The cats and the moon - I/ TWO TRIBES

5. Munkustrap under attack

They appeared in the street under the eyes of Grizabella and the twins, who jumped.

"You can... Teleport?" Grizabella said in awe. "Why didn't you use that to get inside?"

"I can only go to a place I know already." He looked at the twins. "Good to see you two made it out alright."

Rumpleteazer grinned at him.

"You should believe in us more, sweetie." She studied Eriva, who was still hiding her face in Misto's chest. "Hey there..."

Eriva looked up at her.

"That's Rumpleteazer", Misto told her softly. "She and her brother" - he indicated Mungo - "helped me get you out. And that's Grizabella", he added.

Eriva broke away from him, but didn't let go of his hand.

"Thank you", she said quietly. "I'm sorry for... What happened that other day. I had no idea then... I trusted..."

Mungojerrie cut her off softly.

"We know, darling. We've... Well, I've been there as well."

He pressed her shoulder comfortingly.

"Come on, let's not linger here. Macavity could be back any moment", Grizabella reminded them.

"Oh, wait!" Eriva suddenly exclaimed. "Munkustrap... Is that a member of your tribe?"

"Yeah, he's the fierce grey cat you might have noticed the other day. Why?"

"Macavity's out for him. That's why he left... He set up an ambush for him!"

Mungojerrie took things in charge at once.

"Do you know where?"

"Not exactly. Do you know if there's a dead end somewhere that Munkustrap often goes to?"

"I know the place", Misto said. "It's in his neighbourhood."

"Good. You and Eriva go and see if you can find him. There's not a moment to lose. Rump and I will go and get the rest of the tribe. Grizabella..."

"I'm sorry kids, but I've done my part. My presence from here would just burden you. I'll be off."

The other four nodded.

"We'll manage without you."

The five cats scattered in different directions. Misto signaled for Eriva to climb up on a roof. Once they were at the top, he took her hand and they jumped off. But instead of landing at the foot of the building, they appeared in the dead end Misto had been thinking of. His guess had been correct: Munkustrap was there, engaged in a fight against Macavity and several of his minions. At the sight of the tall ginger cat, Eriva tensed and backed away. Mistoffelees didn't notice this, but threw himself into the battle. However, it was highly unbalanced; the two Jellicles were overpowered and within a few minutes, both of them had received serious injuries. Munkustrap had fallen but Mistoffelees was still fighting; but a nasty scratch caught him across the chest and he collapsed in turn. Eriva gasped in horror and, without thinking, she pounced on Macavity's back. He threw her off-balance and stared at her angrily.

"What are you doing here?"

"Leave them alone!" she cried, getting up again and preparing to fight despite her terror. He advanced upon her, putting on his seducing face, and took her hand. She wrecked it out of his grasp.

"Stay away from me!"

"Oh, is it like that then?"

He lunged at her but she dodged him, slithering under his guard and planting her claws in his thigh. He cried out in pain and anger and grabbed her arm to throw her to the ground. She crashed against the wall but was soon on her feet again, ready to fight. Macavity advanced on her again, signalling for his minions to keep away.

"I'll finish off this annoying pest on my own!"

He aimed another scratch at her and this time she was too slow. His claws slashed through her face and she howled in pain. She rolled aside to avoid being cornered against the wall and aimed another scratch at him. He dodged and grabbed her around the neck with one hand, while with the other he prepared a hit that was clearly designed to kill her. Eriva shut her eyes out of fear.

There was a sudden uproar and a shock, and Macavity let go of her. She rolled to the ground and bumped against a live body. Taken by surprise, she stood up again and whirled around.

The dead end was now chaos. The entire Jellicle tribe, led by Rumpleteazer and her brother, seemed to have joined in the fight, and it was Macavity's turn to be overpowered. Turning around again, she realised the limp body she had hit was that of Misto. She immediately knelt down next to him and anxiously began licking his wounds.

Don't be dead, Misto, please don't be dead...

She barely realised that the fight was dying away. Macavity and his minions had run away. The cats now crowded around her, Munkustrap and Mistoffelees. Rumpleteazer's hand came down on her shoulder.

"It's okay, Eriva. We're going to take care of him now."

Eriva looked up at her as several cats took over in taking care of Mistoffelees. Rumple pulled her into an unexpected hug.

"Thank you", she whispered in her ear.

"We should take them back to the junkyard", an elderly golden tabby queen eventually stated. Eriva pulled away from Rumple and looked at her with a mixture of hope and worry.

"I think you should come with us, kid", a black tom told her. She looked at him doubtfully. "Yes, I mean it. I'm Tugger, by the way. What's your name?"

"I... I'm Eriva. Are you sure... I mean..."

Mungojerrie put an arm around her shoulders.

"We know what Macavity is like, don't worry. Like I said... You're not the only one to have been there. And besides, without you, Munk would certainly be dead by now."

Eriva gave in and awkwardly followed them back to the junkyard. There, the elderly queen, who's name Eriva learnt was Jellylorum, instructed that Misto and Munk should be taken to her den, and allowed nobody to follow but a ginger tabby queen called Jennyanydots. The cats all lay down in different spots of the junkpile. Eriva sat aside, watching them all without daring to join them. Mungo and Rump were lying side by side and licking each other's injuries, and Tugger, the only other cat who had spoken to her, was lying with two queens she did not know yet, one scarlet and one gold. The rest of the tribe was resting in twos and threes, licking each other's wounds and cleaning the blood off each other's coat, just like Misto had done for her when she still lived with her human. Repressing the fear that built up in her heart at the thought of the small tuxedo cat, she began licking her own wounds.