Tallstar's Revenge (31 page)

A square patch of grass lay between him and the closest den. More wooden walls divided the stretch of land behind the dens into a row of tiny meadows. Talltail scanned the grass for the mouse. No sign. He padded along the top of the narrow wall, leaping the thick stalk that blocked the way to the next and peering into the little meadow. The mouse wasn't there either. Talltail curled his lip. He'd have caught that mouse on the moor. No dumb bushes or wooden walls to get in his way.

Something moved in a clump of wilting leaves below. His nose twitched. He could smell the mouse and see its brown back cowering under a leaf. Fixing his gaze on its pelt, he jumped down, his paws sinking into wet earth. He darted forward and grabbed the mouse in his teeth, killing it with a bite. Ravenous, he began to eat.
Thank you, StarClan!
The moist, fatty flesh tasted great. He chewed loudly, relishing the flavor. As he swallowed the last mouthful, a growl rumbled behind him.

Dog!

C
HAPTER
29

Talltail whirled around. A massive dog
loomed over him, teeth glistening, eyes sparking with rage.

It lunged, and at the same instant Talltail ducked. Jaws snapped at his shoulder, tugging out fur. Screeching with pain, Talltail raced for the fence and leaped onto it, dropping down the other side. A narrow passage ran beside the red-stone den. Talltail charged along it, claws spraying grit behind him. Another tall, wooden fence blocked the end, but he scaled it and jumped down from the top.

A Thunderpath lay in front of him with a monster roaring along it. Talltail froze, pelt bushing. Behind him, the dog barked furiously. Could it get over the fence?
I'm not waiting to find out!
As soon as the monster had passed, Talltail fled across the Thunderpath. Dodging into a tiny gap between two stone dens, he raced through the bushes at the back, then hurtled past another den. Swerving onto a stone path that led between blank walls, he kept running, his breath coming in gasps. Shapes blurred around him as he ran. Monsters howled, endless fences blocked his path, but he kept dodging and jumping, refusing to give the dog a chance to catch him.

Eventually, chest heaving, Talltail scrambled to a halt. He glanced over his shoulder. No sign of any dog. Red stone walls loomed over him on three sides. Blood welled on his shoulder where he'd lost fur. He limped toward a heap of stinking bundles that had been piled in the corner of the passage. It smelled like Carrionplace, but right now it looked like a place to shelter. Crouching behind it, he tried to catch his breath.

Sunshine sliced between the walls, striping the middle of the passage. Talltail trembled, dazed and sore. Panic began to swirl in his belly.
How will I ever find my way through Twolegplace, let alone find Sparrow?
He lapped at the patch of raw flesh on his shoulder. If only Barkface were there with soothing herbs.
You will have to hunt for yourself, heal yourself if you get hurt. There will be no one to share your victories. Or your defeats.
Heatherstar's words rang in his mind.
I can do it,
he told himself.

A clang made him freeze. He jerked up his head, pelt bristling. The noise came from around the corner. Another crash rang through the air. Talltail began to back away. A dog yelped excitedly. Talltail felt the fur rise along his spine. Had it tracked him here?

A cat screeched in alarm. It was in trouble.

Leave it.
Talltail stared in the direction of the noise, his mind whirling.
I can't!
He hadn't trained to be a warrior to leave other cats in danger! He raced forward and swung around the corner at the end. A ginger tom was cowering in the corner of a walled dead end, his green eyes wide with alarm. A brown-and-white dog the size of a badger barked in his face while the tom swung out in a frenzy with his claws.

A
different
dog!
Twolegplace was swarming with them. But this time Talltail wasn't going to run. A cat was in trouble.

Talltail focused his mind. There was rage in the tom's eyes, as if all he needed was a bit of luck for the battle to go his way. Talltail sprang onto the wall and ran along it until he was level with the dog. He stopped beside the dog, eyeing its back, then unsheathed his claws and jumped. He landed squarely on the dog's shoulders, ripping into its flesh. As the dog bucked and yelped beneath Talltail, the ginger tom reared up and swiped its muzzle. Talltail leaped down, landing beside the tom. Watching his paw movements from the corner of his eye, Talltail matched them swipe for swipe. The dog began to back away, its eyes clouding with confusion, then with fear. It snapped at the ginger cat once more, then yelped with frustration, turned, and fled.

Talltail dropped onto all fours. The tom collapsed beside him, flanks heaving.

“Are you okay?” Talltail sniffed the other cat's pelt. No blood scent.

The tom lifted his head. “I'm just catching my breath.”

“Did it bite you?”

“Didn't get close enough.” The tom heaved himself to his paws, staggering a little as his forepaw buckled beneath him. Talltail glanced at it. “Just a sprain,” the tom told him. “I turned it on a stone while I was running.” He stared at Talltail. “Thanks, by the way. I thought I was a goner.”

Talltail stared at him. “Goner?”

“Dog food,” the tom explained.
“Dead.”

“You shouldn't have let yourself get chased into a corner,” Talltail told him bluntly.

“You think?”

Talltail tucked his hindquarters under him, ready to spring back up onto the wall and leave. It was starting to rain and he needed to find somewhere to shelter for the night.

“What's your name?” the ginger tom called. “I'm Jake.”

“I'm Talltail.” He hopped up onto the wall. “You should get out of here. The dog might come back.”

“You're a Clan cat, aren't you?” Jake blinked up at him. “From over the fences? I've always wondered about the wild cats who live in the woods.”

“That's ThunderClan.” Talltail fluffed out his fur against the rain.

“So you're a ThunderClan cat.”

“
Thunder
Clan?” Talltail felt a flicker of annoyance. “No way! There's more than one Clan.”

“Really?” Jake's eyes bulged.

“I have to go.”
I'm not here to make friends.
“Get away from here before the dog—”

“—comes back. I know. Well, thanks for helping me out.”

“Be more careful in the future.” Talltail sprang down the other side of the wall into another tiny meadow that backed onto a red-stone den. This meadow had shrubs growing around the edge. A hedge ran along one side and Talltail hurried across the grass and squeezed through, popping out into another little green square. He padded over it, glancing warily at the Twoleg den at the end, then tasting the air for dogs. The rain was falling heavily now, drenching his pelt. He scrambled over the far fence into an identical space. Talltail wondered why Twolegs made so many barriers. Didn't they have scent marks?

Kittypet scent touched his nose as he landed on another patch of wet grass. A ginger-and-black she-cat was sheltering under a bush near the Twoleg den. Perhaps she could give him a clue if he was headed in the right direction. He padded toward her, blinking calmly at her to reassure her.

She huddled deeper under the bush, her pelt bristling, her eyes wide with alarm.

“I only want to ask you a question,” Talltail called.

She stared at him. “My Twolegs will be back in a moment. They'll chase you off.” She lifted her muzzle bravely.

Talltail stopped a tail-length from the bush. “Before they do, can you tell me if you've seen any rogues around here recently?”

“Only you.” The she-cat backed away.

Talltail gazed at her wearily. “I'm a Clan cat.”

“A Clan cat?” Her pelt spiked. “That's worse!” Eyes sparking with terror, she scrabbled from the bush and hared toward the fence, leaping over it and disappearing.

Talltail shook out his pelt. He was tired and hungry and had no idea if he was getting any closer to the rogues. He didn't know if he would ever find his way out of this forest of Twoleg dens. And his belly was growling again. He had to find food. He hurried through the rain and leaped the next wall. A small wooden den sat at one end of the bushy clearing. It looked deserted, too small for Twolegs to live in, too ramshackle for pampered kittypets.
A good place for prey to hide.
He stalked toward it, searching the sides for a gap. There was a small hole at one corner. The edge was ragged. Small teeth had chewed it.

Rat?
He'd never eaten rat. But it was food. He crept into the shadowy den, his nose wrinkling as pungent smells wreathed around him. He swallowed his rising queasiness. They were just scents. They couldn't hurt him. He slunk around the pieces of wood that littered the den floor, sniffing for prey and wondering if he'd even smell it through the stink. He blinked in the gloom. Something was lying on the ground in the corner. Talltail padded toward it, nose twitching. The soft, dead body of a rat showed in the half light. Someone had left prey behind.

Dumb kittypets
. What was the point of catching prey if you didn't eat it? He crouched beside the rat and took a bite. It was so fresh, it was still warm. There was a sharp taste to its flesh, barely detectible over the thick scents swirling around the shed.
Twolegplace rats must taste different.
Hungrily Talltail took another bite. His belly heaved.
I have to eat. I have to stay strong.

He forced himself to keep chewing despite the taste, swallowing until every morsel was gone. Relieved, he licked his lips, thinking longingly of fresh moor rabbit. The weight in his belly made him sleepy. He curled down onto the hard floor and closed his eyes, flattening his ears against the thundering of the rain. It might stink in here, but at least it was dry. Tucking his nose under his paw, he tried to ignore the tiny jabs in his belly.
I ate too fast.
He curled up tighter and let sleep enfold him.

C
HAPTER
30

Talltail's belly was gripped in vicious
jaws with teeth that bit through fur, skin, muscle.
What's happening?
He screeched in agony and fought to get free. He woke with a gasp, staring into the shadows that filled the wooden den. The pain in his belly didn't disappear. It hardened, making him writhe. Jerking, he vomited. He hauled himself to his paws and dragged himself from the den.
So thirsty!

Thoughts clouded with pain, he staggered across the wet grass, lapping at the raindrops until he reached a puddle. He drank desperately, but as soon as the water hit his belly, another painful spasm seized him. He vomited again, unable to stop himself. But the tormenting thirst was still there, as if all the water in the world would not quench the fire inside him. Terrified, Talltail crouched on the wet grass and sank his claws into the earth.
StarClan, help me!
He let out a long desperate moan.

“Talltail?” A voice sounded from somewhere above him.

Had Sandgorse come to take him to StarClan? Talltail looked up weakly, then opened his mouth to release a thin stream of bile. Paws landed on the grass beside him. A muzzle reached toward his. He was dimly aware of warm breath bathing his nose.

“You ate that rat, didn't you?” The shocked mew rang in his ear. “Didn't you realize it was poisoned? I didn't think Clan cats would be so dumb!”

Jake.
Talltail recognized the voice and saw ginger fur, pale in the moonlight. “Help me,” he rasped.

“Wait here.” Jake backed away and vanished.

Talltail was too weak to move. His body twitched, helpless with pain; he had no power to resist the spasms. Vomit dribbled from his mouth, jerked up by another convulsion.
If I die, I'll see Sandgorse.
Through his haze of pain, a pale light gleamed.
I'm sorry I didn't avenge your death.
Grief flooded him. He'd failed his father again.

He heard murmuring. It had the rumbling thickness of Twoleg mewling.
Am I dreaming?
A huge, blurry shape loomed out of the darkness.
What's happening?
Terror gripped him through the fog of pain. He tried to struggle.
I have to escape.
Vast, naked paws lifted him up. Talltail felt the ground fall away as he was swooped into the air. Something warm and yielding enfolded him, similar to the sheepswool he had used to line his nest so long ago. Then he was bouncing along, wrapped in stifling softness. Shapes whirled around him and a loud slam pierced his ear fur. He coughed up phlegm, his belly empty.

A deep, throbbing noise shook the air around him.
Monster!
Somewhere deep in Talltail's mind, fear tried to stir, but he didn't even have enough strength to be scared. Pain twisted his belly tighter and tighter until he was blind to everything but agony.

 

Talltail was woken by a sharp scent that reminded him of pine trees. Was he still inside the hollow trunk, trapped by a ShadowClan patrol? No, this smell was different somehow, and he was lying on a bed of sheepswool that definitely hadn't been inside that tree trunk. He forced open his eyes. They were sticky with sleep and he had to blink to clear the fuzziness from his vision. Wherever he was, it was filled with dark gray shadows. Talltail pushed himself to his paws. His belly felt crushed, but the jerking agony had gone and he didn't feel sick or thirsty anymore. He peered through the darkness and realized that there were smooth, sheer walls a muzzle-length away on every side of him.
I'm trapped!
Panic made his heart beat faster at the same time as his eyes adjusted to the light and he began to see more clearly. He was in a short tunnel with a square of silver mesh blocking the way to a pale gleam that was seeping through one end. Talltail yowled, terror making his belly twist again and awakening the pain.

“It's okay!” A familiar mew sounded through the mesh. “You're safe, I promise.”

Jake!
“Where am I?”

“You're in my home. I fetched my housefolk after I found you,” Jake explained. “I had to fake a bellyache to get him to follow me. I knew he'd help you when he saw how sick you were.”

Talltail pressed his muzzle against the mesh. “Let me out.”

“I can't.” Jake's ginger face stared back at him, eyes round with sympathy. “But it's okay. You're in the vet-basket.”

Talltail swallowed. “Vet-basket?”

“It's a cage the housefolk use to carry me to the vet,” Jake explained. “I know you hate it. I hate it too, but my housefolk will let you out soon.”

“What's a vet?” Talltail could feel his legs buckling from the strangeness of everything.

“The no-fur that cured you of the poison.”

“No-fur? You mean a Twoleg cured me?” Talltail's mouth hung open. “Like a medicine cat?”

Jake stared blankly at him. “I guess. It saved your life.”

Talltail bristled. Why would a Twoleg save a cat's life? He tried to see through the mesh, but Jake was blocking his view. He could glimpse a roof above, white walls with clear, empty squares where he could see treetops and sky outside and, some way below his . . . his
vet-basket
, a floor of shiny, white stone. The vet-basket seemed to be balanced on a ledge halfway up one wall.

“So this is your den?” Talltail croaked.

“You could call it that,” Jake meowed. “It's where I live with my housefolk. This part is my eating room.”

Huge paw steps clumped behind Jake and he hopped out of the way. A moment later, a Twoleg face peered through the mesh at Talltail. Talltail's heart lurched. The wide, pink face crinkled as the Twoleg rumbled through the mesh. Then the mesh swung open and the Twoleg thrust in a huge, pink paw. Talltail hissed and pressed himself back against the end of the basket. He unsheathed his claws, ready to rake the Twoleg if it came too close. The paw was holding a shallow stone, scooped out and filled with water. The Twoleg placed it on the soft floor of the basket, then withdrew his paw and shut the mesh. Talltail waited for the Twoleg to clump away, then crept forward and sniffed the water. It smelled sour, not like spring water.

“It's okay.” Jake had jumped in front of the mesh again. “You can drink it.”

“It smells funny.”

“It's from the tap,” Jake told him. “It's not as nice as rainwater but it won't harm you.”

Talltail lapped up a mouthful, wrinkling his nose. He tensed as it hit his stomach, frightened it would hurt again, but his belly only gurgled. “How long before your Twoleg lets me go?”

“My housefolk, you mean? I guess he wants to make sure you're better,” Jake told him.

Talltail remembered how Hawkheart had made him stay in his nest when he was injured. Twolegs must do the same.

“I'm going out,” Jake told him suddenly.

“Where?”

“Just out.”

Don't leave me on my own!
Talltail blinked as Jake jumped from the ledge onto the shiny, white floor, then pushed a flap in the wall and wriggled through. Fear began to spiral in Talltail's tender belly. Would he ever get out of here? The rogues would be traveling farther and farther away while he was trapped. He edged into the shadow at the end of the basket and sat down stiffly, ashamed for wishing that Jake would come back.
Be brave! You left your Clan. You don't need anyone!

After what felt like a whole moon, Jake dived through the flap. The Twoleg stomped into the eating room at the same moment and stroked him. Jake arched his back and lifted his tail, purring as the Twoleg showered tiny brown pebbles into a hollow stone on the floor. Jake stuck his nose in and ate. Talltail's nose wrinkled as he picked up the scent of Jake's food. He'd heard the elders talk about kittypet slop, but he never imagined he would see it close up. Then again, he'd never imagined he'd find himself inside a Twoleg den, with only a kittypet for company.

The Twoleg face loomed at the mesh again. Talltail hissed in surprise. The Twoleg purred and dropped a few brown pebbles through the mesh. Talltail hissed once more and the Twoleg clumped away. Talltail crept forward and sniffed the pebbles. They smelled a little bit like prey, but different, like the water. Why did Twolegs add weird scents to everything? Didn't they like ordinary tastes and smells?

“You can eat it, you know.” Jake had hopped onto the ledge and was peering through the mesh.

Talltail took another sniff.

“It's not poisoned. It's the same stuff they give me,” Jake promised. He sat back on his haunches and began to wash his belly.

Gingerly Talltail picked up a pebble between his teeth and bit down on it. The flavor was sharper than prey, but not dreadful. He ate another pellet and waited to see what his belly felt like. It twinged a little but he didn't feel sick. He lapped up the rest and listened to his belly growl appreciatively.

Talltail lifted his head as the Twoleg came back into the eating room. He arched his back as the mesh opened again, and stared at the gap, waiting for a Twoleg paw to appear. Nothing happened.

“You can come out,” Jake mewed.

Warily Talltail crept to the front of the basket and peered out. The Twoleg was standing a few tail-lengths away. Jake jumped off the ledge and began winding around its legs, purring. The Twoleg bent down and ran its hairless paw over Jake's fur. Talltail shuddered. Then he spotted the flap Jake had leaped through earlier. This was his chance to escape! Darting forward, he jumped down from the ledge, his paws splaying as he hit the slippery floor. He struggled to his paws, his legs trembling, and scrambled unsteadily toward the flap.

Pain shot through his muzzle as he hit the unmoving flap head-on. He bounced off it like a kit running into a stone. Confused and hot with shame, he backed away. “It didn't open!” he hissed at Jake.

“My housefolk locked it before he let you out of the basket.”

The Twoleg was bending toward Talltail. “Get away!” Talltail spat, swiping at its dangling paw with his claws.

In a flash, Jake was in front of him, shielding his Twoleg. “Leave him alone!” he snarled. “He saved your life!”

Talltail took a step back, bewildered. Twolegs saving cats? The elders never told any stories about that. “Just don't let him touch me!” he growled.

The Twoleg's shoulders slumped. It turned and pushed through a large sideways flap in the other wall and closed it behind. Talltail's belly clenched. He looked helplessly at Jake's locked flap. “I want to make dirt.”

Jake nodded toward a bright red, shallow nest filled with gray grit. “Use that.”

“Make dirt
inside
a den?” Didn't kittypets have any shame?

“We all do it sometimes,” Jake reassured him.

Talltail padded to the hard-edged nest, climbed over the edge, and stood on the grit. Kicking a hole, he made dirt and covered it, uncomfortably conscious that Jake was sitting only a few tail-lengths away. He climbed out again and paced the edges of the room. “Now what?”

“You have to rest,” Jake told him.

Talltail's legs still felt shaky, but he didn't want to rest. How could he relax when he was a prisoner in a Twoleg den? He kept pacing, the ache in his belly nagging but not enough to stop him from moving. He gazed at the sky through the clear parts of the wall. It was growing dark. He'd wasted a whole day.

Every so often, the Twoleg returned to pour food and water or just to look at Talltail. Talltail returned its stare with a hiss and kept pacing. When the sky outside was finally black, the Twoleg brought in a big, soft shape and laid it on the floor. “My nest!” Jake mewed delightedly.

Talltail narrowed his eyes. Nests were small and woven out of sticks and lined with moss. They weren't bright red and the size of a half a den.

Jake purred as he climbed into it and began pummeling the bottom. “You can sleep here too, if you like. There's plenty of room, and it's really soft.”