By Mistacor
Part V
" What is that?? " Mistacor whispered in shock, the sound of a very loud, very long meowing being heard from outside.
Jerrie grinned. " It's Teaza."
" D'ya thin' she's 'urt? " Mista asked in concern, not picking up the amusement in her love's voice.
" Who? Teaza? Naw... It's 'er signal fer me... Bu' ya'd thin' she'd be ni' ta th' ot'ers an' no' caterwaul so lou'," Mungo laughed and licked her ears before becoming very serious. He nuzzled her gently. " Now, li'ten ta me, luv. I'm gon'a ge' ou' there an' 'elp ta distra' 'em. I wan' ya ta wai' til' we ge' ev'ry Jellicle away fro' 'ere. The', I wan' ya ta run as fa' as ya ca' ta Victoria Grove. Aw'righ'? We'll mee' the'."
He felt her nod slowly, her body shivering slightly against his.
" I'll be righ' be'ind ya. I promise," the tom reassured her with a rub of his head.
She nodded again but this time there were words etched in threatening tears. " Plea' be ca'ful, Jer'. I don' wan'a lose ya."
" Ya ne'er will," he smiled down at her and licked her black velvet nose before stretching lightly and starting to crawl back to the opening, his love following closely behind him.
The pace, the silence, was like the march to an execution, slow and painful for both of them though neither one spoke. Who knew what might happen when they finally left their protection? Was that cherished moment in this tunnel simply the eye of the storm or was it the prologue to a happy ending? Who knew? Oh, Everlasting Cat! Please let it be the second...
" A'most the'," Mungojerrie said jovially as best he could, trying to break the silence.
They then saw the dawn together through the opening and Rumpleteazer's " glorious " full-scale singing hit their ears like a brick.
Mungo grinned over his shoulder at the grimacing elder-kitten. " Le's 'ope 'er throa' 'ill be sore fer a whi'."
Mista laughed softly. " I won' coun' on it."
Mungo laughed briefly for a moment with her, trying to gain some solace, and then took a long sigh. He turned away.
Mista watched him sadly, saw his back arch as if he was about to jump out into the opening and the harsh future.
Then, he stopped himself to turn back to her, a silent plea in both their eyes. Words weren't needed to interpret them. For both of them, the plea was the same: Why couldn't they just stay in this tunnel forever and be together? Why did they have to take the chance of losing each other?
But it didn't work like that nor quite so easily, Mistacor realized sadly. The Feline Divinity would have its way with them no matter what they did to try and avoid it. Fate would take its course and by even giving a moment's hesitation in what they had to do, they were prolonging the pain. They had to hope for the best and pray the mystical Divinity would be kind to them.
She licked his forehead tenderly and stared deeply into his eyes that were as brown as Summer earth. Hers were lighter and pronounced with flecks of gold, like Autumn, but shone with every painstaking detail of ineffable, arcane, wisdom. " I 'ave a thir' name, luv..." she whispered, even Teazer's caterwauling fading away in this moment.
His eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion. " Bu'.... Th' ca' 'imself knows an' will ne'er con -"
She cut him off softly, with urgency. " I confess it ta you."
He was dumbstruck. " Why? "
" Becau'.... I luv ya, Jerrie," she said almost meekly.
" An' I luv ya too. I swe' by me life, 'Eaviside, an' th' Everlastin' Ca' 'imself," Mungo gazed at her adoringly and caressed her fondly.
Mistacor smiled and caressed him back. Then they head-rubbed languidly and she whispered in the softest of voices, for his ear only, her "ineffable, effable, effanineffable, deep and inscrutable, singular name "......
The ray of dawn just outside and the shadows within the tunnel were their witnesses and, were anyone looking to the sky at that moment, they would have seen the fading moon flicker brightly with light before totally fading into the morning sky.
~
Mungojerrie raced past the old Ford, Munkustrap spotting him right away with a wide-eyed look.
Alonzo's jaw dropped.
The calico tom ran past his sister as she stopped her caterwauling to grin. " 'Ey, sis! " he greeted as a multi-coloured blur.
Rumple grinned. " 'Ey, Jer'."
" After him! " Munkustrap commanded in irritation before he and Alonzo did just that, basically everyone following behind their fearless leaders.
Tugger sauntered up casually to Rumpleteazer who still stood on the tire. " Nice performance," he complimented.
" Thanks, Rum," Teazer said cheerfully. " At lea', I know ya 'ave taste."
" Just one thing: don't always come out on top of me, okay? " he smiled suavely.
The young queen postured herself seductively. " I ma' no guarantees..." Her cheeky smile broke through smoothly.
" Teaza! " Jerrie called from across the yard.
The queen's eyes widened. " Uh-oh! " She jumped up onto the ledge. "'Scuse me, Tug. Can' stay! " she said and beat it.
She jumped from pile to pile, catching up fast to her brother and the mob trailing behind him. On an old television set, she jumped down without another moment to spare and landed beside him.
" 'Ey! Ni' singin'," Mungo laughed as they ran.
Teazer heard his sarcasm and swatted at him playfully. " Wai' til we ge' 'ome." She then frowned in confusion. " Whe's Mista? "
Mungo didn't turn to look at her but kept his eyes looking forward. " 'Opefully a' home 'n' Victoria Grove. We're th' dive'sion, Teaz'."
" Mungojerrie! Rumpleteazer! Stop, now! " Munkustrap yelled with the others behind him.
The duo didn't stop but Rumple looked behind her to look at Munku with a smile. " Blimey, bu' 'e looks winded! " she said to her brother, laughing. " Guess 'e's no' up to th' chase, woul'n't ya say, Jer'? "
Mungo stuck his tongue out of his mouth in a lopsided grin as they ran. " We', it's been fun bu' thi' is ou' exit," he called out as he and Teazer veered and climbed over a bunch of trash before jumping down over the fence and speeding off to Victoria Grove.
Munkustrap and Alonzo halted the group.
" Do we follow them? " Alonzo asked of their leader expectantly.
" No," came the exasperated reply. " They're too far ahead of us anyway. We'd never catch them."
" And there's nothin' at all to be done about that," Tumblebrutus hummed softly.
" Duh dun," Pouncival, standing beside his friend, finished for him.
~
Mista ran as fast and as hard as she could through the streets. It was easy getting by Tugger unnoticed but now she'd have to get to Victoria Grove. It was only a few minutes away. No big deal. She'd lived most of her life on the streets and had the sense of mind of any alley cat out there. Yet she never let her real personality get warped with the cruelty of the outside world, even though on many occasions it was quite a temptation.
Harsh humans who would kick her, spit on her, on the sidewalks. Hungry, murdering cabs and other vehicles who seemed always to aim for cats and other small creatures for sport. Hard rains. Bitter, freezing snow. Smog. The " always fun " game of dodge-the-lit-cigarette-toss. Then, there were other cats; fighting for territory, fighting for food, fighting for the sheer purpose of fighting. It hadn't been fun but it made her stronger in the scheme of things.
Then, Jerrie had come into her life. It was so sudden, just running into him on the street like that. She hadn't watched where she was going and it was her fault but years of street instinct told her to hiss at him, told her to bare her claws and fangs at him even if he didn't do so himself. No, he did something even more surprising: he gave her sincere kindness and a true smile of companionship that she had never encountered before in her young life with human or feline or any other living and breathing creature.
She shook herself out of her reverie and skidded to a halt as she saw another cat block her path. And a strange one at that, she noted curiously. This one was huge, tall, and thin with a reddish, spikey-like coat. And his eyes were sinister, dark and clouded, full of mystery. Could it be the cat Jer' had told her about....?
" Ge' out'a me way," she growled, crouching defensively before this unknown, foul cat.
" Well, let me introduce myself," this ginger cat said conversationally, ignoring her command. " My name's Macavity. And you are.....? "
Mista glared up at him, not moved at all. Gee, she thought sarcastically, we might as well be having tea. " -leaving," she finished for him and sprung up to get around him but he blocked her with his own crouch.
" Going so soon?" Macavity said in mock upset.
She growled and then hissed. " Ge' out'a me way," she repeated more fiercely.
" I'm here with a deal for you that any self-respecting alley cat like yourself would die for-"
" I al'eady 'ave a collar, in ca' ya 'aven't noticed."
" Oh, I noticed. Most unfortunate," he said with fake pity for her. " But that doesn't mean anything to me..., Jellicle." He accentuated the last word with a sneer. " I have a most inviting prospect for you but we'll talk more about it in my lair," he continued cordially and straightened.
" I'm no' goin' any--" Mista was cut off as she was hit hard in the head and fell into the pit of unconsciousness.