Something Bombalurina had mentioned earlier had triggered an idea to form in Demeter's mind.
"I told her to run. My own daughter! And she did. She ran off into the woods while I fought the Pollicle. But I wasn't very successful. I was knocked unconscious and I assume it ran off to find her. I don't know if she made it…"
"Oh Demi, I'm sure she did. She had both you and Macavity in her, you can't get much better than that."
Demeter thought about Jemima's chances for survival after forcing Bombalurina's echoing words to stop whirling around and around. Jemima didn't know how to take care of herself. She was only a kitten. She couldn't find food on her own or know where to go to find shelter. Demeter soon realized that the odds would not weigh in her daughter's favor. Though, perhaps being born with Macavity's and Demeter's blood in her veins, could save her. Demeter had excellent skills when it came to foraging, whether it be for food or for shelter, and Macavity was a genius (he ran his own business!) and maybe for these reasons Jemima would be able to last a little longer, maybe just long enough for her mother to find her.
And that was Demeter's plan: she would find Jemima.
At dawn, without telling a single soul where she was headed, she left the Junkyard through the large pipe. No cat had even risen from slumber yet when she went in search of her daughter. The hunt had begun and Demeter relied on her senses to lead her to what she wanted to find most. Her nostrils filled with the hundreds of smells in the area, but there was just one that she focused on among the others. It was faint, but it was definitely there, and she followed it with unwavering determination.
She'd been traveling all morning before she found herself facing the gates of the impound lot where the Pollicles resided. Jemima's scent trailed forward through the gate. What did this mean? Was she captured by the Pollicles? Was she alive? Was she dead?
Demeter forced her mind to stop racing once more, she'd never be able to function properly if her thoughts swarmed like a hive of frantic bees. She would do the only thing that made sense: she would wait around the impound lot for a sign of Jemima's existence. She would sneak inside and look around, she would follow Jemima's scent until they were reunited. Granted, this meant Demeter would be away from the Junkyard longer than she originally planned, but there wasn't a question in her mind regarding her course of action. Her daughter came first.
There were Pollicles surrounding the gates of the impound lot, several lounging inside of dilapidated vehicles. A few were playing tug-of-war with pieces of detached bumpers and Heaviside knows what else. They growled while they played, slobber flying everywhere and in all directions. The scene made Demeter quiver. She didn't know how, but she needed to find a way to get into that lot without getting eaten. She needed to think…
Luckily for Demeter, she didn't have to think for too long. A vehicle of some kind, much larger than the others around the lot and in much better condition, turned into the impound lot with another vehicle behind it. The Pollicles scattered, and Demeter saw her chance and seized the opportunity.
Keeping her distance from the loud machine that continued to drag the battered car, she crawled into the lot, keeping low to the ground and as hidden as possible. She came upon a barrel. It appeared to be made of either steel or metal. Either way, a small hole was punctured through the side of the barrel, a hole that was just big enough for an eye to peep through, and it was from this hole that Jemima's scent wafted out of.
Demeter crouched lower, pressing her eye to the small opening. She saw nothing but darkness and heard no noises.
"Hello? Is anyone in there? Can anyone hear me?" Demeter whispered.
"We can hear you, kitty."
Demeter spun around to see a pack of hungry Pollicles surrounding her. They grinned evilly and anxiously scraped the ground with their feet. They taunted her by licking their mouths with their tongue, drooling at the sight of her. With a swift flick of the leader's tail, they charged all at once and Demeter had no time to react. They slammed her into the barrel, knocking it over. The loud clatter frightened the Pollicles but only for a brief second. It wasn't long enough of a distraction for Demeter to escape. They pounded into her, trying to kill her so they could make a meal out of her. They held her down with their colossal paws, the claws on their ends digging deeper into Demeter's flesh.
She was ready to quit, but it was then that Macavity's memory supplied her with strength. She knew he would expect nothing less of her than victory. He taught her to be a fighter, and that's just what Demeter did. Funny how Macavity was saving her life even from beyond the grave. She unleashed a ton of fury on those Pollicles and ran like her bum was on fire.
She knew she couldn't return to the Junkyard in her condition, not without questions being asked of her, questions she wouldn't want to answer, so she relied on those impeccable survival skills and sought shelter and food for the next week, giving herself all the time she needed to recover from her Pollicle run-in. Demeter also figured that within that week she could come up with some kind of excuse for her absence, or at least that's what she hoped.
A/N: Yes, this was short, but you're in for a surprise next chapter! And hopefully it'll be up in a few minutes. Any guesses?
