There were only a couple of hours left until the Jellicle Ball, and Duendei was not yet four hours old. A great relief had washed over Cetty when the kit's eyes had opened, to reveal piercing mint eyes.
Not Macavity's.
Not even Cetty's.
Entirely Duendei.
Electra was trying to convince her to take Duendei; that she would need to be introduced to the group sooner or later.
But Etcetera did not want to introduce her to the other Jellicles until she had a plan and a story. Electra claimed that no-one would blame her for this, but Cetty would not concede.
After much debating, Electra finally backed off on the matter, and instead spouted ideas. Etcetera wished to have a story that kept Duendei as herdaughter, but not Macavity's. She'd considered stray cats and begging a young male cat to agree to the story. But she was low on options, and Cetty would just not accept any idea they came up with. Not many cats out there would agree to pretend to be the father of a child that actually belonged to Macavity, and also there was some degree of devotion involved in a claim like that.
Etcetera could only think of a couple of suitable cats; Asparagus, who Etcetera didn't really wish to be associated with in that sense, or Tumblebrutus. But Brutus was so young.
She also had no wish to take his young life away from him. With a 'daughter' he would not be able to search for a queen of his own. So, without a story, Duendei could not attend the Jellicle Ball.
But who would look after her? Electra seemed reluctant to babysit, and Etcetera was certainly not going to miss the ball!
She scanned her memory. Who could she tell? Quaxo surely knew of this by now. He was just polite enough not to say something. But to make him miss his song? To take him away from Victoria, even for such a short time? She couldn't do that.
She was a prisoner of responsibility and she was going to miss the ball.
Sadly, a credible story for missing the ball was all too easy to come up with. Cetty was still 'sick' according to everyone else.
Besides, Cetty just had to think; she had many other balls to go to in her lifetime. Ones she could share with Duendei. Electra admired her devotion. She was proud of her friend for finally seeing this kit for the blessing it was rather than a curse.
Plus, Electra couldn't get enough of little Duendei. Already, the kitten was clambering over Leccy, her tight little grip serving as the claws that she could not yet unsheathe.
But for all the entertainment she provided, even Duendei would not get her through the long hours Cetty would miss of the Jellicle ball.
The torment was unbearable. She could hear the faint sounds of singing, and the Jellicle moon's beams shone down on her, beckoning her to dance. She sighed, resting her head on her paws. It felt like ages since the ball had begun.
She sang along to the songs she could hear well enough, and played with Duendei to pass the time.
She was chilled to the core when the sultry tones of 'Macavity: The Mystery Cat' floated over the houses.
Even with Demeter and Bombalurina's beautiful, soulful voices, and the high but powerful voice of little Artemis where she joined in, were not enough to drive out the memories the song brought.
Duendei was intuitive about the whole thing. Upon hearing the song, she shivered and burrowed deeper into the warmth of her mother. Etcetera grinned. But resentment crept up whenever she looked at the little kitten. Like her friend Jemima, the ball meant everything to her and Etcetera didn't know how long her willpower would hold out.
Songs dragged on, and Etcetera sang alone, sometimes weeping at this further misfortune.
There was no real issue until the chorus of 'Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat' chimed cheerfully about the night.
Etcetera began to do muffled actions, mimicking Skimbleshanks himself as she did in the performance. This was her favourite song.
Duendei, aroused and excited by the movements, darted into the bushes.
She peered out from the branches with her mint eyes, and Etcetera laughed, and stared back at her hyperactive kitten. It was that moment that changed everything. The light did not change. The kitten did not even move. And neither did Cetty. But Duendei's form melted away. She disappeared!
And when the crime's discovered then Macavity's not there...
Etcetera leaped back from the bush with a fearsome hiss. Duendei slunk out of the bushes with a hurt look, but all the essence of Duendei had disappeared from the tiny cat as far as Etcetera could see.
Etcetera backed away from her child and Duendei bounded toward her frightened mother, wondering why she would not come near.
Etcetera screeched and flicked up a large swirl of dirt at the tiny kitten.
It collided with her, and she mewed, crumpling to the ground. Etcetera, not even swayed by the innocent cry of help, sprayed her with another covering of dust, disowning her kitten.
And then she darted off to catch the last of the ball. Remorse would later haunt her every paw print. But not now. Now there was only the daughter of Macavity.
Duendei lay, choking on the dust that her own mother had sprayed over her.
It was in her eyes, but she was too woozy from the blow to attempt to dislodge it. She coughed, only involuntarily, and other times, she simply lay and wheezed.
She did not know how long she had been there. All she knew was that she wasn't going to be there much longer, by the thirst that clawed at her belly.
A bush rustled beside her. An inherited fear took her; for a foreign noise in the bushes was a warning beacon for her. But a lithe black cat stepped gracefully out of the bushes. She slunk around the kitten, smelling the ground, tracing Etcetera's scent all about the kit, and the resemblance of the scent in Duendei's own. Duendei coughed again, and this released the tension. The lithe black cat, female, gently scooped up the white kitten and cradled her close to her chest. She dusted her off, and warmed her. Tantomile had made up her mind when she had seen Etcetera run away in fear of the tiny innocent kitten, that she would not let this kitten die. She would raise her as her own if she had to, and it seemed that this was exactly what Tantomile would now have to do. She licked the kitten's ear, tenderly, cradling her tight.
She whispered, soothingly, to the kit "Oh little Duendei"