human
I've got it! he yelled. He hurried over and stood in front of Scotty and Hassan.
gpt
Listen, who sends mail at Christmas time?
human
Everyone, I guess.
gpt
Not everyone. Rick warmed to his idea.
human
There are plenty of people who wait until the last few days before Christmas, but where are they? In America! Anyone overseas who sends a package home tries to get it in the mail early. Wouldn't you say so?
gpt
Maybe they should, but I suspect they don't. People are always waiting until the last moment.
human
But is the overseas airmail so crowded you wouldn't trust a parcel to the regular mail system?
gpt
I doubt it. What are you getting at?
human
Christmas mail is to and from Christians, isn't it? Sure! Egypt is a Moslem country. Moslems don't send Christmas cards or presents, and they don't get them, either. The Christians in Egypt are Coptic--anyway, they don't celebrate Christmas the same way. So why would the airmail to Egypt be jammed?
gpt
It not so heavy. My brother is letter carrier, and he no work very hard on _Nasrani_ holiday. Nasrani is what we call Christian.
human
I think you've got something, Scotty agreed.
gpt
Bartouki could have mailed the cat, but for some reason he wanted a messenger ...
human
Rick finished.
gpt
Chances are that's why he showed us the cat in the first place.
human
Barby had the bright idea, Scotty reminded.
gpt
Bartouki wasn't the one who suggested it.
human
He didn't have to, Rick pointed out.
gpt
If she hadn't, I'll bet he would have led around to it some other way.
human
I'll buy it. Bartouki needed a messenger. Why?
gpt
Kill-joy. So we get back to the basic question. What does kitty have that people want?