The place they discovered was magnificent.
They had left the city and followed the GPS location that had been brought to them by the white bird.
And now, they had arrived on the shores of a splendid lake, somewhere in the Laurentides mountains, near a place called Saint-Zénon.
The entire family had made the trip. Marvin was there, and Angie, and little baby Milky, and, of course, Fluffy.
The summer was reaching its end, and the air was a bit chilly already.
The lake was calm. Its surface was shining with a bright reflection of the sky and of the gliding clouds. The water was surrounded by small hills all covered in maples and fir trees.
That place was made of nothing but sheer beauty, green and blue, and deep solitude.
At one end of the lake there was a nice little chalet. They saw it at a distance, with its wooden walls and its pointed roof reflected in the waters. Marvin stopped the car close to it.
There were three persons sitting in front of the chalet. Each one was sitting on a wood log around the remains of an extinguished fire. Among these three, there were two young folks, looking like some kind of beatniks. The boy had long hair. The girl — probably his girlfriend — had her short hair dyed blue, and a bored expression on her face. The third person was an older lady with white hair. She was not at all dressed in the same style as the youngsters.
Marvin got out of the car and walked towards the three persons.
"Hi, there. Sorry to disturb… Is there… Is there any chance that someone named Gropius live there?"
"Oh…" started the lady with a very kind voice "You came to see the Master ?"
"The Master ?"
"Yes. Aren't you here to hear him speak ?"
"Hum… I guess I am."
Marvin took a glance at the chalet.
"Is he inside? Is it possible to see him ?"
The young man with long hair answered, with a drawling voice : "Hey duuuuude… It's totally cool, man. But the Master isn't here right now."
"Oh, gosh…" huffed Marvin.
"But, don't worry…" tempered the older lady in her sweet characteristic tone. "He'll be back very soon! He just likes to take long solitary walks in the woods sometimes. You should sit here with us and wait for him! You are more than welcome to join us. The Master will be thrilled."
As she saw him hesitating she offered her hand to shake.
"I'm Karen. And here are Sophie and Chris."
"Marvin."
"Nice to meet you, Marvin. And… what about them?" She was gently waving at the car.
"You should bring them too. We've got plenty of room here."
Marvin turned back to look at Angie who was waiting with the baby in the car. He called her to come join them.
"Hi, I'm Angie. Nice to meet you" she said with a smile.
"Oh, and who is this little treasure?" asked Karen.
"His name is Eugene."
"Oh, nice to meet you, Eugene."
And she gently grabbed one of his little feet.
Then she saw Fluffy, walking softly behind Angie.
"Oh, wow… What a beautiful kitty you have there! What's her name?"
Karen tried to caress the cat but Fluffy moved away with an appearance of offended dignity.
"She's a bit shy." apologized Angie.
"It's all right. But, you know, I am myself quite of a cat lover. Unfortunately, my poor kitty Bella passed away last year. I was devastated. But then I met the Master and I heard him speak. He claimed that cats are in fact deities from another galaxy. And, as a matter of fact, I realized that I always felt myself that cats were not normal creatures. They're so beautiful. They are divine. At least some of them are. It all made sense for me. Don't you also feel sometimes like your cat is something more than just a pet?"
"Hum, yes, sometimes."
"So, the Master opened up some new perspectives for me. Hopefully my little Bella just went back to her galaxy."
"You bet!" said Fluffy.
"Fluffy!" reacted Angie.
"What? I'm speaking to you by telepathy. She can't hear me."
Karen indeed didn't seem to notice anything abnormal. She invited them to sit down once again, so they sat down and continued the discussion.
Karen explained that the cottage behind them was belonging to her. When she met Gropius, she was instantly convinced by his speeches, but he was all alone. And everyone was picking on him. She felt sorry. He needed a quiet place to practice his prophetic activity. She offered to welcome him and his future followers in. So he could make it the place where his entire community could live and find shelter.
"What about you two?" asked Angie to the younger folks. "Are you also cat lovers?"
"Not really." answered the boy. "But we liked this guy from the start."
"Gropius ?"
"Yeah. The Master. He's a real rebel. Most people won't get it. They just want the mainstream stuff. But he's outside of every category. He fights the system. And he does it on his own. He's got such a mental strength and courage."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes." added Sophie. "They tried to arrest him and put him in prison. And then they tried to make him appear as a clown. But the Master won't give up. He's real dope. He's going to take them down. They want to control and manipulate us, making us believe crazy stuff, like…"
"Like the Exolibs?" suggested Angie.
"Yeah… Or… the Apollo missions to the Moon…"
"Or… round Earth theories…" added Chris.
" Hum, okay. But, who are 'they' ?"
"The elites. The ones who rule the world but always remain hidden in shadows."
"All right." said Marvin in a mildly skeptical tone. "And how come you know about all that?"
"Because we're not dumb sheep like everyone else. And now we also heard the Master speak, of course."
"And this is it?"
Karen intervened :
"When the Master speaks, there is so much light and truth emanating from his words. He speaks with so much kindness. His voice can truly heal your soul, you know? "
At that moment there was a slight noise that caught their attention coming down from the chalet. It was the entrance door that got open, and a man got out from inside. He was dressed in a strange white robe and had a long white beard.
Marvin squinted at him, trying to distinguish his face despite the distance. He recognized Gropius's homeless drunkard friend. "Emilio?"
The man stretched his entire body in front of the house, and yawned lazily as if he just woke up.
"Do you know him?" asked Karen.
"Well, yeah, I think so." answered Marvin. "We already met…"
Emilio walked down in their direction.
"We have new visitors here!" announced Karen. "They are interested in the Master's teachings. It seems that you already met Marvin."
"Huh?" mumbled Emilio who did not seem to recognize him at all.
"We met at the Old Port. Remember? We had a beer and you told me about the crop circles you and your cousin made in the fields to prank everyone."
"Yeah, for sure… That was fun. Well… Welcome to our community. The Master welcomes everyone."
Emilio's garment was quite strange, and completely different from the old rags he used to wear when he lived in the streets. It was a long white robe. There was a solemn and quasi-religious aspect to it.
"You look very different." observed Marvin. "What's this outfit?
"Well, now I am the Master's official assistant. It is the highest rank, after him. It takes some dignity."
Angie whispered to Fluffy:
"It looks like these crazy people started some kind of cult here…"
"Looks like it." answered Fluffy in her telepathic fashion.
But then, a second man dressed with the same kind of white robe appeared out of the woods, at some distance. This time, it was Gropius.
When he arrived closer to them he said with a soft voice:
"Marvin, I suppose? I'm glad to meet you finally."