The Tyghurss also went hunting without their chief that day, for when Munkustrap first awoke, everything ached, even his ears and the tip of his tail. Vyktorea assured him that this was due to the after-effects of a massive expenditure of magic and would gradually pass. With this in mind, he watched the hunters depart with Moya at their head.
"I hope Groultyghur doesn't give her too much trouble," he worried as they disappeared into the forest.
"I'm sure she can handle him," Vyktorea said, putting an arm around the ginger chief to lead him to an area where the kittens were playing. "Now come sit down and rest. No need to fret over problems that aren't your own."
"Well, what about the problems that are my own?" Munkustrap said tightly as they sat down near the kitten's play area. "Such as how I'm going to get back into my own body, and what Macavity is doing in my tribe in the meantime!"
"Macavity is in the same situation as you," Vyktorea said calmly. "What can he do? Besides, I'm sure Grizabella will keep him out of trouble. How is she doing, anyway?"
Munkustrap regarded the healer carefully before answering. Her expression indicated only mild curiosity, but her voice had hinted at a homesickness that was anything but mild.
"Well enough, I suppose," he said finally, "though her health could be better."
"Oh," Vyktorea murmured, a concerned frown ruffling her fur. "Isn't there something Cazondra can do for her?"
"Probably," Munkustrap nodded sadly, "but she refuses any treatment Cazondra offers. She says she," he stopped to swallow a lump that was suddenly in his throat, "…she says she wants to…to go when the Everlasting Cat is ready for her."
"I see," Vyktorea said quietly. She sat lost in thought for a long moment, and when she spoke again, it was as if her words came from a great distance.
"I think it was something over six years ago when Bella finally decided she wanted to be a Jellicle again, two and a half months after the death of Tyrus. You may remember he was the chief before Macavity." She looked up at Munkustrap. "I want you to understand," she continued earnestly, "that Bella truly grieved Martus' death. She also grieved when Macavity, the other Macavity I mean, disappeared after her acceptance into the Tyghurss tribe. So when Tyrus, who she eventually accepted as a second mate, died in a hunting accident, I think she came a little undone. She left the Tyghurss and lived on her own, approaching your settlement whenever she could work up the nerve."
"I wish we had taken her back sooner," Munkustrap sighed.
"I wish you had, too," Vyktorea said with something close to hostility in her voice. "She came back to me a few times in tears, and it was painful listening to her sob about how all her loved ones, and you especially, turned away from her and wouldn't even let her see the kittens, some of which she guessed were her grandchildren."
Munkustrap looked greatly chagrined and Vyktorea quickly softened her tone, "But I think it was as much her stubbornness as it was yours. She didn't want to ask for forgiveness, she just wanted you to give it to her."
"We eventually did," Munkustrap commented, eyeing a cute little female kitten that was approaching them.
She looked like maybe seven years old, with the coloring of a lilac point Siamese and clear yellow-green eyes. She plopped down next to Munkustrap and nuzzled his broad chest with her head. Following what his instincts told him was probably the natural course of action, he scratched her ears and she purred, nuzzling her way into his lap.
"Why aren't you playing with the other kittens, Lydis?" Vyktorea asked the small female, trying to shake off her gloomy mood.
"Nobody's playing anymore," Lydis yawned. "It's nap time."
This seemed, in fact, to be the case, and several other kittens crawled over to them before curling up in groups of two or three for a mid-morning snooze.
"This can't last," Vyktorea said with a smile as she surveyed the various little purring furry bundles. "Two or three of them will wake up before the others and get bored and start fighting. Then the rest of them will wake up and we'll have to move before we get caught up in a grand scale war."
"Well, for now it's peaceful enough," Munkustrap said as he stroked Lydis' head. Then he turned and aimed a playful swat at an older brown and white male kitten that was stalking and pouncing on his gently swishing tail. The young male (whom he later learned was called Peder) darted away then scampered back, golden eyes glinting. Munkustrap put a clawed digit to his lips and waved a paw to indicate the other kittens who were sleeping. Peder flopped back on the ground, waving all his limbs in the air and mewing until Munkustrap was obliged to scratch his belly. Purring like a thunderstorm, the brown and white kitten twisted and turned until he finally settled himself with his head on Munkustrap's knee and went to sleep.
For a while the only sound was that of kittens purring. Then a muffled sob made Munkustrap look up from the two in his lap. Vyktorea turned her head away, but not before Munkustrap saw tears glistening on her cheeks.
"What's wrong?" he whispered, careful not to wake the slumbering kittens.
"Nothing," Vyktorea lied, smoothing her wet face fur.
Munkustrap said nothing, but kept his gaze on the calico healer. Under the unwavering green-gold eyes, she eventually broke down and admitted, "I miss Bustoffer, and I miss my boys."
Munkustrap nodded in understanding. The healer's mate, Bustoffer, had been killed on the hunt about a month before she was catnapped by the Tyghurss, leaving her two kittens, then aged fourteen and one, essentially orphaned.
How are they? she asked finally. Alahnso and Carbukety, I mean.
They're fine. Munkustrap replied. Alahnso is my second, of course, and is mated to Cazondra with five kittens. Carbukety has Ezotika as his mate and they have two kittens.
I wish I could see them. Vyktorea thought with a sigh.
Well, why stay here? Munkustrap demanded. Don't think for a minute that we wouldn't take you back into the tribe.
No, I belong here now. Vyktorea shook her head sadly. If I left now, the Tyghurss would have no healer; I'm training young Tobit, but he's hardly ready to take my place.
Cazondra wasn't ready to take your place, either, Munkustrap pointed out, a little bitterly, but she's as good a healer as we could hope for.
"But I can't leave my kittens, not again!" Vyktorea cried aloud, then gasped and put a paw over her mouth as a couple of the kittens yawned and looked at her quizzically.
"Kittens?" Munkustrap queried suspiciously.
Vyktorea leaned her head close to his ear and whispered, "Gritelboen and Tobit are mine, and so is this one." She indicated the comely tortoise shell colored female snuggled against her, who looked about Peder's age. "She is Grizelda."
Grizelda blinked her greenish orange eyes sleepily, then crawled over to where some of the other kittens were starting to play chase-your-own-tail.
Munkustrap's head was buzzing from the prolonged mental conversation, but he managed to get in one last comment, I see you have kept busy since Bustoffer's death.
Vyktorea's green eyes flashed angrily and she would have retorted if young Peder, who reminded Munkustrap of Pouncival, had not sprung upon Grizelda just then, thereby beginning the predicted war. The two older cats moved away to allow the kittens their scuffle and sat down again outside Vyktorea's home.
"I'm sorry," Munkustrap said quickly, "that comment was cruel and uncalled for. I know you grieved the death of your mate. But how could you take up with a Tyghurss?"
"If Grizabella could reconcile with Tyrus, who killed her Martus, enough to mate with him," Vyktorea countered, "then why shouldn't I mate with Aughustas, who is sweet and charming and has never killed anything other than food."
"But…but he's still a Tyghurss," Munkustrap protested weakly.
Vyktorea sighed and shook her head. "It makes no difference to me now," she explained. "When Tyrus first brought me here, it was because his own healer had died without training a successor. At first, I resisted him at every turn, but it's not in my nature to refuse care to suffering Coricats just out of spite. So I made a new life for myself here and found a new mate. Please, try to understand."
Munkustrap nodded slowly. "I think I do," he said quietly. He remembered how he had gradually gotten over the loss of both his parents, though it wasn't quite the same situation. Then curiosity made him ask, "Did Mama ever have kittens with Tyrus?"
Vyktorea went rigid and looked at Munkustrap with trepidation. "Yes," she replied cautiously, "one."
"So I have a brother," Munkustrap concluded, unsure of whether he should be excited or fearful. "Or is it a sister?"
"No, it's a brother," Vyktorea corrected him.
"Who is it?" Munkustrap demanded as happiness and alarm fought for dominance on his face.
"No!" Vyktorea cried, looking away from him. "If Grizabella hasn't told you, then why should I?"
"Mama hadn't even told me that Tyrus was her mate," Munkustrap complained.
"She was probably afraid of what your reaction might be," Vyktorea reasoned. "She should be the one to tell you about your brother if anyone does. You can ask her when you return to your tribe."
"All right," Munkustrap sighed, a little disappointed, "but I would still like to see you come back with me. There are many who would be very happy to see you."
"I'm sure," Vyktorea murmured, fighting back fresh tears. "Maybe some day."
Her voice held a note of finality and Munkustrap didn't try to press the issue, but he could tell from her tone that it was an empty promise she made.
©1999 Delilah