The cats and the moon - I/ TWO TRIBES

4. Into the den

Several days went by, before one afternoon the twins showed up, obviously excited, in Misto's neighbourhood, where he was lying on a wall in the sun.

"Come on!" they said as he jumped off and joined them. "The old cat is here. She said now's the moment!"

Misto followed them at once. Grizabella was waiting for them near the junkyard. As soon as they arrived, she silenced them with a sign.

"Macavity left his den a few minutes ago", she whispered. "We can go in now."

She led them deep into the town, to an area Mistoffelees had never approached before. Finally she indicated a strange-looking construction.

"This is it. This is where Macavity makes his den. Now go ahead. I'll stay here and keep watch."

Mungojerrie gave her a disdainful look, then studied the building.

"Oh, Jellicles. I haven't been here since..."

"You can get in through that window. It'll require a little breaking but that shouldn't be too hard for you two" (she nodded at the twins. Rump scoffed.) "Once you're in, look for stairs leading underground. I'm ready to bet that's where your friend is."

Misto nodded and looked at his two companions, who gave him a determined look. Disappearing into the shadows, they crawled towards the window. Rumpleteazer studied it for a moment, then pulled out a few tools from a bag her brother was carrying. Within a few minutes, the window was open. They all creeped inside.

The building was not very well lit, and a real maze. Their progression was slow and careful. Mistoffelees was constantly looking around for any of Macavity's minions. Several times they heard voices coming their way, but no one noticed them. Finally, they came to the stairs Grizabella had mentioned. But two cats were standing guard there. Mungojerrie signaled to his sister, then indicated to Misto that they were going to create a distraction so he could creep in. Before he could call them back, they were gone. A few seconds later, a shadow crept into the corridor. The guards froze, watching carefully. Rumpleteazer made sure there was no mistaking her with a simple shadow before turning around and running off. One of the guards followed her, alarmed. A moment later, the remaining guard's attention was drawn to another figure - Mungojerrie, of course - at the far end of the corridor. While he went to check what it was, Mistoffelees slipped down the stairs.

The underground was dark and gloomy. Misto progressed carefully, always on the lookout for more guards. But the basement seemed empty. However, after some time, his attention was caught by a familiar scent. Following Eriva's scent, he finally arrived in front of a locked cage. Eriva was inside, lying with her back to him, and the state she was in made him gasp in horror. He pressed both hands to the bars and used his magic to make them disappear, then crept in and laid a hand on Eriva's shoulder. She tensed and instantly curled up in a protective gesture, shielding her head. Taken aback, Misto pulled his hand away and knelt next to her.

"Eriva? It's okay... It's just me..."

Slowly, her posture opened up a little and she turned her head towards him. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

"Misto? What... What are you doing here?"

"I've come for you. You're getting out of here", he said softly, his voice cracking as every moment that passed told him just how much Macavity had hurt her.

He held out his arms to her, hesitant to touch her after her previous reaction, but this time she rushed into his embrace and held onto him with all her strength. He folded his arms protectively around her.

"How are we getting away?" she asked.

"Just you trust me", he whispered in a comforting tone.

He closed his eyes and pictured the place where he wanted to go. It was much harder to do it without movement, but he still managed to summon the two of them out of Macavity's den.