Skyfinder
She woke up the next morning warm in her bed on the ship. She was living with her mother, Ozmala, her father, SeawatercatzI, her brother, Looselaces, and her sister, Tanglebraids. Just by their names, you could tell what their personalities were. Her father was tough, street-wise, and belonged to a sea captain. Her mother, Ozmala, was a bit different, though. She was pretty, sweet, and kind. She always knew the right ways of doing things. Her brother, on the other hand, was clumsy, as if he were wearing shoes, with the laces loose and untied. Her sister, Tanglebraids, was a tough cat. When they would keep the boat at a dock, she would like to roam the unfamiliar streets alone at night, when all the dogs were out. She liked to pick fights with all of the dogs and show them how tough she was. A few times, she would get trapped in a corner, or in some dog's mouth. But she always managed to get out alive. When she was little, she decided that catching birds was stupid and for kittens, even though she was still one.
Skyfinder looked around the empty room of the ship. She wanted to go out and look for adventure – that was the way she was : a trouble maker. She had never had any friends, besides her brother and sister, because of their living arrangements. That is why today she decided that she would go out and look for a new home.
She got up and stretched before she walked out onto the deck. Her mother was laying at the very tip at the front, basking in the bright sun and heat of the day. Her mom looked up as she passed by and asked,
"Where are you off to?"
"I'm leaving this crummy boat, and looking for an adventure."
"You mean, you're looking for trouble."
"No, an adventure. I don't care how upset Captain will be, looking for me, I want to go do something fun… and make friends with some of the other cats!"
Her mom looked a little disappointed, but said, "Well if that's what you want to do, then so-be-it!"
"Thanks, mom. Well I guess then I'm off!"
"Hey, I have an idea," Ozmala said with a "catty" smile, "I think that it would be safer for you if you took your older sister along on your little journey."
"Okay," Skyfinder grinned.
She went back into the boat, found Tanglebraids, and then were off.
"Where are you planning on going?" Tanglebraids asked her sister.
"Well," Skyfinder asked, "where are we?"
"We're in London."
"Well then I guess I'll just stay here and find a nice family to take us in," Skyfinder replied.
"How come you needed to know where we were to give me an answer like that?" Tanglebraids yelled.
"Now don't start with that temper again!" Skyfinder hissed.
"Hey, stop trying to act like mom. And ya know what? I'm outta here! I'm goin' back to the boat!" Tanglebraids stormed away.
"Fine!" Skyfinder yelled back, "I never needed you anyway!"
It was about 8 o'clock, dusk, when Skyfinder started to feel lonely. I wish Tanglebraids was here to help me! What if a dog eats me up? I'm definitely finished out here. I'm probably not even going to last the rest of the night out here! Skyfinder walked on, lonely and cold. What if she never found someone to take her in? Would she last living out here alone, cold, and without a home for the rest of her life? She decided to keep those thoughts out of her head.
"I'd better go find a place to sleep and be safe," she thought aloud.
Skyfinder walked over to an alley where she saw a nice little family of mice living. There couldn't be a nicer alley to live! Here she would have food, shelter, and maybe she could even find another cat to keep her company. But it was fall. How would she survive when winter came? That was another thought that she decided to keep out of her head. She decided that she would just wait until winter came until she had to deal with it.
Skyfinder walked slowly, and cautiously into the alley. She kept looking behind her to make sure that no one or nothing was creeping up on her. The time was right. She was hungry, and to what she thought, she was alone. She counted to three in her head…
1…2…3! And then she pounced! She ran, trying to catch a mouse, but they all seemed too fast for her. Then, all of a sudden, she was startled by someone saying,
"A little "Sea Cat" like yourself, you're not going to catch anything."
She looked around, and then noticed a cat perched on a car that had been run down to its very last drive. The cat was black and white, with spots and stripes. He was sitting there, holding a mouse in his paws, by it's tail. It was dangling there, trying to get away. Skyfinder was just standing there, staring at the mouse running in the air.
"Here - " the cat flung her the mouse. Skyfinder tried to catch it, but missed, and chased after it as it quickly ran away. The cat shook his head. "Listen, why don't next time, I kill the mouse for you?" He asked sarcastically.
"Hey, I'm just out of practice!" Skyfinder answered back defensively, "Our boat hasn't had any rats or mice in a long time!"
"So you are a "Sea Cat" ?" the stranger cat said, "Out here, that's just an insult to someone who can't catch mice! So, what boat are you on?"
"The Bubble," Skyfinder answered a little mad.
"Hey, I thought that that boat left already?" the cat asked.
"Yeah, it did," Skyfinder told him, in a calmer voice, "but I decided to leave and find a real home."
Hey, listen," the cat said, "You should've stayed on that boat, cause you ain't gonna find a very good home out here!"
"Oh, thanks for telling me!" Skyfinder answered him back, frustrated and mad, "I have to go now and find an alley that isn't taken already!"
"Well trust me, mate, you're not going to find one out here!" the cat told her.
Skyfinder looked back with pleading eyes that said, Can I stay here?
"I have an idea, kit," the cat suggested, "Why don't you stay down here in this alley, until you find a new one to stay in, and tomorrow, my friends and I'll help you find a new one to stay in – or – if everyone agrees, you can stay here, in this alley."
"Well…okay." Skyfinder smiled.
"Hey, my name's Alonzo… who are you?" the cat smiled back.
"My name's Skyfinder."
"Okay, well then, welcome, Skyfinder… for now…" Alonzo smiled and said, "My friends will be back in a little bit, so until then, make yourself at home."
"All right, thanks," Skyfinder smiled and found a place to lay and rest her eyes.
It didn't seem like Alonzo wanted her to, because he kept on asking questions.
"So," he asked, "Where are you originally from?"
"New York City, you?"
"Australia. What are your parents' names?"
"My dad is SeawatercatzI, and my mom is Ozmala. You?"
"My dad is Old Deuteronomy – he's the leader of all Jellicle Cats. Do you have any siblings?"
"Yeah – a sister, Tanglebraids, and a brother, Looselaces. You?"
"Yeah. I have two brothers, Munkustrap and Rum Tum Tugger. They're both older than me – you?"
Skyfinder sat up and said jokingly, "Hey, you're asking the questions, I answer and say, "You?" – but anyway…" she smiled and said, "they're both older than me – you?"
"Older." Alonzo laughed.
"Who's this?" a voice asked.
Alonzo looked up, and when he saw who it was, he went over to them. There were at least nineteen of them. He explained who she was and what the deal was that he made with her. They all looked her over, walking in circles around her, one at a time. She kept her hackles up, to make herself look fierce, like her sister sometimes did, but she also didn't want to look too mean, so she didn't put all of them up. When one was done circling her, another one would come and look her over. When the one who was finishing was done, he/she would go to where Alonzo was, and start whispering things about her. She was curious as to what they were saying, and was trying to restrain herself from running away. When they were all done circling her and done whispering, the all got in a line and stood absolutely still. Alonzo walked up to her and said,
"You're accepted. If you want, you can stay as long as you like. Don't feel like a visitor, most of us have accepted you, and now, if you want, this is your home too. We all leave when we want, but beware – if you leave, your chances of being accepted again are very slim! Last Jellicle Ball, a cat by the name of Grizabella came back, and we wouldn't accept her, but at the moment of choosing, we all gave her to be taken up to the Heavy Side Layer to get a new, and better life. Trust me, no one had wanted to do it, until the very last moment, but none others have ever been accepted. So, if you're going to stay, stay – but if not, then tomorrow, my friends and I will help you find a new home. So, what's it gonna be?"
Skyfinder thought about it a minute. This was deciding what she was going to do for the rest of her life. Would she stay and have many new friends, or would she go and have an adventure, and see what comes her way……?
"I'll stay," she replied after some tough thinking.
"Great." Alonzo smiled and said. "Everyone, meet the new member, Sky!"
"Um," Skyfinder nudged on Alonzo's paw, "My name's Skyfinder – NOT Sky!"
"That's okay, it sounds better as Sky!" Alonzo told her. "And it might make the others like you a little more, because it doesn't make you sound so perfect!"
"Well," Skyfinder answered back, "okay, then."
"Now, to introduce you to everyone, well…almost everyone." Alonzo told her.
"This is : Munkustrap, Rum Tum Tugger, Bombalurina, Demeter, Jemima, Tumblebrutus, Pouncival, Plato, Victoria, Cassandra, Etcetera, Electra, Copricat, Tantomile, Admetus, Skimbleshanks, Jennyanydots, Asparagus, and Jellylorum. Right now, Mistoffelees and Old D. are out getting dinner. Most of us don't like Mongojerrie and Rumpleteazer, because they're REALLY big trouble makers! Macavity is almost everyone's enemy, except Bombalurina, because it's her brother! Rumpus Cat is just a REAL weirdo, who hates every pollicle and Macavity. So, you can just go on by yourself from there."
"Okay, thanks." Sky smiled and thought, I can't wait to meet Mongojerrie and Rumpleteazer! They sound like really good trouble makes, and we just might become very good friends!
Unfortunately for her, Sky was disturbed from her thoughts, by the cats trying to talk to her. They all basically asked her the same questions as what Alonzo asked, like : Where are you from? Who are your parents? Do you have any siblings? What are their names? The usual. Then, all of a sudden out of nowhere….a cat appeared! He was all black, except for his face and chest. It looked as though he were wearing a little black bow tie, but when Sky looked closer, she noticed that it was just his fur. He was holding ten dead rats. Seconds later, a bigger cat showed up, too, carrying thirteen rats. Those were some of the biggest rats Sky had ever seen! They were almost as big as her!
"Well," the big cat asked, "who's this lovely little cat?"
"Her name's Skyfinder….or if you want, Sky," Alonzo answered.
"Well, then I guess that it's a good thing that we always catch one extra rat, just in case of a traveler stopping by." The cat said.
"Oh, I'm sorry for being so rude," Munkustrap said to Sky, "Sky, this is my father, and the main leader of all Jellicle cats, Old Deuteronomy. And that other cat is Mistoffelees, the magician cat."
"What – no mice?" Tugger exclaimed, but everyone ignored him.
"Well it's very nice to meet you," Old D. said to her.
"And to you, too." Sky answered back.
"Well," Tugger yelled, "I'm starved – let's eat!"
Everyone grabbed a rat and started clawing at it, and eating. Sky thought that she was going to be sick from all of the blood. She hadn't eaten a mouse in such a long time, and these rats were huge, which meant that there was more blood! Besides all of that, she had had her nails clipped just the other day, so she couldn't exactly scratch at the huge, tough-skinned rat, so she just nibbled at the sides and didn't look at what was oozing out. For a long time on the boat, she had been eating only little food pellets, and not even mice! She stopped chewing, and pushed the huge rat to the side.
"Hey," Alonzo cried to her, "these are water rats – your specialty! You don't like them?" Sky shook her head.
"Great!" Tugger cried, "More for me!" He grabbed the rat, and started digging in.
Sky was starving, and hadn't eaten since breakfast! Now what was she going to do? She looked around at the bloody cats. Their faces were covered in blood from eating their rats, and so were their paws.
"Do you want me to catch you some mice?" Jemima asked.
"Uh…yeah, sure. Thanks." Sky smiled.
Jemima looked under the car, in the corners, in little holes, and then when she looked in a drain pipe, she saw where all of the mice were hiding. One little curious one decided to check out what was going on outside of the pipe, and came out. Jemima smashed it with her paw, and it died instantly. Seconds later, three more mice came out to see what was going on and what happened to the first mouse. Jemima smashed those, too.
"Do you want more?" She asked Sky.
"No, that'll do. Thank you." Sky smiled at Jemima as she handed her the four mice.
Jemima went back to eating her mouse, and Sky dug into her mice. She thought that they tasted delicious! It seemed so special for her to be eating mice, since she hadn't gotten to eat any since Captain had first set off with Sky and her family on the last trip they went on (they had last come here and the bottom of the ship had been filled with tons of little mice, which then grew into bigger, juicier mice). Sky felt that her mice were as good to her, as the rats were to Tugger.
"Teeheehee!" everyone heard a tiny little giggle and they knew who it was.
"Who was that?" Sky asked.
Just then, two cats poked their heads up from behind the car. They looked around and gave a great big "catty" smile. They looked around and jumped up onto the car and started sniffing the air.
"It was Rumpleteazer," Electra told her, "and that other cat is Mongojerrie."
"Do we smell….sea rat?" Jerrie asked licking his chops.
"Yeah," Rump added, "And how come we weren't invited to this little dinner party?" she asked, nudging Sky a little. "We don't seem to recognize this one!"
"She's new, so leave her alone!" Admetus told them.
"Well then I guess we should! After all, we don't want to get beaten up!" Jerrie said sarcastically.
Sky didn't care what they said for now, but she hoped that they would soon want to be her friend. She liked that they were also trouble makers and stubborn – just like her!
"Hi," she said, "I'm Sky."
"Oh," Rump said, "a rookie! Look, Jerrie, she's eatin' mice!"
They both laughed right in her face! Sky was so embarrassed!
"I've been living on a boat my whole life, and I'm not used to eating rats!" Sky defended herself.
"Oh, well boo-hoo for you! These guys don't even let us eat with them! They don't even like it when we're around them!" Jerrie yelled back.
"Yeah, well at least you guys are living in a - " Copricat was interrupted by Tantomile exclaiming, " - beautiful Victorian home!"
"Yeah," Jerrie told them, "But we broke a vase while we were playing, and now we don't get any dinner – not that we wanted it – yech - greens!"
Everyone just ignored them and went back to eating their rats, but Sky just sat there wondering if she should give them some mice. Finally, she decided that she should ask them.
"Do you guys want one of my mice?"
"Ye-" Rumpleteazer began to say, but was quickly cut off by Munkustrap exclaiming, "No! They can go get their own food!"
Mongojerrie and Rumpleteazer slowly walked away with their heads down. They hopped up onto the broken-down car, gave one sad look behind themselves at the cats below, and when they noticed that Sky was the only one looking, they stormed off in a huff.
"So," Sky decided to break the silence, "When can I see Rumpus Cat?"
Everyone looked at one-another and began to laugh. Sky was confused. Who is Rumpus Cat, anyway? Should I laugh at myself? Nah! Sky sat there with a blank expression on her face.
"You won't see him until the Jellicle moon when we do a reenactment to Old Deuteronomy about the peeks and the pollicles!" Bombalurina laughed.
"Well, I'm done eating," Demeter told Sky, "So let me show you where you can sleep when you're done eating, too."
"Okay, I'm done, too, so lead the way!" Sky exclaimed.
Demeter showed her around the alley and the places available for sleeping. Out of all of the places, Sky didn't think that she'd find anything safer feeling than the inside of the car. So she asked if she could have that space.
"That wasn't one of the options." Demeter told her.
"Yeah - " Jennyanydots joined in, "That's my space, so you'd better find a new one!"
"Okay…" Sky looked around, "How about in this little tube-thing?"
"Sorry," Mistoffelees told her, "Taken."
"All right," Sky continued to search, "How about in this big tire-thing?"
"I have that spot," Cassandra told her.
"How about that chair up there?" Sky pointed up, above all of the junk.
"I need that," Pouncival told her, "because I'm somewhat of a look-out, and I need it for pouncing on any strange things that come into this alley, like a cat, or a dog, or even Macavity!"
"Oh." Sky didn't know where else to stay. She looked around helplessly.
"Why don't you stay behind the car?" Victoria suggested, "There's plenty of room. You can stay back there with me."
"But how did Mongojerrie and Rumpleteazer get back behind the car? It doesn't seem too safe if there's a hole in that gate." Sky told her.
"Look," Tumblebrutus was loosing his patience, "Does anything ever happen to Victoria? No! So you'll be fine!"
"Well…" Sky thought quickly, "How about that other chair over there?"
"I have that," Skimbleshanks told her, "And besides, it's not any safer than behind the car."
"Oh, all right, I guess I'll stay there." Sky looked at the car and sighed. I wish that I could stay on the inside of that car! No one, and nothing could get me from in there! Not even Macavity!
"Or," Etcetera said, "You can stay in any of the places Demeter pointed out to you."
"But all of those places were out in the open," Sky defended her opinions. "Where are the other cats sleeping?" she wondered aloud.
"I'm staying in that doorway," Plato pointed to the doorway on the left- hand side of the alley. It was a fire escape door that belonged to an old run-down theater that was no longer running.
"I'm also staying in that car with my sister," Jellylorum told Sky.
"And I'm staying in the other doorway." Asparagus told her.
"Alonzo is staying also in that huge tire," Victoria told her, " Munku is staying in that pile of old clothes, Old Deuteronomy is going back to his home, Tugger is sleeping next to the car, Bomba sleeps on that platform, Copricat and Tantomile sleep on the hood of the car, Admetus stays on the top of the pipe where Misto sleeps, Electra sleeps in one of the car tires that are on the ground, Jemima sleeps in the other tire on the ground, and Demeter sleeps next to the car."
"Oh," Sky said, "Well then you're right, there is absolutely nowhere else to sleep, so, thank you, Victoria, for letting me sleep behind the car, with you."
"Okay," Old Deuteronomy said, "I'm off. I must go home, now. Munku, come with me."
So they left into the darkness. Sky watched until she could see them no longer. She was beginning to feel a bit homesick. She jumped up, onto the car and looked down at the ground on the other side of the car. Victoria was right, there was a lot of space down there, but unfortunately, she, too was right : there was a big hole in the gate that even a big dog could get into!
Sky was beginning to feel a bit like making trouble, so she decided to scout out the other sleeping spots. She felt that they were all better than her own. She checked out the inside of the car, the tires, the doorways, the platform, and then, right when she jumped up onto the chair where Pouncival was staying, she, and the chair came tumbling down to the ground! Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Sky and gasped. She just laid there, limp from the pain in her head, with the chair still on her. Finally, Pouncival pulled his chair off of her. Everyone just stood there, staring at the limp body on the ground. But when the weight of the chair came off of her body, Sky sat up a little and looked around. Everyone saw that she was okay, so they just went back to what they were doing, and Pouncival put his chair back up onto the tiny platform on the huge piles of junk.
Sky just laid there, wondering what she should do next. She got up and went behind the car and laid down. When she closed her eyes, she just blacked out.
***
When Sky woke up, it was early in the morning. She felt the heat of the cat next to her, and decided not to get up. She laid there for about five minutes, before a huge gust of wind came through the hole and the gate, and sent chills up her spine. Sky quickly jumped up, and dashed onto the top of the car, and to the ground. She decided that it must have been about four thirty. She looked around the alley for some food, trying not to wake up the others, but in her trouble making ways, she did.
Sky looked around and saw a rather large mouse. I'm going to get you, and eat you up! She charged the mouse, but from all of the dew on the ground, she slid, and rammed right into a huge metal pail. The pail flung into the air, and landed right over her. The clanging of the bucket made such a loud noise, that it made everyone's ears ring. They all screamed and looked around, but could not find who made the noise, so they all went back to sleep. When the coast was clear, Sky got out from under the pail. She looked up, to see if Poucival was keeping watch, but sure enough, he wasn't. Humph, some watch-cat he is! Oh, no – I'm not allowed to have his chair because he has to watch-over everyone when we're all asleep! Well fine, then – I don't need his stupid chair, anyway!
Sky looked around. She quietly got up and went back over to where the mice had been hiding last night, but there weren't any there. She decided to do a favor for the rest of the cats, so she went out to go get them breakfast. She walked over to the dock and looked around for the big water rats that were brought back to the alley for dinner yesterday night. She just stood there for about ten minutes, when she finally spotted one. She got in her pouncing position and waited for the right moment…
5…4…3…2…1!
Sky pounced on the huge rat, which was bigger than the ones that she had seen last night! She clawed at it, and tried biting it, but it's skin was too tough for her dull nails. She started chewing on its neck. She chewed, and chewed – for an hour! And when it finally died, she was too tired to get nineteen more, so she dragged the one rat back to the alley. By now, everyone was awake.
"Where've you been?" Munku yelled with an annoyed voice.
"I went to the dock to get everyone breakfast," Sky told him, "But this was all I could get – I'm too tired to get any more."
"But we all go around town to different bakeries and stuff for free food," Jellylorum told her. "But don't worry, I'm sure that someone will eat that." Just then, Jerrie and Rump appeared.
"Did we hear…rat?" Jerrie smiled.
"What, no breakfast now, too?" Alonzo asked.
"No," Rump "cattily" smiled, "We took out all of the toilet paper from the bathrooms and flung them around the house." Jerrie and Rump slyly smiled to each other.
"Okay," Bomba told them, "Since no one's going to eat this rat, then I guess you two can." She tossed them the huge rat, and they gave each other another sly smile.
"All right, everyone," Munku announced, "Let's go get breakfast."
"You can come with me, dear," Jelly told Sky, "We're going to "Muriel's Kitchen" – it's a bakery with tons of goodies!"
They ran to the bakery as fast as they could. When they got there, they started meowing a the black door.
"Well, what do'e got here?" a tall, slender woman asked. She looked down at the kitten next to Jelly and said to another woman, " 'Ey, Jackie, look at what Jelly brought 'es." The woman looked down and said,
"Oh, yeah, Muriel. She's so tiny! What a pretty kitty! Let's see what we can give 'er."
"Actually," the first woman said, "I know some sea cap'n who's lookin' for 'is kitty. Let me call him – I think that this one matches 'is description of 'er."
The woman went over to her phone and looked up the phone number for the sea captain who she was going to call.
" 'Ello…yes, this is Muriel…yes, it's nice to 'ear from you, too…"
The cats sat there, listening intently.
"…ay…why, yes, I think that I might've found your kitty…yes…yes, she's a striped, and she's orange, red, white…ay, yes…and she's also black…okay….ay, ay, Cap'n!" the woman laughed.
At the name, "Captain", Sky ran off. She didn't want to go back to the ship, so she ran away, back to the alley, with Jelly following all the way back. She dodged cars, carriages, and opening doors. When they got back to the alley, Jelly and Sky were exhausted.
"Why did you run?" Jelly asked Sky.
"Because Captain wants me back!" Sky cried.
***
A large man got out of the carriage and looked at the tiny bakery. Hm…I haven't had anything from here in nearly a decade! The man smiled as he opened the door to the bakery. He looked around. Wow! Nothing has changed in hear at all! The woman at the front desk saw a tiny cat in the man's pocket, who every so often, he would pet. The man walked up to her.
"Hi, someone called me, saying that they have my kitten?"
"Ah, yes." The woman told him. "Let me go get Muriel."
The man smiled and sat down on one of the tiny stools at the counter. He smelled all the sweet smells of Danish's, cookies, cakes, and pies. He looked through the glass case at the counter, and while he was trying to decide what to have, the tall, slender woman who had called him, came out from the back room. The man stood up and asked,
"You called me?"
"Ay," the woman began, "but the kitt'n ran just 'es we 'ung up. No one could stop 'er…"
The man frowned he thanked her anyway, and left without getting anything. He got back in the carriage and went back to his boat. Tomorrow he would sail, even without his kitten. He would just have to leave her to make it on her own.
***
Sky hid under the pail, away from sight. She didn't want to go back on the ship. She liked it here. Here, she had twenty new friends, but on the boat, she was all alone with only her parents, sister, and brother to keep her company.
"You have to come out sometime." Etcetera said to her from outside of the pail.
Sky poked her nose out, then her face, then her head, and finally, her body. She sat very quiet, and very cautious. She thought that the best way that she could keep watch from Captain getting her, was to sit on Pouncival's chair. She sat there all day, and by dinner time, she knew that Captain wasn't going to take her back, so she got down and looked for dinner. As she did so, Jelly talked to her.
"You know," she told Sky, "If you chase after mice as fast as you ran away from the bakery today, you'll never be hungry."
Sky shrugged and kept on looking. Finally, she found a whole bunch of mice. She crept up on them… 1…2…3! And she pounced! She used Jelly's advice, and got five of them, ate them, and was satisfied. She watched as everyone tore apart their pheasants. Sky actually didn't think that it looked as gross as yesterday, but she still felt sick to her stomach from all of the blood and guts. Everyone enjoyed their birds, but when Tugger first saw them, he said,
"Hey – I wanted grouse!"
And just like yesterday, everyone ignored him, and just like yesterday, he enjoyed every last bit of his dinner. Sky was starting to see a pattern with him : you bring him something, and he decides that he wants something else. Some examples are :
-If you offer him pheasant, then he's rather have grouse.
-If you set him on a mouse, then he only wants a rat; but if you set him on a rat, then he'd rather chase a mouse.
-If you put him in a house, then he only wants a flat; if you put him in a flat, then he'd rather have a house.
-If you let him in, then he wants to go out.
-If you offer him fish, then he only wants a feast.
-If there isn't any fish, then he wants to eat a rabbit.
-If you offer him cream, then he sniffs and sneers.
And those are only some examples!
"Well, I'm off to the train station!" Skimbleshank yelled to everyone.
"Bye!" they all yelled back.
Sky got up after eating and said to Cassandra,
"Is there anywhere that you can go after dinner or something, and look at the stars or the moon, or anything interesting like that? Cause when I was on The Bubble, we used to always look at stars after dinner, when it was darker."
"Actually," Cassandra answered, "yes, there is. The junkyard. Do you want me to show you where it is?"
"Yes! I'd like that!" Sky exclaimed.
"All right, let me just ask if anyone else want to come."
"Okay," Sky waited patiently.
When they left, Misto, Victoria, Plato, Tugger, Alonzo, Munku, Sky, Cassandra, Jem, Copri, and Tanto were on their way. When they got there, Munku said that he was going to go home, and wasn't going to stay at the alley tonight, so everyone said good-bye, and they all looked at the stars until the sun rose.
***
When Sky woke up, the stars had gone away, and the sky was filled with bright, amazing colors of pink, orange, yellow, purple, and gold. She looked around. Everyone had fallen asleep on their own little piles of scrap. Sky smiled, closed her eyes, and let herself sink further into her own pile. A little later, she was being woken up by Jem nudging her with her paw.
"Come on," she yelled in a loud whisper, "Pretty soon they're going to let the dogs out!"
When Sky heard "dogs", she darted from her pile, and ran for the exit. While everyone ran back to the alley, including Munku, Sky ran to the dock. She watched just as The Bubble was departing.
"Good-bye, mom, dad, Looselaces, and Tanglebraids!" Sky called after the boat.
All of them came to the back of the boat, waving and yelling their good-byes to one another. When they could all no longer see each other, Sky slowly walked back to the alley. She wasn't sure if she even wanted to stay where she was. After all, Misto and Jem were the only other two kittens…
When she got there, there were many questions of where she had been, and of course, she answered as many questions as she could.
"I went to the dock to say good-bye to my family as they departed." She told them when they asked.
Sky had left her boat so that she could seek adventure, and now that her family was permanently gone, she was determined to find it. Where was Jerrie and Rump? They know how to have an adventure!
"Hey, does anyone know where Jerrie and Rump live?" Sky asked everyone.
"Yeah," Skimbleshanks answered, "They live on Victorian Grove, in the biggest house. But listen to me, don't go helping them with one of their little schemes. They like getting in trouble, and that wouldn't look very good for you."
Sky thought about it for a moment, thanked Skimbleshanks, and then told everyone that she was just going for a little walk. Now all I have to do is find Victorian Grove, find the biggest house, and I'll be on my way to adventure. Sky didn't even think about consequences of getting in trouble, but she didn't seem to think that they'd be bad.
Sky rounded the corner, and to her surprise, she saw some of the biggest houses ever! And how beautiful they were! Nice hedges, clean cut lawns, and freshly painted porches. She felt like she was in Heaven! She walked down the sidewalk, and felt like she was a star walking on a red carpet. Sky looked at each and every house as carefully as possible. Each one was better than the last. She hadn't noticed it until she got to the end of the street, but it was a dead end road, and what was at the very end amazed her : the biggest, and most beautiful house ever! It was a light purple and white Victorian home with black shudders. The huge lawn was being mowed by a young boy, who's hands could barely reach the lawn mower's handles. The porch had seemed to have just had a fresh new coat of paint, the color of the sky on a clear day. The yard was absolutely beautiful with little shrubs everywhere in the shape of an animal. At the very beginning of the driveway, there were two shrubs, one on either side, that looked to Sky like Jerrie and Rump! Everything amazed her, and if this was just what the front yard looked like, then she wondered what the backyard and the inside of the house was like!
Sky slowly walked up the driveway, and followed a path into the backyard, that was even more amazing than the front! There was a huge maze of bushes, and in the center was a big, beautiful garden. The yard was full of flowers, trimmed bushes in different, amazing shapes, and tiny little gardens here, and there. To Sky, everything sparkled with life and beauty.
Shy kept on following the path, which led to a deck and a big, crystal sliding door. Next to it, though, was a little cat door, that had been carved into the wall. Sky slipped into the cat door and looked around the house. Sky stared. Every room was huge! There was crystals, diamonds, jewels, and chandeliers in every single room that she could see! The first room that she appeared in, was a green living room. Sky decided to call this room the Green Room. The furniture was all a dark green and tan, the walls were a light forest green, and the two chandeliers that were in there, had green and clear crystals on them! In each corner, she noticed that there was one little green vase with some sort of design on it, and the tables that they were on were all a dark oak. The candlestick holders looked as if they were pure silver! Sky had never seen anything more radiant in her life, and she thought that she should enjoy every moment of it!
The next room that Sky walked into, was all gold and yellow! The walls were a dark cream color, and the ceiling was a light golden leaf colored paint! This room, too had a chandelier, with clear crystals on it. The candlestick holders were all gold with cream colored candles, that were burning, and smelled like a creamy, little bowl of butter milk. The furniture was cream and yellow colored leather that all seemed to be placed at the right place in the room. All of the furniture sat around a big, beautiful golden fireplace. It was marvelous! Sky decided that this must be the family room.
She walked on and ended up to where the gigantic hallway is, with doorways to more big rooms, and stairs for going upstairs, or down. She wasn't sure, but Sky felt that if she went upstairs, she would get lost, but if she went downstairs, Jerrie and Rump would surely be there! So, down she went.
Where she ended up was marvelous! It was another hallway with different doorways to go into to get to a different room. All of a sudden, she hear two familiar voices laughing and yelling. Sky made her way slowly over to where she heard the voices coming from. When she reached the room, she peeked in through the doorway. What she saw was horrible! It was a beautiful room gone bad! Jerrie and Rump were running around the room, tearing things down, taking things out of drawers, climbing up the curtains, and ripping apart the bed and pillows! The room was a bright red. It was huge! All of the furniture, pillows, bed, comforter, sheets – everything –was red! On one side of the room was a white marble fireplace with one gold candle stick on either side of the mantle place. There was also a big, gold grandfather clock in one corner of the room. There were red and white roses in every corner of the room. On two sides of the room, there was each one little dark oak table with nothing on them. Those must be where the vases were that those two cats broke.
" 'Ey," Rump asked, stopping in her tracks, " 'oo goes there?"
"It's just me," Sky replied, showing herself fully in the doorway.
"Well what a' ya doin' here?" Jerrie asked.
"I just was wondering if I could hangout with you guys." Sky told him.
"Hm…." Rump and Jerrie thought and then said, "No. Maybe ya can come back anotha day. We don't really need ya today…how 'bout tommora?"
Sky agreed and quickly left. She trotted briskly down the pathway from the house, onto the driveway, and all the way to the end of the street on the "red carpet" sidewalk. When she got to the end of the street, she looked back and sighed. The grass is always greener on the other side. Sky walked past stores, homes, and on sidewalks, but none were as wonderful as on Victorian Grove.
Sky was just passing a dark, creepy alley, when two cats jumped out in front of her. One was a fat reddish orange colored cat, and the other was a slim, light blonde one.
" 'Ey, where do ya think you're goin'?" the blonde one asked in a snarl.
"Um…home…?" Sky answered.
"I don't think so, kitt'n!" the fat, reddish one said in a hiss. "Ya're comin' with us, pussy!"
" 'Ey, ya're Captains kit…aye?" the blonde one asked.
"Uh…yeah, I used to be…" Sky answered in a squeaky whine.
"Good," the red one hissed with an evil "catty" smile, "Macavity needs ya for sumpthin'."
"And what would that be?" Sky hissed back.
" 'E needs ya to sail 'is boat to America so that he can get some stuff from some of 'is 'good friends'." The reddish one told her.
" 'Ey, stupid, don't tell 'er our plans! She don't need to know!" the blonde one snarled to his heavy companion.
Sky tried to think fast, but it was no use, they had her trapped. She started to whine, so they grabbed her and covered her mouth. That's when three more cats jumped out from the alley across the street and came running over.
"Leave 'er alone," a big calico yelled.
"Or we'll 'ave to get rough!" a small tabby shouted to the two cats that were holding Sky.
"Aye – an' trust 'oos, ya woon't want that!" a Birman screeched.
The two cats holding Sky exchanged glances, tossed Sky at the three new cats, and ran. Sky got up quickly and went to run after the two cats, but the three new ones stopped her.
"Whoot's a little kit like yaself doin' oot on the streets all by yaself?" the tabby asked Sky.
"I was just coming home from two of my friends' house, when those two cats jumped me." Sky answered.
"Well next time, 'ave ya two friends walk ya 'ome." The Birman told her.
"They couldn't – they were busy. Now I have to go home. Thank you and good- bye." Sky replied, but as she was about to leave, the cats stopped her.
"Listen, we don't woont this to 'appen again today, so we'll walk ya 'ome." The calico told her.
"Okay," Sky said, and they left.
***
" - And then they walked me home." Sky told her story to everyone when she got back to the alley. "The calico is Tietailor, the tabby is Funzieflip, and the Birman is Cicidol."
"That was interesting!" Tugger said sarcastically with a laugh.
"You said something about Macavity?" Munku asked.
"Yeah," Sky answered, "The two cats said that their boss, Macavity, wanted me to sail his ship to America, so that he could get some stuff from some of his 'good friends'."
Munku thought for a minute and said,
"For now, I want everyone to take turns going places with Sky. Later we will hold a meeting and decide who will be the first one to take a shift. The shifts will last one week each. Let's meet at eight thirty tonight." That was all Munku said, and then disappeared around the corner.
***
Sky didn't like feeling like she needed protection, but she went along with the whole idea anyway, just so that she wouldn't annoy or make anyone mad. Misto understood how she felt though, because he, too had to be watched after like the way that Sky was going to be, so she felt that she had at least one more friend.
At eight thirty sharp, the meeting was adjourned. All the cats were there : Munkustrap, Rum Tum Tugger, Bombalurina, Demeter, Jemima, Tumblebrutus, Pouncival, Plato, Victoria, Cassandra, Etcetera, Electra, Copricat, Tantomile, Admetus, Skimbleshanks, Jennyanydots, Asparagus, Jellylorum, Mongojerrie, Rumpleteazer, and Mistoffelees, plus some other cats from around town.
"Now, the order of who will be watching over Sky, is : Rum Tum Tugger, Bombalurina, Demeter, Jemima, Tumblebrutus, Pouncival, Victoria, Cassandra, Etcetera, Electra, Copricat and Tantomile, Admetus, Skimbleshanks, Jennyanydots, Asparagus, Jellylorum, and Mistoffelees.
" 'Ey, whoot about oos?" Jerrie yelled.
"You guys are too much of troublemakers, and we don't need another one." Munku answered. Jerrie and Rump frowned and stormed off.
"An' oos?" Some of the other cats from around town asked.
"I think that Sky would probably feel more comfortable being around cats who she knows." Munku told them. "The meeting has hereby ended."
"Okay, kit," Tugger said to Sky, "Come on, back to the alley."
***
The week with Tugger was hard for Sky. If she wanted to go somewhere, Tugger would always have to fix his hair, and that would take forever! Sky also couldn't go see Jerrie and Rump, because she knew that Tugger wouldn't let her go.
The next week, Sky was with Bomba. That, too was a tough week, because Bomba was exactly like Tugger. Those two drove her absolutely crazy with their hair and with Bomba, she was always also doing her nails!
The week with Demeter was definitely different! If Demeter was napping, and Sky came to ask if she could bring her somewhere, Demeter would jump up at any sound and yell, "Macavity!"
When Sky was with Jem, though, she had fun. Jem took her inside the old run-down theater and showed her around and also introduced her to Gus the theater cat. Jem also took Sky to see Jerrie and Rump, but didn't let her do anything that had trouble written on it. At the end of the week, Sky was sad that it was over.
On the fourth week, Sky was with Brutus. She had fun being taught how to tumble. Brutus also taught Sky how to do a tumble in the air, flips, and cartwheels. She had a lot of fun, but was kind of happy that that week had ended, because Brutus wasted all of their time teaching her how to do stuff, and didn't get to bring her anywhere.
When Pouncival was watching over Sky, he said on the first day, "You're pretty fast and agile, but your pouncing needs work." So, for the first day or two, he taught Sky how to pounce on mice, birds, rats, and even other cats. So when he brought Sky to Jerrie and Rump's house, she and Pouncival would play with Jerrie and Rump, and they would pounce on them. After that week, Sky wondered how much fun it would be to play with Victoria.
On the sixth week, Victoria taught Sky how to do acrobats and some fun games that had to do with acrobatic tricks. Victoria wouldn't take Sky to Jerrie and Rump's house, because she didn't want to be the blame for letting Sky get hurt or in trouble, but she did bring her to the dock and taught her how to fish with her tail. Sky had a lot of fun flipping around and fishing with Victoria, but she ached from the acrobats, and her tail hurt from the fish biting it.
The following week after Victoria's turn was Cassandra's turn. Most of the time she was pretty easygoing on what they were doing, but she wouldn't let Sky leave anywhere after dark, just in case on of Macavity's little goons were out looking for Sky. So most of the time at night, they would just sit around. Sky was hoping that the week with Etcetera would be better, and it was.
Etc. would take Sky to the deli during the day and mooch food off of the chef, and at night, she would take Sky to look at the stars. It was all really fun and exciting, until one night during Etc.'s watch, a huge rat snuck up on the two while they were walking home from Jerrie and Rump's house, and he tried to kidnap Sky, but Etc. stopped him.
The week after that was Electra's turn. She didn't talk too much or take Sky anywhere except for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, unless Sky asked, and Elec would take her. During one day that week, Electra took Sky to go see Jerrie and Rump, and she accidentally knocked over a vase while they were playing, and Jerrie and Rump's owners literally booted her and Electra out of the house. Sky was happy when the week was finally over!
After Elec, was Copri and Tanto. Sky had been with the whole group for about ten weeks, and this beginning her eleventh. She knew almost everything about all of he cats who've taken care of her so far, besides Elec (since she didn't talk too much). Copri and Tanto took Sky everywhere(but after the booting incident, not to Jerrie and Rump's)! Fishing, to see a film at the newer theater, to a cotton candy vendor who gave them little treats, and those two loved to talk! But unfortunately, that week, too end.
The next one up to watch Sky was Admetus. He seemed shy and didn't really talk too much, like Elec, but he did like to make weird faces and get Sky to laugh. She liked to think of him as "Rubber Face". Sky was kind of glad when the week was over, because then Skimble could watch after her, and she would be able to go on a train for the first time in her life. Almost the whole week during the days were spent at the train station, and every moment was exciting. She got to see many other pets, but they had to all be kept in a strange cage, which Skimble called a carrying kennel, and he also said that it was used so that the animal that was inside of it wouldn't run around the train freely. That ended also moved way too fast, and Sky was moved onto being watched by Jennyanydots.
Sky didn't like Jenny too much, because she was always too busy to take her anywhere, and she always was making Sky clean stuff. That week went too slow, and by the end of it, she was happy to be let onto being watched by Asparagus.
Asparagus was an older cat, who was always behind Sky when they went places, and she would always have to wait and let him catch up. But when they got to where they were going, Asparagus was good about telling the history of the land or the building. Sky learned a lot about where she was living during that week.
Next to watch Sky was Jelly. Sky enjoyed every second of that week, because Jelly loved to spoil kittens, and those kittens loved being spoiled! Sky got treats, toys, and a full belly every night during that week! Sky loved that week, but she didn't mind going on to the next week.
The next cat to watch Sky was Misto, and actually he was also a kitten, which made things much more fun (just like the week with Jem, because she, too was a kitten just like Sky and Misto). Misto took Sky to many places : the pond, fishing, to see Skimble, to see Munku, to see Jelly, to the old theater, to Jerrie and Rump's (but didn't let her rough- house : he didn't want her getting in any more trouble with that family!), and he also taught Sky how to do some magic tricks! Sky had a great time, but the week was over too soon…
***
"Let the meeting now come to order," Munku announced.
Everyone became very quiet. The meeting started and they started the regular stuff. They talked about how the alleys were doing on their little neighborhood alley watch team, how the food supplies were, what they were going to do for food and shelter during the winter, and passing laws for appointing a pollicle guard. And then they finally got to Sky's situation.
"Well," Munku began, "What are we going to do now that we've run out of cats to watch Sky? Everyone in my alley have all gone once. What should we do?"
"We could start over again and go in the same order," Jelly suggested.
"I think that we could let her out on her own now. I've seen how she acts and defends herself, and Macavity hasn't stricken for eight weeks now." Tugger said.
"We could appoint one cat to watch Sky until she can fend for herself," Skimble also suggested.
"Hm…" Munku thought and then said, "Let's vote. Who agrees on restarting?"
Two paws were raised.
"Who votes for letting her out on her own?"
Five paws were raised.
"How about appointing one final one?"
The rest of the cats raised their paws.
"Okay," Munku began, "Now that we've settled which suggestion is the most popular, we need to have some cats to volunteer to take the part of Sky's gardian."
Bustopher Jones (one of the richer cats in the area), Jelly, Alonzo, Jerrie and Rump, Misto, and Jem all raised their paws.
"Who wants Bustopher to be the keeper?"
Bustopher raised his paw, but he was the only one.
"Jelly?"
Jelly and four other cats raised their paws.
"Alonzo?"
Alonzo and two of his friends raised their paws.
"Jerrie and Rump?"
The two cats jumped up with their paws high in the air yelling, "Aye!"
"Misto?"
Misto and five other cats raised their paws.
"Jem?"
Jem and three other cats raised their paws.
"Okay, the keeper of Sky is now Misto." Munku said loudly. "You can watch her for three more weeks, then you can let her fend for herself. The meeting is now over."
***
The three weeks went by even faster then the one week. Misto told Sky about when he was first brought to a meeting and they had to decide who would watch him, and Jelly won. He said that no one really wanted her to watch another kitten because when she was bringing him home, he was kidnapped by some of Macavity's goons, and that was because he had been so quiet on the way home.
"I don't want you get to kidnapped, so that's why I'm talking to you now," Misto said on the way home.
He also taught her more magic tricks, and about his parents, and he also told her that Victoria is his sister. He brought her to see Bustopher Jones, Skimble, Munku, Jelly, the old theater, Jerrie and Rump(but didn't let her rough-house : he didn't want her getting in any more trouble with that family!), and Gus the theater cat.
When the three weeks were over, Sky knew how to do plenty of things by herself, such as catching food and street-fighting. She also knew about the land that they were living on, about Bustopher, Gus, and the old theater. She was sad that the time had gone by so fast and was now over.
***
"Now let the meeting come to order," Munku commanded the other cats and then asked "What do you think that we should now do with you, Sky?"
"Well, now I know how to get food and take care of myself, so I don't think that anyone needs to watch me. And Macavity hasn't tried to get me in a long time, either, so that's also good." Sky answered.
"Okay, let's vote on what we should do. All for letting Sky watch herself, say 'Aye'."
"Aye." Most of the cats sang happily.
"All opposed, say 'Nay'."
Only a few other cats said nay.
"Then most of us have now agreed that Sky can fend for herself. This meeting is dismissed." Munku ended and then everyone left.
To be continued to a new story…
She woke up the next morning warm in her bed on the ship. She was living with her mother, Ozmala, her father, SeawatercatzI, her brother, Looselaces, and her sister, Tanglebraids. Just by their names, you could tell what their personalities were. Her father was tough, street-wise, and belonged to a sea captain. Her mother, Ozmala, was a bit different, though. She was pretty, sweet, and kind. She always knew the right ways of doing things. Her brother, on the other hand, was clumsy, as if he were wearing shoes, with the laces loose and untied. Her sister, Tanglebraids, was a tough cat. When they would keep the boat at a dock, she would like to roam the unfamiliar streets alone at night, when all the dogs were out. She liked to pick fights with all of the dogs and show them how tough she was. A few times, she would get trapped in a corner, or in some dog's mouth. But she always managed to get out alive. When she was little, she decided that catching birds was stupid and for kittens, even though she was still one.
Skyfinder looked around the empty room of the ship. She wanted to go out and look for adventure – that was the way she was : a trouble maker. She had never had any friends, besides her brother and sister, because of their living arrangements. That is why today she decided that she would go out and look for a new home.
She got up and stretched before she walked out onto the deck. Her mother was laying at the very tip at the front, basking in the bright sun and heat of the day. Her mom looked up as she passed by and asked,
"Where are you off to?"
"I'm leaving this crummy boat, and looking for an adventure."
"You mean, you're looking for trouble."
"No, an adventure. I don't care how upset Captain will be, looking for me, I want to go do something fun… and make friends with some of the other cats!"
Her mom looked a little disappointed, but said, "Well if that's what you want to do, then so-be-it!"
"Thanks, mom. Well I guess then I'm off!"
"Hey, I have an idea," Ozmala said with a "catty" smile, "I think that it would be safer for you if you took your older sister along on your little journey."
"Okay," Skyfinder grinned.
She went back into the boat, found Tanglebraids, and then were off.
"Where are you planning on going?" Tanglebraids asked her sister.
"Well," Skyfinder asked, "where are we?"
"We're in London."
"Well then I guess I'll just stay here and find a nice family to take us in," Skyfinder replied.
"How come you needed to know where we were to give me an answer like that?" Tanglebraids yelled.
"Now don't start with that temper again!" Skyfinder hissed.
"Hey, stop trying to act like mom. And ya know what? I'm outta here! I'm goin' back to the boat!" Tanglebraids stormed away.
"Fine!" Skyfinder yelled back, "I never needed you anyway!"
It was about 8 o'clock, dusk, when Skyfinder started to feel lonely. I wish Tanglebraids was here to help me! What if a dog eats me up? I'm definitely finished out here. I'm probably not even going to last the rest of the night out here! Skyfinder walked on, lonely and cold. What if she never found someone to take her in? Would she last living out here alone, cold, and without a home for the rest of her life? She decided to keep those thoughts out of her head.
"I'd better go find a place to sleep and be safe," she thought aloud.
Skyfinder walked over to an alley where she saw a nice little family of mice living. There couldn't be a nicer alley to live! Here she would have food, shelter, and maybe she could even find another cat to keep her company. But it was fall. How would she survive when winter came? That was another thought that she decided to keep out of her head. She decided that she would just wait until winter came until she had to deal with it.
Skyfinder walked slowly, and cautiously into the alley. She kept looking behind her to make sure that no one or nothing was creeping up on her. The time was right. She was hungry, and to what she thought, she was alone. She counted to three in her head…
1…2…3! And then she pounced! She ran, trying to catch a mouse, but they all seemed too fast for her. Then, all of a sudden, she was startled by someone saying,
"A little "Sea Cat" like yourself, you're not going to catch anything."
She looked around, and then noticed a cat perched on a car that had been run down to its very last drive. The cat was black and white, with spots and stripes. He was sitting there, holding a mouse in his paws, by it's tail. It was dangling there, trying to get away. Skyfinder was just standing there, staring at the mouse running in the air.
"Here - " the cat flung her the mouse. Skyfinder tried to catch it, but missed, and chased after it as it quickly ran away. The cat shook his head. "Listen, why don't next time, I kill the mouse for you?" He asked sarcastically.
"Hey, I'm just out of practice!" Skyfinder answered back defensively, "Our boat hasn't had any rats or mice in a long time!"
"So you are a "Sea Cat" ?" the stranger cat said, "Out here, that's just an insult to someone who can't catch mice! So, what boat are you on?"
"The Bubble," Skyfinder answered a little mad.
"Hey, I thought that that boat left already?" the cat asked.
"Yeah, it did," Skyfinder told him, in a calmer voice, "but I decided to leave and find a real home."
Hey, listen," the cat said, "You should've stayed on that boat, cause you ain't gonna find a very good home out here!"
"Oh, thanks for telling me!" Skyfinder answered him back, frustrated and mad, "I have to go now and find an alley that isn't taken already!"
"Well trust me, mate, you're not going to find one out here!" the cat told her.
Skyfinder looked back with pleading eyes that said, Can I stay here?
"I have an idea, kit," the cat suggested, "Why don't you stay down here in this alley, until you find a new one to stay in, and tomorrow, my friends and I'll help you find a new one to stay in – or – if everyone agrees, you can stay here, in this alley."
"Well…okay." Skyfinder smiled.
"Hey, my name's Alonzo… who are you?" the cat smiled back.
"My name's Skyfinder."
"Okay, well then, welcome, Skyfinder… for now…" Alonzo smiled and said, "My friends will be back in a little bit, so until then, make yourself at home."
"All right, thanks," Skyfinder smiled and found a place to lay and rest her eyes.
It didn't seem like Alonzo wanted her to, because he kept on asking questions.
"So," he asked, "Where are you originally from?"
"New York City, you?"
"Australia. What are your parents' names?"
"My dad is SeawatercatzI, and my mom is Ozmala. You?"
"My dad is Old Deuteronomy – he's the leader of all Jellicle Cats. Do you have any siblings?"
"Yeah – a sister, Tanglebraids, and a brother, Looselaces. You?"
"Yeah. I have two brothers, Munkustrap and Rum Tum Tugger. They're both older than me – you?"
Skyfinder sat up and said jokingly, "Hey, you're asking the questions, I answer and say, "You?" – but anyway…" she smiled and said, "they're both older than me – you?"
"Older." Alonzo laughed.
"Who's this?" a voice asked.
Alonzo looked up, and when he saw who it was, he went over to them. There were at least nineteen of them. He explained who she was and what the deal was that he made with her. They all looked her over, walking in circles around her, one at a time. She kept her hackles up, to make herself look fierce, like her sister sometimes did, but she also didn't want to look too mean, so she didn't put all of them up. When one was done circling her, another one would come and look her over. When the one who was finishing was done, he/she would go to where Alonzo was, and start whispering things about her. She was curious as to what they were saying, and was trying to restrain herself from running away. When they were all done circling her and done whispering, the all got in a line and stood absolutely still. Alonzo walked up to her and said,
"You're accepted. If you want, you can stay as long as you like. Don't feel like a visitor, most of us have accepted you, and now, if you want, this is your home too. We all leave when we want, but beware – if you leave, your chances of being accepted again are very slim! Last Jellicle Ball, a cat by the name of Grizabella came back, and we wouldn't accept her, but at the moment of choosing, we all gave her to be taken up to the Heavy Side Layer to get a new, and better life. Trust me, no one had wanted to do it, until the very last moment, but none others have ever been accepted. So, if you're going to stay, stay – but if not, then tomorrow, my friends and I will help you find a new home. So, what's it gonna be?"
Skyfinder thought about it a minute. This was deciding what she was going to do for the rest of her life. Would she stay and have many new friends, or would she go and have an adventure, and see what comes her way……?
"I'll stay," she replied after some tough thinking.
"Great." Alonzo smiled and said. "Everyone, meet the new member, Sky!"
"Um," Skyfinder nudged on Alonzo's paw, "My name's Skyfinder – NOT Sky!"
"That's okay, it sounds better as Sky!" Alonzo told her. "And it might make the others like you a little more, because it doesn't make you sound so perfect!"
"Well," Skyfinder answered back, "okay, then."
"Now, to introduce you to everyone, well…almost everyone." Alonzo told her.
"This is : Munkustrap, Rum Tum Tugger, Bombalurina, Demeter, Jemima, Tumblebrutus, Pouncival, Plato, Victoria, Cassandra, Etcetera, Electra, Copricat, Tantomile, Admetus, Skimbleshanks, Jennyanydots, Asparagus, and Jellylorum. Right now, Mistoffelees and Old D. are out getting dinner. Most of us don't like Mongojerrie and Rumpleteazer, because they're REALLY big trouble makers! Macavity is almost everyone's enemy, except Bombalurina, because it's her brother! Rumpus Cat is just a REAL weirdo, who hates every pollicle and Macavity. So, you can just go on by yourself from there."
"Okay, thanks." Sky smiled and thought, I can't wait to meet Mongojerrie and Rumpleteazer! They sound like really good trouble makes, and we just might become very good friends!
Unfortunately for her, Sky was disturbed from her thoughts, by the cats trying to talk to her. They all basically asked her the same questions as what Alonzo asked, like : Where are you from? Who are your parents? Do you have any siblings? What are their names? The usual. Then, all of a sudden out of nowhere….a cat appeared! He was all black, except for his face and chest. It looked as though he were wearing a little black bow tie, but when Sky looked closer, she noticed that it was just his fur. He was holding ten dead rats. Seconds later, a bigger cat showed up, too, carrying thirteen rats. Those were some of the biggest rats Sky had ever seen! They were almost as big as her!
"Well," the big cat asked, "who's this lovely little cat?"
"Her name's Skyfinder….or if you want, Sky," Alonzo answered.
"Well, then I guess that it's a good thing that we always catch one extra rat, just in case of a traveler stopping by." The cat said.
"Oh, I'm sorry for being so rude," Munkustrap said to Sky, "Sky, this is my father, and the main leader of all Jellicle cats, Old Deuteronomy. And that other cat is Mistoffelees, the magician cat."
"What – no mice?" Tugger exclaimed, but everyone ignored him.
"Well it's very nice to meet you," Old D. said to her.
"And to you, too." Sky answered back.
"Well," Tugger yelled, "I'm starved – let's eat!"
Everyone grabbed a rat and started clawing at it, and eating. Sky thought that she was going to be sick from all of the blood. She hadn't eaten a mouse in such a long time, and these rats were huge, which meant that there was more blood! Besides all of that, she had had her nails clipped just the other day, so she couldn't exactly scratch at the huge, tough-skinned rat, so she just nibbled at the sides and didn't look at what was oozing out. For a long time on the boat, she had been eating only little food pellets, and not even mice! She stopped chewing, and pushed the huge rat to the side.
"Hey," Alonzo cried to her, "these are water rats – your specialty! You don't like them?" Sky shook her head.
"Great!" Tugger cried, "More for me!" He grabbed the rat, and started digging in.
Sky was starving, and hadn't eaten since breakfast! Now what was she going to do? She looked around at the bloody cats. Their faces were covered in blood from eating their rats, and so were their paws.
"Do you want me to catch you some mice?" Jemima asked.
"Uh…yeah, sure. Thanks." Sky smiled.
Jemima looked under the car, in the corners, in little holes, and then when she looked in a drain pipe, she saw where all of the mice were hiding. One little curious one decided to check out what was going on outside of the pipe, and came out. Jemima smashed it with her paw, and it died instantly. Seconds later, three more mice came out to see what was going on and what happened to the first mouse. Jemima smashed those, too.
"Do you want more?" She asked Sky.
"No, that'll do. Thank you." Sky smiled at Jemima as she handed her the four mice.
Jemima went back to eating her mouse, and Sky dug into her mice. She thought that they tasted delicious! It seemed so special for her to be eating mice, since she hadn't gotten to eat any since Captain had first set off with Sky and her family on the last trip they went on (they had last come here and the bottom of the ship had been filled with tons of little mice, which then grew into bigger, juicier mice). Sky felt that her mice were as good to her, as the rats were to Tugger.
"Teeheehee!" everyone heard a tiny little giggle and they knew who it was.
"Who was that?" Sky asked.
Just then, two cats poked their heads up from behind the car. They looked around and gave a great big "catty" smile. They looked around and jumped up onto the car and started sniffing the air.
"It was Rumpleteazer," Electra told her, "and that other cat is Mongojerrie."
"Do we smell….sea rat?" Jerrie asked licking his chops.
"Yeah," Rump added, "And how come we weren't invited to this little dinner party?" she asked, nudging Sky a little. "We don't seem to recognize this one!"
"She's new, so leave her alone!" Admetus told them.
"Well then I guess we should! After all, we don't want to get beaten up!" Jerrie said sarcastically.
Sky didn't care what they said for now, but she hoped that they would soon want to be her friend. She liked that they were also trouble makers and stubborn – just like her!
"Hi," she said, "I'm Sky."
"Oh," Rump said, "a rookie! Look, Jerrie, she's eatin' mice!"
They both laughed right in her face! Sky was so embarrassed!
"I've been living on a boat my whole life, and I'm not used to eating rats!" Sky defended herself.
"Oh, well boo-hoo for you! These guys don't even let us eat with them! They don't even like it when we're around them!" Jerrie yelled back.
"Yeah, well at least you guys are living in a - " Copricat was interrupted by Tantomile exclaiming, " - beautiful Victorian home!"
"Yeah," Jerrie told them, "But we broke a vase while we were playing, and now we don't get any dinner – not that we wanted it – yech - greens!"
Everyone just ignored them and went back to eating their rats, but Sky just sat there wondering if she should give them some mice. Finally, she decided that she should ask them.
"Do you guys want one of my mice?"
"Ye-" Rumpleteazer began to say, but was quickly cut off by Munkustrap exclaiming, "No! They can go get their own food!"
Mongojerrie and Rumpleteazer slowly walked away with their heads down. They hopped up onto the broken-down car, gave one sad look behind themselves at the cats below, and when they noticed that Sky was the only one looking, they stormed off in a huff.
"So," Sky decided to break the silence, "When can I see Rumpus Cat?"
Everyone looked at one-another and began to laugh. Sky was confused. Who is Rumpus Cat, anyway? Should I laugh at myself? Nah! Sky sat there with a blank expression on her face.
"You won't see him until the Jellicle moon when we do a reenactment to Old Deuteronomy about the peeks and the pollicles!" Bombalurina laughed.
"Well, I'm done eating," Demeter told Sky, "So let me show you where you can sleep when you're done eating, too."
"Okay, I'm done, too, so lead the way!" Sky exclaimed.
Demeter showed her around the alley and the places available for sleeping. Out of all of the places, Sky didn't think that she'd find anything safer feeling than the inside of the car. So she asked if she could have that space.
"That wasn't one of the options." Demeter told her.
"Yeah - " Jennyanydots joined in, "That's my space, so you'd better find a new one!"
"Okay…" Sky looked around, "How about in this little tube-thing?"
"Sorry," Mistoffelees told her, "Taken."
"All right," Sky continued to search, "How about in this big tire-thing?"
"I have that spot," Cassandra told her.
"How about that chair up there?" Sky pointed up, above all of the junk.
"I need that," Pouncival told her, "because I'm somewhat of a look-out, and I need it for pouncing on any strange things that come into this alley, like a cat, or a dog, or even Macavity!"
"Oh." Sky didn't know where else to stay. She looked around helplessly.
"Why don't you stay behind the car?" Victoria suggested, "There's plenty of room. You can stay back there with me."
"But how did Mongojerrie and Rumpleteazer get back behind the car? It doesn't seem too safe if there's a hole in that gate." Sky told her.
"Look," Tumblebrutus was loosing his patience, "Does anything ever happen to Victoria? No! So you'll be fine!"
"Well…" Sky thought quickly, "How about that other chair over there?"
"I have that," Skimbleshanks told her, "And besides, it's not any safer than behind the car."
"Oh, all right, I guess I'll stay there." Sky looked at the car and sighed. I wish that I could stay on the inside of that car! No one, and nothing could get me from in there! Not even Macavity!
"Or," Etcetera said, "You can stay in any of the places Demeter pointed out to you."
"But all of those places were out in the open," Sky defended her opinions. "Where are the other cats sleeping?" she wondered aloud.
"I'm staying in that doorway," Plato pointed to the doorway on the left- hand side of the alley. It was a fire escape door that belonged to an old run-down theater that was no longer running.
"I'm also staying in that car with my sister," Jellylorum told Sky.
"And I'm staying in the other doorway." Asparagus told her.
"Alonzo is staying also in that huge tire," Victoria told her, " Munku is staying in that pile of old clothes, Old Deuteronomy is going back to his home, Tugger is sleeping next to the car, Bomba sleeps on that platform, Copricat and Tantomile sleep on the hood of the car, Admetus stays on the top of the pipe where Misto sleeps, Electra sleeps in one of the car tires that are on the ground, Jemima sleeps in the other tire on the ground, and Demeter sleeps next to the car."
"Oh," Sky said, "Well then you're right, there is absolutely nowhere else to sleep, so, thank you, Victoria, for letting me sleep behind the car, with you."
"Okay," Old Deuteronomy said, "I'm off. I must go home, now. Munku, come with me."
So they left into the darkness. Sky watched until she could see them no longer. She was beginning to feel a bit homesick. She jumped up, onto the car and looked down at the ground on the other side of the car. Victoria was right, there was a lot of space down there, but unfortunately, she, too was right : there was a big hole in the gate that even a big dog could get into!
Sky was beginning to feel a bit like making trouble, so she decided to scout out the other sleeping spots. She felt that they were all better than her own. She checked out the inside of the car, the tires, the doorways, the platform, and then, right when she jumped up onto the chair where Pouncival was staying, she, and the chair came tumbling down to the ground! Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Sky and gasped. She just laid there, limp from the pain in her head, with the chair still on her. Finally, Pouncival pulled his chair off of her. Everyone just stood there, staring at the limp body on the ground. But when the weight of the chair came off of her body, Sky sat up a little and looked around. Everyone saw that she was okay, so they just went back to what they were doing, and Pouncival put his chair back up onto the tiny platform on the huge piles of junk.
Sky just laid there, wondering what she should do next. She got up and went behind the car and laid down. When she closed her eyes, she just blacked out.
***
When Sky woke up, it was early in the morning. She felt the heat of the cat next to her, and decided not to get up. She laid there for about five minutes, before a huge gust of wind came through the hole and the gate, and sent chills up her spine. Sky quickly jumped up, and dashed onto the top of the car, and to the ground. She decided that it must have been about four thirty. She looked around the alley for some food, trying not to wake up the others, but in her trouble making ways, she did.
Sky looked around and saw a rather large mouse. I'm going to get you, and eat you up! She charged the mouse, but from all of the dew on the ground, she slid, and rammed right into a huge metal pail. The pail flung into the air, and landed right over her. The clanging of the bucket made such a loud noise, that it made everyone's ears ring. They all screamed and looked around, but could not find who made the noise, so they all went back to sleep. When the coast was clear, Sky got out from under the pail. She looked up, to see if Poucival was keeping watch, but sure enough, he wasn't. Humph, some watch-cat he is! Oh, no – I'm not allowed to have his chair because he has to watch-over everyone when we're all asleep! Well fine, then – I don't need his stupid chair, anyway!
Sky looked around. She quietly got up and went back over to where the mice had been hiding last night, but there weren't any there. She decided to do a favor for the rest of the cats, so she went out to go get them breakfast. She walked over to the dock and looked around for the big water rats that were brought back to the alley for dinner yesterday night. She just stood there for about ten minutes, when she finally spotted one. She got in her pouncing position and waited for the right moment…
5…4…3…2…1!
Sky pounced on the huge rat, which was bigger than the ones that she had seen last night! She clawed at it, and tried biting it, but it's skin was too tough for her dull nails. She started chewing on its neck. She chewed, and chewed – for an hour! And when it finally died, she was too tired to get nineteen more, so she dragged the one rat back to the alley. By now, everyone was awake.
"Where've you been?" Munku yelled with an annoyed voice.
"I went to the dock to get everyone breakfast," Sky told him, "But this was all I could get – I'm too tired to get any more."
"But we all go around town to different bakeries and stuff for free food," Jellylorum told her. "But don't worry, I'm sure that someone will eat that." Just then, Jerrie and Rump appeared.
"Did we hear…rat?" Jerrie smiled.
"What, no breakfast now, too?" Alonzo asked.
"No," Rump "cattily" smiled, "We took out all of the toilet paper from the bathrooms and flung them around the house." Jerrie and Rump slyly smiled to each other.
"Okay," Bomba told them, "Since no one's going to eat this rat, then I guess you two can." She tossed them the huge rat, and they gave each other another sly smile.
"All right, everyone," Munku announced, "Let's go get breakfast."
"You can come with me, dear," Jelly told Sky, "We're going to "Muriel's Kitchen" – it's a bakery with tons of goodies!"
They ran to the bakery as fast as they could. When they got there, they started meowing a the black door.
"Well, what do'e got here?" a tall, slender woman asked. She looked down at the kitten next to Jelly and said to another woman, " 'Ey, Jackie, look at what Jelly brought 'es." The woman looked down and said,
"Oh, yeah, Muriel. She's so tiny! What a pretty kitty! Let's see what we can give 'er."
"Actually," the first woman said, "I know some sea cap'n who's lookin' for 'is kitty. Let me call him – I think that this one matches 'is description of 'er."
The woman went over to her phone and looked up the phone number for the sea captain who she was going to call.
" 'Ello…yes, this is Muriel…yes, it's nice to 'ear from you, too…"
The cats sat there, listening intently.
"…ay…why, yes, I think that I might've found your kitty…yes…yes, she's a striped, and she's orange, red, white…ay, yes…and she's also black…okay….ay, ay, Cap'n!" the woman laughed.
At the name, "Captain", Sky ran off. She didn't want to go back to the ship, so she ran away, back to the alley, with Jelly following all the way back. She dodged cars, carriages, and opening doors. When they got back to the alley, Jelly and Sky were exhausted.
"Why did you run?" Jelly asked Sky.
"Because Captain wants me back!" Sky cried.
***
A large man got out of the carriage and looked at the tiny bakery. Hm…I haven't had anything from here in nearly a decade! The man smiled as he opened the door to the bakery. He looked around. Wow! Nothing has changed in hear at all! The woman at the front desk saw a tiny cat in the man's pocket, who every so often, he would pet. The man walked up to her.
"Hi, someone called me, saying that they have my kitten?"
"Ah, yes." The woman told him. "Let me go get Muriel."
The man smiled and sat down on one of the tiny stools at the counter. He smelled all the sweet smells of Danish's, cookies, cakes, and pies. He looked through the glass case at the counter, and while he was trying to decide what to have, the tall, slender woman who had called him, came out from the back room. The man stood up and asked,
"You called me?"
"Ay," the woman began, "but the kitt'n ran just 'es we 'ung up. No one could stop 'er…"
The man frowned he thanked her anyway, and left without getting anything. He got back in the carriage and went back to his boat. Tomorrow he would sail, even without his kitten. He would just have to leave her to make it on her own.
***
Sky hid under the pail, away from sight. She didn't want to go back on the ship. She liked it here. Here, she had twenty new friends, but on the boat, she was all alone with only her parents, sister, and brother to keep her company.
"You have to come out sometime." Etcetera said to her from outside of the pail.
Sky poked her nose out, then her face, then her head, and finally, her body. She sat very quiet, and very cautious. She thought that the best way that she could keep watch from Captain getting her, was to sit on Pouncival's chair. She sat there all day, and by dinner time, she knew that Captain wasn't going to take her back, so she got down and looked for dinner. As she did so, Jelly talked to her.
"You know," she told Sky, "If you chase after mice as fast as you ran away from the bakery today, you'll never be hungry."
Sky shrugged and kept on looking. Finally, she found a whole bunch of mice. She crept up on them… 1…2…3! And she pounced! She used Jelly's advice, and got five of them, ate them, and was satisfied. She watched as everyone tore apart their pheasants. Sky actually didn't think that it looked as gross as yesterday, but she still felt sick to her stomach from all of the blood and guts. Everyone enjoyed their birds, but when Tugger first saw them, he said,
"Hey – I wanted grouse!"
And just like yesterday, everyone ignored him, and just like yesterday, he enjoyed every last bit of his dinner. Sky was starting to see a pattern with him : you bring him something, and he decides that he wants something else. Some examples are :
-If you offer him pheasant, then he's rather have grouse.
-If you set him on a mouse, then he only wants a rat; but if you set him on a rat, then he'd rather chase a mouse.
-If you put him in a house, then he only wants a flat; if you put him in a flat, then he'd rather have a house.
-If you let him in, then he wants to go out.
-If you offer him fish, then he only wants a feast.
-If there isn't any fish, then he wants to eat a rabbit.
-If you offer him cream, then he sniffs and sneers.
And those are only some examples!
"Well, I'm off to the train station!" Skimbleshank yelled to everyone.
"Bye!" they all yelled back.
Sky got up after eating and said to Cassandra,
"Is there anywhere that you can go after dinner or something, and look at the stars or the moon, or anything interesting like that? Cause when I was on The Bubble, we used to always look at stars after dinner, when it was darker."
"Actually," Cassandra answered, "yes, there is. The junkyard. Do you want me to show you where it is?"
"Yes! I'd like that!" Sky exclaimed.
"All right, let me just ask if anyone else want to come."
"Okay," Sky waited patiently.
When they left, Misto, Victoria, Plato, Tugger, Alonzo, Munku, Sky, Cassandra, Jem, Copri, and Tanto were on their way. When they got there, Munku said that he was going to go home, and wasn't going to stay at the alley tonight, so everyone said good-bye, and they all looked at the stars until the sun rose.
***
When Sky woke up, the stars had gone away, and the sky was filled with bright, amazing colors of pink, orange, yellow, purple, and gold. She looked around. Everyone had fallen asleep on their own little piles of scrap. Sky smiled, closed her eyes, and let herself sink further into her own pile. A little later, she was being woken up by Jem nudging her with her paw.
"Come on," she yelled in a loud whisper, "Pretty soon they're going to let the dogs out!"
When Sky heard "dogs", she darted from her pile, and ran for the exit. While everyone ran back to the alley, including Munku, Sky ran to the dock. She watched just as The Bubble was departing.
"Good-bye, mom, dad, Looselaces, and Tanglebraids!" Sky called after the boat.
All of them came to the back of the boat, waving and yelling their good-byes to one another. When they could all no longer see each other, Sky slowly walked back to the alley. She wasn't sure if she even wanted to stay where she was. After all, Misto and Jem were the only other two kittens…
When she got there, there were many questions of where she had been, and of course, she answered as many questions as she could.
"I went to the dock to say good-bye to my family as they departed." She told them when they asked.
Sky had left her boat so that she could seek adventure, and now that her family was permanently gone, she was determined to find it. Where was Jerrie and Rump? They know how to have an adventure!
"Hey, does anyone know where Jerrie and Rump live?" Sky asked everyone.
"Yeah," Skimbleshanks answered, "They live on Victorian Grove, in the biggest house. But listen to me, don't go helping them with one of their little schemes. They like getting in trouble, and that wouldn't look very good for you."
Sky thought about it for a moment, thanked Skimbleshanks, and then told everyone that she was just going for a little walk. Now all I have to do is find Victorian Grove, find the biggest house, and I'll be on my way to adventure. Sky didn't even think about consequences of getting in trouble, but she didn't seem to think that they'd be bad.
Sky rounded the corner, and to her surprise, she saw some of the biggest houses ever! And how beautiful they were! Nice hedges, clean cut lawns, and freshly painted porches. She felt like she was in Heaven! She walked down the sidewalk, and felt like she was a star walking on a red carpet. Sky looked at each and every house as carefully as possible. Each one was better than the last. She hadn't noticed it until she got to the end of the street, but it was a dead end road, and what was at the very end amazed her : the biggest, and most beautiful house ever! It was a light purple and white Victorian home with black shudders. The huge lawn was being mowed by a young boy, who's hands could barely reach the lawn mower's handles. The porch had seemed to have just had a fresh new coat of paint, the color of the sky on a clear day. The yard was absolutely beautiful with little shrubs everywhere in the shape of an animal. At the very beginning of the driveway, there were two shrubs, one on either side, that looked to Sky like Jerrie and Rump! Everything amazed her, and if this was just what the front yard looked like, then she wondered what the backyard and the inside of the house was like!
Sky slowly walked up the driveway, and followed a path into the backyard, that was even more amazing than the front! There was a huge maze of bushes, and in the center was a big, beautiful garden. The yard was full of flowers, trimmed bushes in different, amazing shapes, and tiny little gardens here, and there. To Sky, everything sparkled with life and beauty.
Shy kept on following the path, which led to a deck and a big, crystal sliding door. Next to it, though, was a little cat door, that had been carved into the wall. Sky slipped into the cat door and looked around the house. Sky stared. Every room was huge! There was crystals, diamonds, jewels, and chandeliers in every single room that she could see! The first room that she appeared in, was a green living room. Sky decided to call this room the Green Room. The furniture was all a dark green and tan, the walls were a light forest green, and the two chandeliers that were in there, had green and clear crystals on them! In each corner, she noticed that there was one little green vase with some sort of design on it, and the tables that they were on were all a dark oak. The candlestick holders looked as if they were pure silver! Sky had never seen anything more radiant in her life, and she thought that she should enjoy every moment of it!
The next room that Sky walked into, was all gold and yellow! The walls were a dark cream color, and the ceiling was a light golden leaf colored paint! This room, too had a chandelier, with clear crystals on it. The candlestick holders were all gold with cream colored candles, that were burning, and smelled like a creamy, little bowl of butter milk. The furniture was cream and yellow colored leather that all seemed to be placed at the right place in the room. All of the furniture sat around a big, beautiful golden fireplace. It was marvelous! Sky decided that this must be the family room.
She walked on and ended up to where the gigantic hallway is, with doorways to more big rooms, and stairs for going upstairs, or down. She wasn't sure, but Sky felt that if she went upstairs, she would get lost, but if she went downstairs, Jerrie and Rump would surely be there! So, down she went.
Where she ended up was marvelous! It was another hallway with different doorways to go into to get to a different room. All of a sudden, she hear two familiar voices laughing and yelling. Sky made her way slowly over to where she heard the voices coming from. When she reached the room, she peeked in through the doorway. What she saw was horrible! It was a beautiful room gone bad! Jerrie and Rump were running around the room, tearing things down, taking things out of drawers, climbing up the curtains, and ripping apart the bed and pillows! The room was a bright red. It was huge! All of the furniture, pillows, bed, comforter, sheets – everything –was red! On one side of the room was a white marble fireplace with one gold candle stick on either side of the mantle place. There was also a big, gold grandfather clock in one corner of the room. There were red and white roses in every corner of the room. On two sides of the room, there was each one little dark oak table with nothing on them. Those must be where the vases were that those two cats broke.
" 'Ey," Rump asked, stopping in her tracks, " 'oo goes there?"
"It's just me," Sky replied, showing herself fully in the doorway.
"Well what a' ya doin' here?" Jerrie asked.
"I just was wondering if I could hangout with you guys." Sky told him.
"Hm…." Rump and Jerrie thought and then said, "No. Maybe ya can come back anotha day. We don't really need ya today…how 'bout tommora?"
Sky agreed and quickly left. She trotted briskly down the pathway from the house, onto the driveway, and all the way to the end of the street on the "red carpet" sidewalk. When she got to the end of the street, she looked back and sighed. The grass is always greener on the other side. Sky walked past stores, homes, and on sidewalks, but none were as wonderful as on Victorian Grove.
Sky was just passing a dark, creepy alley, when two cats jumped out in front of her. One was a fat reddish orange colored cat, and the other was a slim, light blonde one.
" 'Ey, where do ya think you're goin'?" the blonde one asked in a snarl.
"Um…home…?" Sky answered.
"I don't think so, kitt'n!" the fat, reddish one said in a hiss. "Ya're comin' with us, pussy!"
" 'Ey, ya're Captains kit…aye?" the blonde one asked.
"Uh…yeah, I used to be…" Sky answered in a squeaky whine.
"Good," the red one hissed with an evil "catty" smile, "Macavity needs ya for sumpthin'."
"And what would that be?" Sky hissed back.
" 'E needs ya to sail 'is boat to America so that he can get some stuff from some of 'is 'good friends'." The reddish one told her.
" 'Ey, stupid, don't tell 'er our plans! She don't need to know!" the blonde one snarled to his heavy companion.
Sky tried to think fast, but it was no use, they had her trapped. She started to whine, so they grabbed her and covered her mouth. That's when three more cats jumped out from the alley across the street and came running over.
"Leave 'er alone," a big calico yelled.
"Or we'll 'ave to get rough!" a small tabby shouted to the two cats that were holding Sky.
"Aye – an' trust 'oos, ya woon't want that!" a Birman screeched.
The two cats holding Sky exchanged glances, tossed Sky at the three new cats, and ran. Sky got up quickly and went to run after the two cats, but the three new ones stopped her.
"Whoot's a little kit like yaself doin' oot on the streets all by yaself?" the tabby asked Sky.
"I was just coming home from two of my friends' house, when those two cats jumped me." Sky answered.
"Well next time, 'ave ya two friends walk ya 'ome." The Birman told her.
"They couldn't – they were busy. Now I have to go home. Thank you and good- bye." Sky replied, but as she was about to leave, the cats stopped her.
"Listen, we don't woont this to 'appen again today, so we'll walk ya 'ome." The calico told her.
"Okay," Sky said, and they left.
***
" - And then they walked me home." Sky told her story to everyone when she got back to the alley. "The calico is Tietailor, the tabby is Funzieflip, and the Birman is Cicidol."
"That was interesting!" Tugger said sarcastically with a laugh.
"You said something about Macavity?" Munku asked.
"Yeah," Sky answered, "The two cats said that their boss, Macavity, wanted me to sail his ship to America, so that he could get some stuff from some of his 'good friends'."
Munku thought for a minute and said,
"For now, I want everyone to take turns going places with Sky. Later we will hold a meeting and decide who will be the first one to take a shift. The shifts will last one week each. Let's meet at eight thirty tonight." That was all Munku said, and then disappeared around the corner.
***
Sky didn't like feeling like she needed protection, but she went along with the whole idea anyway, just so that she wouldn't annoy or make anyone mad. Misto understood how she felt though, because he, too had to be watched after like the way that Sky was going to be, so she felt that she had at least one more friend.
At eight thirty sharp, the meeting was adjourned. All the cats were there : Munkustrap, Rum Tum Tugger, Bombalurina, Demeter, Jemima, Tumblebrutus, Pouncival, Plato, Victoria, Cassandra, Etcetera, Electra, Copricat, Tantomile, Admetus, Skimbleshanks, Jennyanydots, Asparagus, Jellylorum, Mongojerrie, Rumpleteazer, and Mistoffelees, plus some other cats from around town.
"Now, the order of who will be watching over Sky, is : Rum Tum Tugger, Bombalurina, Demeter, Jemima, Tumblebrutus, Pouncival, Victoria, Cassandra, Etcetera, Electra, Copricat and Tantomile, Admetus, Skimbleshanks, Jennyanydots, Asparagus, Jellylorum, and Mistoffelees.
" 'Ey, whoot about oos?" Jerrie yelled.
"You guys are too much of troublemakers, and we don't need another one." Munku answered. Jerrie and Rump frowned and stormed off.
"An' oos?" Some of the other cats from around town asked.
"I think that Sky would probably feel more comfortable being around cats who she knows." Munku told them. "The meeting has hereby ended."
"Okay, kit," Tugger said to Sky, "Come on, back to the alley."
***
The week with Tugger was hard for Sky. If she wanted to go somewhere, Tugger would always have to fix his hair, and that would take forever! Sky also couldn't go see Jerrie and Rump, because she knew that Tugger wouldn't let her go.
The next week, Sky was with Bomba. That, too was a tough week, because Bomba was exactly like Tugger. Those two drove her absolutely crazy with their hair and with Bomba, she was always also doing her nails!
The week with Demeter was definitely different! If Demeter was napping, and Sky came to ask if she could bring her somewhere, Demeter would jump up at any sound and yell, "Macavity!"
When Sky was with Jem, though, she had fun. Jem took her inside the old run-down theater and showed her around and also introduced her to Gus the theater cat. Jem also took Sky to see Jerrie and Rump, but didn't let her do anything that had trouble written on it. At the end of the week, Sky was sad that it was over.
On the fourth week, Sky was with Brutus. She had fun being taught how to tumble. Brutus also taught Sky how to do a tumble in the air, flips, and cartwheels. She had a lot of fun, but was kind of happy that that week had ended, because Brutus wasted all of their time teaching her how to do stuff, and didn't get to bring her anywhere.
When Pouncival was watching over Sky, he said on the first day, "You're pretty fast and agile, but your pouncing needs work." So, for the first day or two, he taught Sky how to pounce on mice, birds, rats, and even other cats. So when he brought Sky to Jerrie and Rump's house, she and Pouncival would play with Jerrie and Rump, and they would pounce on them. After that week, Sky wondered how much fun it would be to play with Victoria.
On the sixth week, Victoria taught Sky how to do acrobats and some fun games that had to do with acrobatic tricks. Victoria wouldn't take Sky to Jerrie and Rump's house, because she didn't want to be the blame for letting Sky get hurt or in trouble, but she did bring her to the dock and taught her how to fish with her tail. Sky had a lot of fun flipping around and fishing with Victoria, but she ached from the acrobats, and her tail hurt from the fish biting it.
The following week after Victoria's turn was Cassandra's turn. Most of the time she was pretty easygoing on what they were doing, but she wouldn't let Sky leave anywhere after dark, just in case on of Macavity's little goons were out looking for Sky. So most of the time at night, they would just sit around. Sky was hoping that the week with Etcetera would be better, and it was.
Etc. would take Sky to the deli during the day and mooch food off of the chef, and at night, she would take Sky to look at the stars. It was all really fun and exciting, until one night during Etc.'s watch, a huge rat snuck up on the two while they were walking home from Jerrie and Rump's house, and he tried to kidnap Sky, but Etc. stopped him.
The week after that was Electra's turn. She didn't talk too much or take Sky anywhere except for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, unless Sky asked, and Elec would take her. During one day that week, Electra took Sky to go see Jerrie and Rump, and she accidentally knocked over a vase while they were playing, and Jerrie and Rump's owners literally booted her and Electra out of the house. Sky was happy when the week was finally over!
After Elec, was Copri and Tanto. Sky had been with the whole group for about ten weeks, and this beginning her eleventh. She knew almost everything about all of he cats who've taken care of her so far, besides Elec (since she didn't talk too much). Copri and Tanto took Sky everywhere(but after the booting incident, not to Jerrie and Rump's)! Fishing, to see a film at the newer theater, to a cotton candy vendor who gave them little treats, and those two loved to talk! But unfortunately, that week, too end.
The next one up to watch Sky was Admetus. He seemed shy and didn't really talk too much, like Elec, but he did like to make weird faces and get Sky to laugh. She liked to think of him as "Rubber Face". Sky was kind of glad when the week was over, because then Skimble could watch after her, and she would be able to go on a train for the first time in her life. Almost the whole week during the days were spent at the train station, and every moment was exciting. She got to see many other pets, but they had to all be kept in a strange cage, which Skimble called a carrying kennel, and he also said that it was used so that the animal that was inside of it wouldn't run around the train freely. That ended also moved way too fast, and Sky was moved onto being watched by Jennyanydots.
Sky didn't like Jenny too much, because she was always too busy to take her anywhere, and she always was making Sky clean stuff. That week went too slow, and by the end of it, she was happy to be let onto being watched by Asparagus.
Asparagus was an older cat, who was always behind Sky when they went places, and she would always have to wait and let him catch up. But when they got to where they were going, Asparagus was good about telling the history of the land or the building. Sky learned a lot about where she was living during that week.
Next to watch Sky was Jelly. Sky enjoyed every second of that week, because Jelly loved to spoil kittens, and those kittens loved being spoiled! Sky got treats, toys, and a full belly every night during that week! Sky loved that week, but she didn't mind going on to the next week.
The next cat to watch Sky was Misto, and actually he was also a kitten, which made things much more fun (just like the week with Jem, because she, too was a kitten just like Sky and Misto). Misto took Sky to many places : the pond, fishing, to see Skimble, to see Munku, to see Jelly, to the old theater, to Jerrie and Rump's (but didn't let her rough- house : he didn't want her getting in any more trouble with that family!), and he also taught Sky how to do some magic tricks! Sky had a great time, but the week was over too soon…
***
"Let the meeting now come to order," Munku announced.
Everyone became very quiet. The meeting started and they started the regular stuff. They talked about how the alleys were doing on their little neighborhood alley watch team, how the food supplies were, what they were going to do for food and shelter during the winter, and passing laws for appointing a pollicle guard. And then they finally got to Sky's situation.
"Well," Munku began, "What are we going to do now that we've run out of cats to watch Sky? Everyone in my alley have all gone once. What should we do?"
"We could start over again and go in the same order," Jelly suggested.
"I think that we could let her out on her own now. I've seen how she acts and defends herself, and Macavity hasn't stricken for eight weeks now." Tugger said.
"We could appoint one cat to watch Sky until she can fend for herself," Skimble also suggested.
"Hm…" Munku thought and then said, "Let's vote. Who agrees on restarting?"
Two paws were raised.
"Who votes for letting her out on her own?"
Five paws were raised.
"How about appointing one final one?"
The rest of the cats raised their paws.
"Okay," Munku began, "Now that we've settled which suggestion is the most popular, we need to have some cats to volunteer to take the part of Sky's gardian."
Bustopher Jones (one of the richer cats in the area), Jelly, Alonzo, Jerrie and Rump, Misto, and Jem all raised their paws.
"Who wants Bustopher to be the keeper?"
Bustopher raised his paw, but he was the only one.
"Jelly?"
Jelly and four other cats raised their paws.
"Alonzo?"
Alonzo and two of his friends raised their paws.
"Jerrie and Rump?"
The two cats jumped up with their paws high in the air yelling, "Aye!"
"Misto?"
Misto and five other cats raised their paws.
"Jem?"
Jem and three other cats raised their paws.
"Okay, the keeper of Sky is now Misto." Munku said loudly. "You can watch her for three more weeks, then you can let her fend for herself. The meeting is now over."
***
The three weeks went by even faster then the one week. Misto told Sky about when he was first brought to a meeting and they had to decide who would watch him, and Jelly won. He said that no one really wanted her to watch another kitten because when she was bringing him home, he was kidnapped by some of Macavity's goons, and that was because he had been so quiet on the way home.
"I don't want you get to kidnapped, so that's why I'm talking to you now," Misto said on the way home.
He also taught her more magic tricks, and about his parents, and he also told her that Victoria is his sister. He brought her to see Bustopher Jones, Skimble, Munku, Jelly, the old theater, Jerrie and Rump(but didn't let her rough-house : he didn't want her getting in any more trouble with that family!), and Gus the theater cat.
When the three weeks were over, Sky knew how to do plenty of things by herself, such as catching food and street-fighting. She also knew about the land that they were living on, about Bustopher, Gus, and the old theater. She was sad that the time had gone by so fast and was now over.
***
"Now let the meeting come to order," Munku commanded the other cats and then asked "What do you think that we should now do with you, Sky?"
"Well, now I know how to get food and take care of myself, so I don't think that anyone needs to watch me. And Macavity hasn't tried to get me in a long time, either, so that's also good." Sky answered.
"Okay, let's vote on what we should do. All for letting Sky watch herself, say 'Aye'."
"Aye." Most of the cats sang happily.
"All opposed, say 'Nay'."
Only a few other cats said nay.
"Then most of us have now agreed that Sky can fend for herself. This meeting is dismissed." Munku ended and then everyone left.
To be continued to a new story…