Authors: Erin Hunter
“No.” Pebble Heart looked up. “A bit jagged, but that should help it close up easily.” He twisted and grabbed a mouthful of dark sludge from beside him, then began to work it into Clear Sky's wound with steady laps of his tongue.
Clear Sky flinched. “Are you sure that will help?” he rasped.
Cloud Spots ran his tail along Clear Sky's flank. “The sting shows that the herbs are working.”
Thunder sat back on his haunches, wondering how any cat had the patience to learn the name and use of every herb. “How long will it take to heal?” he asked.
“A few days.” Pebble Heart stepped back.
Clear Sky struggled to his paws. He twisted his head gently, as though feeling for pain. “Thank you.” He nodded to Pebble Heart. “That feels better already.”
“I chewed some dock into the poultice,” Pebble Heart told
him. “It will soothe the wound. When you get back to the forest, put some dock leaves in your nest when you sleep. It will ease the pain.”
Clear Sky blinked gratefully at the young cat, then turned to Thunder. “See how well we manage when we work together?”
Thunder felt his heart grow heavy. Clear Sky was still trying to persuade him that the cats should join up.
He stared blankly at his father, searching for words.
Clear Sky spoke again before he could answer. “You saved me from that badger, and Pebble Heart has made sure my wound will heal. Imagine if we all lived in the forest?” His eyes grew brighter with each word. “We'd grow strong and spread, just like the spirit cats said.”
“I don't think that's what they meant,” Cloud Spots mewed gently.
Clear Sky turned on him. “How do you know? You weren't
there
!”
Thunder flattened his ears as he heard his father's temper flare. Perhaps Clear Sky hadn't changed that much after all. “Leave Cloud Spots alone,” he murmured. “He just helped you.”
Clear Sky's angry gaze flashed toward Thunder. “Why won't any of you
understand
? Fluttering Bird wants us to be together!”
Thunder felt suddenly weary. Fighting with badgers was bad enough. He didn't want to fight with Clear Sky too. He got to his paws. “Can Clear Sky take some fresh herbs home with him?”
Pebble Heart answered him. “I'll wrap the leftover poultice in a leaf for him.”
“Thanks.” Thunder headed out of the den. “I'm going to check on the kits.” He wanted to make sure their nest was clear of snow.
Outside, a few flakes swirled around him as he crossed the clearing.
Jagged Peak was dragging a large piece of heather toward the far end.
“Are the kits okay?” Thunder called.
Jagged Peak dropped the branch and looked at Thunder. “We're moving them to a more sheltered spot.”
Thunder caught up with him as he dragged the branch beneath the trailing broom. “Under here?”
Inside, a wide circle of clear earth sat sheltered by the dropping stems. Even stripped of their leaves they made a fine windbreak, and the snow hadn't made it through. Holly was near the back of the den, weaving heather branches together with her teeth. Eagle Feather, Dew Nose, and Storm Pelt were darting around her, pouncing on one another, tails flicking with excitement.
Jagged Peak dropped the fresh branch beside his mate. “Shattered Ice and Lightning Tail have gone out to collect more now that the snow's eased,” he told her.
“We'll need moss to line it,” Holly told him.
Eagle Feather scrambled onto her back as she crouched to spear another twig into the half-built nest. “I want a badger ride!” he squeaked.
Holly huffed with annoyance and shrugged him off. “Not now! I only have two pairs of paws!”
Thunder padded forward. “I'll play with the kits,” he offered.
Holly glanced at him, relief glowing in her eyes. “Thank you, Thunder.”
“
I'll
play with them too,” Jagged Peak added quickly.
Thunder dipped his head. “We can both play.”
Eagle Feather jumped onto his father's back. Dew Nose raced for Thunder and clawed her way onto his shoulders.
He winced at her tiny, thorn-sharp claws. “What about you, Storm Pelt?”
The gray kit was hanging back. “I want to help Holly.”
Holly's ear twitched. “Go and play, dear.”
“I promise I won't get in your way.” Storm Pelt gazed at her solemnly. “I can push in the sticky-out bits.” He reached up to the half-woven nest and tucked a heather sprig in with a nimble paw.
Holly purred. “Okay, then.”
“Hurry up, Thunder!” Dew Nose curled her claws into Thunder's pelt.
“Careful!” Thunder gasped. “I'm not prey!”
Dew Nose purred as he pushed his way through the bushes.
“Hang on!” he warned as the trailing branches swept over them.
Dew Nose's paws tightened around his shoulders, and he purred, grateful that she was keeping her claws sheathed.
Outside, the clouds were thinning. The snow had stopped,
but the clearing was thickly coated. He waded through it, thumping his paws heavily against the earth like a lumbering badger, and trying not to think about the real badger he'd fought earlier. Dew Nose squeaked with delight and hung on harder.
Jagged Peak caught up to him. “Did I see Clear Sky coming back into camp with you?”
“Clear Sky?” Eagle Feather mewed on Jagged Peak's shoulders. “Where?”
“He's in Cloud Spots's den,” Thunder explained. “We ran into a badger. He got a little scratch.” He didn't want to frighten the kits.
“A badger?” Jagged Peak looked alarmed. “Close to the camp?”
Thunder shook his head. “Near the forest border. It was injured. I doubt it'll hang around long on the moor. Especially in this weather.”
Jagged Peak was frowning. “If it was close to the forest border, why did you bring him back
here
?”
“He was injuredâ” Thunder began.
Jagged Peak didn't let him finish. “He's caused enough worry and gossip in the camp already! We don't need him stirring up more trouble.” He stopped and shook Eagle Feather from his shoulders.
The tiny kit plumped into the snow with a squeak. “That wasn't long enough!”
Jagged Peak nodded toward the boulder at the other end of the camp. “Go and see if you can find some moss around the
bottom of Tall Shadow's rock.”
“But it's covered in snow,” Eagle Feather objected.
“Then you'll have to dig for it,” Jagged Peak told him firmly.
Dew Nose slithered down Thunder's flank and landed beside her brother. “Come on, Eagle Feather! Holly will be really pleased if we bring her moss.” She bounded over the snow, sinking deeper with each jump. Eagle Feather plunged after her. “Wait for me!” They looked like frogs bobbing through water.
Thunder purred and glanced at Jagged Peak, but the gray tabby tom wasn't watching his kits. He was staring at Cloud Spots's den beyond the rock, his eyes dark with worry.
“Was he hurt badly?” Jagged Peak asked.
“Just a scratch,” Thunder told him. Was someone other than Cloud Spots and Pebble Heart worried about Clear Sky after all? “Pebble Heart's just making sure it won't turn sour.”
“So he'll be able to go straight home.”
Thunder stared at Jagged Peak. “Don't you
care
that he was hurt?”
Jagged Peak dragged his gaze from the den. “It makes a change, I suppose,” he snorted. “He usually
causes
wounds.”
Thunder flinched, but didn't argue. Clear Sky had killed Rainswept Flower and banished Jagged Peak from the forest. He understood why the tom was bitter. But Jagged Peak's words worried him. He glanced around the camp. Tall Shadow was on her rock, gazing across the moor while the kits burrowed eagerly below. Mud Paws was emerging from the long grass at the edge, shaking snow from his ears. Dappled Pelt sat
a few tail-lengths away, her ears twitching, while Mouse Ear stood beside her staring into the sky. “You said Clear Sky had caused gossip?” Thunder asked.
“You
know
Tall Shadow has been thinking about making a new home in the pines,” Jagged Peak grunted. “And this weather has started everyone wondering whether living in such an exposed place is a good idea. Mud Paws and Mouse Ear said they were never this cold when they were strays. They could shelter in woods or by the river when the cold weather came.”
Dappled Pelt padded closer. “We weren't even this exposed in the mountains!” she called. “We had the cave to protect us.”
“But there's better hunting here,” Thunder reminded her.
“There
was
,” she agreed, “before the sickness killed half of it!”
Thunder's pelt pricked uneasily. “Do you
want
to move to the forest and become part of Clear Sky's group?” He could hardly believe it. They'd fought a battle to protect their life on the moor!
“Of course not,” Dappled Pelt snorted. “But the moor's not the only place to live.”
Thunder nodded slowly. River Ripple had his island. And Clear Sky's forest was not the only shelter nearby. The floor of the pine forest must be so sheltered by the thick canopy of needles that it never felt snow.
Mud Paws joined them. “I thought the spirit cats
wanted
us to move on.”
“Spirit cats!” Mouse Ear puffed. “You don't believe that, do
you? Dead cats talking to the living?”
Dappled Pelt blinked at the old tom slowly. “Thunder, Tall Shadow, and Gray Wing all saw them.”
“Nothing but dreams.” Mouse Ear tipped his head to one side. “They'd probably shared a rotten mouse before they went to their nests.”
Thunder met his gaze with annoyance. “So you
want
to stay on the moor.”
“I didn't say that,” Mouse Ear snapped back. “I just don't intend to move because some imaginary cats told me to.”
Jagged Peak swished his tail. “We have to settle this before everyone starts arguing.”
Thunder blinked as Jagged Peak marched toward Tall Shadow's rock and leaped up beside her.
Tall Shadow reared in surprise. “Jagged Peak?”
“We need to settle where we are going to live before every cat starts fighting about it.” The tom's mew rang across the clearing.
Holly's head poked out from beneath the broom. Cloud Spots's den shivered as Clear Sky pushed his way out.
Gray Wing crossed the clearing, his eyes round. “Jagged Peak? What are you doing?”
Thunder hurried toward the rock. Clear Sky's eyes were bright with hope as he stared up at Jagged Peak. Did Clear Sky think that his younger brother was about to agree with his plan to join together? Alarm twisted Thunder's belly. “Let's discuss this later!” he called to Jagged Peak. Did he have to make such a fuss while Clear Sky was still here? No one was
going to join Clear Sky's group. Surely they could settle this without embarrassing the misguided tom.
Dappled Pelt stopped beside Thunder. “Let him speak,” she murmured softly. “We've already put off this decision too long.”
Mud Paws and Mouse Ear halted below the rock while Holly hurried toward them. Storm Pelt bounded after his mother.
She called to Eagle Feather and Dew Nose. “Come here, little ones!”
The kits were covered in snow from digging around the rock. A wad of moss dangled from Dew Nose's jaws. It trembled as she hurried toward her mother.
Holly swept her close with a paw and tucked her against her warm belly. She scooped up Eagle Feather too. Storm Pelt burrowed in beside them.
“We found moss for the nest,” Eagle Feather mewed excitedly.
“Hush.” Holly leaned down and licked the snow from his nose.
Paw steps sounded outside camp. A moment later Lightning Tail and Shattered Ice pushed through the gorse tunnel.
Shattered Ice blinked. “What's going on?”
Lightning Tail was holding a bunch of heather between his jaws. He dropped it and slid between Dappled Pelt and Mud Paws. “Is this a meeting?”
Jagged Peak gazed down at him. “We need to decide where we're going to live.”
“At last!” Tall Shadow pummeled the rock beside her excitedly.
Holly curled her lip. “But I've just finished building a new nest!”
“I don't want to move to the pine forest!” Shattered Ice called. “It's as damp as a marsh in there.”
“I don't want to stay here!” Mud Paws mewed. “We'll freeze to death by newleaf.”
Mouse Ear growled in agreement. “I'm tired of hunting in rabbit tunnels!”
“I want to live near fresh water,” Dappled Pelt called. “The water here tastes like peat.”
Thunder stared in disbelief at the cats he'd shared a camp with for so long. Had they always been dissatisfied? Sadness jabbed at his chest. He'd grown up in the hollow. It was
home
. How could they abandon it? He stepped forward. “We can't leave the moor!”
“We'll starve if we stay!” Mouse Ear returned.
Clear Sky lifted his tail. “Let's do as the spirit cats ask. Let's be like the Blazing Star and gather like petals around the heart of a flower.” His eyes shone. “Come live in the forest with me!”
Jagged Peak glared at him. “Do you think we're hare-brained?”
“I'm not living anywhere near you,” Shattered Ice growled. “And I'm not living under treesâI need to see the sky above my head.”
“But trees will shelter us,” Tall Shadow argued.
Thunder's thoughts spun. “How can we leave when we can't decide where to go?”
Jagged Peak padded to the front to the rock and looked around at the gathered cats. “Let's decide the same way we decided last time.”
Thunder frowned.
Last time?
Jagged Peak's gaze reached Gray Wing's and halted. “Remember?”
Gray Wing nodded solemnly. “Let's cast stones.”