When the water came from above, here is what became of our feline friends:

Griddlebones skirted away from the mad rush to the drainage pipe and slipped inside an opening in the wall, safe from the downpour. He was joined by Macavity. "Move over, Old Man," the master criminal growled, shaking his wet fur. Thus, his reputation for elusiveness was intact.

"Presto," whispered Misto, blowing powder resembling stardust from his hands onto the Rum Tum Tugger and Bombalurina, and the three of them simply vanished.

"This way, Teazer," said Mungojerrie over the hubbub, and the striped darlings scurried past the pack at the pipe to navigate London's underground until they came upon a light, representing another egress, several blocks distant.

Following their escape from The Tomb, Munkustrap and Demeter ran only a short way before they stopped, panting heavily with their pain. "Let's rest here," Munk said, flopping down on warm, pillowy grass with a suppressed moan. Demeter joined him, grateful for the recline to rest her sore back.

"Does it hurt greatly?" Munkustrap asked her, pressing himself against her to give what comfort he could.

"No," she answered in a small voice. "I didn't break anything; it's just sore."

"I should've been there sooner," Munk chided himself, gingerly touching the gold patches of her coat, as if counting them.

"No, Munkustrap," she assured him. "I'm just glad you came at all. I didn't deserve it after leaving and when I saw Macavity ram himself into you the way he did...Are you badly injured?"

Munk snorted his masculine pride. "By Mac? No. Like you, I'm just a bit sore."

"We need food, Munkustrap. It will help us heal."

He sighed. "I once was one of the best cat thieves in London but right now, I couldn't outrun a fat old mouse. Let's just lie here together until I'm ready to prowl."

He could feel the excitement through her close body as she asked, "You were really a thief?"

"It's a long story," he said, exhaustedly, nuzzling her neck.

"Munkustrap, I'm worried about my mother."

He laid a foreleg over her. "That too is a long story."

"Where are we going?" asked Bomba, running with the two males she knew only slightly from their visits to the vicarage.

"To the train station," panted the Tugger in response. "That's where we're supposed to meet Rumpuscat."

Scat? Bomba said to herself. He's always interesting. And all of those muscles! She put on a burst of speed (the randy red tabby) and shot through the dingy streets to reach the station and her next conquest.

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer made their way to their home in Victoria Grove, more united than ever before. The sun had dried their fur and they'd bathed along the way, so their coats gleamed as usual. Teazer had done so well in nursing Macavity's claw marks that Mungo proceeded with his customary strut and hum. The slashes ran perpendicular to his stripes, distinguishing him more from his female counterpart, who felt that they just added to his masculine allure.

"Jerrie," she began with timidity, stopping just short of their large, white clapboard house.

"Hmm?"

Her hesitancy and downcast eyes, the slight shuffling of one of her front paws as the moon suddenly appeared behind her, casting her in a silver glow...If it was artifice, it was masterful. If it was natural, she was divine. Mungo stood enraptured, just waiting for her next words so that his heart could resume beating.

"I want you to understand," she said, raising her black pearl eyes, "that you mean more to me than the family...or anything. Wherever you go, I will follow you."

His face softened in the moonlight to loving fuzz as he moved closer. "And I want you to understand that you mean more to me than anything. You'll never have to follow me, Rumpleteazer, because I won't go anywhere without you."

Smiling with mutual understanding, they twisted their lithe bodies around each other and fell to the cool grass. They could return home later.

Asparagus and his assistants George and Bill Bailey glanced this way and that as they prowled the streets, looking for signs of the devastation that the old Theatre Cat knew would follow the meeting of Macavity and Munkustrap. He mentally berated himself yet again for ever having anything to do with the Underground figger and in his distraction, nearly collided with the massive frame of Bustopher Jones.

"Careful there," boomed the aristocrat in a voice as big as his stomach. "What are you doing out and about this evening, Gus? I thought you'd usually retired by now. On my way to the club, myself, for a late supper."

Gus mumbled an apology. "I'm looking for some friends. Have you seen any cats who didn't look familiar?"

"Funny you should mention that," Bustopher said, touching his black mustache-like whiskers in imitation of his St. James's Street lord. "I saw a couple back there, lying under a tree, bathing each other in public. Disgraceful! No wonder we cats have such a reputation for—"

"—Yes, quite right," Gus enjoined with his well-honed outraged noble accent. "Well, you must be famished. I'll leave you to continue on your way. Raise a glass for me, eh, Old Boy?"

"Of course," answered Bustopher, turning his spatted paws back in the direction of Blimp's. "Toodle pip!"

Gus hurried on, calling for his assistants. They found Munkustrap comforting a teary Demeter in the moon-lit shadow of a spindly elm. He and George helped the wounded pair back to his shop, while Bill Bailey ran for the vicarage, blending his black coat with the night, to inform everyone that the couple would return soon.

Rumpuscat stood like a well-shaped boulder in front of the train station. His blazing red eyes seemed to beckon Bomba with promises of fun and adventure.

It had to be timed perfectly. She sprinted in his direction, then turned her head as if to speak to Misto and Tugger, who trailed her, and ran right into her wild-haired target.

They tumbled onto the rocky ground together, Scat looming over her to regain his footing. "Are you all right?"

"Yes," she answered, looking at him through coppery eyes as she slid out her tongue to glide across her coal dusty paws.

Scat swallowed hard, unable to take his eyes off of her. She watched the lump in his throat descend to his heart, and knew she had another one.

"Ah, ye found 'em," Skimbleshanks trilled, leaping from the train as it pulled into the station with smoke, clatters and wheezes.

By default, Tugger answered for the group. Misto only spoke to him. Rumpuscat, still enthralled by the tempting tam, was incapable of speech and the tam was still busy enthralling.

"Yes," the Tugger nodded, as his great mane ruffled in the breeze created by the locomotive's arrival, "All is well."

Skimble's whiskers twitched with approval and he turned fatherly, glass-green eyes on the young catta. "I hope ye've learned your lesson about lookin' for trouble, Lass."

"I believe the lesson she's learned is that she can find all the trouble she wants wherever she is," the Tugger said with an implicit wink in his tone.

Bombalurina turned the power of her gaze on him, thinking to herself with new interest, The Rum Tum Tugger is a curious beast.

The feline lothario held her look for a moment...considering... then shook his head and swished his tail in acquiescence to the other tom. 'Cause I only like what I find for m'self.

"Well, of all things. Can it be really?" Old Deuteronomy asked on hearing the news from Gus's emissary that Munkustrap and Demeter were together and safe and just needed a little time to heal before they returned...as mates.

Jenny Anydots squealed in excitement at the news and began preparing for a celebration, utilizing Jellylorum and her kittens, as well as her own well-disciplined troop of cockroaches and mice. "Squad..."

Macavity had always prided himself on being able to fit in anywhere, but he knew that after that day in his old lair and the trouble that followed, he looked bedraggled and out of place in Victoria Grove, especially with the mangy old brindle, Griddlebones, hobbling after him. But, what could he do? He loved the old bloke.

He sniffed but didn't detect the smell of anything familiar, so he sat in the middle of the road and began his summoning yowl.

Mungojerrie, lying in the yard with Rumpleteazer and looking up at the night sky, recognized the sound. "It's Mac," he explained. "I have to see what he wants."

True to their vows to each other, Teazer went with him. They found the once formidable cat in the tree-filled square at the center of their neighborhood.

"What are you doing here, Mac?" Mungojerrie snarled.

Macavity grinned, swaying his head from side to side. "Now is that any way to speak to your father?"

"My father?" Mungo said with a sneer while beside him, an inscenced Teazer arched her back in a striped half circle.

Macavity chuckled. "Come now, Mungo, you know I always planned to pass everything on to you...still do."

His progeny snorted. "You don't have anything left to pass on."

"There's my know-how, skills. I still have a lot to teach you, son." He stretched an arm to include Bones in his embrace. "Why the three of us..." Under the blistering glare of Teazer, he amended, "Er, the four of us, we could own this city."

Mungo slipped out of Mac's hold and stood next to his fiery mate. "And what about the dogs?"

"Gone," Mac said, swiping his front paws together. "We'll be honorable thieves, just like old times, right, Bones?"

The brindle nodded then turned hopeful eyes on the young pair.

They shared a look. "We'll think about it; we'll be in touch."

Nodding, Macavity strode forward as if to kiss Rumpleteazer's paw but her acid hiss stopped him. "We'll be waiting," he said, bowing in retreat, as he and Griddlebones turned in the direction of the heart of London and the new and improved lair.

Walking close together back to their yard, the couple talked.

"We won't have to give up our home. This will be our center of operation."

"It would be fun, and this way we can keep an eye on Macavity, make sure he doesn't hurt cats anymore."

"We could have an extensive reputation."

They lay back down as a cuddly ball of orange and black spotlighted by the moon, excited about each other and their future as a notorious couple.

And there's nothing at all to be done about that.

Congratualations! You have completed your journey with Mungojerrie, Rumpleteazer
and T.S. Eliot's assortment of practical cats. Hope you enjoyed it to the end.

Thanks to readers and reviewers, followers and fav-ers