Horse Play
This story is for entertainment purposes only, all rights belong to Andrew Lloyd Webber etc.
Electra kept low to the ground, she could feel the fur on her pelt brushing against the dirt. Slowly, very slowly, she crept forwards, keeping light on the pads of her paws, not making a sound. The tiny creature a few metres away from her had its back to her and as she was downwind, he had not smelt her. His loss. She was so close now, she could feel her mouth watering. The mouse snuffled through a pile of junk and quickly scurried over a discarded chain. Electra's eyes darted with his every move. She crouched even lower and made ready to pounce on her victim. 3, 2, 1…
"Move!"
Before she could take her senses away from the mouse to discover the source of the disturbance, a large furry object bowled straight into her, knocking her flat onto her side. Pouncival was already well ahead, Tumblebrutus hot on his heels, before she could swat him.
"You!" She spat after the two toms.
Remembering her prize, she quickly jumped back up and scanned the area hopefully. Of course, the mouse was by now long gone and she had no chance of catching him.
"I'll get you two, you brats!" She shouted. Since she had nothing better to do, she sprinted after them. She found them tumbling over each other in the dust beside the old, abandoned oven.
"Oi! Your pollicle food!" She shouted, in the most unladylike manner.
The two kittens quickly stopped their play fighting and looked up to see who was making all the noise. When they saw that it was only Electra they merely laughed and went back to bashing each other. She hissed and spat at them and brought out her small claws but it only made them laugh more. In fact Pouncival found this display of fierceness so entertaining that tears started to trickle down his fur and he rolled, guffawing mirthlessly on the ground. The little queen took this as a good opportunity and charged at the two toms. They quickly jumped up and half sprinted, half stumbled – still laughing – away from her. The chase was on, but as they skidded around a corner of junk, Electra didn't spot the Rum Tum Tugger. Tumble and Pounce were quick and dashed to one side of the big leopard tom, leaving a small cloud of dust behind them. But Electra didn't see him, her focus was of course, on the two in front of her…
She collided head on into Tugger's perfectly arranged mane and fell to the ground. It's like running into stone, she thought. It took her a moment to collect her senses together again. She looked up, and found herself staring into Tugger's eyes, he's so strong, she sighed dreamily. Instead of chiding her like some of the older cats would do, he just chuckled, picked her up, and lightly set her back down on her paws.
"I'm so sorry!" She gabbled, feeling completely mortified. She suddenly felt very hot…
"That's ok, just don't mess my mane up again," He grinned at her, shaking out the magnificent ruff of hair that he thought of as his prize possession. Wait until I tell the girls about this!
"Excuse me - I have a pointless meeting to attend to…"Tugger sighed and brushed down his fur and Electra giggled.
"Good bye!" She squeaked as he swaggered away.
"And you really touched his mane!" Etcetera squealed with glee. The four female kittens were lounging around on top of the battered TSE-1. The sun was still climbing into the sky, as it was still early in the day but soon the roof of the car would heat up nicely and become a perfect spot to nap on.
"Yeah… He's so handsome," Electra giggled. Jemima joined in but then the noise slowly subsided and once again they were surrounded by silence. Awkward silence. A fly buzzed above Etcetera ears and she whipped out one of her paws out to whack it. Victoria, the little white Queen, fidgeted with her diamond collar. Only the occasional clack and grind of the one lonely machine working in the distance, the stirring of the breeze and the buzzing of insects was audible. Even though the rusty red metal of the car was starting to heat, none of them really felt like sleeping.
"Where is everyone?" Victoria questioned, looking around. Jemima sat up and yawned, out of boredom, not fatigue.
"All of the grown-ups are at a meeting," she replied "And the boys… Well who knows? They could be anywhere."
"A meeting? Again? Don't they ever run out of things to say – I mean there's only so much they can talk about,"
"I heard Tugger say that they were meeting because they need to tighten security," Etcetera had to bring Tugger into the conversation of course "And do you know why?" She dramatically scanned the area to check that no-one else was there "They say Macavity's Hench-cats have been seen prowling around here!"
Jemima was the youngest kitten in the Jellicle Tribe and her eyes widened at this and she gasped.
"Really!" She whispered. She wasn't stupid, she knew who Macavity was – every Jellicle did.
"Yeah," Victoria hissed menacingly, slinking towards Jemima. And she had noticed something that Jemima hadn't.
"And we all know how dangerous he is…"
Jemima, with eyes now as big as saucers and fur stood on end, was about to reply when suddenly, something sprang up from behind her.
"BOO!" Shrieked Electra as she pounced on the younger kitten. Victoria and Etcetera nearly fell off the top of the car they were laughing so hard. Jemima was thrashing and shouting.
"That wasn't funny!" She rounded on Electra, who was also giggling uncontrollably. She smoothed down her frightened fur and hissed "you're such a… Such a…" But she couldn't find the right words and soon lost herself in the all the laughter.
"You shouldn't joke about Macavity."
All four of the little Queens quickly bolted upright and looked over to where Pouncival was lying in the centre of the clearing, idly flicking his tail back and forth.
"He's a very serious… matter," came Tumblebrutus' voice, high up on a stack of boxes, wood planks and various bits of junk. He grinned at them and began to jump down to the ground.
"Were you spying on us?!" Etcetera said angrily.
"Maybe," Pounce trotted up to them and jumped onto the bonnet of the car.
"How much did you hear?" Victoria hissed, but then added carefully "Not that we were talking about anything important."
"Oh we heard everything…" Tumble sniggered.
"Not much," corrected Mistoffelees, who had magically appeared behind the small group. Etcetera and Victoria shrieked and quickly moved around to face him.
"You rat faces!"
The toms grinned madly. Mistoffelees had the canny knack of being magical. He could appear, disappear, heal, turn on the lights and perform other amazing tricks, No-one was really sure of the limit to his power, but at times like this it was handy – and rather funny.
"Why were you spying on us?" Jemima piped up. Being one of the smallest, she was hid behind the other kittens but she stuck her head around and jumped into the middle of the group.
"Oh, I almost forgot you were there, small," Pounce joked "Ow!" He grumbled as she swatted his ears.
"Very funny," she growled.
"Yes, why were you spying on us?" Etcetera repeated.
Mistoffelees smiled sheepishly "Well, truthfully, we just didn't have anything else to do…"
"Yeah, we were just so bored," Tumble moaned.
"So you just decided to listen in on our conversation?"
"Umm, pretty much… We tried to eavesdrop on the adults but someone," Tumble glared at Pounce pointedly "got us caught. They told us to go and find you and keep out of the way until they were finished."
"And now you're here." Electra groaned. It wasn't that she particularly minded having the toms around, in fact she often enjoyed their company, especially Pounce's, but now that they had arrived, there was nothing to entertain them with. But the boys were boys and that was that.
"So it would seem!" Misto beamed happily "So what are we going to do now?"
Everyone looked around the clearing in hope of find something that would amuse them – but to no avail. They had already chatted and played and ran and napped and now there was nothing to do. The yard that had once seemed so full of life, now appeared dull and empty. Victoria sighed,
"If only Plato were here,"
The cat who Victoria spoke of was a russet and white tabby with small, pointed whiskers that she found very handsome. He used to be a kitten himself, up until a few weeks ago, when he was deemed old enough to begin his first guard duties and join the adults at their meetings and such like. As well as this, he was now officially an adult tom. This was the one thing that annoyed Pounce, Tumble and Misto the most, the fact that Plato could now lord it over them all that they were still kittens and he was, of course, not. Misto could have got away with turning up to the meeting but he had decided to stay and muck around, it wasn't a hard choice… Now a days Plato joined the other cats, mostly Alonzo and the Rum Tum Tugger, instead of playing with his old friends. The boys looked forward to the day that they would turn into adults, when they would all be equals! Then they would see just who really was the boss…
The other kittens harrumphed at this last comment.
"I don't know what you see in that starched ball of fluff," Pounce complained "He really thinks of himself as the Everlasting cat, you should see him strutting about the yard. And he hardly ever talks to us now – although I bet he really wants to, the adult world is far too boring for him."
"Oh, I think I know what she sees…" Tumble sniggered in a vulgar manner.
The girls rolled their eyes and turned their noses up at him,
"You're all just jealous."
Misto jumped down off the car and started strutting around the clearing. He flicked one of his black ears back in a mock fashion of the older Tom and mimicked his deep, yet still kittenish voice,
"I'm Plato and I'm the most handsome, superior and frankly annoying cat that ever… Oh wait, I forgot about Tugger!"
"And Victoria loves me!" Pounce added.
A squabble soon ensued but it was only light hearted, Victoria eventually won by jumping on Pounce and knocking him clean off the car. He rolled in the dirt and hissed at her fiercely.
"Oh shut up both of you, no one cares about Plato anyway, I'm so bored – isn't there anything that we can do!?"
Jemima hushed the other squealing kittens. She really was bored senseless. All the boys had managed to achieve was arguments and even before that they hadn't been doing anything. She thought about running and getting her toy catnip, but the others would just tease her. Or she could try and catch a real mouse, but of course that was as likely as a blue moon… Maybe they could play tag? Oh, it was all just useless – boring, boring, boring!
"I wish we could go somewhere. Like out of the yard, I mean,"
Tumble guffawed "Don't be an idiot! It's dangerous going out on our own, and we don't really know anywhere apart from the junk yard,"
"Oh it wouldn't be that bad, I mean, who would be a danger to us?"
Tumble stared at her in amazement "Well, I don't know, how about say – Macavity!"
"Aww, are you scared little kitten?"
"NO!"
"I'VE GOT IT!"
Suddenly Etcetera shouted, breaking the debate. If anyone had been watching her over the last minute they would have been able to see the locked expression of concentration all over her face. One eye was slightly squinted and her nose wrinkled, In fact if you stared close enough, you might have even been able to see the cogs whirring in her little brain. After her deep thinking, a look of eureka! suddenly washed over her features.
"What?!" Everyone asked, barely able to contain their eagerness.
"Well, I was just thinking, does anyone remember that time that Jenny and Jelly took us all out on a trip and we went to the 'countryside'?"
"Yes!" Murmurs and nods went around the small group.
"Well maybe Misto could take us there, use his magic, you know!"
"Oh yeah, that would be so cool!" and "Please Misto, do it just this one!" suddenly bombarded the small black cat. He scratched at his nose and straightened his whiskers "I don't know… I mean, that's quite hard."
"Oh please, come on! You won't regret it once you're there!"
Mistoffelees thought about this, hard. He vaguely knew how to conjure this sort of spell and none of his magic had ever gone wrong before. He didn't want to be a let-down but what if something bad really did happen? But they were right – it would be fun once they got there and the yard was practically useless at the moment. Well, he thought, you only live once!
He held up his paws in surrender "Alright, alright! I suppose I might have a little something up my sleeve…"
"YES!"
"Misto, you are brilliant!" Electra giggled "So, what do we have to do?"
"Hmm, well… I need you all to think about something to do with the countryside. Whether it be flowers, grass, rolling hills, sheep I don't mind, just something."
The kittens all screwed up their faces and thought about something. Jemima saw a lamb frolicking through a green meadow and Tumble pictured giant, emerald leaves blowing in the breeze. Misto himself watched a ladybug flit through the sky, her scarlet wings buzzing and glinting in the sunlight. Suddenly a strange feeling began to overcome the seven. They felt as if they were gently being lifted up by some unseen force.
"It tingles," Etcetera whispered drowsily. Just as they all thought they were going to fall into a deep, slumbering sleep, the kittens suddenly found themselves falling, bashing into one another and then crashing to the ground before they could realise what was happening. But instead of coming into contact with the rough, dusty terrain of the junk yard, they tumbled onto a bed of soft and springy grass. Pouncival watched an ant scurry across a blade and then down into the ground opposite his nose. Victoria bolted upright and found herself staring into the bright orb of the sun.
"Where are we?" She squinted.
The other kittens blinked and looked around. It took a while for all of them to get on their feet, they still felt dizzy from the magic and their limbs were heavy and clumsy. They were surrounded by green. Grass covered hills tumbled off to the south and eastward was a small cluster of trees. Fields bursting with golden ears of corn and other treasures lay directly in front of them and not too far away stood a great barn, the greyish tint of its corrugated iron contrasting with the pastel tones of the countryside. The sun was now high in the sky, suggesting that it was around lunchtime.
"I have no idea…" Puzzled Tumble. Then he smiled "But well done Misto! We would still be stuck at the yard if it wasn't for you!" He ruffled the fur on top of the black and white cats head playfully, but Misto did not return the gesture kindly. Before the others could congratulate him, anger flitted across his face, turning his features sour.
"That's just it," He muttered "Where are we?"
Everyone else looked even more confused than before,
"Misto?" Victoria asked "What's wrong?"
"It's all my fault," he groaned "For the magic to work, we have to know where we are now."
"But it has worked hasn't it? I mean, we're here now," Etcetera tried to state the obvious.
"No – you don't understand. We started off at the junk yard, 'our set beginning' and then basically willed our destination. For all I know, we could be anywhere in the world! That's the thing about magic, it has to work both ways. So we know that if we want to go home, we have to think about the junk yard, however… we have no clue where we are at the moment, and if we don't have a set place or name for our beginning then how can we find our ending? You have to know where you start with magic."
It took a while for that to register in the young cats small minds. They didn't fully understand it, but then – how could you understand magic? Yet the sun dappled fields and bright azure sky suddenly seemed a little darker, and the light breeze a bit colder.
"Hang on, hold your horses, that's overly confusing!" Rambled Pouncival "Can't you just pretend that we're somewhere you recognise?"
Misto sighed "It doesn't work like that, you can't trick magic!"
"So what are you saying?" Jemima asked worriedly. The kittens were all anxious as Misto grimaced,
"I'm saying we can't go home."