Эрин Хантер - A Forest Divided

“Not so fast!” Quiet Rain croaked. He glanced back, realizing that the mountain cats were falling behind.

He hurried back and took a spot beside Quiet Rain, shielding her from the forest while Sun

Shadow flanked her other side. The sooner they were past Clear Sky’s land, the better.

“Tell me about the mountains,” he meowed softly, one ear twisted toward the woods.

“You must know of it already if you know Gray Wing and Tall Shadow,” Quiet Rain answered.

“Surely they’ve told you stories of their old home?”

“They’ve told stories,” Thunder agreed. “But I don’t know how much is real and how much imagined.”

“What did they tell you?” Quiet Rain asked.

“That the snow fell so thick and so fast, it could drown a cat caught out in a blizzard,” Thunder told her.

“That much is true.” Quiet Rain flicked her thin tail. “Did they tell you about the eagles that can carry off a full-grown tom? And the drops so sheer, and valleys so deep, that if a stone fell, you would not hear it land?”

“What did you hunt?” Thunder only knew that hunger had driven Gray Wing and the others to the moor. “Are there mice and voles in the mountains?”

Sun Shadow purred. “There are mice everywhere. And in the warm season we can hunt the lower slopes for rabbits and small birds.”

“What do you hunt when the snows come?” Thunder asked, wondering how these cats could ever survive the rocky crags.

“Whatever we can,” Sun Shadow told him. “Sometimes we find the carcass of a deer left by a sharptooth.”

“A sharptooth ?” Thunder’s pelt lifted along his spine.

“They’re giant cats,” Sun Shadow told him. “They are rare, but far more deadly than eagles.”

“Why do you stay there?” Thunder asked.

Sun Shadow shrugged. “It’s our home.”

Thunder didn’t understand. “But it sounds so cold and prey-poor.”

“Stoneteller found it,” Sun Shadow explained.

Thunder remembered Gray Wing and Clear Sky talking about Stoneteller. “Is that your leader?”

“She is more than a leader,” Quiet Rain rasped. “She is ancient, and speaks with the ancients who died before her. She tells us what is and what will be.”

Thunder could only blink. These certainly were strange cats.

Sun Shadow went on. “Long ago, she journeyed from far away, and the mountains were the first place to welcome her.”

Welcome her? Thunder didn’t comment. If these cats thought snowy mountains full of eagles and sharptooths were welcoming, they were even stranger than he’d thought.

Pebbles swished beneath their paws. The shore widened and the forest thinned beside them as the river curved away toward the gorge. Thunder could hear the faint roar of water where the river tumbled down between the cliffs. He could see the stepping-stones that crossed from the moor onto

River Ripple’s marshes.

Stones turned to grass as they climbed toward the moor. Wind streamed through his whiskers and he smelled the scent of heather. For a moment, memories swamped him. He was hunting with Lightning Tail, veering across the windblown grass as his friend drove a rabbit toward him. Hawk Swoop was calling them back to camp. Acorn Fur was pacing sulkily at the entrance to the hollow, complaining that they’d left her behind.

“Thunder!” A familiar call jerked him back into the present.

He turned his head.

River Ripple’s silver pelt showed on the shore behind them.

“Who’s that?” Sun Shadow’s pelt bristled along his spine. Quiet Rain flattened her ears.

“Don’t worry.” Thunder hailed the river cat with a flick of his tail. “He’s a friend.”

River Ripple bounded from the shore and hurried up the grassy slope after them. He slowed and stopped a few paces behind, his gaze flashing from Quiet Rain to Sun Shadow.

Quiet Rain’s eyes narrowed to slits. “You smell of water,” she hissed.

River Rippled dipped his head. “I live beside the river.”

Quiet Rain wrinkled her nose. “What cat would live beside water?”

“The fishing is good,” River Ripple told her.

Quiet Rain’s gaze flicked along his sleek, plump flank. “You catch fish ?” she gasped. “How?”

“I swim.”

Quiet Rain turned to Sun Shadow, her eyes wide. “What kind of place have we come to?”

“A place like any other.” River Ripple’s mew was polite. “Where are you heading?”

“To the pine forest.” Thunder jerked his head toward the distant horizon.

“Why cross the moor?” River Ripple padded to his side. “You could have cut through the forest.”

Quiet Rain narrowed her eyes. “Is that true?”

Thunder stiffened. River Ripple didn’t know that he’d left Clear Sky to set up his own camp—and he didn’t want to explain now. Quiet Rain might demand he take them back to meet her son. “Sun

Shadow and Quiet Rain are weak from their journey from the mountains. I thought the moor would be easier to cross.”

River Ripple’s gaze glittered with interest. “You come from the mountains?”

“We come in search of kin,” Sun Shadow told him.

Thunder added quickly, “I’m taking them to Tall Shadow’s camp.” He nodded toward Sun

Shadow. “This cat is Moon Shadow’s son.”

River Ripple dipped his head. “Moon Shadow was a fine cat.”

Sun Shadow stiffened. “He… was …?”

River Ripple caught Thunder’s eye. “You haven’t told him.”

Thunder lifted his chin, looking solemnly at the black tom. “Moon Shadow was killed. He died bravely saving his friends from a fire.”

Sun Shadow swayed on his paws. “My father!”

Quiet Rain ducked in beside him, pressing her thin shoulder to his. “We always knew they were taking a risk when they left the mountains.”

“But I wanted a chance to know him.” Sun Shadow’s mew was thick with grief.

Thunder stared at the ground, his pelt hot. “I should have told you before. I’m sorry.”

Quiet Rain’s mew hardened. “What about the others?”

Thunder tried to drag his gaze from the grass, his heart pounding. What can I tell them? So many were dead. This wasn’t the time to share such sorrow. They still had to cross the moor. “Gray Wing and Jagged Peak are fine,” he told her softly. Then he mumbled, “So is Clear Sky.”

River Ripple wove past him and faced Quiet Rain. “There is much to tell you. But this is not the place. Let us lead you to Tall Shadow’s camp, where you can rest.” He caught Thunder’s eye. “I’ll accompany you.”

Thunder felt relief wash his fur. River Ripple understood that these cats needed shelter far more than they needed to hear the truth. As the silver tom headed onward, the mountain cats followed him wordlessly. Sun Shadow’s tail dragged along the ground, and Quiet Rain’s breath rattled in her chest as the slope steepened.

River Ripple slowed and put his shoulder against hers. “We’re nearly at the top.”

Sun Shadow fell in beside Thunder. “How long ago did he die?”

“Many moons.” Thunder kept his gaze fixed ahead. He wished he could ease the tom’s grief, but he didn’t know how.

“Did you know him well?”

“I was young.”

“But you know Tall Shadow and Gray Wing?”

Thunder’s pelt prickled uncomfortably. “Yes.”

Quiet Rain glanced at him. “What about Jagged Peak and Clear Sky? How well do you know them?”

“Well enough.” Thunder’s mew thickened. “I’m Clear Sky’s son.”

Quiet Rain stopped and stared at him. “Clear Sky’s son!” Delight flooded her gaze. “Where is he?

Where’s Bright Stream?”

Thunder faced her, puzzled. “Bright Stream?”