Jagged Peak flinched, and Gray Wing glared at Jackdaw’s Cry. “Jagged Peak has a brain,” he mewed. “He would have figured out a way to get away from those dogs if he had to.”
Jackdaw’s Cry opened his jaws to protest, then clearly thought better of it.
“It’s time we went back to the hollow,” Gray Wing meowed roughly.
Before any cat could move, Rainswept Flower turned to him, with a sidelong glance at Jagged Peak. She’d worked harder than any cat to free his brother from the collapsed tunnel.
“I think Jagged Peak should lead the way back, don’t you?” she asked.
That’s mouse-brained, Gray Wing thought, then a heartbeat later realized how clever Rainswept Flower was being. Taking the lead will give Jagged Peak his dignity back. “Good idea,” he agreed. “Jagged Peak, we all dashed here so quickly, we’re not sure of the best way back. Can you show us?”
Jagged Peak struggled to his paws and gave his pelt a shake. “I guess so,” he muttered, as if he was reluctant, though Gray Wing could see his eyes brighten and his tail begin to rise with pride.
“Thanks, Rainswept Flower,” Gray Wing murmured into her ear.
“It’s the least I can do,” she responded.
Jagged Peak began tottering toward the camp, with Rainswept Flower and Shattered Ice springing to support him on either side. As the other mountain cats followed, Gray Wing flicked his ears at Wind and Gorse, beckoning them over to him.
“I thought when the dogs arrived you went to hide in the undergrowth,” he began. “How did you end up coming with the others to help save Jagged Peak?”
Wind and Gorse exchanged a glance.
“We decided we couldn’t just abandon you,” Gorse explained. “After all, we’re good friends now.”
Wind nodded. “So we went to the hollow to see how you were, and got there just as Shattered Ice turned up, out of breath and yowling about Jagged Peak stuck on the moor.”
“Thank you,” Gray Wing meowed from the bottom of his heart. His paws itched to invite the two rogues to join their group, but he knew that he would have to discuss it with Tall Shadow first. “Is there anything we can do to show you how grateful we are?”
“If it’s possible, we’d like to join you,” Wind responded, as if she had followed Gray Wing’s thought. “We’d do all we can to hunt well and help out.”
“That’s right,” Gorse assured Gray Wing. “Life has gotten much harder since the new cats came to live here, and we need allies.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Gray Wing promised.
Racing past the other cats, he headed for the camp, where he found Tall Shadow standing at the edge of the hollow. Her ears were pricked alertly and her gaze swept across the moor, constantly watchful.
When Tall Shadow spotted Gray Wing she took a few paces forward to meet him. “Are all the cats okay?” she asked, desperate anxiety in her voice. “Thunder and Jagged Peak—are they safe?”
“Yes.” Gray Wing rested his tail on her shoulder. “They’re both fine. And the dogs have gone.”
Tall Shadow let out a long sigh of relief. For the first time Gray Wing could remember, she sank to the ground as if her legs weren’t strong enough to hold her up any longer. “Thank goodness!” she breathed out. “I could never have forgiven myself if . . .” She couldn’t go on.
“They’re still alive,” Gray Wing reassured her. “Thanks to Wind and Gorse.”
He explained how Thunder and Jagged Peak had hidden in the burrow, and how the roof had caved in before Jagged Peak could get out.
“We were panicking, getting in each other’s way,” he meowed. “When we’ve all recovered, we might discuss making plans in case anything like that happens again.”
Tall Shadow nodded. “Good idea. Especially now that we’re living in these tunnel dens. But go on,” she added. “How did you get Jagged Peak out?”
“We didn’t,” Gray Wing replied. “We owe that to Wind and Gorse.”
He described to Tall Shadow how Wind had cleared the earth from Jagged Peak’s mouth and nose after she and Gorse dug him out. “And remember that they came to the hollow to help. They could have just looked after their own pelts. We owe these cats,” he finished quietly. “They want to come and live with us.”
Tall Shadow looked up at him, her eyes thoughtful. “They can stay and share the evening with us,” she mewed at last. “But then they must go. I need time to think,” she added, as Gray Wing opened his jaws to protest.
Gray Wing realized that there was no point in arguing. He knew how cautious Tall Shadow was, and letting the rogues stay for just the evening was a huge concession for her.
But is she too cautious? he asked himself.
For the first time Gray Wing noticed that Turtle Tail had come up to him and was hovering nearby, waiting for him to finish his conversation.
“That sounds so frightening!” she exclaimed as he turned to her. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Every cat is fine,” Gray Wing assured her. “Look, they’re coming back now.”
The sun was going down, casting red light across the camp. Jackdaw’s Cry was outlined against it as he appeared at the top of the hollow. He raced across to Hawk Swoop and their kits. As he began to tell his story, Acorn Fur and Lightning Tail listened with their jaws gaping in shock.
A moment later Jagged Peak padded into camp, helped by Dappled Pelt and Rainswept Flower. Shattered Ice followed, escorting Gorse and Wind, and led them down to the bottom of the hollow. Gray Wing padded up to Jagged Peak, with Turtle Tail close behind. “Come over here,” he meowed. “You must be tired now. There’s a soft patch of moss where you can rest.”
Jagged Peak pulled away from him. “You don’t have to look after me all the time,” he muttered. “I can take care of myself.”
Gray Wing twitched his whiskers. “Really? Did today prove that?”
Jagged Peak flinched. Without a word he staggered off and sat by himself on the moss, his back turned to Gray Wing, rejecting help even though his whole body was swaying with exhaustion. Gray Wing’s heart twisted to see him so proud and so full of hurt. Stupid! he scolded himself. Rainswept Flower made him feel better, and now you have to go and put your clumsy great paw in it.
To his relief, Rainswept Flower followed Jagged Peak and sat down beside him. Gray Wing saw them talking quietly, their heads close together.
Gray Wing felt a comforting paw on his back. “He’ll be all right,” Turtle Tail said gently.
The rest of the cats had made their way to the bottom of the hollow.
Thunder excitedly told the story of how the dogs had chased Jagged Peak. “You should have seen Gray Wing!” he meowed. “He dashed right up to that big brute and clawed its nose! The dog looked so surprised. But Gray Wing only did it so the dogs would chase him and Jagged Peak could escape. He was really brave!”
Gray Wing wanted to hide behind a rock as he felt the gazes of all the other cats turned to him. Lightning Tail and Acorn Fur looked especially impressed, their eyes wide and shining.
“That was well done,” Tall Shadow pronounced. “But don’t forget what might have happened. We could have been grieving for dead denmates tonight.”
Thunder’s head drooped. “I know,” he muttered, looking chastened.
Gray Wing knew that Tall Shadow was right, but he felt sorry for his young kin. “Why don’t you tell them how brave you were?” he asked Thunder. “How you stayed with Jagged Peak and hid in the tunnel with him?”
“That was pretty scary,” Thunder admitted, beginning to sound cheerful again. “Especially when the tunnel collapsed. But Wind was brilliant, knowing how to get Jagged Peak out like she did.”
Dappled Pelt rose to her paws. “I’d better check on Jagged Peak,” she mewed. “The last thing he needs is to get sick, on top of everything else.” Weaving around her denmates, she approached Jagged Peak, who was crouched on the moss with his nose on his paws. “Come on, Jagged Peak,” she ordered. “You have
to let me clean up your scratches and scrapes before it gets too dark to see them.”
For a heartbeat Gray Wing thought Jagged Peak would protest. Then he let out a long sigh. “Okay, do what you want,” he muttered.
Gray Wing watched for a moment as Dappled Pelt deftly parted Jagged Peak’s fur to examine his injuries. “I don’t think there’s anything serious,” she mewed at last, settling down beside him and beginning to lick his scratches. “But you’ll need to let me check again in the morning.”
Satisfied that Jagged Peak wasn’t badly hurt, Gray Wing signaled for Wind and Gorse to come close.
“I asked Tall Shadow if you can join us,” he murmured. “She says you can stay for tonight; after that you need to leave. But she will think about it,” he added as Gorse and Wind exchanged a disappointed glance. “She just needs time to come to the right decision and invite you to join us for good.”
Wind nodded. “I can understand that.”
“Yes,” Gorse agreed. “It’s a big step for her to take.”
“Don’t worry,” Turtle Tail murmured, touching Wind’s shoulder with her tail. “I wasn’t sure if I would be invited back. But here I am.”
Gray Wing glanced around to see Jackdaw’s Cry still telling the story of Jagged Peak’s rescue to his denmates. He beckoned them closer with a wave of his tail.
“You know Jackdaw’s Cry, of course,” he meowed to Wind and Gorse. “Have you met his mate, Hawk Swoop? And these are their kits, Acorn Fur and Lightning Tail.”
“And I’m Shattered Ice,” the white tom announced, bringing up the rear as the whole group padded up to greet the newcomers.
“Pleased to meet you,” Wind responded, with a polite dip of her head, while Gorse murmured greetings.
The two kits crowded up, their eyes shining as they gazed at Wind and Gorse. “Do you really hunt rabbits down their burrows?” Acorn Fur asked. “Will you teach us how to do it?”
“All in good time,” Gray Wing told her. He was glad to see how his denmates were welcoming the moorland cats, but he had to remind himself that they weren’t part of the group yet. “Meanwhile, I’m sure Wind will tell you all about it. And maybe you’d like to share some prey?” he added to Wind and Gorse.”
“We sure would!” Gorse replied, swiping his tongue around his jaws.
With the sun sinking below the horizon, the cats gathered together in the middle of the camp, grooming themselves or quietly talking to the newcomers. Gray Wing was pleased to see how well Gorse and Wind were fitting in, and hoped that Tall Shadow was taking notice. He was glad to see too that Turtle Tail had been accepted, and was crouching comfortably beside Rainswept Flower.
As Gray Wing watched, Rainswept Flower got up to bring out the rabbit she had caught earlier that day and Jackdaw’s Cry contributed a couple of mice. Lightning Tail and Acorn Fur fetched Gray Wing’s rabbit, which they had carried back to the camp.
“So what did you two catch today?” Cloud Spots asked Shattered Ice and Thunder. “You know, when you went off on your own.”
Gray Wing saw the two cats exchange an embarrassed glance. “I caught a shrew,” Thunder replied, “but I had to leave it behind when we heard the dogs.”
Cloud Spots sniffed but didn’t comment, only glancing around at the others as if he thought his point was made.
“And don’t you dare do anything so stupid again.” Tall Shadow gave Thunder a severe look. “No young cat should go out on the moor alone. You know how dangerous it is.”
Thunder ducked his head. “Sorry,” he meowed. “I’ll be sensible in the future.”
“And we need to talk about you leading the dogs right into our camp,” Tall Shadow went on, flicking the same hard glance toward Gray Wing. “Didn’t any of you think?”
“No, and I’m sorry,” Gray Wing replied. “We panicked.”
“And we haven’t lived on the moor long enough yet to know where all the safe places are,” Rainswept Flower pointed out defensively.
“That’s a fair point,” Dappled Pelt murmured. “Maybe we should do more exploring, and work out a few escape routes in case this kind of thing happens again.”
“We’ll help with that,” Wind meowed eagerly.
Tall Shadow gave her a cool nod. “I’ll think about it.” Gray Wing guessed that she didn’t want to encourage the rogue cats to get too involved with her group.
While the prey was being shared, Rainswept Flower tore off a portion of her rabbit and took it to Jagged Peak. “Won’t you come and join us?” Gray Wing heard her ask.
Jagged Peak shook his head. He bent to sniff the rabbit, hesitated, then took a small bite. “Thanks,” he muttered.
Rainswept Flower didn’t try to persuade him anymore, just touched her nose to his ear before leaving him to it. Gray Wing was reassured that at least he was eating.
Gray Wing took some of the rabbit and went to sit beside Turtle Tail and Rainswept Flower. At once Rainswept Flower gave him an amused glance, rose to her paws and padded off to join Jagged Peak. Gray Wing blinked as he looked after her. What’s the matter with her?
“I’m so glad you’re all right,” Turtle Tail purred as Gray Wing settled down beside her. “I wanted to come and help you, but Tall Shadow said I had to think of my kits.”
“She was right,” Gray Wing responded, pressing his nose into Turtle Tail’s shoulder fur.
Twilight fell as the cats shared their stories of the day. Gray Wing told the others about the meeting with River Ripple beside the river; so much had happened since that it seemed like a long, long time ago The streaks of scarlet from the vanished sun died away, leaving an indigo sky where stars appeared one by one, glimmering peacefully above the camp.
It’s so beautiful here, Gray Wing thought. Who would ever imagine the danger we’ve been through?
Gray Wing bent his head to eat his share of the rabbit. He realized that Turtle Tail was watching him with admiring eyes.
“It sounds as if you had quite an adventure,” she mewed. “Jagged Peak would have died if you hadn’t been so quick-thinking . . . and lucky.”
Gray Wing sighed. “We were very lucky,” he agreed. Hesitantly he went on, giving voice to a fear that he had kept secret for so long. “Maybe we were wrong to make our home here on these open moors. We’re too exposed. There’s nowhere to hide from dogs, or anything else that might threaten us. There were dangers in the mountains, but at least we had the shelter of the cave behind the waterfall. We were safe there.”
Turtle Tail blinked, then flicked her ears in denial. “But where else could you have used your speed to distract the dogs and lead them away?” she asked. “Where else could Thunder and Jagged Peak have found such a good hiding place? Where else could the other cats have come to the rescue so quickly when the tunnel collapsed?”
Gray Wing began to nod slowly. What Turtle Tail was saying made a lot of sense.
“This is the perfect home for us,” she went on, brushing her pelt against his. “Look at the kits,” she added, flicking her tail-tip to point across the hollow to where Acorn Fur and Lightning Tail were stuffing themselves with prey. “They’ve survived, they’re strong and healthy, and that proves this is a good place—as long as Clear Sky doesn’t spoil it. I can’t wait to see my own kits thriving here.”
The question that had been burning inside Gray Wing for many moons rose up again. “If you’re so sure we belong here, Turtle Tail, why did you leave us to live with Twolegs?”
Turtle Tail’s ears flicked up and her eyes widened; clearly she was taken aback. “That had nothing to do with not being sure that the moor was the right place for us,” she replied.
“Then why?” Gray Wing persisted.
Turtle Tail shook her head, still unwilling to talk about what had upset her. “This rabbit is delicious,” she meowed a heartbeat later, pushing the last scraps over to him. “Much fatter prey than we caught in the mountains!”
“That’s true,” Gray Wing agreed, knowing he had to accept the change of su
bject. But what is she keeping from me? he asked himself, bewildered.
He looked up at the wide stretch of stars over the moor, brilliant in the clear sky. All around him he could hear the comfortable murmur of his denmates, full-fed and sleepy.
Turtle Tail is right, he thought. This is home now.
CHAPTER 7
The moon, almost full, was riding high, casting a silver light over the hollow. Gray Wing looked down affectionately at Thunder, who had settled at his side; the young cat’s head was drooping drowsily, but he was struggling against sleep. Hawk Swoop had bundled Lightning Tail and Acorn Fur off to bed; Gray Wing guessed that Thunder didn’t want to go with them, preferring to listen to the older cats talking instead.
Jagged Peak had crept closer, too, and lay stretched out, his eyes closed. Gray Wing was glad to see that his expression had cleared; he looked almost happy as he sank into sleep. Cloud Spots was giving himself a long stretch, while Dappled Pelt had curled up and was drowsing with her tail over her nose.
“I want to tell you more about the tunnels,” Wind began. “They’re full of rabbits, if you know where to look. There was one time, I followed a rabbit almost as far as the Twolegplace—”
“That’s enough.” Tall Shadow rose to her paws, cutting off the brown she-cat. Gray Wing guessed that she didn’t want Wind to encourage any of her cats to go near the Twolegplace, or to risk themselves down unfamiliar tunnels. “Wind, Gorse,” she began, “we thank you for your help today. But now we must say good-bye. It’s time for you to leave the hollow.”
Shattered Ice and Jackdaw’s Cry, who had been listening with intense interest, looked up indignantly.
“Surely Wind and Gorse aren’t leaving?” Shattered Ice asked. “Everyone wants them to stay. Why don’t they just spend the night here?”
The rogue cats’ eyes widened hopefully, but Tall Shadow shook her head.
“No, they have to leave,” she insisted politely. “This hollow is just for the cats from the mountains. We found it and we dug out the dens.”