Cats Always

Chapter 3. Life outside the Yard.

Every now and then, when life inside the Jellicle Junkyard became all too hectic, Jemima enjoyed a trip to the human village. The queen had always retained a different outlook on life compared to a lot of the other Jellicles, as if she could see things and others for what they truly were, she could understand things at a deeper level. This probably helped her to accept Grizabella so quickly when she returned to the Junkyard those some years ago. Now in fact, Jemima was waiting for the glamour cat's spirit to return to earth and she hoped it would be in the form of her first born. Unfortunately, her and Alonzo had not yet been blessed with a kitten of their own. When the small black and red queen needed time to think about this and other matters she liked to retreat to a shady park bench in the village that faced a road of neatly kept houses.

Today she was stretched out full length on the bench with her eyes closed to the world. No Junkyard commotion, no Alonzo asking her if she was alright every ten minutes (a habit he had adopted after her accident the night they became mates). It was just peace and quiet, well that was until a loud thud from across the street made Jemima crack open a lid. A little girl ran down the front steps of her house and skipped merrily across the road, trailing along a little doll in her tracks. Sitting up a bit, Jemima watched the small girl in curiosity as she sat down on the grass and began to brush through her dolly's yarn hair.

"Miss Polly had a dolly who was sick sick sick," The little girl began singing, her voice was sweet and melted the queen's heart as she listened. "So she called for the doctor to be quick quick quick!" The girl paused her tune to set the doll's hair, she was about to continue however when she felt a light tap upon her shoulder. Jemima sat up straight now, a tall man dressed in the ordinary clothes humans wore, a tanned jacket, white shirt, beige trousers; was looming over the little girl, giving her a friendly smile. Yet to Jemima, there was something unnerving about that smile, chills were running their course across her body and something did not feel right. Frowning, the little girl slowly hugged her doll close to her chest.

"Hi there," The man said, his voice clear. "I like your doll."

"My daddy says I'm not allowed to talk to strangers..." Mumbled the girl, eyeing the man with suspicion written over her face. The stranger chuckled to himself for a moment before kneeling down next to the girl.

"I saw an ice cream van just down the road, shall we go and get a Mr Whippy? Two flakes?" Promptly, the girl shook her head at the man's offer, though the ice cream sounded tempting. Gathering her dolly, the girl stood and took a couple of steps away from the stranger.

"No thank you, Mister." Her response warranted a sigh from the man and he stood also yet did not leave. Jemima was watching very closely now, and the small queen was readying herself to make a move.

"Or perhaps an ice lolly?" Determined, the girl shook her head and took another step back. A sudden growl escaped the man's lips and his expression darkened. Rapidly, his hand shot forwards and grabbed a hold of the small girl's arm which caused her to squeal in both surprise and fright, and with all her might she tried to pull away. 

"Please let me go!" She cried, but the man was having none of it as he continued to make his best effort to drag the girl along.

 Instantly, Jemima launched herself from the perch and bolted for the pair yowling as she unleashed her claws and slashed at the man's leg, effectively ripping the fabric. Confused by the sudden and seemingly small attack, the man looked down to see the small cat shredding at his leg. With a snarl he attempted to kick Jemima aside, yet she sunk her claws into his skin and latched on. "Bastard cat!" He yelled, and in that split second as the horrible human glanced down to the Jellicle, his grip loosened on the girl's arm and she took her chance to bolt. Upon seeing the girl had made her escape, Jemima ripped away from the man's leg and followed suit and sprinted away from the human as fast as possible. 

"Bastard human!" Cried the queen, though of course he wouldn't be able to understand her. The man had fled the park in hope that not too much attention had been drawn to the commotion that he had caused and in the meantime, Jemima caught up with the little girl, the pair of them running until they were both in the sing park around other children and parents. After making her way to a bench, the little girl heaved herself up onto it and plopped down to catch her breath, holding onto her dolly for dear life. There were tear tracks gently making their way down her round rosy cheeks and she was pale and shaken up, which was understandable considering what had just happened and what could've happened. Hurriedly, Jemima trotted over to the human girl and nuzzled her head softly to her leg, hoping to offer some kind of comfort. The affection didn't go amiss as the human leaned over to gingerly stroke a hand across the Jellicle's back. 

"Thank you kitty." Murmured the girl. Purring, the queen sat down, tilting her head upwards to watch the girl's face, worry in both of their eyes. "You chased the nasty man away." Jemima let out a soft meow and nudged the small girl's knee. "You're right kitty, I should probably go home to daddy." The queen nodded in agreement with her words and stepped away to allow space for the human to rise. In case the man was to return, Jemima followed the girl all the way to her home across the street and waited until she was safely inside her house before trotting back down the steps. Jemima was well aware that despite there were some good humans in the world, there were also those who were bad, bad to their own species and bad to others. There were more bad humans in this world than anyone really wanted, but it was the same with cats wasn't it? There were tribes out there full of bad cats, she was lucky she belonged to one that was full of love and kindness. 

*

Upon arriving home, the small black and red queen went straight to the Junkyard clearing, looking for her mate or perhaps anyone at all she could talk to. The events that had happened only earlier on had left the queen in a panic, shaken herself and was finding it hard to calm her breathing. Luckily, the first cat she saw was her kittenhood friend Electra. Rushing over to the rust coloured queen, Jemima enveloped the other in a hug, gasping in relief. 

"'Lectra, oh my Everlasting...I-I-" 

"Woah!" The other queen yelped, she took her friend into her arms and rubbed the queen's back, now in equal shock as the smaller queen. 

"I just saved a little human girl!" Exclaimed Jemima, looking up to the other in amazement. 

"What? How?!" Electra spluttered, in awe of the news just delivered to her. 

"A human man...he tried to take her away and-and I scratched him! A lot!" Sitting down, Jemima had to steady herself, the shock was making her feel light headed. Electra lowered down beside her friend with a wide smile present on her face. 

There was a pat to Jemima's shoulder. "You're a hero, Jem!" She giggled. 

She could hardly believe it, the adrenaline was wearing off now, but the shock wasn't, nor was this sick feeling that had suddenly made itself known in the pit of the queen's stomach. "...I'm gonna be sick..." With that, the short queen shot up and made a dash from sight. Electra only chuckled to herself before getting up and following after her friend.