Cat's Cradle Read Online Free PDF Page B

rumored, to have supernatural powers. For instance, the cat and the goddess could change shapes, one becoming the other. They both were worshipped. And they were said to live for an incredible length of time. Hundreds and hundreds of years.”
    Carl shook his head. “Mike, you have such a fantastic memory. A recall that is awesome. Yet your grades are terrible.”
    Mike grinned. “You wanna be president of my fan club, Carl?”
    “Asshole,” Carl muttered. “Tell me more about these cat people.”
    “Are you serious? I thought you were going to be a pig?”
    “A police officer, Mike. Besides, pigs is beautiful.”
    “Oh, God!” Mike feigned great disgust. “Spare me. Why do you want to know about ancient religions? Pigs are not only beautiful, they’re notoriously stupid.”
    “Would you like to come home with me this weekend and tell that to my dad?” Carl grinned.
    Mike rolled his eyes. “Ah ... no ! Besides, your father is an educated pig. There is a great deal of difference between that and an ordinary pig.”
    Carl laughed. He couldn’t get mad at Mike. He knew Mike was only putting the needle to him. His friend had absolutely no beef with the police. Mike was built like a big overstuffed teddy bear—a very wealthy teddy bear, and an enormously strong teddy bear. One of the feather-headed jocks at school had attempted to fight Mike once. Once. Mike had very nearly crushed the life out of the young man. Mike was six feet tall, and about three and half feet wide. He was even-tempered until provoked. When that happened-look out! He was also a genius, with only one love, and that one love was not the major forced on him by his parents. His father and mother had set up a very generous allowance, but Mike could not touch the principal until he was twenty-five, only the interest. And that was considerable.
    “The cat people, Mike?” Carl persisted.
    “Gods and goddesses, ol’ buddy. High priests and all that type of stuff. I’ll tell you a truth. There really isn’t that much known about them. Like I said, a secret religion. The religion, cult, whatever, supposedly began when the Sahara was green.”
    “The Sahara Desert? It was green ? What are you talking about?”
    “Fertile. Like Virginia. I don’t mean with oaks and hickory trees and stuff like that. But, well . . . fertile. Like in the ability to grow things. The Sahara began to die about seven to eight thousand years B.C. That is well documented by wall paintings in a sandstone plateau in the Tassili N’Ajjer. That is about the time the cat people were really getting down and doing their thing. When the desert began to die, they moved on ... somewhere. No one knows for sure because it was all very hush-hush, and those not affiliated with the religion were scared to death of them.”
    “What did they eat?”
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “I mean, well, were they cannibalistic?”
    “Oh, yes. Bloodthirsty. They were a savage, barbaric group of nutsos. It’s written-somewhere, I forget where I read it-that only the high priest could impregnate the chosen woman. Thus insuring that she would deliver twins, a girl baby, and a cat. But they weren’t successful all the time. Really hideous monsters and creatures could be birthed. And it’s all tied in with the devil-or something very much like the devil. The bite of the girl or the cat could produce some strange effects on the human body. Changing it. Some say that when the girl and the cat were nine or ten years old, they were entombed alive. But they didn’t die. They could come and go at will. Especially if they were called upon.”
    “That’s wild, Mike. How come I never heard anything about this bunch?”
    “Because it’s unproven. Myth. Personally, I think it’s all a bunch of shit.”
    Carl looked at the report of the murders. “Yeah,” he said. “I guess so.”
    * * *
    The bodies-what was left of them—of Billy Mack and Mary Louise were body-bagged and taken to the hospital. Doctor