Chapter Three: Shadows

Demeter leapt to her feet. She did not know quite what to think of this. Sure, Munkustrap's actions were abnormal, quite possibly magical, but could it really be the small, innocent-looking Mistoffelees behind it all? He was just barely an adult cat! And besides, hadn't he saved Old Deuteronomy from Macavity?

Demeter didn't say any of this out loud, but Bombalurina could tell what her best friend was thinking just by the look on her face. "I know," she said. "It seems unlikely, but yet, at the same time, it seems so possible. I mean, seriously," she continued. "If he wasn't bad, why did he pretend to be someone else for so long? Why did he hide his powers?"

"Maybe he didn't want to be judged and labeled, like you are doing to him right now," said Demeter hotly. She wasn't sure why she was standing up for the magician; he had deceived the whole tribe for six months. But yet, she knew, somehow, that he was innocent. She couldn't explain it, but inside of her she knew.

"Suppose he's on our side," began Bombalurina.

"He is," interrupted Demeter forcefully.

"Alright, so he is on our side," said Bombalurina in a way that made Demeter think she really wasn't convinced that the statement she just made was true. "And he didn't tell us he was a magical cat because he didn't want us all to think he was on the other side. That sorta makes sense, I suppose."

"Yeah."

"But if he was on our side, why didn't he reveal himself earlier? Everlasting Cat knows we've had thousands of problems that could have been solved so much easier by a magical cat. Where was he when Macavity attacked you and Munkustrap, one month ago at the Jellicle Ball?"

Demeter didn't know what to say to this. Bombalurina was right: Mistoffelees hadn't used his magical powers for anything except to bring back Old Deuteronomy. He wasn't even in sight when Macavity attacked them. Couldn't he just have shot some lightning bolts at him and killed the stupid cat? That would save them a whole lot of trouble. But he was no where to be found.

And even before the Jellicle Ball, there had been tons of problems that Mistoffelees could have helped to solve. If he really was on their side, why didn't he help heal Jemima when she got that nasty scratch from a Pollicle? Why didn't he use his powers to tell them where Etcetera was that time she got lost in the woods? Why didn't he magically lift the tire off of Jellylorum's tail when she got stuck a few months ago? Why?

"There has to be an answer," said Demeter, though she didn't sound too sure.

"Well, we can find out now," said Bombalurina as Mr. Mistoffelees came hurrying over, looking alarmed.

"What's wrong?" he asked urgently, looking alarmed.

"We need to talk to you," said Bomba simply. "Follow me, and if you even try to run away, I'll hurt you."

"Bomba!" hissed Demeter.

"Well, it's the truth!" exclaimed her best friend. "I'm not taking any chances."

"Don't blow this out of proportion, Bomba," warned Demeter.

"Blow it out of proportion? Blow it out of proportion? DOES IT BOTHER YOU AT ALL THAT YOUR HUSBAND LEFT YOU FOR A QUEEN HALF HIS AGE?" screamed Bombalurina at the top of her lungs. As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them.

"Yes it bothers me!" said Demeter, choking back sobs.

"Demeter… I'm sorry… I didn't mean it… I know you're upset… oh, Demi, please don't cry…"

"Don't cry?" murmured Demeter. "Of course I'm going to… going to… cry… you don't understand, Bomba…"

"Well explain!"

"This will never happen to you… every male adores you… oh, Bomba…"

Neither one of the two best friends noticed Mistoffelees listening very carefully to their conversation.

"What do you mean? Not everyone adores me… look at Rum Tum Tugger! How many times have I tried to get him to pay attention to me? He still ignores me and pushes me away."

"But he still likes you," said Demeter in-between sobs. "He still thinks you are attractive. Maybe that's it, maybe I'm just not attractive enough."

"Oh, Demeter, don't be silly!" said Bomba. "And besides, I often wish I wasn't so… attractive. It makes it hard to be in a serious relationship. Nobody takes you seriously. I would do anything just to have one person love me, really truly love me, and not my looks."

Demeter cried harder, and after a long pause where the only sound was her tears she said, "But I don't get it? What does she have that I don't?"

"I don't know," said Bombalurina. "Munkustrap isn't an idiot. He wouldn't have done this. He wouldn't have fallen for… her."

"Who?" said Mistoffelees suddenly, alerting the two females of his presence and causing Bombalurina to glower with anger.

"Oh, I think you know very well who," she said angrily, walking slowly towards the magician, towering above him.

Mistoffelees very much wanted to say "If I knew, I wouldn't have asked," but he had enough sense to know that that might not be the wisest choice of words. Instead, he merely whispered "No, I don't," in a voice he hoped didn't sound sarcastic.

Bombalurina growled with frustration. Why was he being so difficult? "Your sister," she hissed.

Mistoffelees blinked. "Wh…what? My sister? Cassandra?"

"Don't be stupid, you heard me! Munkustrap has left Demeter for Cassandra, your sister, and I know – we know you had something to do with this!" roared Bombalurina. "This did not happen of its own accord. It was obviously…" she paused, and lowered her voice, "magical."

Mistoffelees cautiously wet his parched lips and tried to think of a response to this. His sister had obviously put a spell on Munkustrap that allowed her to control his thoughts and feelings…but why? Surely not just to make Mistoffelees look bad and Demeter miserable. I wonder what spell she used. I hope it isn't permanent, I hope I'll be able to undo it…

"When did this… come about?" he said slowly, choosing his words carefully. He had never seen Bombalurina this angry, and he certainly didn't want to see her any angrier.

"Just today," said Bombalurina stubbornly, but Demeter shook her head.

"No," she murmured miserably. "He hadn't spoken to me before today…"

"How long?" asked Mistoffelees urgently. "How long hadn't he spoken to you?"

"Two days' time," said Demeter quietly. "Two days."

"Was he speaking to anyone else?"

"No, not really," said Demeter. "He was acting very distant, not really talking to anyone, spending long periods of time by himself in the dark…"

Mistoffelees thought quickly. If Cassandra had used the spell he was thinking of – which it sounded like she had – they didn't have much time. Let's see… he thought. If that spell – what was it called again? If that spell starts working two days after being used, then that's four days, today makes five, which means she gained total control of him last night at midnight, which means by midnight tonight the spell will be permanent –

He glanced up at the sun, which had started its afternoon descent. He guessed it to be around 6:00, which meant they had exactly six hours to get Munkustrap back before he Cassandra's forever. This really ruins my night was his last thought before he took off at a run towards Cassandra's box.

"HEY! WHERE ARE YOU GOING? GET BACK HERE!" screamed Bombalurina behind him. He heard her take off behind him, and soon she caught up to him, running at his side. "Where are you going? STOP!"

"I can't!" huffed Mistoffelees in between gasping breaths. "No time – can't explain now – tell you everything later." He slowed to a halt as he reached Cassandra's box. It was a big box. Refrigerator box, or something of the sort – but he had no time to think about that now.

Demeter caught up to the two. Mistoffelees was crouched on the ground with his ear by Cassandra's box, listening to find out if anyone was inside. Bombalurina was standing, glaring down at the magician with a skeptical look on her face.

"No one's in there," he whispered frantically, raising his eyes to look at the two queens.

"Good," said Bombalurina. "Now can you please explain what's going on here?"

"No, that's not good!" muttered Mistoffelees. "They could be anywhere! Cassandra probably figured this would happen, she probably planned it this way, she knew that Bombalurina and Demeter would automatically suspect me, come and find me, then I would come and look for her here…"

"Let's go inside," said Bombalurina suddenly, moving towards the entrance, pulling Demeter along with her.

"NO!"

"What?" said Bombalurina, startled and somewhat offended by the sudden outburst.

"STOP!" shouted Mistoffelees. "DON'T GO ANY FURTHER!"

"Why?" asked Demeter frantically. Bombalurina rolled her eyes and continued walking. Mistoffelees took a deep breath and ran suddenly at the two queens, pushing them far away from Cassandra's box.

"WHAT THE – " shouted Bombalurina.

"Quiet!" said Mistoffelees urgently, putting a paw over her mouth. Then he slowly started to tip-toe back towards Cassandra's box, muttering words to himself that Bombalurina and Demeter could not hear.

Mistoffelees inched closer to the box, and the second he touched the entrance, there was a loud ~CRACK~.

Demeter screamed, and Bombalurina gasped with fright. A big wooden box had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and fallen right on top of Mistoffelees. There was a long silence. Both Demeter and her best friend had their eyes rooted to the spot where Mistoffelees had stood only a moment ago. It seemed impossible that any cat could survive something like that, even a magical cat.

Suddenly, it was as if a spell keeping the two queens rooted the spot had broken, and they rushed over to the big wooden box and attempted to move it. It was no use. The box was big, awkward, and very heavy. Demeter slouched up against the box, and she would have started to cry if Mistoffelees hadn't appeared instantly by her side.

She looked at him, astonished. "What…you…how?" she stammered.

"I guess this is Cassandra's idea of foreshadowing, huh?" he asked with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Wh…what....huh?"

"Cassandra obviously wants me dead," said Mistoffelees, as if this was the most cheerful thing in the world. Demeter, however, was not so cheerful. She leapt up and raced to Bombalurina's side, whimpering. Her best friend didn't notice, or at least didn't acknowledge her presence. Her eyes were rooted on the big wooden box.

"It's a coffin," she whispered. There was a silence, and then Bombalurina turned her eyes to Mistoffelees. "You…we could have been killed!"

"Obviously," said Mistoffelees, almost lazily. "Which is why, of course, I told you to stop moving. She knew that you two would suspect me, I would suspect her, come here, attempt to go inside, and get killed. Obviously she also figured into the equation that I would probably have enough sense to disappear before the coffin crushed me. But you two, you would be dead, and since she has the right-hand tom of the leader of the Jellicles in her control, she could make him testify against me, saying he saw me crush you with a coffin. Old Deuteronomy would of course believe him instead of me, which means I would get kicked out of the Jellicle Tribe, which is, of course, what she wants."

Bombalurina and Demeter stared blankly at the magician. So many questions were swimming around Demeter's head, and she had no idea which one to ask first. She settled on whispering, "Why?"

"Make a long story short, Cassandra is evil, and she knows with me out of the way it will be a whole lot easier to take over the Jellicle Tribe," said Mistoffelees, as if this was no big deal.

"You have to go to Old Deuteronomy," said Bombalurina, much to Demeter's surprise. "Tell him what you told us. We'll stand behind you."

Mistoffelees raised his eyebrows. "You'll stand behind me?"

"Well, you did save our lives," said Bombalurina, looking at the ground.

Mistoffelees smiled. "I would go to Old Deuteronomy, but I can't. Your word isn't going to stand up against Munkustrap's. And besides, we don't have enough time. If we want to save Munkustrap, we have to hurry, because by midnight tonight the spell will be permanent."

At this, Demeter let out a slight wail. Bombalurina put a comforting arm around her best friend. "Where is Cassandra?" asked Bombalurina.

"Don't worry, I know," said Mistoffelees. "Well, I have a very good feeling."

Bombalurina nodded. "What's she doing to Munkustrap anyway?"

"Basically, she placed herself inside him so she control his thoughts… make him do as she wants…"

"Why?"

"Various reasons."

"Such as?"

Mistoffelees sighed. "How am I supposed to know?"

Bombalurina rolled her eyes. "Sorry."

"Any other questions?" he asked jokingly.

"I have one," said Demeter, almost timidly. "If you disappeared before the coff- box crushed you, how did you get the cut on your shoulder? Assuming you disappeared."

"I did," said Mistoffelees, and with a small smile added, "But, I reappeared in the Sahara Desert and got attacked by an angry camel." When he saw the look on the two queen's faces he added, "I'm serious!"

"Can we go?" asked Bombalurina.

"Yes," said Mistoffelees. "Time's running out. You're right."

"What about the coffin?" asked Demeter.

"What about it?" asked Mistoffelees. It was just then that both Demeter and Bombalurina realized that the coffin simply wasn't there. Neither one of them knew when it had gone; they just knew that it was gone. Bombalurina shot the magician a puzzled look, but all he did was raise his eyebrows.

"Come on, let's go, we don't have much time," said Mistoffelees, suddenly bounding off. Bombalurina and Demeter quickly followed.

"So I was wrong about him," said Bombalurina to Demeter after they had been running behind the magician for a few minutes.

"Bombalurina, admitting she was wrong," mused Demeter. "This has to be a first."

"Oh, it most definitely is," said Bombalurina, almost laughing. "Just don't tell anyone, alright?"

"Deal," said Demeter. "What do you think he's going to do?"

"Reverse the spell, I suppose."

"Do you think he'll be able to?"

"If he can almost be crushed by a coffin and then come out smiling about it, and if he can talk about getting kicked out of the Jellicle Tribe as if it was no big thing, then I'd say this shouldn't be a problem."

Demeter smiled outwardly, but inwardly she realized what Bombalurina didn't: Mistoffelees was putting on an act, hoping they wouldn't get worried if he didn't seem worried. She had used the same act many, many times. Demeter could tell simply by the look on the magician's face that he was seeing the same shadows and darkness she was, and wondering if there was any hope of light again.

*~*

Author's Notes: Weeee! I'm on a role! This chapter was so much shorter than I intended, but I decided to split the chapter in half because I thought it would be too much for my dear sweet readers. By the way, I forgot to mention in my last chapter how incredibly THRILLED I was to get TWO WHOLE REVIEWS! And GOOD ONES! YAY! And now I have three! This really makes my day, I'm telling you. It's fantastic. I never realized how important reviews were before I started writing this, so I went back and starting writing reviews for the stories I've read but not reviewed. Reviews make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, so… you know what to do ;)

--jemi gr 01-july-03