Rascal Chuck--a Missionary Cat

 

 

         We feel so bad for him. Chuck has had enough of Egypt. Enough of mummies. Enough of churches and mosques. He wants to go back to the hotel and veg out. 

        The problem is—we haven’t yet seen what we came to see. When we say to Chuck, we still have to see Dan’s house, we don’t mean the one in the states. We mean the one in Egypt. The one he grew up in. In Heliopolis. 

         When you have missionaries for parents, you can live just about anywhere. Dan, his two sisters, and one brother lived in a rather large house. They had a cook, a gardener/gatekeeper, and a governess. That house still exists and now belongs to the Egyptian Evangelical Church. We want to see it, and we want to go inside.

Unfortunately, Chuck has to come with us. We try to explain all this to Chuck, but somehow he gets the wrong idea.

         I think it starts when we meet up with two missionaries who have agreed to help—Noah Park and his wife. They live in Egypt, and they have a car, which is a big bonus. We’re eager to find the house. But they have their own agenda.

         “Don’t worry,” Noah says, “we’ll find the house. But first, we have to go to the seminary.”

         That’s where Dan’s father worked while Dan’s family lived in Egypt.

         “You want to see the seminary, right?” Noah asks.

         The real answer is no. Dan doesn’t really want to see it, but he’s caught. If he says no, it won’t look good. Truth is—he wants to see the house. And Chuck wants to go back to the hotel. So he's immediately suspicious. His eyes get big and his ears are twitching back and forth. Seminary?? Why are they taking me to the seminary?

         How exciting can a seminary be, you ask? I have no expectations. I want to see the house. BUT we’re in for a big surprise. 

         It’s a nice brick building, all right, and still to this day, the center of the missionary efforts that are going on in Cairo. Noah leads us inside. You must traverse a long hallway. There are photos posted on the wall to your right.

         Dan spots his father in one of the group photos immediately. He's in the front row, last man on the right side, wearing glasses. The photo is dated 1964. That’s cool. He’s part of history.

       Politely, we look at the other photos. At this point, I’m in charge of Chucky. He is not being a cooperative cat. He doesn’t want to be here, and he doesn’t want to be carried around as if he’s an invalid. 

At least I think that's what the problem is.

         His position is clear—if I have to be here, let me at least walk around and sniff the place out. I can’t smell anything up here. And I can’t really see anything.

         But, it’s tricky. I know for a fact Noah wouldn’t approve. Cats in a seminary?

         “Wow.” Now Dan is pointing to an older photo on the wall. Dated 1863. His great grandfather, J.R. Alexander. He was a missionary in Egypt, too. There he is, long beard and all, posing with a group of all missionaries.

         Noah gets excited. Now, we’re more than two Americans looking for a house in Egypt. We’ve been promoted to royalty. He wants to pull us into meet the head guy who is in charge here at the seminary.

         Dan follows him. I make a rash decision. I put Chucky down. “Stay here. Sniff all you want. But do not leave this room. And try to make yourself inconspicuous.”

        But Chucky looks like that's exactly what he wants to do--leave the room. Leave the seminary.

        "What's the matter?" 

        He looks around as if he's going to be abducted at any moment.

        "Chuck, you don't think . . . no, that's not why you're here. We're not signing you up to be a missionary cat. No. No."

        Chucky heaves a big sigh of relief. 

         "You poor deluded boy."

         Then I run after Dan and Noah.

         “Do you know who this is?” Noah is already introducing Dan to his boss.

         Now everyone wants to shake our hands. Get to know us. Give us the ten cent tour. Unfortunately, they have a museum upstairs—all of one room. Dan goes up to see it. I beg off, thinking this is crazy. All we want to do is see the house. Plus, I’m worried that Chucky left to his own devices too long is bound to get into some kind of trouble.

         We are on our way out of the seminary. Chucky is waiting by the door.

         I hurry ahead and scoop him up. “You're supposed to be inconspicuous,” I whisper as I slide him into the backpack. The poor rascal cat looks exhausted or rather traumatized.

         We pile into the car. Dan gives Noah the address. Finally, we are on our way to the house.

         For some unexplainable reason, Chuck lets out a skin curdling MEOW.

         “Is that a cat?” Noah asks.

 

         TO BE CONTINUED . . .