FELINE ONLINE AND THE MAZE OF THE MINOTAUR
Chapter Sixteen and final chapter: BASTET'S POWER IS ON DISPLAY!
Emily could smell the breakfast baking as soon as she left her house. She carried her dad’s contribution, his yummy Thai sticky rice with mangoes. Her mom carried a plate of fresh cookies. As the family walked to Amanda’s front door, Emily watched for Mike, but his hoped for appearance never happened.
Amanda stood at the open front door of her Victorian home and beckoned her friends to come inside. Professor Robert was arranging place settings at the dining room table. Amanda’s warm raisin bread and a dish of Robert’s baked apples were already steaming in the center of the long table. A flowered English teapot graced the laced tablecloth.
“Good morning, friends!” Robert said. “Who wants coffee or tea?”
Amanda finished bringing in jars of honey and jam. Her table decor was lovely, the treats smelled heavenly. There was much lively chatter as everyone found a seat.
Emily smiled at Wadjet and Foo Foo as they jumped from their sunny window seat and trotted upstairs to find a quieter place to nap.
“Wait, kitties!” she called up. “I brought you presents!”
Emily opened her package and brought out two fluffy yarn balls and threw them through the hand-carved balusters. The cats paused and sniffed at the balls midway up the stairs. Foo Foo grabbed the red one and carried it slowly on his upward journey. Wadjet gently batted at the other ball and watched it fall off the stairway. It landed on Amanda’s computer equipment where she had moved it from her dining room table. Emily noticed the computer was on with the home screen displaying an image of Wadjet and Foo Foo.
Everyone at the table was talking and heaping their plates with treats.
“This sticky rice is heavenly!” Professor Robert exclaimed.
“Thank you! My Thai mother made it for me every week,” Brad said. “She is playing with Zach this morning.”
“Hmm, the cookies, Joann! You must give me your recipe!” Amanda said as she reached for a second.
“By the way, where is Mike?” Robert asked.
Emily looked around at the guests and spoke softly.
“I think Mike will be away for a while. But he left me his papyrus sandals!”
She held up one to display for the group.
“Ahh,” was all Robert said.
“And Mike found an unusual yellow stone that he left on the porch, next to his sandals.”
Emily pulled the stone from her pocket.
“You can pass it around,” she said, handing the stone to Robert.
“I looked up pictures of minerals. It looks like Libyan tektite, or desert glass. It’s from the vast desert in Egypt where meteorites fall. When they hit the sand they melt the sand around them and form these rare and out-of-this world treasures. I’m sure they have magical properties!”
“Most fascinating,” Robert said as he studied the glittering mineral in the morning light. “You are quite the sleuth, Emily!”
Robert stroked his beard as he handed the stone to Amanda.
“So, I believe we have some new news to catch up on! Who wants to start?”
Following a moment of silence, Amanda began.
“These past weeks, even months, have brought us many surprises. So many mysteries, so many mysteries that Emily and Mike have helped solve.”
Amanda paused.
“I hardly know where to begin. A cat mummy and tomb rebuilt by Sir David over one hundred years ago in what is now my backyard? Even if the tomb is not Bastet’s final resting place it was certainly an amazing accomplishment for this unsung Egyptologist and cat lover!”
Amanda sighed and sat back in her chair. Her hand shook as she picked up her tea cup.
“Then last night, the most peculiar thing happened.”
She described the moment when the cat eyes appeared on her monitor.
“Wadjet and Foo Foo were watching and listening to this screen image while we stood at the open doorway.
“Apparently, this Bastet image told us that she was in another country and had big plans to use her power. For the benefit of cats, of course! She says she has learned how to use computers and display monitors. Or else this whole business is a huge game someone is playing.”
Emily giggled as she added her memory.
“She also told us how the English words for minotaur and monitor have, like, the same things: bugs, worms, caches . . . and mazes! Imagine a cat goddess getting mixed up!”
Robert smiled. “A cat goddess. Hmm.”
“Well, everybody, you cannot deny that Wadjet can read and type some words!” Emily exclaimed. “She did order that giant bird, even if Sekhmet tricked her! She did find lots of cat lovers to attend the Pyramid Party and adopt the homeless cats!”
“Certainly is an awful lot to process,” Robert agreed. “And now I bring more news to add to this mix. Unusual news, even with the events we have experienced and have often witnessed.”
The professor reached into his briefcase. He pulled out several newspapers.
“I have recently subscribed to several international news sources. The headlines alone are fascinating. Here is one from Cairo, Egypt about two weeks ago:”
Opening of new museum of Egyptian history to take place. Massive crowds expected!
“And another:”
Scientists find more treasures at the ruins of Bubastis, also known as Tel Basta, the ancient city devoted to cats, located on the Nile Delta. Subheadline: Cats by the hundreds seen roaming these ruins. Animal welfare volunteers cannot keep up with finding the many hungry wanderers.
“More recently:”
New museum features huge monitors to help visitors understand highlights of our exhibits.
“So far, these headlines don’t seem out of the range of normal, do they?” he asked as he looked around the table.
“Well, why are there hundreds of cats roaming the ruins?” Emily asked. “How far is Bubastis from Cairo?”
“The city of cats, the seat of feline worship from thousands of years ago, is about fifty miles from Cairo,” Robert answered.
“Now here the headlines get stranger,” Robert continued.
New visitors entering the great museum on opening day are met with winking cat eyes on the giant display monitors lining the entry halls. Subhead: Amber colored cats, probably of the Abyssinian breed, dominate the screens!
“Then, just last week:”
Cat faces appear to be locked into all of the monitors in the great hall in Cairo.
Cats are everywhere! Cameras installed within the temple ruins of Bubastis are sending images of cats gathering in small groups as they roam throughout the broken statues.
And here is the latest headline:
Museum scientists working with top technicians are unable to remove the amber cat images from museum display monitors. Visitors report winking and smiling cats appearing on every screen.
Amused by the many cat images visitors gather and point at these entertaining behaviors.
It has become a source of amusement for museum visitors, most of whom love cats. Crowd numbers have increased dramati-catly.
Robert smiled at the deliberate use of the last word.
“Wow!” Emily said. “Professor, do you think Bastet . . . and maybe Mike, are involved in these events?”
Robert shrugged.
“Well, nothing surprises me anymore,” Amanda said.
She turned and watched Wadjet settling herself in front of the monitor in the hallway.
Brad spoke, “It sounds like an expert programmer has hacked the system. What a clever prank for raising funds!”
Joann nodded. “Brad works in IT. He has a valid theory. And what a great way to market the new museum!”
“Oh, wait, here is a new feed!” Robert said as he turned to his tablet.
Money raised from the increasing number of museum visitors has forced the creation of a new fund! Visitors have named the orange cat Aya, a magic cat.
“I’ll read this entire new story to you:”
REPORT: In addition to revenues raised from entrance fees, a donation link and cash drops within the museum have resulted in help for the thousands of wandering cats in Bubastis and beyond.
Funds raisers have teamed up with museum department heads and other scientists to rebuild the ancient city of Bubastis!
“As an extension of our new museum in Cairo, our visitors will soon be able to visit the site of Bubastis, which will be rebuilt to further showcase the great heritage of Egyptian history,” said a museum spokesperson.
“Cats have always been a part of our legacy. We have come to realize that temples built tin Bubastis o honor felines will be an important adjunct to our new museum in Cairo. Located only fifty miles by bus or car, the museum will offer boat tours when the temple city is open. The design will be based on studies of the ruins that still exist. Curators from around the world will offer their expertise to this new development.
“Importantly, the newly recreated city will not be built on the original temple site. In order to preserve the ruins, it was decided not to disturb the underground mazes of minotaur beetles and scarab beetles, sacred to the ancients and of great help to our environment.
Scarab Beetle: Illustration by Tamara Clark
“The new cat temple and museum will offer a theater with videos on our links to felines, the ancient animal funeral industry, headsets for virtual reality immersion into the lives of shelter cats and those who need shelter, and a very special exhibit for youngsters: a mockup of minotaur tunnels that have surrounded many of our animal burial sites. Children will be able to wander through the maze and learn about the helpful nature of beetles and their natural history within our own history going back thousands of years.
“Attached to the future Bubastis museum our guests may visit a state-of-the-art cat shelter, complete with air conditioning! Visitors will be welcome to browse through this dwelling where cats will enjoy many comforts, but not the comfort of a home with loving humans. Adoptions can easily be arranged.
Please visit our website for further information.
The friends at the table looked at each other.
“Amanda, do you want to contact these officials and tell them what has happened here in your house and garden?” Emily asked.
“Perhaps,” Amanda whispered. “Perhaps.”
Emily turned to look out the dining room window to her own bedroom window.
Her pet, Bes, sat in her window next to Emily’s computer, switching her tail. Even from across Amanda’s garden, Emily could see her orange cat’s eyes glow with an amber light.
“Wadjet!”
Emily turned at the sound of Amanda’s voice. “Wadjet?”
Her cat was resting in the hallway. But as the humans gathered around her, Wadjet stood in front of Amanda’s computer keyboard and began to type, very slowly.
Words appeared on Amanda’s monitor.
bastet ruls
i am wadjet i am feline online i wil me ow with bastet
i wil reed and tipe
my bee tle moose wil sho yu her powr
the grate cat sity will rize agin
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THANK YOU to all of my new and current readers! A special thank you to my educator and student readers from around the world!
This chapter concludes FELINE ONLINE AND THE MAZE OF THE MINOTAUR
Following a short break, I will be posting new cat articles and short stories over the summer. Ebooks and paperback editions are in the planning stages!
All of my cat lore posts and all book chapters of FELINE ONLINE AND THE CATS OF ANCIENT EGYPT, FELINE ONLINE AND THE RULE OF CATS, and FELINE ONLINE AND THE MAZE OF THE MINOTAUR are free.
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CREDITS: Cover Illustrations for above titles: Tamara Clark
Book chapter illustrations: Tamara Clark and Rosetta Clark-Smith
Wadjet and Foo Foo photo: photo by Elyse Cregar
Photo of Libyan Tektite: Geolina163: Commons.wikimedia.org
Scarab beetle. Family Scarabaeidae: Illustration by Tamara Clark
Bastet’s Power: illustration by Tamara Clark
Commons.wikimedia.org:
Cat on Steps: Dinkun Chen
Cat Looking down from Tower: Sun OlErat
Cat on blanket: Santamarcan-da
Cat by Fence: MrNye-guy
A special THANK YOU to Tamara Clark for her creative contributions to these stories! Ms Clark is a career science illustrator. You may see her portfolio, natural history blogs and product shop links at Tamaraclark.com
Another special THANK YOU TO Rosetta Clark-Smiith for her purr-fect chapter illustrations in my cat books, to Annette M. for photos of her insect jewelry handwork, and to the many photographers who have offered their talents on wikimedia.org and Unsplash.com
