Griddlebone had given birth to our first litter, my first child. I felt so old. So much older than I had even weeks before the litter had been birthed. Before I’d know what was going on, I’d be a grandfather and then what? A great-grandfather?

Whenever I tried to mention this to Griddlebone, she merely smiled and shook her pretty head.

“You’re not old, Mac. Not by a long shot. Do you think I’m old?”

“No.”

“Well, I’m older than you are, so if you don’t think I’m old, then you couldn’t possibly be. Understand?”

“I suppose.”

Our first child was a small queen kitten. Almost too tiny, at least that was Griddlebone’s constant concern, but she made up for her lack of size with barrels of affection and energy.

She didn’t look much like her mother at all. In fact, most of the strays agreed that she looked like a female carbon copy of myself. Ginger and black from the tops of her ears to the tips of her tail. She did, however, keep her mother’s eyes. They stood out shockingly with her fiery fur. Griddlebone insisted that she be named after her grandmother. So, my first child was named Vindonia at the first full moon after her birth.

Not six months later, Griddlebone gave birth to our second litter and her third. Twin tom kittens whom we named Pippen and Skeet. They, like their older sister, looked more like me than their mother. Only, instead of the striped pattern, their fur had a crazy, crisscrossed pattern to it that made them hard to watch when they were barreling about the warehouse. Few strays could claim to be able to watch them without feeling nauseous. The disorder of their fur only served to match their personalities. Wild and fun loving.

Our third litter, according to Griddlebone while in labor and busy trying to break my right paw in pain, was another one kitten litter. This time our daughter looked like her mother. Fluffy, white, and delicate. She was the shyest and most timid of all the kittens, much preferring to cuddle with her mother or her older half-brother Hyde to rough housing with the other kittens. She was also easily frightened by any loud noises or sudden movements, which had Hyde at her side constantly. I had to admit that my half-brother (I had come to accept that Griddlebone’s first litter were indeed my half-siblings, but we still insisted that they as though I were their father) was gentle and loving to his younger half-sister in ways that his brother could never be.

In fact, it had seemed as though all of our children had formed little alliances among themselves. There was Hyde and Giselle, our youngest, of course. Pippen and Skeet had latched onto their older half-sister, Torra, who would wrestle with them only until another tom her age looked her way. Although she loved them, it was amusing to see how quickly she’d drop them for a handsome tom kitten looking her way.

Lastly, Vindonia had paired off with Otto. That match bothered me somehow, although I could never put my paw on how it did. Something was wrong with the way Otto was constantly at his half-sister’s side and would stand up for her regardless if she were clearly in the wrong. I suppose it could be worse, though. At least they didn’t hate one another, right?

~*~

That afternoon, I was resting in the room of the warehouse where Griddlebone and I slept. I had just finished hiring some new strays for what Griddlebone knew only as my “employees”. True, that’s who they were, but she didn’t really need to know the full and complete truth of their duties. All she needed to know was that there was food and shelter for her and the kittens. That provided, she seemed to understand that I did not want her to press about what I did to give her these things.

I felt myself begin to drift off into sleep when a faint knocking came at the door. I lay still for a moment, hoping that the visitor would leave me alone if I did. However, the knock came again. I cursed silently, then sat up, glaring at the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, sir.”

I groaned softly. Just what I needed. “Come in.”

The door creaked open slowly to reveal a young orange and black tom. He grinned sheepishly.

“I’m not disturbing your rest, am I?”

“No. Why would you think that?”

“I didn’t think I was. That’s really the last time I listen to Ira.”

I gazed at him mildly for a moment. “What do you want, Jerrie? If you don’t had anything urgent, I was going to rest.”

He rubbed the back of his neck with a nervous laugh. “It’s funny, really. I mean, what happened, ya know? Everything was going fine at first, right, but...” He trailed off, widening his eyes at me. I buried my own with my paws.

“Everlasting Cat! What the heck did you and Teazer do this time?”

“Nothing, sir! Honest! We were only doing what you told us to do, but the humans came home too early!” He flopped down on the edge of my bed miserably, not seeming to notice my eyebrow hook upwards. “They got Teazer, sir! It was horrible!”

“Well, is she OK? Did they hurt her?”

He shrugged, hanging his head. “I dunno. They took her to the... to the...”

“The pound?” I asked softly.

He looked away, not answering, but his crumpled face confirmed it.

Well, this was perfect. My time to take a nice, peaceful, relaxing nap was interrupted by the infamous blunderings of Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer.

I patted his shoulder comfortingly and stood. He lifted his head.

“All right, come on, Jerrie. I want to get back before dinner.”

~*~

I wrinkled my nose in disgust, struggling not to breathe through it. Mungojerrie was far less subtle. He had pinched wither side of his nose with his forepaw and was breathing nosily through his mouth. I nudged him.

“Shh. You’re going to give us away, Darth.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind.” I glanced around. “You’re sure she’s in there? I don’t want to stroll into a Pollicle filled pound unless I have to.”

He nodded. “I’b sure. I can bell ‘er.”

“Jerrie? Your nose is plugged.”

He released it, took a quick sniff, and replugged it. “Yup. She’s in dere.”

“Not asking,” I replied and moved forward. The back door had been left open for a few minutes as the humans were moving things in and out. It was now or never. I grabbed Mungojerrie’s arm. “Count of three.”

“OK...”

“One... Two...”

“Macavity! The door!”

“Shit!”

I ran forward and darted through the closing door. I turned to see if Mungojerrie had followed me and watched as the door slammed shut inches in front of his face. I heard a solid thump as he crashed into it and winced.

“Jerrie? Are you all right?”

“Yes, sir,” he mumble weakly. I could just see him rubbing his poor nose pitifully. “How am I going to get in?”

I looked around. “I don’t think that you can. Why don’t you wait out there?”

“I wanna see Teazer.”

“I know you do, but there’s not much you can do if I can’t get you in here. Will you be OK if you stay out there alone?”

“I guess so. Find her soon?”

“Promise.”

“All right,” I heard him reluctantly agree. I felt bad for him, but what could I do?

Well, for one thing, I could get my tail moving. Was I really stupid enough to stand in the middle of a pound? Apparently. Well, that could be fixed. Just get out of the open.

I ducked down into the shadows and crept along the empty cages to my right. It was creepy in here, even for me. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but a growing feeling of dread was creeping into the pit of my stomach.

Out of nowhere, something reached out and latched onto my arm. I spun, unable to release my arm, and gasped. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe.

I was staring face to face with my father. I tried to pull away. I tried to free myself. I even tried to scream, but I was numb where I was standing. My knees buckled and sunk down to the floor.

“How?” I managed to croak. “You’re supposed to be dead!”

He reached forward and I was certain that this was finally it. I was going to die. He was going to kill me because I was too terrified to do anything about it or to even try to stop it.

“What are you talking about, boy?”

I blinked, startled. This... this wasn’t Growltiger. Just some old tom that looked similar to him. I was so paranoid! He stared at me with wide, worried eyes. I swallowed roughly and jerked myself away. Giving him a sharp look, I ran in the opposite direction.

Once I was a safe distance away, I slowed down. These cages were better lit. It also seemed to me that the animals down here were the younger, better looking animals. The ones that the humans would want to take home, I imagined. I paused a moment, seeing a flash of orange-white. I walked forward a few steps.

“Macavity!”

“Rumpelteazer! Are you all right?” I asked, wrapping my paws around the bars in front of me. She bounced forward.

“I’m fine! How did you know I was here?”

“Your brother helped me.”

“Where is he?” she asked, looking around.

“He got trapped outside.”

“Trapped?”

“No, no. I’m sure he’s all right. He just wasn’t able to move fast enough to get in the door. It shut in his face.” She sighed.

“I’m glad he’s OK. It’s like him to mess something like that up.” She tapped the bars I was leaning against. “How are we going to get me out of here?”

“Stand back. I have a few tricks up my sleeve,” I replied, studying the lock.

She nodded and moved to the back of the cage. I watched her kneel down as I bent to pick the lock. After a few minutes, I realized that she was talking softly to someone else. I looked up.

“Teazer?”

“Yes?”

“Who are you talking to?”

“My cell mate.” She stood and motioned to what I realized was a small black cat. “Come on over here.”

I stopped my work on the lock to watch the young tom creep forward. He didn’t raise his eyes to mine. After a moment, I shrugged.

“Wonderful.” I continued to pick the look.

“I can help,” I heard a timid voice mumble. I looked up to see that the young tom was studying the lock as well.

“You? How?”

“Like this.”

I hopped backwards with a yelp as bright blue sparks splashed over the lock. It crackled under the heat and the bottom half snapped off. I stared at the broken lock lying on the floor for a moment before raising my eyes to meet his. The young tom, who actually younger than I had first thought, swallowed and slunk back.

Rumpelteazer clapped her paws enthusiastically. “That was awesome! Why didn’t you do it before?”

He shrugged and looked down. “It doesn’t always work,” he replied softly. Rumpelteazer giggled.

“It was still pretty cool!” She glanced at me, then the bars. Everlasting Cat, this little queen certainly wasn’t subtle.

I gave the door a firm jerk and it swung open. Rumpelteazer barreled out and wrapped me in a giddy hug, dangling from my neck. I couldn’t resist a laugh when she kissed my cheek and hopped down. She twirled around, examining her whereabouts. how her sheer energy hadn’t burst open the cage door was completely beyond me.

The younger tom eyes her warily. No wonder. He was probably worried by Rumpelteazer’s abnormal amount of energy. I had to admit that she was making me dizzy. I finally reached out and grabbed onto her tiger striped tail as an orange blur darted past me.

Rumpelteazer tumbled to the ground, landing in a sitting position. Her mouth turned down in a pout as she crossed her arms over her skinny chest.

“Macavity! I trying to find an escape route!”

“Well, stop it. You’re going to make me throw up if you don’t!”

That brought the faintest trace of smile to the black tom watching us. He noticed me watching him and looked back down again.

“What’s your name?”

“Mine?”

“Who else?”

He fiddled with his tail for a moment. “Quaxo.”

“Nice to meet you.” I looked over to Rumpelteazer, who was actually starting to creep off. “Stay put. If you get lost on this rescue mission, I swear that i’m not coming back to get you.”

“Fine. Be a jerk like that.”

“I mean it.”

She threw her arms in the air with a disgusted noise. “I’m staying put! Yeesh!”

All three of us jumped as the door at the far end of the hallway opened. Humans, most likely. I grabbed onto Rumpeltazer’s arm and tugged her upright. Quaxo looked around nervously.

“Both of you follow me,” I commanded, pulling Rumpelteazer fast behind me.

I jerked her arm forward and shoved her forward into a nook behind some unused cages. She let out a small squeak as her arm smacked against one of the crates. I paid no heed, she wasn’t really hurt, and spun. Without thinking, I grabbed Quaxo’s tail, he had stopped and turned to watched the approaching humans, and jerked him into the nook. Once I had him back there, I backed in, wanting to be able to see what was going with the humans.

They were unlike any other humans that I had ever seen before. Instead of their multicolored fur, splashes of blue and green mixed with pinks and purples, they had long white coats. They were solid white. Even their hind paws (feet as I believe they were called) were white. I studied these strange, new humans with interest for a few moments before noticing one of them carrying a long, sharp-tipped, tube-shaped thing in his hand. From behind me, I heard Quaxo breath in sharply.

“Oh, no,” he murmured. I started to turn to ask him what was wrong, but the humans moved towards a cage near us.

“What’s happening?” Rumpelteazer whispered into my ear. She didn’t seem to be frightened, but rather curious. I shrugged.

“I’m not sure. Just wait and be quiet.”

“OK.”

While I had been talking to her, the humans had removed a young queen from one of the cages. She looked about Rumpelteazer’s age. A pretty creature, if a little young. The human holding her stroked her behind her black and white ears. The other human was scribbling something onto a clipboard.

“This isn’t right,” Quaxo murmured to himself. I considered asking him what he meant, but I supposed I’d find out soon enough.

The humans carried her out of the hallway into a small, adjoining room. Unexpectedly, Quaxo hissed and tried to shove past me. I fell back, surprised, then quickly regained my footing. Stupid kid was going to get us all killed!

I grabbed him, trying to pull him back into the little nook. He hissed, this time at me, and slashed at me with his claws. Except, he wasn’t quite looking at me and I had an eerie feeling that he wasn’t really even seeing me. He flung his arms out again, trying to beat me back.

I would’ve let him go, but I was nervous that he’d give us away. Plus, he was only a kitten and why should I let him chase after the humans? I felt like a complete jerk, but I was not going to let this kitten get us all killed.

I swung a fist, connecting solidly with his jaw. Quaxo dropped heavily to the ground, not making a noise. His eyes were dazed, but the crazed look that had been in them before was gone. Before he could get back up and run away, I hauled him back into the nook. Rumpelteazer was kneading the ground with her forepaws, looking completely terrified.

I pressed a paw to Quaxo’s mouth. “Whatever you’re trying to do, stop it!” He looked away.

Suddenly, Quaxo’s entire body tensed and tears welled in his eyes. I thought for a moment that I was seriously hurting him and relaxed my hold. When that didn’t work, I dropped my paw, startled. He buried his face with his paws, crouching back from me. I could hear his breathing speed up. Then, as suddenly as it had started, he slumped down, looking at me with exhausted eyes.

“It’s done,” he murmured, dropping his chin down onto his chest.

I exchanged a glance with Rumpelteazer. “What is?”

He shrugged. “The humans did what they wanted to. It’s not important anymore.”

“Quaxo?” I heard Rumpelteazerask softly.

“They put her to ‘sleep’,” he said with a disgusted sniff. “A nice human way of saying they killed her.”

Rumpelteazer gasped. “How do you know? I mean, you were out here with us and...”

“Call it intuition,” he sighed.

Quaxo slumped against the wall, refusing to say anything more about it. Silent tears ran down his face, but he didn’t seem to notice or care. After staring at him for a few minutes, I felt Rumpelteazer press close against me. Her heart was pounding hard and I felt tears soaking onto my fur. I wrapped one arm around her.

“It’s OK, Teazer.”

“No, it’s not. I wanna go home.”

“I know. I do, too.”

~*~

The four of us, Mungojerrie had joined us once we’d made it out of the pound, arrived at the warehouse sullen and in dark moods. Even Rumpelteazer was in a dark mood, her tail drooping pathetically.

When we got there, Grizabella and Ira were there to greet us, but none of us were much in the mood for a warm welcome. Grizabella realized that something was wrong and quickly led Quaxo away towards the warehouse. The other two, arms around each other’s waist, walked away warily after her. Ira watched them go.

“I’m not going to ask you what happened, Macavity. I know that you won’t tell me. All I wanted to tell you was that we caught a trespasser by the warehouse while you were gone.”

I slumped my shoulders forward. “Who? A Jellicle from the junkyard?”

Ira nodded with a sympathetic smile. “I know how you feel. You’d think they would’ve learned by now that we don’t want them sneaking around here.”

“I never forbid them, but I am now. I am sick of them creeping around my home. They have no right.”

“Of course.”

I stratched my head, walking towards the warehouse. I was still upset from the pound. I stopped suddenly.

“That Jellicle.” Ira nodded. “I want them to know that I mean business. Unless it’s a kitten, rough it-”

“Him, Macavity.”

“Rough him up and bring him to me tomorrow. I’ll make sure that those stupid Jellicles stay away from us.”

Ira nodded reluctantly and walked away.