Through the Mist of Time (Part 2)

But, just as suddenly as Deuteronomy disappeared, he reappeared, and all the kittens ran to embrace him. The adults went to him with visible relief. But, then, Munk saw Dem hiss, arch her back and fluff out her tail. Something was very, very wrong. Munk pleaded with her to tell him what was wrong, but she ignored him and attackedDeuteronomy. Munk could not believe what he saw. He was appalled that Dem would attack her father. But as these thought took form, he saw a fur coat and mask fly into the air...and there stood Mac. Mac lunged at Dem with a violent, hated filled glare. Munk knew Mac was going to kill Dem, and his decision was made in a second. Munk would have to die so Dem could live.

Lonz was able to pull Dem away from Mac while Munk assumed a battle stance. Mac was surprised that Munk was serious about fighting him. He was amused and impressed. This was the brother he could always bully when they were kittens. Always protecting everyone else and taking his lumps for his interference. Always stepping in to help others when Mac wanted to have some fun, and taking harder lumps each time. Mac admired that, in a way. But this was too much. Munk had interferred for the last time. When he was finished with Munk, he would finish Dem and Lonz. The cat fight was brutal. Munk put up a tremendous fight, and he succeeded in causing some minor injuries to Mac. But Mac was bigger and heavier. And, at one point, when Munk threw Mac off of his back, Munk felt a searing pain in his foreleg and upper back. Mac had slashed open a gaping wound with his lethal claws.

With Dem safely out of reach, Lonz joined the battle. He attacked Mac just as Munk collapsed to the ground. Lonz managed a severe slash to Mac's belly, but Mac still had the strength to throw Lonz aside. The vicious battle finally galvanized all the other cats. Seeing Munk and Lonz battered and on the ground, they all rushed at Mac, adults and kittens alike. They hissed and slashed at him, suddenly aware that they were no longer afraid of him. And Mac was suddenly aware of it, too. Facing the fact that he longer created any fear in them, he began to feel real fear for the first time in his life. And he disappeared from the junkyard. Lonz got up and started to go toward Munk, but Munk was able to pick himself up and assure all of the cats he was alright. He couldn't tell them of his injuries. Not now. There were more important things to do. They had to find Deuteronomy. As they all waited, anticipating Deuteronomy's choice, they sensed the presence of another cat behind them. It was Grizabella. As she approached the place where Deuteronomy sat, Munk straightened and stood proudly next to his father. The other cats moved quickly away from her, hissing and glaring. They hid their faces and turned their backs. All them except Deuteronomy and Munk. And Munk? What did he feel, what could he feel as he watched his father reach out his paw to her. Deuteronomy was welcoming the mother who had abandoned her kittens and her mate. Of all the cats in the junkyard, Deuteronomy had the best reason to hate her. And yet, he held out his paw to her. Grizabella finally spoke to her son and his father. She told them of the tragic life she had chosen. Now, all she wanted, no, she needed was their touch and maybe a little love. Only until sunrise if that was all they could give. Then, she would be able to survive one more day.

As she spoke, all of the other cats began to understand her, to know her, to really see her for the first time. Whatever she had done, whatever pain she had caused, it was within their power to forgive her. They looked toward Tug and Bom and Dem and Lonz. They had turned to look at Grizabella, their mother. She had abandoned them once, long ago, but she was here, now, asking for very little. The little kitten, Vic, sitting by Deuteronomy didn't comprehend any of this. All she saw was a sad old cat who wanted someone to touch her. She looked up at Deuteronomy for permission to go to Grizabella, and permission was given. Munk watched intently as Vic embraced his mother. The barriers fell, and all of the cats crowded around Grizabella, including her other children. They each took the hands of the mother they could barely remember. None of them saw Munk lean toward his father with an unspoken question, or the unspoken answer Munk received.

Munk walked slowly to the group surrounding his mother. And he held out his paws. He would not think of his pain. That was unimportant. There was something of greater importance to be done. Grizabella looked up at Munk and at his outstretched paws. And she smiled. She grasped his paws tightly, and he held on to her. And he smiled. Then Munk turned her and she faced Deuteronomy. And he bowed. She was puzzled by the cheering and applause that followed. She was still wondering what...why was Deuteronomy leading her to the entrance to the staircase of the Heaviside Layer? She turned back. This is not what she...but Munk gently urged his mother back to Deuteronomy and they continued to walk to the entrance. Within minutes, she disappeared into the mist of the staircase and was gone. A new life, another chance. Munk could feel the mist around his head getting ready to leave, and he knew it would not return. The thought saddened him . The mist had been a good friend through all his dreams...were they dreams...maybe memories. He opened his eyes and they weren't heavy anymore. he could keep them open. The pain was still there but he felt a little stronger. If he could just move his foreleg and his back...yes, he could move. The pain didn't matter as long as he could move. He knew the pain would go away. The real pain he now had to tolerate was not from any wound that could be seen. He had to endure the pain of a troubled heart. And that pain, he was certain, would not go away. The pain of failure. He had failed all of them. He wasn't much of a leader, was he, and he sighed a heart cracking sigh.

But the others heard his sigh, and they knew he had awakened. They all tumbled into the room, cats everywhere, nearly knocking Dr. Campbell onto the floor as he tried to get through the door. Dr. Campbell motioned to Dr. Devon to come in and see this sight for herself. Both of the people just sighed and smiled as they walked out of the room. They knew when they were outnumbered and unwanted. Everyone was speaking at once, and all Munk could understand were a few words every now and then..."good job"..."wonderful"..."sorry"..."proud"..."fault".

He held up his uninjured paw and asked them to stop. He couldn't understand what they were saying. He tried to clear his eyes and focus on their faces. There were Deuteronomy and Dem and Tug and Bom and Lonz, good old Lonz, a little battered but a beautiful sight. He looked at other faces. Most of the adult cats were in the room, Jell and Genn, Skim, Mung and Rump...it was still difficult to focus. There were more in the group, but he couldn't quite make them out.

Lonz came up to Munk and when he picked up his uninjured paw he held onto it and squeezed it gently. "We sent the kittens home", Lonz told him. "They didn't want to leave. They were so worried about you. It was a stuggle to make them go. Tug finally had to carry some of them by by their necks."

Munk tried to smile and nod his head, but there was no smile in him. Deuteronomy studied Munk intently. He knew his son. There was something in him causing very serious pain, something more serious than stitches and bandages. Deuteronomy came close to Munk and stroked his ear. "What's troubling you, son?" He had asked his son gently but with a determination that Munk knew too well. This was no time to try to offer some vague, meaningless answer that his father would know was a lie. He looked at the faces of his brothers and sisters that he loved so much. He looked at the other cats in the room, cats he had known since he was a kitten, cats he loved as much as his family. He swallowed hard and hoped his voice wouldn't break or feel tears sneak into his eyes. And he took a deep breath. "I failed you, sir. I failed all of you. You depended on me and I failed you."

He couldn't say any more, wouldn't say any more. What was there to say? He was determined that with what little pride he had left, he would not waste it on excuses. He looked into his father's eyes, expecting silent confirmation of all he had said. Instead, he saw...what? Sadness? A trace of a smile? He looked at his brothers and sisters and the other cats. They were wearing the same indefinable expressions. The cats looked to each other, and Munk sensed a nervous shuffling of feet and several throats clearing. Was he also sensing...embarrassment? Why? "Failed? Failed?!", Deuteronomy mused. "Failed? No, son, you didn't fail us. We failed you. And, I failed you. I made you feel responsible for protecting everyone else. The other cats expected you to protect them. And who did we think would protect you? All of us let you face Mac alone, knowing you were willing to die so Dem could live. They knew Mac had beaten you and Lonz. Why did it take a vicious fight that you couldn't win to make the others try to help you? Not until you and Lonz were beaten did the rest of us fight back. And fight they did. All the adults and even the kittens. They stopped being afraid of Mac and fought back. Mac may be strong and he may be able to hurt one cat at a time, but he now knows he can't beat us as a group. And I don't think he'll try it again. Failed?" Deuteronomy chuckled softly. "You had the opportunity to save your own life by going to the Heaviside Layer. If you had let us know how badly injured you were, you know we would have sent you. Instead, you kept silent and gave up that chance for a new life to a mother who had abandoned you as a kitten. You could have relished her misery and gloated over her failure. You have have simply turned away. Instead, you gave her life, knowing you might lose yours."

Deuteronomy stroked that place between Munk's ears that he had always loved when he was a kitten. "Failure? No, son, that is leadership. Selfless, all-sacrificing, compassionate leadership."

Munk could clearly see the faces of the other cats now. Were those really tears in many of the eyes he saw? And Tug...Tug? He wasn't making any effort to wipe away the tears that were running into his whiskers. And for the first time in his memory, he watched as Lonz and Dem and Bom cradled Tug in their paws as if he were a kitten. Dr. Campbell entered the room with a dramatic clearing of his throat. "Well, I think my patient has had enough visitors for one day. Let him get some rest. And all of you, get some rest. You can come back tomorrow, and I'll have Cook make something special for all of you...and for his Lordship here."

One by one, they said their goodnights as they left and waited respectfully for Deuteronomy, Lonz, Bom, Dem and Tug to say the last goodnight. His brothers and sisters stroked his head with their ears and their whiskers. His father leaned down to him and, eyes overflowing with tears, said, "Son, I am so proud of you."

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