Tallstar's Revenge (36 page)

The buzzing had grown to a roar—to
countless
roars, which were rolling toward them over the crest of the slope.

“We should stick to the side of the woods,” Jake suggested hoarsely. “It might be quieter at the bottom of the valley.”

Talltail could feel him trembling. The ground trembled even more. “Perhaps we should head back into the forest,” he growled over the noise. “We can pick up the trail farther down—” He stopped as a deafening roar exploded around them, so loud that it blasted them to the spot.

Three huge shapes were speeding over the rise, bouncing over the churned grass toward them. Each ran on two black spinning paws that threw up mud in a wave behind them. Twolegs sat astride, hunkered down over the monsters' dirt-spattered bodies. Talltail froze, choking as Thunderpath stench rolled over him. Heat pulsed toward him.

StarClan, help us!
Talltail closed his eyes as a heavy lump of mud hit his flank. More sprayed his cheek. He flinched away, pressing himself against Jake, and braced for searing pain and darkness to swamp him.

The roaring eased. Talltail peered through slitted eyes as mud rained down around them. The monsters were lurching away, heading downslope until they disappeared around the corner of the trees. Talltail struggled to get his breath, his flank throbbing where earth had battered it. “Jake?” He lifted his head. “Jake, are you hurt?” He could feel the kittypet pressing stiffly against him.

“You crow-brains!”

That's not Jake.
Talltail looked up. On the slope above, a tom glared down at them. With a gasp, Talltail recognized the creamy, brown pelt of Algernon.

Reena stood beside him, her eyes round with shock. “Why didn't you run? You could have been killed!”

Algernon swished his tail. “You just stood there like lumps of wood!” He paused, his eyes widening. “Tallpaw?”

Reena pushed past him. “Tallpaw!” She pricked her ears. “Is that
you
?”

C
HAPTER
35

The roar of the monsters hung
in the air, still thick with their stench.

“Tallpaw!” Reena thrust her muzzle closer. “What are you doing here? Is WindClan okay?”

He blinked at her. The
rogues
? He'd found them! He could hardly believe it. As he searched for words, Reena sniffed him, her ginger-and-white pelt pricking. “Why are you here?” she asked.

Jake lifted his muzzle shakily. “We've been looking for you.”

Talltail flashed him a warning look.
Don't say any more!

“Do you need help?” Reena's eyes sparked with worry. “Did Heatherstar send you?”

The buzzing of the monsters was growing louder again. Algernon glanced over his shoulder. “We'd better get out of here.” He began to nudge Jake and Talltail into the forest. “Our camp's at the bottom of the slope.”

Talltail turned and limped toward the cover of the trees.

“You're hurt!” Reena pressed beside him.

“Just bruised,” Talltail told her. The shower of mud had battered him hard and his hind leg ached from the run-in with the fox. At least the scratch on his foreleg was numb from the dock leaf. “I'm fine.”

“Good.” Reena guided him through a swathe of bracken, which was limp and wilting in the cold, damp air.

Algernon hurried Jake after them. “Didn't you realize you were walking into a herd of monsters?”

“I thought it was a grass-cutter,” Jake told him.

“Out here?” Algernon stared at him as though he was crazy.

Reena paused and sniffed. “You're a kittypet!” Her gaze jerked toward Talltail. “What are you doing with a
kittypet
?”

Talltail swallowed. “He helped me find my way through Twolegplace.”

Reena frowned. “We'd better keep moving. You can explain everything when we're safe.”

“I'll lead.” Algernon pushed past her, nosing through the bracken and heading downslope.

Brambles clustered between the trees, fighting hawthorn bushes for the light at the edge of the forest. Talltail kept his eyes on Algernon, trying to follow his paw steps through the tangle of branches.

“Oomph!” Jake gasped as he stumbled behind.

“Are you okay?” Talltail called.

“He's fine.” Reena was helping Jake to his paws. “Follow me.” She nosed her way between Talltail and Jake and they walked single file, following Algernon.

A stream cut through the trees like a tiny gorge, its banks steep. Algernon sprang across it easily. Talltail teetered on the brink, gazing down at the thin trickle of water below.

“Just jump!' Algernon urged.

Talltail launched himself off the edge, his paws slithering on the mud. He reached out and dug his claws into the far bank and hauled himself up.

“A WindClan cat shouldn't be out here.” Algernon shook his head. “You belong on the moor.”

Reena landed lightly beside him. “Why
did
you come?”

A thump sounded behind, followed by a small splash. Talltail glanced back. Jake had disappeared. He rushed to the edge of the stream and peered down the steep bank. Jake was writhing at the bottom, trying to find a paw hold in the mud. Talltail curled his hind claws deep into the earth and leaned down, snatching at Jake's scruff and holding him while the kittypet regained his footing.

“Thanks,” Jake grunted. Talltail leaned back as Jake scrambled up beside him.

Reena was looking confused. “Why are you helping a kittypet
?
” She wrinkled her nose as she looked at Jake.

“He helped me,” Talltail told her simply.

“Come on.” Algernon nodded them onward. The monsters were still roaring at the edge of the trees. “We can talk about it when we reach camp.”

“Is this where you live now?” Talltail asked.

“It's just temporary,” Algernon told him, padding away.

Bracken scraped Talltail's nose as Algernon led them through another clump. He narrowed his eyes against the fronds, blinking as he emerged into a small, leaf-strewn clearing. Mole lay between the roots of an elm, a gray bundle of fur in a heap of dark green moss. He lifted his head as Talltail followed Algernon from the bracken. “What's he doing here?”

“Who?” Bess stuck her head out from beneath a holly bush. Her eyes widened and she slid out, her black-and-white pelt sleek. Talltail figured they must have lived well since they left the Clan.

“Tallpaw?” Bess blinked. “Is that you?”

“I'm Talltail now.”

“You have your warrior name!” Reena mewed in surprise. “Congratulations!”

Bess's gaze flicked to Reena. “Where did you find them?”

“I think they found us, by the sound of it,” Reena told her.

Jake stopped beside Talltail and breathed softly in his ear. “What do we do now?”

“Act normal,” Talltail murmured. Lifting his muzzle, he stared at Bess. “I'm glad I managed to find you.” His explanation would sound more convincing if he offered it before they asked. His thoughts raced. What reason could he give for tracking them here?

“Is there trouble in WindClan?” Bess asked.

“No.” Talltail shifted his paws. “Everything's fine. But . . . but when I watched you leave at the end of greenleaf, I realized there was more to see than just WindClan territory.” He felt his fur smooth as he eased into his story. “I was hoping you'd let me travel with you.”

Algernon looked at Jake, eyes narrow. “What about the kittypet?”

“His name is Jake,” Talltail meowed.

The bushes swished on the far side of the small clearing and Sparrow slid out. “Tallpaw?”

Talltail swung around, meeting the brown tom's impassive gaze. “Hi, Sparrow. It's Talltail now.” He swallowed his rage as it tightened his throat. A vision flooded his mind: He was pinning Sparrow to the ground, claws deep in the murderer's throat, blood bubbling at the tom's mouth.

“You're trembling.” Sparrow's cool mew snapped him from his thoughts. “Are you all right?”

Talltail shifted his paws, thinking fast. “We were nearly squashed by two-pawed monsters.”

Bess faced Sparrow. “He says he wants to travel with us.”

“What about WindClan?”

“I was tired of all the duties and rules,” Talltail mewed. “I wanted to see what it was like to live free, like you.”

“And the kittypet?” Sparrow's gaze didn't give away anything. He simply flicked it from Talltail to Jake.

“He's been helping me track you down,” Talltail explained. “He'll be going home now that I've found you.” Talltail felt Jake stiffen beside him.

“Not yet.” Bess sniffed Jake's muddy pelt. “You look like you need a rest and a meal. You must both stay for the night.” She flicked her tail. “Reena, will you find them some moss to make nests?”

Talltail stepped forward. “Thanks, but we can find our own moss,” he told her. “I didn't come here to be a burden.” Before any of the rogues could argue he padded across the clearing and pushed into the bracken, relieved to hear Jake trotting after him.

“What are we doing?” Jake mewed as soon as they were far enough away from the clearing to speak privately.

“
You're
going home,” Talltail told him.

Jake's eyes flashed with hurt. “And you're going to live here with the rogue who killed your father?”

“Of course not,” Talltail snapped. “I just need to wait for my chance.”

“Then what?” Jake leaned closer, lowering his voice. “Sparrow looks tough. What are you planning to do to him?”

Kill him.
Dread hollowed Talltail's belly. He'd never killed a cat before. He forced himself to picture his father yowling in terror as mud showered around him, sealing him in darkness forever. He growled.

“Talltail?” Jake's eyes were like twin moons, huge and pale. “What's your plan?”

“I want him to admit that he killed my father.”

“And then?” Jake's ear twitched.

“You said you wouldn't poke your whiskers where they didn't belong.” Talltail padded toward the roots of a tree and began scraping moss from the crevices in the bark.

Jake paced behind him. “That cat looks dangerous, Talltail.”

“He's just a rogue.” Talltail stripped away a long piece of moss.

“Come back with me,” Jake pleaded. “You're not safe here.”

“This is why I left my Clan.” Talltail hooked out another wad of moss and dropped it onto the pile beside him.

“But you can go back to them, can't you?”

“I'm never going back,” Talltail growled.

“Never?” Jake leaned closer. Talltail felt the kittypet's breath on his cheek. “But you're a warrior.”

“You don't have to belong to a Clan to be a warrior.” The words felt empty as Talltail spoke them. Was that true?

“But what are you going to do once Sparrow is dead?” Jake demanded.

“That doesn't matter.” Talltail hadn't thought beyond the moment of his revenge so far. He wasn't going to start now. “Help me gather moss.” The sun was sliding behind the distant hills. Talltail shivered as shadows thickened among the trees.

Jake crouched beside him and started picking at the next root. “If you're staying,” Jake muttered, “so am I. You're going to need help.”

Talltail paused and stared at the kittypet. “This is my mission, remember?”

Jake pulled a fat wad of moss from the bark with his claws. “Now it's
our
mission.”

Talltail didn't argue. An odd sense of relief loosened his muscles. He'd grown used to having Jake around. “Come on.” He scraped the gathered moss into a bundle. “We'd better get back.” He didn't want to give the rogues too long to discuss his sudden appearance. They might start asking questions. He felt sure that Sparrow already had. The cold gleam in the tom's eyes hadn't been welcoming.

Talltail clamped his jaws around the soggy mass and began to carry it back toward the camp. Jake grabbed the rest and followed. Talltail slowed as they reached the bracken and padded though it softly, careful not to stir the stems.

“I don't like it.” Algernon's mew made Talltail stop in his tracks.

Jake halted beside him. “What's wrong?”

“They're talking about me.” Unease wormed in Talltail's belly.

“We can't turn them away.” Bess sounded firm. “They're worn out.”

Talltail pricked his ears.

“But these woods are prey-poor,” Mole growled.

“There's enough for now,” Reena argued.

Algernon snorted. “I knew we should have kept moving before we made camp.”

“There are fish in the river, downslope,” Reena pointed out.

“Can you swim?” Algernon muttered.

“It's not so prey-poor around here as you think.” Sparrow's mew was confident. “That pigeon I caught today is the first of many.”

“Really?” Mole's voice rose with interest.

“I've found a place where the Twolegs scatter grain,” Sparrow told him. “There'll be pigeons coming for as long as it's there.”

Bess purred. “If that's true, two extra mouths will be easy to feed.”

Talltail padded out of the bracken and dropped his moss. “We can help you hunt,” he mewed.

Algernon gazed past him, his gaze resting doubtfully on Jake. “Really?”

“Jake's a quick learner,” Talltail told them. “He caught a mouse the other day.”

Jake caught his gaze. “I helped,” he corrected.

“We can manage without
kittypet
help,” Mole grunted.

Reena padded toward the corner sheltered by the holly bush. “I've piled some leaves here for you to make nests on,” she meowed.

“Thanks.” Talltail held her gaze in the half light, trying to read whether she was genuinely willing to have them stay.

She tipped her head. “You seem different, Talltail.”