To come to the point of my story: These six cats disappeared suddenly from the yard and it was certain that they did not leave because of their own free will. The first one who disappeared was Jellylorum. It was a sad thing she disappeared and this is how she told me later what had happened:
"I was just knitting and speaking with Jennyanydots. It was this summer night we had spend on the yard observing the kittens. I thought it would do me good to have a short promenade and so I asked Jenny if she liked. She herself did not like and so I went on my own. I hoped to see some good friends at the junkyard.
The junkyard was completely empty, I could not see any Jellicle. Not even Jemima or Demeter who are very often there. I was very puzzled that nobody was there and so I decided to have a look at Victoria Grove for Mungojerry and Rumpleteazer. If you meet just one of them they can be very nice and even both can be very friendly if they stop their kidding for a moment. I did three or four steps when I noticed the shape of a cat in front of mine. The cat stepped into the light. It was a strange sight: I could be a young leopard because it was huge for a cat. Its fur color was brown like sand. The moment I saw it, it was something familiar about me and it. His eyes, his walk, everything seemed so friendly. Friendly and conjuring. The cat or whatever it was signed me to come nearer. The nice feeling made me purr and so I actually came nearer and in the end I followed the cat..."
You would perhaps say, okay, a bit strange at all, a huge cat which is friendly but shall I tell you what I saw? I was in the junkyard, cause I am the Junkyard cat and I saw Jellylorum. It is true, there was nobody there except me and Jellylorum that night. I saw Jellylorum standing there - disappointed that she was alone and she did not think of me. That was okay. I am not a cat for accompany, I am more a kind of spirit although I have a normal cat's body. She seemed to leave but than stared in front of her. I looked what she stared about but there was nothing. Really nothing. To make it more curious she began to purr. And after that she went on, purring and starring. She went to the west direction and so I climbed over some junk to see what she was seeing there or where she went. I waited for her to come out from the junk I had climbed over, but she did not come. And so I climbed down and searched all about the west of the yard. Jellylorum was not there. I looked about the rest of the yard and did not find her. Cats can disappear the most curious way and if I had not been a cat myself, I would have said, 'okay, that's catslike.' Usually, I know everything going on in this yard and usually I have no problems to find everyone. I decided to call Jellylorum's mind to see if she was safe. My spirit flew over the yard and around it and everywhere she could be. I did not find her mind! That was when I began to become confused.
I decided to talk to Jennyany because she was one of the cats who might know what was going on in Jellylorum's mind. Maybe she had just found a hiding place and went away while I had searched for her. Well, if this was right than it would have been alright, but why didn't even my spirit find her? Was her spirit absent and her body away? My eyes had not found her body, my spirit had not reached her thoughts.
I did not see Jellylorum for a few days and that made me impatient. I began walking around and asking some Jellicles if they had seen her. It made me more upset when one after another denied. They became upset, too because every cat knows that it must go on something serious when Enigma appears. I decided to have a serious talk to Jennyanydots and when I saw her on the yard I called her from a junk mountain.
"Jenny."
"Oh, Enigma. I did not notice you again. Well, what is the matter?"
"Jenny, where is Jellylorum?"
I told her briefly what had happened because I am not a cat for many words. Jenny did not know anything and just told me about the strange feeling they had had and that Jelly had walked to the yard. So we went our ways, when suddenly Jenny turned around and hissed fixing a point somewhere behind me. To see what made her upset, I turned around but there was nothing. I swear! My eyes told me there was nothing and my brain told me that there had to be something. Jennyanydots received a strange look in her eyes stopped hissing and than started purring. She suddenly started running towards me, knocked me off and escaped to the north side of the yard. ,p> As I did with Jellylorum, I now searched for Jennyanydots. She had run strictly through the north where Macavity's home was and so I was very worried. I tried to follow her but after I came to a higher point on the yard I noticed that she was gone. I ran to Macavity's home, hoping that it was not true that she had run to him in her emotion - what kind of emotion it ever had been. I sent my mind to Macavity's home but except of his evil thoughts I found no other spirit there. Now two cats had been gone. And the evil shadow that had caused all this was not prepared to stop.
I now knew that no Jellicle would ever know what had happened and I did not want to scare them more than I had already. I kept quiet about my fears. Sure, they did notice that Jenny was gone and were scared and they still searched for Jellylorum. Jemima and Electra came to me and asked if I knew anything. What should I tell them? Our conversation was short and hard for me because I could not say the truth.
"Enigma. Junkyard ghost, I know you're here, so please appear. Your Jellicle daughter Jemima is calling you and wants some help."
"You called for Enigma? Well, here I am to help you if I can."
"Hello Enigma. I am with Jemima." said Elecra with a scared look in herface.
"We need your help, Junkyard ghost. It's about mom and Jennyanydots. You know they disappeared but do you know, can you imagine, what happened to them? Munkustrap sent out a group, six times already. Nobody had a positive message. Please, Enigma, help us. I know that nobody suffers more than we do." Jemima's voice was faint and Electra nodded in agreement.
It hurt me when I said: "I do not know much, I cannot help you, daughters." And to be honest I said a bit of the truth: "I am sure that no human creature has anything to do with it." I felt it was not a human who had caused the disappearances of the two queens.
Electra and Jemima turned around very sadly and slowly and looked in each other's watery eyes. It was an awful pain for me to see it but I did not dare to tell them the truth about what had happened or what I had observed. They would have been more scared. Jemima turned around but I was already gone. Her thanks disappeared in the wideness of the yard. I believe she knew I was still there watching her and Electra.
When I was sleeping I was deeply pondering. I knew that it was not thelast time that a cat would disappear. Why Jenny and Jelly? They where both mothers of many children, protectors for the younger ones and friendly. That was not a reason to catnap them. I decided not to keep my secret anymore. I wanted to tell it to Munkustrap because it had not any sense to send out moregroups. So I send out Cassandra to collect him.
"Enigma, you called." Munkustrap bowed and placed on his hind paws. I liked that. He was an important cat and bowed in front of me because he knew I was wise. And he knew also that I never talked to the other wise cat, Old Deuteronomy.
"Yes. I did so because I have to discuss an important problem with you.The most important problem for you, me and all the other Jellicles is now that Jellylorum and Jennyanydots disappeared. You do not know more than the other cats, I know. You did your best by sending out this groups and it was right. I know more than you. I was the last cat seeing Jelllylorum andJennyanydots."
"A moment please Enigma. I am sorry to have interrupted you but before you go on speaking let me admit something. It was wrong to send out those groups! I know now that it was wrong and that it was not wise."
"I am sure it was. It is natural to search for disappeared Jellicles and everybody else would have done the same."
"It was certainly wrong because by searching for two souls we lost another. Skimble did not return from searching, two days ago." Munkustrap looked down and shook his head.
"You could not have known that," I consoled him. "Now it is more important to tell you what I have seen." So I told Munkustrap about Jellylorum's way to the yard and how she suddenly had run over to the west and how Jenny had knocked me down by running to the north. We tried to find the safest way to prevent the disappearing of another cat but we did not find a solution because they disappeared while they were at the yard and outside, too. We could not guard the Jellicles 24/7.
"What do you think does that mean? Jenny, Jelly and Skimble? What have they in common?" Munkustrap's eyes blinked for a moment when he said it and than stared questioning into mine. An while his eyes hit me it suddenly came upto my mind!
"They are three of the Cats who where chosen to take responsibility of the ball!" I shrieked out and shrieking was not normal for me, a calm and quiet cat. The shriek and the sense of my words hit Munkustrap. My shrieking made my words even worse: For him it meant that this would probably happen to him because he was also one member of the organizing group for the Jellicle Ball. Munkustrap stared again at me, his mind was begging me to say that this was not true.
"Go and warn Mistoffelees and Tugger! Hurry up it could already be too late!" He rushed out and I hoped instantly that he would reach Rum Tum Tugger and Mistoffelees safely. I did not dare to follow him, I even kept my spirit back and did not allow it to follow Munkustrap.
Munkustrap came back as soon as he had talked to Mistoffelees and called for me. As soon as he I sat in front of him Mistoffelees appeared behind me. Mistoffelees is the only cat who can appear without me noticing it. Munkustrap greeted the magical cat and hurried up talking to me. He told me that Mistoffelees knew everything but that he had not found Tugger. He begged me to search for Tugger and than disappeared with Mistoffelees. The magician himself did not say a word during our conversation. I felt his aura being afraid although he pretended to Munkustrap to be able to cope with all. Mistoffelees and Munkustrap kept guard of each other during the night.
While they were sleeping, I searched for Tugger. I found his scent near his home - exactly at the middler point between his home and the yard. I followed it and reached a small garden near the junkyard. I found a lot of fur there - not only his, some of another cat and that made me think that he had had a fight. After the fight he must have left to his house and so I still followed the smell. In the middle of the street behind a house I lost it and trotted around to find it again and to follow his way. I did not find it and I am sure that there wasn't any more scent from this point on - in the middle of the street.
Mistoffelees, Munkustrap and I waited three more days for Tugger to return. The Jellicles noticed that Tugger was not present anymore and because he was missing all the Jellicles where upset. They felt themselves being in danger, feared and cried for the lost cats and I just sat there not being able to help them. A lot of Jellicles called me in those times but I did only speak to Mistoffelees and Munkustrap. I talked more to Munkustrap than to Misto because the young, black cat built up his own thoughts and if he had something to say to me he called me with his thoughts, we needn't use our voices to speak. Munkustrap made just sometimes mind-calls and preferred talking with his mouth. When we had a conversation I saw Tugger. He was covered with blood and he could not walk. His weakness and scared look told us that therewere more evil tasks than we expected.
"Munk, Misto, Enigma! Flee. It'll catch you- the huge animal. I may not be able to escape but you have still a chance. It is beyond our might. I will soon be caught again but the way to the yard and telling it to you was worthwhile the danger." and before we, three perplexed cats, could reply anything Tugger, the leopard-cat, gave a fearful scream and than ran through the junkyard. His mind was switched off, I felt it and I now knew for certain that we had not to fight against a body, an animal or a human. We had to fight against someone who had more control over us than we could imagine. Tugger ran away, his mind was still unconscious although his muscles and his body were working. He did not flee, he ran towards someone.
That was the same night when Mistoffelees disappeared. We did not expect that to happen the same night because the creature took always time for its crimes. Munkustrap and Mistoffelees sat there pondering, I was further away because I usually do not approach other cats who ponder. I do not like to spend to much time with them. As the junkyard ghost I love looking after them but being alone. I still cannot believe that I did not see what was going on with Mistoffelees. Otherwise I could have helped him. He just got and walked. He walked calmly, not making a noise, not using his magic, not telling us where he went. He walked straight ahead, neither turning around nor changing his direction when he reached the end of the yard. He confused me by walking ahead straight through the fence and so I ran over to the fence looking where he had gone. Mistoffelees was nowhere. I tried to mentally summon him but he was not there. I looked back to Munkustrap. He nodded because he knew himself what had happened.
Munkustrap knew also that he would be the next and the last. What would happen, when the creature had collected all the six cats? All the cats that were responsible for the Ball. And I knew, when Munkustrap was gone, I would be the only one left who knew everything and I would be the only one able to help them.
I tried to prevent it. I always made other Jellicles accompany Munkustrap so he was never alone. If he was not alone the creature would not have an opportunity to catch him. It could just catch him when he was alone or I was with him. It was difficult to have always cats accompany him and sooner or later the creature would find his chance. I found Demeter alone whom I had told she should accompany Munkustrap home. I found her a few minutes after Ihad ordered it to her.
"What are you doing here alone, Demeter? I said you should accompany Munkustrap. He needs some accompany, I am sure."
"Oh, Enigma. I am sorry but he went away. I just told him about Bomba's newest dance and when I showed him a part of it I had to do a turn and did not look at him while I was doing it and afterwards. When I looked back to his direction he was gone. He did not tell me that he had no time to watch the dance."
Now it had happened. Now Munkustrap was caught and I was left. Munkustrap now knew what had happened to the others but he could not help them anymore. I thanked Demeter for the information and hid in my secret hiding place. I was unsure what to do and felt unable to help and I felt vulnerable. What to do now? I did not know anything and my friends where in danger. Only my six friends? What about the other cats? What about me?