"Marvin, I suppose? I'm glad to meet you finally."
His simian face was illuminated by a feeble, benevolent, smile.
"The Master seems to already know him." noticed Karen.
"Of course." answered Sophie. "He knows a lot of things that we don't."
Gropius was wearing the same kind of long white robe as Emilio. But he had also a massive necklace made out of wooden pearls. It had a heavy wooden pendant attached to it. And there was a strange sign carved on the pendant. It represented a cat paw with five stylized stars around it.
When she noticed this sign, Fluffy immediately raised her eyebrows.
"What's going on?" asked Angie in a whisper.
" This symbol he wears. The paw with five stars. It's the Golden Fleet's emblem! He is no liar. This guy has really received visions from my space crew."
Gropius was now shaking hands with Marvin.
"Oh, and you brought your family with you. You were right in doing so. That's excellent."
"Yes, this is my wife, Angie, and my son, Eugene."
Gropius presented his open arms and said with a warm tone:
"You are all welcome to our community."
"Oh, we're not really here to stay…"
"Of course, of course. You can stay just as long as you wish."
"Master." intervened Karen. "How was your little walk in the woods?"
"Very pleasant, as always. Thank you."
"We have already welcome our new guests, telling them that everyone here would be happy if they'd join our community."
"Thank you, Karen. If they want to join us, they'll stay. But they'll do as they please. I know they're waiting for some answers."
But suddenly, they all perceived the sound of a distant engine, and the crunch of tires on the shingle. A vehicle, still remote, was approaching along the shore of the lake. A cloud of dust was rising above the trees.
"Looks like we have some more visitors today." said Gropius.
When the car got closer to them, Marvin noticed it looked like some official vehicle. It stopped in front of the chalet. Marvin felt a shock when he identified the large man who got out of the car. There was no doubt. It was the forest ranger: agent Lachance.
Marvin instantaneously remembered his unpleasant encounter with this annoying individual. It was when he and Fluffy went out in the forest to get rid of the jewel that the same ranger, who was patrolling the area, decided to come pick on him with no reason. Fortunately, Fluffy got them out of trouble. Marvin hadn't expected to see him ever again. But it seemed he was wrong.
The man walked in their direction with his heavy silhouette, his severe moustache and his dark sunglasses.
He paused in front of the group, took his sunglasses off, and glanced quickly at each of them, taking a somehow longer look at Marvin. Then, he walked straight to Gropius.
Gropius was looking very calm, not at all impressed by the large man who was facing him. The forest ranger kept silent for a moment. Then, what happened astonished Marvin. Lachance bowed deeply in front of Gropius, saying with his high-pitched voice:
"Dear Master, here I am to receive your teachings."
"Ha ha." laughed Gropius gently "I knew you wouldn't miss the ceremony tonight."
Marvin couldn't believe that agent Lachance, this fussy, quibbling official who once wanted to annoy him for nothing, was now one of Gropius' followers.
When he stood up straight again, Lachance took another look at Marvin, then at Fluffy. It wasn't an aggressive or suspicious look. It was more uncertain than that. He didn't seem to remember them — which made sense to Marvin, because Fluffy had supposedly erased the ranger's memory with her spell — but something seemed to bother him about them, even though he was not able to understand why.
Gropius chuckled again, amused:
"Let me introduce you our new guests. Marvin and his family. Maybe we'll have the pleasure to have them at the sacred ceremony tonight."
The name Marvin seemed to ring a bell for Lachance. He looked again at Fluffy.
Seeing this prideful grey cat standing still with her mysterious yellow eyes, he felt almost scared. But he couldn't figure out why.
"Hum… that… that cat…"
"What?" asked Gropius? " Is there something wrong with the cat?"
Lachance hesitated.
"No… nothing wrong, Master."
"All right then."
Gropius winked at Marvin.
Then, he addressed the others:
" Dear fellows, if you don't mind, I will ask you to wait here for me a little more. I think I owe Marvin a short conversation. Mavin, would you like to take a walk with me along the lake?"
"Master" intervened Chris. "You've already walked a lot today in the woods. You can just sit here with Marvin. We'll go away until you're done discussing."
"No, it's okay. I'm not tired, I can walk some more. Nature is so inspiring here. But, Marvin, it's up to you. Please tell me if you prefer to walk or to stay here."
"It's okay. We can walk."
"Fine! Let's go then! Of course, you can come too."
He was now speaking to Angie.
"Hum, I'm sorry to decline. But the baby is sleepy. I think he needs to rest."
"Oh, of course. Make yourself at home in the chalet. You can put him to sleep there."
"Follow me." said Karen. "I'll show you the way. The baby will be just fine inside."
"Thank you."
The forest ranger sat down with Emilio and the two young punks.
Fluffy, who couldn't stand Lachance gazing at her anymore, jumped quickly and went after Gropius and Marvin.
"I'll come along." she announced.
"You've got such a gorgeous cat!" said Gropius. "With such nice and fluffy fur. What's his name?"
"Her name." corrected Marvin. "It's Fluffy.
Gropius chuckled.
"Oh, that's funny! Is she a Maine Coon?"
"I don't know. I don't think so. She's mixed breed I think."
"I'm half Maine Coon, half Manx, you dummy!" said Fluffy telepathically. "At least as far as my terrestrial self is concerned…"
"I like cats." continued Gropius. "You know, the goddess who chose me, she is a cat. I mean, she is many things. But also a cat. Not a regular cat, though. She's a powerful galactic being"
Marvin was surprised.
"Have you seen her? Have you spoken to her?"
"Oh, no. She doesn't condescend to speak to mortals directly. Her messengers appeared to me in my visions. They are cats too. Again, not your usual type of cats."
Marvin looked at Fluffy who added no comments.
They were now walking on the shingle, and Gropius had turned silent for a moment, admiring the quiet lake and the trees on the hills around it. Some of the maples had already turned to their fall colors. Some were bright yellow, some deep crimson. It was like a steady fire running on the hills.
Now a smooth wind came. It was wrinkling the surface of the water and agitating Gropius' undomesticated last clumps of hair.