Chapter Twelve
Just as I thought, Horemheb had informed the crowd that had gathered about King Ay’s antics and that the Goddess Bast had sent the former king’s protector to seek justice. Apparently they thought the goddess had been successful as the door to the chamber opened as I looked down at the crumpled remains of King Ay far below. Prior to leaving the palace and returning to the Valley of the Kings I decided that the “Goddess” needed to speak to the future king once more. I entered the bath chamber of the king and noticed the sand I once used was gone, no surprise there, so I caught Horemheb’s attention on the way out and motioned for him to follow. We went down to the chamber belonging to Isom and entered. Isom was still at the king’s chamber with the others as the future king was getting his final glyph instructions in her sandbox. Horemheb nodded his understanding of the glyphs and I bowed my head low enough to slip out of the amulet and left it lying at his feet. I left him staring at the amulet as if it were some mystical artifact to be treasured, but to me, leaving it meant final freedom, plus it made my neck itch something fierce!
By the time I returned to the valley, Ra had his chariot riding high in the sky. The god’s namesake was the first to greet me with news that he was a father! This pleased me to no end and I felt justified in my decision to go it alone. He noticed the amulet was missing and quickly deduced what I had done without him. “You told me you would wait!” he exclaimed, “I wanted to help!”
I replied, “You did, you protected my king while I avenged him.” I knew he would be mad for a while, but as he started to play with his new kittens he eventually forgave me. I congratulated Mom on her new brood and she looked happier than I have seen her in years. Her and Ra were great together and Grandpaw even perked up a bit with the new grandkittens to play with. Anubis II and Isom, as the kittens were named, listened with wide eyes and ears to his tales of the old kings and of his adventures with routing out thieves and grave robbers. The pair grew strong and fierce in their duties as guardians.
As for me, I continued my direct protection of my friend’s tomb from the periodic raiders. I kept close watch on the new tomb builders as they dug a new tomb in the exact location that was directed by a “Goddess”. Before long I could not even enter the tomb of my king, the entrance now being filled and blocked by the rubble and dirt from the new tomb. As the new tomb was completed you would never guess another tomb was near. The new King Horemheb, had followed the final instructions of Bast to the “T”, he had his tomb constructed directly above the tomb of my king and had erased all mention of him and Ay from recorded history. Knowing my friend could finally rest in peace I could join the rest of the guardians in protecting not only my king, but also all the others buried here as well. Cats were once again welcomed and had returned to the palace. On my last visit there I saw my sisters had returned to their former human and were as fat as ever.
One day Mom was teaching Anubis II and Isom a few stalking techniques when a chariot entered the valley and came up to the tombs. She decided to check their hiding skills and was paying closer attention to them than the visitors when she caught the scent of something… familiar. “Cheese!” she thought, as she turned to look at the newcomers. Mom watched as a tall male lifted a female off the chariot and set her down. She had a bundle wrapped in cloth in her arms as she came forward. “Isom!” Mom cried as she sprinted down the rocks to her old friend. Isom knelt with her bundle and as she had so long ago opened her palm to reveal her tempting treat. Mom reached Isom but ignored the treat as she rubbed her sides all over her friend.
“I couldn’t believe it when Amun told me you were alive!” she cried, “I thought you were dead!”
Mom really chewed me out later for the communication violation, but still gave me her warmest rub, between the rains of “I love you”. She was just happy to see her friend.
Isom showed mom her new baby, a strong looking male and then Mom called up to her kittens. Anubis II and Isom’s namesake came cautiously out of their hiding places and made their way to their mother and the humans. Isom saw the kittens coming and once again opened her hand with the cheese. Mom told them it was all right and they took the treat and chased each other around as they devoured it. Isom giggled as she watched the two, remembering Isis as a kitten. “I wish you would come back with me,” she said, “but I see you are back where you belong.” Then she added, “I will come back as often as I can to see you and bring food for you and the others.” She said this as she looked around in the rocks and discovered the numerous cats that were there. Isom kept her promise and so did generations of her family. Returning with food periodically for the guardians of the tombs.
One-day years later, Grandpaw pulled me aside and said he was going on a journey and that I was now in charge of the guardians. He told me how proud he was to have me as a Grandkitten, sorry, Grandcat! We rubbed our stifled good-byes and then he went off into history, on his own terms. It was tough to explain this to Mom, but she vowed to pass down his stories to all future generations of guardians, which she did to countless eager ears for many years. Mom passed on peacefully in her sleep as did Ra before her, but before they did, they continued to produce the fiercest warrior cats the valley had ever known. The mournful howls that rose up from the valley kept visitors and thieves away for weeks.
I eventually met a nice cat as well. On a scouting trip to Thebes, I passed by the palace granary and spotted a cute thing on patrol. Remembering the story of my parents own meeting, I decided to see if I could re-invent a legend. Only this time there were no snakes or spears, Ok, so it wasn’t the stuff of legends, but I was able to convince her to come with me back to the valley. Her name was Seti, after the moon god, due to her mostly white coat. We had many kittens and they all grew up strong and carried on Dad’s work of protecting the entire valley for sure, but more importantly a little spot of land just short of another tomb. The spot was protected by generations of my children. So well that not a grain of sand was disturbed for thousands of years. All attempts to do any digging on that spot were foiled by a sudden rash of wildcat attacks. My friend slumbered longer than any previous king of Egypt, but all good things eventually come to an end and Howard Carter discovered my friend, the boy king of Egypt, Tutankhamun, or King Tut, in 1922. The richest find in history and in this discovery my friend truly did become immortal!
I lived out my life in the Valley of the Kings with my family and my own Grandkittens. I passed along the stories of Anubis, Isis, Ra and the stories of bravery, betrayal, and justice to new generations. I had a very long life and eventually it too had to come to an end. I would like to say that I had the dignity to take a journey like my own Grandpaw had, but my end came with a little less dignity. My eyes just were not what they once were, and my reflexes had also dulled with age, as I passed the rocks one morning to get a drink at the spring. All I felt was a slight sting on my backside and had just enough time to see a black tail slink back into the rocks before all went dark and I thought, “Man! I hate snakes!”
The Garden Part I