Chapter 2

The eight Jellicles imprisoned in the wooden box were in there for hours. First it was one long feeling of flight that took almost half the day. Then they were tossed about again, as they unknowingly changed flights going from New York to Chicago. This one took much less time, only 3 hours. During that trip, everyone sat in the box in silence, thirst and hunger starting to come into focus. Almost everyone had someone else to hold onto. Alonzo with Cassandra, Mungojerrie with Rumpleteazer, Tumblebrutus and Pouncival were quietly talking in one corner. Jemina sat by herself, having not spoken for hours, almost since they were first accidentally packed inside the box. How stupid she was, looking through that box! She should've known that it was for another purpose, that it wasn't going to stay in the junkyard! It was all her fault! She had gotten them into a box they never should have been in anyways, and now they were being sent against their will to some faraway place, with possibly no chance of returning home!

A sound of sobbing interrupted her thoughts and she noticed Victoria sitting near another corner, away from everyone else. With concern the calico queen went to her best friend, "Vicki…are you all right?"

The snow-white queen didn't seem to listen as she quietly muttered to herself, "Misto…oh, Misto…" the words broke through her sobs, calling for her love, with no avail. Jemmi put her arm around her shoulders, which prompted Vicki to lay her head on her friend's shoulder, continuing to sob without restraint. After a long moment, they were reduced to light sniffles, and Jemina finally spoke.

"Vicki, don't worry. We will make it back home, somehow. You will be back with Mistoffelees and everything will be back to normal, trust me."

"How can you be so sure, Jemmi?" Victoria looked up at her, her eyes red from crying, "We don't know where we are, or where we are going to end up! We…we are never going to make it back, I just know it!"

"I promise you," the calico queen responded with a determined look on her face now, taking over her own feelings of guilt, "We will make it back home. One way or another, we will make it home!"

All of a sudden, the entire box tilted as the plane turned for its landing approach. Victoria was quick and dug her claws into the side of the box as the side she and Jemina were on was quickly lifting up, causing them to nearly fall to the other side. Jemina was not so quick and she tumbled head over heels to the other side, right where Pouncival and Tumblebrutus were. She fell right on top of Pouncival, who was leaning against the opposite side. She practically fell right into the black and white tom's arms and she found herself against his chest as the plane righted itself. As she managed to catch her breath, she realized that she was still leaning against him, his arms instinctively wrapped around her, her face against his neck. She realized something else and froze. Her lower legs were on either side of him, straddling him. They both froze for a moment before they separated. She quickly scrambled a few feet away before standing up and dusting herself off, trying to regain her composure.

"I…I'm sorry…I…"

Pouncival smiled lightly, "It…its ok…it wasn't your fault…" The calico queen nodded and the two shared an awkward silence for a long moment before she turned and went back to the other side, where Victoria was. Pouncival stared at her for the longest time, not quite believe what just happened. A sudden jab in the ribs by his brother diverted his gaze, and he turned to see Tumblebrutus grinning at him.

"Nice job, brother," he said with a mischievous grin.

"Shut up!" Pouncival gave him a smack on the shoulder. Meanwhile, Jemmi went back to Vicki, breathing slightly heavily, her heart fluttering against her will. She leaned against the wooden side of the box, struggling to regain herself. She turned to her friend, who was now grinning from ear to ear, and she gave Jemina a wink.

"No, Vicki, no!" she whispered tensely, "It's not what you think!"

The white queen just kept smiling. She glanced once at the brothers on the other end and started giggling, "He's trying not to look at you," she whispered with a saucy tone. Jemina turned to look at him, and at the same time, he looked at her. Their eyes locked for a moment, and she had to turn away from him again, panting a bit more loudly.

"No…no! Everlasting Cat, no!" she said to herself, "This isn't happening! It can't be happening!" Victoria just kept giggling like a child. This was all too funny, as she knew how Jemmi looked at Pouncival. It was no secret to her that the calico queen has a crush on him, and it was all too hilarious how they were incidentally put into that position.

The plane suddenly jolted and there was a distinct screech, which signaled to the cats that the aircraft had touched down. It was New York and Chicago all over again, as they felt the box get lifted, and they all held on to the sides and corners as the box was jostled about. They were transferred to another aircraft, and they heard a man speak.

"Get this plane going, now! It was supposed to leave for Wausau ten minutes ago!"

"Don't worry, we'll have her airborne in 15 minutes, give or take!"

"Then the next time it will be 45 minutes late, right?"

The two humans argued for another few minutes, saying some words that had the cats in the box gasping. Finally, it ended and before long, they were airborne again. This flight was by far the shortest, just over an hour. It was for the most part uneventful, but one last awkward moment between Jemina and Pouncival occurred, once again as the plane turned sharply for landing. This time, though, the box tilted in the opposite direction. Jemina faced the side of the box, her back to the other side. This time, Pouncival couldn't hold on and he starting quickly running to the other side, unable to stop and trying not to fall over. He was headed right for Jemina and there was no way to stop it. He ran right into her, his chest against her back. One of his arms went around her slender waist and the other was raised, his paw pressed against the wall, so that he didn't sandwich her against the side of the box. Once again the two were in an awkward position, and she suddenly realized also that her rump was pushing against his groin, inadvertently. His face was against her neck, and the feeling of his breath caused her to shiver slightly.

"Umm…Pouncival?" she asked innocently.

"I know, I know," the tom responded. His arm around her left and he backed away. Jemmi turned to face him and the two locked stares for a moment. He opened his mouth twice to say something, but thought better of it. Finally, he nodded and turned to go back to his brother, and as he did so, she could see his head bobbing, like he was cursing himself. A giggle caused the calico queen to turn, and she saw her friend giggling without control. Jemina promptly slapped the white queen in the shoulder, "Don't even say it!"

"Oh, Jemmi, you should've seen the look on your face! It was priceless!"

"Vicki, please…" the calico queen begged, her eyes pleading. Everything was spiraling out of control.

"C'mon, Jemmi! Don't deny it, you like him, maybe even…" she gave a cocky grin, "Love him?"

"NO! No, that's not true! I…" She quickly turned away and went to a corner of the box as the plane touched down. Victoria just smiled broadly. Things were getting pretty interesting with Jemina and Pouncival, and it was giving her a very devilish idea.

Meanwhile, the box was once again carried and dropped onto another vehicle, only this time, they could smell open air, though it was mixed with jet exhaust. They heard more humans talk as well.

"All right, it finally came!"

"Yeah, we had some plane problems back in Chicago. Better late then ever, eh?"

"You bet. Hey, did you catch that Brewers game last night? I fell asleep too early."

"They lost in the 9th."

"Damn! Even after Lee's homer…"

"I know. Anyways, sign this form and the box is yours."

Right. I hope these ones are good. They have been sent ASAP from England, the best they have!"

"Sounds good. See you around, eh?"

"Sure thing!" As the conversation ended, they heard the distinct sound of a truck starting, and all of a sudden, everyone was jolted off their feet, as the truck started moving. For another half hour, they felt the truck driving. They heard the sounds of other cars driving by, and thanks to air holes in the box, they could tell that it was now nighttime. They had been in the crate for over 12 hours now, and everyone was beyond thirsty and hungry. The ride got a lot shakier as the truck drove over gravel roads. A new scent wafted through the box, and it caused all the cats in the box to cover their noses.

"Everlasting Cat, what is that?" Mungojerrie shouted through his paws.

"Ugh! It's so revolting!" Cassandra spoke in disgusted tones.

"Our own dumps don't smell this bad!" Tumblebrutus joined in the quick conversation. The truck soon stopped, and they could feel the box being lifted again. As it was being carried, they heard the human speak, apparently into the box.

"At last, you guys arrived! Based on what I heard, you are all some fine chickens!"

"CHICKENS?" All the cats responded. Victoria thought for a moment, "No wonder this box smelled like birds!" A sudden jolt caused them to nearly lose their footing, but they all managed to stay standing. They heard the human leave for a moment, then return, and then they heard him trying to remove the one nailed end of the box the cats had entered in 12 hours prior. He got his crowbar to open the box, and the entrance was open once again. A human hand went inside, and started groping through the box, trying to grab whatever was inside. The cats all scrunched up against the opposite end, and Alonzo reached out and bit the hand. The human yelped and cursed in pain.

"What the—teeth marks?" The human quickly stuck his head in the crate and looked in. Thanks to the yard light shining into the box, he was able to see, and what he saw made him gasp in amazement. There were 8 cats all jammed into the other end of the box. Three of them were calico colored, another was a Siamese, one was all white, and the rest were black and white. As he stared in shock, Alonzo jumped at him and slashed the human across the face in self-defense, causing four deep scratches in the human's face. The intruder quickly backed out and once again screamed and cursed in pain.

All eight of the cats went to the "exit" and saw that they were in a farmyard. The human was a few feet away, lying on his back, his hands covering his face. They heard another human calling out to his pal, and realized he was coming. Mungojerrie noticed a stack of hay bales nearby, "Let's hide ova' there!" In a flash, all eight of them were in the little holes between the hay, and looking out. The other human came and helped his friend.

"What happened, Marty?"

"CATS! There were goddamn cats in the box! One of the "beeping" things scratched me in the "beeping" face!"

The injured human's companion glanced around the yard for a moment, seeing nothing, and looked into the box, seeing likewise, and then scratched his head in confusion, "Cats? Weren't we supposed to get chickens?"

Seeing that the humans were distracted for the moment and that there were woods nearby, Alonzo quickly led the group into the forest, running off into the middle of nowhere, not knowing where they were, or where they were going.

Well, I tried to put more humor in this chapter, and I think I am verrry satisfied with what I did here. As you can probably tell, I'm going to have some romance between Jemina and Pouncival, and Victoria is going to help them get together, with some help... (wink, wink!)

What amazes me right now is that I wrote this whole chapter in just under 4 hours! My fastest chapter ever! Started writing it at 9:45 PM CST, and finished at 1:20AM CST! Amazin'!

Anyways, the next chapter will be about the castaway Jellicles figuring out where the heck they are, and start on their incredible journey back home. I promise you one thing: It isn't going to be a walk in the park at all! Where they go, or how long it will take, I don't know. I'm just going to let the story run its course and see what happens. Hope you all enjoy this chapter and the next one will be coming soon! R and R, and keep on readin' and writin'!