The cats were gathered in the junkyard as always. They gleamed at the new litter. Frisky and Etcetera's kittens had just recieved their sight and were looking at everything with interest. The cats were gathered in the junkyard as always. They gleamed at the new litter. Frisky and Etcetera's kittens had just recieved their sight and were looking at everything with interest.
" Unca Tumble!" mewed Zebra. The kitten pointed to the magical tire. " What dat?" Tumblebrutus was considered Frisky's brother so the kittens assumed him to be their uncle. Tumblebrutus grinned.
" That is the tire that is used once a year by Old Deuteronomy. Every Jellicle Ball, one cat is chosen to go to the Heaviside Layer. The tire lifts into the air and takes the cat to the Heaviside Layer," explained Tumblebrutus. The kittens began to scatter and explore. Zebra was considered the leader of the group. He felt like he was responsible for his brother and sister. He grabbed Angel by her tail and pulled her back.
" No go Angel! You get lost!" he snapped. Alonzo burst out laughing.
" He reminds me of you Munkustrap!" laughed Alonzo. Munkustrap let out a smile. Etcetera snatched all of her kittens and brought them back over to Frisky. She began to wash her kittens.
" I never thought I would be a mother," purred Etcetera. " I've never been happier in my life." The ground began to shake and a faint rumble was heard. The cats jumped up.
" No! It couldn't be! Not this early!" cried Munkustrap. Frisky turned to the cats.
" What? What is it?!" asked Frisky.
" DUMP TRUCKS!" screamed Demeter. The cats scattered as the ground shook like an earthquake and new garbage was being piled in and crashing onto the ground. The kittens paniced and rushed off towards a pipe. It had been baricaded by wood, but there was a big enough opening for them to crawl through. Etcetera saw them crawl through and she let out a gasp of horror.
" KITTENS! NO!" she shrieked. She rushed forward to the pipe but a large armchair came crashing down and she leaped away just before it could fall onto her. Soon the rumbling stopped and the cats gathered again. Etcetera turned to Munkustrap. " Munkustrap! They were able to get through the east pipe," she whimpered. Munkustrap gasped.
" Oh no! JELLICLES! GATHER!" he screamed. All of the Jellicles formed a circle around the gray tabby. " The kitten were able to get through the east pipe," he said gravely. There were gasps and murmers around the cats. Frisky was confused and was relunctent to ask his question.
" Where....Where does the east pipe lead to?" he asked. Alonzo was shocked. He spun to Skimbleshanks.
" You mean you never told him?!" he snarled. Skimbleshanks shrugged innocentley.
" I thought it was blocked enough so that nothing could enter!" cried Skimbleshanks. Frisky was now more confused than ever.
" Where does the East Pipe lead to?" asked Frisky sterny. Munkustrap stepped forward.
" I'm going to be honest with you Frisky. It leads to Macavity territory. Not only that, but Pollicles, stray catchers, speeding cars..." Munkustrap then stopped. He shook his head. " It's a very dangerous area of the town."
" WE HAVE TO FIND THEM!" shouted Frisky. Munkustrap nodded.
" Indeed! Although you and Etcetera stay here. It won't be safe for you to be in Macavity territory, especially after what happened last time." Frisky was upset, but he followed Munkustrap's directions. " The rest of you go off in pairs of twos! Report back if you find anything! Meet back here in two hours!" The cats hurried off in pairs of twos. Frisky held Etcetera close to him.
" Don't worry Etcetera. They'll find them. Our kittens will be alright," said Frisky.
" Zeebwa, where are we?" asked Skimble. Zebra stopped and stared at him.
" Me not know. Need to find Jellygulls," stated Zebra. Angel and Muffeler huddle close to each other as they moved on.
" Me scared. Want Mommy," Angel mewed softely. Zebra turned to Skimble and rolled his eyes.
" Girls," muttered Zebra. " Come on Angel! We have to find Jellygulls!" Angel and Muffeler quickened their pace and were beside Skimble and Zebra. They continued along the streets.
" Me hungwee!" meowed Muffeler. Skimble turned to Zebra and nodded.
" We have no bwakfist yet," said Skimble. Zebra licked his lips and began to sniff. He followed a scent all the way to a house. There was a bowl of sliced steak. The four kittens moved towards it. Angel grinned.
" Zeebwa! You find brakfist!" exclaimed Angel.
" Correction!" a voice growled. The kittens spun around. A large German Shepard stalked towards the kitten. He bared his teeth. " You found my breakfast." He then grinned. " Then again, I haven't had kitten for a while," snickered the dog. The kittens screamed and ran out of the yard with the dog in pursuit and snarling. The kittens rushed over and saw a large fence. Zebra spotted a hole in it.
" Follow!" he hissed. The four kittens rushed into the hole and there was a loud smack as the dog crashed into the fence.
" Man, they just got their sight. They're helpless out here!" cried Quaxo.
" I know," muttered Plato. " We just have to hope for the best." Plato shook his head. " Just pray to the Heaviside that nothing has happened to them." Quaxo shut his eyes and let out a silent prayer.
" Cweem! Me smell cweem!" mewed Zebra as he licked his lips.
" No tease!" groaned Angel. " Me alweady starving."
" No! Me willy smell cweem! Follow!" Zebra hurried forward and his siblings were right behind him. When he stopped, his jaws dropped. There was a large bowl of cream settled in the middle of teh junkyard.
" Me never see so much cweem," stated Skimble. Muffeler crawled over Skimble.
" Let's eat!" she exclaimed. The four kittens hurried to the bowl and began lapping up the cream greedily. As the kittens continued to lap up the cream, they began to feel drowsy. Angel was the first to settle down and shut her eyes. Muffeler followed. Skimble flopped down and closed his eyes as well. Zebra yawned and struggled to stay awake. But he began to fall asleep. Just before he drifted off. He felt something grab his leg and yank him into a bag.
" Well?" asked Frisky. Tumble's ears fell down against his head. The brown-patched cat turned to Pouncivil.
" We came upon their scent. It lead to a large pollicle. It chased us of before we could tell if the scent left the yard or not," said Pouncivil. Etcetera gapsed and clung onto Frisky.
" We're not saying that the pollicle got the kittens Etcetera! They could have gotten away!" said Tumble trying to comfort the female jellicle. Munkustrap motioned for the two cats to leave. Pouncivil and Tumblebrutus left the three Jellicles.
" Where are we?" she mewed. Her black tail whipped back and forth. Skimble hurried over to Zebra.
" What going on?" asked Skimble. The kittens fell silent as voices outside the crate were heard.
" Good evening boss! Oh my! Your coat has never looked dustier!" a voice squeaked.
" Your flattery will not do you any good this time," growled a voice that sent shivers down the kittens spines. " Have you failed like the last four times? You do know the penelty."
" Oh no sir! This time we drugged the cream! And you'll be pleased to know, we got four!" the voice squeaked.
" Four? Well, well, that is an improvement," the other voice declared. "Let's have a look, shall we?" The top of the crate opened and light oured in blinding the kittens. A huge paw reached in. It was hairy, red nd had long black claws. It grabbed Angel by her waist and lifted her out of the crate. She screamed as she was seperated from her siblings. The kittens were too scared to do anything. Once Angel was out of the crate, she was staring right into the face of the evillest cat she had ever seen. His fur shot out everywhere and was black, orange, white and red in color. He stared at her with his sunken red eyes. " Yes, and they're still very young I see. Good. They're easier to train then." Angel started to cry.
" Mommy! Mommy!" cried Angel. The cat glared at her.
" Tears are not allowed in Macavity's presence," he growled to her. Macavity then put Angel back in the crate. He grabbed Skimble and lifted him out of the kittens' prison. Skimble squirmed and scrambled in Macavity's grip. Zebra hopped forward and fluffed out his fur.
" Put Skimble down!" Zebra snarled.
" SKIMBLE?!" MAcavity began sniffing the trembling kitten he had in his grasp. He hissed. " Jellicles!" He threw Skimble back into the crate and turned to the rats furiously. " You morons! They're Jellicles! You can't train jellicles! Remember Tumblebrutus?! These kittens are USELESS!" he roared. Macavity then calmed down. He began to think. A grin spread across his face. " No, they're not. These kittens shall come in handy." His evil grin widened. " The Jellicles would do anything to keep these little ones from getting hurt. And so would Demeter." He laughed manically. The kittens gathered close in a corner of the crate. " I shall get Demeter back, and this time I plan to keep her!"
