Chapter Six

There were Jellicles scattered around the Junkyard.
To be honest, I felt intimidated. Wouldn't you if you were surrounded by a bunch of cats that were staring at you?
I looked over at Charity and Alyssa, who looked like they were petrified. Their eyes were as big as dinner plates. I wondered if that's what I looked like.

Munkustrap took Amber straight to Tantomile who was sitting with Jemima. He handed them Amber, and they disappeared to...........somewhere else.

That left Charity, Aly and I with 30 cats staring at us. It was unnerving.
I looked over at Misto, who smiled at me. My heart skipped a beat. Seriously.
I took a deep breath and started forward. Why, you may ask. I have no idea.
Charity and Aly looked at each other, shrugged, and started following me.

I hadn't taken more than five steps when my legs finally gave out on me. I don't remember what happened after that except for a deep voice saying something I couldn't hear.

*******************

I don't remember what I dreamed, but I woke up several times sweating and breathing heavily, and almost immediately returned to unconsciousness.

Finally, I woke up and stayed awake.
Pretty soon, Jemima came in. Her face broke into a huge smile.
"Oh! You're awake!"
"Yeah, I am. Strange, isn't it?"
"I'm sorry, I'm just a little excited. It kinda took you forever to wake up."
".....It did?"
"Well, yeah! Your friend with the black nose woke up a week ago! We were worried."
"I was out that long?"
"Yeah. Course, being with Macavity as long as you were can do that to people."
"You're telling me!"
We sat there for a few minutes. I think she was reading my mind. It's a weird feeling.
"So," she said. "Do you want to go see your friends?"
"Umm, yeah, considering I've been out for three months, I think they'd like to see me."
She smiled and helped me up.
*********************

We walked out into the Junkyard. Charity was sitting talking to Electra and Tumblebrutus.
Alyssa was off in a corner talking to Victoria.
Amber was sitting with Etcetera. They were giggling and whispering and staring at Rum Tum Tugger.
Charity noticed me first.
"Stephanie!" she said. Amber and Aly looked up and smiled. Amber jumped up and ran towards me. Aly and Charity followed her.
There was lots of laughing, purring, rubbing, and "What took you so long?"s.

Afterwards, Old Deuteronomy showed up.
A hush fell over the Junkyard.
"I know that, to many of us, Charity, Alyssa, and Amber are already Jellicles. So, I feel that it is necessary to officially welcome them as Jellicles."
Everybody started cheering.
"I couldn't imagine separating those three from their friend." He looked at us.
Amber quietly shrieked. "We're all gonna be Jellicles!!" she squealed.
"It is now time to give you your Jellicle names!"