Эрин Хантер - A Forest Divided

Clear Sky looked past Thunder toward the clearing. “Take Owl Eyes and go hunting.”

“Will you stop seeing her?” Thunder pressed.

“I’ll think about what you’ve said.” Clear Sky avoided his gaze. “Go hunting. That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”

Frustrated, Thunder leaped into the clearing and crossed the camp toward Owl Eyes.

“Thunder.” A throaty mew caught his ear.

He turned to see Star Flower ducking into camp. He halted as she padded toward him and narrowed his eyes. “What do you want?”

Her golden pelt glowed in the afternoon light. “I smelled your scent by the flat rocks this morning.”

“So?”

Her green eyes narrowed. “What were you doing there?”

“Why do you care?” Bitterness stung Thunder’s throat.

“Have you been following me?”

“I was following Clear Sky ,” Thunder growled. “I was worried about him being out in the woods alone.”

Star Flower gave an amused purr. “I think Clear Sky is old enough to take care of himself, don’t you? Besides, he wasn’t alone. He had me.”

Rage surged beneath Thunder’s pelt. “Stay away from my father,” he hissed.

Star Flower blinked. “Why? We get along so well and—” She paused, her gaze suddenly softening. “Oh, Thunder. I’m so sorry.”

Thunder shifted his paws, his pelt burning. He looked away. “What for?”

“I didn’t know you still had feelings for me,” she gushed. “I thought you stopped caring for me when you found out who my father was.”

Thunder stiffened, surprised to find hope pricking in his chest. Was that regret in her mew? Did she still care about him?

“We were never meant to be together, Thunder.” Star Flower shook her head sadly.

The ground seemed to move beneath his paws.

“I thought you understood that,” she went on. “You and I are so different. Clear Sky and I have much more in common. I understand him. I know why he’s so tough and ambitious. And I don’t judge him for it—I admire him.”

Thunder curled his lip. “You just like him because you think he’s like your father,” he hissed.

“Well, he’s not. He’s far better than that fox-heart. You’re pathetic, always looking for some cat to make you feel good about yourself. When are you going to learn to stand on your own four paws?”

Tail lashing, he called to Owl Eyes. “Come on. Clear Sky wants us to go hunting.”

Leaf looked up sharply. “Can I come?”

“Why not?” Thunder marched toward the entrance. He could take any cat he liked—he didn’t need Clear Sky’s permission. And Leaf would be in a far better mood if he had a chance to flex his claws on prey instead of moss.

He ducked through the bramble wall, Leaf on his tail.

Owl Eyes burst out after them, his pelt pricking with excitement. “Where should we hunt?” He gazed around the woods happily. Clouds were bubbling overhead as the sun sank behind the trees.

“There’s a beech copse beyond the sycamore,” Leaf suggested. “The nuts will attract prey.”

Thunder nodded. “You lead.” He wasn’t going to be like Clear Sky and insist every cat follow in his paw steps.

Leaf bounded away and leaped the gully. Owl Eyes chased after him, tail high. Thunder broke into a run, relieved to feel his paws pounding the forest floor. The anger that had been pulsing beneath his fur melted as he raced after his campmates. Leaf charged up the slope and hared past the sycamore.

Owl Eyes, smaller and lighter, moved fast through the forest. He zigzagged easily between the undergrowth, veering around a bramble and ducking beneath a jutting branch. Thunder kept a tail-length behind, wincing as a thorn snagged his thick pelt and leaping over the branch instead of ducking under. He could feel power surging into his paws as they thrummed over the earth. Wind streamed through his whiskers. Ahead, the beech copse showed among the other trees. Dark orange leaves clung to their branches, making the forest here glow like Star Flower’s pelt.

Thunder pushed the thought away, skidding to a halt where Leaf and Owl Eyes had stopped beside a swath of bracken. Leaf nodded toward the forest ahead. The ground was littered with beechnuts.

Roots showed just above the soil, winding over one another to make a low forest of nooks and shadows. It was a perfect spot for prey.

Thunder nodded to Owl Eyes. “Go around to the far side of the copse,” he whispered. “If we flush out the prey, it’ll run toward you.”

Owl Eyes nodded and quietly picked his way around the trees.

Thunder dropped into a crouch and watched the tangle of beech roots.

Leaf squatted beside him, his mouth open as he tasted for scents. His muzzle twitched. “Thanks for letting me come,” he murmured. “I’m sick of waiting in camp for some other cat to bring me food.” He glanced sideways at Thunder. “How did you persuade Clear Sky to change his mind?”

“I just suggested it would be better to send out more patrols,” Thunder answered lightly.

“Of course it is!” Leaf snorted. “What’s the point of us all sitting around when the prey pile’s half-empty?” The gray-and-white tom shook his head. “Clear Sky’s gone soft since the battle.”

Thunder snapped his head around. Was Leaf being disloyal?

Leaf’s ear twitched uneasily. “I mean, he’s still Clear Sky ,” he backtracked. “But all this talk of uniting and taking in sick, half-starved cats… It’s not how he used to be.” Leaf tucked his paws tighter under him.

Thunder shifted to rebalance himself. He could hear prey rustling the leaves between the beech roots. Owl Eyes’s pelt showed in the shadows beyond. “Clear Sky’s just doing what the spirit cats asked of him,” he whispered to Leaf. “ They’re the ones who want us to unite.”

“ Spirit cats don’t get hungry.” Leaf gazed ahead, his eyes flicking one way, then the other, as he scanned for prey. “Why don’t they look after the sick and the weak? Here in the real world, strength is the only thing that counts. What’s the point in hunting for cats who can’t hunt for themselves? They just sap the strength of the whole group.”

Thunder glanced at his campmate. Does he really believe that? Of course, strength was important. But surely it was possible to be strong and look after the weak? “Everyone has their own strengths,” he pointed out. “No one hears as well as Pink Eyes. And Jagged Peak has grown tough and practical because he’s had to fight every paw step of the way.”

“He may be tough, but can he hunt ?” Leaf meowed darkly. “You’ve forgotten how long leaf-bare is. There are lean moons ahead, and it’s not so easy to be softhearted when your belly’s empty.”

Thunder flexed his claws. Leaf was sounding like Clear Sky in the days before the battle. “All we have to do is persuade Clear Sky to change the hunting patrols. Then there’ll be enough prey for all of us. You’ll see.”

A tiny shape scuttled through the leaves and darted over a root.

Mouse! Excitement surged through Thunder’s muscles. Before Leaf could move, he raced for it.

The mouse was heading for a gap where the root burrowed into the earth. Leaping, Thunder hooked it with a claw. He landed awkwardly, bending his other forepaw beneath him. Pain flashed through his flank as he hit the root, feeling the wind knocked from his body.

Squeaking, the mouse wriggled free of his grasp.

Leaf barged past and slammed his forepaws down hard on the ground. “Got it!”

As the black-and-white tom spoke, leaves exploded a tail-length away. Thunder jerked up his head and saw a rabbit racing away between the trees. They must have startled it when they caught the mouse. He struggled to his paws, his flank aching where the root had bruised it. His injured paw folded limply beneath him. Mouse dung!