Эрин Хантер - A Forest Divided

Storm Pelt’s teeth began to chatter. His pink nose tip was white with cold.

“Come on.” Pebble Heart nudged Dew Nose toward his den.

Storm Pelt and Eagle Feather fell in beside them. “When will Holly be back?”

“I’ll go and find her.” Clear Sky eyed the kits sternly. “ And the others. Every cat in the camp has been searching for you.”

“You can scold them later,” Pebble Heart told Clear Sky briskly. “Right now we must warm them up.” As he nosed them into his den, Clear Sky headed out of camp.

Gray Wing followed Pebble Heart.

Inside, the kits lined up like owlets and stared nervously at Quiet Rain.

“Pebble Heart wants us to get warm,” Dew Nose told her timidly.

Quiet Rain flicked her tail. “I hear you wandered off in the snow.”

“We climbed a tree all by ourselves,” Storm Pelt told her.

Pebble Heart padded forward. “Can they share your nest until their fur is warm?”

“Of course.” Quiet Rain shuffled backward, pain showing in her eyes as she moved.

“We’ll be careful not to hurt you,” Eagle Feather promised.

“Thank you.” Quiet Rain eyed him fondly as he climbed over the heather fronds and nestled beside her belly. Dew Nose followed, and Storm Pelt climbed in behind.

“You have your father’s eyes,” Quiet Rain told Storm Pelt.

“I don’t,” Dew Nose chimed in. “But Holly says I’m as smart as him.”

“And what about you?” Quiet Rain asked Eagle Feather. “What do you get from your father?”

“I can climb trees,” Eagle Feather told her. “But I don’t fall out of them.”

Quiet Rain’s whiskers twitched. “He must be proud of you all.” She wrapped her tail around them. “Tuck up tight and you’ll be warm in no time.”

Gray Wing felt memory sweep over him like a warm wind. She comforted me and Clear Sky like that when we were kits. The thought seemed to come from a different lifetime. Suddenly weary, he settled onto his belly and tucked his paws under him.

Pebble Heart’s breath stirred his ear fur. “I’m going to go to the moor to see if I can find more of my old herbs,” he whispered.

There was worry in his mew.

“Do you need them that badly?” Gray Wing glanced toward Quiet Rain, her muzzle resting beside the kits.

“Her wound is getting worse.” Pebble Heart’s mew was no more than a breath.

“Should I come with you?” Gray Wing began to move.

Pebble Heart touched his nose to Gray Wing’s shoulder. “Stay with them.”

As he slipped from the den, Gray Wing gazed at the kits. Their heads were drooping. Dew Nose rested her muzzle on Storm Pelt’s spine. Eagle Feather tucked his muzzle under Dew Nose’s shoulder. Bundled like mice in a burrow, they slipped into sleep. Beside their gentle snores, Gray Wing heard the rattle of his mother’s breath.

Her eyes were still half-open, but unseeing.

Let Pebble Heart’s herbs work! Gray Wing’s chest tightened. She can’t have come all this way just to die.

Thunder’s mew woke Clear Sky. Jerking up his head, he blinked at his son. It’s still night!

Moonlight filtered through the pines, reflecting in Thunder’s gaze.

“What is it?” Clear Sky stiffened. “Why did you wake me?” He kept his voice low, conscious of Star Flower sleeping beside him.

“Pebble Heart sent me. It’s Quiet Rain.” Thunder’s mew was tight with fear. “She’s worse.”

Clear Sky scrambled to his paws and hopped from the nest hollowed out beneath the bramble.

Star Flower stirred in her sleep but didn’t wake.

“Gray Wing’s with her and I’m going to wake Jagged Peak.” Thunder nodded to the bramble den, where the kits, warm and fed after their adventure, were now sleeping.

As Thunder padded away, Clear Sky tasted the air. The stone tang of ice had gone. Musty forest scents bathed his tongue. A thaw had set in—melting snow dripped from the canopy.

He padded through the slush toward Pebble Heart’s den.

The young tom was waiting at the entrance. “I’m glad you decided to stay another night,” he breathed as Clear Sky neared him. His eyes glittered with grief. “I thought I could save her”—his mew cracked—“but the wound…”

“You couldn’t have done more.” Numbness crept up from Clear Sky’s paws until he could hardly feel the damp air or taste the pine-rich scents of the forest. Quiet Rain is dying. He stared into the shadowy den. I must go in . Every hair on his pelt trembled. I can’t.

Paws splashed through the melting snow behind him. He caught Star Flower’s scent just before her flank brushed against his.

He turned and stared into the depth of her luminous green eyes.

“She’s waiting for you.” Star Flower’s breath warmed his nose.

He closed his eyes, his heart pounding with dread. Then, blinking, he padded into the den.

Gray Wing turned as he entered. The gray tom was crouching beside Quiet Rain’s nest. “Pebble Heart’s given her something to ease her pain.” His mew trembled. “I’m not sure she can hear us.”

Clear Sky gazed at his mother, who was little more than a scrap of fur in the heather nest. He had never seen her so weak. Even in the hungriest days on the mountain, she still seemed to glow with life, fighting for her survival and the safety of her kits. Now she lay limp, every drop of energy drained. Her flanks trembled with each halting breath. Her muzzle was crusty, and her closed eyes looked as wet as fresh wounds.

“Quiet Rain.” Gray Wing leaned closer as Clear Sky crouched beside him. “Clear Sky’s here now. You asked for him, remember?”

Clear Sky stiffened as Quiet Rain groaned.

She opened her eyes slowly. “You came to me.”

“Yes.” Clear Sky tried to keep the grief from his mew.

“I knew you would, my dear friend.”

Friend? I’m your son . “It’s me, Clear Sky.” He moved his muzzle closer so she could smell his scent.

“It’s good to see you, Shaded Moss.”

She thinks I’m Shaded Moss!

The brambles rattled behind him as Jagged Peak hurried in. He slid next to Gray Wing. “How is she?”

“She thinks she can see Shaded Moss,” Clear Sky breathed.

The fur rippled along Jagged Peak’s spine. “Does she even know we’re here?”

Gray Wing’s shoulders drooped. “I don’t think so.”

“Shaded Moss.” Quiet Rain’s gaze fixed on Clear Sky.

Grief shuddered through him. She doesn’t know me. He swallowed, fighting the urge to run away.

“This is the final part of the journey, dear old friend.” Quiet Rain struggled for breath between words. Her ears twitched weakly, as though she was trying to hear something. “What was that you said?” A frown furrowed her brow. “Forgive him? But he killed a Tribemate! He drove his brothers away.”

Clear Sky stiffened, heat washing his pelt.

Gray Wing glanced at him. “She doesn’t know what she’s saying.”

But it’s true. Sadness gripped his heart like claws, digging so deep he wanted to groan with the pain.

Suddenly, Quiet Rain’s eyes closed and her head drooped.

Jagged Peak thrust his muzzle closer. “Is she—” The words seemed to dry in his mouth.

Clear Sky guessed what his brother was thinking and leaned forward, relieved to feel Quiet Rain’s breath on his muzzle. “No.”

As he spoke, her eyes slowly opened.

He flinched away, his heart lurching. There was sudden clarity in their blue depths. She was staring straight at him.