THE SNOW QUEEN CAT

Story the Seventh - Long Live Snow Queen Victoria

Within a blink of an eye, they were once more at old Deuteronomy's, where Skimbleshanks had been waiting for Victoria for a while.

She and Misto told the whole story together, their cups of tea lending sparkle to their eyes and warmth to their faces. Then, Skimble showed the two youngsters the way to the little isolated station, and helped them to get on the train; all three began the journey back to London.

The train sped by so quickly that landscapes were blurred and the wheels hardly touched the rails. Little by little, white winter began disappearing from the countryside. Without stopping for an instant, they made it all the way to King's Cross, where they discovered they had picked up a stowaway, a fluffy yet fierce one whose disobliging ways were a matter of habit.

"'Ere you are, Mr. Mistoffelees, a fine fella to go gaddin' about!" the Tugger said as Skimbleshanks helped him to get out. "Wonder wot 'e's got that I've not, for Vic to go t' such lengths to find 'im at the ends ov the frickin' Earth!"

Once all three young Jellicles had gotten off the train, the time came for Victoria to thank the railway cat: "We know the way home from here... and, dear Skimble, you don't know how thankful we all three are for what you have done for us. Now the time has come for you to go home and be happy."

"Home is on the rails for yours truly; nevertheless I shall never forget any one of you," the conductor softly replied, lowering his head for the Tugger to take off his flat cap and mess with his head for a while.

At the end of the day, as the Tugger took to exploring the Soho all by himself, Gus the old thespian came out of the Egyptian Theatre to receive his adoptive grandchildren once more, unable to restrain his joy at seeing both of them safe and sound. "Now you are the ones who have stories to tell me!" he explained.

The two kittens had passed so much time away from home that springtime had returned, and they were now young adult cats. When Mistoffelees and Victoria climbed up to the skylight window, they watched their longed-for backlot and rose bush, which where now once more packed with flowers.

Of course that winter the old Snow Queen would come to fetch her successor, both Vic and Misto wistfully thought as they looked one another in the eye, honey locked with sapphire. Yet this was ages, worlds away, and, no matter the royal obligations that Snow Queen Victoria would have every winter in the tutelage of her predecessor, the two young lovers would still have one another, and a warm glorious springtime day, forever within their thoughts and their hearts.

***THE END***