A/N: Yes, it's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about the wait people. School is unforgiving like that. And the fact I am being threatened by a crazed writer (coughAdiSagestarcough) and her weasel spork army didn't help much. So, here you go, ya lovable wackos! More from the saga of Valerie Greywool.
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"Alright, Valerie, that's it. Knit one, pearl two." No matter how many times Jenny said these words to Valerie, they never seemed to stop the yarn she was trying to knit from doing something she didn't want it to do, such as getting twisted around the knitting needles or Valerie's fingers. Jenny had taken it upon herself to attempt to teach Valerie, Jemima, and Teazer to knit. So there the four of them sat, on the floor, with mounds of multi-colored yarn surrounding them. While Jemima seemed to pick up the skill rather quickly, Teazer and Valerie couldn't quite get it. Jerrie had been trying to contain his glee over the whole situation the entire evening, perched on the recliner, recieving icy looks from Jenny every time a giggle would escape.
"Tell me again, mum, why this is such an important thing for me and Valerie to learn," Teazer said through clenched teeth while trying to release her index finger from a trap of yarn.
"Because, dear, what if something like what happened to Jellylorum happened to you when you got older," Jenny said calmly. "You would have no idea what to do, unless you knew how to knit."
"So why couldn't I just take it to someone who did," Teazer muttered.
In the back of her mind, Valerie agreed with Teazer. She recalled back when she was seven that her grandmother had attempted to teach her to sew, using a speech similar to Jenny's, calling it an "essential life skill". But by the time the day had gone by and Valerie's fingers were covered in prick marks from where she'd stuck herself, she concluded that sewing wasn't as important a skill as her grandmother made it seem. Knitting was beginning to look that way as well. Valerie stole a glance at Jemima, seeing a scarf beginning to form from the lumps of green and blue yarn surrounding the kitten's legs. Looking at the mess she'd created from her yellow and red yarn, Valerie couldn't help but feel jealous from being outdone by a kitten.
"That scarf is lovely, Jemima," Valerie said. It was true after all. The colors blended together nicely, making it look like the ocean.
"Thank you. I'm making it for Daddy," Jemima said.
Then Jemima noticed the globs of yarn tangled around Valerie and Teazer's needles and said, "Do you want some help?"
"Actually that would be great, Jemima," Valerie said, smiling, ignoring Teazer's look of distain at the thought of her pride being jeprodized.
But before Jemima could scoot next to them, the door to the boot burst open. At the sudden noise, Jerrie fell out of the recliner with a yelp, landing in his mother's lap. The three girls burst into a fit of giggles as Jerrie quickly scurried back up to his seat. No sooner had he returned to his perch on the recliner, Munkustrap, looking dishelved and worn-out, came through the door. His headfur was a mess, sticking out in random directions, and he was panting hard, as if he'd run all the way there.
"Munkustrap, you look terrible," Jenny said. "What on earth is wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong, Jenny," Munkustrap managed to pant, collapsing onto the sofa. "But I do have some news for Valerie."
At the sound of her name, Valerie abandoned her knitting whole-heartedly and turned her attention to the exhausted tiger tabby. She wondered what news he'd brought for her. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Teazer and Jemima had also completely lost interest in their knitting, staring wide-eyed and expectant at Munkustrap. Jerrie was leaning forward in the recliner to hear, nearly pitching himself forward. Jenny, although she busied herself with knitting, would shift her gaze to Munkustrap every now and again, obviously anxious.
Munkustrap cleared his throat, sat up straighter, and said, "Old Deutoronomy has agreed to see Valerie for acceptance into the tribe."
Jemima and Teazer squealed at the top of their lungs. Jerrie broke out into a large grin. Jenny threw her arms around Valerie.
Just what exactly is so great about this, Valerie thought.
"Congradulations Valerie," Munkustrap said, extending his paw for Valerie to shake.
"Um...thanks," Valerie said, shaking his paw, although somewhat weakly. She had absolutely no clue what they were talking about. Who was Old Deutoronomy? What was all this about getting accepted into the tribe?
While these thoughts swirled through Valerie's head like a whirlwind, the door of the boot opened again and in stepped Skimbleshanks.
Jenny, looking quited surprised to see her husband home so early, asked, "What are you doing back?"
"The train broke down. Whole dang thing just stopped moving. They had to cancel the shuttle tonight," Skimble replied, removing his brown vest and placing it on a coatrack next to the door.
"Dad, you'll never guessed what we just found out," Teazer said excitedly, as Jerrie moved to the floor so Skimble could sit in the recliner.
"And what's that?" Skimble asked, and noticing Munkustrap, added, "Hello Munkustrap."
"Deutoronomy said he'll see Valerie," Jemima said, as Munkustrap nodded a greeting.
"And she could get accepted into the tribe!" Jerrie added.
A wide grin spread across Skimble's face as he said to Valerie, "Well, congradualtions Valerie."
"Thanks Skimble," Valerie said, even though she was still totally lost on the whole situation.
"So when does he want to see her," Jenny asked breathlessly.
"Soon," Munkustrap said. "He said he within the next two days would be best."
"Oh heavens, Valerie this is so wonderful!" Jenny said, once agian wrapping her arms around Valerie in a bone-crushing hug.
"Well, I'd best be getting back home. Demeter has no idea I'm here," Munkustrap said, getting to his feet and heading for the door. "Congradulations again Valerie."
Valerie waved her thanks as he closed the door. As soon as it was shut, her thoughts began to race. What had just happened? It must be something good, because the others seemed really happy about it. And who was this Old Deutoronomy? Before Valerie had time to process any of these thoughts, Jemima and Teazer had their arms wrapped around Valerie from both sides.
"This is great, Valerie," Teazer said.
"Yeah, then you can live with us and be our big sister," Jemima said.
"Jeez, another girl livin' with us?" Jerrie said, smacking himself in the forehead with his paw. "When will the estrogen end?"
"Oh shut up Jerrie," Teazer said, teasingly punching her brother.
Valerie and Jemima laughed out loud, as Jerrie made an exaggerated pout, rubbing his arm as if seriously injured.
"What was that for?" he asked indignantly. "All I'm sayin' is that'd be nice to have another tom 'round here for once. Right, dad?"
"Oh, leave me out of this, son," Skimble said, casting a feigned worried look at Jenny. "Anything like that can and will definetly be used agianst me."
Valerie again laughed out loud. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jerrie turn his head and grin subtly, as if the sound was very pleasing to him. This was a little alarming to Valerie. If there was one thing she'd learned about Jerrie, it was that, with him, nothing was ever very subtle. It was then that Jerrie noticed Valerie staring at him quite stupidly, and cocked his head a little. Valerie blushed slightly under her dark fur as Jerrie began to concentrate intently on the floor. Luckily, Jenny came to both their rescues.
"Well, I think it's about time for the four of you to start getting ready for bed," she said briskly, setting down her knitting.
"Aw, come on mum, do we have to?" Teazer whined, she and her brother casting wide kittenish eyes at their mother.
"Yeah, daddy let us stay up. Please..." Jemima said, gently placing her head on her father's knees.
Skimble gave her an adoring look, but Valerie could see in his eyes that he was concocting something. He looked up at Jenny and smiled devilishly.
"Oh, Jemi, dear," he said, stroking Jemima's headfur lovingly, "you three can stay up as long as you want."
The three cat's faces lit up with joy. And then Skimble took Jenny's paw in his own.
"Your mother and I are just going to stay up talking about how much we love each other..." he said romantically, caressing Jenny's hand as she giggled coyly.
At the thought of their parents getting a little too intimate, Jerrie, Teazer, and Jemima's faces contorted with a mixture of disgust and horror. Saying a quick "goodnight" to the both of them, they rose to their feet and bolted down the hallway. Valerie heard their doors slam as they shut themselves away from the nonexistent lovey-doveyness. Skimble loooked at Jenny and winked. Valerie was, to say the least, impressed. Then, not really knowing why, she began clapping for Jenny and Skimble's proformance. They looked at her and smiled warmly.
"Very, very nice," Valerie said.
"Glad you thought so, Valerie," Jenny said, gracefully placing herself on Skimble's lap, "but we never said we weren't telling the truth."
Valerie could feel her eyes widen. She could take a hint. And without hesitation, she took that hint and jogged all the way to Jemima's room with it.
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"Valerie...Valerie..."
She could her the voice saying her name. Was she dreaming?
"Oh, for Bast's sake Valerie, wake up!" came the harsh whisper Valerie quickly recognized as Jerrie's.
She felt herself being shaken by someone. She opened her eyes a crack to reveal three furry faces staring directly at her. With a small, quiet yelp, she nearly jetisoned out of her bed, throwing her covers to the floor in surprise. Jerrie, Teazer, and Jemima all looked at her as if she were crazy.
"What the..." Valerie said, trying to get her heart rate down to a reasonable level. "Jerrie? Teazer? What are you two doing in here? What time is it?"
"Bugger if we know what time it is," Jerrie said, casually shrugging his shoulders, acting as if it were completely normal to come into someone's bedroom in the middle of the night.
"Okay, well, what is it? What do you guys want?" Valerie asked, laying back against her pillow.
"We couldn't sleep," Teazer said, as she began bouncing around in her spot on the floor. "Don't see how you can either, what with Old Deutoronomy wanting to see you in two days."
Valerie rubbed her temples and said, "Who exactly is this Old Deutoronomy fellow anyway?"
Valerie could swear at that instant, the three cat's jaws hit the floor in surprise. Had no one ever asked questions like that before?
"Well," Jemima began slowly, "he's the leader of the Jellicle tribe."
"Has been for a long time," Jerrie added. "At least since before any of us were born."
"Anyway," Jemima continued, casting a indignant look at her brother for interupping her, "he basically decides all the really important stuff, like who can join the tribe and who gets to go to the Heaviside Layer every year at the Jellicle ball."
Valerie was just about to ask what the Heaviside Layer and the Jellicle Ball were, but in order to avoid more funny looks, she decided against it, and instead said, "Oh, I get it. So, why does he want to see me?"
"He wants to see if you can become a Jellicle," Teazer said.
"How does that work?"
More wide-eyed stares. "Didn't anybody ever get accepted into the Greywool tribe," Jemima asked, cocking her head to one side.
"The what?" Jerrie asked, obviously confused.
"The Greywool tribe," Jemima repeated. "That was Valerie's tribe. They got attacked by a bunch of pollices and she's the only one left. Right, Valerie?"
At first, Valerie had no idea what Jemima was talking about. But then she remembered the story she'd told the kitten the night before about her false origins, and nodded and said, "Yeah. And there might have been some cats accepted into my tribe. I was proably just too young to remember who or when it was."
The three cats at her feet nodded, accepting her story.
"So about this acceptance thing..." Valerie began.
"Oh they basically just ask you a bunch of questions," Jerrie said, spreading out on his stomach. "What's your name, what was the name of your old tribe, why'd you leave. You know, stuff like that."
"Interesting..." Valerie said, and then asked, "Who else is going to be there?"
"It's usually just Old Deutoronomy, Munkustrap, Alonzo, and Tugger," Teazer said, scratching behind her ear.
And then, not really knowing why, Valerie asked, "Are Tugger and Munkustrap related somehow?"
"Yeah," said Jerrie. "They're brothers."
"Half-brothes," Jemima pointed out. Then suddenly the kitten covered her mouth with her paw and her eyes grew wide, as if she'd just made a very big mistake. Jerrie and Teazer cast her angry looks from both sides, causing the her to shirnk a little.
"Half-brothers?" Valerie repeated Jemima's words. "So they were born to different mother's?"
"Yeah," Teazer sighed, turning her head back towards Valerie. "That was supposed to be a secret, but now that you know we may as well tell you the story behind that."
"Okay," Valerie said. She was now quite interested in hearing this secretive tale.
"Alright, when Old Deutoronomy was younger, and I mean way younger than he is now," Jerrie said, "he had just become of age. He was bethrothed to this one queen, Carbucketty, a really small, thin, modest little thing. Well, two of Deutoronomy's pals decided that, since he was going to be mated soon, they should take him out for a little night on the town."
Valerie inhaled sharply. In every soap opera she'd ever unwittingly watched, nights on the town never ended well.
Still Jerrie continued his story: "So, they took him to this really sleazy club. The Friend at Hand, I think it was called. Anyway, there was a dancer there, a Jellicle named Grizabella. She had a pretty loose reputation 'round here, if you know what I mean. But Deutoronomy fell head-over-heels for her. He even...uh, Teazer, a little assistance if you please,"
Jerrie coked his head toward Jemima, who looked very confused by his plea to Teazer. Teazer, however, got the message, and quickly covered Jemima's ears with her paws.
"He slept with her," Jerrie said, nodding to Teazer, who released Jemima's ears.
"Oh, boy," Valerie said. "So, then what?"
"Well, for awhile, they just forgot about the whole thing. And then, one day, Grizabella showed up at Deutoronomy's door and said it...she was pregnant with his kitten."
Valerie felt her eyes widen. This was beginning to sound almost exactly like a soap-opera, except this had cats and no evil twins. Unless Jerrie had another interesting story he wanted to share with her...
"Wow," Valerie said. "So what did Deutoronomy do?"
"At first, he didn't know what he was going to do," Jerrie stated. "Naturally, Carbucketty was upset beyond belief and he was ashamed of himself for being so...well, dumb. But eventually he decided the noblest thing to do would be to mate with Grizabella to help her raise the kittens. So, the mate and then the kittens are born. She'd given birth to twins. And then she just left."
"What?" Valerie asked, dumbfounded. "What do you mean, she just left?"
"About two days after the kittens were born, Grizabella just left the tribe," Teazer said, taking over for her brother. "She just walked out the gate and didn't come back."
"Lots of older cats thought she didn't want the responsibility of motherhood, so she left before it could do her in," Jemima added.
Wow, Valerie thought. Poor Munkustrap and Tugger. Just abandoned by their mother like that. Then, a thought struck Valerie.
"Hey, wait," she said. "If Grizabella gave birth to twins, that would make Tugger and Munkustrap brothers, not half-brothers."
"Munkustrap was one of the twins," Jerrie said, lowering his voice. "But we didn't say Tugger was the other one."
"Then who was the other twin?" Valerie asked, feeling herself scoot closer to the edge of her bed. The other cats looked at each other, as if debating whether to tell her the truth or not.
Finally, Jerrie sighed and said, "Macavity."
Before Valerie even had a chance to react with surprise, they heard the door of the boot burst open again, this time with a loud bang. Jemima jumped onto Valerie's bed and into her arms. They could hear shouting coming from the front room. Someone shouting for Jenny, sounding frantic and disoriented. Valerie looked down at the twins, who looked back up at her with as much confusion on their faces as Valerie felt at the moment. Jemima dug her claws into Valerie's arm and looked up at her, her eyes wide with fear. Stroking Jemima's headfur as she did so, Valerie slowly swung her legs off the bed and onto the floor. The twins followed her, and Jemima followed them. And placing her hand on the knob of the door, Valerie turned it, opened it, and looked out into the front room...
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Son of A/N: Hurray for cliffhangers! Now I get to leave you people hanging. Don't ya love me!?
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter my lovlies. What will Valerie, the twins,and Jemima see in the front room? Oh, you'll just have to wait and see...(cackles evilly). This chapter is specially dedicated to Adi Sagestar and her WSA, who don't like late updates...so we'll see how they fare with my cliffhanger of DOOM!
Toodles!
The Lavender Cat
