Tallstar's Revenge (30 page)

The ground started to slope upward, but Talltail leaped easily up the rise and scrambled onto rocky overhangs until he reached the crest. He was still in the forest, but it was lighter here, the trees spaced farther apart. He breathed the damp air, wondering which way to head. Along the ridge or down the far side? Cat scent touched his tongue.
Tom, not from a Clan.
His heart lurched.
Could it be Sparrow?

Had he found him already? Perhaps this wood was where the rogues holed up for leaf-bare, sheltering like prey beneath the branches. Talltail leaned down and sniffed the ground. Paws had passed this way. He walked slowly forward, muzzle close to the ground. The scent trail headed down the far slope and disappeared beneath brambles. Screwing up his eyes against the thorns, Talltail followed it. He ignored the prickles scraping his spine as he wriggled underneath, and eventually emerged onto boggy ground where his paws sank into cold mud. The scent trail was fresher here. He was gaining ground.

Talltail's thoughts whirled. Sparrow was at the end of this track. He
knew
it. He imagined sighting the rogue's short, brown fur between the trees and creeping silently up behind him. He swallowed back a growl as he pictured plunging his claws deep into Sparrow's flesh. His pelt spiked with excitement and he hurried forward, darting over the mud as easily as crossing grass. Bracken blocked his path but he pushed through, ears flattening as the stench of tom led him forward. As he weaved through the tawny stems, he spotted movement ahead.

Sparrow!
Fur flashed behind a bush.
I've got you!
Triumph surged through his paws. He broke into a run. With a hiss, he skidded around the bush and sprang. He landed a whisker from the tom, snarling. “You thought you'd gotten away—”

He stopped, his eyes bulging with surprise.

A shocked gray tom stared back at him, blinking. “What in the stars are you doing?”

Talltail backed away. “I—I thought you were someone else,” he stammered. He smelled fear-scent on the tom and sheathed his claws. “I wasn't going to—”

“I hope not!” The tom straightened up and Talltail realized how scrawny he was. His pelt was clumped in sticky knots as though he hardly washed. Was this a kittypet? Talltail knew they were lazy, but too lazy to wash?

The tom glared at him. “Who did you think I was?”

“Just another cat,” Talltail mumbled.

“Not a friend, I guess.”

“Not exactly. Someone I used to know.”

The tom opened his mouth, tasting Talltail's scent. “You smell of Clan,” he grunted. “Were you looking for one of your own?” Talltail shook his head. “Good.” The tom sat down and whisked his tail over his paws. “One Clan cat is bad enough.” He narrowed his eyes. “What are you doing out here?
”
He snorted. “Don't answer. I don't want to know.”

“I'm looking for some rogues. I really need to find them.”

The tom rolled his eyes. “I said
don't
answer.” He sighed heavily. “What rogues?”

“They used to visit us every greenleaf,” Talltail told him.

“You're a moor cat, right?” The tom's nose was twitching. “I can smell the heather on you.” He glanced between the trees. “I once knew some cats who spent time on the moor.”

“Was one of them brown?” Talltail leaned forward.

“I don't remember,” the tom answered.

“Did they travel in a group? A black-and-white one, and a ginger one, and a gray tom with a ruffled pelt?” Talltail's paws pricked.

“Slow down, Clan cat,” the tom muttered. “I'm not used to answering questions.”

Talltail took a breath. This old cat wasn't going to be rushed. He might not share anything if Talltail annoyed him. “I just wondered if you'd seen them recently,” he meowed.

“Might have.”

Talltail curled his claws into the earth. “This moon? Last moon?”

The tom looked thoughtful. “Last moon,” he grunted eventually. “Near a Nofur's den.”

“Which den?” Talltail had seen countless Twoleg dens from Outlook Rock.

“Sun-up way. Dark gray,” the tom told him. “Bigger than some. It has a spike sticking up at one end like a tail.”

Talltail frowned, trying to remember if he'd seen a den like that.

“Don't go inside,” the tom warned. “It's colder than death and when the Twoleg shuts the door, there's no way out.” The thought seemed to alarm him. He got to his paws, his tail quivering. “I was trapped there once for three sun-ups. Glad they had a water-pool.”

Talltail's mind was whirling.
Gray den with a spike.
He began to head away.

“Where are you going?” the tom called after him. “Do you want to share prey? I hear Clan cats are good hunters.”

Talltail called over his shoulder. “I can't stop. I have to find this cat.” His heart raced and he broke into a run, swerving clumsily between the trees.

I'm on your trail, Sparrow. You'd better start sleeping with one eye open!

C
HAPTER
28

Sun-up way. Talltail plunged down the
hillside.
That's past ShadowClan territory.
He scrambled past a hawthorn, skidding as the slope steepened. Bracken slowed him down, dragging at his paws. He pushed through it, relieved that the slope was flattening out, and paused at the bottom to taste the air. Ahead of him the trees were thinning and light showed beyond them. Talltail hurried on, relaxing as he reached the edge of the woods and padded out onto grass. The drizzle had turned to rain and he narrowed his eyes. He'd patrolled the moor many times in worse rain than this. Keeping low, he crossed the grass, ignoring the water dripping from his whiskers. A familiar scent touched his nose. He had reached the Thunderpath.

He slowed, pelt pricking. He knew he had to cross the Thunderpath, but that would put him directly into ShadowClan territory, which might be more dangerous than anything that lay beyond. He shook the rain from his pelt and approached the Thunderpath. It was empty. Sniffing the stone, he smelled the stale scent of monsters. Nothing had passed for a while. He glanced both ways to make sure there were no monsters lying in wait, then raced across.

The stench of the ShadowClan border hit him before he was halfway across. Brambles, nettles, and ferns spilled from the thick wall of pine trees in front of him. The shadow beyond them was so dark that he couldn't see in. Heart quickening, Talltail scanned the gloom for flashing eyes. Was a ShadowClan patrol watching? He ducked down and crept into the grass at the edge of the Thunderpath. There was no way he could go straight across the territory. ShadowClan warriors wouldn't let him escape with his fur intact. He'd have to follow the scent line, being careful not to cross it and praying that he didn't bump into any patrols that objected to him straying so close.

He turned and started to push his way through the grass under the trees. Several monsters roared past in a herd, spraying him with muddy water. Talltail hissed and pressed closer to the tree trunks, swerving away again when the reek of ShadowClan scent marks stung his nose. He trekked on, soaked right through his fur by the dripping grass stems. Eventually the pines began to thin beside him, replaced by rough scrub, shriveled bushes that rattled their bare branches in the wind. A smaller Thunderpath appeared ahead of him, leading away from the moor and curving around the top of ShadowClan territory. Talltail followed the new Thunderpath, hoping the grass was enough to hide him as the scrubby bushes gave way to an open stretch of marsh.

He walked faster, feeling vulnerable and cold. The scent of ShadowClan was overlaid with something stronger here: a sour, unfamiliar smell that made Talltail's belly churn. He shook rain from his whiskers and opened his mouth. He shut it quickly as a putrid stench swamped his tongue. It smelled like death and rot and stagnant water. Peering through the rain, he saw a wall of woven silver vines surrounding several huge, stinking lumps, like the backs of hunched beasts lying down. Queasy at the stink rolling from the heap, Talltail padded closer. Could this be the Carrionplace? He'd heard ShadowClan apprentices boasting about catching rats where Twolegs dumped their waste. His nose wrinkled. Who would want to eat fresh-kill from such a foul-smelling place?

The grass vanished as he drew level with the silver vines, and Talltail ran across the stretch of hard, gray stone until he reached the safety of a ditch. He scrambled down into the thick-stemmed plants, ignoring the greasy, black water that clung to his belly fur and pushing his way through until the stench of Carrionplace faded behind him. Talltail climbed out, shaking filthy droplets from his pelt. The rain hardened into hail. It stung his ears and his nose, bouncing off the Thunderpath and bombarding him until he could hardly see. Through narrowed eyes, he looked for shelter. Pine trees clustered ahead, right on the edge of the Thunderpath. Talltail broke into a run, nostrils twitching. He was still close to the ShadowClan border.

He ducked in among the pines, eyes lighting up when he spotted a hole in a gnarled trunk. He dug his claws into the cracked bark and hauled himself up until he was high enough to stick his head into the hole. Inside, leaf litter lined a crooked scoop in the wood. Talltail scrambled inside, scenting the stale smell of prey. What creature had sheltered here?

He didn't care. He was just glad to be out of the hail. He shook out his pelt and sat down. Hailstones cracked outside. The wind roared above. Talltail looked up and saw a small circle of sky where the trunk opened at the top. A hailstone bounced down and landed on his nose. He flinched and curled into the dry leaves. Flattening his ears against the spattering hail, he tucked his nose under his paw.

He must have slept, because voices woke him. Heart lurching, Talltail jerked forward and peered out from the tree. The hail had stopped and dark gray-and-brown pelts were weaving around the bottom of the trunk. The scent of ShadowClan filled the air. Talltail dodged back, fur bristling.
A patrol!
Had he crossed the border? He jumped to his paws and desperately scanned his cramped shelter. He was trapped!

“The scents are fresh.” He heard a ShadowClan warrior snarl. “He must still be here somewhere.”

Claws scrabbled outside the trunk. “There's a hole up there.”

“Let's look.”

Talltail froze. They'd think he was a spy. They'd haul him in front of Cedarstar. At the very best, he'd be sent back to WindClan. At the worst . . . He pushed away the thought and glanced up at the tiny circle of light at the top of the tree. There was a way out—if he could reach it. Digging his claws into the soft wood, he began to haul himself up. He braced his hind legs against the other side of the trunk and wedged himself high above the nest. There was a scraping noise outside and he glanced down.

A mottled tabby head poked in and sniffed the leaves. “They're still warm,” he growled.

Talltail held his breath.
Please, don't look up!

The head ducked back out. Fast as a squirrel, Talltail scrabbled his way farther up the tree trunk. Above his head, the circle of light grew until he could feel fresh air washing over him. His claws screamed with pain as he dragged himself up the last tail-length. Leaves rustled below as a ShadowClan warrior jumped into the hollow and began sniffing at the nest. “Are you sure you can't see him?” he called out to his Clanmates.

Talltail grabbed for the top of the trunk and hauled himself over the rim. Shards of bark showered down the shaft beneath him. He scrambled onto a crooked, lightning-blasted branch. Rotten with age, it creaked beneath his weight. He clung to it, flattening himself against the wood, praying it was wide enough to shield him from the gaze of the cats below.

“I heard something.”

“It must be a squirrel.”

“Smells like a tom.”

“A cat couldn't climb that high.”

“Do you recognize the scent?”

“Stagnant water and earth. Too rank for a Clan cat.”

Talltail prickled with indignation.

“It could be one of those rogues we chased off last moon.”

“Those cats that smelled like WindClan? Why would they come back? I clawed that she-cat's ears until she shrieked!”

He pricked his ears.
The rogues came this way!
He was still on Sparrow's trail. A surge of hope sliced through his terror.

“Let's check the Thunderpath.” The ShadowClan warrior's mew echoed up the hollow trunk. “He's obviously not in here anymore.”

Talltail clung to the branch, his heart pounding so hard that he feared it was ringing through the wood. Gingerly he peered down. Four warriors searched far below, picking their way among the tangled roots of the pine, sniffing every scent, their pelts bristling. Talltail's legs began to ache, his claws throbbing with the effort of clinging on.
Go away!
He willed the patrol to move on, but they circled the trees again and again, tails flicking with anger.

At last one of the warriors wandered toward the open grass. “The trail comes from this way.”

“Let's track it.” The mottled warrior padded after him.

Talltail watched as one by one the warriors headed away from the trees. They trekked across the grass, following his trail back along the Thunderpath. As soon as they were out of sight, he scrambled down the tree, feeling a rush of relief as his paws touched solid earth. Despite the cramp tightening his muscles, he ran fast as a rabbit, breaking through the scent line he hadn't noticed in his rush to shelter among the trees, and diving across the narrow Thunderpath into a wall of thick bushes.

He slowed, catching his breath. Not much farther on, the bushes gave way to dense woodland. Oak and ash pushed up through patches of bramble. The cloudy sky showed through their bare branches. Talltail tasted the air. There were no Clan scents here. Bracken crowded between the trunks and hawthorn snagged his pelt, but he felt safe for the first time in a long while. As he pushed on, shadows darkened around him. The sun must be sinking. How could he tell where it was when he was trapped in all these trees? Tail drooping, Talltail padded to a halt. It was pointless trying to guess which way to go. He should wait till dawn and head for sun-up.

He pushed past a clump of shriveled ferns and found himself in a small clearing ringed by trees. There wasn't enough sky to navigate by, but at least he wasn't being smothered by branches. He curled among the jutting roots of the nearest oak. His belly growled, but he was too tired to hunt. Instead he laid his chin on his paws and closed his eyes.

“Talltail!” Sandgorse's mew echoed through the dark. “Listen!”

“What is it?” Talltail looked wildly around, but all he could see was the blackness of shadow, washed with scents of trees.

“Talltail!”

“Sandgorse!” Talltail strained to hear a reply but the wind grew stronger and lashed the branches above him, drowning out every other sound. “Sandgorse?” Talltail woke with a start. Sunlight was flashing between the tree trunks and the air was still. He had been dreaming—but why hadn't Sandgorse been able to speak to him? His belly twisted with hunger and he jumped to his paws. He would have to hope that Sandgorse visited him in his dreams again. Now it was time to get moving, to put some distance between him and ShadowClan.

Above his head the small patch of visible sky was pale blue, glowing at one edge with gold-pink beams of light.
Sun-up!
Talltail whirled around until he was facing the rays from the rising sun. At last he knew which way to go. Ignoring his rumbling belly, he pushed through bracken and ducked under a bramble. A trailing branch caught his paw and he tripped, cursing as pain shot through his leg. Limping, he hurried on, but after a few paces he stubbed another paw on a jutting root, and winced as thorns stabbed his pelt. How did forest cats get anywhere?

Birds twittered in the branches, making his belly growl more loudly. He had to find food. He needed to be strong when he caught up with Sparrow. He paused and tasted the air.
Mouse.
Talltail crouched down and scanned the undergrowth. A dead leaf trembled at the bottom of a bramble. Talltail saw a flash of brown fur and pounced. The mouse shot away. Talltail darted after it, squeezing beneath the thorny branches. He exploded from the other side of the bush to see the mouse scuttle over the roots of a tree and race for the safety of a hawthorn bush.

Talltail peered through the spiky branches. He could see the mouse trembling beside the stem, and reached in with a paw. He patted the ground, his claws stretched as he tried to reach the tiny creature. It hurtled away and skittered out the other side of the bush. Talltail dodged around, his paws skidding on leaves. He glimpsed the mouse as it scuttled into a swathe of bracken, and plunged in after it. Crashing through the stems, he zigzagged after it, trying to slam his paws down on the blur of brown fur, first one way, then another, always just a moment too late.

Dumb mouse!
He cursed under his breath as it disappeared through a hole in a high, wooden barrier. The scent of it filled his nose. Hungrily Talltail leaped onto the top of the wood. Ahead, red Twoleg dens blocked his view. Crowded together, with sharp edges, they seemed to glower at him through big, square eyes. Talltail blinked at them, feeling the fur rise along his spine.