I suddenly fell from the place I was sitting. I fell onto a garbage can lid which caused me to make a loud noise.
Mr. Mistofelees stopped what he was doing. " Who is there?" he asked.
I crouched down hoping he wouldn't see me. " I said, who's there?" He stated.
Mr. Mistofelees looked in my direction. He raised a forepaw.
I felt my feet lifting off the ground. When I was above the garbage I had been crouching behind, he moved his paw towards himself.
I moved with his paw. He lowered his paw and I was directly in front of him. He looked calmly at me. I also looked at him. For all the times I had watched him, I had never been this close to him.
Mr. Mistofelees smiled kindly at me. " What is your name, please?" he asked.
I couldn't find my voice. " Manna," I finally managed to squeak.
"Manna," he said, " do you know who I am?"
" Who you- you're Mr. Mistofelees the original conjuring cat."
" Yes" he said, " where is your family Manna?"
" I-I-I don't have one" I told him.
" You must of had one at some time." he said.
" Yes, but only when I was a little kitten," I explained.
"You look Jellicle," Mistofelees said.
" I do?" I asked.
"Yes. Do you remember your mother?" he asked me.
"A little," I said.
"Do you remember her name?" he asked.
"Her name was-" I started to say, but I was having trouble remembering her name.
"It was- Mistiecuffs! That was it." I told him.
"I remember her," he said, "She was a Jellicle Cat. You look like she did."
There was a hint of sadness in his voice.
"Then I'm a Jellicle Cat?" I asked.
"Yes you are a Jellicle Cat," he said, "We will have to see Old Deuteronomy."
"Mistofelees, welcome," Old Deuteronomy said when he saw us, "Who is this? It looks like Mistiecuffs over again."
Mistofelees nodded and said, "This is Manna. Mistie was her mother. I found her, or rather she found me, today. What should I do about her?"
Old Deuteronomy studied me for a moment then said, "The Jellicle Ball is coming up. Do you think you can teach her all that she needs to know in two weeks?"
"I can try," Mistofelees answered.
"Manna," Old Deuteronomy said turning to me, "Do you think you can learn all you need to know in two weeks?"
"I can try," I said in an echo of Mistofelees.
"All right then," said Old Deuteronomy.
I began my training that afternoon.
Before we knew it the time for the Jellicle Ball had arrived.
Immediately, the cats began to greet one another and chat. There was a Tom and identical Queen talking to Munkustrap. The tom was Coricopat. The Queen was Tantomile.
There was an orange cat asleep on a high perch at which Mistofelees and two other cats, who I later learned were Alonzo and Asparagus, yelled, "Hey, Skimble!" waking him up.
"Hard night on the Northern Mail?" I heard Alonzo ask.
Skimbleshanks yawned, "Yes," he replied.
At another point in the junkyard, there were many young queens grouped around one Tom.
"I can not believe how those silly kittens group around the Tugger!" I heard a voice behind me say.
"Oh, I know," said another.
I turned around to face the speakers. They were two Queens.
"Excuse me," I said, "But who is 'The Tugger'?"
They looked at me like I had two heads for a moment. Then their confusion cleared.
"Oh, you must be the new Jellicle Misto was telling us about," said one of them. She was Jennyanydots.
The other, who was Jellylorum, said, "Do you see that hairy black and yellow Tom over there?"
"Yes," I said.
"That is Rum Tum Tugger," She told me.
Jennyanydots and Jellylorum watched for my reaction.
"He's all right," I said.
"So your not going to fall madly in love with the Tugger, too?" asked Jennyanydots.
"No, why should I?" I asked.
"It just seems like all the other Kittens do," Jellylorum replied.
There was a sound of glass breaking fallowed by a Toms evil laughter.
"Macavity!" Demeter screamed.
The cats all ran and hid. I stood where I was, not sure what to do.Mr. Mistofelees rushed me off.
As we hid,I heard a high pitched giggle followed by a shushing sound. A couple of seconds passed before the giggle and shush was repeated.
Two cats carrying sacks popped out. The two of them sang about their great accomplishments in thievery. As they sang, the other cats surrounded them.
The two of them dropped the sacks they had been carrying. Two Toms picked up the sacks. The two who had been singing, who were Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, had just finished their song when they happened to look around and realized the cats had surrounded them.They attempted to break through the lines and, when that didn't work, they retreated and stood on top of a pile of garbage at the back of the junkyard. When they reached that perch,they hesitated, not wanting to leave their sacks behind.
The two Toms threw the sacks in such a way that Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer couldn't catch them. The two thieves naturally missed the sacks.
Everyone began to mingle again. Coricopat and Tantomile were engaged in a conversation with a rather fat cat Known as Bustopher Jones when they stopped midsentance. The two of them tensed up and began to sniff the air. All the Jellicles stopped what they were doing and looked at them.
Mistofelees began to smell the air, as well. Coricopat and Tantomile relaxed. Mistofelees smiled. "I believe it is Old Deuteronomy!" he said.
Old Deuteronomy entered the junkyard. All the Jellicles, including me, flocked around him. Just as Old Deuteronomy settled into his tire, which served as a throne, glass was heard breaking. An evil laugh sounded again, but no one ran. Coricopat and Tantomile looked around.
"That wasn't a Tom's voice," Coricopat said.
"That was a Queen's voice," Tantomile finished.
They looked at eachother curiously, then in either direction.
The evil laughter sounded again.
"Mungojerrie, are you and Rumpleteazer pulling another practical joke?" Munkustrap asked.
Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were as confused as everyone else.
"It ain't us gov'ner," Rumpleteazer said.
"No, 'tisn't," agreed Mungojerrie.
The laughter sounded a third time, but this time we saw its source. It was a black an white Queen who looked exactly like me with the addition of a white spot around her neck resembling a necklace. It was my mother.
"Mother!" I cried
The Queen's attention snapped to me. Her gaze was at first evil then a cloud of Motherly Love pushed in. She mouthed my name. Then as quickly as it had come the love in her eyes disappared and was replaced by an evil gleam.
"Mistiecuffs!" Mistofelees cried running forward, "We all thought you had died."
"I am not Mistiecuffs," my mother said coldly, "I am Codelia, Macavity's right hand."
"Mistie, how can you not recognize your own brother?" Mistofelees asked.
I gasped. Mr. Mistofelees was my uncle.Mistofelees continued to talk, "We are twins, Mistie. We share the same power. We grew up together."
All Cordelia did was look annoyed. The being belonged to my mother. The cat talking was not my mother.
"I told you," she said, "I am not Mistiecuffs! I work for Macavity. Others do, too. Like Mungojerrie."
Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer ran forward. "Tell Macavity that I do not bleedin' work for 'im no more," Mungojerrie cried, "I'm self- employed."
"Me too!" yelled Rumpleteazer.
My attention was focused on Cordelia. She was starng down Mistofelees. She raised her paw and was preparing to throw a fireball when Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer appeared on the level of trash above her. They were carrying a bucket between them.
Just as the fireball was forming, the two of them kicked over the bucket. A waterfall came down on top of Cordelia. She screamed and lost her balance. A man in one of the rooms of the apartment buildings yelled, "Darn cats," as he threw a shoe out the window.
The shoe landed next to me and sprung me into action. Cordelia had landed on her feet. I made my way over to my uncle , who was now standing beside her.
"Are you all right, Mistie?" he asked her.
"Yes, Misto, I thought I saw Manna. Where is she?" she said.
"I'm here," I said.
"Manna!" my mother exclaimed as she caught me in a hug.
Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer came down to join the crowd.
"Mungojerrie, Rumpleteazer, how did you know to pour water over her head?" Skimbleshanks asked.
"We saw Macavity brain-wash a couple of cats before," Mungojerrie explained.
"And every time they got wet, they were themselfs again," Rumpleteazer finished.
"We all thought you were dead, Mother," I said.
"I was, for a little while," she told me. Mistofelees, Mother, and I all hugged.
"What a happy reunion," Macavity said.
We looked up and saw him sitting above us looking down. Everyone froze. Macavity jumped down from his perch. My mother shrunk back in fear.
"Don't worry, Mistiecuffs, I'm not here for you," Macavity said, "Last year I came to get Old Deuteronomy. This year I will succeed."
Macavity made ready to cast a spell on Old Deuteronomy.
"No!" I yelled and reached out toward Old Deuteronomy.
Old Deuteronomy disappared and reappared next to me.
"What happened?" I asked.
"You have the power too, Manna," said Old Deuteronomy.
I tried to walk a little ways but I was so exhausted from using my power for the first time that I just flopped down.
"So there are three conjuring cats," Macavity said.
I struggled to get up but I couldn't get past sitting. My head was spinning.
"I will personally deal with you," Macavity said.
Macavity was preparing to throw a fire ball at me. I couldn't move. Rum Tum Tugger sprang and pushed me out of the way, barley escaping injury himself.
"Are you okay, kid?" he asked.
"Yes," I said a little flustered.
Mistofelees and Munkustrap sprang at Macavity, pinning him to the ground.
"Don't look 'im in the eye," Mungojerrie yelled.
"Macavity, you brain-washed my sister, let us think she was dead, and left my niece temporarily orphaned," Mistofelees said.
"On top of that, you made a second attempt at kidnapping Old Deuteronomy and attempted to do away with Manna," Munkustrap said, "You will not bother us again."
Munkustrap raised his arm above his head and extended his claws. Fear showed on Macavity's face.
"No, Munkustrap," Old Deuteronomy said. Munkustrap lowered his arm.
"for once, Munkustrap, you are not thinking wisely," Old Deuteronomy cotinued, ""Let Macavity live."
"We could send him away," I said.
The other cats agreed.
"Let me do the honors, please," My mother said.
Mother extended her paws toward Macavity and in a cloud of smoke, he disappared.
"Where did you send him?" asked Rumpleteazer.
"As far away as I could," replied my mother replied.
"But he'll be back," Mistofelees added.
"Does this kind of thing happen every year?" I asked.
"Macavity does try to demolish the Jellicle Ball every year," Mistofelees told me, "But next year he will have three conjuring cats to deal with."
All the young Queens gathered around Rum Tum Tugger. He ignored them all and his gaze was on me. Mistofelees noticed this and glanced at me.
The Jellicle Ball continued as it should have. Gus the Theater cat was chosen to go to the Heavyside Lair.
