It was five minutes to go until midnight on New Year's Eve. The night was cold and damp but the fog that had hung over the Junkyard for the past fortnight had finally lifted, driven away by strong gusts of wind that had set in around midday. The rain had stopped but a chill still lay in the air.
Despite the biting wind the Jellicles were still assembled in the main clearing of the Junkyard. There were two fires burning, one for the drinks, one for food. For safety reasons Munkustrap had insisted the fire was kept well away from any of the surrounding rubbish. Too much of it was flammable, he had pointed out. Nevertheless, Jennyanydots and Jellylorum were handing out mugs of Glühwein from a huge cauldron that was bubbling away happily over a large bonfire, a smaller pan next to it contained Kinderpunsch for the kittens. The second fire was roasting chestnuts and jacket potatoes that the two queens were serving wrapped in tin foil with heaps of cheese and butter.
The other Jellicles were arranged around the clearing enjoying themselves. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer had arranged the musical entertainment by stealing a wireless radio and were happily dancing and singing along to every song that came on, whether they knew the words or not. The kittens had gone rather hyper, as it was well past their bedtime and Demeter, who had been charged with watching them was having a rather stressful time. Munkustrap had taken pity on her and was helping and Bombalurina was balanced on a cardboard box next to them sipping at her Glühwein and making unhelpful comments and suggestions. Old Deuteronomy and Gus were sat together by the fire talking in low voices, Bustopher was happily tucking into a large paper cone full of roasted chestnuts and Skimbleshanks kept checking his watch every few seconds to make sure nobody missed the clocks striking midnight. Most of the other adults were standing around in small groups talking and laughing, occasionally glancing curiously over at Mistoffelees who was busily arranging something at one end of the clearing.
As the clocks began to strike twelve a cheer rose up from the assembled Jellicles and the bells all around the city started to boom filling the air with a lovely chiming and ringing. At almost the same moment the still, dark night came alive with whistling and banging as beautiful showers of every colour imaginable began to explode around the city as the firework displays began.
From his corner Mistoffelees straightened up and glanced over at Old Deuteronomy who gave him an approving nod. The small tuxedo tom twirled round happily and sent a small spark of electricity shooting from his paw onto something on the ground. An amazing fountain of gold and silver shot up high into the night sky and exploded in showers of red and orange sparks. The rest of the cats who had been busily hugging and congratulating each other turned to watch as a second firework shot into the air whistling loudly and rained green sparks over the Junkyard.
As Mistoffelees' firework display continued Tumblebrutus glanced around him looking for someone, to distracted to enjoy the show. Since just before midnight he had been unable to find Jemima. The other kittens had all busily hugged each other and rushed over to watch the fireworks with eyes as big as saucers but the youngest Jellicles seemed to have simply vanished into thin air. He had no idea where she had gone.
Carefully, the young tom edged his way through the crowd looking for his friend in case she had just been separated from the others in all the excitement but still she was nowhere to be seen. Starting to worry he decided to go and check her den. Maybe she had got cold and gone in to fetch a blanket, he figured.
Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible so as not to worry the others Tumblebrutus edged round the Junkyard and hurried over to Munkustrap and Demeter's den. "Jemima?", he called, knocking softly on the door, "Jem, are you in there?"
There was no answer. The den was dark and he couldn't hear anything from inside.
Just as the young tom was about to turn away another of Mistoffelees' fireworks went of with an ear-splitting bang. From inside the den there was a tiny noise like a whimper and in the eerie green light from the firework Tumblebrutus was sure he caught a glimpse of Jemima cowering half under her bed.
Opening the door, the young tom quickly went inside and lit a lamp. "Jem, it's me", he called softly. "It's ok." As he headed towards her bedroom another firework went of. This time he definitely heard his friend let out a frightened squeak. "It's ok, Jemmie," he repeated, "there's nothing to be scared of."
"Brutus?", Jemima's voice sounded shrill and unnatural and was wobbling dangerously. Her eyes, when Tumblebrutus crawled under the bed to join her, bringing with him the lamp and a warm, woolly blanket, were filled with tears that trickled down her cheeks and dripped onto the floor. The poor kitten's whole body was shaking violently with fear and her breathing came out in ragged sobs.
Gently Tumblebrutus reached out to her and began to stroke her fur. "It's ok, Jem, don't cry", he whispered softly. "There's nothing to be afraid of, it's just fireworks. They can't hurt you." It was rather hard to move in the cramped, confined space but he managed to edge closer and wrap an arm around her quivering shoulders. "Ssh, I'm here, you're alright." With the other paw he continued to stroke her fur in what he hoped was a soothing, calming manner.
More fireworks went off and Jemima shrieked and buried her face in his fur. "I'm scared," she whimpered. "I don't like it."
Tumblebrutus could feel the tears soaking into his fur and wished he could do more to help her. He hated seeing one of his best friends like this. It wasn't fair. And all for a few stupid fireworks that weren't even that impressive anyway. Silently he cursed Mistoffelees and anyone else setting off fireworks within a hundred mile radius of London. Was it really necessary? What good did fireworks do anyway? They left the streets and countryside looking a mess and polluted the environment, that was all. Not to mention frighting children and pets all over the country. People who set them off were selfish, thoughtless, inconsiderate idiots, he decided. "Ssh, Jemmie," he whispered again in her ear.
Jemima was still crying quietly into his chest but her sobs seemed to have quietened down slightly and she seemed a bit calmer now someone was with her. "Why do people do that?", the kitten sniffed, "can't people get hurt by fireworks?"
"Of course not," Tumblebrutus lied. "It's perfectly safe if your careful and sensible around them." Silently prayed that he sounded convincing. The last thing Jemima needed was someone telling her people were often injured by fireworks, especially children, and that they could be very dangerous when not used properly.
Luckily his friend seemed convinced. "I wish they wouldn't make so much noise. It's scary and I don't like all the banging," she whispered. "I wish it'd just stop." Covering her ears with her paws Jemima hid her head in Tumblebrutus' fur again.
"Just think about something else," the white and brown tom suggested. "Remember when you watched The Sound of Music with Vicky?" He felt Jemima nod and continued: "Remember what those children did when they were frightened of the storm?"
"I don't feel like singing", the little black and white queen whispered. She had to admit she was feeling a lot better with Tumblebrutus there to look after her. He was taking her mind of the horrible fireworks that were still whistling overhead and having someone's arms around her always made her feel better when she was worried.
She felt his chest vibrate as he laughed slightly. "You don't have to sing. Just think about nice things instead. Think about what you're going to do in the new year, stuff like that. Pretend the fireworks aren't there."
Jemima closed her eyes and began to think. She was walking in a meadow of flowers, bright yellow daffodils. The meadow was sloping and at the bottom of the hill was a stream with weeping willows trailing their branches in the cool, clear water. Overhead larks were flying high in the sky singing sweetly but apart from that everything was quiet and peaceful. She was walking towards the stream and walking next to her was Tumblebrutus. She could feel his paw in hers and hear him laughing softly. Together they reached the stream and lay back on the soft grass of the bank, their paws trailing in the water. Jemima found herself looking up at the sky, at the birds high overhead and at the few fluffy white clouds floating past. She turned her head to look at her friend. His eyes were focussed on some faraway point on the horizon and he was humming quietly under his breath. Lying there, Jemima realised something for the first time. "I love you, Brutus," she whispered and closed her eyes. The sun was warm on her face and his humming was making her feel very sleepy. Despite her best efforts Jemima found herself dropping off to sleep. In her dreams the humming seemed to continue very quietly.
Squashed under Jemima's bed, hugging his friend to his chest Tumblebrutus stopped humming and looked down at her. She was breathing evenly now and her eyes were shut as she slept. Only her lashes fluttered occasionally and once or twice she smiled in her dreams. He kissed her on the top of the head and whispered very, very quietly so as not to wake his friend: "I love you, too, Jemmie. Happy New Year." And he too closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
It was much later when Demeter and Munkustrap came back in from watching the fireworks. The display had been amazing but they were both very tired and very cold and wanted to get to bed as soon as possible.
As they were heading to their room, Demeter caught sight of a light coming from behind Jemima's curtain and together the pair tiptoed into the room. At first sight there was no one there but when they looked closely they could see that the light was coming from under the bed. What they saw when they crouched down to look under the bed was Jemima and Tumblebrutus cuddled together, her head resting on his shoulder, his arms around her. Both sleeping Jellicles were smiling slightly.
Jemima's parents shared a knowing smile before creeping out of the room as quietly as possible.