~Two weeks before the end of chapter 9~

"Are you sure about this?"

I rolled my eyes at Taru, despite my weariness. Tomorrow morning I would be gone, taking Pike back to the junkyard where he would be safe. He wiggled a bit in my arms as I wrapped him in a blanket. "It's the only way I can think of to keep them both safe."

Taru adjusted Vail in her arms, trying to hold the squirming queen kitten. The last thing anyone expected was for me to give birth to twins. They were identical in almost every way, with the exception that Vail had a patch of ginger on her left ear, where Pike had a patch of grey. It was that little patch of ginger that made me decide who was going to the junkyard, and who was staying in Ireland with the barn cats.

"Momma," Vail said, reaching her paws out. She was far more adventurous than her brother, who seemed almost scared to learn how to walk and talk. "Don't go momma," she pleaded. Her blue-grey eyes seemed like big, round saucers as she looked at me from Taru's arms.

I smiled at her. "I'm just going for a walk with Pike," I said, hating myself for it. I didn't know when I would see her again. I forced my eyes to stay dry as I lied to my daughter. "I'll be back before you know it."

Vail poked her tongue out at her brother, who retaliated by waving his fist around. "He can't even walk yet. Can I come too?"

"No," I said firmly. "You need to stay here with Taru."

"Alright, little lady," Taru said. "Enough questions. It's time for bed."

Vail whined a little as she was passed up to the loft where the kittens slept. Taru returned to sit in front of me, watching Pike as he drifted off to sleep in his blanket. "They're both sweet kittens. 'Tis a shame they can't grow up together."

"Believe me, I wish they could." I brushed a bit of Pike's long headfur out of his face. "I would love nothing more than to raise them myself."

"Then why don't you?" Griffyn trotted over from the ladder once she'd been satisfied that all the kittens were settled in the hay. "We can keep you safe from Macavity, we've already fought him off once before."

"He ran for it," I said, frowning. "He'll more than likely bring more fighters if he comes back. I can't hurt you guys like that."

"At least come back to stay with us."

I bit my lip. If Macavity found out about Vail, I didn't know what I would do. The plan was to get Pike into the Jellicle tribe, and hopefully he would be protected there, and Macavity would never find out about Vail. It might seem normal to him for me to return to Ireland, but I was unsure. I hugged Pike closer to my chest.

"I feel like I'm being torn in two," I muttered. "I'll come back when I'm sure Pike is safe."

…

Pike clung to my back, blabbering non-stop about each and every thing he saw on our journey. He couldn't make coherent words yet; he was too shy to talk around anyone but me.

"Dere'sa birdie, momma," he said, pointing. "Itsa blue birdie, seeda blue birdie, momma?"

I smiled. "Yes, I see it. Do you know what its called?"

Pike shook his head, watching the bird as it pecked at a small road-side birdfeeder.

"It's called a blue jay." I loved how much Pike was learning. He really was an intelligent tomkit, but he seemed timid and shy around others; unless it was Vail, of course. Those two got into all sorts of trouble, usually at the prompting of Vail.

Pike considered this. "Blue jay." He said, as if he were the one to decide the species of the bird.

I smiled at him, and he grinned right back. "Do you want to try walking?" I asked, knowing full well he'd refuse.

True to his character, Pike shook his head vehemently. "I wanna ride th' whole way."

I sighed. I just didn't know how I'd get him walking on his own. We'd been going for about eight days, and not once had Pike asked when we'd be going back to the barn. I figured he was simply ecstatic to have me to himself.

"Momma?"

"Hmm?"

"When're we gonna go back?"

Speak of the devil, I thought. I smiled. "We're going to visit a friend of mine. She has a daughter, someone for you to play with." I wondered how Liebe was doing as I said it.

Pike wrinkled his nose. "I dunno her though."

I laughed. "That's ok," I assured. "It'll be easy to make friends." I wished, not for the first time on our trip, that I could stay and help him get used to the cats of the tribe.

…

The streets of London seemed different after being gone for so long. Pike was asleep on my back, wrapped in the blanket like a sort of sling. I followed a familiar path, walking silently along to the junkyard. My heart was thumping loudly and my fur stood on end. Someone was watching me, I could tell. I forced myself to keep going, but I moved Pike so that I was holding him in my arms. He stirred, and suddenly he was awake.

"Where are we, momma?"

His constant chatter on our trip had greatly improved his speech, and he'd taken a few steps before demanding to ride. I smiled down at him, but it was merely a mask.

"We're almost to my friend's home. Go back to sleep."

I heard heavy paw-steps behind me, and my breath slowly hiked to hyperventilation. I tensed to run, gripping Pike tightly.

"Kroova?"

I froze at the voice, surprised. Why did I know that voice? It wasn't Macavity… I turned around. Samuel was leaning against a fence and staring at me curiously. I smiled and allowed myself to relax.

"Hello, Samuel. Are you headed to the junkyard?"

He nodded. "The going is slow, but I'll get there eventually."

I checked to see if Pike had drifted back to sleep. He had. "Could you do me a favor, Samuel? Take Pike there with you."

Samuel heaved himself up and came to examine the tomkit in my arms. "You can't take care of him, can you?" He wasn't accusing me, but he sounded sad.

"I know he'll be safe there."

Samuel was silent as he watched Pike. "I will take him."

I smiled at the old tom. "Thank you," I said. I pulled a folded piece of paper out of the blanket. "Would you give this to Old Deuteronomy as well?" Samuel nodded and took the paper.

"He can walk, right?"

"A bit," I said, setting Pike down on the grass. "He's really shy, and won't talk much."

"And why can't you take care of him?"

I swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump that was forming in my throat. "You can read the note," I said. "It'll explain everything." I turned to go, but paused. I turned back and kissed Pike on the forehead. "Goodbye," I said softly. Then I started running.

=^..^=

Vail was curled up against the other kittens fast asleep when a paw touched her shoulder. She looked up and saw the figure of a tom in the moonlight. He held a paw to his lips, signaling for her to stay quiet, and beckoned for her to follow.

Outside, he started walking, and Vail felt it only natural to follow. He looked like Rascal, but his fur seemed the wrong shade to be dark red. Out in the middle of the field, he sat and faced Vail.

"Where is your mother?"

Vail shrugged. "She's been gone for a couple weeks. I don't know where she went." She gazed curiously at the tom in front of her. "What's your name?"

"Macavity."

She cocked her head at the name. She'd heard Taru and Griffyn mention it a couple of times, but she never paid attention. "How do you know my mom? Are you friends?"

Macavity chuckled. "Friends? Hardly. What's your name?"

"I'm Vail."

Macavity smiled. "Vail, do you want to know something?"

Vail grinned. "Like a secret?"

"Yes," Macavity nodded. "Something your mother didn't want you to know,"

Vail leaned forward in anticipation; she loved secrets.

"I am your father."

Vail gasped. Her mom had said numerous times that her father was dead, but here was a tom claiming to be her father. She took a second look at his fur. Ginger, she realized, reaching up to touch her left ear. So that's where it came from. Suddenly, she felt hurt. Why did her mom lie to her? And again, when she'd said she would be right back. That was two weeks ago. She scowled at her paws. Living with the barn cats didn't seem so inviting anymore.

"Can I come with you?" She asked suddenly. Macavity grinned and threw a paw across her small shoulders, leading her out of the field.

[A/N] I don't know why I forgot to do this in the first place...

~FIN~