He sighed quietly, finally finding the strength to ball up his body, not even noticing the threat the lurked within the shadows. Victoria and Jemima crouched silently in the darkness waiting for the perfect moment to strike at the older cat. Victoria leaped into the open, attacking one of Munkustrap’s ears, as Jemima followed closely behind, pouncing on the end of his tail. The gray and black tabby opened one eye half-way and flicked his ears, throwing the white kitten off. She tumbled off backwards into a small pile of garbage and frowned at his lack of enthusiasm. "What are you little ones up to?" Munkustrap inquired, yawning as he spoke.
"We want to play!" Jemima announced almost incomprehensibly, her mouth still filled with fur.
Munkustrap stretched out his hind legs and swished his tail playfully, sending the other kitten tumbling towards Victoria and ultimately causing a domino effect. "That sounds like fun, but I was trying to get a little rest before I had to return to my work," he informed the two. "Is there not another cat that you can play with? How about Pouncival or Etcetera?"
The kittens cocked their heads to the side and frowned. " They’re all too busy right now trying to decide what to do about the intruder?" Victoria answered, disappointed.
Munkustrap raised his head, now more interested in the day’s happenings. "What intruder?"
He looked up towards the horizon, sensing another Jellicle approaching, before Victoria or Jemima could answer him. Mistoffelees soon came into view. He rushed towards them in giant leaps, his jet black fur clashing deeply with the bright day’s landscape. Bombalurina followed closely behind the magical cat. Her faced was stained with alarm and concern, markings of an early warning for the trouble that lay ahead. Munkustrap sat up straight now, with solemn look engraved on his face. The kittens backed up towards a wall of garbage, knowing full well not to interfere among the older Jellicles. Reaching the tire first, Mistoffelees collapsed into a pile beside the others, trying desperately to catch his breath to reveal the distress within the junkyard. Bombalurina soon arrived as well, in better condition to speak than her companion. "There is a terrible argument taking place within the junkyard," she began frantically. "All Jellicles have lost control, and they refuse to come to you!"
Munkustrap looked down at her with deep concern. "Where is this all taking place?" he inquired grimly.
"Next to the busted car," she answered, softer than before.
Poor Mistoffelees only nodded his head in agreement, still huffing and puffing from the furious pacing before. Munkustrap sprung to his feet and bounded across the junkyard with new found strength. Victoria and Jemima followed closely behind, accompanied by Bombalurina. Mistoffelees backed up the bunch, somehow finding the vigor to go on.
The area around the broken down vehicle was now flooded in a sea of Jellicles. Fur of every color, length, and texture all blended into a tremendous hairball, forbidding any particular cat to stand out completely. Munkustrap paused at the top of a trash pile to observe the occurrences below. The scene itself was not nearly as bad as he had originally dreaded. Most of the Jellicles acted as spectators, attentive to a fierce debate stirring between Alonzo and Demeter atop the car hood. "How can you defend her?" demanded Alonzo. "You don’t know anything about her!" "She is a stray, and that is all I need to know about her!" countered Demeter. "She probably has nowhere to go. We’re always adopting kittens, so why not make her a Jellicle as well?"
"This is different than adopting kittens! We can’t just take her in like that. What if she is allies with Macavity or one of his agents?"
"How can you dare say that? You don’t know her. You know nothing of who she sides with!"
The fighting continued, becoming fiercer all the while. Bombalurina and Mistoffelees looked up at Munkustrap helplessly, not knowing exactly if they should say anything more. He looked at their desperate faces, and then returned his vision to the episode down below. He still had not hint to what the whole incident was about, but he was not willing to let that prevent it from ceasing. Slowly and quietly he slunk around the mass of cats and into the drivers seat of the old automobile. He watched the argument a few seconds more and then pressed generously against the center of the driver’s wheel. A shrill blast exploded from the car, and sent every Jellicles fur standing straight on end. "Well, now that the commotion has died down a bit, would someone please explain why there is fighting taking place in the junkyard?" he requested, calmly.
The other cats stared at him with wide open eyes, still alarmed from the deafening noise. Munkustrap then turned to Alonzo and Demeter. "Perhaps one of you would like to fill me in."
The two bowed their heads, keeping their eyes fixed firmly on the rusting metal beneath them. Their tails that once swished angrily were now frozen rigidly between their hind legs. Munkustrap once again surveyed the junkyard around him, his eyes darting from one cat to another, searching for the answer he was looking for. "A stray was found sleeping in the large pipe," assisted Mistoffelees, finally able to speak after so long. "No one knew what to do about her presence."
The explanation was not complex, nor blaming anyone. Munkustrap nodded to his friends in satisfaction. "Well, couldn’t we just adopt the kitten into the tribe, as we do for the others we find?" he suggested.
"That will not work this time!" Alonzo declared, suddenly breaking his temporary silence. "She is not a kitten. She is an adult, just like you and me."
A look of surprise slipped into Munkustrap’s facial expression. This was far from what he had assumed. All eyes darted from Alonzo to Munkustrap, pondering what the outcome would be. "A grown cat? Why did none of you come to me? You know that this situation concerns me just as it does the rest of you."
Alonzo’s eyes once again met the ground, along with the rest of the Jellicles. "Where is the stray now?" Munkustrap questioned.
"She is still sleeping in the pipe," revealed Jellyorum, trying to keep her motherly instincts from getting the better of her.
Munkustrap nodded with approval and hopped down from the car, heading towards the other side of the junkyard. "What are you going to do to her?" asked Demeter, with concern still lingering in her voice.
"We are going to talk to her," he told her. "She might not be as dangerous to us as we might think. Macavity and his henchmen are clever, but not that obvious to plant such a decoy in the center of our territory."
With that said, Munkustrap started for the pipe. A small handful of Jellicles followed, leaving the rest to wait for the later gossip. Bombalurina and Mistoffelees backed up the group once again, glancing at each other every so often. They hoped that they had done the right thing. Jemima quickened her pace to match that of the influential tabby. "What are you going to say to the stray when we get there?" she asked, with worry in her voice.
Munkustrap shrugged, slowing down his stride for the young kitten. "I do not know yet, little one. Sometimes it is better not to plan your words ahead of your actions.
As they rapidly approached the pipe, the kittens began to lag behind, making way for the elders of the tribe. Munkustrap stopped a short distance away from the pipe and sniffed at the unfamiliar scent that lingered in the air. Little could be seen of the cat at first. Her body was hidden within the dimness of the pipe’s entrance, allowing only her balled up silhouette to be seen. "She’s still here," Alonzo observed, with some anger to his voice.
"Great! Now we can be sure to kick her fuzzy butt out of our territory!" exclaimed Tumblebrutus, who had always looked up to Alonzo since he was a kitten.
Jellyorum, letting her maternal values get the better of her, swatted her paw, just missing the side of the head. "What is wrong with you?" she demanded. "That poor cat has done nothing but sleep here this whole time! She hasn’t done a thing to you or anyone else."
Tumblebrutus only growled in return, cradling his head with his hands in case she were to try the move again. The arguing was on once more. Plato glared over at Jellyorum. "What are you talking about? She’s invading our space, trespassing on our territory, intruding on our…"
Jennyanydots quickly quieted him by grabbing his ear with the tips of her claws. "What’s the matter with you? Why are you getting so melodramatic over a sleeping cat? Maybe you should join Gus at the theater door!"
By then, most of the Jellicles had begun to side with one another out of impatience. All of the commotion that was taking place started to wake up the resting stray, as she half-way opened a sleepy eye to take in her surroundings. There were many unfamiliar cats in front of her, most of whom were arguing viciously over something that she could not yet grasp a hold of. Where did all of these cats come from, she wondered. None of the had been around at the time of her arrival. She listened silently to their controversy, catching bits and pieces despite the shouts for silence by another of the cats. Intruder…sleeping…danger…inside the pipe…me?! Were these cats planning on harming her? She had to get out. She had to hide now! She got to her feet and lowered her back, with a hiss that sounded above all of the commotion. The Jellicles sprung up in surprise and turned towards the stranger. She now stood at the foot of the sun’s rays, coming into view from where the others stood. Startled by her reaction to their presence, each Jellicle glanced up at their leader for what move to make next.
Instead of the reaction that they had been expecting, Munkustrap breathed in deeply, taken aback by the stranger’s beauty. She was tall and slender, with eyes that could camouflage within the midnight skies. Her red-orange and black tabby fur blended in a blinding brightness with a stripe of white that ran down her chest. She took one quick glance at him, then bolted from the pipe and into the shadows of the junkyard, without any further hesitation. The Jellicles looked up towards Munkustrap once more. "Should we go after her?" asked Tumblebrutus, still fearing Jellyorium’s wrath.
Munkustrap only stared, without a word, in the direction that the cat had taken. After a moment of wordlessness, he turned and headed off in a different direction. The day flew by, as it usually did, and the memories of the earlier intruder were soon for gotten by most, except for Munkustrap. He had excused himself from the other Jellicles and had sat alone in a cloud of thoughts for the remainder of the day. The sky had become a fabulous shade of purple when Munkustrap finally abandoned his pondering and stretched out on his tire, preparing for a much needed rest. As he laid his body upon the smooth rubber, he could not shake his sixth sense’s warning that there was someone present. "No more catnip before bedtime, Munkustrap," he mumbled to himself, as he curled up slowly.
A sudden rustle from a nearby junk pile sent his ears twitching in all directions. He sat up immediately, trying to track down the exact location that it was coming from. "Guess that sixth sense just can’t let you down," he admitted, smirking at himself.
He jumped down from the tire, his sleep interrupted for the second time that day, and crept over to the pile. He sniffed lightly at the air and then the junk pile. A soft mew slipped from the garbage and surprised the large tabby. He jumped away, startled at first, but crept a little closer to the sound. He searched through the pile using only his vision, until he finally found what he had been looking for. Even in the dim light her eyes blazed through the garbage, despite their resemblance to polished black opal. The stray’s glance met his and she backed up in fear, causing her hiding place to collapse. She was left exposed out in the open of the other cat. She crouched down and arched her back, just as he had earlier that day, hissing at the gray tabby. Munkustrap held his ground, refusing to advance nor retreat. For a moment he confronted each other in silence. "I suppose you will go and find your friends now so you all can run me out of the junkyard," the stray accused him, finally breaking the silence.
Munkustrap stared at her in surprise, both from her words and her pleasing voice. "No," he stated. "Why would I do a thing like that?"
"How would I know what you would do?" she snapped back. "All I know is that you and your allies were certainly not playing the welcome committee this afternoon."
Munkustrap grimaced at her statement, remembering the day’s events. "I am sorry if you thought we meant you harm. I was only curious about you and where you came from."
Her eyes never touched the ground, but simply focused on him, searching for the truth in his voice. His eyes swore to her than he was genuine, allowing her to relax a little more in his presence. "Maybe I should have left when I had the chance. It’s hard when you have nowhere to go and no one who cares for you," she confided, her voice softer than before.
He cocked his head to the side, studying her expression. "Don’t you have any family or friends?"
The stray’s eyes suddenly hit the ground into a pool of bitterness and shame. "No one," she answered, almost in a murmur. "My human family abandoned me."
Munkustrap felt his heart shatter within his chest as he heard the words slip out of her mouth. He found himself speechless, watching the tears begin to slide down her face and onto her paws. His found his eyes sliding down her neck and focusing in on her neck. There was a light indention left in her fur as a constant reminder of where her collar once hung, like a medal of honor taken away. "I’m sorry," he apologized quietly, and moved over just close enough to gently nuzzle her shoulder in sympathy.
The female was somewhat startled by his action, tensing her muscles in nervousness, but chose not to back away. Munkustrap found satisfaction in her trust and bent his head down to meet hers, trying to catch her eye. "What is your name?"
"Cadamine," she whispered, looking up to him.
Her eyes glistened in the moonlight, captivating his sight so that he could not look away. For another moment there was silence, and then he nodded with approval. "That is a beautiful name. My name is Munkustrap and there is no reason why you should leave the junkyard. You are welcome to stay here for as long as you like." Cadamine smiled up at him, filled with hope and gratitude. "You would take me in just like that?" she wondered aloud.
Munkustrap smiled back. "You would be surprised how many of the others in the tribe have gone through the same thing that you have," he responded, pulling at his collar with a missing name tag. "You may stay with me tonight and tomorrow we will try to find you a spot of your own."
He helped her up to the tire, allowing her the softest spot, and took his place by her side. Cadamine gave him a look of approval and nuzzled her head against his chest. "Thank you for helping me tonight. I don’t know what I would have done without you."
Munkustrap felt his body tingle as a reminder of her touch, and twitched his whiskers. "It was my pleasure," he whispered in return, snuggling closer to warm the kindred stray.
