A soft spring breeze ruffled the fur and whiskers of the numerous cats slumbering in the junkyard. It was almost sunset and the only sounds one could hear was a few motorists straggling home to their families. Suddenly the peace was shattered by the piercing sounds of a cat fight. Munustrap was up and alert in an instant, ready to protect the others from any danger. He could tell that the trouble was taking place at the far east corner of the yard where the Jellicles had the most problems with strays entering their territory.
By now all the cats were awake and nervous. Several of the males approached Munkustrap.
“Sounds like a really nasty fight!” said Alonzo.
“Yeah,” added Pouncival, “Somebody’s kicking someone’s tail real bad!”
The large grey tabby looked concerned. “I’d better check it out. Pouncival you come with me for backup. Alonzo stay here and protect the females and kittens.”
When they got to the fight scene they could hardly believe had they saw. Two stray males were circling a scrap of meat. Guarding it was a small female kitten, barely weaned. Every time one of the bullies tried to snatch the meat she whipped around with amazing speed and warded him off.
“Man, she’s fast!” exclaimed Pouncival.
“She’s going to get herself killed!” said Munkustrap. “We’ve got to help her. You grab the kitten and I”ll get rid of these two thugs.”
The two Jellicles went into action, Munkustap jumped at the largest of the males letting out an ear piercing hiss. “Beat it! Don’t you have anything better to do than attack babies!”
Meanwhile Pouncival was trying in vane to grab the kitten who zipped around like lightening snapping at the strays ferociously.
“Keep still, you little tornado! We’re trying to help you!”
“Don’t need help! I’m not a baby!” she hissed.
“I can’t catch her Munk. She’s faster than anything I’ve ever seen!”
“You need to get out of here before you get hurt!” shouted Munk. He had never seen a kitten so determined to get herself shredded in his life. “Go! Get out of the way.”
“No!” she shouted stubbornly.
Munkustrap raised his eyes to the Heavyside Layer; sometimes being in charge was just one huge pain. Suddenly the kitten’s teeth made contact with one of the stray’s tail and she sunk them in deep. The cat howled in pain as he tried to shake the little cat off. The other cat saw his chance, grabbed the meat and was off over the fence in a flash. Pounival and Munk both made a grab at the other cat who was just a big blur spinning with a little blur firmly attached. As they tackled him he whipped around and his tail slammed into the fence knocking her into the ground. As they went to her aid the other cat made his escape.
The little form lay lifeless on the ground. She looked even smaller when she was still.
“Is she okay?” asked Pouncival as the grey tabby checked her out.
“I think she’s just knocked out. Other than that she just has a few scratches. Let’s take her back and let Jenny and Jelly tend to her.” Picking the kitten up gently they carried her to where the others were waiting anxiously.
“What took so long?” asked Jellyorum, “We were about to send someone after you.”
“My goodness! What’s this?” exclaimed Demeter as she noticed the ball of fur in Munkustrap’s mouth.
“Poor little thing” whispered Jennyanydots.
“Poor little thing my claws.” chuckled Pouncival. “She’s like a miniature Rumpus Cat.”
“Nonsense, she’s just a baby.” commented Demeter.
“Just don’t let the ‘baby’ hear you call her that or you may in for some major pain.” Pouncival said nodding at the prone infant..
“He’s right.” exclaimed Munkustrap. “Some where there is a stray that will have this kitten’s calling card on his tail for a long time.”
All the cats stared at the tiny queen. To look at her you would never think she was the little firebrand that was being described. She was barely a human handful with fur that seemed like it didn’t know what color it had decided to be. Black,grey brown,cream,white,red,it was all there in one confused jumble. Part of her nose was black while the other was pink. She was as skinny as she was small. She looked like some child’s forgotten toy other than a real cat. Jenny gave the kittens’ face a soft lick and with a soft mew the baby’s eyes slowly blinked open. She tried to struggle to her feet.
“Stay still” Jenny said gently but firmly. “You need to rest.”
The kitten stared at all the cats with wide eyes. They noticed that one eye was bright blue while the other was deep gold.
“No ones’ going to hurt you . We’re going to take care of you.” said Munustrap gently.
“I’m not scared of anything!” said the kitten “And I can take care of myself!”
“That’s for sure.” mumbled Proncival.
“Who’s the new kitten?” asked Mistoffolees walking up to the group.
“Search me ,” said Alonzo.
“What’s your name?” Mistofflees asked. The kitten looked at the pleasant face of the black and white cat and decided she liked him.
“Kerrygillie”
“Welcome,Kerrygillie. I am Mistofflees and this is Jennyanydots, Jellyorum, Alonzo, Demeter, Pouncival and this is Munkustrap. He is in charge when Deutoronomy is not here.”
“I’ve heard of him” said Kerrygillie, “He’s about a thousand years old and knows everything. Are you going to be as smart as he is someday?” she asked Munustrap. All the cats laughed at this except Munkustrap whose fur bristled slightly but said in a kind voice.
“Where do you come from .”
“Well, there was a house with a man and a woman. I lived there with my mother and my two sisters. My father got killed by a car before I was born.”
“Who was he?” asked Jelly.
“ I don’t remember but my mother’s name was Marjoram.”
“Was?” Mistoffolees said.
The kitten’s lip quivered slightly and her looked at the ground. “She died a little while after I was born.”
“Where are your sisters?” Munkustrrap asked.
“When we were old enough people started coming to the house and looking at us. Everyone said my sisters were beautiful and soft and stuff like that. My sisters are real sissy and were purring and rubbing all over the people. Yuk! Anyway they took my sisters with them and I was glad because they weren’t any fun anyway.” The kitten said with a scowl. “ They would never play with me . They said they didn’t want to get dirty. Nobody wanted to take me with them they said I was ugly and funny looking.” Kerrygillie’s lip started to quiver again and she quickly wiped her paw across her face. “ I didn’t care though I didn’t want to go with any of them anyway. Humans are dumb. Not long after that my momma got sick and died I saw them put her in the trash can. They kept me for a while but then I heard them talking about getting a puppy and taking me to some place called the “pound”. I decided to run away , the pound did not sound like a nice place. I waited until both of the humans were gone for the weekend and I got out through the basement window. Before I left I went upstairs and pushed the stopper in the big thing with people wash themselves. Then I turned on the water. I’ll bet they were surprised when they got home.” The kitten smiled for the first time. “I fixed them real good.”
Munkustrap sighed. “I can’t blame you for being mad at your owners but what you did was not very nice.”
“I don’t care” she said boldly. “I tried being nice and they were still mean. They put my momma in the trash. I hate them!”
“Let’s not talk about this anymore. It’s over and done with.” said Mistoffolees. He crouched down so he was eye level with the feisty little cat. “You’re here with us now. We are going to be nice to you and....”he added firmly “you are going to behave, right.” He looked directly into her eyes . She stared into to the older cats’ eyes and found herself not being able to look away. “Right?” he repeated.
“Yes.” she whispered
“Good.” He smiled and stroked her face with his paw. She shivered no one other than her mother had been this nice to her. She wanted to cry but pushed the feeling deep inside her where all the other hurt was. She would never ever cry. That was for weak cats like her sisters She was strong.
“What are we going to do with her Munk?” asked Alonzo
“Well, her mother was a Jellicle I recognize the name. I’ll take her home with me. My people will not mind another cat.” Kerrygerrie stood listening to the cats discuss her future and felt herself growing angry. She didn’t need to be taken care of like a little lap kitten. Why did everyone want to treat her like a baby! She quickly suppressed these thoughts however and stood quietly . The black and white cat was really nice and she wanted to please him. The others seemed okay too, even that bossy gray tabby. If it didn’t work out she could always run away again.
Munkustrap turned to the kitten, “Since you’re a Jellicle cat you’re a member of our tribe so once you get settled you’ll begin your Jellicle training. All our kittens go to classes where they are taught the history and customs of our tribe. You’ll also study hunting , self defense, manners, singing, dancing and acrobatics. You’ll be living with me. My people are fairly easy to get along with I think you’ll get along.” He turned around to the rest of the group. “She’s had a rough evening, I’m going to take her home now. Alonzo will be in charge for the rest of the night. Let’s go home Kerrygillie.”
It was lucky that home was only several blocks away because Kerrygillie was still pretty shaky . She was afraid that Munkustrap would try to carry her if she couldn’t keep up so she struggled along with her head and tail held high. Munk watched the kitten out of the corner of his eye and chuckled to himself. If she knew how funny she looked wobbling along like a newborn, she would never live it down. He was already very fond of her she really was a gutsy little thing even if she was reckless. Once she settled down into a loving home and a routine she would be just fine.
Kerry immediately liked her new home. It was a big old house with plenty of rooms to explore. They had a cat door leading into the basement and another from the basement to the kitchen. She noticed that the basement was clean and orderly. In one corner were fresh food and water and a cat bed. There was also a basket of old cat toys.
“I haven’t used those in years but you might enjoy them. Every Christmas they buy me new ones, I bat them around long enough to make them feel good then I sneak them down here. You’ll find our people are happiest when they are doing things they think are making us happy.” Kerrygillie just looked at him skeptically. “Look, I know you haven’t had a good experience with humans but they’re not all bad. I want you to promise me you’ll give them a chance. If you give them love and respect they’ll do the same for you.”
“I promise.” she said, hoping she would actually be able to do it.
“Good. Now I want you to eat your dinner and get straight to bed. You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow.”
When she finished eating Munkustrap was already in the cat bed.
“Come on to bed now.” he said yawning. Kerry hesitated.
“ If you don’t mind I’m old enough to sleep by myself” hoping she wasn’t hurting his feelings. Curling up on an old rug she looked at Munkustrap to see his reaction.
“Suit yourself. Good night little one, sleep well.”
Munk was jolted awake sometime before dawn. At first he thought he must be dreaming he heard a faint sound getting louder and louder then he remembered the kitten. He rushed over to her to see if see was okay. He found her still asleep but tossing and turning fitfully.
“Mama,wake up Mama.” she mewed pitifully “Please wake up!”
The grey tabby remembered all the things she had told him about her former life and wondered how such a little kitten could keep so much pain hidden so well hidden. The crying grew louder.
“Mama, please don’t leave me! Momma!” She was now out and out sobbing and hurling herself around so hard she was in danger of hurting herself. The Jellicle cat thought hard nothing in all his years of experience had prepared him for this. He had faced Macavity, armies of dogs and rats but not all of them wrapped up into one would have been capable of scaring him the way this situation was now.
“What in Heavyside do I do now.”
The first rays of dawn struggled into the basement and warmed the kitten’s face. A first she thought she was back with her mother. She could hear steady breathing and felt warm fur wrapped around her. Opening her eyes Kerry found herself in the cat bed and curled protectively around her was Munkustrap. With a contented sigh she buried her face into his fur and went back to sleep.
To be continued...
