kristina stopped and let the other 3 girls get ahead of them. When they arrived at the main floor Chantelle was busy with Engla who had been shot. ”I have never removed a bullet before,” said Chantelle. ”Do you have what you need to do it?” asked Sky. ”Yes, I do, but…”, she began.
“Then you will have to do it,” said Sky, “you can, just take it slow. Who shot her?” ”No idea,” said Crystal, “we saw no one, just heard a shot, but it must have come from over there.” Over there was a wall with a large fireplace. The girls were not wearing their vests, they left them in the SUV’s overnight thinking, why would they need them out there?
Now those vehicles are nearly completely buried in the snow. ”There must be a way to get in from that fireplace,” said Dawn. She and a couple other girls began to look, along with the cats. Tiia came out of the fireplace and shook herself sending black soot all over the large room. Dawn was holding Storm up high and he noticed an odd hook on the side of the fireplace and told Dawn.
She tried to turn it, which was amazingly easy to do, and a door opened on the inside of the fireplace. It was now late afternoon, it would be getting dark soon so they did not want to search that hidden passage today. Then they heard a strange noise…
To Be Continued.
©2024 Steve McLeod.
The Investigators, Inc. The Mysterious Hidden Cabin. Chapter 4. Storm, Ghost.
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.
Steve`s Country 