Hello everyone! Here's chapter three of "how Mistoffelees met his demiese." With any luck I'll have "I' am Mistoffelees" updated by this evening. Wish me luck.

I woke up early next morning to make sure the house was secure before we left. Not secure as in the human way by locking doors and bolting windows, but feline secure. I made sure that the roof was clear of any weeds so any potential intruder would have difficulty gripping onto the tiles. I checked the walls for cracks and the floor for loose boards. And finally I dragged a sack of flour out of the kitchen and shoved it up the chimney blocking that route into the house. Hopefully Demeter wouldn't notice anything until I got back.

By the time I had accomplished this task and cleaned the floor of stray flour that had escaped the bag, Watson had woken up and was dressing for the day. He then secured the house in his quaint human like way using the house keys. Then hailed a cab. Just before leaving the house he left a note in the mantelpiece for his wife Mary.

Dear Mary

I'm going with Holmes to the continent to help him with one of his confounded cases. I'm sorry for running off like this but I'll be back in a few days and in the meantime I'll be thinking of you every moment. With any luck I'll be returning in a few days.

Love you always

John

I left a similar note for my mate Demeter, but instead of scribbling on a piece of paper, I simply rubbed my head against the couch in the sitting room, leaving a scent mark. After all, I am a cat.

We obeyed Misto's instructions to the letter. At nine am exactly the cab arrived with the driver's cat, a tom of large proportions, wearing the exact attire that Mistoffelees had described. The instant John and I had stepped in, the driver whipped up the horse and rattled off to Victoria Station at an immense pace. Upon out arrival there he turned the carriage round and dashed off without so much as a look in our direction.

We had no difficult in locating the compartment Mistoffelees had mentioned for it was the only one which was marked 'ENGAGED.' However I was still anxious as to my friend's whereabouts. We had less than five minutes to go until the train started. I tried searching for him among the assortment of passengers but got caught up helping an old Siamese who was trying to make the station master's cat Skimbleshanks understand with broken English that his salmon paste was to be booked through to Paris. Then after taking another quick look round I returned to my seat. To my great annoyance the old Siamese was sitting there, the railway cat had obviously placed him there so he would not be a bother. It would have been extremely difficult to explain to him that his presence was an intrusion so I shrugged my tail and turned my mind to Mistoffelees's presence, or rather, lack thereof. The doors were already shut and the whistle had blown so if-

"Munkustrap" said a voice "you have not even said hello to me in the whole five minutes I've been sitting here."

To my great astonishment. The old Siamese was no other than the Magical Mr. Mistoffelees himself. Grinning at my confusion.

"Everlasting Cat!" I cried "you made me jump!"

"Every piece of secrecy is essential" he replied "and even with the precautions we did take, we cut it rather fine."

Looking behind me as the train moved off I saw a sturdy calico barging through the crowd, shouting in a thick cockney accent for the train to stop. But it was too late. The train was speeding up and we were now on our way to Europe.

"Did you find the cab-cat alright Munk"

"Yes, he was waiting with the driver"

"Did you recognize him?"

"No"

"It was my brother Bustopher Jones, he took the precaution of removing his signature white spats before driving out to collect you with Mycroft."

"I did not recognize them at all Misto."

"That was the intention Munkustrap." Said Misto. He spoke with a such rediculously poor Siamese accent, that I was compelled to swat him around the ears.

In due time we got off the train at Canterbury. Rather than taking the ferry down to Normandy, Mistoffelees teleported us Brussels. There we stayed for a few days so that Misto's powers could revover, and to wait for our humans to rejoin us for they had taken yet another route after getting off the train. My human, Watson, having thought that I had been left on the train and worried for my safety greeted me ardently. Holmes on the other hand did not seem particularly surprised to see us in Brussels and greeted Mistoffelees as casually as if he had only been out for a few minutes. Surprisingly Mistoffelees did not mind this. I suppose that he and his human have always been a little strange.

The next morning Holmes had telegraphed the London police and in the evening we found a reply waiting for us at our hotel. Holmes tore it open, and then with a bitter curse threw it at the floor. Mistoffelees then read it and with a low hiss set it on fire with a spark from his paws.

"I might have known it!" he groaned. "They have escaped!"

"Macavity and Moriarty?"

"They have secured the whole gang with the exception of those two. They have given them the slip. Of course, when my human and I had left the junkyard there was no one to cope with them. but I did think that I had put the game in their hands. I think that you and Watson had better return to England, Munkustrap."

"Why?"

"Because you will find us dangerous companions now. This cat's life occupation is gone. He is lost if he returned to London. He and his human will now devote their entire energies to revenge themselves by finishing off me and Holmes permanently. He had said as much before and I am inclined to believe him. I strongly advise you to return to you mate and your protector duties."

This persuasion was hardly going to work with a tom who was an old campaigner as well as an old friend. We sat in a café arguing the question for half an hour, but by the same night we had resumed our journey and we were on our way to Geneva.

R & R if you feel so diposed.