Chuck has to be here.
The Mummy Room, downstairs in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, is filled with--you guessed it--mummies. They have the foremost collection of mummies in the world.
As we walk in, I quickly scan the room for the Rascal Cat.
Nothing but mummies.
"Chuck."
I wait to hear a purr. A meow. Anything.
But the Mummy Room is eerily quiet. As you would expect. Dan and I are the only two living persons in the room. Mummies are everywhere. To appreciate this room in all its splendor, the tourist must go up and down the rows and look from side to side. The mummies are behind glass cases. Some have inscriptions describing who or what they are.
"Let's break up," I say to Dan. "You go that way." I point across the room. "I'll start over here."
We are convinced Chuck has to be here. He has mummies on the brain. Given the choice, he would come here. But he could be anywhere.
I pass a mummy crocodile and a pet dog with an inscription.
I pass some skeletal birds and then some mummified birds.
At each juncture, I call out, "Chucky." But there is no response.
I have to admit I jump at little when I see the cat mummy.
"Dan," I call out. "Look."
"Don't get carried away," he says in that reasonable voice of his. "Of course there would be mummies of cats. The Egyptians loved cats."
He's right.
"You don't think Chucky saw this mummy cat and freaked out, do you?"
"No, if anything . . ." Dan pauses.
"What?"
"No, he wouldn't have a crazy idea . . ."
It's the way he says it. "Our Chucky?"
"All I'm saying is remember in the Philadelphia Museum when he wanted his portrait painted. The kid wants to be immortalized."
No sooner are the words out of Dan's mouth than we hear a meow coming from the row behind us.
There he is--perfectly still--like a statue--posed against a white board as if he's auditioning for the role of . . .
"Don't say it."
I scoop Chuck up and give him the biggest hug possible. He's here. He's safe. That's all I care about. But then I get over myself. "We've seen enough mummies for one day. And there's no way, Chucky, that you can be a . . . " But I can't even say the word.
Chucky shrugs. He could see a thousand mummies, and it wouldn't be enough.
As we're leaving, Chucky wants to say goodbye to his favorite mummy. Small consolation, I suppose.
Gosh, Chucky, you really are a rascal cat, or should I say the wanna be mummy cat.
