#7 Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer

Suddenly, out of nowhere thunder crashed and lightning struck, and the lights surrounding the junkyard began to flicker and dim. From somewhere in the vicinity, an air raid siren began to blare. "Macavity!" Demeter hissed. The cats all looked around in terror before scattering in all directions; Munkustrap stayed behind to make sure they were all safe before diving to safety himself.

An eerie giggle came from somewhere in the junkyard, then a muffled, "Shhh!" There was silence for a moment, then another giggle... louder and a bit more obnoxious this time. Then, slinking out of their hiding places came two precocious little tiger striped kittens. The male, called Mungojerrie, shushed his sister again, looking around anxiously for their parents. Not seeing anyone, he hurried over to her.

"Do you have them?" he asked excitedly.

"Hehe, of course I do!" She looked around, grinning, then reached into the bag she carried. "Roses, from Mum's human's garden, the red ones, and the brooch from the antique shop on 17th Street, and of course," she giggled again, pulling out the piece de resistance, "The pearls!"

They stared at the string of pearls in awe for a moment, forgetting themselves. "Thank goodness the plan worked!" Mungo mumbled, pawing at the pretty white beads. "No problems?"

"Of course not!" his sister replied indignantly, "I am an expert thief! Especially when it's for Aunt Bomba."

"Are you sure?"

"Well...."


One hour earlier.

"Ready?" Mungojerrie murmured from his lookout perch in the big old oak tree outside the Brewster's home in Victoria Grove.

"Always!" Rumpleteazer hissed back impatiently.

"Alright... go!"

She had to suppress the urge to laugh aloud. This was her favorite part of the job... the danger, the adrenaline, and the fun of it all. She licked back her fur and pranced over to the door, situating herself before it and beginning to meow. Her senses were on hyper-alert as usual; she could hear Mungo breathing up in the tree as he waited for the old ladies to take her bait, she could hear the motorcars in the street, and, from inside the house, she could hear footsteps approaching. The door creaked open, and a short, plump, white-haired woman opened the door.

Rumple put on her prettiest face. "Meow?" she said, trying to sound as normal as possible.

"Oh, you silly kitten, there you are! We've been looking everywhere for you... now if only we could find your brother, too!" the old lady exclaimed. Hehehehe. Abigail Brewster swooped Rumple up in her soft arms and cradled her against her bosom, and Rumple began to purr. She couldn't really help it... no matter what mischief she and Mungojerrie got into to, the sweet old ladies never threw them out.

Abigail set her down once they were inside the house, and Rumple promptly curled up in her favorite spot by the window and began to wash herself.

Mungojerrie could see her from his perch. Alright, Mungo, your turn. There was an upstairs window that could be opened for Rumpleteazer's escape; he'd rejoin her later at the junkyard. Leaping down, he assumed the masculine version of Rumple's previous pose and began to meow as well. Soon enough, he heard Abby's footsteps again, and the door opened. When he got into the house, Rumpleteazer was nowhere to be found. He let Abby hold him for awhile; it was up to his sister to get the pearls. Don't screw this up, Rumple!

Upstairs in the bedroom, Rumpleteazer made a beeline for the jewelry box, ears peeled the entire time for approaching footsteps. She knew exactly where the pearls were; they were always in the same spot, and Abby foolishly kept replacing them every time a strand went missing. She leaped lightly up onto the chest of drawers, then the bed, then the bookshelf. She was just about the reach into the box and grab the pearls when her ears perked up at the sound of steps in the hall. No... not in the hall... on the windowsill.

She glanced over at the window and caught her breath; she could just make out the mangled form of Macavity through the lace curtains. She froze in place. Please don't let him see me! Without a problem, he opened the window from the outside and slunk into the room.

"Well, well, well," he snarled, "What have we here?"

"N-n-nothing," she stammered. She knew all about the kind of bad news Macavity was... she'd used him as a cover often enough.

"You know, you're so good at this stealing thing."

"I'm... I'm not stealing... just borrowing...."

"Please," he scoffed. "You should consider working for me. You would make a good little minion." He cackled and a shudder ran down her spine. "You, me, Growltiger, your brother... think about it." He turned, and just like that, he was gone.

She gaped at the place where he'd stood for a moment, trying to shake away his presence and turn back to the task at hand. The plan, what was the plan?? Oh, yes... Mungo is being distracting. I've gotta get out of here! 

She grabbed the pearls and was out of the room as fast as she could, dashing through the window that Macavity had left open and running as quickly as she could down to the birdbath. Blech, she shuddered, I hate this part. It was the worst part of their plan, but she knew Mungojerrie was waiting for it, so she jumped into the birdbath and began to splash around. She only stayed in for a few seconds, but she saw a flash in the parlor window and knew her brother was on his way out, too.

Present moment

Should I tell him? she wondered. Nah... I'll tell him later. For the moment, it was high time for a celebration. The rest of their family slowly came out of hiding, and she sneaked over to the Tugger and discreetly handed him the pearls. "Give Auntie Bomba our love," she murmured with a low chuckle.