Эрин Хантер - A Forest Divided

Clear Sky spoke first. “Why has Quiet Rain come? Did something happen in the mountains?”

Gray Wing shook his head. “She came to see us. She’s weak and sick from the journey.” He nodded toward Pebble Heart’s den. “She’s waiting for you.”

Thunder watched his father hurry across the clearing and disappear into the bramble den.

“Thank you, Thunder.” Gray Wing’s breath stirred his ear fur.

Thunder drew away from the gray tom. Gray Wing’s harsh words from earlier still rang in his mind. Stop acting like a kit! Anger pricked beneath his pelt. “You asked me to get him, so I got him,” he snapped. He’d spent all day doing what every cat had asked of him and now he was tired. All he wanted was to return to his own camp and sleep among cats who actually cared about him.

“I’m sorry.” Gray Wing’s mew was soft.

Thunder looked at him in surprise.

“I was too hard on you earlier,” Gray Wing admitted. “But I was worried, and I needed Clear Sky to see Quiet Rain before she…” He stopped, his gaze glittering with fear.

Did Gray Wing think his mother was dying?

Paws scuffed the snow behind Gray Wing. Jagged Peak was heading toward them.

“There’s prey, if you want it,” he told Lightning Tail, nodding toward the pile, now covered with snow. “We’ve fed every other stray in the forest. You might as well share our catch too. Help yourself.”

Lightning Tail caught Thunder’s eye. “Will you be okay?”

“Of course.” Thunder flicked his tail. “Go and eat. It’s not often you get offered prey that you haven’t hunted.” He watched Lightning Tail cross the clearing, then looked back at Jagged Peak. “Is

Fern okay?”

“She’s sharing our den.”

“And Sun Shadow?”

Jagged Peak nodded toward the camp wall. Thunder could make out a dark shape huddled beside

Mud Paws and Mouse Ear in a nest of pine branches. “He ate two mice and fell asleep. He hasn’t moved a whisker since dusk.”

Thunder nodded, satisfied. “Quiet Rain has all her sons around her now. Once Lightning Tail has eaten, we will return to our camp.”

“Don’t you want to wait and see how she is?” Jagged Peak asked. “She’s your kin, too.”

Thunder snorted. “Clear Sky’s hardly my kin. Why should Quiet Rain be any different?”

Jagged Peak’s eyes glittered in the darkness. “It’s easy to be angry, Thunder. But anger achieves nothing except heartache. Have some pity. This must be hard for Clear Sky.”

Only because he’ll have to admit to her how much trouble he’s caused.

Gray Wing moved beside him. “It’s hard for all of us.”

Jagged Peak nodded solemnly. “We came from the mountains in search of a good, safe home.

That’s what Quiet Rain expected to find when she got here—but all we have to tell her are stories of battle, sickness, and death. This isn’t what any cat wanted.”

Thunder glanced at Pebble Heart’s den. What was Clear Sky saying to his mother?

Suddenly, the camp wall shivered. Thunder blinked in surprise as Star Flower padded through the bramble entrance.

Seeing her, Gray Wing let out a low growl and Jagged Peak arched his back with a hiss.

Thunder stepped forward. “What are you doing here?”

Star Flower brushed past Gray Wing, ignoring the hostility flashing from the tom, and stopped at the edge of the clearing. “I was worried about Clear Sky.”

“He told you to stay in camp,” Thunder muttered.

She narrowed her eyes. “I do as I please, not as I’m told.” Unease rippled through Thunder’s pelt when he noticed Jagged Peak’s fur bristling along his shoulders. Star Flower had taken a big risk coming here. The last time any of these cats had seen her, she had just betrayed them to One Eye.

He moved closer to her. “You should leave,” he hissed in her ear.

“I’m staying,” she snapped.

Jagged Peak glared at the she-cat. “Why do you care about Clear Sky?”

“I’m his mate,” Star Flower told him. “And I’m expecting his kits. I have a right to be at his side when he needs me.”

Thunder felt the air crackle with tension as she met Jagged Peak’s gaze.

“Gray Wing! Jagged Peak!” Clear Sky thrust his head from Pebble Heart’s den. “Quiet Rain wants—” He stopped as his gaze reached Star Flower.

She returned it, her luminous eyes like stars in the gloom.

Clear Sky tugged his gaze away. “Quiet Rain wants to talk to us.” He nodded to Jagged Peak and Gray Wing and ducked back inside.

As the two toms hurried toward the den, Tall Shadow sat up in her nest. “Is Quiet Rain okay?”

Star Flower crossed the clearing toward her. “She wants to speak with her sons.”

Tall Shadow stared at Star Flower in amazement.

Before she could speak, Star Flower swished her tail. “I’m here to help Clear Sky. I’m his mate now.”

“And you’re carrying his kits.” Pebble Heart padded out into the snow and stared at the golden she-cat.

She blinked at him. “How did you know?”

“I know the scent of a queen,” Pebble Heart told her. He nodded to Gray Wing and Jagged Peak as they passed. “Try not to wear Quiet Rain out,” he told them softly.

Thunder’s belly tightened as he watched them slip into the den. What would they tell her about their new home? He backed closer to the shelter of the camp wall as the thickening snow obscured the far end of the camp. Had Quiet Rain expected to find her sons united in a peaceful land rich with prey? Thunder felt a wave of pity for the old she-cat. How would she feel once she knew the truth?

“Tell me!” Quiet Rain glared from the shadows at the back of the den. “What happened to my friends?”

Dread opened like a chasm in Clear Sky’s belly. How can we tell her? He swallowed, his mouth dry. Beside him, Gray Wing and Jagged Peak shifted uneasily on their paws.

“Why is every cat acting like I’ve interrupted the burial of a Tribemate?” Her eyes blazed. “You are my kin. We should hide nothing from each other! Where are the other cats who traveled with you from the mountains?”

Jagged Peak dipped his head. “Dappled Pelt and Shattered Ice live beside the river now.”

“I know that !” Quiet Rain trembled as she raised herself on her forepaws.

“Quick Water lives in the forest with me,” Clear Sky offered. “Acorn Fur too.”

Quiet Rain eased herself back onto her belly, her breath fast from the effort of moving. “Who is Acorn Fur?”

“One of Hawk Swoop’s kits.” Clear Sky throat tightened as he realized what her next question would be.

“Hawk Swoop?” Hope already flashed in Quiet Rain’s eyes. “Where is she?”

Clear Sky dropped his gaze. “She died.”

Quiet Rain recoiled. “H-how?”

Gray Wing and Jagged Peak exchanged looks.

Quiet Rain growled. “This is like plucking feathers from a pigeon! How did she die?”

Clear Sky glanced at his brothers. They stared at their paws. “There was a battle.” Clear Sky’s mew thickened.

“With whom?” Quiet Rain demanded.

Jagged Peak lifted his chin. “With Clear Sky.”

Confusion clouded Quiet Rain’s gaze. “Who fought Clear Sky?”

Gray Wing flattened his ears. “I did.”

“We all fought,” Jagged Peak put in.

“I don’t understand.” Quiet Rain’s eyes glistened with distress. “You fought each other ?”

Jagged Peak blinked slowly. “When we first arrived from the mountains, we lived in one group.