Waiting can be torturous. Waiting for something inevitable, something you're dreading is even worse. Every second seems to drag, every minute feels like a lifetime.

The old broken clock with it's cracked face and wonky hands ticked slowly away in the corner of Tumblebrutus' den, counting out the seconds until someone came for him. Each second stretched to an eternity, each tick seemed to come slower than the one before.

The brown and white tom lay huddled in his den, eyes screwed shut trying to ignore the noise of the kittens playing outside. He could hear Etcetera's high-pitched squeals, Jemima's giggling, Victoria calling to the younger kittens to be careful and Pouncival joking around and being silly as usual. But one voice was missing.

It hadn't really sunk in before. He had heard what Macavity had said but not really understood or fully comprehended what it meant. Now he did. The emptiness where Electra should be, the silence when she should be laughing and joking with the other kittens were so very real. What had before been impossible for him to take in had now hit home. Electra was gone and unless he could somehow achieve the impossible and rescue her she was not coming back.

The young tom let out an agonized moan and buried his head in the blankets of his bed, trying to block out every sound coming from outside. He couldn't bear he thought of the other Jellicles having fun and enjoying themselves when Electra was trapped, alone and afraid, completely at the mercy of that sadistic monster.

Shuddering Tumblebrutus buried his head even deeper in the pile of blankets but unlike the sounds of laughter and happiness from outside it was impossible to block out the thoughts that were chasing round his head like fallen leaves in a thunder storm. Images of his friend covered in blood, alone, crying, frightened flashed in front of his mind's eye, making the tom want desperately to do something, anything to save her from what she was facing. What if she was injured? Worse, what if she thought he'd abandoned her? Tumblebrutus whimpered softly into the blankets. Electra, his friend, was being hurt and frightened, maybe even something much worse, that he didn't dare to think about and there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop it.

A noise from the entrance to his den made the young Jellicle jump. Whirling round to face the doorway Tumblebrutus tried to flatten his untidy fur and adopt a casual facial expression. The last thing he needed was someone getting the idea there may be something wrong and that was precisely the impression he was likely to create, fur sticking up all over the place from rolling around in bed, eyes slightly red and an agonized look on his face. He needed to try and look as normal as possible. If the other Jellicles suspected anything...

Squinting slightly against the bright light flooding in through the open door, the tom tried to see who it was that had come in. It was too tall to be one of the kittens, but why would one of the older Jellicles be visiting him? As his eyes adjusted to the light, Tumblebrutus managed to make out two distinct silhouettes, one slightly smaller than the other and his heart plummeted. It was the last two people he wanted to be anywhere near right now and if they had come to find him, there was only one logical explanation. They knew something was wrong.

Before either of them could say anything Tumblebrutus was on his feet and hurrying past them out into the bright sunlight. As he pushed past the young cat mumbled something about needing to help Jellylorum with something, avoiding their gaze as best he could. It might not be too late, if he could get away from them now they might just think he was being a bit odd because of the made-up fight with Electra and might not think anything more of it. As fast as his paws could carry him and without a backwards glance the young Jellicle dashed across the Junkyard towards Jellylorum's den.

Behind him Coricopat and Tantomile turned to look at each other. Neither of them needed to speak, they both knew what the other was thinking – something was wrong, terribly wrong. As one they turned away from the now empty den and made their way in search of Munkustrap.

In a blind panic, Tumblebrutus rushed into Jellylorum and Asparagus' den, almost tripping over his own feet in his hurry to get inside and shut the door with a loud snap. His breath was coming in uneven gasps and his fur was still dishevelled and untidy looking. In short he looked a complete mess.

Jellylorum who had been bending over a large plate on the upturned bucket that served as a table jumped and looked up. When she saw the young tom a concerned frown appeared on her face and she moved towards him. "Tumble, are you alright?", the older Jellicle asked.

On reflection, Tumblebrutus thought, this was probably not the best idea he'd ever had. Rushing into someone's den, fur sticking out all over the place, breathing hard and looking quite frankly rather panicky was not really the best way of lying low and not attracting any attention or letting the other cats know there was something wrong. Judging by her facial expression Jellylorum was now worrying about him - exactly what he had been trying to avoid. Hastily, the young tom arranged his features into a rather unconvincing grin. "Hi, Jelly. I'm fine. Sorry for bursting in on you like that I was just..." His mind went blank. He couldn't think of any reason why he would have wanted to come bursting into her den when she was in the middle of doing her chores. "Ummm..."

The pale queen gently pulled him towards the middle of the den and pushed him down onto Pouncival's vacant chair. "It's about this fight with Electra, isn't it?", she asked kindly, "here, have some fish cakes and tell me all about it." She noticed the horrified expression on his face and misinterpreted it entirely. "It's alright, I won't be cross with you."

Tumblebrutus swallowed hard. He hadn't been expecting this. In hindsight that was probably another thing he should have done differently. Jellylorum, Electra's mother, was not he best person to talk to right now. He'd just have to make something up about the row he and Electra hadn't had. Racking his brain, the brown and white tom helped himself to a fish cake and to a large bite, trying to buy himself some time.

After several seconds of chewing in silence with Jellylorum watching him anxiously Tumblebrutus figured he couldn't drag it out any longer. Swallowing his mouthful of food he began to talk, hoping he could make up a convincing enough story: "We were going hunting...", he paused to think of what to say next and Jellylorum nodded encouragingly, resting her paw on his shoulder. "We were waiting for Cettie and I made a comment about her always being late and how annoying it was." He stopped briefly and arranged his face into what he hoped was a self-loathing glare. "I should have known better. You know how much Electra loves Cettie and how protective she is of her. I'm her friend, I should have known better." He stopped and took a shuddering gasp, not even having to fake the tears that sprang to his eyes.

The older Jellicle reached out to him and gently pulled him closer to her, wrapping her arms around his thin frame. "Did she get cross and run off?" When the young tom nodded miserably, Jellylorum sighed slightly. "Tumblebrutus, look at me." When he didn't respond she carefully pulled his chin up with one paw, until he was forced to look her in the eye. "I don't blame you for what happened. Everyone fights with their friends occasionally. Even Jenny and I fall out sometimes and we've know each other all our lives, it's perfectly normal, a fact of life."

"I know that but...", Tumblebrutus broke of with a shrug and looked back down at his paws.

Jellylorum sighed again. She loved the young Jellicle like a second son and hated to see him this upset. "Tumble, you did the right thing, ok? When she ran off you followed her and made sure she was safe. There was nothing else you could have done. That's why I let her go hunting with you in the first place, because I know you'll always take good care of her and you're very responsible. What happened wasn't your fault and there was no harm done anyway. She'll be home again soon enough and will probably have forgotten all about it, you'll see."

Tumblebrutus froze, horror-stricken. Always take good care of her? Very responsible? His stomach began to churn and he felt physically like he was about to throw up. Jellylorum trusted him! She trusted him with her daughter's safety and what had he done? Let her down, let Electra down and on top of that he had lied to everyone about it. A lump formed in his throat making talking almost impossible. "Thanks, Jelly," he croaked, voice hoarse and strained, "I'd better be going now. Need to help Pouncival with something."

Almost blindly he groped his way to the door and pulled it open. "Thanks again," the tom managed to choke out before running blindly across the Junkyard away from the rest of the tribe, not waiting for a response from the stunned Jellylorum.

He ran for several minutes until the main clearing had faded into the distance and the sounds of the happy Jellicles were no longer audible. Only then did Tumblebrutus throw himself down onto a large cardboard box, panting heavily. He needed to get a grip. This was not a good state of mind to be in and it wouldn't help anyone, he reminded himself for the thousandth time. Calm down, take a deep breath and try to...

"Good morning," said a silky voice right in his ear.

With a slightly girly scream the young tom regretted deeply the moment he'd uttered it, he leapt of the box, heart pounding loudly enough to surely be heard several miles away. "Who are you? What are you doing here?", his voice came out still sounding slightly too shrill and Tumblebrutus cursed himself for it.

In front of him was a white tom with dark orange patches covering his body. His eyes were a startling shade of blue and had a malicious glint in them and his mouth was curled into an unpleasant smile, more resembling a smirk than anything. When he spoke, he revealed a set of long, glittering white fangs. "Who I am is of no importance to you. You know why I'm here. Come with me."

The young Jellicle's heart skipped a beat. This was it. This must be Macavity's henchcat, come to take him to... wherever he was supposed to be going. With a sudden stab of panic Tumblebrutus realised he didn't even know where he was being taken, let alone what he would need to do when he got there. All of a sudden he felt very unprepared and vulnerable. How come he hadn't thought about this before? He should have tried to work out what would be required of him and prepared for it. He should have practised... something, but what? Maybe fighting, or hunting? The young tom shook his head. He doubted that would be it. Surely Macavity wouldn't find that entertaining. He must see cats fighting every day. No, it would be something more sadistic and more unusual. Who knows what sort of sick game a mind like Macavity's could come up with? It was most likely to be...

"I haven't got all day, you know," a snide voice drawled nastily, inches from Tumblebrutus's ear. The orange and white tom had come several steps closer and straightened up to his full height, so he towered above the young Jellicle. He was no longer grinning, but his teeth were bared in a ferocious snarl and his eyes were glinting with suppressed fury. The fur along his back was standing on end, making him appear even larger and more intimidating than he already was.

Quickly the brown and white tom scrambled to his feet. "I'm coming." Even in his own ears his voice sounded a tiny bit wobbly and childish and he cursed himself for it. "Lead the way." This time he made an effort to sound less nervous and was rather pleased with the result, as he managed to sound almost confident and definitely not afraid.

It still didn't seem to impress Macavity's henchcat. With a look of utter disdain, the larger tom grabbed Tumblebrutus roughly by the collar and began dragging him away from the Junkyard and further into the heart of London.

Unnoticed by both of them, a tin can slipped off the pile of rubbish behind where they had just been stood and bounced to the floor crashing noisily with each bounce and if they had happened to hear it and look over their shoulders they would have seen the figure of a little, pale kitten scrambling away over the rubbish back towards the Junkyard.

Munkustrap was balanced on a large wooden beam supported by two massive stacks of assorted junk about twenty feet off the ground. He was surveying the surrounding area, making sure nothing was amiss but for now at least the Jellicles all seemed fine. From his vantage point, Munkustrap could see all of them going about their business. The kittens were playing tag, sprinting around the clearing laughing and shouting. Briefly, Munkustrap's gaze lingered on Jemima as she stumbled running away from Pouncival and nearly fell, but she regained her balance again and ran on still laughing, as her parent relaxed slightly. His eyes flicked briefly over Admetus, who was sunning himself on the car boot, Jellylorum and Jennyanydots, who were talking quietly in a corner busy with some knitting, Demeter, Bombalurina, Alonzo and Asparagus, who seemed to be deep in some earnest discussion and Mistoffelees, who seemed to be asleep. Nothing the matter there.

As he turned his head to watch Etcetera as she ran further away from the main clearing than he liked, Munkustrap caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eye. Looking down, he was able to make out the shapes of Coricopat and Tantomile, as they climbed gracefully towards him, a puzzled frown on both their faces. They seemed troubled by something and that was enough to get Munkustrap's attention and to worry him slightly at the same time. They were unlikely to come looking for him unless they suspected there was something seriously wrong. One last brief glance assured him that Jellylorum had noticed her daughter running off and gone to get her back, and he turned to face the twins, waiting for them to reach him.

"It's Tumblebrutus," Coricopat began as soon as the pair reached the silver tabby.

"We think there's something wrong," Tantomile continued.

"The story about fighting with Electra..."

"...doesn't ring true. He's lying about something."

"When we tried to talk to him he avoided us."

"Why would he do that if he had nothing to hide?"

"You could tell something was wrong..."

"...the moment he got back."

"He wasn't annoyed at all."

"If they'd had a fight, you'd expect him to be a little angry at least."

"And he wasn't. He was mainly worried and frightened."

"It doesn't make sense if his story's true."

"Why would he be frightened?"

The silver tabby sighed and rubbed his eyes. As much as he liked and respected both twin, they did frequently give him a headache when they talked over each other and finished each other's sentences. Sometimes it could get rather hard to follow and they could really make his head spin if they started talking too fast. Munkustrap briefly screwed his eyes shut in concentration, before opening them and asking: "Could he have been worried that we'd be angry with him? Maybe he just..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Tantomile shaking her head. "He wasn't just worried. He was afraid of something. Really afraid."

"And he felt bad about something, too. The feeling got stronger when he told you about the 'fight'," Coricopat added.

"So you think he was lying to us? But why would he. Do you think he may be in danger?"

"That's what we don't understand. We tried to ask him but he..." Both twins suddenly froze mid sentence and turned as one to look across the Junkyard. Munkustrap followed their gaze and saw to his horror that Etcetera was sprinting across the clearing towards them. The kitten's fur was untidy, a bloody scratch traced it's way across her cheek, she was panting hard and her eyes were wild and scared. In her hurry she was practically tripping over her own paws and frequently stumbled as she twisted round to look over her shoulder. Several of the other Jellicles had also noticed her and made their way towards her, trying to comfort her. Etcetera ignored them. She even brushed past her friends who had stopped playing and run over to her, as she continued towards the beam Munkustrap and the twins were stood on.

Without hesitation, the three Jellicles scrambled down and hurried to meet Etcetera. All of them were overcome with a sudden sense of dread as they got closer to her. From the look in her eyes, they could tell this wasn't just Cettie overreacting about something silly again. This time something actually was wrong.

"It's Tumblebrutus," Etcetera wailed skidding to a halt in front of Munkustrap and grabbing hold of him as if for support. "He's... he's..." She broke off unable to continue, a sob welling up in her throat.

Munkustrap, Coricopat and Tantomile all stared at her, frozen in horror. Each of them was vividly remembering the conversation they had just had. "What, Cettie? What's happened to him?" The silver tabby prised the sobbing kitten off himself and held her at arm's length trying to peer into her face. "Cettie, what is it?" He gave her a slight shake, as if to bring her back to her senses.

The kitten turned her large, tear-filled eyes to look up at him and whimpered, so quietly Munkustrap almost missed it: "He's been kidnapped!"