Chapter 3: You Gotta Friend In Me
It had been a week since the Jellicles had moved to the Dumpster. Munkustrap had been sent word not to move again until they were visited by Old Deuteronomy. It took a week for Munkustrap to gather up the courage to visit those still in the makeshift hospital of sorts. The hurt Jellicles had brightened to see Munkustrap. With everything that was going on they all assumed their beloved commander had been extremely busy and thought it so noble and caring of him to take the time to come see them. Munkustrap knew it too.
Little do they realize, he thought, that I'm simply too much of a coward to have come sooner.
He had been there all morning and all morning he had thought of poor Tumblebrutus. Seeing Munkustrap looking sad and far-off Cassandra gently asked him if he was thinking of someone in particular.
"Tumble," he replied, his voice thick with emotion. "He was so young. He shouldn't have been out there. His being dead is my fault."
"Hey," said a voice behind him, "if Tumble is dead. So are you!"
Munkustrap whirled around and nearly keeled over when he saw Tumblebrutus smiling at him.
"Bu-but how did you- I saw you- I mean I saw you go down,"
"Hey," the other cat shrugged. "I don't care about the hows, whens, and wheres. I just care I'm here." From that point on things were looking a whole lot brighter for our dear Munkustrap.
The sun had finally come out and for that Jezabel was very grateful. Shivering with cold and hunger she made her way through the abandoned junkyard. Jezabel had never seen anything so filthy and disgusting before. All her life had been spent in the lap of luxury, literally. The last week had been terrifying to the little house cat. She had been deceived by so many strays, nearly hit by cars, and chased by mean boys, not to mention being drenched in rain for the last several days. Then finally she had found this place, whatever it had once been. The lonely look of the junkyard caused despair to fill her; she was so far from home. Tears rolled down her delicate face and splashed onto the tire below. A mouse scurried in front of her and it reminded her of how hungry she was. The little creature disappeared into darkness. Jezabel hung her head in shame. She couldn't catch a mouse if her life depended on it. And right now it looked as though it did.
Old Deuteronomy had been delayed by three days due to the storm. He had sent Munkustrap word that he wished him to check out the Junkyard, talk to the alley cats to find out what, if anything, they had heard about the Pollicles.
Munkustrap set out after placing Tugger in charge. The trip to the Junkyard left Munkustrap with entirely too much time to think. In a way he had been relieved to hear that it would be three more days before he would have to face Old Deuteronomy. But on the other hand it seemed as though it would be three eternities before the old leader would arrived; he wished to have it over with as soon as possible.
The Junkyard looked worse that ever since the rain. At least the blood had been washed away, most of it anyway. There would be a lot of clean up involved before moving back, but that was the least of their concerns.
A stray wandered through the Junkyard swaggering proudly. Munkustrap leaped in front of him. Terror briefly appeared in the others eyes before the cat replaced it with a smug look. Unfortunately for him, Munkustrap had already seen it.
"Hello, friend," hissed the stray.
"Hello, to you," Munkustrap returned. "What brings you through here."
"Busssinessss," said he.
"Nothing involving the Junkyard I hope."
"Perhapsss," the stray lifted his chin and kept his eyes fixed above Munkustrap's head. "Though it'sss no concccern of yoursss."
"On the contrary, it's very much my concern," Munkustrap said slyly trying to get the stray to look him in the eyes.
"You see, this is my Junkyard. Though it's currently unoccupied, it's still mine."
The stray's eyes widened. "You're Munkussstrap?"
"The one and only."
"I sssee," said the other. He turned and leapt onto the tire. "My bosss wouldn't want me assssociating with you."
"I suppose Macavity wouldn't," Munkustrap said thoughtfully. "Of course, I doubt that Chalmers would like you associating with Macavity, either."
The stray's eyes fell to Munkustrap. He frowned. "How did you know?"
Munkustrap joined the stray on the tire staring him down. "I have my ways. Now, tell me, Prentice, what do you know about the Pollicles?"
"Nothing."
"Fine," Munkustrap shrugged. "I'll just let Chalmers know that you're double-crossing him by working with his arch enemy, Macavity."
"Nooo!" Prentice cried. "Lisssten. All I know isss that the Pollicle leader isss out for blood. He doesssn't know where the Jelliclesss are. It'sss ssstill not sssafe here. He possstssss guardsss ever other week here. He will until he hasss hisss revenge."
"Is that all?"
"Yesss, I ssswear!"
With that, Prentice scurried into the night, more than happy to leave Munkustrap behind.
Munkustrap sat on the tire thinking. The only thing to do was to wait for Deuteronomy.
Suddenly, he tensed. In the distance there was barking and it was coming closer. The dogs were in hot pursuit of something. In pursuit of something in the Junkyard. He jumped behind the tire and waited. The dogs were very close, in fact it sounded like they were in front of him. The barking had diminished to fierce growling. Then suddenly the night was filled with the terrified scream of a cat. Instict took over and Munkustrap jumped on top of the tire ready for action.
Jezabel's eyes darted wildly around. Four dogs were circled around her, growling and baring their teeth. The largest and ugliest one snapped at her. She let loose with a shriek. The dogs laughed; they were having fun with this cat. One dog lashed out at her with his paw. Jezabel jumped back and into another dog. He pushed her down on the ground. All four dogs crowded in on her breathing heavily and drooling. They pawed at her; taking delight in watching her frighten movements. The leader raised his paw, claws extended, to deliver the first blow.
Trembling hard, Jezabel covered her head and eyes and prayed for it to end swiftly. The blow never came. Instead a terrible hiss was heard. What happened next was a blur of noise. A fight was taking place, but between the dogs and who? This frightened Jezabel almost as much as the dogs had. After what seemed to be an eternity, there was silence.
Jezabel stayed where she was, paralyzed with fear. If she ever made it back home, she vowed never to go outside again.
Still trembling, Jezabel tried to stifle the involuntary movements and play dead. Someone was still there. And she did not want to find out who it was.
The dogs had run off without much of a fight. Only one of them was a Pollicle. No doubt that Munkustrap would be the most wanted cat in all of England by morning. The poor victim of the dogs' attack was still lying on the ground convulsing. The cat didn't look like a stray, but Munkustrap wasn't sure if he was a Jellicle either. He had never seen him before.
"They're gone," he said quietly.
The cat didn't move.
"It's all clear," he tried again. "You're safe now."
The other cat, very slowly and still trembling, pulled himself into a sitting position with his back to Munkustrap.
Munkustrap scratched his head. What an odd cat, he thought.
He made his way over to the other side of the cat and sat down so that he was facing the other. The other cat had his head buried in his lap, curled up as tightly as possible.
"Please," Munkustrap said uncertainly. "I'm a friend. You're okay."
Ever so slowly, the other raised his head up but kept his eyes tightly closed. Munkustrap immediately realized his mistake. The cat wasn't a he but a she. With markings like nothing had seen before. Her features were fine and delicate. Beautiful black stripes lined her light gray face. Her nose was a soft pink that matched her lips.
The black markings continued all over the rest of her glossy coat, right down to the tip of her tail. She was gorgeous as far as cats go. But it was her collar that caught his attention. It was a diamond collar three rows wide. Now Munkustrap was no expert, but they looked real to him.
"Please," he said. "What's your name?"
The cat finally opened her eyes. Munkustrap found himself looking into the greenest pair of eyes he had ever seen. Most cats had greenish-yellow eyes, but these eyes were jade green.
"Jezabel," she said in a barely audible voice.
Munkustrap shook himself from her eyes which would not look directly at him. "I'm sorry. What?"
"Jezabel," she said again, only slightly louder. "My name is Jezabel."
It was then that Munkustrap realized that, Jellicle or not, she was no ordinary cat.
"Well, Jezabel, my name is Munkustrap," he said getting up and extending his paw. "Come with me. I'll take you to my home."
Jezabel did not move.
"You can trust me."
Jezabel was beside herself, so much so that she couldn't move. From out of nowhere this cat had come to her rescue and now he was asking her to trust him. Poor Jezabel was so naive to the world outside her house that she had already been led astray by other alley cats, how could she know that this Munkustrap was not one of them.
Her rescuer was sitting in front of her again. She wished he would go away, then again she was afraid to be left on her own.
"Come with me, Jezabel. I won't hurt you."
For the first time, Jezabel looked directly at him. She was surprised to see such a handsome cat. All the others were torn up and filthy. He looked nothing like the strays she had stumbled across. In fact, there was something about him that made him different from even the house cats she had met. He did look as though he belonged to someone; his coat was gleaming and nicely groomed and he wore a collar. But that same something about him made her quite sure that no one owned him. Jezabel looked blankly at his outstretched paw, then back to his face. His features were strong, but his brown eyes were gentle and kind. Gingerly, Jezabel placed her paw in his and let him help her up. Jezabel stood unsteadily on her feet. Trying to walk was no small task either; she was weak from lack of food.
She nearly lost her balance and Munkustrap had to put his arm around her waist to set her upright. That was when she began to feel light-headed and dizzy. Then everything went black.
It had been a week since the Jellicles had moved to the Dumpster. Munkustrap had been sent word not to move again until they were visited by Old Deuteronomy. It took a week for Munkustrap to gather up the courage to visit those still in the makeshift hospital of sorts. The hurt Jellicles had brightened to see Munkustrap. With everything that was going on they all assumed their beloved commander had been extremely busy and thought it so noble and caring of him to take the time to come see them. Munkustrap knew it too.
Little do they realize, he thought, that I'm simply too much of a coward to have come sooner.
He had been there all morning and all morning he had thought of poor Tumblebrutus. Seeing Munkustrap looking sad and far-off Cassandra gently asked him if he was thinking of someone in particular.
"Tumble," he replied, his voice thick with emotion. "He was so young. He shouldn't have been out there. His being dead is my fault."
"Hey," said a voice behind him, "if Tumble is dead. So are you!"
Munkustrap whirled around and nearly keeled over when he saw Tumblebrutus smiling at him.
"Bu-but how did you- I saw you- I mean I saw you go down,"
"Hey," the other cat shrugged. "I don't care about the hows, whens, and wheres. I just care I'm here." From that point on things were looking a whole lot brighter for our dear Munkustrap.
The sun had finally come out and for that Jezabel was very grateful. Shivering with cold and hunger she made her way through the abandoned junkyard. Jezabel had never seen anything so filthy and disgusting before. All her life had been spent in the lap of luxury, literally. The last week had been terrifying to the little house cat. She had been deceived by so many strays, nearly hit by cars, and chased by mean boys, not to mention being drenched in rain for the last several days. Then finally she had found this place, whatever it had once been. The lonely look of the junkyard caused despair to fill her; she was so far from home. Tears rolled down her delicate face and splashed onto the tire below. A mouse scurried in front of her and it reminded her of how hungry she was. The little creature disappeared into darkness. Jezabel hung her head in shame. She couldn't catch a mouse if her life depended on it. And right now it looked as though it did.
Old Deuteronomy had been delayed by three days due to the storm. He had sent Munkustrap word that he wished him to check out the Junkyard, talk to the alley cats to find out what, if anything, they had heard about the Pollicles.
Munkustrap set out after placing Tugger in charge. The trip to the Junkyard left Munkustrap with entirely too much time to think. In a way he had been relieved to hear that it would be three more days before he would have to face Old Deuteronomy. But on the other hand it seemed as though it would be three eternities before the old leader would arrived; he wished to have it over with as soon as possible.
The Junkyard looked worse that ever since the rain. At least the blood had been washed away, most of it anyway. There would be a lot of clean up involved before moving back, but that was the least of their concerns.
A stray wandered through the Junkyard swaggering proudly. Munkustrap leaped in front of him. Terror briefly appeared in the others eyes before the cat replaced it with a smug look. Unfortunately for him, Munkustrap had already seen it.
"Hello, friend," hissed the stray.
"Hello, to you," Munkustrap returned. "What brings you through here."
"Busssinessss," said he.
"Nothing involving the Junkyard I hope."
"Perhapsss," the stray lifted his chin and kept his eyes fixed above Munkustrap's head. "Though it'sss no concccern of yoursss."
"On the contrary, it's very much my concern," Munkustrap said slyly trying to get the stray to look him in the eyes.
"You see, this is my Junkyard. Though it's currently unoccupied, it's still mine."
The stray's eyes widened. "You're Munkussstrap?"
"The one and only."
"I sssee," said the other. He turned and leapt onto the tire. "My bosss wouldn't want me assssociating with you."
"I suppose Macavity wouldn't," Munkustrap said thoughtfully. "Of course, I doubt that Chalmers would like you associating with Macavity, either."
The stray's eyes fell to Munkustrap. He frowned. "How did you know?"
Munkustrap joined the stray on the tire staring him down. "I have my ways. Now, tell me, Prentice, what do you know about the Pollicles?"
"Nothing."
"Fine," Munkustrap shrugged. "I'll just let Chalmers know that you're double-crossing him by working with his arch enemy, Macavity."
"Nooo!" Prentice cried. "Lisssten. All I know isss that the Pollicle leader isss out for blood. He doesssn't know where the Jelliclesss are. It'sss ssstill not sssafe here. He possstssss guardsss ever other week here. He will until he hasss hisss revenge."
"Is that all?"
"Yesss, I ssswear!"
With that, Prentice scurried into the night, more than happy to leave Munkustrap behind.
Munkustrap sat on the tire thinking. The only thing to do was to wait for Deuteronomy.
Suddenly, he tensed. In the distance there was barking and it was coming closer. The dogs were in hot pursuit of something. In pursuit of something in the Junkyard. He jumped behind the tire and waited. The dogs were very close, in fact it sounded like they were in front of him. The barking had diminished to fierce growling. Then suddenly the night was filled with the terrified scream of a cat. Instict took over and Munkustrap jumped on top of the tire ready for action.
Jezabel's eyes darted wildly around. Four dogs were circled around her, growling and baring their teeth. The largest and ugliest one snapped at her. She let loose with a shriek. The dogs laughed; they were having fun with this cat. One dog lashed out at her with his paw. Jezabel jumped back and into another dog. He pushed her down on the ground. All four dogs crowded in on her breathing heavily and drooling. They pawed at her; taking delight in watching her frighten movements. The leader raised his paw, claws extended, to deliver the first blow.
Trembling hard, Jezabel covered her head and eyes and prayed for it to end swiftly. The blow never came. Instead a terrible hiss was heard. What happened next was a blur of noise. A fight was taking place, but between the dogs and who? This frightened Jezabel almost as much as the dogs had. After what seemed to be an eternity, there was silence.
Jezabel stayed where she was, paralyzed with fear. If she ever made it back home, she vowed never to go outside again.
Still trembling, Jezabel tried to stifle the involuntary movements and play dead. Someone was still there. And she did not want to find out who it was.
The dogs had run off without much of a fight. Only one of them was a Pollicle. No doubt that Munkustrap would be the most wanted cat in all of England by morning. The poor victim of the dogs' attack was still lying on the ground convulsing. The cat didn't look like a stray, but Munkustrap wasn't sure if he was a Jellicle either. He had never seen him before.
"They're gone," he said quietly.
The cat didn't move.
"It's all clear," he tried again. "You're safe now."
The other cat, very slowly and still trembling, pulled himself into a sitting position with his back to Munkustrap.
Munkustrap scratched his head. What an odd cat, he thought.
He made his way over to the other side of the cat and sat down so that he was facing the other. The other cat had his head buried in his lap, curled up as tightly as possible.
"Please," Munkustrap said uncertainly. "I'm a friend. You're okay."
Ever so slowly, the other raised his head up but kept his eyes tightly closed. Munkustrap immediately realized his mistake. The cat wasn't a he but a she. With markings like nothing had seen before. Her features were fine and delicate. Beautiful black stripes lined her light gray face. Her nose was a soft pink that matched her lips.
The black markings continued all over the rest of her glossy coat, right down to the tip of her tail. She was gorgeous as far as cats go. But it was her collar that caught his attention. It was a diamond collar three rows wide. Now Munkustrap was no expert, but they looked real to him.
"Please," he said. "What's your name?"
The cat finally opened her eyes. Munkustrap found himself looking into the greenest pair of eyes he had ever seen. Most cats had greenish-yellow eyes, but these eyes were jade green.
"Jezabel," she said in a barely audible voice.
Munkustrap shook himself from her eyes which would not look directly at him. "I'm sorry. What?"
"Jezabel," she said again, only slightly louder. "My name is Jezabel."
It was then that Munkustrap realized that, Jellicle or not, she was no ordinary cat.
"Well, Jezabel, my name is Munkustrap," he said getting up and extending his paw. "Come with me. I'll take you to my home."
Jezabel did not move.
"You can trust me."
Jezabel was beside herself, so much so that she couldn't move. From out of nowhere this cat had come to her rescue and now he was asking her to trust him. Poor Jezabel was so naive to the world outside her house that she had already been led astray by other alley cats, how could she know that this Munkustrap was not one of them.
Her rescuer was sitting in front of her again. She wished he would go away, then again she was afraid to be left on her own.
"Come with me, Jezabel. I won't hurt you."
For the first time, Jezabel looked directly at him. She was surprised to see such a handsome cat. All the others were torn up and filthy. He looked nothing like the strays she had stumbled across. In fact, there was something about him that made him different from even the house cats she had met. He did look as though he belonged to someone; his coat was gleaming and nicely groomed and he wore a collar. But that same something about him made her quite sure that no one owned him. Jezabel looked blankly at his outstretched paw, then back to his face. His features were strong, but his brown eyes were gentle and kind. Gingerly, Jezabel placed her paw in his and let him help her up. Jezabel stood unsteadily on her feet. Trying to walk was no small task either; she was weak from lack of food.
She nearly lost her balance and Munkustrap had to put his arm around her waist to set her upright. That was when she began to feel light-headed and dizzy. Then everything went black.