Dead of Night
And who knows, perhaps the Wind-Dogs really did mean this all along. . . .
Arrow quickly relayed his idea for a plan of attack, and Lucky approved it. He and Storm would take the left-most deer, Arrow and Snap would take the right, and Bruno and Breeze would go right down the middle.
The wind stayed firmly in the same direction, blowing the deer’s scents toward the dogs, but never carrying any hint of the dogs back to their prey as they crept down the slope. Storm moved stealthily between the twigs of a low bush dotted with bright-yellow flowers, as beside her Lucky stepped over a pile of crunchy-looking leaves. The others were being so quiet, she could barely tell they were there at all, except as faint moving shadows between the trees and the bushes.
They reached the bottom of the slope and slunk forward on their bellies, getting as close as they could to the deer without spooking them. Storm put out a paw to go a little farther, but Lucky shot her a warning look, and she followed his instruction and froze where she was. Sure enough, one of the deer glanced in their direction, then shuffled around to another clump of grass and bent her head again.
Lucky glanced at Storm, and she signaled her readiness with a flick of her ears, afraid to move another muscle.
“Ready . . . now,” hissed Lucky, and almost as one dog they stalked out from their hiding place, trying to move quietly but quickly through the tall grass, low to the ground but ready to leap. A soft rustling told Storm that the other dogs had made their moves too.
Suddenly the deer Storm was stalking looked around. Storm didn’t wait to find out if it had seen her. She leaped, using every ounce of power stored up in her tense hind legs to cover the last few yards and sink her teeth into the leg of the deer. The deer gave a loud, honking roar and tried to run, but Storm closed her jaws and would not let go, and in a bright blur of golden fur Lucky leaped past her, striking the deer’s side and bearing it to the ground. The deer’s legs kicked out, almost throwing Storm off, and she narrowly avoided being struck in the head by a hoof. Then Lucky’s teeth flashed and he bent his head to the deer’s throat. There was a gurgling sound, and the deer went silent, its legs suddenly still.
Storm unlocked her jaws and stood back, panting.
“We got one!” she gasped.
There was a crashing sound as one of the deer sprinted away, slipped between two trees, and was gone, and a pounding chorus of hoofbeats as another took off at a frantic pace, bleeding from a scratch on its flank but easily outpacing Bruno and Breeze.
That left one more. Storm sat up on her hind legs to see that Arrow and Snap were still on the deer, but it was kicking and thrashing, and they were having trouble keeping it down.
“Bruno! Help Arrow!” Storm barked, and Bruno skidded around, giving up his pursuit and streaking back across the grass just in time to leap on the deer as it managed to throw Snap off with a toss of its long neck. The extra weight of Bruno, and then Breeze, was too much for the deer. It let out a last roaring cry and then sank back into the grass, where Arrow delivered the killing bite as swiftly and efficiently as Lucky had.
Lucky let out a howl of triumph. “Good work, hunters! The Pack will eat well tonight!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
It was a good thing they hadn’t caught the third deer, Storm thought. The Wind-Dogs might have led them to a feast, but they’d traveled a long way from the camp, and it had taken the strength of all six dogs to drag their prey home across the fields and through the trees. They’d worked in shifts, so each dog had been able to rest for part of the way, but Storm’s neck, back, and legs still ached by the time they had returned to camp.
It was a good ache, though, and it felt even better when she finally dropped her deer leg and stepped back. The prey pile might have had only two creatures in it, but it suddenly looked like a mountain of food.
The other dogs were gathering around, barking and howling in delight at the sight of the two deer and yapping congratulations to the hunters. Thorn and Beetle hopped with excitement, bouncing off each other in their eagerness to get close to the deer, and Sunshine spun around in hectic circles.
Alpha came out of her den, the four pups trailing in her wake—Nibble and Fluff in front, yipping to each other, and Tumble and Tiny following a little more slowly, their jaws wide open as they smelled the delicious prey-scent.
“There will be more than enough for every dog to eat tonight,” Alpha said, fixing her large eyes on Lucky. “Thank you.”
Storm watched Tumble carefully, but although he wasn’t quite as fast as his litter-sisters, there was no sign of pain in his face and he wasn’t limping.
The rest of the Pack drifted away from the deer as the pups came closer, the dogs all gathering around Alpha.
“I’m pleased to say that Tumble is feeling much better,” she said, a hint of knowing amusement in her voice. “All four of the pups are doing very well—but they can tell you that themselves. Can’t you, pups?”
She nudged Nibble forward, and Nibble looked up into the faces of the older dogs and drew herself up as big as she could.
“Fa!” she yapped. “Nib!” And with that, she bounced over to Lucky and started trying to climb up his coat. He gave a gruff bark of laughter and obediently crouched down so that she could reach his shoulders.
“Ma? Maaaa . . .” Fluff was pawing at Alpha’s leg.
“What is it, Fluff?”
Fluff drew in a huge sniff of air and then gave a high-pitched bark.
“Yes, Fluff, that’s our dinner,” said Alpha indulgently.
Tumble and Tiny had caught up now, and Tiny had left her litter-brother to catch his breath at Alpha’s paws. She was still noticeably smaller than her litter-siblings, but Storm was rather pleased to see that what she had witnessed when she thought Wiggle was playing with the pups hadn’t all been a hallucination—Tiny really could move quickly when she chose to, crawling in and out of the dogs’ legs, pouncing on their wagging tails, then lying down to catch her breath.
Storm couldn’t help wondering why the pups were so hypnotic to watch—they were clumsy and small, always falling over one another, making unintelligible yapping noises—but she had to admit that just like the rest of the Pack, she found it hard to look away. She couldn’t help feeling soft and warm inside when she saw that Tumble’s leg had gotten better, or that Tiny had grown stronger. Soon enough, they would be grown-up dogs who would have to face the bad times as well as the good. But for now, they could simply be pups, and that was strangely reassuring.
“Storm,” Daisy said, tearing her attention from the pups, “will you tell us about the hunt? You were away a long time. Where did you go? How did you manage to catch two deer?”
“It wasn’t that hard, actually,” Storm said, and looked at Lucky, expecting him to take up the story. But he just looked back and gave her a slow blink of happiness.
“Go on, Storm, tell us what happened!” Thorn barked.
“Well,” Storm said, sitting down and scratching behind one ear with her back paw, “it was strange. When we first set out, it was as if the Wind-Dogs had vanished . . . there were no scents or sounds of prey anywhere!”
A few of the other dogs turned away from the pups and faced Storm as she went on, and even Snap and Arrow sat listening, despite the fact that she was sure they could tell the story much better than she could.
“And then what happened?” Daisy prompted, as Storm paused to remember just how the second deer had been taken down.
“Bruno helped hold down the deer, and Arrow put in the final bite,” said Lucky. “And I would like a word with Storm before the prey-sharing—if you don’t mind, Daisy.”
“Oh, but I wanted to—oh, I mean . . . yes, Beta,” Daisy corrected herself quickly. Storm was glad to see that Lucky didn’t seem angry. He nudged the little white-and-brown dog affectionately as he passed.
“Storm, will you come with me?”
“Of course, Beta,” said Storm, and got up and followed Lucky. He led her over to the spot wh
ere the cage had been built to keep Fox Mist, and for a horrible moment she thought that he had found out what she’d done, and he was going to punish her, or threaten to throw her out of the Pack, or even just tell her again how disappointed he was. . . .
“Storm, I need to apologize to you,” Lucky said, and Storm blinked at him in surprise. “I have treated you badly over the last few days. It’s been a stressful time. I was so afraid and angry when Tumble was hurt. . . .” He hesitated, then shook himself briefly and met Storm’s eyes again. “I know that it wasn’t your fault. Any dog can misstep in a fight, especially a dog who hasn’t been sleeping well. I’m so used to you being such a good fighter that I thought you should have been there, but that wasn’t fair of me.”
“Thank you, Beta,” Storm said. Her heart felt full and warm, and when Lucky gave her a lick on the ear, she dipped her head to accept it. “I’ve been . . . troubled, recently. But I’m feeling better now. I want to help the Pack every way I can,” she added, feeling buoyed up by happiness.
“Every dog, gather ’round,” barked Alpha’s voice. “It’s time to eat this feast our brave hunters have brought home for us!”
Storm opened her jaws and panted happily, wagging her tail hard. “I can’t wait, I’m so hungry!” And with that she turned and bounded across the camp, settling down between Daisy and Bella, feeling content.
Maybe I was wrong about the prey pile, she thought. Prey does go bad. Maybe everything that’s happened has just been . . . coincidence, or terrible misunderstandings. Anyone could have taken the prey Moon was blamed for eating—every dog makes mistakes, don’t they? The fox cub might have been killed by some other creature and left behind near our camp.
And Whisper . . .
He could have been killed by the coyotes after all, Storm told herself—but she felt a ripple of unease as she thought it. She tried to ignore the feeling that she was betraying something by considering the possibility—after all, the coyotes were bad creatures, and which of her Packmates could possibly be as bad as them, or worse? Eager little Daisy? Twitch, with his seemingly endless patience and wisdom? Breeze, the hero who had saved the pups and who was always so kind and thoughtful? Lucky, or even Alpha? Sunshine? Mickey, Rake, Bella, Arrow . . . they were all her Pack, and Pack meant loyalty. How could Storm accuse a single one of them, especially when none of them had even thought of accusing her? There had to be a different explanation, and whatever it was, she would find it.
Alpha and Lucky had both eaten, stripping off large chunks of deer meat without having to think about how much would be left for the lower-ranked dogs—it looked as if Sunshine would have half a deer all to herself. Twitch stepped forward next, licking his lips, and then took a big bite out of the deer’s hind leg.
The whine that came from Twitch’s throat was long and high, like a howl that had been caught behind his teeth. It was a howl of awful, excruciating pain. All around the camp, the dogs cringed back, their ears pressed down in fright. Tumble, Nibble, Fluff, and Tiny all hid behind Alpha, and Storm wanted to do the same.
She could smell the blood. Not the prey-scent of the deer, but dog blood, fresh and frightening.
Twitch stumbled back, choking, spitting blood. Snap and Daisy both sprang across the clearing toward him at once, with Rake not far behind them. Sunshine got to her paws, looked at the blood dripping from Twitch’s jaws, and sank down to the grass in a faint. Alpha extracted herself from among the pups and hurried over, and one by one the rest of the dogs rose, sickened dismay in their faces.
“It’s all right, Twitch, open your mouth. . . .” Snap said, in a cool voice that barely trembled at all. Twitch gave another strangled, gargling howl, shaking his head, suddenly unsteady on his three legs. Daisy turned an anxious circle and then reared up and pushed him. He fell hard on his side.
“I’m sorry!” Daisy yapped.
“Let me see,” Snap said, and Twitch managed to open his jaws. “Oh my . . . Daisy, put your paws on his head, stop him from moving,” she said. Daisy obeyed, and Mickey ran to help her. “Twitch, this might hurt. Try to hold still.” Snap put her small paw inside Twitch’s mouth and clawed something out. It fell onto the grass, a lump of . . . Storm couldn’t see what, except that it looked like a solid and glinting drop of blood about the size of one of her claws. Twitch yelped again.
“Let Snap do this, Twitch,” said Alpha, resting her paw on his shoulder, and then turning to sniff at the leg of the deer.
A horrible feeling of certainty pulled Storm forward, and she stepped around Twitch’s writhing form and Snap’s pawing at the inside of his mouth, to look at the deer’s hind leg where he had bitten it. Arrow followed her, gazing over Storm’s shoulder at the leg. A chunk of deer had been torn away, and underneath . . .
“It’s clear-stone,” Alpha gasped. “This part of the deer is full of shards of broken clear-stone!”
Storm didn’t understand. Alpha couldn’t mean clear-stone—the strange, sharp, see-through stuff that longpaw houses and loudcages were full of?
But as she watched Snap fish more pieces of glinting red stuff out of Twitch’s mouth, she realized that Alpha was right.
“What?” barked Lucky. “But how could that be?”
“Maybe when you were dragging them home . . .” Moon began, but Breeze’s whine cut her off.
“No, there’s no way.” Breeze stepped forward, her eyes wide with shock. “This is . . . it’s not . . .”
“There was no clear-stone on the way here,” Storm agreed, in a voice barely louder than a pup’s whimper.
“The deer were fine when we put them down here,” Breeze yapped. She looked around the camp, turning twice on the spot on shaking paws. Storm started toward her, thinking that she might faint or turn hysterical with panic, but instead Breeze stopped, staring hard at Twitch’s bleeding mouth. “They were fine. This happened after we got the deer home. Do you know what that means? It means some dog did this!” she howled.
Storm froze, the truth of it hitting her all at once.
A dog did this. A dog stole the prey, and poisoned Bella and Daisy, and killed the fox cub, and killed Whisper.
A dog in our Pack.
She whined and dug into the ground with her paws as slowly, one by one, she saw a similar realization dawn on the rest of the Pack. Arrow’s shoulder pressed against hers, and she could feel how tense he was.
Is this what I wanted? She had wished that the others would accept the truth, that they could see it as clearly as she could, but then she too had been lulled into believing that maybe it couldn’t be true. Now they all knew there was a bad dog here, and they were all staring at Breeze, and then at Twitch, and then slowly they began to stare at one another.
Each one of them was imagining their Packmates sabotaging the prey, wondering which of their friends could have done this.
And then, with an ache that felt like Storm’s heart shrinking in her chest, she saw dogs’ heads turning toward her and Arrow, their eyes cold.
At last, they’ve accepted that there’s a traitor here.
But they think that traitor is Arrow. Or me.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ERIN HUNTER is inspired by a fascination with the ferocity of the natural world. As well as having great respect for nature in all its forms, Erin enjoys creating rich mythical explanations for animal behavior. She is also the author of the bestselling Warriors and Seekers series. Visit her online at www.survivorsdogs.com.
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BOOKS BY ERIN HUNTER
Book One: The Empty City
Book Two: A Hidden Enemy
Book Three: Darkness Falls
Book Four: The Broken Path
Book Five: The Endless Lake
Book Six: Storm of Dogs
THE GATHERING DARKNESS
Book One: A Pack Divided
Survivors: Tales from the Packs
NOVELLAS
Alpha’s Tale
Sweet’s Journey
Moon’s Choice
THE PROPHECIES BEGIN
Book One: Into the Wild
Book Two: Fire and Ice
Book Three: Forest of Secrets
Book Four: Rising Storm
Book Five: A Dangerous Path
Book Six: The Darkest Hour
THE NEW PROPHECY
Book One: Midnight
Book Two: Moonrise
Book Three: Dawn
Book Four: Starlight
Book Five: Twilight
Book Six: Sunset
POWER OF THREE
Book One: The Sight
Book Two: Dark River
Book Three: Outcast
Book Four: Eclipse
Book Five: Long Shadows
Book Six: Sunrise
OMEN OF THE STARS
Book One: The Fourth Apprentice
Book Two: Fading Echoes
Book Three: Night Whispers
Book Four: Sign of the Moon
Book Five: The Forgotten Warrior
Book Six: The Last Hope
DAWN OF THE CLANS
Book One: The Sun Trail
Book Two: Thunder Rising
Book Three: The First Battle
Book Four: The Blazing Star
Book Five: A Forest Divided
Book Six: Path of Stars
A VISION OF SHADOWS
Book One: The Apprentice’s Quest
Warriors Super Edition: Firestar’s Quest
Warriors Super Edition: Bluestar’s Prophecy
Warriors Super Edition: SkyClan’s Destiny
Warriors Super Edition: Crookedstar’s Promise
Warriors Super Edition: Yellowfang’s Secret
Warriors Super Edition: Tallstar’s Revenge
Warriors Super Edition: Bramblestar’s Storm
Warriors Super Edition: Moth Flight’s Vision
Warriors Field Guide: Secrets of the Clans
Warriors: Cats of the Clans
Warriors: Code of the Clans