I know there aren't workhouses in London any more, but please pretend there are…I just had to have one, couldn't think of any replacement! O.o
By the way, please tell me if this chapter is boring! I wanted to make it longer so there's maybe some unnecessary details (though of course they help understand the characters). But I won't do it again if it's just boring. But hey, it's long!
Now I have to begin thinking of the right ending…
Reaching the harbour, Jemima and Alonzo began looking for a place fit to house a gang, that wasn't on anyone else's territory. There was one gang at the dockyards already, and they had the best area: the fishing docks. The south end of the port wasn't anyone's territory, and because there were no particular benefits about the area they would be safe from invasion. It was a very run-down area of the city and there were no humans about.
The Everlasting Cat was obviously looking down on them, for almost immediately they came across an uncompleted building. The walls and roof were up, but there were only holes for windows and doors, and the floor was bare concrete. The inside was completely empty save for planks of warped timber pushed against some of the walls. It had been built as a new warehouse, but the company had found that industry was moving away from the area, and it wasn't economical to keep building it, or to knock it down, so they abandoned it.
It wasn't large from a human point of view, but to the cats it was practically an aircraft silo, and echoed hostilely as they spoke.
"Not exactly cosy!" Jemima grinned, elated at having found such a place so soon. Alonzo shrugged.
"It's a place though. We'll probably never be a big gang, so cats can drag their blankets and stuff into corners. It's got protection from weather and heaps of exit routes if we're ambushed."
They looked at each other, at a slight loss of what to do next.
"I guess we find some kittens that want to join," Jemima said finally. Alonzo nodded. He realised that since probably adults would rather fend for themselves, it was going to be mostly kittens that joined, and it meant he would be the dominant male. He had a little practice by being Munkustrap's second-in-command back home – except the Junkyard wasn't home anymore. He forced those thoughts away and took Jemima's arm.
"Come on, let's go help some kittens." Jemima nodded and they moved out of the warehouse and into the silent docks. In this area, a concrete wall was the base for the small, disused jetties, and there was a stretch of gravely black sand running between the wall and the oily water. This was where things would wash up, and it was where abandoned kittens sought to find either food, or things to swap for food. It was a harsh life and all but the strongest died. The ones who survived invariably found their way to the brusque gang that had the territory of the main docks. It wasn't hard for Jemima and Alonzo to convince those starving, shivering babies to come with them and have a place to belong and be safe.
Over the next week, the couple recruited – the word was rescued, really – five kittens, ranging from six weeks to six months in age. They also made friends with an old tom who used to be a sailor. Dirty grey and brown in colour, Michel was a former ship's cat, originally from Holland, and had many tales to tell, one of the most exciting being when his ship sank and he had swum to shore in London. He didn't like the gang from the main dock area, and was happy to help Alonzo and Jemima get started, and they were very glad of another adult in the little tribe.
The smallest kitten was pure black, barely six weeks old and the only survivor of a litter of four who had been dumped that week. He didn't talk, though he was old enough to. They'd found him alone and starving in a soaking cardboard box, his little sisters and brother dead. He was a friendly little thing, once he had got over being terrified of everything, and they named him Jan – Michel's idea, he said the kitten reminded him of a young human he'd once known, and made sure they used the correct Dutch pronunciation Yan.
The four older kittens were all female and had been forced to grow up quickly. At first, Jemima was astonished at their maturity. However they all had good hearts beneath that unnatural shell, and soon learned the games she taught them and began to remember how to play as kittens should. Now, they were already revealing friendly and affectionate personalities, losing the strange, adult-like behaviour they'd had to learn to survive alone. Their names were Luka, Rosita, Vesta and Sybil.
Their base, the warehouse, was unfriendly at first, but soon became home, especially when Alonzo and Michel took Luka and Rosita, the older kittens who both had pretty tortoiseshell coats, on a raid. They came back dragging heaps of soft, warm insulation from some random storage place. It made a great bed for the group, and later that day Michel took Jemima back to get more until they had enough to fill one of the corners of the warehouse, while Alonzo minded the young kittens. Jan and Sybil, who was silvery-grey, in particular adopted Jemima as their mother, and Rosita and Luka became very fond of her too. This was really the thing that taught Jemima to grow up, having two kittens depending solely on her for comfort and protection, and two more coming to her for advice and a little of those things too. Vesta was more reserved and seemed lonely, but Jemima knew she was beginning to learn to trust her new family. For all of them, she was the mother they missed so sorely. Alonzo got used to being the protector and main provider, as Michel was too old to do much, though he did know the best places to find food and the kittens loved to hear all his stories. They all looked up to Alonzo and were in awe of him as Jemima had been of Munkustrap, but he was never anything but kind and they all grew affectionate towards everyone in the little tribe. In fact, the tribe were just a smaller branch of the Jellicles in their morality, unity and love, and while Alonzo and Jemima still wished in their hearts that they were with their family and life-long friends, they knew they could grow to be content with their new family.
It was another regular evening in the warehouse. Sybil sat washing her ears gracefully, Jan watching her with all the awe of a younger sibling looking up to the elder. He tried clumsily to imitate her, overbalanced and fell over with a squeak. Sybil giggled, not unkindly, and helped the tiny black kitten back to his feet before going back to her grooming. Jan shook himself all over and wandered off to find something more interesting to do.
He found it with Luka and Rosita. Jemima had just taught them how to play cat's cradle and Jan watched the string twitch between their claws with a growing urge to pounce. Suddenly Luka dropped her side of the "cradle", and Jan could contain himself no longer. He leapt forward and pounced on the sting, to the dismayed cries of Luka and Rosita who hadn't noticed him before. Luka quickly recovered from her surprise and grabbed for the string – it had taken them ages to find a string the right length, and longer to tie the knot – and attempted to pull it away from Jan. Jan had it in his teeth, and tugged back gleefully. This was a brilliant game! Rosita giggled helplessly as Luka pulled as hard as she could, and Jan began to slide along the floor towards her, still refusing to let go.
"Give it back, Jan!" Luka scolded, and when the kitten still refused, she gave it one final yank. The string snapped in half, and Luka and Jan shot backwards, both doing multiple somersaults before coming to rest in the dust, dazed. Rosita howled with laughter, falling on the floor and rolling around in mirth. It was the funniest thing she'd ever seen, she was sure.
"Your faces!" She gasped as Luka clambered to her feet and dusted her tortoiseshell fur down a little indignantly. Jan was already racing over to Rosita and he charged into her, little squeaks coming from him as he attempted to sit on top of her. He sat on her back and gave Luka such a disdainful look that she had to laugh too.
"You terror!" She remarked, joining in the wrestling match that Rosita was obviously losing, even though Jan was the smaller. Soon Sybil had joined in and shrieks of laughter echoed around the warehouse as the playfight gave way to a game of tag.
Alonzo and Jemima watched proudly from the top of the pile of wood planks.
"They're so cute," Jemima said, nuzzling against Alonzo. "I'm so happy we could rescue them from the awful life they led before." Alonzo nodded in agreement. These bouncing kittens were a far cry from the hungry, bedraggled creatures they had taken in just over a week ago.
"Vesta still won't join in," He murmered, directing her gaze to where the little cameo was sitting in the shadows in the corner. Jemima sighed.
"I don't know what's wrong with her…the others don't mean to exclude her but she won't join in. She's becoming a little more open towards me, but something's wrong."
"She's probably seem some hard things," Alonzo said. "Not all kittens are as trusting as Jan and Sybil, or as sensible as Rosita and Luka. Perhaps you should talk to her…?"
Jemima sighed. "Yes, I will. It's a clear night and the moon's almost full, I'll take her out to the roof and…stargaze." She grinned, nudging him. "Perhaps I'll even show her where Orion is!" Alonzo scowled playfully and began to retort, but Jemima was already away, waving cheekily before slowing her pace and approaching Vesta.
The cameo kitten sat gazing into nothing, her large black eyes blind to what was going on in the warehouse. Her expression was blank and her tail still – Jemima couldn't tell what she was thinking at all.
"Vesta!" She called softly, trying not to startle her. For a moment she thought Vesta hadn't heard, but then she seemed to shake herself and looked around. "It's a lovely night," Jemima continued, undaunted by those empty eyes. "Want to come out and look at the stars with me?"
Silence, then slowly Vesta nodded.
"Alright," She said in her queer, self-contained little voice, and Jemima grinned happily and took her paw, leading her out of the warehouse and showing her how to climb up a fence and onto the roof. Soon they were lying on the still-warm roofing felt, Vesta relaxing her tense muscles little by little as Jemima chatted about trivial things that had happened during the day, and pointed out star constellations as the last of the sunlight faded from the sky. Vesta responded to direct questions willingly enough, though she didn't start any new conversations.
After a while, Jemima began to bring the conversation around to deeper things, such as the stars and moon and what they meant to Cats. Vesta, hearing the reverence in the small queen's voice, actually looked at her properly for the first time. Jemima told her about the spirits of the stars and the Heaviside Layer, and Vesta, for the first time since she was tiny, began to let down the barricade within her mind. It was a protection that blocked her emotions, stopped her from ever being hurt again, but Jemima's talk had finally penetrated into her real soul and Vesta began to feel again.
When Jemima stopped talking, there was a silence, but the new, awake Vesta could tell that Jemima was waiting for her to speak. Anxious not to disappoint the queen who had been so kind to her, Vesta felt that she couldn't keep her thoughts silent any more, but she didn't know how to begin. Then Jemima came to her rescue.
"It's always better to get your feelings out in the open," she said. "Even though they may be painful. They might make you cry, or feel angry, but once you've got them off your chest you can get on with your life. It's no use staying bitter forever." She smiled gently, and tears came to Vesta's eyes. She paused, and then began to speak haltingly.
"It was…when I was little…smaller than Jan…I had a family." Vesta's voice shook. "I had a sister and a mother. We lived in a workhouse – that's where humans send families with no money and no home. It was a cruel place, but I had mother and Tanja. But the human running the place had no need for kittens. We used up food and mother's time – mother caught the rats, you see. So he took us away and left us somewhere. We were so little we couldn't find our way home. We couldn't find food. Tanja died," a dry sob shook her body, "but I was lucky…a gang-cat found me and took me to their place. They were rough but not unkind. But soon we were attacked by an evil cat…he killed most of them." Jemima caught her breath. It must have been Macavity – he was the only one who'd ever kill another Cat. "So I ran away again. I tried to join the gang up there," She indicated the fishing docks, "but I was too weak and they didn't need any more dependant kittens. So I came down this end and tried to survive by myself. I think I would have died if you hadn't found me…but then, I would have been with Tanja again."
Jemima hugged her tightly, and Vesta, who hadn't been hugged since her sister died, began to cry, clinging to Jemima. The queen purred comfortingly as Vesta cried out her pain and bitterness, wondering all the time what to say and how to be tactful and kind.
'Jennyanydots would know what to do,' She thought as Vesta sobbed. 'I wish she was here…but she isn't. I have to stand on my own paws.' She let the kitten cry herself out, then tilted her chin up and looked into her eyes. They were exhausted with emotion, but Jemima was relieved to see a spark of life in the depths of those once-empty eyes.
"Vesta," she said, praying to the Everlasting Cat to grant her wisdom, "you've had a terrible time and you didn't deserve it – it's okay to cry. The best thing you can do now is put the past behind you. You're safe with us and we'll never leave you." She smiled, and got a shadow of a smile in return. "That's it! The others want to be friends." Vesta nodded, seeming to cheer up a little. She'd never have guessed, but it seemed Jemima was right. Now that she'd told her most painful secrets, they didn't seem to weigh her down anymore, trapping her within her grief. Of course, she'd always miss her mother and sister, but that pain would pass, leaving only fond memories.
"I'd like to be friends, too." She admitted. "I never had a friend before."
"Then Luka, Rosita, Sybil and Jan are great ones to start with!" Jemima said. "Listen! I can hear them playing tag down there." She giggled. "Noisy little rascals." Vesta giggled too – Jemima' mirth was infectious. "Let's go join in." Jemima suggested, and Vesta nodded and followed her down from the roof. Just before they entered the warehouse, Vesta pressed close to Jemima.
"Promise you'll never leave me?" She asked, her voice trembling. Everything depended on this. If she knew she'd always have Jemima, she could learn to live again. Jemima licked her ear tenderly, though her heart was twisting in sympathy for the kitten. She knew she couldn't tell what would happen tomorrow, but there was only one answer to give right now.
"I'll never, ever leave you."