Path of Stars (24 page)

Thunder's thoughts whirled as he watched
Gray Wing collapse.
He's so ill! Black Ear's missing! Everything's gone wrong!
Above, the moon shone bright in the midnight sky. It was the same moon that had shone on the naming ceremony not long before. How had so much changed so fast?

His gaze darted to the entrance. Wind Runner, Moth Flight, Gorse Fur, and Willow Tail were already haring after Reed Tail and Dust Muzzle. Sparrow Fur and Owl Eyes were waiting for him, their tails flicking impatiently.

“Go!” Pebble Heart nudged Thunder with his muzzle. “I'll make sure Gray Wing's okay. Just find Black Ear.”

Thunder blinked at the young tom, then bounded across the tussocks. Racing past Owl Eyes and Sparrow Fur, he led the way out of camp. Wind Runner's brown tabby pelt showed against the snow as she headed for the oak forest. Swift Minnow charged toward the gorge.

“Can you see any tracks?” Thunder called to Sparrow Fur as the tortoiseshell caught up to him. Had the rogues left a trail?

“Here!” Owl Eyes's yowl sounded behind him.

Thunder spun, skidding to a halt.

Owl Eyes was sniffing churned-up snow. Tracks led over a ridge and down into a dip. Thunder hurried to Owl Eyes's side. Sniffing the tracks, he smelled rogue stench. He scrambled clumsily to the bottom of the dip.

Sparrow Fur landed beside him. Owl Eyes tumbled after. Thunder sniffed the flattened snow. “They stopped here,” he guessed. Paw prints circled and crossed. “Perhaps they were wondering where to go next.”

Sparrow Fur frowned. “Wouldn't Slash have already planned where they were taking Black Ear?”

“Look!” Owl Eyes was following a trail up the far side of the dip. “They must have gone this way.”

“But there's a trail here as well!” Sparrow Fur was sniffing a single track of paw prints.

Thunder frowned. “Did they split up?”

Owl Eyes looked confused. “Why?”

Thunder frowned, trying to understand. “Slash and his campmates were at the gathering. They didn't have Black Ear with them.” He stared at Sparrow Fur. “But they must have snatched him pretty soon after we all left our camps. There wasn't enough time for them to attack
after
the meeting.”

Sparrow Fur pricked her ears. “They must have taken Black Ear and hidden him somewhere.”

Owl Eyes's tail twitched. “He'd have needed a guard.”

Thunder began to pace. “There was one rogue missing from the gathering.” He suddenly remembered the orange she-cat who had begged to go with Slash as he abandoned the marsh camp. He had not seen her among Slash's allies at the
four trees. “
Swallow
wasn't there!” His thoughts quickened, but Sparrow Fur was faster.

“Swallow guarded Black Ear while Slash was at the meeting!” The tortoiseshell's eyes widened.

“So they
did
split up.” Owl Eyes nodded from one set of tracks to the other. “Slash and the others went to the clearing while Swallow took Black Ear somewhere else.”

Hope flickered in Thunder's belly. “We have to find where they hid him.”

“He won't be there anymore,” Owl Eyes pointed out.

“But Slash and the others must have come back to fetch him,” Thunder reasoned. “That would have taken time.”

Sparrow Fur's tail swished over the snow. “We can't be far behind them.”

Owl Eyes shifted his paws impatiently. “Which trail do we follow?”

“This one will lead us to the hiding place.” Thunder jerked his muzzle toward the single set of tracks.

“Come on!” Sparrow Fur bounded out of the dip.

Thunder was hard on her heels as the tortoiseshell followed the trail through the snow toward the high moor. Freezing wind streamed through Thunder's fur, blowing from Highstones and carrying the chilly scent of the mountains. Thunder quickened his pace. Black Ear was too small to be exposed to such cold. He could freeze to death out here.

The trail sliced through the smooth snow ahead. Thunder saw it was leading to a rocky outcrop jutting from the hillside. He raced past Sparrow Fur, relieved as he saw a gap between
the wind-smoothed boulders. At least Swallow had had the sense to find shelter for Black Ear while she waited for Slash to return.

He spotted more tracks veering to meet the single trail. Slowing, he sniffed them and growled softly as he smelled Slash's scent. It was fresh. They'd guessed right. Slash and his campmates
had
come to fetch Swallow and Black Ear after the meeting.

Sparrow Fur hared past him and dived through the gap between the boulders.

Owl Eyes raced after his sister, disappearing into the shadowy cave.

“How recently were they there?” Thunder called, following them in. Rocks closed overhead as darkness swallowed him. Fear-stench hit his nose. Swallow must have crouched here nervously. He brushed past Sparrow Fur, who was sniffing the ground.

“Black Ear was definitely here,” the tortoiseshell meowed. “I can smell his scent.”

Thunder shoved his muzzle close and smelled warm kit scent. Relief pricked though his fur.
No blood-scent.
The kit wasn't injured.

Owl Eyes slid past him, his pelt brushing rock. “They're not long gone,” he mewed excitedly. “We can catch them easily. Carrying a kit must be slowing them down.”

Thunder raised his head as fear jabbed his belly. He'd seen Slash let a campmate be mauled to death by a dog. What pity would he show a kit? “How do we get Black Ear away from
them without him getting hurt?”

“We'll cross that river when we come to it.” Sparrow Fur's eyes glinted in the shadows.

Thunder nodded. First they had to find them.

He headed for the cave entrance.

A growl sounded outside.

Thunder froze. A familiar stench touched his nose as a shadow blocked the moonlight filtering through the gap. “Fox!”

Owl Eyes stiffened beside him. Sparrow Fur's pelt bristled.

“It must have followed the scents,” Thunder whispered. “It's waiting for us outside.” As he spoke, a muzzle poked through the gap. The snarling face of a fox appeared, its eyes gleaming with delight as it saw them.

Thunder retreated slowly, pressing Sparrow Fur and Owl Eyes backward.

The fox whined as it tried to push farther into the cave.

“It's too big,” Owl Eyes breathed.

“But we have to get out!” Sparrow Fur hissed.

“We'll drive it back,” Thunder decided. “Then make a run for it.”

“It'll chase us.” Owl Eyes's mew trembled.

“We might lead it to Black Ear,” Sparrow Fur pointed out.

Thunder hesitated. Rage pulsed through his paws. There wasn't time to fight a fox. Slash and his campmates would be getting farther away with each moment they wasted. But what else could they do? “I'll drive it away from the entrance.” He unsheathed his claws. “You slide out behind me. Owl Eyes, go
for its tail. Sparrow Fur, get on its back.” They were taking a huge risk. Leaf-bare foxes were more vicious than badgers. But they had to do it. For Gray Wing. He nodded to Owl Eyes and Sparrow Fur. “Ready?”

“Ready,” Sparrow Fur growled.

Owl Eyes lashed his tail. “Ready.”

Diving forward, Thunder slashed at the fox's muzzle.

It shrank backward, snarling.

Thunder felt Sparrow Fur and Owl Eyes barge past. Moonlit snow flashed before his eyes as the entrance cleared. He dashed outside.

The fox lunged at him, its teeth catching the fur on his shoulder and ripping it from his flesh. Screeching with pain, Thunder whipped around and swung a blow at the fox's nose. His claws whisked over its black snout, and he threw a second blow at its cheek.

The fox's eyes shone with rage. Thrusting its snout closer, it snapped at Thunder. Thunder backed away. It drove him against the boulder, looming so close that there was no room to swing his paws. Fear surged through his pelt. He glimpsed Owl Eyes tugging desperately at the fox's tail. Sparrow Fur clung to its shoulders, shredding its pelt with her hind paws so that red fur fluttered over the glittering snow.

The fox didn't seem to feel the blows. Excitement shone in its eyes as it paused and showed its glistening teeth.

It's going to kill me!
Terror raged through Thunder. He thought of Violet Dawn, waiting for him in camp. And Lightning Tail.
You must be their next leader.
Silently he begged his friend to take
care of the cats he'd brought together.

A battle cry split the air.

The fox jerked its muzzle around, fear sparking in its gaze.

A broad-shouldered gray tom was racing toward it.

Clear Sky!

With a yowl, Clear Sky leaped, slamming his paws into the fox's neck. The fox staggered, slithering on the snow. Sparrow Fur growled and dragged at its pelt, unbalancing the fox. Owl Eyes yanked its tail to one side, and the fox fell.

Thunder leaped on it, his flank pressing against his father's as, side by side, they battered the fox with merciless blows.

The fox screeched, fear sharpening its cry. It struggled beneath the spitting cats and wriggled free.

Thunder backed away as it scrambled to its paws. Flashing a terrified glance at the cats, it turned and fled across the hillside.

“Clear Sky!” Catching his breath, Thunder stared at his father. “Why did you come?”

Clear Sly was panting, his thick gray pelt ruffled. Starlight glittered in his eyes. “When I reached camp and found Star Flower safe, I guessed.” He blinked at Thunder. “Slash attacked Gray Wing's camp, didn't he?”

Thunder nodded. “He's taken Black Ear.”

“Are the others okay?” Clear Sky didn't flinch, his gaze sharp.

“Silver Stripe and White Tail are safe. Slate and Spotted Fur were wounded trying to protect them, but Pebble Heart's with them.”

“Good.” Clear Sky turned his head, scanning the moor. “Do you know which way Slash went?”

Sparrow Fur shook out her ruffled pelt. “We were following their tracks.”

Owl Eyes darted toward the churned snow leading away from the outcrop. “Swallow hid Black Ear here while Slash went to the gathering,” he explained. “Slash and the others came to fetch them afterward.”

Clear Sky hurried to the trail and sniffed it. “It's still fresh.”

“They can't be far ahead. We were—”

Before Thunder could finish, Clear Sky bounded away, kicking up snow. Thunder leaped after him. They chased across the moonlit hillside, following the rogues' trail. Owl Eyes veered downslope, his gaze flicking one way, then the other. Sparrow Fur raced fast over the snow, hardly denting it.

The moor sloped out of the moonlight and into shadow. Heather and pine stretched ahead. The trail veered around it. Sparrow Fur headed between the bushes, chasing her brother as Owl Eyes plunged through them. Thunder stayed at Clear Sky's heels, the cold air burning his chest. Heat pulsed from his pelt. As they rounded the heather, Owl Eyes burst from the bushes ahead of them.

The gray tom stopped. His gaze followed the trail as it straightened and led toward Tall Shadow's territory. “They're heading for the pines.”

Thunder scrambled to a halt.

The heather trembled as Sparrow Fur darted out. She followed her brother's gaze toward the dark wood below. “They
must be trying to get to their old camp.”

“They'll have to cross the Thunderpath.” Thunder's pelt prickled with fear as he saw it cutting between the moor and the pines. The snow there had been churned into filthy sludge by monster paws. He scanned the trail, searching for the rogues. But shadow hid the verges. He flattened his ears as a monster screamed past, spraying slush from its paws.

“They might
not
cross the Thunderpath,” Sparrow Fur mewed hopefully. “Perhaps they'll just follow it as far as the oak forest. The woods there are thick. It would make a good place to hide.”

“Let's find out.” Clear Sky leaped down the slope.