Of the Cat Burglar and the Cat Protector

Cat de Bergerac

Strolling to the front of her home, Rumpleteazer was trying to think up of any compliments to give to Munkustrap. She's complimented others before: "not that small" to Quaxo, "not that boring" to Plato, and "not that fat" to Jennyanydots. Granted, Jennyanydots nearly pushed her out of the second-story window after saying that but it was the most positive thing Rumpleteazer could think of. Huffing, she pushed through the cat flap on the front door.

In the center of the foyer, she was greeted by Mungojerrie sitting quietly on the jute rug. With a hardcover book to his right and a pen cup to his left, he was struggling to hold onto a pen in his mouth. In front of him, there was a wide-lined sheet of binder paper.

Quietly, Rumpleteazer walked closer to read the paper. It said:

I am a cat 'n' I like -chiken- chicken.

my name is Mungojerrie

victoria grove

peach grape bananananana

"When did you learn how to write?", Rumpleteazer asked incredulously as she stared at the paper. While she learned how to read like her brother, having attended a few lessons held by Jellylorum for a book of a pasta witch, Rumpleteazer hated reading. She couldn't understand why her brother had fun with it.

"Gus thot us wen we were readin'", Mungojerrie mumbled, pen still in his mouth. "Dis es our workbook." Tapping at the hardcover book to his right, Rumpleteazer looked closer at the front cover. Baby's First Sentences.

"Is that all you know how to write?"

Mungojerrie spat out the pen, nearly poking out Rumpleteazer's eye. "Nu-uh. I can write more if ya like."

Suddenly, an idea sprung in her head. She did need help with writing compliments for Munkustrap. "Do ya know how to write ... romance?"

Mungojerrie scratched the side of his face. The fur on his forelegs was slowly growing back. "I can try." He stopped scratching. "Is this for yer plan? 'Cause if it is..."

"I need yer help with writin' romantic things! I can't write anything!"

"Do I haffta write 'romantic things' to Munkustrap?!" She nodded her head quickly. "He better not know I did this."

Tugging onto the hardcover book, Mungojerrie walked backward out of the foyer and into the living room. Rumpleteazer walked behind him as she carried the pen cup. Next to the coffee table in the center of the living room, a cardboard box of stationery was neatly standing. While the throw pillows on the couches were scratched out on the floor as the china bookshelf had multiple broken teacups, the cardboard box was virtually untouched.

Mungojerrie, after placing the hardcover book on the coffee table, propped himself up with the cardboard box and dipped his head inside. Rummaging for a bit, he lifted his head up while his mouth held onto a sheet of stationary. At the top and bottom of the paper, there were painted roses of red and pink. After taking out the sheet of paper, Mungojerrie carefully walked over to the pen cup and took out a black pen.

"I'm ready to write", he affirmed coldly. He did not approve of her plan one bit but was obliged to help.

 "Okay, okay. Um, uh... what do we start with?"

"You can start with a greetin'. Like, 'Hey, Munkustrap' or 'Dear Munkustrap'."

"Write that down, write that down!"

Mungojerrie sighed. The process of writing the love letter would take some time. As he jotted down the greeting, he was trying to think of a girl who he had an interest in. Might be easier to write, he thought.

"Why don't ya go and find somethin' else for Munk, eh?", Mungojerrie directed. "I fink I know what ta do."

Rumpleteazer nodded before moving toward the staircase. She remembered the pig statue that Quaxo had gifted her from the junkyard. It scared her a bit but she believed that a cat as serious but playful as Munkustrap might like it. They both had creepy smiles after all.

Downstairs, the rose sheet of paper had waves of ink splashing as Mungojerrie furiously wrote down a romantic sentence after romantic sentence. He was not a romantic by any means, the sentences just barely qualifying, but he was a comedian. Hopefully, his letter would end this plan swiftly.

Rushing down from the second floor, Rumpleteazer was dragging the pig statue down in the same gray-and-black scarf from earlier. It was slightly heavier than she had remembered but she did not complain.

"I got... (huff) the pig... statue..." Rumpleteazer had turned everything around in the office in her search for the pig statue before realizing that it was on top of the desk. Oops.

"I'm done with the letter", Mungojerrie giggled. Rumpleteazer was going to ask why he was so giddy but decided that he came around on the plan.

"Great! Help me deliver the letter now. I hafta carry this here pig statue."

Her brother's eyes grew wide as his tail stopped swaying from side to side. "... Now?"

"Yep! I wanta have you see Munkustrap's reaction. Aw, he is gonna love it!"

"Heh... yep, he's gonna love it."

Arriving at the front of the junkyard, the twins slowly approached the wall of old tires. Each tire had the name of a Jellicle cat, acting as their mailboxes. Scanning the wall for the M names, Mungojerrie made a run for the entrance.

"Wait, 'Jerrie!" He didn't listen to any avail. Must be nervous. Shrugging off the odd behavior, she left the letter and the pig statue in the tire. As she backed away from the wall, Rumpleteazer caught a glimpse of Munkustrap walking over.

"I am glad to see you again", he chirped. He noticed the package in his tire and walked closer before facing Rumpleteazer. "Is this another gift? Why so many gifts?"

"It's a surprise. 'Jerrie helped me and everythin'." She was hoping that his curiosity was out of romantic interest and not, you know, normal curiosity.

He grabbed the package with his forelegs, taken aback by the pig statue. "Uh, thank you." Rumpleteazer was beaming at that comment, not realizing that he was off-put by the gift.

"There's somethin' else, too!"

With that, Munkustrap found the letter. He carefully opened it up and began to read it.