Chapter One:
Preparations and Intrigues
A year passed.
“Gotcha!” A black and red kitten came flying out over the rear end of an old car and tackled a very surprised cat, pinning her to the ground.
“Nefret!” exclaimed the cat. “I thought you were at home with your family.”
“Hi Etcetera,” Nefret greeted her, giggling. She released the cat. “Yeah, I’m supposed to be at home but I was restless…so I came here!” she grinned. “Can you play with me?” Etcetera grinned back and pounced. They hadn’t been playing for but a few minutes when another kitten joined them. She was multi-colored, hence her name: Eclectica. She stared down at Nefret from her perch on top of the rocking chair.
“Nefret! Dad says to come home!” she yelled.
“Why?” Nefret asked.
“I think he wants to talk with you,” she explained, jumping off her post.
“About what?”
Eclectica giggled mischievously. “The Jellicle Ball.”
“Ohh…has he talked to you about it yet?”
“Yes, and he’s letting me go! He thinks I’m ‘mature’ enough to go.” They both giggled. “Mom’s going to start teaching me tonight.”
“You’re so lucky…but don’t you know what that means?” Nefret suddenly realized. “You won’t be a kitten anymore and…and…” Eclectica laughed.
“Don’t worry ‘bout me. Just go talk to Dad; and hurry up, or he’ll begin to get suspicious and angry at ME.”
“And where are you off to?” Nefret called after her when Eclectica started walking away.
“I’m going to find Tumble!” Eclectica said with a wink and sauntered off.
“Hey! Wait!” yelled Etcetera as she bounded off after the kitten. Nefret sighed and started home.
“But what if I don’t want to become an adult?” Munkustrap sighed. In many ways, Nefret was the most exasperating kitten he had ever met. She wanted to go to the Ball one minute, but not the next. Nefret lounged on her pillow.
“Is that your only reason?” he asked her gently.
“No…” she answered warily.
“What’s the other reason?” Nefret shifted uncomfortably.
“It’s, umm, well…it’s just that…you see…” Out of all subjects, this was the one she had really wanted to avoid.
“Oh,” Munkustrap said, realizing what she was getting at. “You’re worried about getting a mate.”
“Yes!” Nefret exclaimed suddenly. “What if no one chooses me? And what if a tom does, but I don’t like him? What if I don’t want a mate?”
“If you don’t want a mate now, you don’t have to get one,” he reassured her. Nefret sighed and stayed silent. “Isn’t there someone you like?” he pressed on, determined to try and figure out the exact cause of her unhappiness.
“No,” she replied ruefully. “But won’t I look stupid if I choose not to get one?”
“Nefret,” Munku began sternly, “look at Bombalurina. Nobody laughs at her because she chooses not to have a mate. There are lots of queens without mates.” She was silent for a moment, turning his response over in her mind and contemplating it.
“You win,” she relented, grinning. “So, what do I have to do to prepare for the Ball?” Her problem disappeared like the London fog on a sunny day.
“Your mother and Bom will teach you and your brother and sisters. And don’t be surprised if other cats show up to help also.”
“Oh, when when when when?” cried Nefret with kittenish impatience.
“Tonight,” Munkustrap replied, chuckling.
“Oh.” She curled up on her pillow. “Then I will sleep now so night will come faster.” She squeezed her eyes shut and was soon fast asleep, purring loudly. Munku shook his head and wandered over to the junkyard in search of his friend Mistoffelees.
“Hello Mistoffelees.” The small black cat whipped around, a look of surprise upon his face.
“Oh, hello Munkustrap,” he greeted him in turn.
“I was wondering something, my friend: has your son met Nefret yet?”
“I don’t believe so,” Mistoffelees replied after thinking for a moment.
“Really? Even during those few lessons?” Munkustrap pressed on.
“No. Why?”
“Is he going to the Ball?”
“Yes, though it was hard convincing him to… Why?” he asked, growing suspicious of the probable answer.
“Nefret has been having some reservations about going to the Ball, and I was thinking that perhaps a friend her age might help.”
“A male friend.”
“It wouldn’t hurt.” The two friends sat in silence for a moment.
“What about Eclectica, Athena, and Rhadamus?” asked Mistoffelees.
“A friend outside her family,” Munku stressed.
“She’s worried about getting a mate?”
“Quite.”
“And you think my son can help out with this?”
“Yes.”
“Well then, let’s go talk some more. He has the same problem.” In a few minutes the brief exchange was over and the two cats began plotting.
Nefret practically exuded excitement as she jumped down into the junkyard. She rolled to a stop in front of Bombalurina. “So when are we going to start, when when when?”
“When Eclectica, Rhadamus, and Athena show up; and you calm down a little,” Bom added, laughing. Nefret ‘humphed’ and immediately stopped hopping up and down and sat quietly. However, it was only a minute before she was back upon her feet and pacing back and forth.
“Maybe I should go get them,” she began.
“Nefret!” exclaimed an exasperated Demeter. “If I teach you a couple of steps will you be quiet?”
“Yes,” she replied with a grin. It was part of a slow and graceful dance that Nefret easily mimicked. She was right in the middle of a step when she suddenly tensed and her ears perked forward.
“What’s wrong?” Rhadamus asked as he, Athena, and Eclectica suddenly appeared at the far side of the junkyard.
“A vague feeling,” she answered, frowning. Since she was little, she had been troubled by occasional feelings of something wrong. Mistoffelees had taught her how to pinpoint the source, but he never told her why she had them.
“Where is it coming from?” asked Alonzo. Nefret concentrated hard for a second.
“Up there,” she said, raising a paw to point at the top of a nearby building. The toms rushed off without so much as a thank you. “What was that about?” she wondered aloud. Bom and Dem looked at each other.
“Maybe they needed to see Old Deuteronomy,” Bombalurina suggested.
“Maybe,” Nefret repeated. Munkustrap’s suggestion had been honored by all the jellicles; Nefret had no idea who Macavity was, let alone a henchcat. All the cats personally wondered how long the charade was to last. As Demeter often pointed out, sooner or later Nefret would discover the truth.
“Hey,” Eclectica chirped, “when are we going to begin?”
“Well, now that the rest of you have arrived, we can begin,” Demeter stated ushering the kittens into a line.
