Chapter 2
Grizabella smiled, hearing Munkustrap voice as she carefully approached the stage. Her limp made it harder to be silent in the middle of the junk that littered the way, but she tried her best, not wanting to alert the cats to her presence.
"I have a Gumbie Cat in mind…" Munkustrap sang and the sound of soft kittenish giggling came from the stage. Grizabella wondered why.
He was singing about Jennyanydots, a little homage to the Gumbie Cat and the many things she had done. As much as Grizabella wished her sister would one day reach the Heaviside Layer and be graced with a new life, she really hoped that this was not the tabby's moment.
Grizabella had missed Jenny and, despite receiving nothing but a glare and a hiss the last time she had seen her sister, she wished to see the Old Gumbie Cat once more, to talk to her, hold her paw...
"But when the day's hustle and bustle is done, then the Gumbie Cat's work is but hardly begun!" A trio of voices took the place of her son's, the song becoming fast paced and upbeat.
She recognized those voices… How could she forget them?
Grizabella forced herself to climb over an old bucket, still trying to keep herself out of sight.
She watched as her sister waddled around the stage in her large daily form, while three queens continued singing about her work. Jellylorum, her stern but lovable oldest sister, was one of the three, with Demeter and Bombalurina beside her.
A sigh escaped Grizabella and she felt her chest tighten ever so slightly. Everyone was smiling, singing without a care in the world… Including the two golden and red sisters.
Grizabella could clearly remember the last time she had seen those two, how they looked like, hurt and destroyed; their eyes bright with hope at the sight of the old queen, only to turn into confused fear, anger and, of course, betrayal.
Grizabella pushed those memories aside, closing her eyes tightly and taking in a deep breath. She wiped away the budding tears and held back a sniff, trying to focus on what was happening on the stage.
"So when she's got them lineup on the matting…" The trio continued singing as kittens sat in a line in front of Jennyanydots, their faces hidden away by rat masks, built from paint or pastry tubes. That looked like a very "Jenny" type of craft. "She teaches them-"
"Music, crocheting and tatting~" The tabby finished the line with a smile, pantomiming the act of tatting.
Grizabella almost laughed, happy to know that her sister still "helped" mice and cockroaches. She could remember so well how it all started, on a certain night, so long ago... And while Grizabella didn't wish to reminisce on too many things, she couldn't help but think back to that moment.
-o-
"Oh, please, Jenny." Grizabella groaned from her position on the armchair. "Your huffing and puffing is starting to get annoying!"
"Not much better than your dreamy sighs, is it?" Jellylorum shoot Grizabella a glare, but all the youngest did was stick her tongue out like a kitten would do.
"But did you even look at that mess?!" Jennyanydots complained.
For a while, the house had been visited by rats and cockroaches, the trio could hear them scuttering about inside walls, under the floorboards. They warned their humans who barely seemed to care and annoyingly complained to them once they found dirt, bite marks and other growing messes about the house.
And being the third time in a week that Jenny found the house's pantry in a complete disarray, she decided that enough was enough.
"And what do you plan on doing about it, Jenny?" Jelly asked, not looking up from the ball of yarn she was rolling, probably thinking what she would use it for later.
"Well, if our humans are not bound to do something, I might as well do it then!" Jenny huffed.
"What's on your mind?" Grizabella asked, ears and tail perked up in interest. "Teach the rats how to do other things instead of making a mess in the house?"
"That's exactly what I'll do!" Jennyanydots said with a decisive nod, running over to her little stash of household itens, that their humans didn't mind letting her have. "I can start… Ah! With this!" She triumphantly pulled a ball of yarn and two pairs of sewing needles.
"Jenny, you must be joking." Jellylorum scoffed. "You can't teach mice how to sew!"
"I can and I will!"
"I like that idea." Grizabella added, jumping from the arm chair.
"Of course, you do…" Jelly noted, shaking her head.
"These poor things! That's all they need really. Just like the kittens back at the junkyard, all they need is to be given something else to do! So that they won't need, or have the time, to mess things about!" Jenny started rambling, looking through her stash and removing item after item; Grizabella swore she could hear the machinations working inside her sister's head as she spoke. "Also, imagine! If they learn how to do other things, they may finally understand that there is so much more to life than just… Running around, stealing food and making a mess of another person's pantry!"
"You can teach them music too." Grizabella pointed out, easily getting excited with her sister's words. "That's easily enthralling."
Jenny smiled at her younger sister.
"I am so glad to know you support me on this endeavor, Griz. Different from someone we know…!" She whisper-shouted the last words, not so subtly glaring towards her older sister, while the youngest giggled.
"You two are ridiculous…" Jelly shook her head, but there was a smile on her face. And soon enough she had left the ball of yarn aside, walking over to her sisters and asking what would be their plan of action then.
-o-
It took a bit to convince the little creatures and to calm them down in the presence of a cat, but after a few days, Jenny was able to form her little "school for mice and cockroaches".
Since then, the number of rat and cockroach problems or incidents in the house and neighboring houses had decreased in a good amount, proving that the Gumbie Cat's "social work" had been a success.
Soon enough Jenny's "school" had even more classes, of crafting and art; something that she apparently still taught the kittens as well, judging by the paw-made cockroaches costumes the younger members of the tribe were wearing, while tap dancing with the old Gumbie Cat – in a not so perfect manner, Grizabella did notice.
Grizabella smiled at the memory, happy that her sister's legacy still continued strong.
She watched as the "cockroaches" tap danced with the Gumbie Cat, the three queens and Munkustrap soon joining in. She found herself humming in tune, recognizing some parts of the music, feeling a swell of warmth at the fact that her sister still used them even after so long.
"For she's a jolly good fe-e-ellow!" The cats sang, saluting the Gumbie Cat that looked around, surprised, apparently not expecting that.
"Thank you, my dears!" She recollected herself with a smile and stroke a pose.
Grizabella held back the wish to clap for her sister, not wanting to alert anyone of her presence. Not yet.
She watched in silence as Jenny was surrounded by the other cats, they smiled and said things to each other that the Glamour Cat couldn't hear, their paws holding each other while a few gentle pats and scratches were shared here and there.
And Grizabella wished she was there, standing amongst them, holding her sister's paw and smiling at her, while Jennyanydots smiled back. The joy of the musical number drained away, leaving Grizabella once more empty and cold and she couldn't help but sigh.
She had come to try, once more, to join the tribe, to have even a sliver of what she used to have before. Still, she couldn't bring herself to interrupt her sister's number; but now that it was done, Grizabella could take the chance to do something – not that she expected her leg to carry her all the way to the stage before the next number started, but she would try and be polite and-
The soft tunes of the Gumbie Cat's song were suddenly interrupted by a much louder and upbeat rhythm and Grizabella almost dropped from the top of the bucket as she made it to slide down.
She turned to the stage, hearing the sound of paper being ripped and a sultry, but loud:
"Meow."
And she felt her breath get caught in her throat. She would recognize that mess of fur and style anywhere.
