Эрин Хантер - The Apprentice's Quest

A little farther on, bigger trees began to appear, interspersed by bushes. “This would be a good place to hunt,” Sparkpaw panted as she hurried along beside her brother.

“No time,” Alderpaw gasped in response.

“My belly feels so empty!” Sparkpaw complained. “I wish—”

“Look! Over there!” Cherryfall’s voice interrupted Sparkpaw. She ran up to a tree that was leaning toward the river; its long branches hung over the water, stretching almost as far as the opposite side. “This is perfect!”

As he bounded closer, Alderpaw thought the tree looked dangerous, but he didn’t object.

Crossing here was obviously their best chance of avoiding the rogues.

“Hmm… ,” Molewhisker murmured, sizing up the tree with an intent gaze. “Those branches might be long enough. And if our scent disappears here, Darktail might think that we fell into the river and got swept away.”

“It’s worth a try,” Alderpaw agreed, though his belly was churning with apprehension.

“I’ll go first,” Sparkpaw volunteered, climbing swiftly up the slanting trunk of the tree, then edging out onto one of the longest branches. “Come on—it’s okay!”

As Sparkpaw ventured farther out over the river, Molewhisker followed her up the trunk, with Cherryfall hard on his paws. Alderpaw managed to tear his gaze away from his sister’s progress to peer upstream and check that none of the rogues had appeared in pursuit. Although the dawn light was gradually strengthening, there was no sign of movement.

I suppose it’s too much to hope that they won’t come…

“You next!” Needlepaw’s voice drew

Alderpaw’s attention back to the tree.

By now Sparkpaw had almost reached the point where she would have to leap from the branch to the far bank of the river. Molewhisker and Cherryfall were close behind her. Alderpaw hardly dared watch as they balanced precariously on the narrow branch.

“No, you go first,” he mewed to Needlepaw.

“I’ll keep lookout.”

Needlepaw looked reluctant, but after a moment’s hesitation she shrugged. “If you say so.” She scrambled up the tree trunk with a whisk of her tail and headed out along the branch.

With no reason to delay any longer, Alderpaw followed. It was easy to clamber up the leaning trunk, and when he crept out onto the branch, it felt sturdy enough under his paws.

But the weight of the cats up ahead made it dip low, toward the water.

It would have been smarter to go one by one, Alderpaw thought, digging his claws in hard, but we don’t have time for that.

His belly lurched as he saw Sparkpaw crouch and bunch her muscles, ready for the leap onto the bank. The branch bounced wildly as she took off, and Alderpaw let out a yelp of fear as he almost lost his grip. A moment later he drew in a long breath of relief as he saw his littermate land safely on the opposite bank.

Within the next few heartbeats Molewhisker and Cherryfall joined her.

Just ahead of Alderpaw, Needlepaw edged forward, a mouse-length at a time, then halted, gripping the branch grimly with her claws. The branch was dipping and bending dangerously under her weight.

“Keep going!” Alderpaw urged her.

Needlepaw glanced back over her shoulder.

“I’m scared of falling into the water,” she hissed. “Okay?”

“You’ll be fine,” Alderpaw meowed. “Better than if the rogues catch up with us!”

But as soon as Needlepaw started edging forward again, the branch started to groan and creak. So frozen by fear that he could hardly move, Alderpaw started to back up. But he was too late. He heard a tearing sound as the branch gave way, and a screech of terror from Needlepaw, abruptly cut off as the two cats plunged into the freezing cold stream.

Alderpaw flailed his legs in the surging water, terrified as the cold, unfamiliar touch enfolded him. The current was so fast that he was swept away, not knowing which way was up.

A heavy, rushing pressure filled his ears, and when he tried to open his eyes, he was blinded by dark water. Desperately he kicked and kicked, pain growing in his chest until he thought he would lose consciousness.

Then his head broke the surface. Gratefully he took a gulp of air and thrashed his legs with the flow of the current to keep himself afloat.

He glanced around to see if he could spot

Needlepaw, but there was no sign of her.

It’s still too dark to see much, he thought, hoping that she was somewhere near him in this chaos of water.

He strained his ears to catch her cries, or calls from his Clanmates on the bank, but the river rushing in his ears cut off all other sounds.

The current seemed to be moving faster than ever. Looking ahead, Alderpaw saw the tumbled surface abruptly come to an end, with nothing but gloomy sky beyond. The roaring in his ears grew louder.

A waterfall!

Alderpaw knew that he had to reach the bank. He kicked out across the current, struggling to drag himself to safety, but the force of the water was too strong.

I’m not going to make it. This is where I’m going to die.

Then Alderpaw felt his forepaw snag on something jutting out of the water. Somehow the contact pulled him toward the bank, and as the surge lifted him for a heartbeat, he realized he was clinging to Needlepaw.

The sight of the bank so close gave Alderpaw fresh hope. “Keep going!” he gasped to Needlepaw. “We can do it!”

But however hard the two cats fought, the river was stronger. Alderpaw glimpsed the smooth curve of the water as it reached the falls and let out a yelp of alarm as he realized he was going over.

He found himself falling, torn away from Needlepaw, his body tossed and thrown about by the waterfall. His panic-stricken yowl was cut off as he slammed down onto the surface below and all the breath was driven out of his body.

Everything went black as Alderpaw sank deep into the water. Then light seared his eyes as he bobbed back up to the surface, dazed and struggling feebly, surprised that he was still alive. Something shoved him hard at the back of his neck, propelling him toward the bank. Soon he felt his paws touch mud, and he hauled himself upward, clambering clear of the water.

Turning, he saw Needlepaw dragging herself out after him, her fur plastered to her body.

Alderpaw collapsed onto his belly, his flanks heaving and shivering with cold, and with relief at having survived. Needlepaw sank down beside him.

Catching his breath at last, Alderpaw strained to catch any sight or sound of their companions. “I can’t hear the others,” he mewed. “Can you?”

Needlepaw just shook out her wet fur.

“No!” she yowled. “I don’t hear them—I can’t hear anything over the water. I told you I didn’t like it!”

Alderpaw turned an anxious circle, but all he could see were trees and sky. All he could hear was the running water. All he could smell was the wet dirt beneath him, and the fear wafting off both him and Needlepaw.

What do we do now? he wondered.

At first Alderpaw lay in an exhausted stupor with Needlepaw by his side, but the thought of his Clanmates soon roused him. “We should get up,” he panted. “Try to figure out a way to get back to the others.”

Needlepaw gave her shoulder fur a couple of feeble licks. “I don’t know about you,” she meowed, “but I need to rest.”

“But we don’t know what happened to them!” Alderpaw asked, with a fretful look upstream. “We need to find them!”