Guardian Cats and the Lost Books of Alexandria

Chapter 26: The Library of Alexandria

The first thing that surprised Professor Chin about Alexandria was how modern it was. It was a bit disconcerting to be surrounded by foreigners—but what did he expect? He was pleased that everyone knew English, surprisingly well.

The second thing he learned was that, in this Mediterranean coastal city, he was overdressed in his tweed coat. He never went anywhere without his coat and umbrella. Reluctantly, he left both in his hotel room and joined the tour group, feeling slightly underdressed.

The third thing he discovered was that the new Library of Alexandria was jarring to his senses. He didn’t bother to browse the stacks. His love for books wasn’t like the love of a bibliophile. That was something he always had to be careful of at work, not letting on that books were only a means to an end.

The architectural lines of the ultramodern library were at odd angles, which threw him off balance. It's open, soaring lines made him small and insignificant. In London, he was always surrounded by a sense of the solidness of it. Here, he was out of his element, out of control.

He rubbed one hand over the other, massaging his fingers and wrist, something he'd done to relieve anxiety since he was a boy.

He was so distracted that he almost missed the next exhibit. The tour guide was talking about the historic burning of the original library. They were standing in front of a bronze statue of a young man in a tunic. There were bronze cats climbing all over him. “Nothing remains of the ancient library,” the girl said, “but legends. This is Akeel, the Guardian librarian who, it is said, saved seven powerful mystical books, which were sheltered in secret chambers under the main buildings. He escaped the fire with a handful of books and an armful of library cats. When he found new hiding places for the books, he put the cats in charge of guarding them. As Egyptians, who revere cats, this story holds special charm for us.” She smiled at the group and there were murmurs of appreciation. “The books are shrouded in mystery, but the legend says that whoever finds them and unlocks their secrets will be able to rule the world.”

Professor Chin thought he was going to be sick. He struggled to hear more of what she said about the books, but he was feeling faint.

The thought of having cats crawling over him like the man in the statue made him nauseous. Gypsies believed cats were filthy creatures, if not downright evil. But when he was too small to know better, he had befriended one and always saved scraps of food from his evening meal.

When his stepfather caught him feeding the kitten, he beat him, then forced his mother to drown the cat, making him watch. He still remembered him yelling 'dinili!', stupid, and how the cat scratched his mother's arms and face as she struggled to force the kitten's head into a bucket of water. "You think we have enough to feed a filthy cat when we can barely feed ourselves?" his stepfather had shouted.

He started trembling. He'd had nightmares about his cat coming back to life to punish him. In one dream, there were a dozen cats climbing all over him and he woke up screaming as one tried to suck the breath out of him.

Now he was looking at this statue of his nightmare while the people around him were obviously enjoying it.

He desperately wanted to avoid a panic attack but it was too late. The tour guide, an attractive young Arab girl, asked him if he was ok as the room started to spin and he reached out for something to hold onto.

The last thing he heard was the snickers of school children. When he woke up, he was lying on the floor and a paramedic was taking his blood pressure, a crowd standing over him. He passed out again.

Later, when he woke up the second time, he was in his hotel room, thankful to be away from people. But he wasn't alone.

"What was that all about?" demanded the Whisperer.

"Nevermind."

"Nevermind! What is the matter with you?" demanded the Whisperer. “You’ll never get anywhere falling apart like that!”

“Have a little sympathy,” said Professor Chin. “Maybe it was something I ate.”

“Sympathy! You’re one to ask for sympathy. Am I wasting my time with you?”

“No. I’ll be fine. You heard what she said, didn’t you? You were there?”

“You mean about the books?”

“Of course, I mean about the books.”

“What about them? It’s just a story.”

“You don’t believe that any more than I do. These kinds of things exist. You know about the Spear of Destiny, don’t you? It was the tool for Hitler’s power. These books will be my Spear.”

“How badly do you want them?”

“With all my soul.”

“I have my resources,” said the Whisperer, after some considering. “I could have them look for the books. But I must warn you. They expect a steep price for their services.”

“Any price is worth increasing my powers.”

“You would give your soul for a magical book?”

“What need have I of my soul? It causes me only pain. Take what’s left of it. What I need, my soul won’t give me. What I need is power.”