“Yes, where are the cats?” asked Sky, “they should have gotten the alarm too.” “Storm said they were taking the kittens on a nature hike,” said Angel, “but they would be staying on the property.” “Then they should have received the alarm signal clearly,” I said, “we better try calling them.” Trisha sent Muffin a message for all of them to get back home right away because there is trouble.

It was about 20 minutes before they came in, running. They could not run too fast though or the kittens and Muffin would not be able to keep up. Muffin is not allowed to run fast anymore because of her heart. Meow,meow?=What is trouble? Why you not send alarm? “We did send an alarm Muffin,” said Sky. Meow.=We not get alarm call, none of us.

Meowr.=Yep, that right, not get any something. Meowy.=Yep, me too. Meowi=Yep, me too too. We told them what happened and all their ears went straight up. A little while later the girls came inside after checking our security system around the property. “There is no problem with it at all,” said Kristina, “and I still do not see how the backup security could have been breached. It does not have the same power supply, there is just no way to turn it off except in here.”

“Well, whoever hit me found a way to turn them both off,” I said, “and that is a serious problem. We will need to get some old fashioned guards around the chateau for a while.” Just then Mandar was at the gate requesting to come in. We were all glad to see him and went into the library for some coffee and Annelie’s delicious donuts. I told Mandar what had happened this morning.

“That is very serious Steve,” he said, “yes, you need to have some guards around the chateau.” He then made a call to his office and talked with Richard, his new top man. The other man retired after 30 years on the job. He had been training Richard to take over for the past 5 years now. He said that some men would be sent to us right away.

“These will be men you can trust my good man,” said Mandar, “and if you would like them permanently, just say the word, and they will stay here.” “Thanks Mandar,” I said, “but I do not know if we can match the wages you pay them.” “I did not say you would have to pay them,” said Mandar, “they will stay in my employ, but they will work for you. Consider it a birthday gift for you.”

“But my birthday is not until June,” I said. “So it is a bit early,” he said shrugging, “it will be your gift anyway.” “Thank you so much Mr. M,” said Sky, “from both of us. You are a real friend.” Mandar smiled. “I like that,” he said, “we are real friends and that is worth more than a little money.” “I am sure the men can stay with Mr. B,” I said.

“Oh, there will be 5 women in the group,” added Mandar, “perhaps they can stay here?” “Certainly,” said Sky, “we will get rooms ready for them!” All the girls disappeared right away to do that, except Kristina, Crystal, Sigurbjorn and Astrid. They are my permanent bodyguards now, Sky insisted. Mandar was going to stay until Baldwin and Rock returned, something that made me feel much better.

With my memory not good still, it is nice to have another leader around, even though Mandar is not officially a leader in our team. Things went smoothly the rest of the day, and the next day too. The following day Sky, Trisha and I went shopping and Storm came along too, it was his turn. Sky and I were in the bakery picking up a special birthday cake for Sigurbjorn, it was her birthday today and she had been feeling a little down lately.

She misses her mother, they would always do something special on her birthday. I just found out about that this morning. Trisha and Storm were walking down the street a little ways and there was a small alley that went around behind the bakery. “Hey, thought I saw something move over there,” said Trisha. Meowr.=We not supposed to go in alley…hey, wait for me! He ran after Trisha.

She bent down behind some boxes where a thin cat was lying on the ground, half dead. “He is hurt Storm,” she said softly, “we need to bring him home with us.” Meowr?=Who hurt you? Meower.=Big man behind door over there. He see me in trash can looking for food. He kick me and throw me at wall. Me too weak to move.

Storm told Trisha. She became quite angry when she heard. She knew what it was like. Then that man came outside. “Hey, get away from that dead cat!” he yelled. “He is not dead,” said Trisha, “I am taking him home.” “No you are not, he is my cat!” yelled the man again and he came stomping over to her and grabbed her long hair…

To Be Continued.

©2023 Steve McLeod.