As she walked into her new home, the slim calico inhaled the cool air of the morning that was coming in through the open door.
“ Spotty, come here kitty,” her master beckoned her. She walked over to him, and he picked her up. He scratched her under her chin, (she loved it when people did that to her) then said to her, “ Why don’t you play outside for a while.” With that, he put her outside and closed the door.
She was furious at first, but then something that was moving caught her eye. It was another cat, and it was walking towards her. She began to hiss fiercely to warn the intruder off, but it was Munkustrap, and he wasn’t afraid of other cats.
“It’s okay,” he coaxed. “ I’m not here to fight, instead I want to welcome you to the neighborhood, since you moved into the house where an ex-Jellicle of ours used to live. Her name was Cassandra.” The scared calico backed away from him, and Munkustrap stayed where he was. Finally she began to ease up, and went to sniff him. He stayed still, as not to frighten her again. After she was done, she asked him what his name was.
“ Munkustrap,” he replied. “ And yours.”
“ Patchabie, but my owners call me Spotty,” she wrinkled up her pink nose at the name, then sat down to let him sniff her. He didn’t, instead he just walked a circle around her, to check out her markings.
She was mostly an all creamy light brown calico, with patches of white, black and red on her back and sides. Probably how she got the name Patchabie. Then he stood back in front of her to look at her face. She was a very attractive cat. Her face was the same creamy light brown as her body, with a white patch over her right eye. He thought she looked the opposite of Tumblebrutus and Pouncival, but the neatest quality about her was her eyes. She had one green eye (right), and one yellow eye.
After he was done examining her, he asked her if she would like to see the Junk Yard. She said that she would, and both cats left her home.
Back at the Junk Yard, Munkustrap found Coricopat and Tantomile, coming out of their chamber. He walked over to them and introduced Patchabie to them. She was a little skittish of the twins at first, but calmed down after Tantomile walked slowly over to her and nuzzled her shoulder.
“ I’m Tantomile,” the mystical female said giving Patchabie a friendly smile.
Coricopat stayed where he was and said, “ And I am Coricopat.” Patchabie gave him a shy smile, then walked over to nuzzle him.
She was starting to get used to other cats now. Munkustrap said he’d see the twins later, and went to introduce Patch to some of the other Jellicles. He noticed Mistoffelees was playing with a bug near them, so he walked to where he was. Mistoffelees stopped playing with the bug when Munkustrap appeared.
“ Aren’t you a little too old to be playing with bugs, Misto?” Munkustrap asked the younger tom, smiling. Misto glared at Munkustrap then noticed Patchabie standing behind him.
“ And just who are you hiding Munku?” Mistoffelees asked walking to where Patchabie stood behind the large tabby. “ Well, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen your pretty face around here before,” he said softly, she smiled at him. “ Is she a Jellicle Munku?”
“ No, she just moved into Cassie’s old house.”
“ Oh, what’s your name?” Misto asked her.
“ Patchabie, and yours?” she asked, liking how polite he was to her.
“ My friends call me Misto, but my real name is Mr. Mistoffelees. How old are you?”
“ 8 1/2 months, why?”
“ That’s how old I am, exactly!” Misto cried out happily.
“ He’s a magician Patch, don’t listen to him,” Munku said.
“ And just what do you mean by that?” Mistoffelees asked, frowning at him.
“ Nothing, geez, don’t get your whiskers in a bunch. I was only kidding,” Munku said taken aback.
“ Hmmph,” Misto grunted.
“ Don’t worry Misto, I’d like to get to know you better. I’ve never met a magical cat before,” Patchabie said rubbing her head under his black chin, but not in the way to let him think she was attracted to him, just a friendly rub. Mistoffelees smiled down at her.
“ Come on Patch, let’s introduce you to some of the other cats around here,” Munkustrap said walking away from Misto. Once they were gone Misto went back to his bug, only to find it gone. He said some not nice kitty words under his breath, then crept into a hole in some junk to be alone.
Sootaput, Jemima and Victoria were all wrestling around when Munkustrap came upon them. Victoria nearly crashed into Munkustrap as she was running, but dug her claws into the dirt floor to stop herself.
“ Hi Munku,” she said from where she stopped in front of him. The other two joined her.
“ Girls, I would like you to meet Patchabie,” Munkustrap said as he turned his head to the cat at his flank. The girls looked at the older cat and smiled.
“ Hi, I’m Victoria,” Victoria said, then got up and nuzzled against Patchabie’s chest.
“ I’m Jemima,” Jemima told her coming to sit behind Victoria.
“ And I’m the newest Jellicle cat, Sootaput,” Sooty said proudly, jumping onto Munkustrap’s back to look down at the older cat.
“ Nice to meet all of you,” Patch said as she nuzzled her head with Sootaput’s.
“ She’s pretty,” Jemima purred to Munkustrap, glad that she wasn’t the only calico now.
“ Yeah, where’d you find her?” Sootaput asked making no move to get down from where she sat on Munkustrap.
“ She just moved into Cassandra’s old place,” Munkustrap said as Alonzo, came out from the shadows to join them. A sad look on his face.
“ Yeah, you took my Cassi’s place,” he pouted.
“ Alonzo, and Cassandra were together,” Victoria informed Patchabie.
“ So, I didn’t catch your name,” Alonzo said, then picked Sootaput up in his mouth, who gave him a hiss, then set her down in front of him.
“ Patchabie,” she said, looking sympathetically at the large black and white tom, she had just moved away from her brother’s and sisters. “ I know what you’re going through Alonzo, I just got separated from my brothers and sisters, who I spent all my life living with.” Alonzo nodded his head in agreement. He also knew what it was like being separated from family.
“ Hey, I’m going to take you to meet our leader,” Munkustrap said looking down to Patch, who gave him a little grin. “ You guys want to come?” Munku asked the group of cats before him. They all nodded, and so they were off to Old Deuteronomy’s home, (it was still too early in the morning for him to be at the vicarage wall.)
Once the six cats reached their leaders house, they could hear his masters talking, but they didn’t hesitate to go through the cat door. When the masters saw the cats, the lady called out,
“ Smokey, some of your kitty friends are here to see you!” Jemima looked to Munkustrap and mouthed, ‘Smokey?’ Munkustrap shrugged, then they all sat down, and waited for their leader to get up from his bed by the fireplace. The lady then came up to the Jellicles and picked Sootaput up.
“ Well, aren’t you a cute little thing,” she said and Sootaput squirmed because she didn’t like to be held. The lady put her down, just as Old Deuteronomy came to sit before the bunch. Munkustrap nodded his head to the door, to let Deuteronomy know that he wanted to talk to him outside. Old Deuteronomy agreed, by standing up and leading the group out to the front lawn. They all settled underneath a big shade tree, except for Sootaput and Jemima, who decided they wanted to watch from above. They sprawled out on a branch each, and watched the other five cats on the ground. Victoria and Alonzo sat next to Deut, while Munkustrap sat next to Patchabie.
“ Hello, my dear,” Old Deuteronomy said to Patchabie, who gave him a big smile. “ My name is Old Deuteronomy, I am the leader of the group, of whom you have already met some of the members. What is your name my child?”
“ Patchabie.”
“ And do you wish to become a Jellicle, Patchabie?”
“ Actually, Munkustrap here came to my house this morning, to welcome me to the neighborhood. He said that I moved into the house, of one of your ex-Jellicle members. What did you say her name was Munku?”
“ Cassandra,” Munkustrap replied.
“ Yeah, Cassandra, and he then asked me if I wanted to see the Junk Yard, and I told him I did. Although, I have no idea what a Jellicle cat is,” Patchabie said truthfully.
So Old Deuteronomy explained to her about the Jellicle Ball that had taken place a couple of months back. Patchabie listened intently, without interrupting, and her eyes grew wide when he told her about the Heavyside Layer. He also told her of the Darkside Core, where Macavity had been trapped, and she felt a shiver run down her spine. After he was finished, he asked her once more if she wanted to be a Jellicle. She nodded her head. It was all that she ever wanted. Munkustrap said that she was old enough, to just join without having to take the test.
“ It’s settled then, we shall have a celebration tonight welcoming you to our group,” Old Deut said.
“ You’re going to love it!” Sootaput called from her spot in the tree.
Patchabie walked over to her new leader, and bowed her head to him, to show respect to the cat; whom she already respected. Then lied down in front of him and rubbed heads with him, then she licked his cheek, and would have gone on to groom him, had he not stood up, Alonzo helping him, and said that he hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. She looked up to him and gave him a purr and meow mixed. He smiled back to her, then started to walk to his cat door, Alonzo still helping him. Once Alonzo saw that his leader was safely inside, he went back to join the group. Jemima had fallen asleep on her branch, and Sootaput had to wake her up, before she climbed to the ground. Jemima yawned, and scratched her claws on the wood, before she got out of the tree to follow the others back to the Junk Yard.
Munkustrap found Demeter taking a cat-nap with her older sister Bombalurina. Munkustrap sat over his loving Demeter, watching her sleep. Her nose and whiskers twitching now and then. He found himself thinking of what he’d do, if he ever failed to protect her, or any of the Jellicles, but mostly her. Demeter awoke a few moments later, and tried not to wake up Bombalurina, who was tucked into a tight ball next to Demeter, although she was unsuccessful and her sister woke up. Neither of them noticed Munkustrap sitting over them, until Demeter stood up and bumped into him.
“ Hi sweetie,” he said licking the top of her ears. She gave a little yawn, then asked him how long he’d been sitting there. “ Not too long,” he reassured her.
Demeter looked into those sad eyes of his, and she knew right away that he needed someone to talk to. She excused herself from Bombalurina who was grooming herself. Munkustrap and Demeter found a large box, where they could talk. They crawled inside, and lied down. Demeter lied so close to her lover, that they could have been connected.
“ What’s wrong, Munku?” she asked, when he gave a tearful sigh.
“ I’m losing them, Demie. I’m not close to the group like I was before, and I don’t know why,” Munkustrap said as his eyes filled with kitty tears.
Demeter nuzzled against his muscular chest. She had never seen her tom so upset.
“ Oh, honey, you’re not losing them. They are just keeping to themselves, like you and I do,” Demeter said, and Munku sniffled. “ You don’t believe me do you?”
“ I do, it’s just that, I feel like I’m failing at being the leader that I’m going to be when Old Deuteronomy leaves. If I don’t earn their trust, that I’m not going to let them down now, how are they going to trust me not to let them down later?” He said as a tiny kitty tear slid down the side of his muzzle. Demeter licked it away. She knew the Jellicles trusted her love, she just had to make sure he knew that.
“ Munkustrap, hello are you in there?” Patchabie said from outside. Although, she didn’t dare peek her head in the box. Munkustrap crawled out of the box, and Demeter followed. “ Ah, there you are,” Patchabie said then noticed Demeter, “ Hi I’m Patchabie.” Demeter gave the younger female cat her usual warm welcome, by rubbing against her. Patchabie gave her one back.
“ She’s our newest Jellicle. She lives in the house where Cassandra used to,” Munkustrap said smiling at the two.
“ So, have you met everyone yet?” Demeter asked.
“ No, that’s why I came to get Munkustrap, to see if he could introduce me to the others I haven’t met yet.”
“ Well, who all have you met?” Demeter asked.
“ Let me see, I’ve met Old Deuteronomy, the twins, Rumpleteazer and Mungojerrie. Jemima, Sootaput, and Victoria. Alonzo, Tumblebrutus, Pouncival, and you,” Patchabie said giving the older female a sweet smile.
“ Well that leaves quite a bit of Jellicles left.” Munkustrap sighed.
“ How about I introduce her to Jenny, Jelly, Tugger, and my sister?” Demeter suggested. Munkustrap nodded his head, and watched the females leave, who started giggling about Tugger. He needed time to think, and now he was going to get it.
