Chapter 31 — The Museum

"So we just go to the museum in broad daylight with all the other visitors? I would have expected that we go there by night, when there's no one, jumping on the roof like shadows. Like sophisticated burglars do in the movies. Then we jump down from the ceiling, hanging from a wire and avoiding a bunch of red laser beams that let just enough space for a daredevil to pass through without triggering the alarm."

"Are you good at acrobatics?"

"Hum, not really."

"That's why we go in broad daylight with the other visitors."

They were arriving in the courtyard of the British Museum.

There were quite a lot of people there, waiting in line in front of the entrance.

"So how do we proceed?"

"I'll try to attract the attention of the security agents." said Fluffy. "Meanwhile, you go right to the statue. You discreetly cut a nice opening in the glass box that protects it. You've got the diamond, right?"

"Of course. Look, I'm wearing it under my shirt. How do you like it on me?"

"Perfect. So, an opening big enough for me to get in. Then, I'll be able to quickly activate the stone hidden inside the statue. After that, we try to get away seamlessly and as quickly as possible."

"Sounds very simple. But what bothers me a little bit is the 'get away seamlessly' part of your plan. How do we do that exactly?"

"We'll figure it out somehow."

"That's what I thought…"

They waited a bit in the line. Then they went past the massive pillars at the entrance of the building and got inside. Marvin went to buy an entrance ticket for himself.

"But, I'm sorry, sir…" said the cashier with a bored attitude on her face. "Animals are not allowed inside."

"Animals ?"

"Yes. Your cat."

"Not my cat."

"Really?"

She bent a little on the side and took a look at Fluffy, trying maybe to guess if that was true or not.

"Okay, then." said Fluffy. "I go sneak inside. We meet in the Egypt department. See you there."

And she disappeared quickly, running in the midst of the visitors.

The cashier shrugged as if she didn't really care.

"A stray cat probably." said Marvin.

"Never mind. They're probably going to catch it somehow. Here is your ticket. Enjoy your visit."

Marvin went through the security controls where they checked the contents of his pockets and backpack. Then he got inside the central hall of the museum, with its impressive mixture of classic Hellenic style architecture and modern glass ceiling.

He knew exactly where he was supposed to go because Fluffy made him study the map of the museum beforehand.

So, he went around the central rotonda, took directly left and got in the room dedicated to ancient Egypt. It was a beautiful gallery, with a high ceiling supported by elegant white ribbed columns.

There, he walked right into the famous Rosetta stone, on which Champollion, for the first time, deciphered the hieroglyphic writing two centuries ago. But he had no time to admire it.

He turned right and walked among many Egyptian sculptures representing pharaohs and scribes. He walked past the giant bust of king Ramsses II, and soon found what he was looking for. There it was. Close to the wall, there was the small statue of a cat, enclosed in a transparent box of glass.

He went closer and focused his attention on the statue. The cat was sitting majestically, with its earrings and necklace. Something in its attitude looked somehow familiar to him.

He read on the explanatory plate next to it: "Cats were kept as pets in ancient Egypt, but gods could also appear in the form of cats. This bronze figure probably represents one form of the goddess Bastet…"

At that moment, Fluffy stormed in the gallery and jumped skillfully on the sculptures.

"Look, Mom! There's a cat on the statue" said a child pointing his finger at her. 

Two watchmen of the museum were running after Fluffy, trying to prevent her from damaging the exposed objects. But she moved swiftly out of their reach, jumping on the statue of a ram, then on Ramsses, then down on the floor again. Each time, she was waiting for them to get closer, and when they arrived close enough to catch her, she jumped further again.

The crowd was amused by this peculiar show. The children especially, were enthusiastic about that funny cat that was making fools of the watchmen. All the attention was now focused on them.

"Okay, it's the right moment." thought Marvin.

He took hastily the diamond from around his neck and started to cut through the glass. It wasn't that easy, but it seemed to work.

Meanwhile, Fluffy jumped on top of a heavy sarcophagus made out of smooth stone. There, sitting innocently, she waited for the watchmen to come close.

They were both moving very carefully now, trying not to scare the cat away, hoping to be able to eventually catch it.

When they got close enough, Fluffy suddenly ignited her golden eyes, and psychic mesmerizing waves started to fill the space. The two sentinels fell straight away on their backsides.

Everyone's full attention was now captivated by what was going on with that strange cat and the two employees of the museum. So no one was paying attention to Marvin. And although he was making quite a loud shrill noise, no one realized that he was trying to cut through the glass protecting a piece of art.

But suddenly, an alarm went on, making an awful lot of noise that couldn't be left unnoticed. It even snapped the two watchmen out of their drowsiness. And a third employee also rushed into the gallery.

Marvin was almost done with his task. He had managed to cut a nice round hole in the glass. But now the employees had noticed him. He had to run.

Now it was Fluffy's turn to act. She jumped straight away on the platform on which the Bastet statue was displayed, and poured her fluid little body into the round cutout hole.

The watchmen were all after Marvin at that moment. He hadn't managed to disappear among the other visitors, and now they were chasing him in the central hall.

Fluffy was now facing the statue of Bastet, an image of her past self, and the two cats were appearing like the two sides of a mirror, presenting two aspects of the same eternal reality.

Fluffy softly placed her forepaw on the pectoral plate of the statue, at the location were was carved the eye of Horus. She closed her eyes and focused deeply.

She felt a feeble flux of energy flowing from the statue, but it seemed weak and inefficient.

"Come on, why doesn't it work?" she asked herself. "This thing is so old that it's maybe completely discharged."

She tried to concentrate even deeper. She knew her mind had to be emptied, and all her powers focused on that single task.

"Let me go!" she heard Marvin shout somewhere in the background. It seemed that they had caught him. "Help! Fluff!"

But Fluffy couldn't afford to pay attention to anything else than the blue hidden stone of the statue. She was trying to visualize it, to let its profound color invade her inner self, to let her consciousness merge with the crystalline structure of the stone, becoming more and more like it.

She was pushing even harder with her paw on the chest of the statue, and cutting herself from the surrounding reality, managed to open her third eye, the mystical vision that was beholding inwards, in the spiritual realm.

"Why doesn't it work? Come on, work, blast you!"

And suddenly, something vibrated within the bronze statue and its empty carved eyes began to shine with blue light. Fluffy opened her eyes.

"Finally! It works!"

She hastily jumped down from the platform.

All the power that was accumulating inside the object seemed to increase suddenly. Then, the statue itself exploded bluntly into pieces and a tremendous beam of blue light was projected upwards from within it, annihilating its prison of glass, and easily burning a hole through the ceiling.

"Yes!"

Everyone was astonished by what just happened in front of them. The vertical light beam lasted for ten solid seconds before slowly fading away. Everyone there could clearly see it. Some even had the time to take pictures.

The guards, who had managed to tackle Marvin down were now maintaining him flatten on the ground. They were also baffled by what they saw, but visibly, they were accounting Marvin responsible for it. They were already calling the police.

Fluffy was exhausted by the intense use she made of magic. She saw that Marvin was caught and held to the ground. She hesitated half a second.

"Sorry, Marvin. I can't help you right now." she said to herself.

Marvin, whose face was half compressed on the ground could barely see Fluffy running outside the museum and leaving him behind.