It was dark outside. A thick fog made the stars invisible and the moon only
showed a small slice of herself. Nevertheless two young queens navigated
the area with ease, their eyes being used to seeing in darkness. The rest
of the tribe was sound asleep it seemed and Demeter and Niameh quietly
walked towards the entrance of the Jellicle lodge.

Suddenly Demeter stood still as if she was frozen on the spot. Niameh
looked questioningly at her friend and Demeter put a paw over Niameh's
mouth, gesturing her to be silent. Then she made a motion for the light
queen to listen. At first Niameh couldn't hear anything, but Demeter led
her towards one of the sleeping areas. Nervously they listened to the
voices of the tomcats inside the shelter.

"…Can't let those murderers roam about here."
"I agree, but how can we find them? Besides we've got to be careful –
it seems that they've gotten Demeter and Niameh on their side somehow."

The two queens looked terrified at each other. The two toms they'd heard
at first were Plato and Munkustrap, but they could hear comments from
several other toms too. The voice of an obviously angry Tumblebrutus cut
through the chatter of the other toms.

"Careful? Demeter and Niameh will stay with the tribe, because they are
Jellicles and therefore loyal to us. I say we eradicate those fiends.
Amenra isn't even their planet; they should have stayed on Taife. Around
here we'll show them no mercy."

Niameh and Demeter both had tears in their eyes. They were torn
between their loyalty to their Jellicle family and their sympathy for
Macavity and Tanocor. To hear such hate from toms they'd grown up
with was horrendous – and to think that just this morning they'd been
chattering about, whom they wanted as mates when the Ball came up…

Niameh silently signaled Demeter to move away from the shelter so they
could go find the two mysterious toms, but suddenly a head poked out of
the shelter. Pouncival looked suspiciously at them and then yelled at the
other toms, "Niameh and Demeter are just outside. They're spying for the
fiends."
The two queens took off running as they heard quick footsteps and
shouting behind them. They knew that they were in big trouble now.
Having been caught listening they'd be labeled by the tribe as traitors
and the Jellicles' hate for Macavity and Tanocor would now also be
directed at them.

Both queens knew that if they didn't find somewhere to hide soon, the
toms would run them down. They held each other's hands as they ran, so
they wouldn't get away from each other. Unexpectedly Niameh stumbled
over a large trunk, lying on the ground and she pulled Demeter with her in
the fall. Under the trunk had been dug a small cavity, probably made by
some of the animals living in the forest. Demeter pointed to the cavity and
both the queens squeezed themselves into the hole. Demeter put her arm
and tail around Niameh to cover the other queen's light fur. They could
barely breathe – partly because of the long run and the insufficient space
in the cavity and partly out of fear.

How long they'd been lying there neither of the two queens knew. The
footsteps and shouting had stopped a long time ago, but they'd been afraid
that the other Jellicles were trying to lure them out or that they'd return.
Finally they gathered enough courage to come out. They looked at each
other with miserable expressions. Their beautiful and usually well combed
fur was covered with dirt and leaves and was all entangled.

"We have no choice now," Niameh said, "We have to find Tanocor and
Macavity."
Demeter nodded tiredly and they trotted off, searching for the two toms.

"Demeter! Niameh!" Two voices said behind them and they fearfully
turned. Behind them stood Macavity and Tanocor. The two queens were
exhausted, but gathered enough energy to run into the arms of the two
brothers, who held them carefully, while looking worriedly at each other.

Meanwhile back in the Jellicle lodge, all the Jellicles were preparing for an
all out war. When the toms had discovered Demeter and Niameh 'spying'
they were sure that their enemies were planning something. The older
Jellicles were gathering the kittens and preparing to go into hiding and the
other Jellicles were working on the defense of the lodge.

Two of the toms were sulking around, helping where they could. Plato and
Tumblebrutus had been so sure that these two beautiful queens were
going to pick them for the Ball, but now they turned out to be traitors.
They'd both vowed revenge on Macavity and Tanocor for luring away
Demeter and Niameh and the other Jellicles had approved of this.