Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. The Ringing Resort Case. Chapter 7. No Trust.
Tamara told us that she borrowed money from the wrong place, several times, adding up to $25,000. That was for protection in prison. When she got out she discovered that with interest it would cost her double that to pay it off. Brandish came along and paid it for her, took her back to his place and branded her. He told her he always does that to his property, then he can always find her if she decided to run away.
Then he tossed her in a place he called the “chamber” for a couple weeks to teach her it does not pay to run away or cheat on him. “Now I will always have this as a reminder,” she said of the brand. “No,” said Bridgette, “we can get rid of that back at our hospital.” “Really?” she asked, “you will do that?” “Sure, we have the best doctors around,” she said. “Why does Brandish use that other dock instead of this one?” I asked.
“Water is too shallow here for that big yacht of his,” she said, “it is much deeper at the other dock.” “Good, now, what about cover around there?” I asked again. “There is a lot more cover there with trees and bushes, plus some old shacks too,” she said, “not like around here where it has been cleared out so much.” Sky went over to the door and called the cats over to her. She then took them out into the hall.
“Okay you two,” she said, “go find Carrie and see if you can get more information from her. I do not trust this Brandish guy. He may have given Tamara wrong information deliberately to catch us off guard, especially if he suspects her at all.” The cats ears went straight up when she said that. Then off they went in a flash looking around for Carrie. The front door opens automatically which is helpful for the cats.
They found Carrie sitting on a beach chair getting some sun. They went running over to her and jumped up onto the chair with her purring away. She was quite happy to see them again. “Hey guys,” she said, “I have not seen you in a while.” Then the manager showed up too. “Relaxing again I see,” he said. “Well, it is my lunch break,” she reminded him. “Yeah, okay,” he said, “but make sure you are busy when Brandish shows up this afternoon.”
“Well, that is not until 5pm,” she said. “That is what he told Tamara,” he said, “but he does not trust her anymore, figures she is making a deal with those private investigators to get away from here.” He kept talking and the cats kept listening while purring and cuddling with Carrie. “I do not understand why you like those stupid animals,” he said, shaking his head as he walked back to the hotel. “I think you guys are smarter than he is,” Carrie said to the cats. She was right about that too.
She got up and went back to the hotel with the cats and up they went to our room. Scratch, scratch. Sky let them back inside and they jumped onto the bed. Meow,meow.=Got big news from human manager and human Carrie. Meow.=Yep, human bad guy not trust Tamara anymore, so he tell her wrong things to tell us. Meow,meow.=Yep, he not come at 5, he think we set ambush earlier, so he come earlier and set ambush for us.
Meow.=Yep, they come at 3, wait outside big door of hotel and cut us down when we come out. Meow,meow.=Yep, and he come with more men, there be 30 men plus bad guy. Meow.=Yep, then they take Tamara to place called chamber and leave her there for very long time till she look like old lady. “That rat!” exclaimed Crystal, “he will regret trying to fool us!” “Does Brandish have 30 men to use?” I asked Tamara.
“Yeah, easy,” she said puzzled, “he once told me he could get 50 men at an hours notice if he needed them. Um, what is going on?” “Brandish no longer trusts you,” I said, “so he gave you some wrong information. He figured you had made a deal with us to get you off the island and away from him. So figuring that we would go early to set up an ambush, he decided to come at 3 and set up an ambush for us instead. And he is bringing 30 men with him.”
“Well, he will not have those cops to help him,” said John. “Yeah, uh, they went swimming,” added Mac. “Good, that means 4 less men for him,” I said, “but that still means 26 men, plus Brandish. We will have to play this one very carefully so none of us get killed.” “Uh, can I ask a question?” asked Tamara. “Yes, sure,” said Sky. “How do you know all of this suddenly?” she asked, “you listened to those cats like they were actually talking to you and then you know all of this. That does not make sense.”
Sky giggled. “I know it sounds strange,” she explained, “but the cats did tell us the information. They got it from the manager talking with Carrie. They have made friends with Carrie and get lots of information from her.” “But…
To Be Continued.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
Saturday Sharing With Coffee! #12
Good morning and Happy Saturday everyone! Another weekend has arrived and that means…another weekend has arrived! For me it does not really matter. But for some people it does matter, it means the work week has ended and they now have the weekend to do other things. Makes sense. Speaking of pennies, or 1 cent coins, we used to have those here in Canada, but the government decided to stop making them.
It cost more to produce them than they were worth. And really, what can you do with 1 cent these days? Nothing. So our government decided to stop producing them. So our government no longer makes cents. You might have to read that out loud to really appreciate the play on words there. Well, I thought it was good. Anyway, moving on to other things.
This is Chloe, one of the two female Boreal Chickadees.
It was actually quite warm yesterday, with a high of 36F (2.1C) and the sun was shing beautifully. I was actually sweating sitting out on the deck with the birds in the afternoon. About an inch or so of that last snow melted yesterday. Not bad. And the waterfall in here was going quite well yesterday too. Actually there are two spots now. My apartment is quite small, and also crowded. That means I have lots of stuff. And it is a little hard to find places to put things so they do not get wet.
This is Benson, the only male Boreal Chickadee, spreading his tail because another chickadee was trying to get on my hand too. He was saying to wait his turn.
Nothing can be done about it now, however. There is frost in the attic, and it melts when it gets warmer. And comes inside. And makes things wet. The snow needs to be shoveled off the roof so it does not block the roof vent. But no one wants to go up there to do that. Anyway, on a brighter note. The days are getting longer, but it is supposed to get colder next week again. Sigh.
Each year I begin looking for the return of birds in the spring. Bald Eagles and crows are the first to show up, both in March, and both are back now. Both species of birds also stay here all winter. The only way to tell when they return from the south, is the fact there are a lot more around now. Yesterday another spring bird showed up, our local Canada geese.
Benson again, looking for the biggest piece he can find.
Well, there was a small flock of them anyway, likely scouts coming to check on things. They were likely surprised. And maybe will leave again too. But they were still here this morning flying around. There were also two American Goldfinches out here this morning, but they likely stayed the winter. There were some around the beginning of January for a few days.
And, the first chipmunk showed up, though just briefly, yesterday. Not sure which one it was, it did not come onto the deck. Perhaps he will be back today. The birds are still enjoying coming to my hand for food, even if food is available elsewhere. One time the crow came flying in low and the alarm call went out.
This is Carine, Benson’s mate, raising her wings to fly away.
There was a Boreal chickadee on my hand and he immediately went onto my leg behind my arm to hide. He knew where to find safety. He stayed until the birds sounded the all clear signal, then he flew off with his food. That was very cool. That is solitude. Well, guess it is time to be off and tackle my laundry. Have a wonderful weekend everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 