CHAPTER SIX:
Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue full moon?
Or asked a grinning fox cub why he grins?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountain?
Can you paint with all the colours of the wind?
Tumblebrutus never could sit still for very long, but tonight he was more restless than usual. He stood up and paced along the top of the wall. It was still quite light and the colours of sunset were bright in the sky. Without really knowing why, Tumble leapt down from the wall and started running swiftly east, hurrying down the street towards the poorer end of town. Even as he ran, he wondered where he was going, and why. He had a strong feeling that he should be going this way, and that there was a place he needed to go to. Tumble was completely puzzled – he'd never experienced anything like this before. But, he reasoned with himself, he had nothing else to do tonight. Might as well see where this 'feeling' was going to lead him.
After a short while, he got to the outskirts of the city. He hadn't been here before, and it was darker and quieter than other parts of the city, but for some reason Tumble wasn't uneasy. Without faltering he headed straight for a large area, fenced off with mostly broken wooden boards. Inside, he could see old, broken human stuff piled high. He leapt over the fence and scrambled over a wall of junk towards the centre of the dump, and stopped. He was in a large clearing, surrounded on all sides by piles of human junk. The feeling had stopped. This was where he had been going? Tumble gazed around. The sky was much darker, although the moon, full this night, hadn't risen yet. The Junkyard was silent. Tumble grinned to himself. This place looked great to play in! He bounced happily around the corners of the clearing, sniffing as the scent of Cats filled his nose. Other Cats had been here, and quite recently! Tumble slowed down a bit, hoping the Cats would be friendly. He hadn't met many nice Cats in his short life, and it had made him nervous and wary of strangers. Still, there didn't seem to be anyone here now. If he heard anyone coming, he could go and hide somewhere until he was sure it was safe. He spun around happily, then backflipped across the Junkyard, performing the acrobatics Bluepoint had taught him. He finished the last flip with a bounce and then looked up in surprise at a noise from a chair perched high on top of a pile of rubbish. A kitten, about his age, sat there staring at him. Before Tumble could back away the kitten flung himself off the chair and fell at least three times his height, somehow managing to land gracefully on the ground, and scampered up to Tumble.
"Hi! Your flips are really good!" The other kitten grinned. "I'm Pouncival. I saw you looking around. Who are you?" Tumble managed not to step back.
"Er…I'm Tumblebrutus," He replied, slowly grinning back as his confidence grew. "I've never been here before. What is this place?" Pouncival laughed.
"This is the Junkyard! It's where we hang out, the Jellicle Tribe, I mean." Tumble nodded, not understanding at all.
"Right. Um. What's the Jellicle Tribe?" He asked. Pouncival stared at him, a playful smile growing on his face.
"What's a Jellicle Cat, you mean?" He asked. Tumble nodded.
"YES! I've been waiting to do this for so long!" The other kitten cried, bouncing around him in a circle. Tumble couldn't help laughing.
"Do what? What is a Jellicle Cat?" He asked. Pouncival shrugged.
"It's who we are. Look, now that you've asked, I just have to say this," He grinned, then struck a pose and began reciting.
"The naming of Cats is a difficult matter
It isn't just one of your holiday games…"
At the end of Pouncival's flawless recitation, Tumble smiled happily.
"Yeah, I guess that's true!" He agreed. "But it doesn't really answer the question!" Pouncival grinned.
"I know! I think was made up 'specially to annoy people! But listen, I'll tell you about the Tribe. I 'spect the others will be here soon, then I'll introduce you." He led the way over to a huge tyre, which, he explained, was where they did all the storytelling. The two kittens sat down and Tumble listened carefully as his new friend described to him all about the Jellicle Tribe.
For the wonder of each hour
Of the day and of the night
Hill and vale and tree and flower
Sun and moon and stars of light
"Oh!" Tumble agreed, his eyes bright as he grinned at his new friend. "Being a Jellicle Cat sounds wonderful. Can I join your tribe?" He asked hopefully. Pouncival leapt to his feet.
"Sure!" He exclaimed happily. "We always welcome new Cats. 'sides, you seem like practically a Jellicle already. Old Deuteronomy and Munkustrap will be happy to let you be in our tribe!" Tumblebrutus started a little at the mention of the name he had remembered the night he left the barge. He was about to ask who Old Deuteronomy was when Pouncival leapt from the tyre with a cry of greeting.
"Hi Demeter, hi Bombalurina!" Pouncival called. Tumble slid down the side of the tyre and followed Pouncival to meet these two young queens. They smiled at him and seemed friendly enough as they exchanged names. Tumble relaxed. It looked like these Cats were going to be nice. Then more Cats began appearing from all corners of the Junkyard. Pouncival got even more wound up, if that was possible, and shrieked greetings to everyone he saw, managing to completely confuse Tumble with all the names he called. A group of four female kittens arrived by way of a broken drainpipe, and stared at him curiously, then bounded over to him and Pouncival.
"Hi! I'm Etcetera. Who're you?" One excited kitten asked him.
"This is Tumblebrutus. He wants to join our tribe!" Pouncival explained. "Tumble, this is Etcetera, Electra, Jemima and Victoria. Th' terrors of the Junkyard they are!" He teased and leapt away as three of the kittens shrieked and pounced at him. The smallest one stayed, looking up at Tumble through dark lashes. He gazed back. The thought crossed his mind that he'd never seen a queen pretty as this one.
"Hi," He offered a little shyly. "Sorry, I didn't catch which name you were…" The kitten laughed.
"That's alright," She said. Her voice was musical and sweet. "Pouncival is always excited! I'm Jemima, and you're Tumblebrutus, right?"
"Yeah." Tumble grinned back. "Pouncival told me all about Jellicle Cats. So tonight is a Jellicle Ball?" He asked. Jemima nodded.
"Yes! The moon's risen, so I guess we'll be starting soon." She explained, and looked around. "Look, that's Munkustrap there, the silver tabby. Next to him is Demeter, his mate. Since Pouncival's got himself chased by Etcy and the others," She grinned, "I'll introduce you! I'm sure they'll be pleased to meet you." Jemima began to lead the way across the Junkyard.
Tumble swallowed back his nervousness as they got closer. He was wary of adult Cats, particularly captains, since the only captain he'd known had been wicked and cruel. The silver tabby seemed to be the Jellicle's captain - Jemima had called him Munkustrap, Tumble remembered. He didn't look nasty, but Tumble wasn't risking anything. He made sure to keep behind Jemima.
"Munkustrap?" Called Felina as they came close. Munkustrap turned, smiling down at the young queen.
"Hello, Jemima. Who's this?" He asked, noticing the thin, light-coloured kitten behind them. Tumble hurriedly lowered his gaze and bowed his head, showing the respect Growltiger expected from his crew.
"This is Tumblebrutus," Jemima explained when her new friend remained silent. She wondered why he'd suddenly gone so shy. "He'd like to join our tribe."
Munkustrap looked interested. "Well, Tumblebrutus, I'd like to hear your story. Would you like - " He stopped talking suddenly as a female voice cut across his.
"Tumblebrutus?"
He looked up in surprise, seeing a ginger tabby queen approach him.
"Yes?" He asked, confused.
"It's a name that's particular!" The queen whispered to a puzzled Munkustrap, her eyes wide. Then she stepped forward and took his paw in hers. "I'm Jennyanydots," She said to him. "You can call me Jenny. May I…" She held his forearm and brushed back the fluff there, revealing a bright ginger streak beneath the white and brown fur. Tumble stared at it in interest. He didn't even know he had a ginger streak there! He had thought the only colours on him were creamy white and brown. But he had no further time to think about it, for the tabby holding his paw suddenly dropped it and hugged him tight.
"Tumblebrutus! It is you!" She cried, releasing him. "I'm your mother. I knew you'd find your way home!" He stared at the tabby, shocked. He'd never expected to find family, especially not the parents he had so recently wondered about. Beside him, Munkustrap clicked his claws.
"That's right! I knew the name sounded familiar!" He exclaimed. "But Tumblebrutus…you went missing ages ago! We all thought you'd been taken by Macavity. Everyone thought you were dead…everyone except your mother, Jenny." He smiled fondly at the happy queen. "She always insisted you'd find your way back. They say every Jellicle can find his way to the Junkyard." Tumble smiled shyly back.
"I couldn't remember much, before I got back here," He told them. "Now, I can remember a bit more." Jemima grabbed his paw in excitement.
"A story! Oh, great!" She smiled excitedly. Then a thought struck her. "So, if you're Jenny's kitten, that means Pouncival must be your brother!" She realised.
"You have a lot of family here in the Junkyard," Jenny, his mother, told him. "Come on! This is a time for storytelling on the tyre!" She took the paw Jemima wasn't holding and led him back to the tyre where Pouncival had earlier explained to him what a Jellicle Cat was. Munkustrap stood on the tyre and called to the others. In a surprisingly quick time, the whole tribe was assembled either on or around the tyre.
"Tonight we welcome Tumblebrutus back into the tribe!" Munkustrap announced dramatically, waving a paw at the young Cat. "Many of you older Cats will remember when Tumblebrutus went missing as a tiny kitten. We feared for his life, and as time passed with all our searches failing it seemed that Tumblebrutus was gone." Tumble was listening as intently as the rest of the Cats. He didn't know his early history any more than they did. Then Munkustrap indicated him to speak. "Please, tell us your story, Tumblebrutus." He said, smiling at the kitten. Tumble swallowed a little nervously as every Cat in the large tribe turned to look at him.
"Well," He began. "The earliest thing I can remember is meeting Growltiger. He was also called 'The Terror of the Thames'." He saw the surprise on the Jellicle's faces. They had all thought he had been taken by Macavity, the evil cat who terrorised their Junkyard. "I must have wandered away from the Junkyard," Tumble explained. "Growltiger lured me onto his barge, saying I could be a real pirate if I went with him. I didn't understand, then, that it wasn't like playing. I didn't know that he would take me away from my family." Tumble told all he could remember to his audience. It was easy to tell a story, he thought, when the Cats you were telling it to listened as if you were the most important – and exciting – thing around! The kittens squealed with excitement at the sword fights, and the older Cats listened with interest at his description of cities far away along the Thames, and they were all sad with him as he told of Jessny's death. Finally his story came to an end.
"So I ran away from Growltiger. I ended up at a pub not too far from here, called The Lion. This evening I had a strange feeling, like I should be going somewhere. I didn't have anything else to do, so I followed it, and got here." He finished. Munkustrap put his paw on Tumble's shoulder.
"And you will always be welcome here, with your family." He told the kitten. Pouncival scrambled up onto the tyre.
"I've always wanted a brother!" He grinned as Etcetera climbed up.
"I'm your cousin!" She explained in excitement, hugging him. Then many other Cats climbed up onto the tyre to greet Tumble. He tried hard to remember names, but there were so many! After a little while Munkustrap stood up again.
"Well, Jellicles, I think the Ball has been delayed long enough, don't you!" With cries of excitement, the Cats began their dance.
And in the east
The dawn was breaking
And the world was waking
Any dream will do
The moon sank behind the lowest junk pile just as the last dance ended. Tired Cats slipped away into the shadows, heading for either their homes where they lived with humans, or for quiet dens made in the Junkyard for the daytime hours. Tumble turned to go towards his home, but a call stopped him. He turned and saw Jemima running up to him.
"You live in The Lion, don't you?" She asked him.
"Yes, that's right." He replied. She smiled at him.
"I live on the same street! Just down the road a little. My human often goes to The Lion." She explained. "Come on, let's go together." She took his paw in hers, looking up at him. He smiled back happily, and the two Cats headed home as the dawn was breaking behind them.
FIN!