Chapter 3: Wanderings
The next day, Rumpleteazer was quite far away and hungry. She just continued to wander for most of the day in the general direction of the train yard until she found and empty alley behind a restaurant. She noticed some garbage cans and rummaged through them. Jackpot! She found a half a chicken. She dug it out and began to eat. Then when she was satisfied, she curled up in a cardboard box and fell asleep. Early the next morning, she continued until she came to the train yard. 'I bet I could take a train to west London.' She thought as her blue eyes scanned the area. She knew Skimbleshanks would probably be around and so she searched for him. Then she saw a movement, it was a orange striped tabby with a vest. She smiled and called "Skimbleshanks! Skimble!"
The striped tabby had just returned from east London and was on his way back to the station when he heard a voice calling him. He looked around until he saw a calico queen waving her paw. He strolled over and did a double take when he realized it was Rumpleteazer. 'What was she doing out here? Where was Mungojerrie?' he wondered. "Hello lassie! How are ye today?" he greeted her.
"I'm fine Skimble. I need to get to west London. Is there a train I can take?" she asked as she set her bags down.
"As a matter of fact, there's a train yonder that will put ye near the west London Jellicle tribe. It's number 37. Actually what are ye doing down here? Where's ye partner in crime?" he told her.
She looked down at her paws and said, "Mungojerrie's been cheating on me and so I got Deuteronomy to revoke our mating. We're no longer partners in crime or the Notorious Duo. I've left the junkyard and am heading towards west London. I have some friends there who I cans stay with."
Skimble raised his eyebrows at that. "Are ye sure ye want to do this lassie? It's a fair long ride to west London and ye'd be traveling alone." Suddenly another voice called for him. "Excuse me lassie. I'll be right back." He scampered towards the conductor who was calling him.
Rumple watched him run off and began to clean herself. Soon he came back to where she was sitting.
"Yer in luck lassie. Mike, the conductor, has asked me to go on the train to west London. I'll accompany ye if that's ok?" he asked happily.
Teazer smiled. "Of course. But I really don't want to talk about Mungojerrie."
They boarded the train and soon they stopped at the Westerly Junction. "Well, lassie. Here ye are in west London. Are ye going to come back to the junkyard?" Skimble asked.
Rumple hesitated and said, "Well, I don't know. I might, I might not. It all depends on how I fare here. When are you next coming back this way?"
Skimble pulled a map from his vest and consulted it. "Well lassie. It looked like I'll be here in two weeks. There's a freighter coming in. Will I see ye then?"
She smiled and said, "Of course! Please tell Tugger about this. You and him are the only ones who know where I'm at. Tugger has family down here." She finished as she saw the confused look on Skimbleshanks' face. "Also, don't tell Mungojerrie where I am. I don't want him coming after me. I need to be away from him. You and Tugger can come visit me whenever you want, but that's it. Everybody else will just try to get me back and Jerrie will want to apologize ect, ect, ect. I'm not ready to talk to him and won't be for a while. Within three weeks, I should have found a place of residence and then I'll tell you. Thank you for taking me down here. I love you Skimble." As she hugged him goodbye, she started to cry a bit. She looked up to see tears in his eyes as well.
"Well, lassie, we'll miss ye tricks and ye cheeky self. I will give Tugger the message. Good luck!" Skimble said as she walked off. He sighed and got back on the train going up to Canterbury. 'Kits these days! Too much drama.' He thought as the train pulled out of the Junction.
West London was different then up north. Everything wasn't as crowded and the human's accents were a bit different. However, things also seemed to move faster. She skirted around rushing feet until she found herself near the edge of the town. She found an empty garbage can and set her stuff down. She wasn't aware that there were several pairs of eyes watching her as she fell asleep.
"Hey, she's in our territory! Let's get her!" whispered Krater. He peered out from behind the garbage box again.
"No. we can't. We have to wait for the boss." argued Natanii. She peeked out from between the slats.
"What's the problem guys?" came a new voice.
Krater and Natanii looked up guiltily. They looked up at the tall form of Shredder.
"Shredder, sir. There's a queen in our territory. She's from up north." Natanii said as bravely as she could muster.
"We were just waiting for you to come so that we can attack her." piped up Krater.
"Well, now that just won't do. I can see that she's tired. I like cats to put up a fight. We'll let her sleep here tonight and then in the morning after she's woken up, then we'll attack. Tsk, tsk. Have some respect for cats." Shredder said gently. Then his expression hardened and he barked quietly, "Get back to the house now! I don't want to see either of you until morning!"
Natanii and Krater turned on their tails and zoomed off with Shredder following slower behind them.
As they left, on a building overlooking the alley, a dark cat and a large Pollicle were watching the scene. "Hmm. Old Shredder is up to his old tricks again. I guess we'll have to do something about that, won't we Apollo?" the cat said to his companion.
Apollo just laughed as well as a Pollicle can and then went to the other edge of the building to keep watch.
"She must be new around here. Nobody goes into this alleyway unless they're new. Cute little thing." The cat mussed to himself as he fluffed his mane and settled into a more comfortable position to watch the little calico queen.