It was several days before Gus was well enough to travel. Jellylorum helped him hobble along. Alongside Jellylorum and Gus, Old Deuteronomy, Jenny and Skimble had come along. The ginger teen thought that they were being followed, but could only see things out of the corner of his eye. "We're not alone," he whispered to Old Deuteronomy. "I know. They've been on our tail since we left the junkyard."
Eventually the cats reached their destination. "You're sure this is the place?" Old Deuteronomy asked Gus. The theatre cat nodded. Old Deuteronomy looked around. The building was large and magnificent, while most of the humans seemed to be wearing a sort of blue uniform, though quite a few had long red coats on. Almost all had colourful ribbons pinned to their chests. "Their military," Deuteronomy muttered. "What?" Jellylorum asked her father. "Like … human protectors. These ones are retired though." "What's your father doing here?" Jenny asked Gus. "His human lives here. I think they fought together, but he doesn't really talk about it."
The cats snuck through the hospital, dodging humans as they went. Finally they reached the correct door, which had been left open a crack. They slipped between the door and its frame, entering the room. An elderly cat lay curled up on the bed, but he immediately got up as the cats entered, stiffly standing up. Once chocolate fur was now liberally whitened, and he had great tufts of fur on his ears. Jellylorum looked at him in amazement. She had never seen a cat so old, but with so much dignity still left in him. "What do you want?" the cat demanded, his voice weary but strong. He sniffed the air, and blinked milky eyes. Jellylorum realised that the old cat was blind. Gus squeezed his way through the cats. "It's me father," he said, leaping up onto the bed and taking hold of his father's paws. Gus's father looked dumb struck, before embracing his son. "It's good to have you here you lad," he muttered, before sniffing the air again. "Who're your friends?" Gus introduced the other cats one by one, leaving Jellylorum till last. "And this is Jellylorum," Gus said, beckoning her up onto the bed. The queen sprang upwards, before nodding reverently to the elderly cat. "Pleased to meet you dear," he smiled, running his paws gently over her face. "My name is Arthur."
Skimble looked with concern at the elderly cat. "He didn't tell us his father was blind,"2 he muttered under his breath. "And why would he?" the elderly cat exclaimed, seeming to look in Skimble's direction. "I'm blind young tom, not deaf." Gus and Jellylorum hurriedly explained the situation to the old cat. He sat there for a long time, deep in thought. "This Grindlevine," he eventually said. "How dangerous is he?" Gus shrugged. "People say that he's mixed up in some seriously bad things. This gang he's connected with … I've heard stories that they smuggle slaves." Old Deuteronomy, Arthur and Jellylorum hissed in unison, while Jenny gasped and stumbled backward into Skimble's comforting arms. Slavers were the lowest type of cat, villains who made money off other's misfortune and misery.
"Slavers?" Deuteronomy asked Gus. The young cat nodded slowly. "It's just what I've heard." His father breathed deeply. "Swine," he spat. "Cats like that are the lowest form of scum." Old Deuteronomy glanced at Gus before turning back to Arthur. "Sir, it is quite possible you are in danger. If you'll let us, we'd like to protect you." Arthur laughed, his old body shaking with the effort. "It's very kind of you, but I'm staying put. I'm in no fit state to travel, and anyway my human's here. He'd be lost without me."
Old Deuteronomy understood, turning away. Gus stayed put. "I'm staying here," he said. Arthur shook his head, a smile on his lips. "No chance." "I'm not leaving you alo…" "I'll be fine. You can't stay here. You need to take this villain head on." Gus took his father's paws, stroking him gently. "I don't want to leave you alone." The old cat laughed. "I'll be fine. I have friends here who can look after me. You go with your friends." Arthur clasped his son by the shoulder, pulling him close. "Don't let that queen out of your sight," he ordered, causing a giggle from Jenny and a bright red blush from Jellylorum.
The cats left the hospital, trotting along the street. Cats slunk by in the gloom. Gus moved next to Jellylorum, intertwining their tails. "I'm so sorry," the actor mewed. "I shouldn't have gotten you mixed up in this." Jellylorum smiled sweetly. "It's not your fault, and even if it was I wouldn't mind." Gus looked at her in surprise. "Do you realise just how dangerous this is?" he asked in astonishment. "Yes," she replied, slowing down so that Jenny and Skimble couldn't hear her. "But if I hadn't gotten involved in this, I wouldn't have met you." Gus smiled broadly, looking as if he were going to say something, and then the world exploded. Something heavy slammed into Jellylorum, sending her flying. There were snarls of anger and yelps of pain, though from friend or foe she could not tell. Then something was pulled over her head and she could neither see nor hear.
Eventually she was thrown, sack and all, into a hard metal cage. Paws roughly pulled the grimy bag from her head. A trio of toms were looking at her. One she recognised as Grindlevine, the actor who was after Gus. The other two were new to her. One had deep red fur with black spots, while the other was entirely white. "Where am I," she snarled, fear driving her false bravado. "You are safe my dear," the white cat sneered. "Provided your tom friend does exactly as we say."