CHAPTER 15: So Much Trouble, So Much Entertainment

Rumpelteazer grinned. "Yoo two seem very cheery this mornin'," she commented, eying her brother and Tatiana.

"Are we not allowed ta be?" queried Mungojerrie.

"Of course yer allowed ta be."

"Then if ya'll excuse us…"

"Uh, can Oi jes' talk ta ya fer a minute, Jerrie?"

"Go ahead, I can wait," Tatiana said with a smile.

Rumpelteazer drew her brother to the side. "Well? Is it orll good?"

"Yes, it's orll good. Thanks, Teazer," Mungojerrie told her, giving her a brotherly squeeze.

"No thanks needed. Jes' 'ave a good toime wif 'er," Rumpelteazer replied with a wink.

Mungojerrie rejoined Tatiana and offered his arm to her, which she accepted with a slight blush.

"Rumpelteazer!"

Rumpelteazer turned around. "Oh, 'ey, Etcy. What's up?"

"I've come to find out if you've completed your dare-punishment," said Etcetera, bowling up to the older queen.

"Oh, blast!" Rumpelteazer muttered. "Oi, uh, no, Etcy."

"You know what this means?"

"Another dare?"

"Yup." Etcetera grinned. "This time, you must kiss Munkustrap on the mouth in front of Demeter."

Rumpelteazer groaned. "Couldn't ya 'ave made it Tugger?"

Etcetera grinned. "Nup. He's mine."

Rumpelteazer sighed. "Foine."

Etcetera watched as her friend began to make her way over to the tyre. Before she reached her destination, however, Rumpelteazer was suddenly running back in the direction from which she had come. Etcetera watched in amusement as Rumpelteazer ran for her life, a red queen hot on her heels.

"RUMPELTEAZER!"

Meanwhile, Mungojerrie and Tatiana were walking paw-in-paw in the forest, enjoying each other's company when a small whimpering noise reached Tatiana's keen ears.

"Did you hear that?"

"'Ear what?"

"Shhh." Tatiana placed her paw over Mungojerrie's mouth and looked around. The noise came again. "Over that way." Tatiana grabbed Mungojerrie's paw and hauled him behind some nearby ferns. The two lovers looked down upon their discovery. "Misto!" cried Tatiana, kneeling down in front of the tom.

Mistoffelees looked up and quickly wiped away his tears. "Oh, hi, Tatiana, Mungojerrie."

"What's the matter?"

"Oh, nothing," replied Mistoffelees quietly.

"Look at me," Tatiana said, gently raising Mistoffelees' chin so that their eyes met. "What's wrong?"

At this, Mistoffelees broke down again. "She doesn't love me," he said miserably.

Mungojerrie lowered himself to the ground also. "'Oo doesn't, Misto?"

"Jemima."

"Shhh," Tatiana comforted him. She put her arm around his shoulder and held his head, rocking him back and forth as she would a tiny kitten.

"She d-doesn't l-love me; she l-loves s-s-someone else," sniffed the tuxedo tom.

Tatiana looked up at Mungojerrie, who returned her worried gaze. "What are we to do?" she mouthed.

"Oi dunno," he replied, mouthing also.

After a few minutes of silence, Mistoffelees stood up. "I'm sorry to put all that upon you like that."

"No apologies needed," Tatiana told him. "And I'm sure Jerrie will agree with me when I say that you can come to either of us any time you need to talk."

"Of course ya can, buddy," Mungojerrie said.

Mistoffelees gave a watery smile. "Thanks."

After Mistoffelees left, Mungojerrie and Tatiana had a rather pleasant afternoon in the forest, although both were still worrying about Mistoffelees. They wandered back into the junkyard to be met by an amusing sight: Rumpelteazer was running madly across the junkyard with Bombalurina on her tail. Mungojerrie and Tatiana both began laughing.

Rumpelteazer, on the other paw, was not as amused. "'Eeelllp!" she cried as she ran past the two.

"I'll get you, you thief!" shouted Bombalurina.

Munkustrap had finally given up trying to figure out why Bombalurina would be mad at Rumpelteazer (although he was as amused by the situation as everyone else) and was now standing upon the tyre, Demeter at his side. "Rumpelteazer!" he yelled.

Rumpelteazer, upon hearing her name called by a different voice, tore up to Munkustrap and hid behind him.

Bombalurina soon arrived in front of the second-in-command. "Come out here, you thief," she hissed.

"Bombalurina, I demand to know what is going on," Munkustrap said in his authoritative voice.

"This is between me and the thief. Now could you please move so I can get my paws her?"

"I will do no such thing." Munkustrap crossed his arms and glared down at his sister-in-law. "Not until you tell me what is going on or until you apologize."

Bombalurina let out a loud "harrumph" and stalked away crankily.

When Rumpelteazer sensed it was safe for her to come out from behind Munkustrap, she did so.

"Okay, Rumpelteazer, what's this all about?"

"Um, nothin', Munku, but thanks fer savin' moiy fur." Rumpelteazer wrapped her arms around Munkustrap's tomculine shoulders and planted a quick but passionate kiss on his lips before once again taking off.

"RUMPELTEAZER!"

"Uh-oh," Rumpelteazer muttered to herself, "now Oi've got Deme after me, too. Blast it! Whoiy do orll these dares orlways seem to get me in so much trouble?"

Later that night, Rumpelteazer, Mungojerrie and Tatiana were seated in a circle near Mungojerrie's box having a quiet discussion. Rumpelteazer had begged them to let her stay with one of them that night so that she wouldn't end up being a mere body when dawn broke.

"Oi don't wanna doie," she had claimed desperately while on her knees in front of the couple.

Tatiana had merely given a small laugh. "We don't want you to die, either, Rumpelteazer, that's why we're not saying 'no'."

"You're not?"

"No."

"Oh." Rumpelteazer had looked confused before it dawned on her. "Oh! Thanks!" She had given a dorky grin. "For some reason, every toime Oi git dared ta do somethin', Oi git in so much trouble. Oi used ta be great at that sort of thin', but now, orll Oi ever seem to do is foil. 'N' Oi dunno whoiy!"

"It's so much entertoinment, though!" Mungojerrie had said with a laugh, at which Rumpelteazer had scowled.

Presently, they were discussing the situation with Mistoffelees.

"Oi wish we could 'elp 'im some'ow," Rumpelteazer sighed.

"So do I," said Tatiana, "but maybe this is one of those times we shouldn't meddle."

"Hmmm, moiybe yer roight," Mungojerrie agreed.

There was a collective sigh from the three Jellicles.

"Well," said Rumpelteazer, changing the topic to a cheerier one, "we start re'earsals fer the borll tamorra."

"Really?" asked Tatiana, beginning to get nervous at the thought.

"Ya'll be foine," Mungojerrie said, noticing his queenfriend's discomfort.

"Oh, which remoinds me, we 'ave a meetin' 'bout it first so we know the order of the songs 'n' dances, et cetera."

"Etcetera? What's she got to do with the meeting?"

"No, Oi meant –"

"I know what you meant," cut in Tatiana with a laugh. "I was being silly."

"Oh! Sorry," said Rumpelteazer sheepishly.

Mungojerrie rolled his eyes. "Well, it's getting' loite. Oi think Oi'll turn in for the noight, if that's okoiy with yoo two."

"Sure," said Tatiana.

"Woit, where am Oi gonna sleep?" asked Rumpelteazer with a pout.

"Come with me and we'll fix something up," Tatiana invited.

"Thanks. 'Noight, bro." Rumpelteazer stood to give Mungojerrie a hug.

"'Noight, 'Teazer. Goodnoight, Tatiana."

"Goodnight, Jerrie, see you in the morning." Tatiana gave him a hug also, and, when she thought Rumpelteazer wasn't looking, gave him a quick peck on the lips.

The other queen did, however, see this, although she pretended not to, and grinned to herself in satisfaction. She was proud of being able to finally match-make successfully.

"So, 'ow're we gonna manage this?"

"I'm coming, Rumpelteazer, you impatient thing!" Tatiana laughed, heading over to her own box.