Эрин Хантер - A Forest Divided

“Your mother!” Quiet Rain meowed. “Clear Sky and Bright Stream were destined to be mates.”

“Bright Stream died on the journey from the mountains.” The words blurted from Thunder’s mouth before he could stop them.

Quiet Rain’s eyes clouded. “She died too ?”

“An eagle carried her off,” Thunder mumbled, guilt clawing at his heart.

“She left the mountains, only to suffer a mountain cat’s fate!” Anger tinged Quiet Rain’s mew.

“Who’s your mother then?” Her gaze scorched Thunder’s.

“Storm,” he answered quietly.

“She is Clear Sky’s mate?” Quiet Rain held his gaze.

“She was.”

“Was?” Quiet Rain stared in disbelief. “ More death?”

Thunder could only nod.

“Why did we ever come here?” Quiet Rain pulled away from River Ripple and limped to Sun

Shadow’s side. “This is a place where cats come to die!”

“Not all cats.” River Ripple’s gentle mew carried on the wind that was gusting over the moortop and tugging at the cats’ fur. “It is a place where prey is rich and the greenleaf is long and warm.”

Thunder purred his agreement. “Gray Wing and Jagged Peak love it here. And Jagged Peak has kits now.”

Quiet Rain lifted her head. “Kits?”

“Storm Pelt, Dew Nose, and Eagle Feather,” Thunder told her, relieved to have some good news for the older she-cat.

Quiet Rain mewed approvingly. “Good, strong names.”

“Hawk Swoop had kits too.” River Ripple nudged her gently onward. “Let me tell you about them.”

Thunder felt a wave of gratitude toward the river cat as he steered the old she-cat across the moor, chattering easily.

They passed the rim of the four trees hollow and followed the moor as it sloped toward the Thunderpath. Beyond, the pines stood like a great dark wall, their tips scratching the pale sky.

Thunder stopped on the grass area at the side of the Thunderpath and gazed along the straight, black track. There were no monsters to be heard, but the foul stench in the air told him one had passed by recently. “We must be careful crossing here,” he told Sun Shadow.

Quiet Rain snorted beside River Ripple. “Do you think we haven’t seen plenty of these stinking tracks on our journey already?”

Thunder stepped back and let the she-cat approach the Thunderpath’s edge with Sun Shadow. She glanced both ways, then scuttled across it like a mouse. The black tom bounded after her.

Thunder padded to River Ripple’s side. “Do you think all mountain cats are as prickly as these two?”

River Ripple purred. “I’m sure they’re just tired from their journey.” He glanced along the Thunderpath, then darted across. Thunder chased his tail, pleased that there were no monsters.

Sun Shadow and Quiet Rain were waiting beside the pines, staring at the shadows beyond.

“Which way?” Sun Shadow asked.

“I’m not sure.” Thunder glanced hopefully at River Ripple. “Have you been here before?”

River Ripple shook his head. “Slate’s visited. She told me Tall Shadow made her camp deep in the pine forest.”

Thunder looked at the brambles crowding between the straight, dark trunks. “That might be hard to find.”

River Ripple padded into the shadows. “We won’t fail,” he promised.

“You must know their scents,” Quiet Rain sniffed. “Smell them out! In the mountains, a kit can track a mouse in the snow!”

“Tracking scents in a pine forest might be harder than tracking scents in snow,” Thunder warned.

The tang of pinesap swirled around them. He opened his mouth, searching for the familiar taste of his old campmates. Please let us find the camp soon. Quiet Rain’s eyes were dull with exhaustion, and her limping stride was getting worse. She needed to rest.

“Come on.” River Ripple beckoned the mountain cats forward and led them past a rotting log.

Pelt pricking with unease, Thunder headed into the forest. What would Tall Shadow say when she saw her old friends from the mountains? And how would she break the news of the rift between Quiet Rain’s sons—and the deaths of so many of her Tribemates?

Thunder brought them to a stop at the edge of a clearing so Quiet Rain could catch her breath. He peered through the brambles and felt his heart surge with relief: he could see Tall Shadow inside, meowing something to Holly. We’ve found their camp!

The black she-cat pointed with her tail at a prey pile. The two mice and scrawny blackbird would surely not feed all her cats. Thunder felt his pelt prickle with sympathy. It seemed that every group was having trouble keeping their cats well fed.

Then Thunder noticed the shelter Holly stood beside: a large den woven from the brambles at the far end, with a high, arched roof. What an ingenious shelter, Thunder thought. He wondered if he could re-create something similar for his own cats.

Thunder felt a warmth spread through his pelt. Tall Shadow’s cats were making their new camp into a home . The shelter of the pines was surely safer and cozier than the hollow on the moor.

If they can do it, so can I.

He turned to Quiet Rain. “Can you continue?” he murmured.

“Of course I can,” the old she-cat hissed.

Thunder led the others through the brambles, which rattled as they stepped into the camp.

Tall Shadow hurried forward to greet him, her nose twitching, likely at the unfamiliar scents of Quiet Rain and Sun Shadow. As she stared, puzzled, at the strangers, Mud Paws and Mouse Ear appeared behind her, their pelts bristling uneasily.

Holly drew up alongside her leader. “Who is this?” she asked.

Before Thunder could answer, Quiet Rain stepped forward and met Tall Shadow’s gaze. Her speckled pelt might have clung to her bones, but she stood tall and proud. Tall Shadow seemed to sense her authority, her eyes narrowing nervously as Quiet Rain gave her a gaze that was almost… familiar .

Then Tall Shadow’s eyes widened.

“Don’t you know me?” Quiet Rain’s mew was thick with emotion.

Tall Shadow leaned forward and sniffed, her pelt seeming to bristle with excitement. “Quiet Rain? Is that you?”

Holly shifted beside her. “You know this cat?”

Quiet Rain purred, her chest crackling. “She knows me well.” She lifted her muzzle as Tall Shadow bounded forward and wove around her. Thunder felt relief tingling in his skin as her gaze flicked to the second cat.

“You must be Moon Shadow’s kit! You look so much like him. You…”

Tall Shadow’s words trailed off, her eyes shutting tight as if to stifle the ache in her heart. The loss of her littermate clearly still hurt her, but she shook her head clear of it, her face filling with delight to gaze upon his son.

Sun Shadow gave a solemn nod.

Thunder saw Tall Shadow freeze. He stepped forward, leaning close to her ear. “They know about Moon Shadow and Bright Stream,” he murmured, “but that’s all I’ve told them of their old

Tribemates.”

Quiet Rain was glancing around the camp, her eyes glistening with hope. “Where is Gray Wing?”

Tall Shadow hesitated.

“What’s wrong?” Quiet Rain jerked around to stare accusingly at River Ripple. “Is that why you kept prattling like a magpie all the way here? Are you hiding more sorrow from us?”

River Ripple gazed steadily back at her but said nothing.

Tall Shadow gripped the earth with her claws. “Gray Wing isn’t here at the moment.” She looked to Thunder. “Have you seen him?”