Chapter Four:
The Mystery Cat
Nefret kept her new knowledge a secret, delighting in it like a hidden treasure. She had decided, after a few days of deep concentration and thinking, to ask her mother and father just who exactly Macavity was. Secretly she was worried that they would be angry at her, but like most kittens, curiosity ran like wildfire through her and prevailed over any sense of self-preservation.
Nefret was late for that night’s lesson. The other cats looked annoyed, especially her siblings.
“Nefret!” wailed Athena, the youngest of the four. “We’ve been waiting foooooreeeeeeeeeever!”
“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I was…thinking.”
“Thinking? Thinking’s stupid,” declared Eclectica.
“Hey, what do you have against thinking?” asked Rhadamus, bopping his sister over the head. Eclectica shrieked and pounced on him. Within seconds they were a ball of bouncing, writhing fur. Munkustrap and Demeter looked at each other and sighed. The black and yellow queen moved forward to break up the fight. Nefret used the opportunity to move in closer to her father.
“Dad?” she asked quietly. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course,” he replied, watching the fight and really only half-listening.
“Well…” she began, her nervousness beginning to reflect in her voice and posture, “who is Macavity?” At the sound of that name the junkyard grew silent. Eclectica and Rhadamus stopped fighting and turned to stare. Nefret could feel every eye upon her and looked up at her father hesitantly. Munkustrap was silent. He turned his back to her and walked over to Demeter and Bombalurina. After conversing for a few tense minutes, he broke away from the two and took a place next to Nefret.
Bombalurina and Demeter took center stage, so to speak, of the junkyard. Bom stayed in the back, watching on as Demeter began to sing and dance.
“Macavity’s a mystery cat,
he’s called the Hidden Paw…”
At the end of Dem’s verses, Bombalurina stood up, her red coat shimmering in the moonlight. She took over from where Dem left off, singing about the infamous mystery cat.
“Macavity’s a ginger cat,
he’s very tall and thin…”
Nefret sat wide-eyed, her mind taking in every detail of what was happening before her. Her head began to sway along with the beat, and she felt an urge to rush up and join the queens when they went up to join in singing about the exploits of the Napoleon of Crime. There was a loud sudden crash when the song ended.
“Macavity!” Demeter hissed. She rushed over to protect Eclectica and Rhadamus. Nefret and Athena huddled against Munkustrap. The other cats assembled into various groups. Mistoffelees and Munkustrap scanned the junkyard while Alonzo walked around the perimeter. Less than a minute after the loud crash, a giggle came from behind the oven, quickly followed by an annoyed “Shhh!” Two heads popped up from behind the oven.
Mistoffelees sighed. “Mungojerrie…”
“And Rumpleteazer!” Eclectica exclaimed, rushing over. Much to her parents’ dismay, she had fallen in with the two tricksters and was learning the art of theft bit by bit. The youngest girl’s golden necklace had gone missing last week, and Munkustrap and Demeter forced Eclectica to return it immediately to its place in the drawer.
“So, wot’s going on ‘round ‘ere?” asked Mungojerrie.
“Bom and Dem were just teaching Nefret about Macavity,” Munku responded, calm once more.
“Oh, she found out,” Rumpleteazer quickly surmised. “’Ave you told ‘er that – “ Munkustrap quickly cut her off.
“No, I haven’t yet. It isn’t the right time,” he said quietly.
“I think it’s the perfect time,” Nefret chirped. She didn’t like having secrets withheld from her and the fact that the entire tribe seemed to know hurt her. “So what is it? Some long-held family secret? Am I the secret? Or is it that Macavity you speak of?”
“It’s both,” Demeter said gently, attempting in vain to soothe the kitten.
“Who told you of Macavity?” interrupted Alonzo.
“Does it matter?” Nefret retorted, going on the defensive. She had a feeling that Xarion would get in trouble if they knew and that all the cats were getting angry at her for knowing some mystery cat’s name!
“Yes,” Munku replied in all seriousness. “You weren’t allowed to be told – for your own protection,” he added to ward off an outburst.
“My protection?” ‘This is getting more and more confusing every minute!’ Nefret thought miserably.
“Yes, we’ll explain in a minute, but back to the question; who told you?”
“He told me his name was Xarion.” It came out in a jumbled mass of words that Nefret couldn’t stop, and she felt bad afterwards. She hated being a tattle-tale. All the cats in the junkyard turned to face Mistoffelees upon the pronunciation of Xarion’s name.
“I’ll go speak to him.” In a flash the magical cat was gone.
“Wha-“ Nefret didn’t even have a chance to ask her question before Munkustrap wheeled around to face her and started talking.
“So, you have learned who Macavity is. Do you know what a stray and henchcat are?” Nefret nodded silently. He sighed. “I wanted to wait until you were older to tell you. This is a family secret, but it involves the whole tribe, especially you.”
“And Macavity?” she questioned.
“Macavity too. You see…well…you know you’re not my real daughter.”
“Yep. I don’t look anything like you or mother,” Nefret said with a giggle.
“Shh!” Bom said, vainly trying to keep the kitten quiet.
“Nefret.” Munkustrap paused. This was the moment of truth. For better or worse, this was going to change everything. He took a deep breath before continuing. “Nefret, your parents are still alive.” Nefret’s world turned upside down. She felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach. She opened her mouth but no sound emerged. She just stood there, gasping for air. Demeter nuzzled her, but Nefret barely felt it. Her parents were alive! They were alive and it had been kept from her!
“How…how long h-have you known?” she managed to get out.
“We’ve suspected your father was ever since we found you,” Demeter admitted. “We only found out about both your parents for sure yesterday.” Nefret’s mind whirled and she stumbled.
“W-w-where? Who?” were the only words she could mutter.
“Listen to me, Nefret.” Munkustrap tried to stay away from using a scolding tone. “Your daddy…is a not nice cat. He is an enemy of the jellicles and will want to take you away.”
“My papa Macavity?” In her extreme confusion, Nefret had lapsed back into the baby talk she had used as a young kitten.
“Yes, and your mother’s name is Solitaire, one of his top henchcats; or should I say queen?” Nobody contradicted his use of terminology.
“Oh…tell me about her.” Nefret’s need to know about her mother was a child’s longing to hear a story about some great relative.
“She’s black from head to tail,” Alonzo spoke up. “Beautiful, too.”
“She has golden eyes,” Victoria added, remembering a time when she had faced those piercing eyes.
“And she’s highly trained,” Munkustrap concluded. “She is a very dangerous cat, and has announced to me her intention of taking you away from us, Nefret. You must be- “
“Very careful,” finished a sly voice that filled the junkyard.
“Macavity!” Demeter yelled. The Hidden Paw stood upon the magical tire in all his glory. Nefret gasped. It was almost like looking in a mirror. To be sure, he was bigger and had white on him…but the coat was hers, the distinctive ginger coloring was the same that graced her own fur. The other cats were in a panic (save Munkustrap), but Nefret remained strangely calm. She somehow inherently knew that she had nothing to fear from him – or that black cat in the shadows behind him. Even when two strays grabbed her and started dragging her off, Nefret did not panic. The shouts of the jellicles grew distant till they were barely a whisper to her ear.
“Where are we going?” she asked quietly.
“Home,” came the whispered answer.
