It was the night of the Ball, and all through the junkyard, every cat could hear the scream of a queen angered.
"I am through, Coricopat! THROUGH!" The shriek died to a harsh whisper, only heard by the striped cat it was intended for. "Synchonizing was a fun game while it lasted, Corico. It honed our skills amazingly. BUT I DON'T WANT TO PLAY ANYMORE!"
A few minutes later, Tantomile stalked out of the pipe, fur bushed out and small ears pinned back to her head. Every cat but one took the better path of valor and quietly avoided her. Mungojerrie stayed on the hood of the car, directly in her path, but even he made no move to approach Tantomile.
Tantomile paced over to the tire and lounged inside it, awaiting the Ball.
Mungojerrie abandoned the car at a sharp look from Munkustrap, and the Jellicle Ball began.
At her moment, Tantomile swayed up from the tire. "Can you ride on a broomstick to places far distant...?" She sank back down inside the tire as the Ball continued.
The solo dance, for the queen who intended to take a mate that year, came shortly after. There was a brief moment of absolute stillness. Tantomile heard clearly within her mind, Go on. Dance.
The Everlasting Cat, Tantomile realized, and oozed over the rim of the tire. She struck a deceptively simple-looking pose, and the internal music began.
Tantomile's music ended on a reprise of the beginning, and she ended the dance on the same pose. Now was the time for a tom interested in her to dance with her, and call out the Jellicles.
Tentative, almost embarrassed steps sounded. Tantomile couldn't see the tom, as she was facing away from him, but she could definitly sense his mind. Mistofflees? she thought, strictly to herself.
The young magical cat whisked his hands down Tantomile's back. The striped queen obediently cartwheeled forward and down as Mistofflees began to call out the Jellicles. He extended a hand down to the kneeling Tantomile, who took it and rose to her feet.
"Jellicle cats come out tonight! Jellicle cats, come one come all! The Jellicle moon is shining bright. Jellicles come to the Jellicle Ball!"
A large portion of the Ball passed by Tantomile in a blur, but she vividly remembered Old Deuteronomy's entrance. Usually, Mistofflees first sensed the Jellicle leader, and then Tantomile and her twin would confirm it. This time, only Mistofflees and Tantomile spoke up. Coricopat remained silent, even though Tantomile was certain that he knew Old Deuteronomy was coming as well.
Then, it was Tantomile's turn to pay attention to her suitors as they danced for her attention. Mistofflees, Mungojerrie, and, of all cats, the Rum Tum Tugger were vying for her. She watched them, feeling a little self-conscious.
Tantomile gravitated toward the middle of the junkyard. She stood, waiting for her chosen mate to come forward and dance with her. Silence ruled, the music stopped.
Wait for a moment, the Everlasting Cat whispered into Tantomile's brain. Your mate is being a little... stubborn.
Tantomile's first thought was, Everlasting Cat! I'm stuck with the Rum Tum Tugger!
Light footsteps sounded behind Tantomile, and she resisted the incredible urge to turn around. She wished that she had payed more attention to where the toms had gone. Heavier footsteps than Mistofflees. I'd've heard him mentally anyway. That leaves Mungojerrie and the Rum Tum Tugger, if no-one "cheats," like Plato did at the last Ball.
Someone stroked from Tantomile's shoulder to her wrist. As the mystery cat reached her hand, Tantomile turned smoothly, getting her first look at her mate. Vividly green eyes stared back at her, framed in a white and yellow face.
Tantomile smiled briefly. Mungojerrie grinned as the music began again, a quick-paced duet for saxophone and trumpet. The vividly-colored tom dropped his hands to Tantomile's waist and lifted her up, still facing him. He tossed her carefully over his back, and Tantomile curled midair and landed deftly on her feet. She swung around to face him, feeling as wild as Bombalurina.
A crash boomed out. Demeter shrieked, "Macavity!" Eerie laughter was heard. All the cats scattered, Tantomile hiding next to the pipe with Mungojerrie. She could see Rumpleteazer on the other side of the junkyard with Coricopat.
A shriek of music rang out, and a ginger, longhaired tom appeared on top of a pile of junk. He leapt down, to the center of the junkyard. Macavity lunged forward and dragged Tantomile to the middle of the junkyard.
Tantomile was not Demeter, though. She wasn't petrified with fear of Macavity, as Demeter had been. Even as Mungojerrie leapt to her defense, Tantomile slashed at Macavity with her claws. The ginger cat was forced to drop her or have his eyes clawed out.
Mungojerrie pounced on the disoriented Macavity, knocking them both to the ground. They wrestled and clawed at each other. Mungojerrie wasn't a match for Macavity, but he wouldn't back off.
Tantomile scrambled out of the toms' way. She gathered herself to her feet, preparing to jump back into the fray. The psychic queen could feel Macavity beginning to disappear. Fueled by rage and fear, Tantomile mentally slapped the ginger tom down. Her effort rebounded onto the physical plane. Macavity was flattened to the floor of the junkyard, Mungojerrie on top of him and clawing for all he was worth.
Tantomile swayed on her feet with the effort of keeping the struggling tom pinned. She put a hand on the tire. "Mungo!" she called. "I can't---" Her weakening grasp on Macavity broke, and the ginger cat disappeared.
The gray striped queen collapsed slowly to the ground. Mungojerrie was at her side in an instant and took her possesively in his arms. " 'Wot is it?"
She curled up against his warm orange-white-black coat. "I couldn't stop him from dissappearing." Tantomile ran her hand over Mungojerrie's back, stopping at a claw-mark. She didn't have to say a word.
" 'Ere, I'm foine," Mungojerrie protested futilely. Tantomile vigorously began to clean his wounds, and Mungojerrie resigned himself to it.
"Jellicle cats, come out tonight... Jellicle cats, come one, come all..."
The Jellicles resumed the Ball after Old Deuteronomy called them out. The saxophone and trumpet duet started up. " 'Ere we go agoine," Mungojerrie whispered. Tantomile smirked at him. "Are you complaining?"
Their fast-paced dance wound down, and Tantomile and Mungojerrie went to sleep on the floor of the junkyard, with the other cats.
The next morning, Old Deuteronomy awakened them by beginning another song. "The moments of happiness... We had the experience, but missed the meaning..."
Jemima, as the youngest kitten and the contrast to Old Deuteronomy's bass, finished the song, and the Jellicles' introductions began again.
Tantomile fairly floated through the rest of the Ball, until the end, in which her energies were required to help fuel the magic that sent a cat to the Heavyside Layer. She knew the cat who was going to the Heavyside Layer. Every cat did. Asparagus, the Theatre Cat, was likely not going to live to the next Ball if he was not sent to the Heavyside Layer this year.
Old Deuteronomy bowed deeply to Asparagus, and the chanting song began. Tantomile felt the drain on her powers, but she also felt the incredible exhileration that she imagined was the Heavyside Layer. "Up up up, past the Jellicle moon... Up up up up to the Heavyside Layer!"