Midnight, not a sound from the pavement. However, if you had the same powerful night vision of a cat then you may have seen one, slipping noiselessly around the back of a big junkyard and disappearing into the shadows. If you had waited a bit longer you may have seen the same cat coming back along the street, accompanied by another, smaller one. They reached an alleyway where they climbed up a drainpipe, and then they were away, like two shadows across the rooftops.
Macavity had taken the red queen as soon as she had met him by the gap in the fence, having said a quick goodbye to Tug and thanking him for his help, they left the area and were almost a mile away by the time he allowed a rest.
"Sorry for making you run for so long Flame," he said "but we had to get away before daybreak." He looked up at the sky, which was beginning to go pink in the dawn light. "We just made it in time." He said.
"That's ok," she said "but aren't you forgetting something?"
"Not that I know of."
"Oh yes you are, Marmalade." Macavity realised what she meant, "Of course," he said "what did they name you?"
"Bombalurina."
"Bombalurina." He said, trying it out, "It suits you."
"Thanks."
"But there's something missing."
"What?"
"You need something to define between Flame, the old you, and Bombalurina, the new you. Here, put this on." He took the spiked collar from around his own neck and handed it to her.
"But this is your collar Macavity, I can't take it."
"You can and you will," he insisted "it's a gift from me. Besides it marks the start of something new for me too, it was the collar I was given in that tribe. Now it marks the end of Macavity the outcast Jellicle and the beginning of the new me, Macavity: The Mystery Cat."
"Ok then." Bombalurina took the collar and put it on. "Thanks Macavity," she smiled, "it fits!" Macavity grinned back, openly pleased that she liked it. "I've just one question though," she said, "why 'The Mystery Cat'? I mean, it sounds great but what's such a mystery about you?"
"I was thinking it over yesterday," he explained "it's who I am now. I may not be much at the moment but I'm going to learn to fight and I'm going to grow up tough on the streets. Then when I'm older I'm going to start a gang, not some silly tribe, but a tough gang of fighting street cats."
"Right, but that still doesn't explain the mystery bit."
"It won't be my only name, I'll be known as 'The Hidden Paw' and I'll operate all over town like the human Mafia. I'll be invincible and on one will be able to touch me for anything. I was blamed for lots of things back in that tribe, it was a case of give a pollicle a bad name and hang it! Now I'll do exactly as I please and no matter where the evidence points I shall never be blamed. I thought up this poem,
'When the foreign office find a Treaty's gone astray,
Or the Admiralty loose some plans and drawings by the way,
There may be a scrap of paper in the hall or on the stair,
But it's useless to investigate – Macavity's not there!
And when the loss has been disclosed, the Secret Service say:
It must have been Macavity! – But he's a mile away.'
I'll be a master criminal and nobody will be able to find me." He laughed.
Bombalurina laughed with him, the prospect sounded scary but she liked the idea of a big gang, Macavity's plans sounded a little far fetched but she was sure it wouldn't really turn out like that. Besides, it wasn't like he was going to go around killing people, he was just going to live the real life of an alley cat and for that she knew you had to be ruthless. Stealing was nothing new to cats; she herself had stolen chicken and cream from the fridge in Stacie's house in the past. And when it was for survival on the streets it was hardly stealing anyway.
As a kitten she could understand the desire to be powerful and to think of that sort of exciting life was nothing more than adventure beckoning. It would involve cheating and lying, but she could cope with that, after all she had just completely deceived a whole tribe of cats and then disappeared into the night. She could justify it in her mind and growing up looking after herself on the street sounded like fun. Being your own boss, that was what it was all about.
If she could have seen into the future then perhaps she wouldn't have made up her mind to stick with Macavity then and there. But for now he had been good to her and she wanted to share in his prospect of a new life away from rules and restriction. Weather Macavity himself knew how it would end up at that stage, one can only guess, but even in all his talk of it to Bombalurina he did not let on his full intentions.
Ok, that was the last chapter I'm submitting for now. Posative feedback will encourage me to post the rest. This is simply a safeguard for me as I have little confidence in my own writing. If I get a few (or even just one) good review I will know I am safe to post the rest. However, if I get no reviews then I will probably still eventually post the rest as none is still better than bad, at least it will mean no-one absoloutely hates it. I don't claim to be any good and can only hope you enjoy it.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Cats or it's characters. All rights belong to Andrew Lloyd Webber and the RUG.