Эрин Хантер - A Forest Divided

“Gray Wing?” Tall Shadow was searching his gaze anxiously. “Is something wrong? Your pelt’s pricking.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Gray Wing told her quickly. There was nothing she could do about Slash’s spy. Why spoil a pleasure she’d looked forward to for so long? “Is the forest as good as you imagined?”

Tall Shadow purred and padded around the base of a pine, her paw steps no more than a whisper on the needles. “It’s even better.” She pricked her ears. “The wind sounds so far away.”

“I can smell squirrel,” Mouse Ear meowed happily.

“Should we hunt?” Mud Paws looked at Jagged Peak. Gray Wing blinked in surprise. Mud Paws was treating him like their leader.

Tall Shadow sat down and gazed between the trees. She didn’t seem to have noticed, or if she had, she didn’t seem to care. Her green eyes shone. Her black pelt melted among the shadows as though she’d become part of her new home already.

“Tall Shadow?” Jagged Peak called to her. “Should we hunt?”

“If you like.” Tall Shadow shrugged.

Holly’s gaze followed her kits, who were scrambling over tree roots, their noses and tails twitching with excitement.

With a leap, Dew Nose hooked her claws into the bark and dangled from the trunk. “Look! I’m climbing.”

“Don’t go too high,” Holly warned.

Pebble Heart tasted the air. “Maybe we should find somewhere to build nests before we hunt.”

“Let’s split up,” Jagged Peak suggested. “I’ll hunt with Mud Paws and Mouse Ear. You, Holly, and Tall Shadow can take Gray Wing and the kits and find somewhere to rest tonight.”

Take Gray Wing and the kits! Gray Wing felt a prick of resentment. Jagged Peak was talking like he was one of them!

Storm Pelt tipped his head. “Why can’t Gray Wing hunt with you? He’s a great hunter.”

“Gray Wing’s not as fast as he used to be,” Jagged Peak answered.

Holly nodded. “He’ll be safer if he stays with you.”

Eagle Feather puffed out his chest. “I’ll look after him!”

Jagged Peak looked fondly at his kit. “Gray Wing will be grateful to have such a strong kit watching over him.”

Gray Wing flattened his ears. “I don’t need anyone watching over me!” he snapped at Jagged Peak. “Just because you saved my life doesn’t mean you get to treat me like a useless kit!”

Dew Nose bristled. “Kits aren’t useless!”

Tall Shadow stepped between them. “I’m sure Jagged Peak didn’t mean anything, Gray Wing,” she soothed.

Jagged Peak dipped his head. “Of course not. But we all know that the fire damaged your breathing. You’re not the cat you used to be.”

Anger surged though Gray Wing. He flexed his claws, wondering if he had enough breath to scratch his young brother’s ears. How dare he?

Tall Shadow flicked her tail. “Perhaps you should hunt, Jagged Peak,” she suggested diplomatically.

Gray Wing frowned. Love hadn’t made Jagged Peak confident; it had made him arrogant! “Be careful,” he muttered. “Don’t forget that you don’t know what’s out there.” Perhaps I should warn them about Fern and Slash. This wasn’t the perfect home they believed it was. There was danger lurking in the shadows. Then he glanced at Tall Shadow, worry darkening her gaze for the first time since she’d set paw in the forest, and swallowed back his anger. He wasn’t going to spoil her moment. “I’m sorry.”

He’d warn them about Slash when the time was right. Perhaps he wouldn’t need to. He might be able to find Fern and talk to her. The rogue didn’t seem to be a bad cat. She was just scared of Slash.

Gray Wing felt suddenly tired. They hadn’t even found a new camp, and trouble was already stalking them. “Come on.” He heaved himself to his paws. “Let’s find somewhere sheltered to build nests.”

As they set off, Eagle Feather scampered ahead. “Can I have my own nest?”

“When you’re older,” Holly called after him.

Gray Wing scanned the shadows beyond the kit warily. “Stay close, Eagle Feather. Until we’re sure it’s safe here.”

A blustery wind shook the branches overhead. Thunder tucked his forepaws closer to his belly.

Beside him, Clear Sky huffed. “Are you cold?”

“No,” Thunder lied, bunching his muscles to hide his shivers.

They were sitting at the edge of a small clearing, not far from the camp, watching Acorn Fur train Owl Eyes and Sparrow Fur how to hunt in their new woodland home. Clear Sky wanted to see how well his recruits were adapting to forest life.

Thunder bushed out his fur. The sharpness of the leaf-bare chill had eased in the past days, but snow clouds had turned to rain, and dampness dug deep into his thick pelt.

It wasn’t raining now, but the trees still dripped from the last downpour. Fallen leaves were matted into wet clumps, making the forest floor slippery.

“Try again, Owl Eyes.” Acorn Fur had laid a dead mouse near the edge of the clearing. “You need to reach it in one pounce. There are no second chances in the forest, with so many hiding places for prey.”

As Owl Eyes crouched behind the roots of an oak, Thunder saw that the gaze he fixed on his quarry was anxious.

Sparrow Fur paced back and forth impatiently a tail-length behind him. “Hurry up!”

Acorn Fur glanced at the brown she-cat with annoyance. “Keep still, Sparrow Fur. Let your brother concentrate.”

“I want a turn,” Sparrow Fur complained.

“The mouse isn’t going anywhere,” Acorn Fur told her.

“It’ll be shredded by the time I get to stalk it.” Sparrow Fur ducked her chin sullenly.

“Owl Eyes needs to practice.” As Acorn Fur spoke, a withered leaf dropped from a branch above them and pattered onto the wet ground.

Owl Eyes’s gaze flicked toward it.

Acorn Fur whipped her tail-tip at him. “Don’t look at the leaf! Focus on the mouse !”

Owl Eyes gasped. “Sorry!”

Thunder felt a jab of pity for the young tom. Owl Eyes’s last pounce had sent him slithering past the mouse, his paws skidding on the muddy earth. If Acorn Fur made him any more nervous, his next pounce wouldn’t be much better.

“It’s good that he’s so alert,” Thunder said, standing. “You have to be wary in the forest. It’s not as easy to spot danger as on the moor.”

Acorn Fur bristled. “But he shouldn’t take his eyes off his prey every time a leaf falls!” she snapped. “He’ll never catch anything.”

Owl Eyes peered up at the shivering branches. “I’ll get used to it,” he promised. His pelt was twitching nervously. Thunder could see that he still wasn’t comfortable living beneath a tangled canopy of branches.

Thunder crossed the clearing and stopped beside Acorn Fur. “He’s young,” he murmured into her ear. “Remember how long it took you to learn your hunting crouch.” He winked teasingly.

“I learned it quicker than you,” she retorted.

“ And quicker than Lightning Tail,” Thunder reminded her.

She purred and turned back to Owl Eyes. “You’ll be able to tell the difference between a falling leaf and a stalking fox before you know it,” she reassured him. “For now, concentrate on the mouse.

I’ll warn you if I smell danger.”

Sparrow Fur snorted. “This is taking forever!”

Acorn Fur called to her. “Why don’t you see how many different scents you can detect while you wait?”

Clear Sky grunted. “Counting scents is for kits.” He marched across the clearing. “Give her something better to do! Let her hunt real prey.” He stopped beside the dead mouse and kicked it, sending it rolling across the forest floor. Owl Eyes never took his eyes off it.