Phoebe had been convinced by her new friend, Samuel, to come with him and try living at Macavity's Lair. At first she objected, but he argued that she didn't have to be an agent and listen to Macavity. She would just be living there as his friend. After a few more arguments from Sammy, Phoebe consented and went to live at Macavity's Lair. She found it wasn't as bad as she'd thought it would be. In fact, she found it quite pleasant. The agents were all kind to her, and since she lived with them, she began to develop some friendships. Her best friend, of course, was Sammy.
Phoebe didn't stay at Macavity's Lair all the time. She often went out on walks by herself, except on rainy days. On one such walk, Phoebe decided to go in the opposite direction than she usually went. She was surprised that it didn't take her long at all to reach the west outskirt of the city. She hadn't known they were so close to the city's edge.
There was nothing much there that interested her. She turned to go back home when she heard a strange sound coming from…she wasn't quite sure where. It sounded like singing…lovely singing. That was something she didn't hear every day, living at Macavity's Lair. Hardly anyone ever sang at all there. She looked about eagerly to see who it was, but she didn't see anyone. It seemed to be coming from the junkyard across the street, so she ran over to investigate.
Sure enough, she found that the singing was coming from the junkyard. But there wasn't just one cat there. There were several…perhaps as many as twenty.
"Hey! Who are you?" asked one of the cats. She was a very tiny kitten – even smaller than Phoebe – and she had very large, dark brown eyes.
Phoebe was staggered. She hadn't expected to find cats here, much less have them speak to her. "I'm…I'm…" she stammered. "I'm Phoebe."
"I'm Jemima," said the kitten. "Have you come to be a Jellicle?"
"What's…what's a…a Jellicle?" Phoebe asked. Jemima laughed.
"You don't know what a Jellicle is?" she asked. "I'm sure Munkustrap can explain."
"Who's Munkustrap?" Phoebe asked.
"He's the protector of the tribe," said Jemima. She motioned for Phoebe to follow her, but Phoebe held back.
"I don't think I should," she said. "What if he doesn't like me?"
"Don't be silly…Munkustrap likes everybody," said Jemima. "Well…except for maybe Macavity."
"He knows Macavity?" Phoebe asked in astonishment. "Why doesn't he like him?"
Now Jemima looked truly surprised. "You don't know? Macavity's a wicked cat who does evil, horrible things to other cats."
Phoebe was thoroughly confused. "But…I've met Macavity before, and he was nice to me."
Jemima looked alarmed. "You must come and tell Munkustrap!" she urged.
Phoebe was curious now and followed Jemima without hesitation. Why was her new friend so scared of Macavity? What could possibly be so bad about him?
"Munkustrap!" Jemima called. She had brought Phoebe into one of the lairs that were built into the various piles and articles of junk lying about the yard. Inside this particular lair, there was a tall and heroic-looking tom. He was striped with various shades of black and gray.
"What is it, Jemima?" he asked kindly. Phoebe had expected to be afraid of him, but she wasn't.
"I made a new friend," said Jemima. "Her name is Phoebe, and she says she's met Macavity before!"
The tall tom looked at Phoebe with concern. "Has he treated you badly?" he asked. Phoebe shook her head confusedly.
"That's a very lucky thing for you, Phoebe," said the tom. "Macavity is a brutal tom."
"But I don't understand," said Phoebe. "Macavity has always been nice to my friend, Sammy, and me."
"Well…there is a queen here who could probably explain that to you much better than I can," said Munkustrap. "She's met Macavity before, just like you. And Macavity was once nice to her, too. I'll get her."
Who could it be? Phoebe wondered. Will I know her?
Munkustrap returned shortly with a queen that Phoebe had never seen before. She was very pretty, with sparkling green eyes and glossy, black-and-gold fur. She smiled warmly at Phoebe.
"Phoebe, this is Demeter," said Munkustrap. Phoebe gave a start. Demeter. She'd heard that name before. The agents had told Sammy and Phoebe that Demeter had been in love with Macavity once, but something had gone wrong between them; the agents would never say exactly what.
"You don't look evil," she said to Demeter. Demeter laughed.
"I should certainly hope not," she said.
"You don't," said Phoebe. "But Macavity said you once loved him, but something had gone wrong, and so I always thought you were."
"I did love him," said Demeter, with a little shudder. "But he was different then. He was kind to me. I would never have guessed how he really was."
"But what happened? What did he do to you?" Phoebe asked.
"What he did to me is something very bad. It isn't something for the ears of kittens," said Demeter kindly. "I wouldn't want to scar your innocent mind with such stories."
Phoebe didn't ask again, but she desperately wanted to know what'd happened to her. Phoebe thought that Macavity must have hurt her somehow, and she didn't want the same thing to happen to Sammy.
These thoughts were still with Phoebe when she returned to Macavity's Lair that day. As soon as she saw the opportunity to talk to Sammy alone, she seized it.
"Sammy, you'll never guess where I went today," she said.
"Do tell," said Sammy.
"I went to this junkyard at the edge of the city, and there were cats living there!" Phoebe exclaimed. Sammy looked interested.
"Go on," he said.
"They said they were called Jellicles," Phoebe continued. "And you'll never guess what else. That Demeter queen the agents always talk about…she was there!"
"The Jellicles…" said Sammy thoughtfully. "Demeter was there?"
"Yes," said Phoebe. "But…Macavity always said the Jellicles were bad. They were so nice to me, Sammy, and they said that Macavity was the one who was bad. So now…I don't know what to think anymore."
"Me either, Phoebe," said Sammy. "Did you talk to Demeter?"
"Yes," said Phoebe. "Actually, that's mostly what I wanted to talk to you about. I've heard all the stories, and so I asked her what'd happened. She told me that it wasn't for kittens to hear and she wouldn't say anything else. I know something horrible must've happened to her, Sammy, I just know it! And I want to know what happened and why, so we can make sure the same thing doesn't happen to you."
"I don't think there's much danger of that," said Sammy. "I hardly ever even see Macavity. But I'm curious too. Maybe we can ask Macavity."
"No!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Let's not ask Macavity. He doesn't ever talk about Demeter; it might make him angry if we asked him, and now I'm afraid to do that. Let's ask someone who talks about Demeter."
"I know just who to ask," said Sammy. "Elijah! He knows everything that goes on here. He's been here from the beginning, they say."
They went and found Elijah, and middle-aged tom who served as a sort of record-keeper at the Lair. He spent most of his days either wandering about the Lair, telling his stories to anyone who would listen, or in the library, writing the stories down in big books. Phoebe and Samuel found him in the library.
"Hello, Elijah," Sammy greeted. Elijah looked up from his book and stared at them a moment.
"Hello there, you two," he said. "Can I help you?"
"We need to find out about someone," said Phoebe, taking a seat beside the old tom.
"Well, missy you've come to the right tom," Elijah boasted with a smile. "I have records of most everyone at this Lair. Who is it you're wanting to know about?"
"Demeter," said Phoebe. Elijah began to flip through his books.
"Demeter…Demeter" he repeated the name to himself as he flipped through his books. "Ah…here she is!"
He stared at his book for a moment and then looked up at Phoebe and Sammy.
"I don't know if the young queen here should be listening to this story," he said to them. "Macavity's dealings are not always pleasant to hear."
"She'll be fine," said Sammy, putting an arm around Phoebe's shoulders. They settled down to listen, and Elijah cleared his throat.
"Demeter was a beautiful queen of the Jellicle Tribe. Against his general feelings towards the Tribe, Macavity fell madly in love with her. He was determined to make her his mate in any way possible. For quite awhile he called on her in a most gentlemanlike matter. Then, she began to turn away from him in favor of another in her Tribe, and everything changed. He tried to assassinate the Jellicle tom that she loved, but the attempt failed, and for the first time she saw what he was truly capable of. He had her captured and brought to the Lair and tried to…"
Here Elijah paused glanced at Phoebe before continuing, "…force himself upon her. He would have kept her here forever, if it weren't for the Jellicles. They daringly stormed the Lair and rescued Demeter. Macavity has been bitter toward her memory ever since."
"Thank you, Elijah," said Phoebe. "This story has been very helpful to us."
"Anytime, sweetie," said Elijah. The old tom returned to his books as Phoebe and Sammy left the library.
"Well?" said Sammy.
"Well?" said Phoebe.
"Did you find out what you wanted to know?" asked Sammy. Phoebe looked serious.
"Well, now I know that that can't happen to you," Phoebe said, grinning sheepishly. "But…now I'm afraid that maybe he'll try that on me. Or that he'll get mad at you and have you assassinated."
"I'm not planning on becoming a Jellicle anytime soon," said Sammy. Phoebe looked at the floor.
"What is it?" asked Sammy.
"Well, it's just…I've been thinking about the Jellicles. And the more I think about them, the more I like them, and the more I want to be one of them. Think about it, Sammy! It'd be so much nicer than here. There'd be no one to get mad at you."
"I like it here just fine," said Sammy. "You can be a Jellicle if you want to. I don't mind, as long as I still get to see you."
"I'm not going without you, Sammy," said Phoebe. "I couldn't. Something bad might happen to you."
Sammy grinned. "Like what?" he asked. "I'll get kicked out into the rain?"
Phoebe laughed and punched his arm.