"Jelly, please, I really need your help."

With a sigh the pale queen shook her head. "I just don't know, Gus. I'm not sure it's a good idea." The two cats were sat in the sun outside Jellylorum's den drinking tea and watching her three kittens playing with each other. Jellylorum looked worried and was chewing her lip, while Gus looked calm, only his tail flicking backwards and forwards gave away that he was nervous.

"You know I wouldn't ask you unless it was important," Gus persisted, trying and failing to catch Jellylorum's eye, "It's just one evening, that's all. Asparagus can look after the kittens."

To buy herself time to think the queen took a large gulp of tea, burning her mouth. "But I don't think I can do it," she said once she had finished coughing, "I'd just be too scared." Immediately she felt horrible for saying no to Gus. His face fell and he looked so disappointed. Hurriedly she put a comforting paw on his arm. She just couldn't bring herself to say no to the old tom. He had never asked her for a favour before and he had done so much to help her when the kittens were very small. "I mean, I could try if you really want..."

Gus' face brightened up again straight away and he looked like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "Thank you so much, Jelly. I'd have been in real trouble if you hadn't agreed to help." He noticed she still looked doubtful, so he lent over and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry, you'll be great." Slowly and stiffly the old cat clambered to his feet.

"Do you need help getting back to your den?" Jellylorum jumped up and went to take Gus' arm, but he shook his head.

"You worry about me too much," he said, smiling, "I can still walk you know. I'll see you later." With a cheerful wave he set off slowly across the Junkyard, leaving Jellylorum holding an empty teacup and wishing she had said no after all.

"What was all that about?" Jennyanydots came to stand behind her best friend, watching Gus make his way home. "You look stressed. Is something wrong?"

Shaking her head Jellylorum let herself sink back onto the tyre she had been sitting on and buried her face in her paws with a groan. "It's nothing serious," she told her friend in a muffled voice, "Gus asked me to help him with something and I agreed, but now I wish I hadn't."

Jennyanydots sat down beside the upset queen and pulled her into a tight hug. "Well, that's not that bad. For a moment there I was really worried. I thought something terrible had... Pouncival, don't pull your sister's tail!" She turned her attention back to her friend when Pouncival sheepishly let go of Etcetera's tail and she was sure the kittens were all playing nicely again. "So what was it Gus asked you to do for him?"

"He's in this play tonight, some romance or other, and one of the actresses is ill and he wants me to stand in for her until they can find a proper replacement," Jellylorum muttered miserably, "I said I'd do it, but I really don't want to. It will be so embarrassing, everybody will laugh at me! I mean, I'm not an actress, Jenny. I'll probably trip over and fall on my face or something stupid like that..." Her voice trailed away as she pictured herself tripping and falling off the stage into the audience or something similarly humiliating.

If she was being really honest Jennyanydots couldn't see why Jellylorum was so upset about the idea of being in a play. It actually sounded rather fun. Shrugging she lent back against the wall of the den behind her. "You'll be great and it will be so exciting. The kittens will be so proud of you for being in a real play. Do you actually have to go to rehearsals? Do you have any lines to say? Which character are you? When do you have to be there? Is it just for tonight?" Jennyanydots was getting a little bit carried away as she imagined her best friend becoming an amazing star. She could just see it now, herself and Jellylorum sat in a dressing room sipping champagne...

"It's only one night until they find a proper replacement and I'm not really an important character. I'm just a servant who stands in the background holding a broom. I don't get any lines or anything so Gus says I don't have to bother with rehearsals, which is actually a relief, because if I'd gone to the theatre beforehand I don't think I'd have been able to go on stage." Jellylorum shakily went to take a sip of her tea, realised the cup was empty and put it down again.

Jennyanydots took her firmly by the arm and dragged her into the den. "Come on. Let's go and have a nice cup of tea and calm down. It won't be as bad as you think it will."

Later Jellylorum was sat in front of the cracked mirror in the corner of her den, trying desperately to make her fur stay lying flat. Behind her Asparagus was sat on the floor helping the three kittens to do a jigsaw puzzle. Electra was cuddled up to him and he had his arm around her, while her younger siblings squabbled noisily about which piece was supposed to go where.

The racket they were making was not helping the nervous headache Jellylorum had had all day. Wincing she put a paw up to her head and closed her eyes.

"Everything ok, Jelly?", Asparagus asked, looking up concerned. He had been very supportive when she'd told him about the play and had insisted that she would be wonderful but that she could always pull out if she really wanted to. By this point Jellylorum actually wished she had, but it was definitely too late now.

"Fine, fine," the pale queen replied, waving a paw casually. She knew from the look on her mate's face that he didn't believe her, but he let the subject go and went back to his puzzle. After a brief pause Jellylorum shook her head and got up. Anxiously she paced up and down the little den. "Actually I'm not ok. I can't believe I said yes to this. Why did I think it was a good idea? I mean, what made me agree to do it?"

Calmly Asparagus came to stand beside her and wrapped his arms around her. The queen lent her head on his shoulder and sighed. "Everything will be fine. You're just nervous. That's perfectly normal. You can be quite shy sometimes, so of course it's hard for you," he said in a soothing voice, the same voice he used when talking to the kittens if they had bad dreams.

"But..." Jellylorum shrugged. She couldn't think of anything else to say, better to just get it over with. Maybe Jennyanydots would be right and it would be fun. "I'd better get going or I'll be late. I'll see you later." She kissed Asparagus, hugged the three kittens and rushed out of the den before any of them could say anything.

Outside the weather was lovely. The sun was just beginning to set, making the pavement shine a beautiful golden colour. Only a slight breeze ruffled Jellylorum's fur as she walked along, dodging around humans making their way home after work. Despite herself she found herself relaxing and enjoying the exercise. It was a shame that she didn't really get time to go out much now that she had her little kittens, she thought as she turned into a narrow side-street lined with tall buildings. She should really make more time for herself, maybe even ask Jennyanydots to watch the kittens and go on a nice date with Asparagus. A stroll to the park, then a lovely picnic...

Her daydream was cut short by somebody calling her name. Looking up startled she noticed Gus standing in front of a large, dark wooden door, waving at her. Without noticing she had gone right past the theatre. Hastily she retraced her steps and joined the old tom. "Sorry, I was thinking and I just didn't notice you."

"Never mind, dear. Come in. We're going to be late." Taking her paw Gus steered her inside and down a narrow corridor. At the end of the hall he pulled open a door and ushered her into the room. "This is my dressing room," he said proudly, with a grand gesture at the luxurious furniture.

The room was small with fading wallpaper, but it was filled with very grand furnishings, thick red velvet curtains, a beautifully carved wooden dressing table, expensive ornaments. Posters advertising the plays Gus had been in hung in gilt frames from the walls. Politely Jellylorum didn't mention the fact that she had been here hundreds of time before, helping Gus to get ready or bringing things he'd forgotten.

"Coffee?" The tom held out a mug to her and Jellylorum took it and sipped at it gratefully.

Now she was actually here the nerves had returned and she felt like she was going to be physically sick any minute. Her paws were shaking so badly that she was actually finding it quite hard to hold her mug, without spilling the hot liquid on herself. Fortunately Gus was busy fussing over his costume and getting ready so he didn't seem to have noticed. For about the hundredth time Jellylorum wished she was back at home again. She felt utterly ridiculous dressed as a maid, clutching a broom.

"Five minutes!", a voice called from outside and a small, tabby queen stuck her head around the door. "Five minutes, Gus," she repeated.

"Are you ready, dear?", Gus asked kindly as he got up from his chair and adjusted his hat for the last time.

Mutely Jellylorum nodded and allowed herself to be lead through another door. Fortunately, she thought to herself, her part didn't require her to say anything, because she actually couldn't have managed to get any words out. Clearly she was not cut out to be a great actress. Following her friend she found herself in a dark, crowded space full of cats hurrying silently to and fro. Speeding up to walk right behind Gus Jellylorum looked around. None of the other cats seemed nervous about the performance, they were all completely at ease.

"You'll enjoy it, you'll see," Gus whispered in her ear.

Twenty minutes later Jellylorum found herself stood on a stage, squashed between two other people, blinded by lights and feeling like she was about to pass out. It was so hot under the bright lights that she had to keep fanning herself with her paw every now and again. She just wasn't used to this, the heat, standing still for that amount of time, the uncomfortable costume that had actually been made for somebody else.

The play would have been quite entertaining, she thought, if she had been sat in the audience. Maybe not exactly her cup of tea, a few too many romantic speeches, but still more enjoyable than what she was doing now. For what felt like the thousandth time she made her way across the back of the stage, pretending to sweep up imaginary dirt. So much for it being fun.

So far she had kept her eyes fixed on her paws trying to avoid looking up at the audience, but as she made her way along the back of the stage for some reason she glanced up. It was a huge mistake. The little, cosy theatre was absolutely crammed with cats of all ages and they were all looking in her direction. Of course she knew they were following the action and not actually watching her, but somehow that didn't make it any better. All of a sudden she felt dizzy and sick and to her horror she felt herself swaying, as if the floor was tipping. Frantically she clutched at the queen beside her to stop herself from fainting.

"What are you doing?!", the outraged queen hissed at her and tried to shake her paws off.

"I...feel sick," Jellylorum moaned, rather louder than she had meant to. The attention of the entire audience turned to focus on her and she heard laughter begin to break out around her. On the stage the other cats were glaring at her furiously. At that moment the only thought in her head was to get off the stage and get home. Letting go of the queen she was holding she tried to take a step, but the room was spinning so badly that she felt herself falling. For one horrifying moment she saw the ground rushing up to meat her and then everything went black.

"Jelly? Jelly, can you hear me?"

Groggily Jellylorum opened her eyes and looked around. She still felt a little dizzy and disorientated, but at least the sickness seemed to have gone away. To her relief she recognised her surroundings, she was no longer in the theatre, but back in her den in the Junkyard. Asparagus was leaning over her, looking worried and behind him she could see Gus playing with Electra, Etcetera and Pouncival. "What happened?", she groaned and sat up rubbing her head.

"You fainted," Gus informed her from across the room. He seemed to find the idea rather funny and was about to say something else when Asparagus shot him a glare and he closed his mouth again rather quickly.

"You hit your head when you fainted," Asparagus explained, "Jenny said you should get some rest and you'd be fine again in the morning." He helped her to lie down again and covered her in a warm, woolly blanket. "Good night, Jelly." Kissing her on the top of the head he turned away to put the kittens to bed.

"Asparagus," Jellylorum called after him, "I'm never doing that again."

With a smile the tom kissed her again. "You don't have to. Get some sleep now."