Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Coffee Time! #12
Good morning to everyone! Time for a cup of coffee and a chat. Well, it has been a while since my last coffee time post, actually about a week. So, I figured it was time to get back at it. Not much happens around here and I am not out getting new pics to share, so it makes it a little hard sometimes to write something.
Plus, I have not been feeling good which does not help either. They are still working on the water pipes here in our building. They finished the work on this floor, now they are on the floor under us. The work was supposed to be only on the first floor and sixth floor, but now they are doing every floor. Apparently it should still only take the same amount of time since it has been much easier than expected.
Female Purple Finch.
That sounds good. Being without water all day is not so much of a problem. I do have to get up a little earlier in the morning to get things done before they turn the water off for the day. Doing things late in the evening is just too difficult for me, I am just worn out by that time of the day. Tomorrow is laundry day so it is necessary to get up at 4am to get my laundry done before the water gets shut off.
The laundry room is much busier these days since people cannot do laundry during the day. Oh well. Another reason to start early. Then one night some people broke into our building, went to the maintenance room, broke into it and stole a lot of expensive tools. They came back again later and were spotted by one of the male tenants who yelled at them and they left.
This is another one.
Not the best thing to do though, better to call the police and let them handle it. This is not a good neighborhood really, a lot of theft and drugs going on around here. That is why I was warned not to carry my camera with me when going for a walk. I could lose it. And get hurt in the process. Just not worth it. Oh well. We have some snow again, not very much, but it is white out there.
Could be around 3 or 4 inches (7 to 10cm) of snow on the ground now. Maybe. The sun is shining today, mostly, except for a bit of cloud that covers the sun briefly now and then. It is cooler too, 7F (-14C), which is still not bad for this time of the year. It could be much colder. Though in a normal winter that bitter cold would be gone by now and it would just be cold, like now.
Male Purple Finch waiting to come down to the feeder.
But there is still a lot of winter left ahead. Really, it has been a nice winter, very mild for us. We do get mild winters now and then, just not very often. But usually we have more snow than we have this winter. Muffin woke up and she is looking at me, that means she wants food. I need more coffee too. Thanks for reading today, have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2024 Steve McLeod.
The Investigators, Inc. The Case of Carole Ann’s Return. Chapter 2. Run. Hide.
We rushed over to the store where Rock and the girls were shopping since it was not far from us, and I wanted to make sure Sky was safe. We got there just as Rock was pulling up to the main doors of the store to pick up the girls. We stopped behind him and got out of the van. Just then another car pulled up beside us, with Carole Ann calling to us.
Sky had already run over to me and when she saw Carole Ann she began to shake. Rock got out of his car and came over too, while two “animals” got out of Carole Ann’s car. That is what I call her protectors. I went a bit closer to talk with Carole Ann, Mac and Jennifer coming with me. The other girls put Sky in the van and stood guard. Aasta was behind us with her new cat.
“I want Sky!” demanded Carole Ann, “I still own her for another two years, this contract states that. It also states she signed it willingly knowing what it said!” ”You are a liar,” I told her, “you lied to Sky about what was in that contract and she was too young to understand and read through 40 pages on nonsense, so she relied on you to tell her the truth, and you lied!”
“I will take you to court then!” she yelled, then she spotted Aasta, “Hey, how much do you want for that one, she is younger than Sky, I can see that, she would be perfect. I will forget about Sky if you give me that one.” I called Aasta over to me. ”This girl here?” I asked. ”Yeah, she is the one,” said Carole Ann, “I will take her in place of Sky, she would quickly be in top spot, she looks about 15 which is perfect.”
“She is older than that,” I said, “and she is not for trade or for sale. Try to take her or Sky and you will have to kill me first to do it.” ”You would put your life on the line for some young trash?” she asked, then with a smirk on her face added, “I know why you want her around, an extra little girlfriend.” Then Jennifer went up to the car.
“You are wrong,” she said, “he has me instead. And if you want to kill Steve, you will have to kill me first, and that is not possible because I am already dead.” ”Those eyes!” exclaimed Carole Ann. She then pulled her gun and tried to shoot, but it would not work. ”You cannot kill a ghost,” said Jennifer smiling and she grabbed the gun.
“She is cold as ice!” exclaimed Carole Ann again, “I will be back Steve, I will win this time!” Then off they sped. The two “animals” got in their car and left also. ”She is scary Steve,” said Aasta, “why would she want me?” ”Because young beautiful women like you make her a lot of money,” I said, “in the wrong kind of photo studio.”
“Oh, I understand now,” she said, “I know you would protect Sky, but, um, would you really protect me like that too?” ”Yes, I would,” I said, “and so would Jennifer.” We then headed back home and met Aari and his team along the way and they escorted us the rest of the way home. ”We need to protect you and Sky,” said Baldwin, “so you must go into hiding until we stop this insane woman!”
“I heartily agree with Mr. B.” said Mandar, “and I have the perfect place for you to hide out for a time.” ”It must be a place where we can have some bodyguards too,” I said, “and Aasta needs to come with us too since Carole Ann now wants her as well.” ”Yes, yes, I very much agree,” said Mandar, “and the place I have in mind will accommodate all whom you wish to bring along.
But I will tell no one where it is, secrecy is paramount.” ”I do not like the idea of running away to hide,” said Sky, “even though I am scared of her.” ”Sometimes, my dear Sky, the prudent thing is to hide until the storm is over,” said Mandar, “then you are able to come back and fight again. Plus, if you stay here, it will require more resources, in the way of team members, to protect you, Steve and Aasta.
This way they can deal with this wretched woman unhindered.” Sky agreed it was probably the best way. Now, how do we get to this hideaway so that Carole Ann is not able to follow us? Mandar said to leave everything to him, it was up to me to pick a small team to go with us.
I chose Jennifer, Marlena, Aasta, Dawn, Kera and Beryan, plus Sky and myself. And for cats we have Muffin, Ginger (belonging to Dawn), Rascal (Aasta’s new cat, the Ocelot), and Jewel (Jennifer’s new cat). Mandar had selected a very elaborate route to take us to our destination, I am sure no one could follow us…
To Be Continued.
©2024 Steve McLeod.
