Wind Runner shook her head. “We’ll be fine, but thanks.”
Gray Wing was relieved that she had refused. I want something to take back to Turtle Tail’s kits. They’re almost grown now, but they’ll still enjoy a treat.
As he turned to leave, he paused, spotting another cat watching him from the shadow of one of the rocks: a she-cat with a thick, dark gray pelt and wide, amber eyes.
“Slate,” Wind Runner called, beckoning with her tail. “Come and meet Gray Wing. He’s one of the cats from that big group I told you about.”
Slate padded forward and dipped her head to Gray Wing, giving him an interested stare. “It’s good to meet you,” she mewed. “I see we both have colors in our names.”
As she spoke her eyes were alight with mischief, and for the first time in moons Gray Wing felt an amused purr bubbling up in his throat. “Great to meet you, too,” he responded politely.
“Are you coming to live with us here?” Slate asked.
Gray Wing shook his head. “I have my own home to go to in the hollow,” he explained. Home for now, he realized. An idea was forming in his mind that he hardly dared put into words; seeing Wind Runner had made that plan seem a little more real.
“I see,” Slate murmured. “Can I come with you for part of the way?”
Surprised and pleased, Gray Wing agreed. Saying good-bye to Wind Runner and Gorse Fur, they padded along side by side.
“How is Wind Runner managing?” Gray Wing asked, feeling awkward as he mumbled his question around the vole in his jaws.
Slate dipped her head thoughtfully. “She’s surviving, but it’s hard. I know what it’s like to lose someone I loved. My brother died saving me from a fox attack—look.”
She slid to the ground and rolled over so that Gray Wing could see a healed scar on the tender part of her belly. His heart softened in sympathy. There’s something very special about a cat who can show her vulnerable side like this to some cat she’s only just met.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “Your brother must have been a great cat.”
Slate walked with Gray Wing in comfortable silence until the hollow came in sight. Then she halted. “I’ll leave you here,” she meowed. “Good luck.”
“Luck?” Gray Wing was puzzled. “What for?”
The gray she-cat’s amber eyes were glinting again: with merriment or wisdom, Gray Wing couldn’t tell. “For the challenges ahead,” she replied. “I can feel them resting heavy on your shoulders.”
She brushed her tail along his side and turned to go.
“Good luck to you, too,” Gray Wing called after her, unable to tear his gaze away as she strode confidently across the moor. She knows more about me from a few moments’ talk than some cats I’ve lived with for seasons. Where in the world did Wind Runner find her?
As Gray Wing approached the camp, he spotted Tall Shadow standing at the edge of the hollow. Her gaze was fixed on the horizon, toward where the Thunderpath stretched. Her tail curled up in welcome when she noticed Gray Wing.
“You’re back,” she meowed in tones of deep satisfaction as she touched noses with him. “Are you glad to be home again?”
“I think so,” Gray Wing responded, looking around for the kits and spotting Pebble Heart at the entrance to their den.
“You think so?” Tall Shadow called after him as he headed toward the den.
Gray Wing glanced over his shoulder. “It’s good for now,” he called back.
But for how long . . . ?
CHAPTER 17
Thunder crouched behind a tussock of grass and narrowed his eyes as he stared at the rabbits feeding outside their burrows. The sun was slipping down in the sky, and a chilly breeze whispered across the moor. On either side of Thunder, Owl Eyes and Lightning Tail waited, looking stiff and tense. Owl Eyes’s tail-tip flicked impatiently to and fro.
“Don’t you dare move before I tell you to,” Thunder warned him. “This is what we’re going to do. You see the rabbit over there by that rock?” He angled his ears toward the rabbit that was farthest away from the burrows. It was nibbling the grass, unaware that the cats were watching it.
Lightning Tail nodded. “I see it.”
“Right. Lightning Tail, I want you to run out between the rabbit and the burrows. Make it run the other way. Owl Eyes, you stay here and leap out at it if it doubles back this way.” Thunder swiped his tongue around his jaws. “And I’ll kill it. It looks nice and plump.”
“I’m ready, Thunder,” Owl Eyes mewed, his whiskers quivering with excitement.
“Okay. Lightning Tail, go!”
Pushing off with powerful back legs, Lightning Tail launched himself out of cover. The rabbits closer to the burrows jumped up in alarm and fled, their white tails bobbing as they vanished into safety. The cats’ chosen prey tried to follow, but Lightning Tail intercepted it, his teeth bared. For a moment the rabbit seemed not to know which way to run, then dashed off in a panic. As Thunder bore down on it, the prey dodged his pouncing paws and headed straight for Owl Eyes. The kit leaped out of hiding, his tail lashing and his claws tearing at the grass. Letting out a terrified squeal, the rabbit crouched trembling in the grass, not even trying to flee any longer. Thunder brought down one huge paw on its neck—a killing strike.
“Great catch!” Owl Eyes exclaimed, coming up to look at the limp body.
“You both helped,” Thunder meowed, with a nod to Lightning Tail as he came padding up. “Owl Eyes, you looked really scary!”
But Thunder’s satisfaction with the hunt ebbed away rapidly as he took a closer look at what they had caught. The prey was not succulent and plump—it was actually just bloated and swollen from the sickness. There was froth around its jaws, and a faint, rank smell rising from the body.
“Owl Eyes, keep back,” Thunder ordered sharply. “Lightning Tail, we’d better find some leaves to wrap it. If we leave it here some other cat might take it.” No wonder it was easy to cut it out from the rest, he added silently to himself.
When he and Lightning Tail had found enough leaves to wrap the rabbit, and shoved it deep into a cleft in a nearby rock, Thunder led the way back to camp.
“It’s getting harder and harder to catch enough prey,” Owl Eyes complained. “It’s like everything is sick.”
“I know,” Lightning Tail agreed. “We decided separating might help, but we couldn’t tell that to the prey. The illness is spreading farther and farther.”
His denmates were saying out loud what Thunder was already thinking privately. “That may be true,” he meowed, “but as we haven’t found a cure yet, all we can do is avoid the sickness as much as we can.”
I touched that rabbit, he thought, with a tremor of fear in his belly. Does that mean that I’m carrying the sickness with me now?
Halfway back to camp they stopped to collect the prey they had caught earlier, which they had hidden under some stones. “One scrawny rabbit and a couple of mice,” Thunder muttered. “It looks like a lean leaf-bare. But Gray Wing would probably say it’s still better down here than in the mountains.”
Owl Eyes winced at the mention of Gray Wing’s name, and Thunder wished he had never spoken of his kin. He knew how much the kit missed Gray Wing, and felt guilty that he had left the hollow.
Owl Eyes thinks it was his fault, because he was angry about Tom’s death, and left Gray Wing to fetch Sparrow Fur by himself.
“I’m sure Gray Wing will be back soon,” Thunder meowed, rubbing his cheek against the side of Owl Eyes’s muzzle.
Owl Eyes looked unconvinced, and did not reply as he picked up one of the mice and started back toward the camp.
Thunder exchanged a glance with Lightning Tail, and padded alongside him in Owl Eyes’s paw steps. I really miss Gray Wing, too, he thought. He regretted that he had taken his kin too much for granted over the last few moons. Especially after Turtle Tail died, he mused. Gray Wing just seemed to turn in on himself. My support could have helped him.
More clearly than ever, Thu
nder realized how important Gray Wing was to their group, and how much he had to offer. He seems convinced he has to give me room to grow and become leader, but I hope he changes his mind. I want him to come back.
They were nearing the camp, beginning to hurry as the sun slid closer to the horizon, when Thunder heard the soft, teasing voice of a she-cat calling out from the gorse bush they were passing.
“That’s not very much prey for a cat with such big paws!”
Thunder halted and peered into the bush. From the darkness between the branches a pair of brilliant green eyes with starlike pupils stared back at him. His heart began to pound and his mouth felt dry.
Star Flower strolled out of the bush, her tail curling up with amusement. “Quite a comeback,” she mewed wryly, padding forward to stand in front of Thunder, whose mouth was still full of the rabbit he carried. Glancing at Lightning Tail, she added, “Is he always this talkative?”
Thunder was surprised to see Lightning Tail narrow his eyes at the rogue she-cat. “Thunder doesn’t really like strangers,” he said evenly. “Not many cats do these days. Excuse us.”
While Thunder watched, bemused, Lightning Tail stalked off toward the camp. He paused a moment later, when he realized that Thunder wasn’t following.
Before Thunder could call to his friend, Star Flower had turned back to him. “It’s early to be heading home,” she meowed, with a quick glance at the sky. “You’re going to miss a spectacular sunset. Besides, there’s still enough light for me to show you a few killer hunting moves . . . if you’re not too proud to learn.”
Thunder set down the rabbit he was carrying. “No, I’m not too proud,” he said, his voice sounding high and unnatural—even to him. Why do I always behave like a mouse-brain in front of this she-cat?
He saw that Lightning Tail was giving him a look of annoyance. “Come on, Thunder,” he urged. “We’re needed back at camp.”
“Actually, we’re not,” Thunder retorted, forcing more authority into his voice. “You and Owl Eyes can manage the prey. I’ll stay behind and catch something to eat by myself.”
Lightning Tail gave an irritable shake of his head. “You know we’re supposed to be keeping to ourselves because of the sickness,” he mewed tersely. “After all, you helped make that rule.” Lightning Tail stared at him for a moment. When Thunder didn’t move, he ran back to Thunder and leaned in close. “I just don’t trust her,” Lightening Tail meowed quietly. “There’s something about her that makes my fur stand on end. She’s just . . . not real. I can’t explain it but . . .”
Thunder backed away, shaking his head, hoping that Star Flower hadn’t heard. This she-cat is utterly real. I can’t believe it, but she is.
If Star Flower had heard Lightning Tail’s warning, she pretended not to.
Star Flower took a pace toward him with a swish of her plumy golden tail. “Do I look sick to you?” she purred. “Anyway, who’s the leader around here?”
“I am.” Thunder gave Lightning Tail a hard stare. “Take Owl Eyes back to camp. Now.”
Lightning Tail shot Thunder an angry and disappointed look, but he didn’t argue anymore. Snatching up Thunder’s rabbit, he beckoned with his tail for Owl Eyes to follow, and stalked away. Owl Eyes blinked in bewilderment, then padded after him.
For a few heartbeats Thunder’s pelt prickled with dismay at the argument with his friend, but when he turned back to Star Flower and looked into her eyes, it all seemed to melt away.
“Have you seen the secret garden?” she asked him.
Thunder had no idea what she was talking about, but before he could tell her so she turned and sprang away. “Follow me!” she called, glancing back over her shoulder.
Thunder raced after her, exhilaration blowing through him like a gale. Everything looked new and wonderful to him. The sun slanting through the trees seemed to sparkle more brightly than before, and the air was full of delicious scents.
Star Flower led him toward the river, but before they reached it she turned aside through a copse of thick trees where ferns still grew in luxuriant masses. Beyond the ferns they came to the bank of a brook, which bubbled along over stones, then flowed down toward the river in a series of tiny waterfalls. On either side of the water the grass was speckled by innumerable flowers, releasing their scent into the cool air of leaf-fall.
“They’ll wilt soon,” Star Flower whispered as Thunder caught up with her. “Maybe even before the sun rises again. We’re so lucky to see such beauty before it’s gone, aren’t we?”
Thunder murmured assent. There had been so much stress in his life, so many questions that were difficult to answer, that he had never really been able to relax and enjoy beauty like this secluded spot.
“It is wonderful here,” he agreed. A sudden thought struck him, and he continued, “You love flowers so much—do you know one called the Blazing Star?”
Star Flower nodded. “Sure. It grows mostly on the other side of the Thunderpath,” she told him. “Why do you want to know?”
“Oh . . .” Did she hear all the other cats at four trees talking about the spirit-cats? If I bring them up and she didn’t, she’ll think I have bees in my brain! “Some cat mentioned it. Do you know what it’s used for?”
“It’s a healing herb,” Star Flower responded.
“Really?” Thunder felt a prickle of excitement in his pads. “That’s useful to know.” He looked forward to telling his denmates what he had discovered. And then let Lightning Tail say that I shouldn’t talk to Star Flower! If only we’d known that before poor Morning Whisker died, he added to himself with a stab of sorrow. Maybe this herb can help against the sickness.
Star Flower sat down on a hillock overlooking the water and beckoned Thunder to join her with a flick of her tail. “Tell me about yourself,” she meowed as he settled down beside her. “Were you born here on the moor?”
“Not exactly,” Thunder replied. Without realizing how it came about, he found himself telling Star Flower about Clear Sky and Storm, how his mother and his littermates had died when the Twoleg den where they lived was destroyed, and how Gray Wing had rescued and raised him.
“But what about Clear Sky?” Star Flower asked. “Don’t tell me he didn’t want a fantastic cat like you!”
Thunder shrugged. “Clear Sky rejected me—twice, actually. Once when I was a kit, and once when I challenged the way he ran his group.”
“That’s dreadful.” Star Flower’s voice was a sympathetic purr. “Clear Sky must be a terrible cat with deep weaknesses. Doesn’t he know that family is more important than anything?”
“He’s not really weak,” Thunder mewed, feeling uncomfortable discussing his father like this. “He made mistakes, but he made them while he was trying to do what he thought was for the best.” Hoping to change the subject, he added, “Anyway, what’s your story? I’d never seen you before that meeting at the four trees.”
“Oh, I was born on the moor,” Star Flower told him. “But I mostly kept myself to myself until I heard about cats forming groups. I decided to go to the four trees and find out more, and then I saw you.”
“You don’t seem like other rogues,” Thunder meowed.
Star Flower’s green eyes glinted with amusement. “What do you mean?”
“Well,” Thunder ducked his head in embarrassment. “You’re sort of . . . softer and . . . and more . . .” Beautiful was the word he wanted to say, but held his tongue.
“I take very good care of myself,” Star Flower murmured with a twitch of her whiskers. “Look at the sunset,” she went on, gazing up into the sky, where streaks of scarlet and gold were staining the blue.
Thunder’s gaze followed hers, and he let himself relax and enjoy the beauty that was blazing above his head. When Star Flower leaned closer to him and laid her paw over his, he thought that he would burst with happiness. The soft touch of her pelt sent warmth flooding through his fur, and her sweet scent drifted around him.
I’ve never felt like this before!
>
Thunder’s heart thumped even harder as he wondered how he could ask Star Flower if she might be ready to join a group—his group. He was sure that if she would agree to come and live with him, he would be able to smooth over any problems with Lightning Tail or the others.
If they only knew her like I do!
He was desperate to ask her, but he couldn’t think of the right words. His tongue felt as dry as a dusty path in greenleaf.
Before he could decide what to say, the light in the sky began to fade. Star Flower suddenly twitched her ears and sprang up.
“Well,” she meowed, “that was magnificent, but it’s starting to get dark. We should go home.”
“Where is your home?” Thunder asked.
Star Flower brushed her tail along his flank. “I’m not ready to tell you that yet,” she replied, “but I’m sure I’ll see you again.”
Thunder had no time to respond before she whirled around and vanished among the trees. He raced after her, pushing his way through the ferns, but when he burst out into the open there was no sign of the beautiful she-cat.
He had no choice but to make his way back to camp, his heart still pounding. Did that just happen? he asked himself. Was it real? And when will I see her again?
The sky was clear and the last of the daylight was enough to guide Thunder as he loped across the moor. Once or twice he thought he heard paw steps following him, and once the rustling of a gorse bush after he passed it. His pads tingled with apprehension, but when he spun around to see if some creature was following him, he saw nothing but the empty moor.
I wish it had been Star Flower, he thought longingly.
When Thunder arrived back home, all thoughts of the golden she-cat were driven out of his head. He was amazed to see both Gray Wing and Clear Sky sitting at the edge of the hollow with Tall Shadow.
“Gray Wing!” Thunder yowled excitedly, racing up to them and skidding to a halt in front of his kin. “You’re home!” Purring loudly, he brushed his muzzle against Gray Wing’s shoulder.
“Yes, I’m home,” Gray Wing responded with a sigh. “It’s good to see you again, Thunder.”