Эрин Хантер - A Forest Divided

“I wasn’t bullying her!” Clear Sky bristled. “I was offering her food.”

“Be quiet!” Star Flower shouldered her way between them. “Your mother needs rest. More than that, she needs to see that her kits can get along without fighting !”

Thunder blinked at Star Flower, a realization hitting him like icy water. Perhaps Star Flower would have been the wrong mate for him, in the end. She was ruthless and cunning in a way that Thunder couldn’t ever be. But she was just what Clear Sky needed—a smart, no-nonsense cat who wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. With Star Flower’s reason to curb his temper, Clear Sky might become the strong leader he always wanted to be.

And perhaps he’ll be a better father to her kits than he was to me. Sadness twisted Thunder’s heart, but he ignored it. I’m not a kit anymore. I’m a leader. What’s past is past.

“Quiet Rain?” Jagged Peak’s anxious mew jerked him back into the moment. The tom was sniffing his mother’s matted pelt.

Quiet’s Rain’s eyes were closed, her flanks trembling with each breath.

Thunder stiffened. “Should I go and find Pebble Heart?”

Gray Wing turned to him with wide, anxious eyes. “Perhaps she’s just sleeping—”

A shriek cut him off. “My kits!” Holly wailed from the clearing, her cry sharp with fear. “Where are my kits?”

The kits! Clear Sky was first out of the den. The numbness, which had clung to him since Quiet Rain had clawed his nose, melted. He skidded to a halt beside Holly. “When did you see them last?”

Her eyes were wide with panic, scanning the camp as though she might have missed something.

Clear Sky thrust his muzzle closer. “Holly, answer me. When did you see them?”

She froze and met his gaze. “This morning… when I chased them from the den. They’d been begging me to let them play in the snow. Fern was still sleeping. I just wanted some peace.”

“I shooed them away from Thunder and told them to go and find something useful to do.” Jagged Peak stood a tail-length away, guilt brimming in his blue eyes.

“Don’t blame yourself. This is no cat’s fault,” Clear Sky told them sharply. “But we must find them, quickly. They could freeze in this snow.”

Thunder and Gray Wing stopped beside Jagged Peak.

Star Flower padded past them. “Where should we look?”

Clear Sky’s mind whirled. This forest was wide, and every tree looked the same. It would be easy to get lost among the straight, dark trunks.

Tall Shadow ducked in through the camp entrance. “I can’t pick up any scent of them near camp,” she puffed. “The wind is too brisk. And there’s no sign of paw tracks. Only the ones Mud Paws, Mouse Ear, and Sun Shadow left.”

Thunder’s eyes lit up. “They might have gone after them!” He began to pace. “They watched them leave. They might have followed in their tracks. They have such small paws; it would be hard to see their prints in churned-up snow.”

Tall Shadow nodded. “In that case, they’ll be heading for the moor.”

Jagged Peak started for the camp entrance. “I’ll follow the tracks.”

“I’ll come with you,” Holly told him.

Thunder swished his tail over the snow. “I’ll head for the oak forest, in case Mud Paws went that way first.”

“Let me come.” Star Flower stared at the orange-and-white tom. “I grew up in the forest, and I can show you every hiding place.”

“Why would they be hiding?” Thunder argued.

“When they realize how cold and hungry they are,” Star Flower countered, “they’ll find a sheltered spot and wait for help.”

“Okay.”

Clear Sky blinked as Thunder nodded and headed out of camp after Star Flower. They’re working together!

Tall Shadow lifted her muzzle. “I’ll check the Thunderpath,” she growled darkly.

Clear Sky’s belly tightened. She wanted to search for small bodies in the snow. “Where should I look?” he asked.

Tall Shadow stared at him. “You?” She sounded as though she hadn’t expected him to join the search.

“Of course!” he growled. “Do you think I’d sit on my tail while three kits were lost in the snow?”

“Search the pines,” Gray Wing told him. “I’ll come with you.”

Clear Sky glanced at his brother’s injured paw. “You can’t travel fast,” he pointed out. “And someone should stay with Quiet Rain.”

“She has Pebble Heart,” Gray Wing argued.

Tall Shadow pointed her muzzle toward the nest of pine branches. Pebble Heart was curled deep in the middle, sound asleep. “He’s exhausted, Gray Wing. I think you should stay.”

Gray Wing gave a frustrated sigh, but then nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“Besides,” Clear Sky chimed in, “someone should be here if the kits find their own way home.”

The entrance to Holly’s den rustled. Clear Sky saw a black she-cat pad out, blinking sleep from her eyes.

“What’s going on?” she yawned.

Clear Sky narrowed his eyes. Was Tall Shadow taking in rogues too? This one seemed scrawny.

Scars marked her flanks.

“Fern, you’re awake.” Gray Wing padded toward the black she-cat. “How are you?”

Fern glanced anxiously around the clearing. “Where is everyone?”

“Holly’s kits are missing,” Gray Wing told her. “They’re looking for them.”

Fern’s eyes widened. “Dew Nose and Eagle Feather?”

“And Storm Pelt,” Tall Shadow added. “Jagged Peak and Holly are heading for the moor. I was about to check the Thunderpath.”

“Let me come,” Fern begged. “I know their scent better than any cat. I’ve been sleeping next to their nest all night.”

“Are you ready now?”

“Yes.” Fern raced for the camp entrance, kicking up snow. Tall Shadow bounded after her.

Clear Sky met Gray Wing’s anxious gaze. “We’ll find them,” he promised.

Gray Wing glanced up at the canopy. Blue sky showed beyond. “Once the sun sets, the forest will freeze.”

“They’ll be back in their nests by then.” Worry jabbed beneath Clear Sky’s pelt. I hope I’m right.

There was so much territory to search. But surely the kits couldn’t have gone far? “I’d better go.” He padded toward the entrance and nosed his way out of camp.

The forest floor was white. Snow piled at the roots of the tall pines. Clear Sky tasted the air. He could smell Tall Shadow’s scent leading toward the Thunderpath. Jagged Peak’s and Holly’s were already stale, but he could see the churned snow where they’d headed for the moor. He made his way away from their tracks, breaking fresh snow as he trekked deeper into the pine forest.

Scanning the ground, he narrowed his eyes. Small tracks broke the whiteness between the trees ahead. Had the kits passed this way? He broke into a run, reaching the trail in a moment. His heart sank as he breathed in the scent of a squirrel. He could see its tiny paw prints at the foot of a pine, and the clumps of snow it had dislodged as it scooted up the trunk.

He moved on, keeping his nose low. Perhaps the kits’ paw steps were too light to break the surface. The cold air had crusted the snow. They could have traveled over it, leaving no mark so long as they kept moving and the warmth of their paws didn’t have time to melt the snow.

His own paws already ached from the cold. His heart quickened with fear. A small kit with nothing but fluff to keep out the chill would surely freeze fast in this weather.

“Dew Nose!” His call echoed between the trees. “Eagle Feather! Storm Pelt!”