Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. The Mysterious Catch Me Case. Chapter 2. Santa.
Here I am, lying on my bed while Beryan massages my pain filled back and yet it was getting worse. I was trying to remember who this Craig Masters was and why he would be after me. Kat and Dawn had come to our bedroom too since they are my bodyguards, but Kera is also a bodyguard for me now too, but she did not come. “Where is Kera?” asked Sky. “No idea,” said Dawn, “she was not with us in the library.”
So Sky decided to call her, “Kera, this is Sky, please come to our bedroom.” Three minutes later she still had not come. “Okay everyone,” said Sky, “find Kera.” Everyone scattered to look for her and found her in bed terribly sick. They called our room to let us know. “Get her to the clinic right away,” I said, and so they rushed her to the hospital.
Then we got a call from the lady at the bakery where we bought our bread, and some other things. “A man stopped here, dressed as Santa Clause,” she began, “and he left a letter for you.” “Mac, take John and Clarence and go get that letter from the bakery,” I said to him. Off they went and brought the letter back. By then I was burning with a fever and was sick, just like Kera.
They took me off to the clinic when they arrived back with the letter. They stayed with me there, as did Sky. She read the letter to me, though I barely heard a word. “Oops, I am sorry, forgot to mention that I have more means of attacking you than just guns, I do hope that Kera will be okay. Until next time, Craig Masters.” Kera and I were the only ones to eat some muffins the girls had bought.
I should have known better and have the cats sniff our food all the time. Hopefully my stupidity will not lead to Kera’s death, or mine either. So how did Craig know which muffins to poison? Simple, if he has been watching us for a while he would know we go to the bakery on the same day each week.
They always leave the back door to their “baking room” as they like to call it, open during the day. And she always writes down our order each time, so it would not be hard for him to sneak in and put poison in something. As it turns out, this toxin is not deadly, it just makes people very sick. That last part is certainly true. But why is he doing this? Just to show us he could kill us if he wanted to do so?
The next day both Kera and myself were feeling much better but Li Jing wanted us to stay one more day anyway. At noon Baldwin showed up with Mac, John and Clarence. “I got a call from Astrid just a few minutes ago,” said Baldwin, “she was at the hospital with her mother, and her dad was there too. But he needed to go home and nap for a while.
As he was crossing the parking lot, a car came speeding along, struck him and fled the scene. He died instantly. This happened 3 days ago and now they cannot find the will and apparently there is important information in there for her mother. She asked if we could send some help.” “Naturally we will,” I said, and I called Kristina, “get 5 other girls and go help Astrid, something strange is happening there, so be careful and be ready.”
She took Sapphire, Cinnamon, Engla, Tracy and Aoife and off they went to help Astrid and her friends. “Do you think this might be linked to this Craig fellow?” asked Baldwin. “No, I think it is different,” I said, “no note was left for us or for Astrid. For now we will treat it as different. Has Annelie found out anything yet?” “Just his birth certificate,” said Mac.
“Seems he covered his trail to make it hard to find out anything about him,” said John. “He expects you to remember him,” added Clarence, “so you will not need past information.” “Makes sense,” said Baldwin. “Yeah, you know him,” said Mac, “he is vain and proud.” Hmm, vain and proud, vain and proud.
This kept going through my mind for a while. Mac does not say much, but when he does, he is normally correct. “Think high school, Steve,” said Mac again. “I am, I am,” I said, “but still no one comes to mind and… hmm, just maybe.” I called Annelie. “Anything more about Craig Masters?” I asked her. “No Steve,” she said, sounding rather discouraged.
“Look up Reggie Wasters,” I told her, “you have one hour.” Later, our jet was coming in to land with Kristina and her team. Astrid and her friends were watching out the window at the airport. A man, not far from Astrid pushed a button on a small box and a violent explosion blasted the tail section right off our jet. The pilot was still able to land without anyone getting hurt…
To be continued.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
From The Heights. #38
Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving to all those enjoying Thanksgiving Day today! We have our Thanksgiving Day in October when the weather is nicer for us. And fall colors are usually at their peak that weekend as well. Except maybe here in the north. Anyway, it is a mainly cloudy day here and the temperature is definitely getting more chilly all the time.
It was down to 12F (-11C) this morning and with the wind it felt more like 0F (-18C). There have been a few light flurries as well, nothing serious though. It is a nice day to be inside with a hot cup of coffee, relax for a little while and dream of warmer days.
Jasper, the Red Squirrel, on a cold January morning.
So, come and relax with me for a few minutes, although today we will not really think about warmer days. Instead we can take a look at some of the enjoyable things about winter. Hmm, might be a short list. Today I will be back to dusting again. This place is not as dusty as my last apartment, which is nice. But I digress.
One nice thing about winter is all the winter critters that show up more easily than other times of the year. Although some of them can be found around most any time of the year. Like squirrels. Yep, I do like squirrels. They are always fun to have around, even though they can be a bit of a pest too. Especially if you are feeding birds.
Scramble, the Red Squirrel, my little friend along the path to the river, also on a cold January day.
They like the same food that the birds like, but they can eat a lot. Which means staying at the feeder for long periods of time so the birds cannot get on it for food. That is a problem. Ruffed Grouse, that I mentioned in my last post, are generally easier to see in the winter as they are busy looking for easy food sources too.
Walking down to the river is often when I had the opportunity to see them. But they would also come to the neighbors cherry tree. I would always enjoy winter walks to the river where I could sit and watch the ducks and any other birds that showed up. The river never freezes along that part of the river, no matter how cold it gets, so the ducks enjoy swimming around and catching fish to eat.
Goldeneye ducks swimming on the river on a January afternoon with a temp of -20F (-28C).
People always ask how the river can stay open without freezing even when the temperature gets down to -40 degrees. There is always a strong current in that part of the river which keeps it ice free. It is kind of deceiving because the surface of the water can be perfectly calm and it does not look like there is any current at all. But it is still there.
We have had quite a few people drown in our river during the summer because they do not believe the warning signs telling about that dangerous current. It is because no current can be seen much of the time. It is beautiful down at the river during the winter months.
Ruffed Grouse, on the same day as the ducks above.
I really must try to get down there again this winter. Somehow. I live rather far away from that path now. But I will try to get there a few times anyway. Well, time for dusting, and another cup of coffee. Have a wonderful Thursday everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 