Macavity's Queens: Part Three
"Then this is where we're going in." Munkustrap turned to the twins. "I want you two to go with Demeter and get the queens out of here. Ann, Tiger, you go with them too. Get the queens out and back to the Junkyard." He turned to the remaining toms. "Everyone else, run interferance. If you see, hear or smell any of ours getting to close to any of theirs, make sure they stay apart." Munkstrap started up towards the pipe where Asparagus was waiting.
Skimbleshanks had a hard look in his normally smiling eyes. "And what do ye plan on doin', lad?"
Munkstrap looked back over his shoulder. "Someone has to make sure Macavity doesn't find out what's going on until it's too late." He said grimly.
A sudden gasp came from the rear of the group. Everyone turned to see Demeter shivering and Tantomile and Rumpelteazer trying to calm her. "But... but Macavity will kill you if you fight him!" She protested, the visions of numerous toms that Macavity had forced her, Cassandra and Bombalurina to watch be killed by his hand in violent, very one-sided gladiator-style fights.
Tugger smiled at Demeter. "You don't have to worry your pretty face about ol' Alexander, babe. If there's a cat alive that can send Macavity runnining to lick his wounds, it's him."
The silver tabby turned and smiled at the unusually strong show of support from Tugger. "Thanks for the vote of confidance. And Ms. Demeter, I'll be fine. Macavity hasn't killed me yet." He said with a reassuring smile. And with that, he lowered himself into the pipe, right behind Asparagus.
"You gonna be al'right, love?" Rumpelteazer asked Demeter, with Tantomile looking on.
The yellow queen nodded. "Yeah." She whispered, knowing that she didn't sound anywhere near convencing to the two streetwise queens.
"Don't worry, then." Rumpelteazer said with a big grin on her face. "I could find my way through this place blindfolded."
"Then ya'd better quit yer yappin' and get moving." Mungojerrie called as he boosted the three queens up towards the pipe. "Down you go," he said to Demeter as he helped her in, "and Alexander will catch ya at the bottom if ya fall."
Demeter looked up in alarm. "If I fall? What do you mean by thaAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTT!!!!??"
Mungojerrie smiled as he heard her falling down the pipe and land with an 'OOF!' into Munkustrap's arms.
"Jerry, you're a goof, you know that?" Rumpelteazer chided her brother.
Mungojerrie grinned. "Well, we gotta get those two together somehow. And," he turned to face his sister, a cocky grin plastered on his face and arms crossed over his chest. "I've got an Argintine joint that says I'm the cat to do it."
Rumpelteazer arched an eyebrow. "You toms 'ave a pool on who gets those two together?" Mungojerrie nodded and Rumpelteazer rolled her eyes. "'Onestly! You toms!"
"We should be there any minute now." Rumpelteazer whispered back.
In fact, one more turn, and Demeter was able to smell the familiar scents of her friends! "They're in there!" She whispered to Tantomile excitedly as she gestured to a closed cell. Without thinking, she started to dash out from the showed hall they were in when Skimble grabbed her by the shoulder.
"Donna be rushing out there, lass." He cautioned as he pulled her back to the group. "We donna know what's around the corner, and the last thing we need is fer ye to be caught again."
Demeter froze at the touch of the tom, but forced herself not to react. Tiger was one of the good cats. Not to mention the fact that he was absolutely right. If she wasn't careful, she might get them all caught, and then they'd be worse off than ever. "You're right..." she stammered. "I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry."
"'Ere, now." Rumpelteazer gave her hand a squeeze. "Don't be talkin' like that. Your mates are as good as free with lil' Ann on the job! Now let's get that door open!" She smiled as she gave the heavy door a mischivious look. Quickly, she was over in front of it and was examining the lock with the eye of a seasoned professional. After a few moments of study, she gave an excited giggle and pulled a small metal stick out of one of the piles of debris that Macavity's henchcats had left behind.
"Who's there?!" Came a harsh whisper from inside. Demeter reached over Rumpelteazer's head and opened a little sliding pannel that let her see into a pair of brilliant green eyes.
"Bomby! It's me!" she whispered back to her friend. "I found help!"
"Demeter! It's you! We'd thought something had happened to you!"
Demeter smiled. "It almost did, but I'm back, and you'll all be out of here soon." She promised, hoping that the kittens would be able to hear her in the back of the cell.
Meanwhile, Rumpelteazer gave her makeshift skeleton key a few deft twists, and the sound of a bolt sliding came to their ears. With a triumphant smile, the striped queen threw open the door to find herself standing right in front of Bombalurina. She looked up with a cocky grin on her face. "'Ello, there!"
Demeter looked past the red queen and into the cell. "Cassie, Electra, Etcetera, Victoria, Jemima?'
"Demeter!" Came the unanimous calls of the four kittens as they all threw themselves at Demeter, even Victoria cheered at the sight of their friend.
"We thought that you'd been hurt and wouldn't come back!" Etcetera cried into Demeter's yellow coat.
"Macavity said that his henchcats had killed you!" Jemima's eyes were filled with tears.
"We were all dreadfully worried about you, love." Cassandra said as she gracefully slid up to Demeter and gave her a welcoming nuzzle. "Wish I could say welcome home, but you've probably been in a better place than we have these past few days."
"And as soon as you are ready..."
"... You six shall go there as well."
The queens looked over to see Coricopat and Tantomile standing side-by-side in the doorway. Quietly, after a few moments, Skimbleshanks and Rumpelteazer could be seen standing behind them.
Victoria nervously looked up at Demeter. "These are friends... Right?" She whispered, a little frightened of these new cats especially the toms. Demeter nodded.
"These are some of the cats who helped me." She quickly explained to the others. "A lot more came with us to make sure that Macavity and his henchcats wouldn't try to stop us from leaving."
"And if yer wantin' to get out, I'd say we'd best be on our way." Skimble said from the doorway. "The others are only going to be able to keep them busy for so long before they figure out that they're bein' led on a wild goose chase." With that, Skimble turned to sniff the air, making sure that there were no henchcats around. "We're clear." He stated.
Tantomile and Coricopat nodded in unison. "Tiger is right." Coricopat said.
"We need to leave now." Tantomile finished.
"It's alright. They can be trusted." Demeter smiled at her friends, hoping that her being there would encurage them to quicker action. Slowly, the two older queens made their way to the door, and Demeter gently ushered the kittens to follow. Once they were all in the hall, she looked at Rumpelteazer. "Which way now?" she asked.
Rumpelteazer thought for a moment, then she headed to the left. "This way's the quickest." she firmly stated, bounding ahead. Tantomile and Coricopat followed her, then the queens. Skimbleshanks brought up the rear, in case of any sort of surprise attack.
Suddenly, Skimble froze and whispered to the others, "Shh! Every one be quiet..." He trailed off as his ears twiched every which way, picking up some sound that was too faint for the others to pick up on. "There's trouble." He said quietly. "We've got to get out of here."
Color drained from each of the newly-liberated queen's faces and Tantomile and Coricopat looked at each other with deadpan faces.
CRASH!!! YYYYEEEEEEOOOOOWWWW!
Two tomcats fell through the flimsy roof of the hideout and landed in the midst of the group. The kittens screamed, and everyone else jumped back out of plain surprise. The two toms caughed and shook off the dirt out of their coats to reveal Tugger and Alonzo. There were small scrapes and cuts all over them and both were breathing heavily.
"What in the name of the Er'lasting Cat happened to the two of ye?!" Skimble exclaimed when he saw the two of them. Alonzo caughted and looked over at the orange tom.
"Henchcats." he sputtered. "Lots of them." The queens let out an almost simultanious gasp when they heard the words. Tugger looked down at the four kittens and gave them a smile as he shook out his fur.
He bent down and grinned. "Now what are four lovely little ladies like yourselves doing here?" He paused a moment to look up at Cassandra and Bombalurian. "For that matter, what are you two ladies doing here?"
Etcetera couldn't help but giggle at the handsome tom, and her giggling managed to infect Electra as well. Bombalurina gave Tugger a cool look. She didn't need some ego-filled tom flirting with her right now. She turned her attention back to Cassandra. Cassandra's eyes, in turn, were focused on the new black and white tom. She blushed a little, the large patches of brown on her face covering most of it up. Whoever he was, she hoped that he was one of the rescuing cats.
"Alexander is holding Macavity off." Alonzo informed the group. "We need to get them to the Junkyard quick!" He said more to Skimble and the twins than to anyone else.
"Ann, lass, this would be a good time to show us that way out." Skimble said to Rumpelteazer. She nodded and dashed off down the hall. The others followed in quick persuit, desperately keeping pace with the young queen. Eventually they emerged from the lair, the queens pausing a moment to savor the freedom that they had been denied for so long. However, Skimble pushed them onwards, knowing that they wouldn't be safe until they were back within the walls of the Junkyard.
The queens barely had time take in anything as they rushed past houses, fountains, fences, trees, and finally piles upon piles of trash. Looking to the sides, they noticed shapes flanking them on either side. Demeter's heart skipped a beat, her first thought was that they were henchcats. But when Mungojerrie appeared suddenly beside Rumpelteazer, she realized that it was the rest of the rescue party. Asparagus and Munkustrap quckly followed.
Had any of them bothered to look back, they would have seen a flash of light at the entrance to the Junkyard, barring any intruders, and a small black cat as he did a quick magical turn and dissapeared.
"They're back!" came an excieted voice from above. They all looked up to see Tumblebrutus looking down with a large grin on his face. He looked back over his shoulder and called to some others, yet unseen. "The rescue party is back!" Then, in a single movement, he jumped from his perch and landed into a perfect somersault, landing him right infront of the group at Munkustrap's feet. Munkustrap smiled down at the kitten and then lept up onto the giant tire to address the rest of the tribe, who had come out to see the new arivals. They kept a distance, just like they had when Demeter had arrived, but they were all eager to see them.
"Everyone!" Munkustrap called, his voice carrying over the group of cats and into the Junkyard. "We return the victors! The queens are free!"
A cheer ran through the tribe and the queens looked around, amazed at how many cats there were who would have risked their own safety to save theirs. Demeter watched Munkustrap with admiration. He was a true leader. No wonder these cats would follow him into the lair of Macavity. She smiled to herself. Maybe now she would have a chance to learn more about him...
Quickly, Jellylorum and Jennyanydots surrounded the kittens and two newly rescued queens, fussing over them like mother hens. "Oh you poor things!" Jenny exclaimed as she examined Victoria. "You don't look like you've had a decent meal in months!" Which would be fairly accurate. Macavity generally didn't like to be too generous with things like food.
"Not to mention in need of a good grooming." Jelly added with a smile, placing her hands on Electra's shoulders. "The six of you should really come with us. We'll get you cleaned up and then something to eat!" The kittens and two queens looked over at Demeter, who nodded. Smiling, the kittens timidly followed Jelly and Jenny, and Cassandra and Bomby followed them.
Demeter turned to Munkustrap. "I can't thank you enough for helping us." she said, blushing.
"You and your friends are wlecome to stay as long as you wish. You are free to consider this your home for now if you wish." He replied. Demeter smiled and turned to follow her friends. Even thought they were with queens, they would still feel more comfortable with her with them. Munkustrap let his eyes watch her as she walked away. Demeter was very graceful, sleek, and just downright beautiful. He sighed. He hoped that someday soon he would be able to tell the queen all about who he and theh other Jellicles really were.