Royal Clowder Society of Caithness
In the north of Scotland, where the Highlands jut out to touch the Shetland Islands, there is the County of Caithness, previous home of a tribe of Picts, the Catti, from which it takes its name.
On the border with the County of Sutherland, the last reliefs stand out, preceding the vast flat expanse that gently accompanies to the sea.
Here, Mount Morven and its neighbors form what, from above, appears just like the silhouette of a cat’s footprint. And it is precisely among these heights that an old and abandoned castle is said to be hidden, not shown on any map. Since it is known that all legends have a fund of truth, it will not surprise you to know that this castle does exist, and is the seat of the most renowned academy of historical-scientific studies in the feline world: the Royal Clowder Society of Caithness. The manor is a massive structure of gray stones, with four cylindrical towers to delimit the vertices, surrounded by a wide and deep moat, always full of water, and this make it seem almost floating on its surface, a characteristic that it has maintained to this day.
The history of the origins of this institution is ancient and quite adventurous, so let me tell you about it.
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It is said that in the mid-sixteenth century it was inhabited by a cynical nobleman, who ruled the surrounding areas by imposing very high taxes and sowing terror. Since at that time the whole of Europe was crossed by the plague of ignorance, which allowed superstition to spread, such that of the existence of witches, even the lord of those places came up with the idea of starting this senseless and useless hunt. No woman from the surrounding villages could be said to be safe. By that moment, few inhabitants had remained in the area: most had left to seek their fortune elsewhere and even the castle had emptied, leaving only the cruel despot and a handful of men, who remained more out of fear, than out of loyalty.
There, right at the foot of Mount Morven, lived a woman, who shared her modest hut with her animals. Next to her, always the faithful cat Alisander, who is said to have been born free in the forest and spontaneously chose to follow Leannah, the human who from time to time went to the depths of the woods to collect medicinal herbs. That imposing brindle gray cat knew right away that they were destined to do great things together. And it was the truth.
Leannah was the healer of both humans and animals, and there was not a day when at least one person in search of help knocked on her door, and an assistance was never denied.
Alisander was her liaison with furry or feathered patients.
Obviously, these skills could not pass over in silence, and the voice of their actions reached even the stubborn governor. Leannah was captured and sentenced to be locked up in the dungeons of the castle for witchcraft.
Alisander ran for days, tirelessly and faster than the wind, to stay behind the horses of the carriage that was taking her away: if his strength made him lose sight of her, then he also ran at night and at every stop, always being careful not to be seen, he kept company with his friend, even if they could only touch each other through the narrow grates of the single opening of that kind of wagon. As much as he could, he also brought her food and water.
He tried several times to free her, but it was impossible for a cat, especially because that strange structure didn’t seem to have visible locks to break into and the wood of the window bars was too thick for Alisander and his paws, already severely tried by the incessant races.
He almost fainted when he saw that they introduced her into the castle.
“Nooo!” he shouted and, for that moment only in his life, he was really afraid of losing her.
He immediately recovered and devised a plan to free her. He waited patiently for nightfall to sneak inside the walls. Unfortunately, the drawbridge was raised. He had only one thing left to do, he had no choice. He dived and began to swim, putting all his spirit into it, despite the fact that he had never done it before, despite being a cat. He reached the walls, but the stones were slimy and without grips. He had to swim again, looking for something that would allow him to penetrate that fortress. The energies were abandoning him, slowly, so that he did not notice that he was sinking deeper and deeper into the water. The worst would have happened, if his whiskers had not become stuck in something that floated lazily on the surface.
The pain brought him back to reality: he untangled himself and noticed with relief that this tangle was in fact the offshoot of a climbing plant that was devastating the entire north-west facade of the castle. He clung on and climbed it up carefully, although it wasn’t easy at all. Three times he fell back into the water with a thud, risking being discovered. He understood that he had to use it only to give himself the push, the climb was impossible for his weight, which could not be sustained by the precariousness of the weaves of that ivy.
Thus, having reached a certain height, he began to swing producing wider and wider arches. When these allowed him to get near a slit, he let himself go. The claws screeched on the stone, sliding until Alisander could also stop with his hind legs. He ignored the blood that impregnated his paws and with a lightning snap he rushed inside, passing through the narrow loophole. The castle was deserted, although a faint flame still danced on some torches.
The smell of Leannah was unmistakable for Alisander: rosemary mixed with the scent of her beloved white roses. He loved to curl up on her legs in front of the fireplace, while she read or arranged herbs for her medicines. But that was not the time to linger in memories. He followed the trail until he reached increasingly dark and humid areas. “The dungeons” he thought “Damned men, I’ll show you what a cat can do! I swear it by my honor as a forest cat!”
Finishing the spiral stairs, he found himself in a narrow and dark corridor. Only the drip of moisture was heard, condensing on the ceiling and falling back on the floor, and a sad breath.
“Leannah!” he meowed, rushing towards her.
“Alisander!”
Leannah didn’t believe her eyes: her friend had found her. Alisander leaned out through the bars of the cell and the woman tried to stand up to caress him. Unfortunately, she could only lap her nose with her fingertips: a chain anchored her to the wall and prevented her from getting too close. Alisander made her understand that he wanted to free her and she explained how to do it. The guardian kept the keys behind a false stone of the wall, right at the beginning of that gloomy dungeon, although she didn’t remember what it was. Alisander didn’t lose heart and began to scratch with his nails every single edge of the stones, even climbing the wall. While at a considerable height from the ground, he fell. A dull thud: the stone, or rather “the false stone”, had fallen, and the cat with it.
He had found it. He settled into the darkness, fearing that he had attracted someone’s attention, but no one came. He jumped again and grabbed the bunch of keys.
Mindful of the misstep just before, he tried to fall back producing as little noise as possible, keeping the keys tightly squeezed between the muzzle and the chest.
He ran to Leannah.
“Behold, now it’s difficult,” she whispered, “I cannot move and the bars are too narrow for you to enter or for that huge bunch of keys to pass. You have to take them out of the ring that holds them together and pull them to me one at a time. When I find the one that opens the lock of the chain that I have at the foot, then I will come to open the door. Can you do it, Alisander?”
The cat took on an almost arrogant expression, as if to say: “Pfuff! But of course human that I can do it!”
Truly, it didn’t go that smoothly and Alisander spent most of the night finding a ruse to free the keys. Some tell that he warmed with a torch the area where the ring was opened by humans, so as to make the metal more malleable and deform the closure to open it better, others who broke it with the only force of his paws and still others who won it by bites. The fact is that he succeeded in his intent and Leannah freed himself, first from the chains and then from the cell. Alisander made her way: unfortunately, the only way out suitable for a human to pass was the drawbridge, but it would have been too visible: they would have captured them both, without anyone having any hope of escaping.
They rummaged through every corner of the dungeons and found a manhole sticking out on the water.
They looked at each other with a gesture of understanding: Alisander would retrace the steps that had led him to her in reverse, while Leannah would swim underwater, until she came out very presumably in the ditch. That plan had only one possible conclusion, success, and that manhole had to have an outlet on the moat, otherwise the worst would have happened to Leannah. Alisander lingered, but time was running out. He had to trust his human, full stop. She would have made it. She had to make it, because the two of them had to go back together to the hut. The cat was the first to reach the shore and feared for endless moments not to see she re-emerged. He stared at the surface of the water, but no ripples broke that spooky calm.
It was the only time in his life that he allowed himself to surrender, but even if the tears that veiled his eyes showed it wavy, he would recognize that silhouette everywhere. Leannah. She had found another way and had come out of the water from the south side. Alisander ran towards her so quickly that tears flew out of his eyes to mix with the waters of the moat.
They hugged.
“Alisander, thank you! If it wasn’t for you… I…”
The cat beckoned her to follow him into the forest, the sun was almost about to rise.
When they thought they had gone far enough, they stopped to drink in a stream. Alisander was happy, but suspicious. Leannah made a confession to him: “These words, my dear, good, strong if sweet Alisander, come directly from the depths of my heart. I think you have already understood, I will not dwell further. We cannot resume our lives, they would find us and this time neither of us would be able to save the other. We must flee as far as possible, as soon as possible. Tell me what you think…” and handed him a biscuit, with the vague shape of a fish.
“I don’t know, it’s hard… wait a moment: but I’m speaking your language?! How can this be possible?”
“Oh, Alisander,” said Leannah, smiling at him and lovingly stroking his muzzle, “I trust that you know that magic does not exist… but it can happen that, if two hearts are as united as ours, souls touch each other and break the boundaries to which we are accustomed in the common world. There is so much, Alisander, that can be known from the world and there is too much that will not be understandable except to a few with an open mind and a pure heart, who will have the humility to listen before speaking, to observe before judging. Unfortunately, the path of these men will always be hindered by people like the governor and his henchmen. If it wasn’t for you…”
“What…?” he asked shyly.
“The so-called witches are subjected to unspeakable tortures that often end in the worst of fates. Just because they are women who know more than men, or who know things they don’t understand.”
Alisander was outraged: “It’s terrible!”
“And there’s more…” added Leannah “the black cats… they too…”
“Say no more!” interrupted Alisander ” Those shady individuals will stop perpetrating these injustices today!”
“And how would you like…”
“I have a plan. I will call the other cats together, explain to them what human ignorance can lead to.”
“Alisander, we have to leave, there is no time…”
The cat looked at the horizon behind his human: “I will not come, Leannah. You have my heart, but my mission here in the Highlands is not over yet: I have to defeat superstition, I have to bring the light of knowledge, I have to save lives.”
“I’ll help you!”
“I’ll stop you! You have to get safe”
“But we are a team, I don’t want to lose you, Alisander”
“No, none of us will lose the other: you can come back, Leannah. In a few years you will be back and we’ll both live in the castle, which will be the most beautiful in the whole Scotland. No longer the seat of unjust governors, but the dwelling place of knowledge. It will be a meeting place for wise cats, for the dissemination of science and…”
“And it’s going to have a lot of roses, right?”
“Yes, as many as you want… now go, but swear that at the most in two winters you will return”
The paw pact sealed that agreement.
The same day, Leannah freed all her animals at the hut and collected her belongings to go to the coast, to sail with the first ship to Shetland.
Alisander gathered all the wisest cats of the place and set a trap for the evil governor and his soldiers. He lured them to a cave on the edge of the forest and from there they never returned. There are those who say that they fell into a ravine a thousand meters deep, others who say that they were torn apart by a dragon. Legends, as we know, are sheets that are always colored with convoluted embroideries that, sometimes, mask or exaggerate reality; however, what is certain is that from this day Alisander became the leading cat that saved lives and spread science. No one ever knew his real name: they called him “Iron Paw”, or with his Gaelic counterpart “Spòg Iarran”, a name that passed to the castle. Its emblem: a rampant gray brindle cat over a white rose, on a red background. A knight, in short, wise and benevolent, who bequeathed for centuries and centuries an institution of scientific studies to the feline community, first of Scotland alone, then of the whole world.
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And that is why the castle, to date, is not on the maps: all the members of what has been called over time the “Royal Clowder Society of Caithness” keep constant effort not to make it known to humans. Obviously, they have spread the rumor that he is haunted with ghosts and that the waters of the moat are full of Kelpies, the white horses with an evil spirit, who are said to no longer let go those who mount them on their backs. Although every year they institute a vote to abolish this practice, contrary to the intentions of society to abolish superstition in favor of scientific demonstrations, it punctually ends in parity. The desire to preserve their headquarters intact always prevails, so the legend continues to spread. And to feed, because not a summer passes that some prankster cat doesn’t drop into the water a device with the features of a Kelpie, which manifests itself to the unfortunate visitors, since some years also with a sound effect that imitates a chilling nitrite, making them run away with their legs raised.
Of Alisander remains only the coat of arms on the drawbridge and the portrait in the entrance hall. One of those to be handed down, with armor and helmet, background with the forest, sword at the side and all the details of the case. What, however, was most dear to Alisander is the one that is now placed in his private rooms, a wing of the castle that is not opened except on special occasions. It depicts Leannah and Alisander, in the shade of an arch of white roses, sitting on the grass reading and enjoying the spring breeze.
Through centuries of history, the Royal Clowder Society has boasted countless discoveries in the most varied fields ranging from archaeology to astronomy, from chemistry to engineering.
Our Professor Arthur Van (aka Artù) is one of the most renowned members, along with his friend Professor Orangie Dorito Rockwood (aka Rocky).
Contrary to what you can imagine, the Royal Clowder Society is not a place of calm and silence. The air is always crisp, full of ideas and innovations, as well as joy for new discoveries. The issues discussed are so dear to scholars that, unfortunately, it is not uncommon to come across heated discussions, pass me the euphemism, like that time when for two pyramids it got in the way … the tuna!
It all began on a cold winter morning, when the castle and what was around it was wrapped in a blanket of soft, white snow. The temperature certainly did not encourage exploration, therefore, all the cats of the Royal Clowder Society stood near the lit fireplaces. All but two, who started a big discussion.
That day, the role of the two contenders was taken by Sir Geordie Whitehorse, a simple gray striped cat with noble ancestors and passionate to the marrow of pre-Columbian civilizations, and Monsieur Sable du Poisson, a sand-colored cat, stained more than striped, who had Ancient Egypt in his blood, so much so that he spent more time among the pyramids than at home, in France.
“I tell you it’s not like that!” Sir Geordie’s deep voice suddenly shattered the muffled atmosphere of that afternoon.
“But what do you want to know about measurements, you’re just a historian!” replied Monsieur Sable angrily.
“And to you the sand has entered your brain, as well as dyeing your hair! It is obvious that the Pyramid of the Sun of Teotihuacan is the largest!”
“Even if it was, neither height, nor any other dimension would count: volume counts! And I can assure you that in both cases the pyramid of Cheops in Giza beats it by far!”
“I’ll eat my hat if that’s the case!”
“Then start stuffing it!” mocked Monsieur Sable.
Obviously, everyone in the castle had heard that noise, but everyone was trying not to meddle. Everyone knew that getting into a discussion about the exact dimensions of ancient monuments would be tantamount to getting stuck in quicksand, because buildings of that type are subject to decay or to discoveries of new levels that vary their size, although very often of negligible quantities.
Neither wanted to give up and the debate was stalled. Since it could not end in nothing, Sir Geordie thought of asking for a third opinion.
“Great, du Poisson. Do you know what I’m telling you? I’m going to call Professor Rockwood, the leading expert on pre-Columbian cultures in our society.”
“But until two minutes ago, wasn’t it you who bore this title?” the opponent chanted.
“What’s that got to do with it? We need an impartial opinion”
Professor Rockwood was blissfully chatting about some arguments with Professor Van when he was called.
“Ah, Professor Van, I’m glad you came too. One more opinion will certainly not hurt!” congratulated du Poisson.
Rocky slipped into an armchair by the window.
“Well… what would be the drama this time?” he asked.
“Don’t be disrespectful, Professor! It’s a high-level scientific subject!” said Sir Geordie.
Rocky looked at his friend Arthur Van, turning up the nose, as if to mean a sarcastic: “How not to say that?”.
“So, to make a long story short…” concluded Rocky.
“Of course, it will be short because I’m right!” whispered du Poisson facing an unspecified point in the room.
“What?”
“Nothing, Sir Geordie, nothing… if you allow me, I’m going to explain. In summary: which of the two pyramids is larger, that is more voluminous, between that of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico, and that of Cheops in Giza, Egypt?”
Rocky returned to sit slouched, leaning over to them with wide eyes: “You two are crazies!’
“Mr. Rockwood, moderate your tones!”
“No, I repeat: you are mads! First, I think Giza’s is bigger, and Professor Van will be able to confirm this; secondly, you know very well that this kind of dispute is difficult to resolve definitively, unless…”
“That’s right…”
“No, we don’t talk about it!” said Prof. Arthur Van.
“Do you wish, then, to disregard one of the founding principles of our Society, namely the search for and dissemination of knowledge against the darkness of ignorance?” said Sir Geordie.
“If it were for the Society and the good of knowledge, we would accept immediately, but it is a…”
“This is just a trivial quarrel between you,” Prof. Arthur Van tried to mediate, “it’s not worth investing time and resources.”
The two quarrelers were silent for a moment and du Poisson seemed almost convinced to stop it there, when Sir Geordie jumped up with a proposal: “Then I bet the equivalent in tuna cans of the entire volume of the pyramid of the Sun which this is the largest pyramid!”
Arthur Van and Rocky looked to each other with open mouth, barely holding back the salivating.
Du Poisson, teased in pride, replied: “So, get ready to give me more cans than there are in the world, because I bet the equivalent in tuna of the volume of the pyramid of Cheops which this is the largest!”
By now it was done: everyone knew that similar situations always involved a field check.
“Well, distinguished professors, go! You will have a substantial part of the winnings and you can bring three assistants among the latest arrivals. Up, what are you still doing here? There is so much to organize!” dismissed Sir Geordie.
The two scholars in five minutes had passed from spent a relaxing afternoon in front of the fireplace to prepare a mission to two different continents.
“Hey wait!” blocked them Arthur Van “We have to establish criteria and formalize the bet, I don’t want that on our return there may still be knots to be solved…”
Both Sir Geordie and Monsieur du Poisson had to admit that he was right. The resulting document read as follows:
Sir Gerodie Whitehorse arguing that:
the Pyramid of the Sun of Teotihuacan (Mexico) is more voluminous than the Pyramid of Cheops in Giza (Egypt)
Monsieur Sable du Poisson arguing that:
the Pyramid of Cheops in Giza (Egypt) is more voluminous than the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan (Mexico)
Bet:
the equivalent of the volume of the pyramid they consider larger in tuna cans.
Professor Arthur Van and Professor Orangie Dorito Rockwood undertake to travel to these places to measure and personally verify the actual dimensions of these buildings. It should be noted that the tuna can taken as a reference is the one preferred by Professor Arthur Van and that the internal encumbrance of the stones is omitted, evaluating the measurements taken on the outer side of the pyramids.
Signed:
Sir Gerodie Whitehorse, Monsieur Sable du Poisson,
Professor Arthur Van, Professor Orangie Dorito Rockwood
“I would say that in this way there can no longer be place for misunderstandings”
“Hope that we will come back safely and start preparing the tuna…” Rocky said.
Days of fervent preparations followed. They solicited the contacts they had all over the world along the route they would travel with the plane supplied to the company, to reach the two destinations. This would ensure their fuel and supplies. The difficulty seemed to recruit the assistants: none of the new members wanted to throw themselves into a field mission. The most common answer was: “But I thought it was a circle of studies… Theoretical… no dangerous expeditions or on that shaky contraption…”
Rocky and Artù were now resigned to going alone, when a shy, young cat appeared in front of him: “Sorry… is it here where I can apply for the expedition?”
“Well, to tell the truth you don’t apply, we are the ones who… oops!”
Arthur Van gave Rocky a blow to silence him: “Of course, he’s here. What’s your name?”
“Aiden Waterworth. I have no noble birth…”
“What does it matter, boy!? They are the noble intentions that move the world!” spurred Rocky.
“What are you well versed in, Aiden?” asked Arthur Van.
“Oh, that’s it… in the village I am a mechanic, and I am passionate about science, history and things like that” Aiden tried to explain.
“You’re not a coward, are you? The mission may have unforeseen events”
“No sirs!”
The two professors were satisfied and clutched Aiden’s paw: he had officially joined their group. No one else joined them, but, at the end, it was even better this way: the aircraft supplied to the association, the “The Cat Path”, was an excellent model, very advanced (so innovative as to be only a prototype in the experimental phase, in fact), with a large tank, but without too much space for passengers. In this way, they would have more room for supplies and materials.
The route was already decided, along with the stopovers to be made for supplies. If the place allowed it, they would spend the night on the ground, otherwise they would continue to travel, piloting in turn.
So it was on one frosty morning, when the sun rose, they took flight to the surroundings of Paris (France) and from there they would have to move to an Italian city in Sardinia, but, due to more than adverse weather conditions, they had to resist up to Stromboli.
They reached the island exhausted and almost without fuel. The supply was difficult and long, as nothing had been prepared previously by one of the usual contacts of the company.
From Stromboli they passed to Libya, first to Tripoli and then to Benghazi, and finally reached Cairo (Egypt).
From there, once all the necessary permits were obtained from the local authorities, it was easy to travel to Giza and put together an operations support team.
Aiden, who had never participated in an expedition, seemed upset: “Why were you looking for a helper, if you have recruited so many here?”
“Because they are local, they know how to move here, while we know what to do for our goal. They will allow us to have no more hitches than we should.”
Aiden shut up, being a little ashamed.
In short, a tent was set up near the plane, which would serve the three scholars to work and rest.
Arthur Van began to draw the pyramid and fill a lot of cards with views from various angles and notes.
“Wow…” Aiden was amazed “All this for measurements”
“Of course, kitty! And this is the easiest pyramid to measure because it is easily approximated to a regular solid. In addition, I have been here on countless occasions, and I can assure you that the builders have been very precise and the sides, as well as the various facades, have comparable dimensions. We will collect the data of the entire pyramid for science, but to calculate its volume we will take into account a single value for the base and, when we also have the height, voilà! Volume is calculated!”
“But why these strange marks on the side and height?”
“Boy… do you want to make a hole and go down from the top to the bottom to have the height or do you prefer science to come to your aid?”
Aiden did not understand.
“Pythagorean theorem, trigonometry, whatever you prefer. I, personally, would recommend the Pythagorean Theorem. We will measure the side of the base, and someone will go to the top to measure this line…”
Arthur van showed Aiden a sheet in which he had drawn the pyramid in perspective and emphasized with his paw the line of interest (marked in red in our figure below).
“Wow…”
“Close your mouth, everything can enter in this desert…”
They came out of the tent, and everyone was already fully at work. The stratagem adopted for the measurements was to create knots in a rope at a predefined distance of one meter. Clearly, they did not have such a long “graduated” rope at their disposal, for that there were many helpers.
Rocky, who coordinated the work and the team, turned around as soon as he noticed they were behind him: “Oh, here you are! I would say that at the most tomorrow we must have finished
“And how many tunas can be in it?”
“Calm down, boy! We will reveal this only when we return from the mission. We will have to have some cards to play to make us come and recover in case we were missing, or we were kidnapped by the locals …”
Aiden swallowed frightened.
Professor Arthur Van glanced at Rocky.
“He meant that… it is better to review the calculations with bowls still … to avoid inaccuracies… and then we need means that we don’t have at the moment to define the tuna cans number”.No unusual event ruined those days in Egypt. Soon the measurements were collected, and scholars learned that the pyramid had a side of about 230 meters and a height of about 146 meters.
Volume = considering the pyramid of Cheops approximated to a regular solid, i.e. a pyramid with a square base:
Aiden was very excited. They went with camels to the nearest town for supplies and returned at sunset, with the last lights of the sun to caress their whiskers and the cool breeze typical of desert nights to tickle their hair.
“What a view, huh?” asked Rocky from the top of the dune, facing the pyramids.
“To lose our heads!”
“Think about what your colleagues lose, lost in the mold of books in the castle,” Rocky stepped on his paw.
“Yes… nothing will make me give up all this!”
“He says so because everything went smoothly!” whispered Rocky in Arthur’s ear.
They both smiled under their mustaches, mindful of the many vicissitudes spent together.
They took off the following morning, retracing two of the previous stages, namely Benghazi and Tripoli. They stopped in Algiers and Casablanca was the last city on the continent. They then landed in Santa Cruz, in the Canary Islands, where they made Aiden take a big fright because they wanted him to believe that they would fly, without stopover, the Atlantic Ocean till Mexico.
“I believe, if I may say so, that it is not prudent, indeed I think it is just an idea of rotten tuna!”
“Come on, don’t be afraid: it’s impossible to make such a crossing!” reassured Arthur Van with a pat on the back “Or, at least, maybe one day it will be, but not with our device!”
In fact, they loaded the plane onto a cargo ship, where all three embarked for Veracruz, Mexico: about 8000 km as the crow flies.
Fortunately, no one suffered from seasickness, and they were able to enjoy the journey, fixing the evidence accumulated in Egypt.
“Is it necessary to write everything down?” asked Aiden.
“Of course, otherwise how would you remember?”
“If you wait until I’ll do it…”
“Yes, I said it too,” explained Arthur Van, “then I found myself lost inside a trap with no way out… where were we, Rocky?”
“Mayan site near Tykal…”
“Ah, Guatemala, of course! Well, I said: I had already seen something like this, and I had come out with my mentor, but no notes and puffs! Lost forever if it hadn’t been for Rocky who pulled me out”.
Aiden had his hair straight out of fear: “And where do I find one of these…”
The two professors laughed loudly.
“Just to write down topics of interest, such as restaurants, beaches…”
“Obvious, obvious…” Rocky teased him “go to the crates of materials, there is a green one that for us is too small. It’s yours”
“Thank you!”
Aiden splashed like a flash and, from that day on, he occupied his time filling the pages with every detail he remembered about the expedition in Egypt.
After days and days of travel, they reached the Mexican coast in Veracruz.
“It will be a walk from here to Teotihuacan…” said Rocky, while scratching his belly “Not even 400 km and we will be at our destination!”
“Yes, the weather seems stable and good. Trace the route and let’s go!” supported Arthur Van.
“But first a hearty lunch, we deserve it after all these kilometers!”
“Strangely enough, we agree, Rocky!”
Aiden was tasked with finding a suitable restaurant; there, while waiting for food, they still discussed some details.
“Yes, there will definitely be some locals ready to help us. I know for a fact that near Mexico City there is a scientific association like ours. They will be happy to participate in the mission: it will also be convenient for them to know the dimensions of the Pyramid of the Sun!”
“Hey?”
“Yes, Aiden?”
“Those two guys over there seem suspicious to me…”
“Ah, but what are you inventing?”
“They’ve been staring at us since we arrived…”
Arthur Van tried to reassure him: “It is because we are foreigners, they can see it immediately. They will be curious, that’s all.”
“I tell you that they do not convince me… behold, look: another one has arrived, and they are confabulating!”
“About us, I bet?” asked Rocky sarcastically.
They turned around but they saw only two crawls with the characteristic Mexican poncho eating absent-mindedly.
“Yes, seriously Aiden: relax…”
Aiden continued to keep an eye on them, but at some point, they left the table and could no longer follow them. When Rocky decided it was full, Aiden sped towards the airplane.
“Apparently, nothing is missing…”
“See? All regular. Come on, let’s fly!” urged Arthur Van.
The weather conditions were perfect: sunny, with a slight breeze.
Until…
“Clouds on the horizon!” declared Rocky.
“What does the barometer say, Aiden?” asked Arthur Van.
“The pressure has been dropping since we left Veracruz”
“What will ever be some droplets of rain?”
“Stop that joking tone, Rocky! Just you who hate water!”
“Oh, Art, the usual party breaker!”
“And stop immediately with this “Art”! It’s a nickname I hate!”
“Guys…”
Aiden was ignored.
“Guys!”
“Aiden, there are about 150 km to your destination, let us have fun!”
“No, there’s really nothing comical about it here! Listen: the barometer has gone crazy, the altimeter as well and the fuel gauge says we are going to run out of reserve! Two seconds ago, everything was regular!”
The plane began to lose stability and the engines to slow down.
“We were sabotaged!”
“Aiden!” they scolded him in unison.
“After the theories: we have to save the whiskers first! We try to keep this cart stable and find a clearing to land, until we are in time!”
“We lose altitude!” cried Arthur Van.
“I can’t keep the controls!” shouted Rocky “This way we’ll never avoid that storm cloud!”
The Cat Path took that disturbance in full, with a hail mixed with rain that hit and cracked the front glass.
“Damn, I don’t see anymore!” cursed Arthur Van “Help me with the cloche, we have to land as gently as possible!”
“But there is no visibility and….”
Rocky could not finish the sentence: a lightning struck the right wing and the airplane turned on itself. The three cats could barely hold on and direct the aircraft so that it was as parallel as possible to the ground. They touched the ground hopping, thanks to the wheels of the trolley, which, however, was not so robust to prevent the belly from crawling ruinously on the ground. They crashed into a group of trees.
“Are you all whole?” asked Arthur Van.
“More or less…”
“At least, the trees stopped the race, and nothing exploded or went up in flames…”
Aiden was stunned.
They went out to see the damage: they didn’t actually detect any fire; this is because the fuel was practically exhausted.
“The damage is huge”
“Oh yes, Rocky: it will take days to fix it… but the first city is… right, where are we?”
They were taken back by the question to which no one knew the answer. They agreed to wait until the next day to perform position surveys with the sun, since at the time the weather was very bad, and the clouds covered the stars. They took some towels from the plane and camped among a small group of trees nearby. They even managed to light a fire to keep warm.
“Rocky, Arthur: I think I’ll take a look at the plane”
“No, boy: now eat something and rest, it’s dark”
“Maybe we should have stopped a little earlier…” Arthur Van intervened, looking at the fire crackling in front of him.
“It all happened too quickly. Bad weather was never a problem, but the breakdown…”
Rocky was also suspicious of that sudden and devastating breakdown. With the excuse of going to get more water in the aircraft, he peeked through the mechanical components of the engine and the control panel. Of course, they were in a disastrous state.
“Ah, it will take us days to get it back on track, if we are lucky. Otherwise, even weeks, damn!” he exclaimed, giving a paw to close the panel.
“But what…?” he asked, seeing a crumpled and burnt piece of paper come out. He took it and opened it, being careful not to send it to pieces.
“Leave Teotihuacan, it’s not your business“
This was clear proof that Aiden was right: they had been victims of sabotage.
But why they shouldn’t go to the pyramid? They were certainly not thieves, only scientists.
“We were misunderstood…” Rocky reflected “and it almost cost us our lives. We must keep our eyes open, but I can’t tell others. Better that they are quiet and attentive to serious things, it isn’t useful that they begin to suspect of any trifles in the environment around us …”
He folded the note and hid it in his pocket.
He returned with the water and spread out in front of the bonfire.
“We just have to get a good night’s sleep, until tomorrow … Aiden, what does your first expedition look like to you?”
“I have only one word: overwhelming! Here, for me that I am just a humble country cat …”
“Oh, but it has nothing to do with where you come from. I’ve already told you!” Rocky intruded “Neither of us is noble by birth, but you can be sure boy, I bet the tail, we are noble of soul. And this is worth much more than a thousand titles. Spòg Iarran, the founder of our company, was a forest cat.”
Aiden remained doubtful.
“Questions?”
“No, it’s that I’ve always wondered: how can a cat be called Iron Paw… in short, he was born, and they told him: you will be strong, and will you have this name? How did they know?”
Arthur chuckled, “In fact, do you see? You are insightful. Excellent quality. Actually, his name was Alisander…”
“Oh, that’s why we know it as the Iron Paw. Alisander is not so epic…”
Rocky slipped into the speech: “Stop, stop, stop! What does the name have to do with the value? So I should be less strong because my name is Orangie Dorito Rockwood?”
Arthur Van threw his eyes to the sky, disconsolate.
“And here we go again…”
“No, no, no, I have to explain! Rocky is my nickname, and it gives me the aspect of a proud cat, but I’m equally proud of my real name.”
Aiden sneered: “Dorito… like the….”
“And don’t offend Dorito! My grandmother’s name was Dora and, since she was a more than small kitten, everyone called her Little Dora, which in Spanish becomes Dorita. I looked so much like her as a child, and my mother wanted to give me her name, but being male it became Dorito, do you know?”
Before the speech degenerated, Arthur Van invited everyone to go to sleep. Rocky proposed to take guard shifts; after all, they were in unknown territory.
The sun rose and showed all the beauty of that unspoiled region, which also appeared far from the inhabited centers.
“Okay, let’s do our surveys and find out where we are,” Aiden proposed.
“But what do you say? We must wait… now go and look for something in the plane that is perfectly straight and can be inserted in the ground. And it also carries sextant, compass, protractor, writing paper and the chronograph set on the Greenwich time. Ah, also the astronomical manual”
“At the orders, Prof. Van!”
They waited patiently for the shadow cast by the rod to reach its minimum length and be aligned to the south.
“Here’s the local noon: tell me the time of Greenwich, Arthur!”
“The 18.38 and 03 I think..”
“Great, write Aiden. It will serve for longitude!”
“I deal with the latitude, Rocky”
Arthur Van quickly measured the height of the rod and the length of its shadow cast on the ground. Thanks to the arctangent of the ratio of these two quantities and the conversion of the decimals of the degrees obtained, he obtained an inclination of the sun of about 48° 0′ 46.04″.
Since the astronomical manual reported the inclination of the sun in Greenwich at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., they had to interpolate to have the value at 18:38:03 p.m., Greenwich time which corresponded to their local noon. Subtracting these two values from 90° he obtained a latitude of about 19° 0′ 55.36″.
For longitude, they considered the time when, on that precise day of the year, the sun should have been at the highest point in Greenwich: from the astronomical manual, they could see that it corresponded to 12:03:32.
This time was subtracted from that of Greenwich related to their local noon and they obtained 6:34:31. Bringing everything back to the hours and multiplying by 15 to obtain the degrees (15 are the degrees of rotation traveled by the earth every hour), taking care to convert the decimal fraction of the result in minutes and seconds, they obtained a longitude of about 98° 37′ 45″.
“Considering some detection error, the coordinates tell us that we are here…” said Arthur Van, pointing to a point on the map that they had laid out on a wooden crate that served as a small table.
“Popocatepetl, about 110 km south from our destination!”
“But how the heck did we deflect so much?” asked Aiden in amazement.
Rocky, knowing full well that they would bring out the story of sabotage, tried to belittle the thing: “It is obvious that if all the sensors were damaged it is likely that the on-board instrumentation related to the direction also gave unrealistic indications”
They divided the tasks.
“Aiden, repair the plane and look for the nearest city if you need spare parts that are not on board. Arthur and I will go to the pyramid. We’ll bring with us some supplies and basic equipment. Join us when you have repaired the plane. If everything goes smoothly, we should arrive in about 3 days of walking”
Unfortunately, nothing went as planned.
A rustle between the plants and Rocky felt captured from behind. He was immobilized, blindfolded: “Arthur, run away!”
“No, I have to help you!”
“Think to Aiden!”
And in a second, Professor Arthur Van was also in the same condition as Rocky.
They put them on a vehicle and took them nobody knows where, towards the heart of the forest.
“What do you want from us? Who are you?”
“Since one warning was not enough for you, we were forced to make you understand it like this. Leave the pyramid of Teotihuacan alone, despicable marauders!”
“Oh, calm down with words! We are scientists”
“They all say so”
“We just want to do surveys!”
The kidnappers did not have time to fight back, because the roar of The Cat Path’s engines distracted them.
Aiden was piloting, while another cat stood on the wing to drop a rope.
“Aiden, go down a little more!”
“It’s the most I can do!”
The cat was ingenious and tied himself to the rope he had attached to the tailgate. He advanced on the wing and managed to lower the top.
“For the hell, we are screwed! Soon, retreat!” and the criminals gave it to their legs, abandoning the two scholars on the freewheeling vehicle.
“I’m dropping a rope on you!” shouted the mysterious cat to them, “I know you don’t see, but try to free your paws and grab it!”
The two failed but at least took off their hoods. Just in time to see that I know they would crash at any moment.
“We have to jump!”
“Okay Rocky… One, two and threeeeee!”
They rolled to the sides of the dirt road.
“Are you all whole?”
An explosion.
“I do, that car a little less… Ouch!”
Meanwhile, Aiden had landed safely. They thanked him for his providential help.
“Without you, without you two, I don’t know how it would have ended. They didn’t want us to go to the pyramid and they are the same people who tampered with the plane…” Admitted Rocky.
“Thank you,” echoed Arthur Van.
The new cat came forward: “It’s thanks to Aiden, not mine. He wanted to come looking for you, but he noticed a suspicious movement in the forest and the rest is history. I see your perplexed expressions, I introduce myself: I am Andrés Alejandro Cortéz Vega and I am an explorer. I am looking for a rare insect, in this case an insect from the family of leaf-shaped insects. Practically these places are my home”
“Ah, colleagues, then!” exclaimed Arthur Van “It’s a pleasure!”
I asked your friend for a ride, but I think I’ll stop here: the environment looks promising… goodbye!”
After the greetings, Rocky breathed a sigh of relief.
“Happy to be free?” asked Aiden.
“Yes, but even more than you get the plane back, the walk was getting too long!”
Once in Teotihuacan, they gathered a team of helpers, as in Giza.
Aiden could not hold back his disbelief: “But how are we going to do with this? It’s a pile of half pyramids…”
“Eh, eh… I had anticipated it to you in Giza … however, we will take all the measurements of each level, pass me the term, and calculate the volume as if they were rectangular base pyramid trunks. I think for that strange structure that is at the top… we could approximate to a truncated pyramid with a rectangular base with an area of the upper face equal to zero, which is then equivalent to assimilating it to a whole pyramid …”
For the height of each level, they used a fairly complex formula, which Arthur Van didn’t pass to Aiden for forgetfulness.
After days, they had the long-awaited data that Aiden summarized in his notebook.
Pyramid trunk volume:
“Here, the total volume is 1,345,450, 618 m3.”
“Therefore, if I remember correctly, it is inferior to that of the pyramid of Cheops…” Rocky reiterated.
“Then Monsieur du Poisson is right!”
“Yes, we have to calculate how many tuna cans are there and we will be good to go!”
“If you’re wondering, Aiden, we can’t just calculate the volume and divide it to that of the pyramids. In reality, the cans occupy a physical space and their cylindrical shape will ensure that there will be gaps in the hypothetical pyramid filled with tunas”
Arthur Van tried to explain it as simply as possible, but Aiden continued to be perplexed.
“Certainly, it’s a calculation beyond our means. On the way back we’ll stop in London” pointed out Arthur Van “There lives an engineer friend of ours who invented a very advanced system that allows you to perform calculations on three-dimensional figures. The waiting times are quite long, but the results have a good degree of reliability”
The return trip passed without problems and mostly by ship. They stayed two weeks in London.
When they finally reappeared at the castle of the Royal Society it was spring. An official meeting was called, during which they delivered the detailed report of the expedition and presented their results. Everyone was anxiously waiting for the answer and the two contenders, Sir Geordie and Monsieur Sable, were so tense that if they had made a jump at that moment, they would have touched the moon.
Arthur Van was honored with unveiling the cards: “And therefore, with its volume of about 2.556.833 m3 the pyramid of Cheops in Giza, Egypt, is the largest, followed by the pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico, with its 1.345.450,618 m3. Elaborate calculations, with which I will not bore you, carried out by the distinguished Engineer Julius Percival Fitzwilliams, have revealed that the number of tuna cans that the Pyramid of the Sun can contain is much lower than that of the Pyramid of Cheops:
n° Sun 22,206,437,000 vs n° Cheops 47,342,046,000
” Hooooooooray! I won!” Monsieur du Poisson jumped on the chair.
Sir Geordie chewed blatantly bitter.
“Yes, for now…”
“I’m sorry to interrupt this moment… but you had talked of a reward”
“What do you mean, Rocky? I have lost and I don’t intend to give you anything, turn to the braggart next door …”
Sir Geordie left the room angry.
“So, Sable?”
“What do you want?”
“Tunas… we haven’t been away months for nothing!”
“But where do you want you to find all those tunas?!? They don’t even exist in the world in a hundred years!”
“Well, yes, it already was a somewhat silly starting hypothesis…” Arthur Van helped him “but, at least a few extra tunas…”
The room emptied instantly, and Sable also left with an excuse.
“Well, it ends as always…” Rocky snorted.
“Did you expect a different ending?” Arthur laughed.
“No, friend, not at all!”
This adventure is over, but we are waiting for you to tell you about other amazing adventures of Professor Arthur Van and his friends.
Until next time!
Attention:
The stories and characters told are the result of the creativity of the AstroArtù.studio team, any reference to real events or to people who really exist/existed is purely coincidental. Copyright (C) astroartu.studio.