The Aristocats Collection

Chapter 18

I burst outside, where Toula was hanging from a branch singing! Yes, very strange entry, but she was!
' "If I want to be, a fancy cat is what I'll be--but this idea just simply doesn't fill me with glee! When I was little, I would play--I would climb trees all day, and I would have a bedtime, but to make this song rhyme...I would stay up after it, exploring the world. Making things go round, I would trot along the ground, not worrying about life, my colorful thoughts are sharp as a knife. I would not grow up, I wouldn't grow up, I'd stay a kitten forever. But then--we moved, it wasn't groo-vy. I'd stay up every night wanting to be a kid again. The days went by, and they turned weeks, months, years--but I spent the time wanting to be young again." Toula sighed and rested her head on a branch. She glanced at her collar, hanging on a twig. She had slipped it off, she would put it back on later. "Hey." I smiled, rappelling up the tree and laying beside Toula. "All you gotta do is find what you wanna do in life, do it, and spend the rest having fun." I told her. Toula looked at me. She nodded and smiled. "I see. Can I tell you what I want to do in life? Please don't judge me." she said. I nodded. "I won't judge a word."
"Well, I want to first be the leader of a gang of Alley cats, somewhere near here. I will be like a mother to all the kittens in the group, but I won't have any kittens of my own. No wait, maybe one or two, but no more. While still leading the gang, I want to find a lover that will love me forever, and, well--" Toula shrugged. "That's pretty much all I desire." I nodded. "Well, let's get that gang together!" I smiled. We hopped out of the tree.

The poster was beautiful. Toula and I had made it ourselves!

Hey, wanna-be Alley cats!
Come on down to 34 Night Street at five PM tonight, January 2. Join a group of Alley cats lead by Toula, daughter of Duchess Bonfamille and Thomas O'Malley (a real Alley cat!). Toula is also the sister of Toulouse, also known as 'the toughest cat in the neighborhood'! Come on, you know you wanna be one. Get a move on!

We hung posters everywhere in hope to grant Toula's first wish. Anxiously we waited for five o'clock, and that was when it happened. Ten cats and four kittens showed up--fourteen cats! Toula was giddy with excitement, but she kept her cool. She proclaimed a very formal announcement.
"I welcome you to my new gang of Alley cats, the South-Side Scratchin' Scruffies! I am Toula Esmeralda O'Malley-Bonfamille, daughter of Duchess Bonfamille and Thomas O'Malley. I am the sister of Toulouse, whom you all know as the toughest cat in town. My adoptive father is Duke Augillard, whom was also a renowned Alley cat. Our family descends from a line of Aristocats and Alley cats." Toula said. "What are your names?" Toula asked. "I'm Mister Scary Scallywag." said a yellow cat with only one eye. "I'm Goofy Gabble!" said a kitten with a green hat on. "I'm Beany Bubble Bloop!" another kitten said. "My name is Zuper Ziggle, and that is Green Glop." said a girl gray kitten pointing to a white one with moss on his fur. "I'm Mr. Magic Max! Also I'm the dad of all four kittens!" A black and orange cat announced. Other cats continued to say who they were, and Toula listened. Finally, the last cat spoke. "I'm Mrs. Murphy Mobert." "We are the mother and father of the four kittens!" exclaimed Murphy and Scary Scallywag. Toula nodded. Well, I guess she thought she'd be like a second mother to them, then. Toula had her gang. Now, the hard part--asking Mama if Toula could move out.
Surprisingly, Mama was really chill about the whole thing. I guess it was because she was caring for Bev, Jan, and May. "I was thinking about meowing at Madame to adopt some more kittens anyway."
So Toula found and claimed her very own alley, complete with garbage cans and rotten food and concrete walls and--you get the deal. Toula moved all of her new gang to the alley. They would have so much fun! Toula fashioned the alley to everyone's taste. She pushed garbage cans just the right length for jumping across, and regularly fished food out of the trash and piled it up in a corner for any gang member to eat. Sometimes, I snuck Toula some of my food at Madame's house.
Toula had a successful gang. They played and laughed, talked and hunted, and were happy at times and serious with others. It was quite a fancy place, and they had even tricked a city road painter into painting the walls of the alley. They were a sleek and dark yet a bit light, just like a road. It was road paint!
Toula and the others, mostly Green Glop, collected heavy cans and nails. They tricked the local woodcutter into nailing the cans on the wall (Toula is one sneaky cat). Now, when agility is needed, the cats can jump from can to can. The food corner was tidied up into a bowl (my old food bowl, as Madame brought me a new one). Pickings like steak bones, leftover fruit, spaghetti strings, and sometimes my food at Madame's brought there were easy and common pickings.
"Hey Marie!" May yelled. "Yes?" "I found a friend!" "Wow! Who?" "His name is Ryan!" "Cool! Where did you meet Ryan?" "In... An alley... But he was very nice!" "Hmm..." "I can get him. Ryan!"
We were outside, and a small, sleek Siamese kitten emerged from behind a wall. "Hey, um...I'm Ryan." he said, not looking up. He wrinkled his nose and inhaled, and he scratched his neck.
"Oh, yes, uh, hi Ryan." I smiled. Ryan looked to the left. "Hey, uh..." he said, combing through his head hair with his paw. What an introvert. I thought, wondering if May should be around him. "So, Ryan," I said, attempting to strike up a conversation. "Do you live near here?" Ryan still didn't look me or May in the eye. "Yeah, I um...yeah, down the street...um, Whaley, um...Whaley...on Whaley Street." "You do? Cool!" "Yeah, it's nice." "Well, I'm going to go now. Bye Ryan. Bye May." All of a sudden, A larger Siamese cat came out from behind the wall. Her points were lighter than Ryan's. "Ryan, sweetheart, we must go home." she smiled. "Ryan talks about May all the time. I am Glacia. Are you her mother?" I shook my head. "I am Marie, her big sister." Glacia's eyes lit up. She smiled. "Marie Bonfamille, that is?" I nodded. She smiled. "May I tell you a story?" She asked. I signaled her yes. "
Oh my, your mother and her mother used to be so famous. I mean, they went every where, and everyone loved them. Turkish Angoras. That no good grandfather of yours, Duchess' father, left and no one ever saw him again.
As Duchess' mother, Lovely, got older, the crowd began to love Duchess more. Lovely started to change--her attitude mostly. She envied Duchess. Things got deeper and worse, farther--terribly horrid things.
It came to Lovely plucking off Duchess' fur in the night, and sewing it into her own skin with different fur. Sewing with needles! To keeping her fur from graying, Lovely would bleach it every night with wash detergent. But Lovely did not know the long term consequences.
Duchess' sewn on fur began to die, as there was no vital connection to them to keep them healthy and moisturized. This left visible red blotches all over Lovely's body, from where she had sewn it in. The bleach began to make her skin crusty and peel. Lovely had become disgusting, and it was because of her jealousy.
The same night this happened, they heard Lovely's cry, and then she was gone. They couldn't find her anywhere. No body or anything. Just gone.
Everyone from Paris to Australia panicked and cried, letting go of the tears and sadness they had stored for the day. But most affected was Duchess. She was just a teenager, just 17 human years. And even when she found out what her mother was doing, she didn't care. She has been searching for her since."
The story touched my heart, loyalty even in times of betrayal. But Mama had been famous? And her father had left her, like Duke did to us. But Mama never went looking for Duke. I realized something.
Mama didn't want to be like Lovely--she wanted to keep and love her kids, even if they were liked more than her. Mama had left the industry of entertainment for us.
I was in awe, but I waved goodbye to Glacia and Ryan. May and I remained silent the whole way back.
It was near night time when we got back. May decided to lolly off to sleep. I was just standing there, nothing really. I heard a loud neigh from the small stables. Frou Frou making a ruckus. I went down to see what it was all about.
Frou Frou was running about, circling her stall. "Frou Frou, are you okay?" I said worriedly. Frou Frou looked at me. "Most not okay, Marie!" she replied, almost sweating. "There's a pack of wolves nearby!"
I looked at Frou Frou with an are-you-serious look. She nodded.
"Run!" I yelled. We both ran to the corner of the barn. Coincidentally, howls echoed out. I know one wolf can easily eat a cat, and more than one wolf can take down a horse. "Marie?" Duchess called, slithering into the barn. "Awooooooo!" "Oh my! Wolves!" "RUN!"