Эрин Хантер - A Forest Divided

“He’s an old friend, from the hollow,” Wind Runner explained. She dipped her head to the she-cat. “This is Minnow, Reed’s mate.”

Gray Wing nodded a greeting. “I’m Gray Wing. Pleased to meet you.”

“ This is Gray Wing?” Minnow’s gaze flickered over his pelt. She sounded surprised. “I thought he’d be bigger.”

“Wind Runner!” Moth Flight’s mew sounded from Gorse Fur’s nest. “We can’t get back to sleep with every cat talking.”

Wind Runner sighed heavily.

Gorse Fur nodded toward the sky, which was lightening beyond the heather. “It’s nearly dawn,” he mewed softly. “They might as well be up and running around. I can take them out of camp and show them the moortop…?”

Wind Runner glared at him. “You know I don’t want them out there until they’re big enough to take care of themselves.”

“They’ll have me,” Gorse Fur pointed out.

“I’ll go with them,” Minnow offered. The she-cat was small, but Gray Wing could see hard muscle beneath her gray-and-white pelt.

Moth Flight and Dust Muzzle were already scrambling out of the nest.

“ Please can we go?” Moth Flight reached Wind Runner first and raced around her. “We’ll never learn to take care of ourselves if we stay in camp the whole time.”

Dust Muzzle stared gravely at his mother. “I’ll make sure Moth Flight doesn’t get into any trouble,” he promised. “I won’t leave her side.”

“Please!” Moth Flight looked from Wind Runner to Gorse Fur. “We’ll stay close to Gorse Fur and do everything he tells us.”

Gray Wing saw Wind Runner’s shoulders droop. “Okay,” she meowed. “But don’t stay out long.

That fox might still be around.”

Gray Wing lifted his chin. “I think we gave it a pretty good scare.”

“We’ll watch out for it!” Moth Flight raced for the camp entrance.

Dust Muzzle dashed after her. “Wait for me.”

Gorse Fur lifted his tail happily. “They’ll be fine,” he reassured Wind Runner, and ducked into the heather tunnel.

Minnow followed. “Will you be here when we get back?” she called over her shoulder to Gray Wing.

“I don’t know.” Gray Wing glanced at the pale sky pushing back the stars. His campmates would be worried about him.

As Minnow disappeared, Reed trotted across the clearing, a leaf folded between his jaws. He dropped it on the grass and pawed it open. A thick paste was smeared over it. “I’ll treat your ear first.” He bent and lapped up a tongueful of the paste and began to wash it into Slate’s ear tip.

Slate winced. “Are you sure that will help?”

“My mother used it on me,” Reed told her when he’d finished. He puffed out his chest. “And look how healthy I am.”

Gray Wing purred. He liked this friendly tom.

“Your turn.” Reed turned to him. “Lift your chin.” He dipped his tongue in the ointment again and, as Gray Wing stretched his nose toward the sky, began lapping it into the scratches around Gray Wing’s throat.

Gray Wing was surprised by the tom’s gentleness. The ointment stung as it met his wounds, but Reed’s tongue was fast and light. As the silver tom finished and backed away, Gray Wing wrinkled his nose. “I don’t recognize that scent.”

“It’s dried oak leaf and marigold,” Reed told him. “I collected the marigolds near the river in greenleaf. They dry well in the sun and keep their strength.”

“I’ll tell Pebble Heart about it,” Gray Wing meowed.

“Pebble Heart.” Reed’s eyes shone. “Slate’s told me about him. She says he’s a natural healer.

I’d like to meet him.”

“I’m sure you will, one day.” He glanced at Slate. “I should get back to him. He’ll wonder where I am.”

“Share some prey first,” Slate suggested. “The grouse will feed all of us.”

Gray Wing’s belly felt hard with hunger.

Wind Runner lifted her tail. “Please stay.” She padded to the heather wall of the camp and hauled out the grouse. “It’s a long time since we’ve seen you.” She tore off a wing and tossed it to Gray Wing.

It landed at his paws, its scent flooding his nose. “Okay.” His campmates would know he was experienced enough to look after himself. He leaned down and took a mouthful of sweet flesh from the thickest part of the wing.

Wind Runner tore the bird into pieces, laying some aside for Minnow, Gorse Fur, and the kits, and shared the rest with Reed and Slate.

As Gray Wing ate, dawn pushed up from the distant mountains, sunshine breaking over the heather. The moor seemed to open beneath its warmth, releasing its fragrance into the breeze.

Relishing the scent, Gray Wing sat up and licked his lips, his belly full.

Wind Runner had already finished and was washing her paws with long steady laps of her tongue.

Reed padded to the edge of the clearing, where early sunshine was pooling, and lay down.

Slate pawed the last scraps of her meal toward Gray Wing. “Are you still hungry?”

“Save them for the kits.” Gray Wing felt self-conscious about eating other cats’ prey.

Wind Runner looked up. “Eat it,” she urged. “You look thin.”

Gray Wing suddenly realized that the moor cats looked as well as the last time he’d seen them. “Is hunting good here?”

“Not bad, despite leaf-bare and the sickness,” Wind Runner purred. “Don’t forget we have the tunnels, so there’s hunting even when it snows.” She narrowed her eyes, curiously. “Don’t you miss it?”

“I miss the wind and sky. The dampness in the forest affects my breathing. But I have to stay with Pebble Heart and Tall Shadow.” He paused, sadness tugging in his chest as he remembered his quarrel with the black she-cat. “Though I’m not sure Tall Shadow feels she needs me anymore. She accused me of trying to take over as leader. She said I’m not as strong as I used to be.”

“I’m sure Tall Shadow didn’t mean it. She just wants her new home to feel like hers .” Wind Runner’s tail twitched over the grass. “I felt the same way when we moved here.”

Slate sniffed. “If she’d seen you fight off that fox, she’d know you’re as strong as any cat!”

“Tall Shadow will always know that she’s lucky to have you.” Wind Runner licked a paw and ran it over her ear.

Gray Wing shifted his paws self-consciously. They were being too kind. He changed the subject.

“How are you, Wind Runner?” The last time he’d seen her, she’d been grieving the loss of a second kit.

She met his gaze. “Moth Flight and Dust Muzzle are strong and bright. Our home is safe and warm. And now we have Reed, Minnow, and Slate. They’re good hunters.” She dipped her head to Slate. “And good company for the kits.” She blinked slowly. “I guess I’m happy, even though I never thought I could be after all that I lost. Is that wrong of me?” She looked at Gray Wing with round, anxious eyes.

Gray Wing returned her gaze softly. “It’s not wrong,” he reassured her. “I thought I would never be happy after I lost Turtle Tail. But life goes on, and I can see new paths ahead of me.” He snatched a look at Slate, who was eyeing him thoughtfully. “I think it’s our duty to be happy, despite all that we’ve lost.”

Wind Runner purred. “That’s what Gorse Fur says. He seems to approach every new day as though it’s his first and his last.” She pricked her ears at the sound of paws pattering over the ground beyond the camp wall. The heather shook as Moth Flight and Dust Muzzle burst into the clearing.

“It’s so big out there!” Moth Flight exclaimed.

“Gorse Fur took us to the top of the moor and showed us Highstones!” Dust Muzzle stared at Gray Wing. “Did you really travel all that way from the mountains?”