Chapter 3: The Ghost Cat Returns
Alonzo stretched tiredly and yawned as he sat atop a tall junk pile overlooking the main gates. He hated this post; you just sat there watching the gates for a least a few hours until someone came to take your place. The only interruption of his boredom was when a couple of the kittens would scamper by chasing each other or when Munkustrap came to check on how things were going. How things were going…he was getting bored of his mind, that's how things were going! He would take the patrols over this any day; at least with that, you're moving around instead of being stuck in one spot like a statue. But tonight, no kittens came running past and Munk hadn't been around yet. If this kept up, he was likely to fall asleep on his feet. He yawned again.
"Don't nod off on me," a voice called making the black and white tom jump. He turned to see the Jellicle Protector making his way up the side of the junk pile toward him and was silently relieved.
Finally he's here, Alonzo thought, maybe now I'll be able to go and he'll sit up here for a while.
Munk grinned at his second as he reached the top of the pile and sat down next to him. "Bored out of your mind huh?"
"Not really," Alonzo lied, "I'm just getting a bit tired."
Munk chuckled. "Nice try," he said putting his paw on Alonzo's shoulder, "I can tell you're bored just by looking at you."
"Hm, is it that obvious?" Alonzo asked a half smirk creeping across his face.
"If you want to go, go ahead," Munk said, "I'll take over." About time. Standing up, Alonzo did his best to act natural even though he was beaming inside.
"Are you sure you won't get lonely?" he asked teasingly as he started to climb down, "You want me to send Demeter up here to keep you company?"
"Get outta here,"
Alonzo laughed and climbed down the rest of the way to the ground. It was such a relief to get off of there; his legs were starting to get cramped not to mention he was nearly asleep. Now that he could move, he felt a lot more awake and decided to go see what Pouncival and Tumblebrutus were up to.
Down the street, the Ghost Cat moved quickly toward the junkyard although he still felt quite torn about coming back here. The tribe needed to know about the Pollicles massing together and he wanted to find out exactly what this great advantage was. But at the same time, he couldn't help but wonder about their reaction to seeing him again.
Why should you care about how they react, that nagging part of him said, all you're here to do is tell them about the Pollicles and that's it. So just go in there, find Munkustrap, tell him what's going on and get out.
Yeah, that's all he needed to do. He didn't have to stick around there longer than he had to. Just let them know what's happening and leave it at that. As he neared the gates, he looked up to see Munkustrap sitting atop a pile of junk alertly watching the main gate below. Perfect, just the cat he needed to see. He didn't even have to go inside now; he could just tell Munk from outside the fence. However, the silver tabby suddenly turned to look behind him for a moment, then disappeared in a hurry. Well, so much for that idea, Wisp thought growing irritated, guess I'll have to do this the hard way.
The tribe grew anxious when Plato had called to Munkustrap that two of Macavity's hench cats had been seen at the north side of the junkyard. They had believed the ginger cat's henchmen had all scattered when their leader had been killed two months ago but obviously there were still a few stragglers left. The greatest fear was that they had chosen a new leader and were coming back for revenge.
"I wonder what they're up to," Pounce said as he and Tumble lay on the trunk of the TSE-1. They had both seen Munk hurry off toward the north end of the yard with Plato and Alonzo in tow.
"I don't know," Tumble said as he stretched, "I don't think they'd be stupid enough to attack us anyway."
Pouncival was about to say something else when the main gate was suddenly thrown open. The tribe looked toward the entrance, nervous that maybe there were more than just two hench cats out there but they saw nothing. Pounce and Tumble got off the TSE-1 and started walking toward the open gate, curious as to how it could've been opened when there wasn't a breath of wind anywhere. They were halfway across the clearing when the night split apart revealing the lean silver form of the Ghost Cat.
A series of gasps were torn from the throats of the tribe as the silver cat slowly walked forward, his face a stony mask of caution. Jennyanydots and Jellylorum called the kittens to them, hustling them into their den but Pounce and Tumble were too far away. In order to get to the den they'd have to pass right in front of the Ghost Cat and there was no way either of them was going to try.
They were all afraid just as he had thought. He could see it written on their faces and he could hear their whisperings as he slowly came to the center of the clearing and stopped.
"What's he doing here?"
"I thought he was dead,"
"Look at him. He looks like Macavity,"
Wisp turned his head at that comment; he had heard that enough times and it was starting to annoy him. His gaze came to rest on Demeter and she instinctively shrank back. Bombalurina held her protectively. On the other side of the clearing, Pounce, believing the Ghost Cat was going to attack Demeter, picked up a rock and threw it at the silver cat's head despite Tumble whispering to him not to. The rock flew toward the Ghost Cat but instead of hitting him, it changed direction slightly and began to circle his head. The silver cat's icy gaze locked on him then and Pounce barely resisted the urge to run. The rock however, suddenly gained speed then flung itself back toward the kitten giving him no chance to dodge it. Jenny shouted at him to move but Pouncival was frozen to the spot.
Just when it seemed the rock would hit him squarely in the face, it stopped in mid air; the tip of it lightly touching Pouncival's nose. It moved away a short distance then shattered, spraying the kitten with dust and pebbles. Pounce cried out in shock when the pieces of rock hit him then vigorously wiped the dust out of his fur in embarrassment. Clearing his eyes, he saw the Ghost Cat had a cruel smile upon his face as if he'd enjoyed scaring him. That smile was gone an instant later.
"Next time," Wisp said in a dangerous tone, "I won't miss."
Cassandra had run off when Wisp came in to get Munkustrap and now the Jellicle Protector, along with Plato and Alonzo, arrived in the clearing stopping short at the sight that greeted him.
"Wisp," he said quietly. The Ghost Cat turned toward him, a light smirk playing at the corner of his mouth.
"Glad to see you remember me Munk,"
"What are you doing here?" Munkustrap asked sternly.
Right to the point…as always. "I'm here to give you a warning," Wisp said evenly, "The Pollicles are massing together."
Mutters of worry and disbelief rippled through the tribe. Munk himself was a bit skeptical. "How do you know?"
"I've seen them," Wisp said a bit harshly, not liking being thought of as a liar, "They're massing at Macavity's old lair and they're being led by a dog that calls himself Magnus the Great."
Munk was silent for a moment. If Wisp was telling the truth, and he had a feeling he was, then the tribe was in extreme danger. They could handle a small pack of Pollicles but this almost sounded like they were putting an army together. He needed to know more.
"Did you hear anything about their plans?"
"Only something about your great advantage over them," Wisp said his eyes narrowing, "Whatever that is."
The Protector didn't answer and Wisp could tell he didn't know what they were talking about either. He didn't press the subject.
After waiting for a moment to see if Munk would ask anything more, which he didn't, Wisp turned and began heading for the gate.
"Wait," Munk said hurrying after him, "Where are you going?"
"I've done what I had to do," Wisp said matter of factly, "I warned you about the Pollicles, now I'm leaving."
"If what you're saying is true," Munk said firmly, "Then we'll need all the help we can get."
Wisp tilted his head slightly, a sarcastic smile on his face. "Are you sure you want me to stay here?" he asked. "Aren't you afraid I'm going to harm your tribe?"
Munk took a deep breath. He knew the tribe wasn't going to like this but there was no other choice in the matter. "I'm placing my trust in you that you won't," he said sternly, "Don't break that."
"As you wish," Wisp said with a light bow of his head.
As Munk turned to start getting the tribe ready for whatever the Pollicles were planning, he couldn't ignore the gnawing feeling in his stomach. He didn't like the way Wisp had responded. He sounded too much like Macavity for his liking. All he could do was pray to the Everlasting Cat that he wouldn't regret his decision.