CHAPTER 4: Dancing Lessons and Tugger Troubles

Tatiana stepped into the cave at Mistoffelees' invitation. He had taken her there as it was his favourite spot for dancing. The cave also happened to be the same as that which Mungojerrie had proclaimed to be his favourite.

"I have one question."

Mistoffelees turned around and patiently waited for the question to come.

"How are we going to dance if we have no music?"

"Who says we have no music?"

"Well…"

"Do you remember Jerrie telling you, when you first arrived, that I'm a magical cat?"

Tatiana nodded.

Mistoffelees clicked his claws. Suddenly, the echoey cave was filled with the music of a slow, beautiful waltz.

Tatiana gasped. "What did you do?" she asked, her eyes wide open.

"That," said Mistoffelees with a wink, "is a magic secret. Come, let us begin."

Tatiana's lesson lasted two hours, as Mistoffelees wanted to start his pupil off slowly so that she could become accustomed to using the different muscles, and, by the end, Tatiana was completely physically exhausted, not being used to the physical demands that dancing requires.

Still breathing rather heavily and not feeling like squeezing through a tiny hole, Tatiana made her way to the more commonly-used entrance in the junkyard fence bordering the field.

As she scrambled rather clumsily over the piles of junk, she thought she heard a noise behind her. Turning around, she could see nothing 'out of the ordinary'. Not that I know what 'ordinary' is around here, she thought ruefully. Maybe it's just Misto coming back. She turned back to the direction in which she was heading, only to run straight into something. Pulling her face back, she realized she had run into the chest of another cat. This one, however, she had not seen before.

"Whoa, you right there?" asked the Maine Coon tom, steadying Tatiana as she swayed on her paws from the impact.

"I-I'm fine, thankyou." She dipped her head and attempted to duck around him, only to almost run into the tom again.

"What's your name, honey?"

"No, it's Tatiana," replied the queen guardedly, trying not to stutter. For some reason, this tom made her more nervous than any of the other cats. And then she realized why.

"Ah, so you are the gorgeous little queen who has joined our tribe," he purred smoothly. His hips slung to the side, he reached a paw to her cheek. "I've heard about you."

Flinching away from his touch, Tatiana made an effort to dart forward. "Yes. Now may I please continue on my way?"

"Where are you headed?"

"Not that it's any of your business…" snapped Tatiana pointedly, growing more and more outraged at the tom's insolent behaviour.

Hmmm…this one's going to be a little tough to get past, thought the tom, then added confidently in his head, but I'll get around her. He let the queen walk past. "I'm the Rum Tum Tugger, by the way." He winked at her. "But you can just call me Tugger."

"Rum Tum Tugger will be fine," scowled Tatiana, determined not to let this egotistic tom obstruct her path any longer. The one characteristic she hated in cats – and in humans, and, for that matter, in any other animal – was egotism.

Sensing that he should let it go for the night, he watched appreciatively as Tatiana found her way to her new home. By Thursday night, he silently promised himself.

Shivering with repulsion for the beast she had just encountered, Tatiana cuddled up to the scarves in her box. I hope he doesn't hang around the junkyard too much, she thought. She did, however, faintly recall Mungojerrie saying something about the Rum Tum Tugger having humans, so maybe he only came to the junkyard every now and then. Still, that would be bad enough.

"You reckon there's something between them?"

"Oi dunno, but 'e seems quoite toiken wif 'er."

"Well, I saw them returning from the woods yesterday. Together."

"So? That don't mean nothin'. 'E moight 'ave bin showin' 'er the forest."

"And they were wet."

Rumpelteazer's eyes opened wide. She grinned. "Hmmm…interestin'."

Tatiana walked up at that moment.

"So, how did it go last night?" Etcetera queried, bounding up to Tatiana and playfully jumping on her back for a kitty-back-ride.

Almost collapsing under the sudden weight, Tatiana laughed merrily. "It was fantastic! For the first time in my life, I actually started to dance!"

"That's great, Tats!" cried Rumpelteazer, joining in the morning merriment by dancing in circles around Tatiana and Etcetera.

The group was soon joined by the presence of a dark-coloured tabby kitten.

"Electra!" cried Etcetera, rushing over to the kitten.

Soon, Electra was surrounded by all of the younger cats in the tribe…except for Tatiana, who stood shyly on the outside, waiting to be introduced to the kitten. All she could hear coming from the crowd were jumbled cries and questions.

"Great to see you again!"

"How was your holiday?"

"I didn't think you would be back so soon!"

"I'm so glad you're back!"

After the exclamations and gushing died down, Victoria introduced Electra to the new Jellicle member.

"Pleased to meet you, Tatiana," welcomed Electra.

"And you," returned the queen.

The group wandered off to sit together in the shade of a tall pile of junk, and, as had happened only too many times in the past, Tatiana felt like an outsider. She had never been accepted, and when she finally was, some other kitten always had to go and steal the limelight. It wasn't that she didn't like Electra, Tatiana admitted to herself. It was just that Electra was such a more exciting cat, just like Etcetera and Rumpelteazer, even if she was shyer.

"'Ey."

Tatiana looked around. It was Mungojerrie. "Hey," she returned quietly.

"What's the matter?" he asked, his face scrunched up with concern.

To Tatiana, his expression appeared almost comical, and she let a small smile play on her lips, although her eyes remained wistful. "Nothing."

His eyes searched her face questioningly, before turning his gaze elsewhere.

During the course of the afternoon, Tatiana managed to slink off, unnoticed, into the forest. At least, she thought she had been unnoticed. As she let a single tear run down her cheek and a small sob escape her, she heard the crack of a twig underpaw. Turning her head sharply, she caught sight of Mungojerrie approaching her cautiously.

"Are ya sure yer okoiy?" he asked, concern creasing his brow.

Tatiana nodded, trying not to sniff. "I'm fine." She turned away again.

"But…what's wrong?"

Tatiana felt his paw on her back. "I – I…oh!" And suddenly, the tears flowed freely from her eyes, the salty water pouring forth down her beautiful face. She buried her head in Mungojerrie's chest fur and breathed deeply, inhaling his tomculine scent. When the tears ran dry, she attempted an explanation. "I just…I feel like I was a replacement. A temporary friend. Someone to play with while Electra was away. And now that she's back…" She collapsed into sobs once more.

"Shhh…it's not loike that," Mungojerrie comforted her. "Oi'm sure the others didn't mean it ta seem that woiy, either. Yer one of us now." He smiled tenderly at her.

Finally able to compose herself, Tatiana pulled away from Mungojerrie's embrace. She was very surprised and glad that he hadn't tried anything on her other than comfort. He's such a gentletom, she thought, smiling up at him. "I'm alright now," she told him. "Thanks, Jerrie."

Mungojerrie was surprised and, in fact, rather pleased that Tatiana had called him Jerrie. Cor, that's the best Oi've ever 'eard anyone soiy moiy noime!

Indeed, Tatiana herself was startled when the word 'Jerrie' escaped her lips, but she relaxed when she noticed that Mungojerrie was still smiling down at her.

Mungojerrie tenderly wiped a stray tear from Tatiana's cheek. "Oi'm 'ere fer ya anytoime ya need me. Okoiy?"

Tatiana nodded in silent thanks. The two started walking back to the junkyard in silence. Tatiana suddenly remembered something she was going to tell Mungojerrie. "I met another member of the tribe last night," she began.

"Did ya? 'Oo was it?"

"Uh, Run – Tummy – Tommy – er, some Maine Coon."

"Oh?" Mungojerrie stiffened. "Tugger?" 'Ere we go. She'll be fallin' fer 'im loike everyone else.

"That's the one. A disgraceful cat." Much to Mungojerrie's surprise, Tatiana shuddered.

Mungojerrie raised his eyebrow. This was certainly very unexpected. "Ya don't loike 'im?"

"Him? No way! He's an egotist and an irrepressible flirt. Disgusting."

Mungojerrie grinned. "Ya'd better not let anyone else 'ear that."

"Oh? Why not? Surely no-one else likes him?"

"No. They love 'im."

"That beast?"

"Yep. The kittens love 'im. Even Teaz loves 'im. Even the dignified adult queens fall fer 'im."

"I honestly don't see why," Tatiana confessed.

"'E swings 'is 'ips."

"Oh!" Tatiana looked as if she understood completely, then turned to him, her face quizzical. "So?"

Mungojerrie shrugged and laughed. "Oi don't see it, either." He changed the topic. "So, 'ow did the lesson go last noight?"

She turned to him and beamed. Her eyes were shining, Mungojerrie thought, like the stars. "Oh, it was the best! I can't believe that, for the first time ever, I actually danced!"

Mungojerrie chuckled. "That's great, Tatiana."

Tatiana was pleased that Mungojerrie had not called her by her newly-appointed nickname. As a rule, Tatiana hated nicknames (even though she had to admit that 'Tats' was a pretty cool one), and would not even consider calling other cats by nicknames, unless she knew that they particularly disliked their given names. This was why she had been so surprised at herself for saying 'Jerrie' instead of 'Mungojerrie', and why she had been very relieved when he had made no comment about it.

As they came upon the field on their way back to the junkyard, Tatiana's heart soared when she noticed Munkustrap sitting upon a small, disused oil-drum, his handsome, tabby face upturned to the sun. However, a cold wave washed over Tatiana when she realized that he was cuddling a black-and-gold queen. Demeter.

"Are they mates?" she choked out, nodding at the pair.

"Yes, they 'ave bin fer a while."

"Oh." Tatiana's heart plummeted right down into the bottom of her tail. "I can see why. I haven't met her properly yet, but she seems nice."

"Yes, she is." He paused. "Ya loike 'im, doncha?" Mungojerrie asked sympathetically.

Slowly, Tatiana nodded. As much as she tried, she could not keep the disappointment from her manner.

"That's too bad."

It was Thursday evening and Tatiana was halfway across the open field on her way to the cave to practise her dancing. From behind her, she heard a meow; however, there was no-one in sight. She shook her head and told herself it was just a figment of her imagination. She continued on her way, dodging around trees and bushes as she scampered to her now-favourite spot. She had almost made it into the cave when she heard a voice behind her.

"Hey, sweetie."

Tatiana froze. A chill ran up and down her spine and the fur on her back prickled. She flattened her ears back against her head and she tensed up. "What do you want?" she snarled. "Why did you follow me here?"

"Just came to see how you were doing," said Tugger lamely.

Tatiana laughed bitterly. "Sure. Well, now that you've come, you can leave again. And leave me alone. Permanently."

"Come now, surely you can't push me away just like that? Besides, I have as much right to be here as you."

Tatiana knew it was true. Still… "Maybe, but it's my right to hang around whom I choose…and to ignore whom I choose. And I have chosen to ignore you, so go."

Tugger was completely taken aback by this feisty queen.

Truth be told, Tatiana herself was shocked to hear the way she was speaking. Was this the way she handled fear? Or just awkward situations? Either way, she was determined to keep up the brave façade – anything to get rid of this…beast. "Go, I said."

Tugger took a step towards her and placed his paw on Tatiana's hip. "Come, now, honey, all I –"

But that was as far as he got, for Tatiana had pushed his paw away and stepped back, screaming, "GET LOST, YOU MONSTER! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Tugger was completely stunned and looked lost. "I don't want to hurt –"

"I don't care what you want!" shouted Tatiana, shaking. "All I wanted was an hour of privacy. Is that too much to ask for?"

Okay, maybe she's going to be a little tougher to get around than I originally bargained for…but I'll make her like me, he added to himself with a lick of his lips. But maybe I should leave it for today. He glanced at her striking figure as she cowered back from him. Or maybe just one more try…

"No!" cried the queen as the Maine Coon walked towards her once more.

"Just let me –"

"Yoo 'eard the lady."

Tugger whirled around in surprise.

"Now off with ya and leave 'er alone. Go on, go!" said the stripy tom evenly.

Tugger's eyes opened wide. "Well, well, well. Look who's protecting the new Jellicle." Tugger wolf-whistled.

Mungojerrie flushed but kept his dignity. "Look, Tugger, Oi don't wanna 'ave ta foight this one out," he muttered under his breath.

Tugger smirked. So that's how it is, eh? "I'm going." He sauntered off after giving Tatiana a wink.

"Are ya okoiy?" Mungojerrie asked as Tatiana collapsed against the cave's outer wall.

"I'm fine," she said a little shakily, swiping the back of her paw across her eyes as tears starting running down her cheeks. "He just scared me."

"Awww," Mungojerrie cooed, pulling her close to him and holding her wracking body firmly. "'E'll not bother ya again. Oi'll moike sure of that."

"Thankyou," Tatiana whispered.