"It's that horrible cat!" the Mistress of Victoria Grove wailed as Rumpleteazer ran out of her room, carrying a shredded black silk scarf in her teeth and grinning with glee. She ducked behind one of the staircases where Mungojerrie was waiting.
"Did you get it?" he asked her expectantly.
She nodded, removing the scarf from her mouth.
Mungojerrie looked at the torn end forlornly. "Oh, did ya 'ave to wreak it?"
"'e can cut it o'f!" Rumpleteazer replied indignantly. "'e don' need the 'ole thin'!"
"True," her partner in crime agreed. "It's the thought tha' counts in any case."
"Bombalurina's goin' to love it!" Rumpleteazer said excitedly. "I bet 'e thinks 'e forgot all abou' 'er birthday!"
Loud voices cut through their exchange. "What is it now, dear?" the Master of Victoria Grove asked his wife.
"That horrid cat ran off with my best silk scarf!" the Mistress cried.
"That is the last straw! Those two have caused enough trouble. I'm calling the pound," the Master declared.
Both Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer saw this as an excellent time to be off. But as they raced for the door, the Master reached down and scooped up Rumpleteazer. She hissed and squirmed, but to no avail. The poor little troublemaker was shoved unceremoniously into a cat carrier. Mungojerrie started to head in her direction, but she yowled, "Mungo! Go get the Jellicles! Go now, or they'll catch you too!"
Mungojerrie took this advice, and sped off as the Master and his Staff called uselessly after him. Accepting defeat, the Master put Rumpleteazer in the car. Getting in himself, he drove her away. Rumpleteazer watched helplessly out the window, hoping desperately that the other jellicles could get her out of this mess.
"Munkustrap!" Mungojerrie yelled as he ran into the Jellicle Junkyard proper. "Munkustrap, jellicles! They've done it!"
Munkustrap sat up straight, throwing off the last dregs of sleepiness that came when one sat in the sun. "Mungojerrie, hold on. What's wrong? Where's Rumpleteazer?"
Mungojerrie paused to catch his breath, panic showing plainly on his face. "They've taken her to the…" he gulped. "Pound."
A couple of the jellicles gasped.
Munkustrap sighed. "Mungojerrie, I warned you. Now look what you've gotten yourselves into."
"I know that!" Mungojerrie snapped. "But this is serious. Now, are you going to help me, or do I have to save her on my own?"
Munkustrap paused. Shouts rang out across the proper.
"We have to! It's out duty as fellow jellicles," Demeter announced. "They got themselves into this mess…" the Rum Tum Tugger started.
"Oh, shut up, Tugger!" Pouncival said.
"They would help us if we were in their place," protested Victoria.
"I think we should," Coricopat and Tantomile said as one.
"How many jellicles agree on helping them?" Munkustrap asked, attempting to be the voice of reason. All paws when in the air, except for the Rum Tum Tugger's - but he joined after Tumblebrutus poked him, and the jellicles around him glared.
"It's unanimous," Munkustrap declared.
So, they took off, and if anyone thought it was odd to see that many felines running to the Pound, no one said anything. Finally, they all stood outside of the back of the Pound, looking up at the ominous stone structure.
"Okay," Tumblebrutus said. "How do we get in?"
"Ask the 'Master Thief' over there," Demeter said with a glance at Mungojerrie.
"All right, Mungojerrie," Coricopat said. "How do we steal a Rumpleteazer?"
"Well… I would suppose we get in first," Mungojerrie hazarded.
Tumblebrutus smacked himself in the head. "Even Etcetera could have figured that out!"
"Yeah, even I… hey!" Etcetera squealed, glaring at Tumblebrutus.
Munkustrap walked over to an open basement window. "We could always go in through here," he said over the din.
Silence settled over the jellicles as, one by one, they all turned to look at him.
"That would work," Pouncival said noncommittally.
"Now what?" Tumblebrutus asked once they were all inside.
"Now we find where they are keeping Rumpleteazer!" Mungojerrie declared, growing more confidant.
"I never thought that I would willingly set paw in the pound," the Rum Tum Tugger complained to no one in particular.
The troop wandered the halls, pausing at each doorway to peer inside.
"Our group's too big!" Jellylorum moaned. "We're going to get caught, and they'll lock us up, and…"
"Jellylorum, stop your caterwauling," Victoria sighed.
"Here we go!" Mungojerrie called from the head of the group. "I found it!"
The others rushed up to where he was looking up at Rumpleteazer.
"It's about time you got here!" she cried. "Now get me out."
The entire group looked at one another. Finally, Jemima dared to ask the obvious question.
"How?"
"I was going to just pick the lock," Mungojerrie sighed. "But I could never reach it."
"Mistoffelees!" Cassandra cried. "Blast it open."
The quiet magician looked at her, then at the cage, and raised a paw.
Everyone stepped back a couple of feet, and Rumpleteazer backed up against the rear wall of her cage.
Mistoffelees sighed. "My aim isn't that bad."
The comment was responded with silence. Pouncival started making cricket noises.
Mistoffelees sighed again, took careful aim…
Nothing happened. He stared at his paw in dismay, and tried again. Still nothing. Without warning, Alonzo reached over and slapped Mistoffelees' paws.
"Ouch!" Mistoffelees yelped. "What was that for?"
Alonzo shrugged. "It works for television sets."
"I am not a television set," Mistoffelees grumbled.
"Will you hurry up?" demanded an impatient Rumpleteazer.
Mistoffelees tried again, and, of course, this time it worked. He glared at Alonzo, who smiled smugly. The door swung open, and Rumpleteazer jumped out.
Back at the Jellicle Junkyard, Bombalurina's birthday party was in full swing. She had been amazed that the others had remembered, and was presently quite verklempt. The crowning achievement was when Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer had brought out their present - the silk scarf that had gotten them in trouble in the first place.
"Oh!" Bombalurina gasped in surprise. "This is… for me? It's lovely!" She immediately draped it about her shoulders, and struck a pose. Her friends laughed.
After the party, Munkustrap called Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer aside.
"Well, now that you've gotten kicked out of Victoria Grove, do you two promise to stop stealing?"
"Yes, Munkustrap," they replied sweetly, hoping that he wouldn't notice their fingers crossed behind their backs…
The End