"Alonzo! ALONZO!" Munkustrap called. Demeter shrugged in confusion.
"He was here before."
"Before is no good! I need him NOW!" Munkustrap scowled, pacing down the deserted street and peering into all the shadows. Demeter ran to catch the taller cat up.
"Calm down! He'll be around." She soothed, taking his arm. "Maybe Cassandra will know where he is."
Munkustrap sighed. "Yeah, probably. They're a bit of an item, aren't they?"
Demeter giggled. "Cassandra would wish so! I'm not so sure Alonzo wants the commitment! The other queens say she follows him around everywhere, and he doesn't want to hurt her feelings by telling her to go away!"
"Does she have feelings?"
"Munku! Of course she does. You know it – stop being so grumpy!" Munku looked at his mate, then sighed.
"Sorry. I'm just annoyed with Alonzo. I'll stop taking it out on you." He nuzzled her fondly. They didn't notice Cassandra slink up behind them.
"Where's Alonzo?" She asked. The two cats turned around, startled. There was a short silence as Munkustrap slowly counted to ten in French – he was up to his eyes in requests for Alonzo, and Cassandra was just about the last straw.
"He's not here." He said, managing to control his voice. "I'm looking for him." Cassandra didn't notice he spoke with suppressed annoyance.
"Oh, really?" She smiled in her seductive way. "So am I! We can look together!" Demeter stepped as close to Munkustrap as she could get and put her arm round him, just to make sure Cassandra remembered they were mates. There was another second's silence as Munkustrap's eyes left Cassandra's and refocused on the ground near their feet.
"Hah!" He growled, leaping viciously onto a half-browned leaf that lay twitching in the breeze. The two queens watched in surprise, their differences forgotten as their leader proceeded to rip the leaf to shreds, muttering under his breath as he did so.
"Is he…alright?" Cassandra murmered. "Only he's acting like a kitten!" Demeter shrugged, smiling fondly at her mate.
"Anger management." She explained. "Poor leaf."
Munkustrap finished shredding the leaf and straightened up with all his usual dignity, flicking remnants from his claws.
"Shall we go, then?" He asked calmly. "Alonzo must be around here somewhere. It's his turn to look after the kittens. I know he isn't the most efficient kit-sitter, but Jennyanydots needs a break sometimes!"
Cassandra shrugged in her slinky way.
"I'll check the roofs." She suggested. "Are you coming with me, Munku?" Demeter scowled.
"He's coming with me!" She glared at the graceful Siamese. Munku looked at her.
"Correction, Demeter!" He said, stifling a laugh as his mate turned outraged eyes on him. "Don't worry!" He grinned, licking her ear affectionately. "I'll do the backstreets and the alleyways. You can take the main street and Cassandra can do the roofs." Demeter sighed and cuffed him over the shoulder with her velveted paw.
"Alright." She agreed, and the three cats parted, Cassandra leaping onto a fence and then onto the rooftops, Munkustrap turning down a shadowed alleyway and Demeter setting off down the main street.
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Alonzo and Jemima lay on their backs on a rooftop, gazing at the stars. The slates were still warm from the day's sunlight, making a pleasant surface to stretch on.
"See that? That's what the humans call 'Orion', and that's his Pollicle." Alonzo said, pointing vaguely at the sky.
"Which one?" Jemima asked, interested.
"Uh, well, it's a whole group of them."
"Which group?"
"Erm…that one, that one, that one and that one!" Alonzo waved his paw expressively in the general direction of Venus. "That bright one's his eye!" Jemima went up on one elbow and gave him a look.
"You don't know! You're just pretending to be clever!" She teased.
"Jemima! That was a roundabout way of saying I'm stupid!" He rolled over till he was sitting, the laughter in his eyes betraying his severe voice.
"Oh, really?" She giggled. "Very nice of you to take me stargazing! Maybe you could first learn a little more than I know already!" Alonzo hardly knew what to say. He wasn't the sort of cat who, when asked to be taken to look at the stars by a pretty queen, would say he didn't know how to stargaze! "For example," Jemima continued. "Orion's over there." She pointed in the opposite direction to where Alonzo had been gesturing.
"Oh, fiddle!" Alonzo grinned. "My paws are cold and have the shakes tonight, that's all! They won't go where I want them to…" He broke off as Jemima giggled again.
"Oh, sure!" She agreed lightly. "Shall I hold them, to keep them warm?" Alonzo smiled and took her paws in his, and they lay back to watch her beloved moon rise.