Macavity's Queens

"MACAVITY!!!" Demeter whispered harshly, just loud enough for the rest of the queens in the dark room to hear. They didn't know how the yellow and black queen always knew when their captor was approaching, but somehow she always did. In the far corner of their cell the kittens Etcetera, Electra, Victoria and Jemima huddled together, as if they believed that it would render them invisible to the ginger cat known to many as the Napoleon of Crime. Demeter crept closer to the other two queens who were closer to her age.

Bombalurina looked similar to Demeter, but with red rather than yellow markings. She put her reassuring hand on Demeter's shoulder, feeling the yellow queen shiver under her touch, while looking towards the door to their cell with a defiant look on her face. Nearby Cassandra, a sleek brown Siamese queen, pressed herself closer to the wall and floor.

Outside the door to their cell they could hear the scampering of little feet. Some of them belonged to Macavity's rat henchmen, others to the various stray cats that had sworn a twisted sort of oath of loyalty to him. There was all sort of chatter, but the din they made rendered most of it impossible to understand. When the queens heard the lackeys fall deathly silent, they knew that Macavity was near.

Sure enough, seconds later the cell door opened and a tall, ginger cat could be seen in the doorway. A twisted grin could be seen on his face as he heard the frightened mews from the pile of kittens. However, he decided to ignore them that day and made his way over to where the three adult queens were gathered. Bombalurina did her best to keep her gaze steady. She had been a prisoner here for a long time but had still kept her defiance. Macavity looked at her and let his hand fall on her shoulder. With a hiss, Bombalurina shrugged it off. Macavity let out a loud growl and backhanded the red queen, sending her to the floor. "If you are wise, you will learn your place. Remember that you are being kept alive and in good health by my hospitality."

The day I submit to you is the day that I die. Bombalurina thought, And if this is what you call hospitality, give us torture and get it over with.

Turning his attention from Bombalurina to Demeter, Macavity ran a long claw down her cheek. She gave an involuntary shudder. "Now, my dear Demeter, you shouldn't be afraid. In fact," he stood up and addressed all the queens, "none of you should fear me. You should be thankful that you are safe in here, instead of in the homes of evil humans, or on the streets. Here you are safe from Policles, Poms, Pekes, and Pugs. And most of all, you are safe from Jellicles."

Macavity walked slowly around the room, taking a good, long look at each of the queens in the room. "Remember this, if you escape, then the Jellicles will probably find you. And you do not want to know what they do to their queens."

Etcetera's curiosity finally got the better of her. "Wha... what would they do to us?" Her voice shaking in fear.

"My dear little kitten," Macavity crooned, "the Jellicles use their own queens as slaves! If a queen so much as questions a tom she is put to death, usually by Policle. Sometimes they will kill her themselves!" He smiled inwardly as he saw the kittens huddle closer together, for the act of one cat killing another in their own tribe was one of the most horrific that any cat could commit. "And there are three toms who are the most evil and dangerous. Much worse than I could ever be. First, there is their leader, Old Deuteronomy. He is quite old, and therefore knows over a thousand ways to kill a cat. He rules the Jellicles with an iron paw and cats tremble at his name. Then there is Munkustrap, the second-in-command. He roams the streets, searching out cats to kill. If he finds one, then he takes it back to their junkyard lair where they all cannibalize the unfortunate feline. Finally, there is the evil black magician Mistoffelees. He summons powers from a dark netherworld and uses the blood of other cats to satisfy the devils and demons he commands. That is why you should be thankful that you are here, where they will never find you. Keep that in mind, ladies." And with that, he left.

"Thank the Everlasting Cat he's gone." Bombalurina hissed, with obvious disgust in her voice. There was nothing she hated more than the ginger tom. "If I was a tom, that lousy excuse for a cat would be nothing but ribbons right now."

"Please, darling, don't let that little fact stop you." Cassandra murmured as she crept up beside the red queen. "You say when and where, and I'll be right behind you to tear his mane right off that mangy excuse he has for a coat."

Demeter had moved over to the kittens and was doing her best to calm them, which was proving no easy task. It seemed that every time that Macavity visited the queens, the kittens grew more and more terrified of him and his henchmen. And it didn't help that Etcetera, the white, tan and black kitten, was naturally so excitable, or that Jemima, the red, white and black kitten who also happened to be the youngest captive, was so sensitive so emotions. Demeter was certain that the constant terror of their prison was forcing Victoria, the white kitten, to withdraw further into a state in which she would not speak or interact with anyone. Electra, a brown, black and white kitten, was still something of a mystery to Demeter. She was the newest captive and would really only talk to Etcetera (which probably had something to do with Etcetera's constant questioning more than anything else, although the two of them did appear to be building a rather strong friendship).

"Demeter, how much longer is he going to keep us here?" Jemima cried quietly into the yellow queen's fur.

Demeter gently stroked Jemima's head. "I don't know, Jemima. You just have to be hopeful. The Everlasting Cat won't let us die here. We'll get out somehow."

"But where would we go if we did get out?" Electra said, more to herself than to anyone else in particular. "Macavity said that we can't trust humans to take care of us, and that if we wondered into the wrong area of the city, then we'd be eaten alive by the Jellicles."

"Well, I don't know about how much we can trust Macavity on anything he's said, but I know that I can't stand being in this place for much longer." Demeter turned to see Bombalurina standing behind her. "We have to get out of here soon. Cassandra and I were talking about it, and we think we have a plan."

"They're coming! Get ready!" Bombalurina whispered to the other queens. Down the hall of the dilapidated building they could hear the voices of the two stray toms that were the ones who would bring them their daily rations. They were two of the smallest cats in Macavity's employ, barely much larger than the kittens that were their charges. Coming to the door of the cell, the first tom, a ratty looking short hair looked into the cell.

"Alright you dames, you know the drill. Everyone against the back wall." Slowly each of the seven queens made their way to the back of the cell. After a few minutes the guard had finished counting all of them (he wasn't that smart, he needed both paws) and then opened the cell. He was holding a rather large stick that he was using as a bat, being something of a thug, and gave the kittens a menacing look. Meanwhile, his companion, a shaggy tan tom poured a pot of some sort of mixture of leftovers into a small trough that was set up against one of the walls. When he was done, he walked out, not bothering to wait for the short hair.

The short hair had a perverse sense of humor, which compelled him to bully the kittens each night when he brought them their food. It had almost gotten to be a regular habit, which was exactly what Bombalurina was counting on. Seeing that routine was going to be followed, she decided to put her plan into action. She gave a head toss in Cassandra's direction and the two moved to intercept the guard before he reached the kittens.

"Hey! What do you two think you're doin'?" the short hair exclaimed as he found himself surrounded by the two queens. "I told you, against the wall!"

Bombalurina put on a hurt face, and pretended to be insulted at the rebuff. "Oh, don't be like that," she purred, "we just thought that you might like a little 'change' in routine."

Cassandra smiled at the confused look that appeared on the tom's face. Brushing up against him, she poured out all of the Siamese charm that she could muster. "You've been ignoring the two of us for weeks now. Don't tell me you actually prefer those little kittens to us?"

Both of the queens pushed down the urge to throw up as the tom finally realized what the two queens were talking about and a large grin appeared on his face. "Well, why didn't you just come out and say it, ladies? A couple of lookers like you are better than a bunch of kittens any day of the week. Now then, what did the two of you have in mind for your old buddy tonight?" Bombalurina and Cassandra just giggled in reply to the question, and escorted him the direction of the far corner of the cell.

Meanwhile, while Bombalurina and Cassandra were doing the most disgusting thing of their lives (No, not that! His friend pulled the dufus tom out of there before anything could happen), Demeter had been able to pass completely undetected into the halls of the headquarters. The halls were dimly lit, but still almost blinding to her, since their cell was almost pitch black most of the time. Completely disoriented, she quickly dashed down the hall to the right, praying that none of Macavity's lackeys would discover her.

A few times she nearly ran right into henchcats as she was turning corners a little too quickly, but eventually was able to find the exit of Macavity's headquarters. When she finally stepped out of the building, she found herself in a very unsafe looking part of town. But that wasn't what she was thinking of. Quickly running down the first alley she saw, Demeter just wanted to get as far away from the lair of Macavity as her feet would carry her.

When she finally got too tired to run anymore she stopped and looked around to see where she was. It was better than the area that she started in, but still it looked rather run down. In fact, she found herself near a giant junkyard so large that looked like it had been there for ages. Not that she minded much at that very moment. She was just content to breathe the air as a free queen.

Demeter looked up at the sky and saw that there was a half-moon high in the sky, as well as the stars. There wasn't a cloud anywhere to obscure the beauty of the scene. If only the others were here too, she though to herself, then everything would be perfect.

Tearing herself out of her reverie, she remembered her mission. She was the one who had been chosen to escape in order to find cats to help rescue the others. Demeter sighed to herself as she realized that she really had no idea of how she was going to go about that. Macavity had a small army of henchcats and rats at his disposal, and how many cats would be willing to put their lives in danger in order to rescue six queens that they didn't even know. On top of that, she knew that she would need the help of toms. Macavity was simply too physically strong for a queen to fight, even the largest queen was still nothing compared to him.

Due to the abuse that the seven queens has suffered at the hands of Macavity and his henchcats, all of whom were toms, she was scared to death about approaching one. She knew that the kittens, at least, felt the same way. Bombalurina and Cassandra always appeared to simply treat them with base contempt. Demeter had no idea of how they would react if she brought back toms to rescue them. The yellow queen sighed and let her shoulders slump. She was at a total loss.

"Well, wot 'ave we 'ere?"

Demeter froze, hoping that the voice wasn't talking about her. She didn't like the sound of it.

"Looks like we got a stray!"

Two of them!

"Awww, look at that. You two are makin' the lady scared."

Three. Three Policles. And she was alone.

Quickly, Demeter turned to face the three Policles, and wished she hadn't. Standing before her were the three meanest, biggest, and ugliest Policles that she had ever seen. The sight of them almost made her wish that she had remained at Macavity's layer. Taking off as fast as she could, Demeter raced into the nearest place that looked like a safe haven.

The junkyard.

Sprinting into the junkyard, Demeter did her best to lose her pursuers. She tried weaving between piles of junk and racing over seemingly impossible obstacles, but nothing she did appeared to work. Demeter couldn't believe the agility and the persistence of the three Policles. How important could catching one cat possible be to them?

Still slightly winded from her initial escape from Macavity's layer, Demeter was quickly loosing any energy that she had left quickly. Behind her she heard the sounds of the Policle's barking getting ever louder as her arms and legs started to ignore her desperate pleas for just a few more yards, just to get someplace safe. She was frantically searching for anyplace that might serve as a hiding place, but she couldn't find any refuge.

Demeter rounded a corner, hoping a quick turn might throw the Policles off for just long enough to let her get to someplace safe, when she hit a patch of oil that was leaking out of a discarded oil can. The slick sent Demeter to the ground, slamming her left shoulder into the pile of junk nearby. Demeter gave a sharp cry of pain and instinctively curled up into a ball, cradling her left arm with her right.

"Aw, now you shouldn't 'ave run off on us like that."

Demeter looked up to see the three Policles advancing on her slowly, wicked looking grins on their faces betraying their intentions, much to her dismay.

"I guess no one told you that we don't like cats 'round 'ere." The second Policle chuckled. "Oh, well. It's a moot point now, ain't it?

"Now, tell me once again, you let one of my queens do what?" Macavity growled as he held the short hair in the air by his throat.

"She…. She escaped." He managed to gasp.

Macavity let out a growl and threw the smaller cat across the room, into the wall. Then he turned to the queens, who were all huddled in the corner, Bombalurina and Cassandra doing their best to act as a feline wall between Macavity and the kittens. "And as for you! I give you a roof over your heads, food and water, and protection, and you repay me by assisting in that ingrate to escape? I have half a mind to have you all drowned right now."

The kittens started crying at the mention the possibility of such an awful fate, and the two adult queens trying to maintain a strong front. The two queens matched Macavity's glare and the ginger cat eventually let out a growl and turned away.

"Let me be perfectly clear. The next one of you who escapes, will bring death upon all of the rest."

The three Policles drew ever closer to Demeter. Her left shoulder was throbbing in pain and none of her other limbs wanted to help her escape either.

"Looks like our toy isn't gonna play with us anymore." The first Policle laughed.

"Quit complainin'. She'll fight back when the time comes." The second sneered.

Demeter scooted back as far as she could to the mountain of junk that was behind her, hoping that maybe there could be something there that would offer some protection. She was breathing heavily, and now noticed that she was bleeding in several places from where she had nicked various pieces of junk when she was trying to lose the Policles earlier. Unable to help herself, Demeter started to cry uncontrollably. She had failed the others. She was going to die here like one of Macavity's henchcats in a street fight. And to top it all off, she was going to be killed by a pack of mangy Policles.

One of the Policles put a paw on Demeter, forcing her onto her back. She didn't have the energy to resist.

"She's not even gonna make this a challenge!" One of the Policles wined. "She's just gonna lay there!"

"Then why don't you take on someone who's a little more of a challenge?"

Demeter suddenly felt the Policle's paw lift from her chest, and she strained to see where this new voice was coming from. Rolling herself onto her right arm, she could just make out the shape of a gray tom dexterously avoiding the attacks of the three Policles as he, in turn, delivered a hailstorm of quick claw slashes across muzzles, down hindquarters, or up the back. Demeter was amazed. It was almost as if the tom was dancing around the Policles.

Finally, with a final slash, the last of the Policles was sent speeding away in an effort to get away from the gray cat.

Although she was teetering on the brink of unconsciousness, Demeter was aware that the gray tom was slowly approaching her. Once he got close enough, she saw that he was indeed a gray tabby, with white and black interspersed throughout his coat. He had a kind looking face, but one that also bore the look of someone deeply concerned. Was he concerned for her? A total stranger?

"Are you alright?"

What a kind voice. Demeter thought to herself. He didn't act like any tom she had ever met. She felt his hand run gently across her face as he examined her for injury, and she gave an involuntary jerk. She felt his hand pull quickly back.

"Please listen to me. I promise I won't hurt you. I just want to make sure you're not seriously hurt. Can you understand me?" the tom asked in a soft voice. Demeter slowly nodded. "Good. Can you tell me your name?"

"Dem... Demeter."

"Demeter. Good. Now Demeter, don't be afraid. I'm going to take you someplace where you can rest." The tom gently brushed her with his head, trying to calm her.

Demeter did her best to manage a smile. The second time he touched her, she didn't pull away. There was no malice in the touch at all; it was gentle and kind, nothing at all like Macavity's. She didn't want to be afraid of this tom for some reason. Her last thought before passing out was of what his name might be.

Munkustrap looked down at the queen he held in his arms. Her yellow coat, which must have at one point been quite beautiful, was stained with mud and with blood. The way she had been holding her left arm told him that she had been injured there, as well as the surface wounds over the rest of her body. The Jellicle cat also noticed that some of the injuries were too old to have been inflicted by the three Policles. Long term torture wasn't their style. No, this queen had been treated horribly by another cat. He had seen work like this before, but usually on dead toms. This was the handy work of Macavity.

"She'll be terrified of us. Toms in general" Coricopat stated in his usual matter-of-fact voice.

Tantomile nodded her agreement. "All Jellicles, and especially you, Mistoffelees and Old Deuteronomy specifically."

Munkustrap sighed and scratched his head. The twins had been sitting by the makeshift bed where he had brought Demeter for first aid from Jennyanydots and Jellylorum, and had come to tell him what they were able to find out about this new queen from the dreams that they were able to read. Normally Munkustrap wouldn't have had the twins use their mystic powers for such reasons, but he had been concerned about what Macavity might be up to. He didn't like what he was hearing at all.

Coricopat continued. "Macavity kept them captive by fear, but he also resorted to lies."

"He told them falsehoods that he hoped would prevent them from making escape attempts. We suppose that if he made the Jellicles sound worse than himself, then it would discourage them." Tantomile finished.

"And you don't think that telling her the truth right away would be the wisest course of action?" Munkustrap asked.

The twins shook their heads in perfectly synchronized movements. "She's emotionally sensitive." Coricopat explained.

"It is highly unlikely you could explain yourself without her attempting to run, possibly injuring herself further, or getting herself into a situation worse than she is in now." Tantomile added.

"Well, thank you. You've done well." Munkustrap said, turning away from the twins. I need to find Old Deuteronomy. He thought to himself. The gray tabby was at a loss. He didn't want to lie to the queen, who looked like she had been through enough pain to be lied to by people who were trying to help her. But if he told her that a Jellicle had rescued her, the very tribe that she had been conditioned to fear.

Munkustrap felt sorry for the yellow queen. Demeter. That's what she said her name was. Munkustrap let himself smile slightly at the thought of the queen's name. It's a fancy name, sweet sounding. It sounds like a good sensible, everyday name. He wondered for a minute what the queen would look like once Jennyanydots and Jellylorum were finished cleaning her up and tending to the wounds. Munkustrap had been able to see that she was a very pretty cat, even when she had been bleeding in his arms.

"You look like you have something on your mind, Munkustrap." A familiar voice called from above. Munkustrap looked up and saw the familiar shape of Old Deuteronomy laying on the wall next to the vicarage. It was a sunny day, and Munkustrap knew that the patriarch of the Jellicle tribe loved to simply lay in the sun, almost more than Jennyanydots did. Although the old tom was related to every Jellicle in one way or another, the two of them were especially close since Munkustrap was the one of the few cats who could trace a direct line back to him.

"There was a queen chased into the Junkyard last night." Munkustrap said simply as he jumped up next to Old Deuteronomy. The old tom nodded his head. "I think she had been held prisoner by Macavity."

"You have consulted Tantomile and Coricopat on what her mental state is?"

"Yes sir. They say that aside from being somewhat emotional, which can only be expected from what she's been through, she's fine."

Old Deuteronomy turned to face Munkustrap. "But yet, something still bothers you."

Munkustrap nodded, it was impossible to keep much from Old Deuteronomy. "The twins told me that Macavity used lies to instill total fear of the Jellicle tribe in her. He's also conditioned her to be terrified of you, me, and Mistoffelees."

"The three cats who he fears in one way or another." Old Deuteronomy said. "Your dilemma is that you don't know how to tell her who she was rescued by."

Munkustrap nodded. "I don't want to lie to her, sir. She, Demeter, doesn't need to be told any more lies. Macavity has hurt her enough."

"Then don't."

Munkustrap looked at Old Deuteronomy. "But if I tell her who we are, then she might attempt to do something that might cause herself to injure herself further!"

Old Deuteronomy chuckled. He could see that there was a little more than simple concern for this mystery queen in Munkustrap's frantic manner. "Munkustrap, remember what we are. Jellicle cats have three different names. Simply have the tribe use their everyday names until you have gained her trust. When she is certain that the tribe means her no harm, then she can be told everyone's particular name. That way, you won't have to lie to her, and you can give her time to heal in a secure environment."

Munkustrap nodded. It still sounded a little shady, but it was better than having Demeter injuring herself doing something desperate. Now, if he could just get the rest of the tribe to go along with it. It wouldn't be easy. Most of the Jellicles did not enjoy using their everyday names when they were in the Junkyard. Humans had a tendency to give them such silly names. He shuddered at the thought of being called Alexander for who knew how long.

As she slowly woke up, Demeter became aware of the sound of rodents chattering nearby. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open and she sat bolt upright. A surge of pain from her shoulder sent her back to the pile of rags that she was lying on. From the shadows of the darkened room, she heard the sound of rodents scurrying away and the form of a cat appeared in front of her.

Demeter looked at this new cat with a look of apprehension. It wasn't the tom who had rescued her, rather, this was a queen, older than any of her fellow inmates at Macavity's layer. The queen's coat was covered by tiger stripes and leopard spots, and she had a rather matronly look to her.

"Well, I see you're finally awake, my dear." The queen quipped cheerfully. "Are you in the mood for anything to eat or drink?"

"Rats?" was all that Demeter was able to choke out.

The queen stopped and gave Demeter a puzzled look. Then she gave the younger queen a large smile and laughed a little bit. "Oh, no my dear. I just can't abide rats in my little den. Those were my little mice. I'm sorry if they scared you, but they do need my constant attention, or else their manners get so terribly atrocious. We were just going over their nightly lessons. They really are getting good at tatting." The queen fairly glowed with pride, as if the mice were her own children. "But where are my own manners!" she suddenly exclaimed, causing Demeter to jump. "I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Miss Jessy." Jennyanydots said, giving Demeter her everyday name as Munkustrap had instructed all of the Jellicles to do.

"I'm Demeter."

"Yes, that's what Alexander said that your name was." Jennyanydots replied as she hurried around her den, trying to find something for Demeter to eat.

Demeter sat thoughtfully quiet for a moment. "Alexander. So that's what his name is."

Jennyanydots nodded. "Yes. A good boy, he is. He brought you here last night, and I'm amazed you've woken up so soon. Those nasty Policles, picking on a lone queen. Don't worry, my dear, you'll be safe so long as you're here. There isn't a cat in the Junkyard who won't help you if you get into any sort of trouble."

"The only danger you'll be in here is that of Miss Jessy chatting your ears off." Came a new voice from the den's entrance. Demeter and Jennyanydots both turned to see a yellow and brown queen, just a little older than Demeter smiling at them. Jellylorum entered the little den gently leading her father, an old tom named Gus, along side her. Demeter tensed slightly at the sight of an unfamiliar tom, but when she realized how old he was, she inwardly chastised herself for being afraid.

"Humph. Chattering indeed. I'll have you know that I have a wonderful bedside manner." Then the Gumbie cat turned and resumed her search for food.

Jellylorum chuckled and she led her sire over to an old bucket where he was able to sit down, and was soon fast asleep. The queen then took the oportunity to go and greet the newcomer.

"Good morning! It's good to see that you're finally up. Frankly, when Alexander brought you in last night, Jessy and I weren't sure if you were going to make it. I'm Lilly. If there's anything I can do for you while you're getting better, be sure to let me know."

Demeter smiled. "Thank you very much. It's nice to finally see some friendly faces after everything. I'm sure that I must look a lot worse off than I actually am, though."

Jellylorum shook her head. "Afraid not, dear. Your shoulder is probably going to be useless for a few days, and with some of those other injuries, you don't need to be getting out of bed anytime soon. At least not for another three days or so."

"Three days! I can't stay that long!" Demeter exclaimed, startling Jellylorum and Jennyanydots.

"But you must. You're too injured to travel." Jennyanydots insisted. "Why, you wouldn't stand a chance if you were caught by another pack of Policles."

"But I have to help my friends! That's why I escaped in the first place! I have to find help to go and rescue them!"

"Calm down, love." Jellylorum said, giving Demeter a reassuring rub. "In a little while the tribe will be gathering. You can tell all of us about your problem then, and we'll see what we can do to help you. And trust me," she added with a grin, "if there are any other queens amoung your companions, then you'll have more than plenty of volunteers for a rescue mission."

"Because there are only four queens left in our tribe." Jennyanydots sighed sadly. "And you see two of them right in front of you. All of the others were killed by Macavity and his henchcats in his raids against us."

"The young toms are willing to do just about anything to see some fresh queen blood in this junkyard." Jellylorum chuckled.

"The two of you are mated?"

"For a number of years." Jennyanydots smiled happily.

"My mate's name is Tiger, his human is a railway conductor, so he's gone a lot. Jessy's mated to Louis, but he spends most of his time about town at the human clubs, so you don't see him very often either."

"You said that there were four of you? What about the third and fourth queens?"

Jellylorum smiled. "Well, you can't expect Dawn and Ann to be a mate to every tom in the Junkyard, now can you?"

Demeter smiled, realizing the absurdity of her own statement.

"Ann is mated to Andy." Jennyanydots said, "Although the way the two of them carry on, you would think that they were a pair of kits. And Dawn is another case all together. She's a special queen, she is."

"Anyway, she's too devoted to Dusk to take a mate." Jennyanydots added. "Even though it would be good for both of them. But you have to admit, you have never seen such devoted littermates."

"However, we simply have no interest...."

"...In splitting up for the purpose of mating at the current time."

Demeter and the other queens looked up to see Coricopat and Tantomile sitting at the enterance to the den. She noted that they were identical, aside from one being a tom and one being a queen. They were both sleek, not as sleek as Cassandra, but they obviously had some exotic cat in their heritage somewhere. The twins started to slowly approach the other queens, moving in a very deliberate, sycronized manner. Demeter tensed at Coricopat approached and the tom froze, momentarily throwing off his sister's easy stride.

Jellylorum placed her hand on Demeter's shoulder. "It's alright. You don't have anything to worry about from Dusk. He won't do anything to you."

"It's quite alright." Coricopat interjected in his soft voice. "Dawn," he turned to Tantomile, "I will wait for you outside." Then he smoothly turned and exited the den as quietly as he had entered.

"I... I'm really sorry..." Demeter stuttered. Tantomile gave her a smile.

"You're agitated. It's expected. You don't have anything to apologize for." Demeter gave her a quizzical look. "I'm a mystical cat. Both my brother and I have the ability to read emotions. For some reason you fear toms. Nither of us blames you for your fear."

Jennyanydots nodded. "It can only be expected of one who was a prisoner of Macavity."

"How... how did you know about that?" Demeter asked.

All three of the queens cocked their heads as if the answer should be quite clear to her. "My dear, the way you were so badly bruised and beaten, no Policle would do that." Jennyanydots explained. "A Policle would slice you to ribbons, maybe, but not torture you like that."

Demeter hung her head. They knew. How could she expect help now, help to rescue her friends from the most feared stray in London?

"He's a bully, that's what he is." Jellylorum exclaimed. "Picking on queens! Tell me, Demeter, who are your friends, and how can we help them?"