"Aw! Look how cute he is!"
"Hand me the brush, Carla! His fur is so long and silky! Not like my kitty's. Aladdin's so nasty; he wouldn't even let me brush him!"
"My kitty will! Cinderella will sit still, but she's got such short hair. Not like Alexander. He's so handsome!"
"This is going to scar him for life," said Munkustrap miserably as he watched the girls cuddle the grey kitten. "He'll kill me once he gets his memories back."
"He seems to be enjoying it," commented Rumpelteazer. "And look on the bright side; at least they're not putting him in frilly pink dresses. Or putting us in frilly pink dresses."
"The only reason they haven't is because all of their doll clothes were too big for him," he frowned. "Look at him, he's lapping it up."
Deuteronomy did seem to love the constant attention, much like any kitten. He allowed the group of seven-year-old girls to cuddle and brush him. It didn't hurt that they were slipping him pieces of cookie from their tea party.
Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer's owners were throwing a party, and almost the entire neighbourhood had been invited. The eldest child played football with Munkustrap's human's oldest son, so they had to go. Some cats in the neighbourhood swung by, meaning many of the Jellicles who belonged to middle-class families were wandering around the yard or the house.
"I don't see why your family lives in this small house," Munkustrap said, trying to keep his mind off of the fact that the Jellicle leader was being assaulted by human queen kits. "I mean, the place is loaded with jewels and paintings and vases. Why don't you guys live around Bustopher Jones and Victoria?"
"The tom human doesn't want the kittens to grow up spoiled, and the queen human likes vases and stuff. Conflicting personalities. They compromised. Small house, huge bank account. Humans don't often make a lot of sense."
Deuteronomy had finally been released by the humans, and bounded over to where the two cats were sitting. "Teazer, your human kittens talk a lot more than ours do. And ours don't brush me unless the queen hollers at them."
"There's a difference between tom kittens and queen kittens, Granddad," Rumpelteazer smiled. "You might not believe it, but you're going to mate with a queen Jellicle some day."
He wrinkled his nose. "Ew! Girls have fleas! I'm never having a wife!"
"It's a little late for that," said the Rum Tum Tugger, sauntering in. He was careful to avoid the girls, as they loved to brush his mane.
"What do you mean?" he asked, twitching his grey tail.
The Tugger rested his paw on the kitten's shoulder. "I hate to be the one to break this to you, Old Deuteronomy, but you've had more than one wife, you've had ninety-nine of them."
"I have?!" he shouted. He spun around to face the silver tabby. "Munk! Why didn't you tell me I'm married?! I don't have a wife right now, do I?"
Teazer covered her mouth in a fit of giggles, but Munkustrap just rolled his eyes. "Calm down, all of your mates are dead. Jennyanydots's mother was your last mate in your former life, and she passed on before I was even born. And I highly doubt you had ninety-nine wives, the Rum Tum Tugger likes to exaggerate."
Deuteronomy let out a relieved sigh. "Good. I don't want to be married. Well, not yet anyway. But… Do you know what my mate's name was? You know, Jenny's mother?"
"I think it was Helena, or something," offered Teazer. "It defiantly started with an H. Why do you ask, Granddad?"
The kitten shrugged. "I'd be a pretty bad husband if I didn't even know my wife's name. I guess I really had a life before I was reborn. Anything else I should know about?"
"You've had a huge impact on the tribe," the Rum Tum Tugger said. "Technically, you are the tribe. Most of the Jellicles are related to you, from one or another of your lives. You hold- held- the key to the Heaviside Layer. Munkustrap has it now, but he'll return it once you get your memories back. Or, at least, he should."
"I will, don't worry. As soon as your memories come back, you're welcome to it. You have no idea what it's like to posses the Heaviside Layer key on a full moon. Nausea, fever, vertigo, the general feeling of unpleasantness…"
"What makes you go like that?" asked Deuteronomy, curious.
"Well, the Heaviside Layer is directly connected to the Jellicle Moon. When the Moon rises, the keyhole to Heaviside is accessible. And when that keyhole appears, the one with the key knows it. But even though the key to the Heaviside Layer is only used once a year, the full moon also calls to its powers, making its keeper miserable."
"Cool!" he exclaimed. "And I'm going to be in charge of all that?"
"Hopefully, yes," nodded Munkustrap. "Rumpelteazer, could you watch him for a minute? I've got to go talk with Jennyanydots. And no, you may not give him stealing lessons."
"Aw, you're no fun," she complained. "Come on, Granddad, I'll show you how to make humans drop their food so you can grab it."
The silver tabby chose not to hear that as he hurried down the stairs, first to the ground floor then to the basement. Once he was down there he looked around, but he saw no Gumbie Cat. He did see something else, however. A nice, plump mouse with its back turned.
Munkustrap grinned evilly, and slunk silently up behind his prey. He raised his paw, and aimed to strike. He was milliseconds away from mouse steak when an orange something shot out and pinned his paw to the floor.
The tabby yowled, making the mouse look up. He looked up to see what the orange something was. It was Jennyanydots, and she didn't look overly happy.
"Munkustrap! You lay so much as one claw on that poor little mouse, and I'll skin you bare!" Her mood changed as she smiled at the mouse. "Run along, dear. I've got to have a word with Munkustrap here."
The rodent stuck its tongue out at the tom before scampering off into its hole.
Munk tugged his paw loose of the Gumbie Cat's death grip. "Ow, Jenny. Was that really necessary? And where'd you learn to strike like that?"
"My father, where else?" she asked airily. "Now, is there a reason you came down here other than to kill and eat my students?"
"I didn't know he was your student," said the tabby, slightly miffed. "You could get collars for them or something."
"For one thing, Annabelle is a she. And secondly, do you see human students with collars? Although from what I've heard from my tom human, maybe it would be best if they did…"
"You name the mice? Actually, never mind. The thing is… Deuteronomy's starting to ask questions, and I'm not really sure how to answer them."
"Ah, of course, of course," Jennyanydots nodded sympathetically. "The age old question that every caregiver dreads. Where do kittens come from, right?"
"No, he's hasn't asked that. Yet. He's become curious about his other lives. He was asking who named him, how the key to the Heaviside Layer works, the name of his last mate…" He trailed off, praying to the Everlasting Cat that the topic of the Gumbie Cat's mother wasn't a sore one.
"But that's good, isn't it? Maybe his memories are starting to come back. And Mother's name was Heliotrope. It's a plant, I believe. Yes, I remember that Father named her that because she turned up at the junkyard with a spring of heliotrope stuck in her fur. Don't ask me how that happened, that flower's supposed to grow in marshes. But I suppose…"
"Deuteronomy named his own mate?" interrupted Munkustrap.
"Well, of course. Who else would? She was a kitten when she became a Jellicle, and he went to the Heaviside Layer that year. But while he was gone, Mother got chosen to go to the Heaviside by the second-in-command. Father was reborn two weeks before she was, and they mated when they got older."
"I had no idea how complicated Old Deuteronomy's lives must have been," mused the tabby. "You could name a kitten when you were an elder, and then be their mate when they're your age."
"It is all a bit confusing, isn't it?" admitted Jennyanydots.
"Well, who named Old Deuteronomy?" he asked.
"Oh, he never told you? I suppose he thought he'd have more time, poor thing. His father named him, of course. There were a few Jellicle leaders before my father. They too were continually reborn through the Heaviside Layer, but some died from accidents or illnesses. Then, their second-in-command took over. Deuteronomy's father was the leader in his first life. Old Nathaniel, I think. He died from a Pollicle attack, and Father became the Jellicle leader."
"Hmm, guess there's a lot of things Deuteronomy never taught me. Thing is, now none of us know. What other secrets could have been lost forever?"
"Oh, don't be so dramatic. I'm sure he'll be himself again by the next Jellicle moon," she said optimistically, her orange tail swaying back and forth. "In the meantime, go easy on him. He's only a kitten, Munkustrap, don't train him to death."
"Deuteronomy's not a kitten," pointed out Munkustrap. "He's your father."
She shrugged. "He's small and he's fluffy. He's a kitten to me."