Клэр Белл - The Named - The Complete Series

He hopped down onto a lower rock, peered sideways through the crevice where Ratha’s paw was stuck. The cleft widened toward the front, where he was looking in.

“Ratha, if you could pull your leg sideways instead of straight up, you might have a chance.”

She tried, failed. Thakur and Fessran got their jaws around the upper part of her leg near her chest and tried to shove her forelimb toward the wider part of the crevice.

They strained and grunted while Newt watched.“No good,” Thakur groaned after several tries. “We’ll either snap our teeth or break her foreleg.”

Ratha lay back down. He could see by her panting and her glazing eyes that she was losing strength rapidly.“Maybe the leg will have to stay,” she whispered softly. “Thistle-chaser has shown me that you can get along without one paw.”

Thakur went cold at the idea of having to cripple Ratha to free her. He shot a glance toward Newt. What was she thinking? It would be suitable revenge on Ratha. And Newt’s foreleg was much stronger than it had been; she was no longer severely hampered by the old injury. It would be as if the two had changed places.

He studied Ratha’s position, how deeply her foreleg extended into the crack and how much room there would be for the horrible task, if they were forced to do it.

“No,” he said roughly. “Your leg is in too far. We’d have to work above your elbow, near your chest.” He faltered. “You would bleed to death before… ” He broke off. “There must be another way. There must!”

Jumping down beside the crevice, he peered in once again. If he could somehow snag her stuck foot and yank it sideways, she might be able to get free. He tried to fit his paw in through the opening, but his toes were too large.

“Mishanti,” Ratha said, watching him. “A cub’s paws are smaller.”

“But his leg isn’t long enough,” Thakur said, still crouched down by the crevice, peering in from the side.

Fessran’s yowl interrupted him. “There’s a big wave coming. Get up high or hang on!” He saw the Firekeeper grab Mishanti by the scruff. Thakur leaped up beside Ratha, jerked and tugged at her furiously.

“Get the cub and Thistle-chaser to high ground,” Ratha growled. “Now!”

With grief tearing at him, Thakur made himself obey, shepherding a stunned Newt after Fessran, who had already climbed to the highest point on the tiny island. He was still scrabbling for a hold when gray water spilled across the islet. He strained to look back at Ratha. The frothing sea lashed her, robbing her of the last vestiges of warmth she had gained from her daughter and the others. Thakur knew that if they did not get her off the island soon, with or without her foreleg, she would die.

Even before the water drained away, the three were back beside Ratha. Mishanti was left clinging to his perch.

“Newt’s got small paws,” Fessran said. “And her lame leg is narrower than her good one.”

Thakur turned to Newt, but she was already peering into the crack. The thoughts raced in his head. Would she do it? Could she, even if she had the wish to try? Why was she hesitating? Was she judging the situation, or was she just stalling, hoping to force him to cripple Ratha? It would be a suitable revenge, he thought. If she wants it.

Newt lifted her lame foreleg and slowly threaded her paw into the crevice. She gave Thakur an unreadable look.“For my Dreambiter,” she hissed.

“For you,” he answered softly. Ratha lay, coat still streaming, eyes closed. He wondered if she could hear them.

With grunts of effort, Newt wiggled her lame forepaw deep into the crack.

“She’s close,” said Fessran, peering down from the top. “Just a little bit more, Thistle.”

Thakur saw Newt’s lips draw back from her clamped teeth as she forced more of her leg in.

“You’re touching now,” came Fessran’s voice from the top. “Spread your pad. Get your claws out.”

Newt snarled and strained. She shot an agonized glance at Thakur.“Not strong enough. Claws won’t go far enough.”

Thakur swallowed, not knowing what to say. It wasn’t her fault if her leg had not completely come back to normal. If it hadn’t, she would never have been able to get in this far. But will could overcome weakness, if she wanted to free Ratha badly enough.

I can’t condemn her if she fails, he thought.But I won’t be able to keep away the doubt.

Newt gave a grunt, then a startled gasp.

“She’s got a clawhold,” Fessran said from the top. “Come up here and look.”

Thakur bounded up beside the unconscious Ratha and peered down at Newt’s rust-colored forepaw, lit by a stray beam of sunlight. She had one claw hooked into the side of Ratha’s leathery pad. Thakur saw the tendons in Newt’s foot stand out as she strained to spread her forepaw and extend the claws. She got another claw into Ratha’s pad and then another.

“Pull slowly,” Thakur called down to her. “Don’t jerk, or you’ll lose your hold.” He heard her panting shallowly and knew her leg was cramping. Then he saw her foot starting to inch back, Ratha’s paw moving with it. He suppressed his impulse to yowl at the sky. Instead he joined Fessran in trying to lick the salt water from Ratha’s coat and lie across her to provide what warmth they could.

From his position atop the rock, he peeked down in the crack. Ratha’s foot had stuck at a cluster of mussel shells in the crevice. Newt wriggled and panted but couldn’t get past the obstacle. Slowly she unhooked her claws from Ratha’s foot and began to scrape and pry at the shellfish, breaking away one fragment at a time. It was an agonizing effort for the weakened forepaw, but Newt kept doggedly at her task. Thakur started to call down instructions then stopped. No. He trusted Newt to do everything that was needed. He and Fessran should concentrate on reviving Ratha, getting her ready to move should Newt’s efforts be effective.

They lay one on each side of her, warming her, trying to wring the water from her fur. Fessran scanned the sea anxiously for any sign that another wave was about to break over them.

Then Newt gave a yowl that was both triumph and pain as she snagged Ratha’s foot again and pulled it free. Carefully Thakur got his jaws around the bruised and cut limb, gently drawing it out of the crevice.

“Thakur, another wave’s coming,” Fessran warned.

He wormed himself under Ratha’s belly, heaved her up on his nape and shoulders, and half dragged, half carried her while yowling at Fessran to get Mishanti. He felt his load lighten slightly as Newt came up beside him and grabbed Ratha with her jaws. She was limping again, her leg drawn up and folded over in a fierce cramp. She grimaced with pain but said nothing as she helped Thakur carry Ratha away from the surging water.

The two hauled her to the highest spot on the island and then, when the water receded, wrestled her across the wave-washed boulders connecting this outermost islet with the chain leading back to the jetty. Fessran helped them as much as she could while carrying the cub.

Ratha, after being warmed and shaken around by her short journey on top of Thakur, began to show some signs of life. Thakur took her a short distance to a hollow that screened out the wind. He laid her down on a slab that slanted at an angle, allowing water to drain from her fur instead of puddling around her.

Thakur and Newt began to lick her again, helped in their task by weak sunlight that grew stronger as the clouds parted. Her eyes remained closed, but her whiskers twitched and she whispered,“Thakur, I’m so numb I can’t feel anything in my legs. Is my forepaw… ”

He answered her unspoken question by pushing her limp foreleg toward her nose.“You’ve still got all your paws, thanks to your daughter.”