Эрин Хантер: The Apprentice's Quest

Alderpaw’s heart sank. His belly was already rumbling. But he tried to hide his disappointment.

Sparkpaw shrugged. “Fine. But we can still try, right?”

Heading away from the stream, the cats reached the edge of a clearing where a huge oak tree stood, its roots writhing up above the surface of the ground. Thick clumps of fern grew around it.

“This is a good place for prey,” Molewhisker mewed, halting. “See what you can pick up.”

Alderpaw closed his eyes, feeling a little overwhelmed by all the different scents flooding over him, and the different sounds he could hear in the undergrowth and the branches above his head. This is a lot harder than picking out the WindClan scent. That was so strong it was hard to miss.

Finally Alderpaw managed to home in on a scent he recognized: a shrew. He could hear a tiny scratching noise in the undergrowth, coming from the right direction. Opening his eyes, he spotted movement in the grass stems.

But am I sure…? he asked himself, hesitating to point it out.

Before he decided whether to speak, Sparkpaw pointed with her tail. “There’s a shrew over there.”

“I can scent it too,” Alderpaw agreed, hoping his mentor would believe he had spotted it for himself.

“Okay, you can try catching it,” Cherryfall meowed, her gaze flicking from Alderpaw to Sparkpaw. “You’ve seen the hunter’s crouch, haven’t you—like this?” She demonstrated, pressing herself close to the ground with her muscles bunched, ready to move forward.

Alderpaw and Sparkpaw did their best to copy her.

“Good,” Cherryfall went on.

“Now, remember to keep low, and set your paws down really lightly. Careful you don’t tread on a twig.”

“And watch your tail,” Molewhisker added.

“If you let it wave around, your prey will know where you are.”

“Sparkpaw, you try first,” Cherryfall mewed.

Barely hesitating, Sparkpaw began to creep forward, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

She kept her paws tucked in close to her body and her tail wrapped along her side. Suddenly she leaped forward, disappearing into the thickest part of the undergrowth.

A heartbeat later Sparkpaw reappeared, the limp body of a shrew dangling from her jaws.

She paced back toward the others, her head raised proudly and her tail straight up in the air.

“Wow!” Cherryfall exclaimed as Sparkpaw dropped the shrew at her paws. “I’ve never heard of an apprentice catching something on her very first try.”

“Neither have I,” Molewhisker agreed.

“Good job, Sparkpaw.”

“Great catch,” Alderpaw meowed.

“Oh, it was easy,” Sparkpaw boasted. “I just did what you told me.”

Molewhisker turned to his apprentice.

“Let’s see if Alderpaw can do as well.”

Alderpaw felt himself stiffen with anxiety. I sort of wish she’d missed that catch. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about missing mine.

But he forced himself to push the envious thoughts aside.

“We’ll move on,” Cherryfall decided.

“We’ve probably scared all the prey away around here.”

Alderpaw felt his paws growing heavier with every paw step as he followed the mentors. I just know I’m going to mess up. His belly was churning by the time they halted beside a small pool, with bushes and long grass growing around its edge.

“We should find something here,” Molewhisker meowed. “Okay, both of you, show me the hunter’s crouch.”

Alderpaw squatted beside his sister, his pelt prickling with anxiety as both mentors padded around them, observing them closely.

“Good, Sparkpaw,” Cherryfall mewed. “But keep your tail a bit closer.”

“And Alderpaw, tuck your paws in a bit more,” Molewhisker added.

“Yes, you can’t have your hindpaws sticking out if you want a good pounce,” Sparkpaw put in.

I know that, Alderpaw thought, giving her a glare.

“And you have to be really, really quick,” Sparkpaw went on. “Your prey won’t wait around for you. And your claws—”

“Sparkpaw, knock it off.” Molewhisker’s tone was irritable. “You’re not the mentor here.

You’re a brand-new apprentice, just like Alderpaw.”

Sparkpaw flattened her ears, then nodded reluctantly, while Alderpaw gave his mentor a grateful look. Molewhisker responded by brushing his tail over Alderpaw’s shoulders.

“Remember what we told you about keeping low,” Cherryfall continued. “And watch where you’re putting your paws. The snap of a twig, the wave of a fern frond, and your prey’s gone.”

Alderpaw nodded, trying to take in all the information. Then the moment he had dreaded finally arrived.

“Now, Alderpaw,” Molewhisker meowed.

“See if you can find some prey.”

Alderpaw narrowed his eyes and concentrated, tasting the air. The scents here weren’t quite so complicated, and he soon pinpointed a vole underneath a bush close to the water.

“There’s a vole under there,” he murmured to Molewhisker, angling his ears toward the bush.

Molewhisker gave him an approving nod.

“Good. Go after it, then.”

Alderpaw adjusted his crouch and began to creep forward, then hesitated. Is the vole really under that bush, or in the clump of long grass just beside it? Should I go straight for it, or loop around the grass so it can’t see me coming?

“What’s the matter?” Molewhisker hissed impatiently. “Go!”

Alderpaw was frozen with indecision. I have to get this right, but I don’t know how!

While he was still hesitating, unable to move, the vole suddenly scampered out of the depths of the bush, plopped into the water, and vanished.

“Mouse-brain!” Sparkpaw exclaimed.

I probably deserve that, Alderpaw admitted to himself. He hung his head in shame as Molewhisker padded up to him. “A good hunter doesn’t hesitate,” his mentor meowed.

“You need to trust your instincts.” Then he relaxed a little and touched Alderpaw on the shoulder with his tail. “Never mind. There’ll be other prey.”

His mentor’s kindness only made Alderpaw feel more ashamed. I’ve let Molewhisker down.

Sparkpaw suddenly darted off into the bushes, and Alderpaw looked up, startled. She emerged a moment later, swinging the body of a plump mouse by its tail.

“Sparkpaw, that’s amazing!” Cherryfall’s eyes were sparkling with delight. “You’re going to be a great hunter.”

“Yeah, good catch,” Molewhisker muttered, his tail-tip twitching in annoyance.

I’ve let him down again, Alderpaw thought wretchedly. I wanted so much to make him proud of me!

Cherryfall picked up Sparkpaw’s shrew and led the way as the cats headed back toward camp. Alderpaw trudged along with his head down, feeling more miserable and disgraced with every paw step. I can’t believe this is happening!

“Don’t worry,” Molewhisker meowed briskly, padding along beside him. “You’ll learn.

You just have to go for it, not hesitate like you did back there.”

“I know,” Alderpaw murmured. But that’s easy enough to say.

He didn’t want to look at Cherryfall and Sparkpaw bouncing along ahead of them, carrying Sparkpaw’s prey. And just when he thought he couldn’t possibly feel more depressed, Ivypool, Birchfall, and Sorrelstripe emerged from the undergrowth. They were also heading for the camp, and also carrying prey.

“You’ve had good hunting,” Cherryfall remarked, nodding toward the couple of squirrels and the rabbit the patrol were carrying.

“So have you, by the look of it,” Ivypool responded.

“Oh, these are Sparkpaw’s,” Cherryfall meowed. “And it’s her first day out of camp.