Then he remembered the real reason why he was here. Munkustrap had sent him to find Snapdragon and her gang. Okay, I must’ve come far enough, he told himself. Yeah. This is where we turned into the alley and that’s where Tugger almost got a concussion from that bowling ball. Yep. I’m in the right place. Mistoffelees cleared his throat. “Uh… Snapdragon?” he said timidly. “Um… are you around here, anywhere? Snapdragon?”

“Yeah?” called a familiar voice. “Who’s callin’ my name?”

“This is Mistoffelees,” he said. “Remember me? I was with that big group of toms that came through this alley the other day. You know, the group that had the Maine Coon that you tossed a bowling ball at?”

He heard something fall to the ground behind him. Mistoffelees whirled around. A tall silhouette stood before him. “What would you like?” Snapdragon asked. “What do you need?” Mistoffelees noticed that once she knew who he was, she acted much nicer.

“I was sent here by Munkustrap,” Mistoffelees answered. “We need your help. We’ve run out of ideas for trying to save our junkyard.”

Snapdragon nodded. “Yes, when you were here you did mention your junkyard being torn down.” She paused while she considered it. “Sure, I’ll come.” She smiled.

Mistoffelees hesitated. “What about those other two toms… Cougar and Equator?"

Snapdragon waved her paw. “No, without those two you just have two less clowns to worry about. And you seem to have plenty to worry about already.”

Mistoffelees nodded. “Okay. Follow me.”

* * *

Demeter, Bombalurina, and Rumpleteazer slowly walked down the hallway. They were on the 4th floor of the building the mayor’s office was located. “So, run the plan by me one more time,” said Rumpleteazer.

“We sneak into the mayor’s office,” explained Bombalurina. “Let’s hope he’s not in there. If he is, he’s going to recognize Dem and me from the other day. Anyway, we’ll check his inbox, which he keeps in his office room, for a letter from the guy in charge of knocking down our junkyard. We’ll reply to him if there is a letter, using the mayor’s computer. Actually, we’ll write a letter to him even if he didn’t write a letter to us. And then I’ll go deliver the letter while you and Demeter print up flyers at her pets’ house. Got that?”

“Um… yeah,” said Rumpleteazer. “Now, which one is the mayor’s office?” ,p> “Third one on the right,” Demeter answered quickly, before Bombalurina could reply.

Rumpleteazer nodded. “Okeeeey…” She turned to the rows of doors and started counting them. “One… two… three… this one!” she cried.

Demeter walked over to the door and nudged it open. “Oh no…” she whispered when she saw what was inside.

Bombalurina walked up behind her. “Uh oh,” she said. The mayor was sitting in his chair, stuffing his face full with donuts. “The mayor’s in his office,” she told Rumpleteazer. “We’re gonna have to get him to come out somehow.”

Rumpleteazer nodded. “But how… wait! I have an idea!”

“What?” cried Bombalurina and Demeter at the same time.

“’e doesn’t recognize me, does ‘e?” said Rumpleteazer. “I could provide a distraction. ‘e can chase me around this big office building while you guys snoop around in ‘is office and do what you gotta do. I’ll meet up with you outside the building.”

Bombalurina nodded. “Okay. Sounds good.” She motioned to Demeter to hide with her behind the open door. Demeter followed her, and crouched low in the shadows.

Rumpleteazer grinned and walked into the mayor’s office. “Meow!” she cried out, loud and clear. The mayor looked up from his stack of papers and donuts. “Hey!” he protested. “How did you get in here?” He stood up and strode over to Rumpleteazer. “Come here, you!” he said as he tried to scoop her up.

But Rumpleteazer was much to fast for the mayor. She darted down the hall, then stopped suddenly. “Meow-wow!” she called, as if she was taunting the mayor. The mayor turned red in the face and jogged slowly after Rumpleteazer. “Come back here!” he shouted.

Demeter watched as Rumpleteazer disappeared around the corner. The mayor sighed and shook his head, and kept on jogging after her. Demeter turned to face Bombalurina. “Okay, let’s go,” she said.

The two cats snuck into the office. Demeter scampered over to the mayor’s small mailbox where his secretary stuck all his mail and important papers into. She pawed through them, staring at the heading. “Taxes and Bills,” she mumbled. “Nope. Construction on Dale Road? Not the kind of construction we’re looking for. Construction at the Junkyard on… Yes! Here it is!” she called to Bombalurina, who had taken her seat in the mayor’s chair. Demeter waved the letter around in the air. “I found it!”

Bombalurina looked up from booting up the computer. “Great!” she said. “Go ahead and read it.” She turned back to the screen and watched the computer start itself up.

Demeter tore open the envelope. She gently lifted the crisp paper out, and folded it open. “Dear Mister Mayor,” she read out loud. “I am terribly sorry, but the construction can not be stopped. I have delayed it, however, until we work out this disagreement with you, Mister Mayor. We were ordered by your very employees to tear down that junkyard and replace it with a city park. I believe this park will improve the city by reducing litter and pollution. I hope you understand, but there are always other junkyards. There are not always other parks. Sincerely, Tim Ford. Huh!” scoffed Demeter. “They’re just gonna tear down our junkyard anyway! They don’t care what mister Mayor says.” She paused. “So THAT’S what Tim’s name really is. Tim Ford!”

“Computer’s ready,” announced Bombalurina.

Demeter looked up. “How’d you get past the password?” she wondered.

Bombalurina laughed. “That’s for me to know, and for you to never find out,” she teased.

“No fair!” cried Demeter. She smiled. “Is it ready for me to type up the letter yet?”

“I’m getting there,” said Bombalurina. “I just gotta open up into the word processor first.” She carefully moved the mouse around, and clicked on something. “Okey- dokey! All ready!” She leaped off the chair and went over to investigate the mayor’s garbage again.

Demeter climbed up onto the mayor’s chair and got ready to type. “Dear Tim Ford,” she said as he typed. “I understand your reasons for not wanting to tear down the junkyard on Monroe Street, but I also have my own reasons for wanting to keep it up. My reasons are numerous, and I will only tell you a few. One reason is that it is practically a historical landmark. That junkyard has been there for decades, and is still standing. If it hasn’t been torn down yet, then I see no reason why it should be torn down now. Another reason is that there are no more junkyards in that section of town. And as you know, I, myself, do not believe in landfills. If you care so much about the pollution, then why are you forcing my citizens to use landfills? They pollute the ground and are a waste of space. And finally, if you go against my will and tear down that junkyard, I will hold legal charges against you. I ask you to please respect my wishes, and do NOT tear down the junkyard. Sincerely…” Demeter looked up. “Okay Bom, I’m done,” she told her friend.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, right,” said Bombalurina. She detached herself from the mayor’s garbage and sauntered over to the computer. She dragged the mouse over to a small icon, and clicked on it. The printer started to shoot out a clean sheet of paper with the words that Demeter had typed on it. When the printer was done spitting it out, Bombalurina grabbed the paper and skimmed over it. “Terrific!” she cried, impressed. “He’s sure to buy it!” She looked at Demeter. “Let’s go.”

Demeter and Bombalurina were about to leave when Demeter noticed something. “Uh… Bom?” she whispered nervously.

“What?” demanded Bombalurina.

“I don’t think we can go yet,” said Demeter. “The mayor’s back… and he looks really angry.”

* * *

Mungojerrie and the Rum Tum Tugger walked proudly back into the junkyard. “We made the sign,” reported Mungojerrie. “And it’s a masterpiece.” Tugger nodded, agreeing.

Munkustrap smiled approvingly. “Good. Could I take a look at it?” he asked.

“Uh…” Mungojerrie tried to stall. He didn’t want Munkustrap to see the terrible job he and Tugger had done on painting the sign. Mungojerrie had accidentally painted the letters too big, and the sign now read “Dan Ger”. As Tugger had put it, it looked like they were asking people to vote for a guy named Dan whose last name was Ger. And Mungojerrie definitely didn’t want Munkustrap to see it. He’d probably make Mungojerrie paint it over again, and Mungojerrie didn’t want to have to do that. “Um…” He glanced at Tugger helplessly.

“It’s still drying,” said Tugger. “You don’t want to get paint all over your nice fur coat, now do you?”

Munkustrap smiled. “No, but I’ll be really careful. Can’t I see it?”

“No!” cried Mungojerrie. “Um… don’t you think it would look suspicious if three cats all went over there just to stare at a sign?”

“Well, now that you mention it…” said Munkustrap. He shrugged. “Oh well. I can inspect that later.”

Mungojerrie sighed with relief. “Great. You can check it out later.” He knew that when Munkustrap ever said he’d do something later, he always meant that he’d probably forget, and then never do it anyway. Mungojerrie smiled and nodded. “Anything else you’d like me to do, oh wise and wonderful leader?”

“No, I think everything is pretty much covered,” said Munkustrap. “But thank you.”

* * *

Jemima and Victoria silently walked down the street towards the junkyard. “So what are we going to do to help?” Victoria asked.

“We’ll do whatever we can,” Jemima answered. “I just want to do something! I don’t think it’s very fair that we, being kittens, are always left out of EVERYTHING.”

They rounded the corner and soon reached the entrance. “We can’t just walk in,” whispered Victoria. “They’d notice us.”

Jemima nodded. “Yeah, they would. So we’re going to climb up on those garbage cans right there and we’re going to spy on them.”

Victoria eyed the trashcans. They didn’t look very stable. But they’d probably be okay to climb up on. “Alright,” said Victoria.

They started to climb up onto the garbage cans. Jemima reached the top before Victoria did. “I can see the whole junkyard from up here!” she cried excitedly. “Great,” mumbled Victoria. She grabbed hold on one of the handles on the garbage cans and tried to pull herself up. But she lost her footing with one of her hind legs, and two garbage cans went toppling down. “Oops,” she said.

“What was that?” rang out a voice in the junkyard. Victoria recognized the voice as Jellylorum’s. “We’re in trouble now,” whispered Victoria to Jemima.

“Yeah, you think?” said Jemima. She jumped up off the garbage cans and landed softly on the other side. “Come on!” she said urgently. “We gotta get out of here before your mom and my mom come to check what happened over here.”

“I’m going to go check what happened over there,” said another familiar voice. Jennyanydots!

Then Victoria heard Jellylorum say, “I’m coming with you.”

“See?” said Jemima. “We have to get out of here now!” Victoria nodded and leaped off just as she had seen Jemima do. But on the way down, she accidentally pushed one of the cans with her hind leg. It fell over, and started a chain reaction with all of the rest of the cans. “Uh-oh…”

“Quick! Let’s run!” ordered Jemima. Victoria followed her friend down the street. They quickly rounded a corner, skidding wildly, and ran all the way over to the opposite side of the junkyard. They stopped and stood trying to catch their breath.

“Whew,” said Jemima. “That was a close one.” Victoria nodded. Her heart was racing from the close call they had.

Jemima looked around. “Hey Vicki,” she said, “Look.” She pointed at what looked like a freshly painted sign that was hung up on the junkyard fence right outside the entrance.

Victoria looked closer. It was a wooden sign with red paint on it. It read “Dan Ger.” Victoria frowned. “Who’s Dan Ger?” she wondered.

Jemima giggled. “Not Dan Ger,” she corrected. “Danger. It looks like Munku assigned Pouncival or somebody to paint that sign, and they messed up big time.” She smiled and looked at Victoria. “Here’s our first mission,” she announced, her eyes dancing. “We’ll fix up the sign for them.”

“How?” asked Victoria, although the answer was obvious.

Jemima walked over to the sign and took it down. “We’ll paint the word danger on the back of it… nobody will ever know the difference!” She laid the sign down on the ground and glanced at the paint can and the paint brush that were just sitting there. “Do you know how to paint?” she asked Victoria timidly.

“Luckily, yes,” answered Victoria. She smiled. “You hold the sign steady, and I’ll paint the words on.” Jemima nodded, and the two of them got to work.

* * *

“This way,” said Mistoffelees. He led Snapdragon around the corner to the junkyard entrance. “There’s a lot more openings than this, but this is basically the main one,” he explained. The alley cat nodded and followed Mistoffelees through the entrance.

Mistoffelees looked around. “There’s Munkustrap, over there.” He pointed. “You remember him?”

Snapdragon smiled. “How could I forget him? He’s the one that did all the talking!”

“Oh yeah,” said Mistoffelees. He laughed. They walked over to where Munkustrap was standing, giving out orders to all the Jellicles. “Hey Munku,” called Mistoffelees. “I’m back. And I brought Snapdragon with me.”

Munkustrap smiled and nodded. “Thank you for coming, Snapdragon,” he said politely. “We really need your help. We need ideas for saving our junkyard… our home. Will you help us?”

“I’d be glad to help!” answered Snapdragon enthusiastically.

“Great!” said Munkustrap. He turned to Mistoffelees. “Thank you Misto. That’ll be all for right now.” Then, to Snapdragon, “Please follow me. We can discuss this in private.” Munkustrap and Snapdragon walked away silently.

Mistoffelees smiled. So he was free for the rest of the day, until Munkustrap decides he needs him. Mistoffelees started to walk out of the junkyard and go home when Tugger and Mungojerrie ran up to him. “We need your help!” cried the Rum Tum Tugger.

“Really?” Mistoffelees was surprised. Tugger usually never asked his help for anything. “So what is it?” he asked.

Mungojerrie looked around to make sure nobody was listening. He lowered his voice so only Mistoffelees and Rum Tum Tugger could hear him. “We messed up on our assignment,” confided Mungojerrie. “We were supposed to paint a sign that said ‘danger’ but we totally goofed up.”

Mistoffelees had to resist the urge to laugh. “How could you have messed up on an assignment so simple as that?” he asked.

“I painted the word too big,” admitted Mungojerrie. “And it turned out looking like it said ‘Dan Ger.’ I can’t believe I made a mistake so obvious!”

“It’s okay,” assured Mistoffelees. “Just show me the sign and we can fix it.” Mungojerrie nodded, and he and Tugger showed Mistoffelees where the sign was.

“It’s just around that corner,” said Tugger.

Mistoffelees went ahead of the two to have a look at the sign. But when he got there he saw a sign that still had dripping, wet red paint on it and read nice and clear, ‘danger’. Mistoffelees turned to face Tugger and Mungojerrie who were just coming around the corner themselves. “I don’t see anything wrong with it,” he said.

Tugger and Mungojerrie exchanged confused looks. “But… but it really DID say Dan Ger,” said Tugger weakly.

“Sure it did,” said Mistoffelees sarcastically. “I can’t believe I fell for a stupid joke like that! I should have known better that even you guys couldn’t goof up an assignment so simple.” Then Mistoffelees stopped. He turned around and took a good look at the sign again. “Wait a minute,” he mumbled to himself.

“What?” demanded Mungojerrie. “What do you see?”

Mistoffelees shook his head. “Nothing. Nothing at all. You guys can just go.”

Mungojerrie and Tugger exchanged another confused look, but they left anyway. Mistoffelees walked right up to the sign that said ‘danger’. He saw a small, red paw print on the ground. It looked like whoever had made the sign had accidentally stepped in the red paint. And the paw print was too small to be either Mungojerrie’s or the Rum Tum Tugger’s. Mistoffelees looked around and found a small trail of red paw prints that led around the corner. Smiling to himself, he said, “I think I’ve solved your mystery, Mungo.” He silently began to follow the trail of paw prints.

* * *

Demeter’s heart raced. She and Bombalurina were standing face to face with an angry, red-faced mayor. He was definitely ANYTHING but happy. “What are we gonna do?” she whispered urgently to Bombalurina. Bombalurina shook her head. She couldn’t answer, because she had the fake letter in her mouth. But her eyes said that she was scared and worried. The mayor took one determined step towards the two cats. “How did YOU get in here?” he bellowed. “AGAIN? The SAME CATS!” He lunged towards Demeter and Bombalurina.

They quickly dodged his reaching hands. Demeter leaped off to one side, Bombalurina to the other. The mayor looked from cat to cat, wondering which one to try to catch.

That one moment was all they needed. Demeter shot off to the door and almost made it. Except at that moment the mayor decided it was a good idea to close the door. Demeter bonked her head right into the closed door, and fell to the ground rubbing her head. “Now I’ve got you TRAPPED!” cried the mayor triumphantly. He started walking slowly towards Demeter and Bombalurina.

“Meow?” came a small voice. Then Demeter heard scratches at the door. The mayor sighed. “What is it now?” he muttered to himself. He walked over to the door and opened it.

Rumpleteazer grinned innocently up at the mayor. “Meow?” she said again. “Remember me? Still want to catch me? You’re welcome to try.” Then she darted down the hall.

The mayor groaned. “I don’t want that cat running loose in my office building,” he said. He walked out into the hall. “YOU two stay there,” he warned. Then he ran off in the direction of Rumpleteazer, forgetting to close the door behind him.

“Thank you Rumple!” cried Demeter happily. “Now we can go!” She and Bombalurina ran out the door, raced down the stairs, and rushed out the automatic doors to hide in the bushes.

They waited a little bit. Then a little bit more. And a little bit more. “You don’t think she got… caught?” whispered Demeter, worried.

Bombalurina laughed. “Caught? Rumple? Never. She’ll be here.” She sounded so sure of herself that Demeter immediately believed her.

Just as Bombalurina had said, a few minutes later Rumpleteazer came sliding through the automatic doors. “What’s the hurry?” said Demeter.

Rumpleteazer glanced nervously over her shoulder. “Well, I didn’t exactly lose him yet. He’s still on me.”

“Oh,” said Demeter. “Run!”

They ran.

* * *

“That was great!” Victoria congratulated Jemima’s genius idea to fix the “Dan Ger” sign. She laughed as they ran down the sidewalk. “The looks on Jerrie’s and Tugger’s faces were priceless!”

Jemima grinned. “Yeah, it was pretty funny.”

“Pretty funny?” echoed Victoria. “How about hilarious?”

Jemima laughed and shook her head. “Okay, it was hilarious.” She stopped running. “I just want to know one thing.”

“What?” asked Victoria. She stopped too.

Jemima looked around. “Exactly where are we running? We gotta have a destination or something like a goal!” Victoria shrugged. “I don’t know. We could look around for more plans to save I guess. What did you expect us to do? Come out and save the day right away, and everyone will cheer like we’re heroes?”

Jemima shrugged too. “I don’t know.” But that was exactly what she had thought. That they would come up with a genius idea and save the junkyard all by themselves. And she had no clue where to start. “You’re right,” she admitted. “We have to think of a plan.”

They walked over to the side of the fence that was surrounding the junkyard. Someone had piled a bunch of garbage bags against the fence, and Victoria leaped on top of one of them. “Let’s think,” she said. Jemima did what Victoria did and jumped on top of a garbage bag. She scanned her mind for something… anything… that they could do to save their junkyard. Pretty soon she gave up. “I can’t think if anything,” she complained.

“Just keep thinking,” ordered Victoria. Jemima did as she was told. But once again, nothing.

“How about this?” said Jemima when she noticed Victoria starting to look a little discouraged too. “We’ll blurt out any ideas, no matter how dumb. We’re bound to think of something that way.”

Victoria nodded. “Okay. How about this?” Jemima leaned forward, eager to hear her friend’s suggestions. Victoria sighed. “How about we just drop this whole thing and leave the planning to the adults?” she said.

“No way!” exclaimed Jemima. “I want to help save our junkyard, and I can’t do it without you.” She flashed Victoria what she hoped was a sympathetic smile.

“Fine!” Victoria sighed again. “We’ll help.”

“Great!” said Jemima, and she meant it. “Let’s just keep blurting out ideas. It HAS to work.”

“We could…” started Victoria, but then she stopped. “No, it’s stupid.”

“Tell me!” begged Jemima.

“Okay.” Victoria nodded. “We could make a big sign, you know, paint one, that says ‘Leave the junkyard alone!’ And we could hang it up outside the house of the man who’s in charge of the construction.”

“We can keep that one in mind,” said Jemima. “Who knows, it just might work. Now let’s keep thinking.”

They hadn’t been thinking much longer when they sensed another cat nearby. Jemima knew it was a familiar cat, most likely one of the Jellicles. “Someone’s here,” she whispered to Victoria. “If they find us, we’re in big trouble.”

Victoria nodded, her eyes wide. “Yeah. Let’s get outta here.”

They were about to leave when someone jumped out from the other side of the corner and yelled, “Ah HA!”

* * *

Demeter, Bombalurina, and Rumpleteazer raced down the street as fast as they could. They ran until they couldn’t see the office building anymore. They stopped to catch their breath.

“I hope… (gasp) that we… (pant) will never have to… (pant) go there again,” stuttered Demeter in between deep breaths.

“I think our business with Mister Mayor isn’t done yet,” said Bombalurina glumly. She had taken the fake letter out of her mouth and set it down on the ground. “I’m going to go deliver this to our friend Tim,” she announced. “You two go make up some flyers.” She put the letter back in her mouth and went to go mail it. Demeter looked at Rumpleteazer questioningly. “What was that about flyers?” she asked.

“Munkustrap wants us to go to somebody’s house and make up a bunch of flyers to deliver around the neighborhood,” Rumpleteazer told her. “We can go to my family’s house because they’re closest. Okay?”

Demeter nodded. “Okay.” They started walking in the direction of Rumpleteazer’s house side by side. Demeter cleared her throat. “Um… Rumple?” she said.

“Yeah?” Rumpleteazer stopped walking.

“I’m sorry that I’ve been acting really mean to you,” apologized Demeter. She smiled. “And I wanted to thank you for distracting the mayor from Bomb and me.”

“No problem!” Rumpleteazer grinned. “And you didn’t ‘ave to apologize. I knew you were sorry.”

“Oh.” They started walking again. For a while longer it was in silence. Then Demeter started talking again. “Do you think that we’ll actually be able to save our junkyard from construction?” she wondered.

Rumpleteazer sighed. “Let’s hope so.”

* * *

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” shrieked Jemima and Victoria. They tried to scamper away from the cat, but he (or she?) ran around and blocked them on the other side too. Victoria stopped screaming long enough to get a look at the cat that was blocking their way. “Mistoffelees?” she cried.

“Victoria?” said Mistoffelees. He looked to Victoria’s left. “And Jemima?” He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was you two.”

Jemima shot Victoria a worried look. “You aren’t going to tell on us, are you?” she said softly.

“Not as long as you answer one question,” said Mistoffelees. “What are you doing? Why did you fix the sign? And how did you sneak past Gus?”

“I thought you were only going to ask one question,” teased Victoria. “But we’ll answer them anyway.” She sighed. “We snuck out so that we could try to help save the junkyard.” She immediately pointed at Jemima. “It was HER idea.”

Jemima glared at her. Then she turned back to Mistoffelees. “We fixed the sign because we thought it would be a start to help everyone save the junkyard,” she said. “And we got past Gus because we made him play hide and seek and… we kinda snuck away.” She grinned sheepishly.

Mistoffelees nodded. “I understand. You thought that it was unfair that only the teens and adults could help… not kittens. You just wanted to make a difference.”

Victoria’s mouth dropped open. “That’s exactly it!” she cried. She stared at Mistoffelees quizzically. “How did you know?”

“I did the exact same thing once,” confessed Mistoffelees. “When I was a kitten, that is.”

“You mean this is the second time the junkyard is gonna be torn down?” wondered Jemima.

Mistoffelees laughed. “No. It was a different situation. The city wanted to eliminate all of the Jellicles in the junkyard.”

“You mean… kill them all?” asked Victoria. “Or just kinda kick them out?”

“You see,” explained Mistoffelees, “Neighbors had been complaining about dozens of cats bothering them at night. I guess maybe we were a little too loud during that Jellicle Ball.” He chuckled. “Anyway, they got a petition going around and showed it to the mayor. He decided that the cats had to be gotten rid of. We didn’t want that to happen. But, like now, only the adults and teens could help solve the problem. Not kittens. And I was one of the kittens. The teens and adults debated and thought up all kinds of plans. But none of the ideas worked. I thought that I had come up with a wonderful idea.” By now, he was staring off into space as if he was in his own world. Mistoffelees continued. “I snuck out of the house where I was being watched over. I pulled the exact same trick you two did,” he admitted. Victoria smiled. “I went out and gathered some of my friends and we pulled off the trick,” said Mistoffelees. “It turns out that it didn’t work. Everyone was mad at me. Somehow, we managed to win the right to stay in the junkyard. No thanks to me,” he added. Mistoffelees sighed. “I sure learned my lesson.”

“Well, we won’t goof up like you did,” said Jemima firmly. “No offense, or anything.”

Mistoffelees smiled. “None taken.”

“We’re going to help save our junkyard no matter what you say,” stated Victoria.

“If you happen to make a mistake, you’re really going to regret it,” warned Mistoffelees.

Victoria shrugged. “We’ll just have to take that risk.”

“Okay,” said Mistoffelees. He started to walk away, then hesitated. “Good luck. And don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

* * *

“I don’t get it, Tugger,” said Mungojerrie, exasperated. “’ow could the sign all of a sudden… change?” He kicked a stone in his path, and continued walking around the junkyard with the Rum Tum Tugger, discussing the mystery of the magic “Dan Ger” sign.

Tugger shook his head. “I have no clue, Jerrie. But it all worked out for the good. I mean, if it turned out okay anyway, why wonder?”

“I guess you’re right,” admitted Mungojerrie. “But this mystery is going to drive me crazy for the rest of my life!”

“Maybe the sign’s haunted,” suggested Tugger. “Or maybe the Everlasting Cat feels like being nice to us today. Whatever the reason, the sign’s fine! Don’t worry about it!”

“I don’t care,” insisted Mungojerrie. “I just want to check on that sign one more time. Just to make sure we aren’t crazy.”

Tugger rolled his eyes. But he followed Mungojerrie over to where they had hung up the sign, carefully staying way behind.

* * *

Jemima and Victoria ran over back to where the “danger” sign was. Jemima got there first. She peeked around the corner into the junkyard. What she saw made her shriek.

“Vic!” she whispered urgently.

Victoria finally caught up with Jemima. “What is it?” she asked.

Jemima could barely contain her laughter. “Mungojerrie and Tugger are coming this way! Want to give them a scare?” she said mischievously.

Victoria giggled. “Okay.”

Jemima quickly turned over the sign to its other side so that it now read “Dan Ger” again. Then she motioned for Victoria to hide next to her behind a cardboard box.

“How much do you want to bet it’s still going to say “danger?” they could hear Tugger saying. “Just like it did before.”

“No!” insisted Mungojerrie. “I’ll bet it’s gonna say “Dan Ger” again!” Jemima could see him dash around the corner and face the sign. “Holy London!” cried Mungojerrie. “It’s changed again! I was right!” Jemima waited until Mungojerrie turned around to look for Tugger. Then, trying hard not to laugh, she flipped the sign over again so that it said “danger.” She ducked down into the shadows right before Tugger rounded the corner.

“What?” said Tugger, obviously fed up. “The sign still says ‘danger’, you stupid head.”

“It does?” asked Mungojerrie, surprised. He whirled around. “Yipes!” He widened his eyes, then turned to Tugger. “It just said ‘Dan Ger’ a minute ago, Tug! You gotta believe me!”

Tugger rolled his eyes. “You’re just trying to fool me. I know better. Come on, let’s go.” He turned and walked away.

Mungojerrie took one last look at the sign before he followed Rum Tum Tugger, muttering under his breath about “crazy spirits”.

Back Home
Back to Part 1
Back to Part 2