Train of Thought

"I was not staring at Plato, Pouncival, and you know it!" a young white cat with tan and black tabby markings insisted. She glared at the brown and white patched tom seated next to her on a large plywood board that hadn't managed to rot through yet.

"Yes you were, Etcetera, and you know it. You fawn over almost every tom in the junkyard, and I'd bet you'd fall for me if I wasn't your brother." Pouncival's expressive face sported a mischievous smirk as he winked at his other sibling, Tumblebrutus, who was lounging nearby and trying to keep his face blank.

The calico queen scrunched her nose up in disgust. "Eeww, I'd rather fall in love with Macavity than you!" she shrieked, swatting at her brother, who rolled into a backwards somersault to dodge her paw.

"Hey, keep it down, you'll set off Demeter," he joked. The black and gold queen was especially sensitive to the mention of the hated cat, and none of the kittens wanted to risk upsetting her. Well, not too often, at least.

Etcetera sighed dramatically, and laid her head on her paws. "There's just nothing to do," she complained.

Pouncival was instantly ready with a list of suggestions. "You could go see what Tugger's up to, that's always one of your favorite pastimes. Or Alonzo, or...hey look, there's Admetus, maybe you could stalk him for awhile." He gazed at his sister solemnly, his face a picture of innocence.

Etcetera rolled her eyes at Pouncival's "sincere" expression. "I think I can entertain myself just fine, without you giving me any ideas," she sniffed, jumping to her paws and scampering away, in search of a better way to spend her afternoon.

Tumblebrutus laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "Now what?" he yawned. But Pouncival's attention was already concentrated elsewhere.

"Look over there, at Cassandra. What do you think she's doing?" the brown-patched tom asked. Tumblebrutus glanced in the direction his brother indicated, and saw the queen sitting motionless atop a pile of junk, staring at nothing. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Pouncival grinned. The two exchanged glances, and together crept towards the unsuspecting queen. In the back of his mind, Tumblebrutus knew that disturbing the beautiful cat probably wouldn't end well, but he'd been around his brother long enough to realize that protesting would do no good.

The toms began to climb the pile, and were almost upon her when Tumblebrutus accidentally knocked loose a tin can, sending it clattering to the ground. The lithe Siamese's body tensed, and her angular head whipped around to locate the trespasser. "You!" she snapped, cross at being disturbed.

"Uh..." Tumblebrutus stuttered. It was a well-kept secret that he liked Cassandra, and was unsure how to respond.

But Pouncival had no qualms about speaking to the queen. "Hi, Cassandra! We were bored, and just wondered what you were-"

She cut him off. "Thinking. That's all. And now since you've broken my concentration, I've lost my train of thought."

"You were thinking about trains? Like the ones Skimbleshanks rides on?"

Cassandra rolled her eyes. "No, Pouncival, I was thinking about...nevermind." She swiped a paw across her face in frustration. "Now, why don't you two go off and play?" she urged, struggling to keep her voice gentle.

"We're bored, remember? What were you thinking about? Is Alonzo bugging you again? We could help with that..."

"I was thinking about my name, that's all," she replied, in an attempt to get them to leave her alone.

"Your name? Isn't that, well, boring? Sure, Cassandra's a pretty title and all, but-"

"Not that one, you dummy," Tumblebrutus hissed to his brother, "Her third name. The one you're not supposed to tell anyone, remember?"

Pouncival's mouth formed an "O" and he gave a chuckle. "Oh yeah, that one. Of course you were. Why, I do it all the time, meditating on my secret name." He rambled on, causing Tumblebrutus to severely want to cuff his brother for being such a fool in front of the queen.

"You probably don't even know yours," Cassandra said disdainfully. "Hardly anyone actually contemplates it anymore, it's like it's lost all of its meaning. Before long, cats will be telling each other their ineffable names!" she shook her head at the horrible thought.

"Sorry, Cassandra, we didn't mean to offend you or anything," Tumblebrutus apologized, while Pouncival had the decency to at least look sheepish. But the queen only huffed, rose stiffly and carefully made her way down from the junk pile, seeking a less-populated area. Tumblebrutus frowned, thinking that his chances with the queen had just plummeted into the negative, if that was even possible.

His brother, however, was unfazed, and was now sitting with a thoughtful expression on his patched face. "I do too know my ineffa-something name," he remarked. "But I don't know why it's supposedly so much fun to think about it. Must be an adult thing." Pouncival glanced around the junkyard from his vantage point, trying to locate more cats to bother. "Now what? Hey, look, there's Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer. I wonder if they've brought back anything interesting, like last time. Remember when they 'found' that fresh catnip? Munkustrap almost had a fit!" Still chattering, the young tom slid down the junk pile to greet the catburglars. Tumblebrutus made no move to follow, still slightly annoyed with his brother.

"This is rather a nice place to think, you know," he said to no one. Settling into a more comfortable position, Tumblebrutus tried to tune out Rumpelteazer's shrill voice shrieking at Pouncival for something or other, and began to ponder things like queens, siblings...and names.