Chapter 8
Jennyanydots tucked in Electra and Etcetera in their bed. She looked around. "Girls, where's Vic?"
Etcetera and Electra looked at each other and shrugged. "I don't know Mom," said Electra, "she was right behind us!"
Etcetera nodded. She still couldn't talk.
"That's funny," Jennyanydots mumbled, "maybe she's with Daddy." She found Skimbleshanks sitting on their porch made of junk, smoking his pipe. "Skim," she said, "is Vikki with you?"
Skimbleshanks turned around. "No, Dear," he said, "I thought she was with you and the girls."
"Well, where is she then?" panicked Jennyanydots.
"I don't know!" said Skimbleshanks.
"Well don't just stand there with your teeth in your mouth, go look for her!" said Jennyanydots.
"Where could she have gone, she was right behind us two minutes ago!" said Skimbleshanks.
"Oh don't tell me we've lost another one!" said Jennyanydots, rubbing her forehead.
Skimbleshanks put his arm around his wife. "We'll find her," he said. "She couldn't have gone too far."
"Can't we tell your brother? I'll feel better if we tell someone about this," said Jennyanydots.
"Jen, what's Munkustrap going to do about this? He can't do anything now; we'll never find either of them in the middle of the night! Plus we've already asked your sister and Asparagus to help, and we can trust them can't we?"
"But-,"
Skimbleshanks sighed. "All right," he said, "if it makes you feel better, I'll go to Munk's and get this all straightened out. You go inside to bed, I'll be back soon."
"Okay, I just-,"
"I'll take care of it," said Skimbleshanks. Jennyanydots went inside.
Skimbleshanks got to thinking. "That's two of my daughters missing," he thought. He knocked on Munkustrap's door. Munkustrap opened the door holding a candle, wearing a sleep cap and bunny slippers.
"Skim, what's the problem?" he asked, half awake.
"Munk, Sillabub and Victoria are missing!" he said. "Victoria was right behind us one minute, the next minute, she was gone!"
"Is that all?" asked Munkustrap.
"Is that all?" repeated Skimbleshanks, "Munkustrap I have TWO daughters missing! TWO! Not one, TWO! Don't you think that that's a little peculiar? That two little girls disappear in one night! Speaking of disappearing, did Mistoffelees ever show up? No! That's THREE! What do you have to say for yourself? Mr. Jellicle Leader? Hm?"
Munkustrap rolled his eyes. "Okay, you know what I say to this?" he cleared his throat. "Okay, number one, I do not call myself Mr. Jellicle Leader. Number two, where do you think Sillabub and Victoria have gone? Where could they have gone? If they were captured, then there would have been screaming and commotion, and there obviously wasn't. Number three, I don't know what Misto's story is, but he's very forgetful, and he might have forgot about the meeting due to his absent-mindedness. I'll get a hold of him tomorrow and see why he didn't show up tonight."
"How do you know that you will see him tomorrow?" asked Skimbleshanks. "Have you thought that these young cats could be in serious trouble? I suggest that you pull everyone to an emergency meeting bright and early tomorrow morning!"
"Why?" asked Munkustrap.
"For two reasons," said Skimbleshanks. "One, to see if Mistoffelees shows up. If he does, then we know he's safe and was in the Junkyard the whole time and just forgot about the meeting. If he doesn't that means that Mistoffelees is either hurt in his house, or worse, dead! Or he could have been captured as well! You never know!"
"Skim," said Munkustrap, fed up and growing impatient.
Skimbleshanks held up his finger. "Two," he said, "wouldn't you do this for your daughters?"
"I don't have any daughters, duh," said Munkustrap.
"Okay, so let's pretend you have four beautiful daughters and all of a sudden TWO of them disappear in one night. Wouldn't you want to conduct a search party? Wouldn't you want to find them? Wouldn't you worry and worry and worry until you have gray fur?"
"I already have gray fur," said Munkustrap.
"Munku! Listen to me! I don't want to worry about Sillabub and Victoria and wind up looking like you because nobody would go and search for them! Now you listen to me and you listen good! You are going to hold an emergency meeting tomorrow morning and let EVERYONE know that I have two daughters missing whether you like it, or not. And I won't sleep a wink until they're found, you understand me? I want the best for my daughters. I don't want them to feel unsafe here. I-,"
"Okay, okay, all right already!" said Munkustrap. "You win. I'll hold a meeting tomorrow morning."
"Oh thank you Munkustrap, how can I thank you enough?"
"You can't," said Munkustrap. "Now why don't you go back to bed and tell Jennyanydots that her favorite brother-in-law has everything under control. Okay?"
"Okay. Thank you so much bro, I owe you one."
"Oh yes you do."
Well Munkustrap kept his promise. Bright and early the next day, "all" of the Jellicles were gathered in the Junkyard in front of the tire, wondering what the problem was. Munkustrap was, again, taking role.
"Alonzo?"
"Here."
"Coricopat and Tantomile?"
"Here," they said in unison.
"Jellylorum, Asparagus and family?
Jellylorum and Asparagus pointed out their sons, Pouncival and Tumblebrutus. "Here," said Jellylorum.
"Gus?"
"He's with us," said Asparagus. Gus the theatre cat was his father.
"Mistoffelees?"
Silence.
"Mistoffelees!"
Skimbleshanks gave Munkustrap a look that said, "I told you so."
Munkustrap was starting to worry. "Hey Tugger," he said, "Will you go and check out Mistoffelees' place and see if he's alright?"
Tugger was sitting with Bombalurina on his lap and the rest of the girls swooning around him. He looked surprised that he was given such and important and dangerous mission. He pointed to himself. "Me?" he said.
"Yes, you! You big lug!" said Bombalurina in her scratchy, deep New York accent. She shoved his off her lap.
"You want me to go to Stoff's?" he asked, still amazed and confused.
"Yes! Now go, will you?"
"What do you want me to do?"
"Are you sure you want to send *him* to go?" asked Jellylorum.
"Well yes," said Munkustrap. "Tugger can be intelligent and responsible, aren't you Tugger?"
"Huh?" he said dumbly.
Munkustrap was losing he patience. "Will you just go to Misto's and see if he's alive!!!!!!!" he picked up Tugger and kicked him off in the direction of Misto's. "Good Lord!" Munkustrap said to himself. "Okay now, where were we-,"
*~^ .. ^~*
Tugger was walking on the path to Misto's, still confused. "He wants me to go to Misto's and see if he's alive?" he asked himself. "What a pointless thing to do, of course Misto's alive if he wasn't he'd be dead and wouldn't be here!" Tugger was proud of this observation. He stopped in his tracks when he reached Misto's front yard. He studied it.
All looked calm and quiet. All looked peaceful except- he sniffed the air. He caught the scent of another cat. He sniffed some more. It was Cassandra. Tugger grinned. "Oh geeze," he said, "I know why Misto didn't show up. He was busy last night and is probably still asleep. Yeah baby, yeah!" he screamed, teasing Misto. ~Author cracks up~ Tugger chuckled and shook his head. He walked back to the Junkyard.
"Okay, so remember, the girls were last seen after the Jellicle meeting. If you see any sign of them, let me, Skimbleshanks or Jennyanydots know A.S.A.P!"
The Jellicles nodded.
"And as soon as Inspector Brain-washed gets here he'll tell us the scoop on Mistoffelees. As you may know, Mr. Mistoffelees was considered missing last night at the Jellicle meeting-,"
Tugger came running up. "Misto's alright," he said, smiling.
"Well where is he?" asked Munkustrap.
"Oh, I caught the scent of Cassandra around his place. I have a feeling her and Misto had 'other' plans last night." He winked and elbowed Munkustrap hard. Munkustrap pushed him off of him.
"Cassandra! That's who's missing!" he said. The Jellicles looked around. "I had a feeling that someone was missing also! I must have missed her name on the list."
"Oh, I know where she is," said Tugger, smiling at Bombalurina and wiggling his hips. Bombalurina rolled her eyes, not interested. Munkustrap gave him a look and shoved Tugger off the tire.
"WAIT! WAIT!" called Rumpleteazer. "Cassandra was here last night! Remember? She said she didn't know where Stoff was!"
The Jellicles looked at each other. Then they looked at Munkustrap. "You know, Teazer," he said, "I think you right! For once."
"Me memory never fails me! That reminds me Jerrie, we have to go and rob the Smith's tonight," she said to Mungojerrie.
"Well then, I don't know where Cassandra is. So your accusation might be wrong, Tugger," said Munkustrap.
"Aw, man, I was hoping to have a couple little Misto's running around!" he said.
"Shut up!" said Bombalurina.
Munkustrap rubbed his temples and tried to gather his thoughts.
"Tugger, so you didn't go in Misto's house?" asked Munkustrap.
"No! You can't walk in on someone when they're-,"
Alonzo coughed loudly so the younger kittens didn't heat the last few words Tugger said, which I didn't write for a reason. My story is PG and I'd like to keep it that way.
"But, if Cassandra's not with Mistoffelees at the moment, then where is she?" asked Munkustrap.
"HELP! HELP!" called a voice. The Jellicles turned around and saw Cassandra running toward the Junkyard, screaming for "Help".
Jennyanydots tucked in Electra and Etcetera in their bed. She looked around. "Girls, where's Vic?"
Etcetera and Electra looked at each other and shrugged. "I don't know Mom," said Electra, "she was right behind us!"
Etcetera nodded. She still couldn't talk.
"That's funny," Jennyanydots mumbled, "maybe she's with Daddy." She found Skimbleshanks sitting on their porch made of junk, smoking his pipe. "Skim," she said, "is Vikki with you?"
Skimbleshanks turned around. "No, Dear," he said, "I thought she was with you and the girls."
"Well, where is she then?" panicked Jennyanydots.
"I don't know!" said Skimbleshanks.
"Well don't just stand there with your teeth in your mouth, go look for her!" said Jennyanydots.
"Where could she have gone, she was right behind us two minutes ago!" said Skimbleshanks.
"Oh don't tell me we've lost another one!" said Jennyanydots, rubbing her forehead.
Skimbleshanks put his arm around his wife. "We'll find her," he said. "She couldn't have gone too far."
"Can't we tell your brother? I'll feel better if we tell someone about this," said Jennyanydots.
"Jen, what's Munkustrap going to do about this? He can't do anything now; we'll never find either of them in the middle of the night! Plus we've already asked your sister and Asparagus to help, and we can trust them can't we?"
"But-,"
Skimbleshanks sighed. "All right," he said, "if it makes you feel better, I'll go to Munk's and get this all straightened out. You go inside to bed, I'll be back soon."
"Okay, I just-,"
"I'll take care of it," said Skimbleshanks. Jennyanydots went inside.
Skimbleshanks got to thinking. "That's two of my daughters missing," he thought. He knocked on Munkustrap's door. Munkustrap opened the door holding a candle, wearing a sleep cap and bunny slippers.
"Skim, what's the problem?" he asked, half awake.
"Munk, Sillabub and Victoria are missing!" he said. "Victoria was right behind us one minute, the next minute, she was gone!"
"Is that all?" asked Munkustrap.
"Is that all?" repeated Skimbleshanks, "Munkustrap I have TWO daughters missing! TWO! Not one, TWO! Don't you think that that's a little peculiar? That two little girls disappear in one night! Speaking of disappearing, did Mistoffelees ever show up? No! That's THREE! What do you have to say for yourself? Mr. Jellicle Leader? Hm?"
Munkustrap rolled his eyes. "Okay, you know what I say to this?" he cleared his throat. "Okay, number one, I do not call myself Mr. Jellicle Leader. Number two, where do you think Sillabub and Victoria have gone? Where could they have gone? If they were captured, then there would have been screaming and commotion, and there obviously wasn't. Number three, I don't know what Misto's story is, but he's very forgetful, and he might have forgot about the meeting due to his absent-mindedness. I'll get a hold of him tomorrow and see why he didn't show up tonight."
"How do you know that you will see him tomorrow?" asked Skimbleshanks. "Have you thought that these young cats could be in serious trouble? I suggest that you pull everyone to an emergency meeting bright and early tomorrow morning!"
"Why?" asked Munkustrap.
"For two reasons," said Skimbleshanks. "One, to see if Mistoffelees shows up. If he does, then we know he's safe and was in the Junkyard the whole time and just forgot about the meeting. If he doesn't that means that Mistoffelees is either hurt in his house, or worse, dead! Or he could have been captured as well! You never know!"
"Skim," said Munkustrap, fed up and growing impatient.
Skimbleshanks held up his finger. "Two," he said, "wouldn't you do this for your daughters?"
"I don't have any daughters, duh," said Munkustrap.
"Okay, so let's pretend you have four beautiful daughters and all of a sudden TWO of them disappear in one night. Wouldn't you want to conduct a search party? Wouldn't you want to find them? Wouldn't you worry and worry and worry until you have gray fur?"
"I already have gray fur," said Munkustrap.
"Munku! Listen to me! I don't want to worry about Sillabub and Victoria and wind up looking like you because nobody would go and search for them! Now you listen to me and you listen good! You are going to hold an emergency meeting tomorrow morning and let EVERYONE know that I have two daughters missing whether you like it, or not. And I won't sleep a wink until they're found, you understand me? I want the best for my daughters. I don't want them to feel unsafe here. I-,"
"Okay, okay, all right already!" said Munkustrap. "You win. I'll hold a meeting tomorrow morning."
"Oh thank you Munkustrap, how can I thank you enough?"
"You can't," said Munkustrap. "Now why don't you go back to bed and tell Jennyanydots that her favorite brother-in-law has everything under control. Okay?"
"Okay. Thank you so much bro, I owe you one."
"Oh yes you do."
Well Munkustrap kept his promise. Bright and early the next day, "all" of the Jellicles were gathered in the Junkyard in front of the tire, wondering what the problem was. Munkustrap was, again, taking role.
"Alonzo?"
"Here."
"Coricopat and Tantomile?"
"Here," they said in unison.
"Jellylorum, Asparagus and family?
Jellylorum and Asparagus pointed out their sons, Pouncival and Tumblebrutus. "Here," said Jellylorum.
"Gus?"
"He's with us," said Asparagus. Gus the theatre cat was his father.
"Mistoffelees?"
Silence.
"Mistoffelees!"
Skimbleshanks gave Munkustrap a look that said, "I told you so."
Munkustrap was starting to worry. "Hey Tugger," he said, "Will you go and check out Mistoffelees' place and see if he's alright?"
Tugger was sitting with Bombalurina on his lap and the rest of the girls swooning around him. He looked surprised that he was given such and important and dangerous mission. He pointed to himself. "Me?" he said.
"Yes, you! You big lug!" said Bombalurina in her scratchy, deep New York accent. She shoved his off her lap.
"You want me to go to Stoff's?" he asked, still amazed and confused.
"Yes! Now go, will you?"
"What do you want me to do?"
"Are you sure you want to send *him* to go?" asked Jellylorum.
"Well yes," said Munkustrap. "Tugger can be intelligent and responsible, aren't you Tugger?"
"Huh?" he said dumbly.
Munkustrap was losing he patience. "Will you just go to Misto's and see if he's alive!!!!!!!" he picked up Tugger and kicked him off in the direction of Misto's. "Good Lord!" Munkustrap said to himself. "Okay now, where were we-,"
*~^ .. ^~*
Tugger was walking on the path to Misto's, still confused. "He wants me to go to Misto's and see if he's alive?" he asked himself. "What a pointless thing to do, of course Misto's alive if he wasn't he'd be dead and wouldn't be here!" Tugger was proud of this observation. He stopped in his tracks when he reached Misto's front yard. He studied it.
All looked calm and quiet. All looked peaceful except- he sniffed the air. He caught the scent of another cat. He sniffed some more. It was Cassandra. Tugger grinned. "Oh geeze," he said, "I know why Misto didn't show up. He was busy last night and is probably still asleep. Yeah baby, yeah!" he screamed, teasing Misto. ~Author cracks up~ Tugger chuckled and shook his head. He walked back to the Junkyard.
"Okay, so remember, the girls were last seen after the Jellicle meeting. If you see any sign of them, let me, Skimbleshanks or Jennyanydots know A.S.A.P!"
The Jellicles nodded.
"And as soon as Inspector Brain-washed gets here he'll tell us the scoop on Mistoffelees. As you may know, Mr. Mistoffelees was considered missing last night at the Jellicle meeting-,"
Tugger came running up. "Misto's alright," he said, smiling.
"Well where is he?" asked Munkustrap.
"Oh, I caught the scent of Cassandra around his place. I have a feeling her and Misto had 'other' plans last night." He winked and elbowed Munkustrap hard. Munkustrap pushed him off of him.
"Cassandra! That's who's missing!" he said. The Jellicles looked around. "I had a feeling that someone was missing also! I must have missed her name on the list."
"Oh, I know where she is," said Tugger, smiling at Bombalurina and wiggling his hips. Bombalurina rolled her eyes, not interested. Munkustrap gave him a look and shoved Tugger off the tire.
"WAIT! WAIT!" called Rumpleteazer. "Cassandra was here last night! Remember? She said she didn't know where Stoff was!"
The Jellicles looked at each other. Then they looked at Munkustrap. "You know, Teazer," he said, "I think you right! For once."
"Me memory never fails me! That reminds me Jerrie, we have to go and rob the Smith's tonight," she said to Mungojerrie.
"Well then, I don't know where Cassandra is. So your accusation might be wrong, Tugger," said Munkustrap.
"Aw, man, I was hoping to have a couple little Misto's running around!" he said.
"Shut up!" said Bombalurina.
Munkustrap rubbed his temples and tried to gather his thoughts.
"Tugger, so you didn't go in Misto's house?" asked Munkustrap.
"No! You can't walk in on someone when they're-,"
Alonzo coughed loudly so the younger kittens didn't heat the last few words Tugger said, which I didn't write for a reason. My story is PG and I'd like to keep it that way.
"But, if Cassandra's not with Mistoffelees at the moment, then where is she?" asked Munkustrap.
"HELP! HELP!" called a voice. The Jellicles turned around and saw Cassandra running toward the Junkyard, screaming for "Help".