Эрин Хантер - The Blazing Star

Clear Sky, River Ripple, and Wind Runner?”

“Wait.” Gray Wing stretched out a paw to stop Thunder from leaving the den. “Let’s talk to Tall Shadow first just to see whether she had the dream too.”

Thunder nodded. “Good plan!”

Gray Wing rose to his paws and padded out of the den. When Thunder followed him into the open he saw that the moon had already set. The stars were fading and pink streaks stretched across the sky where the sun would rise. The air was damp and misty, with dew clinging to every rock and blade of grass.

The rest of the cats were beginning to stir. Tiny squeaks came from the den where Holly and Jagged Peak were caring for their kits, and as Thunder watched, Pebble Heart emerged from his own den and slipped in to join them. The sound of their cheerful greetings told Thunder that Holly was doing well.

Shattered Ice slid out of the tunnel where he slept and sat down to scratch one ear vigorously with his hind paw, while Dappled Pelt sat at the mouth of her den, giving herself a thorough grooming.

His glance sweeping across the camp, Thunder spotted the small, dark shape of Tall Shadow sitting at the foot of the lookout rock. As soon as she saw Gray Wing and Thunder she leaped up and bounded across the hollow toward them.

“Did you have a dream?” she demanded when she reached them.

Gray Wing dipped his head. “So you had it too?”

“Yes,” Tall Shadow confirmed. “What are we going to do about it?”

“We need to discuss it with the other leaders,” Thunder meowed. “I’ll go fetch them.”

“Wait.” Once again Gray Wing stretched out a paw. “I can feel a kind of tingling in my pads. It reminds me of what the spirit-cats said… I think we should go back to the four trees.”

Tall Shadow twitched her ears in surprise. “If that’s what you want.”

With Gray Wing in the lead, the three cats left the hollow and set out across the moor. Mist still wreathed around them, but above their heads the sky was clear. Thunder enjoyed the cool touch of the dewy grass on his paws, reviving him from his interrupted sleep and sending new energy through his limbs.

By the time they crossed into the forest the sun was peering over the horizon; every drop of moisture glittered in its rays, though ragged scraps of mist still remained under the shadow of the trees.

When they reached the top of the slope that led down into the clearing, Thunder spotted Clear Sky, Wind Runner, and River Ripple perched among the bare branches of one of the great oaks.

“There you are!” River Ripple called out to them, leaping down to join them as they bounded rapidly down the slope. “I wondered how long it would take the three of you to turn up.”

“You were expecting us?” Gray Wing asked, as Clear Sky and Wind Runner also jumped down and padded up to them.

For answer, River Ripple simply dipped his head.

“Did you see the same thing, then?” Clear Sky asked, tearing at the ground in agitation. “The meeting with the spirit-cats? What did you make of their message?”

“We all saw it,” Wind Runner responded. “And my encounters with death have colored everything for me. ‘Unite or die,’ they told us. All I can take from that is that we have to face more death and grief.”

“But I think their message tonight was more hopeful than that,” River Ripple told her quietly, brushing his plumy tail sympathetically against Wind Runner’s shoulder. “Besides, shouldn’t we all feel grateful? How lucky we are, to be…” He paused, struggling to find the right word.

“The chosen ones?” Thunder asked.

River Ripple tilted his head, looking both surprised and impressed. “Yes, maybe that’s what we are. We’re lucky that the spirit-cats want to speak with all of us and allow us to meet with them in our dreams.” His habitual amusement glimmered in his eyes. “Think how terrifying it would be if you received these messages and you were the only one.”

“We’ve been told to grow and spread. But are we still being told to unite or die?” Thunder asked, remembering what he had said in the dream. “I think we would all have died if we hadn’t united against One Eye. So is that part of the message over and done with now?”

“You want to go back to fighting among ourselves?” Tall Shadow asked. “Having another battle, maybe?”

“No, of course not—” Thunder began to protest.

“Then I think both messages are important. We just have to figure out what the second message means. Grow and spread…”

“I hope the spirits aren’t blaming me for leaving the hollow,” Wind Runner interrupted waspishly.

“Well, it can’t mean that we all have to live together,” Gray Wing meowed. “That never worked, right from the beginning.”

“Only because some cats argued about where to live,” Tall Shadow pointed out.

Clear Sky’s neck fur began to bristle. “Are you saying we have no right to make that decision?”

Thunder could see that the meeting was going to break down in squabbling if he didn’t do something. Bunching his muscles, he leaped up onto the top of the Great Rock.

“Stop!” he yowled. When silence fell, with all the others gazing up at him, he went on, “We mustn’t fight among ourselves. We need to work together to find the exact meaning of their most recent message.”

Murmurs of agreement came from the other cats, except for Clear Sky, who barely seemed to be listening. Instead he seemed to be carefully scanning the area.

Choosing new boundaries? Thunder wondered, feeling his belly tense at the thought of more confrontation with his father. I hope not. I’ve had enough of boundaries to last me a lifetime.

The other four leaders jumped up to join Thunder on top of the rock, and after a pause, much to Thunder’s relief, Clear Sky followed them.

By now the morning sun was rising high in the sky, casting its slanting rays between the branches of the oaks and burning off the last of the dawn mist. The creak and rustle of the trees was all around them. Thunder felt peace like dew soaking through his pelt, and as the others relaxed he realized that they felt it too.

Clear Sky’s gaze was fixed on the horizon. “We need to work together,” he murmured. “We can do that, even if we don’t live as one group.”

Even greater relief flooded through Thunder, and he drew closer to his father. “Of course we can,” he responded.

“I’m not sure that I can take direction from other cats on my own territory,” Wind Runner mewed stiffly. “But I’ll think about it.”

Gray Wing and Tall Shadow exchanged a glance. “I’ll do whatever the rest of you ask of me,” Gray Wing stated firmly.

“So will I,” Tall Shadow added.

River Ripple was the only cat who hadn’t spoken. As Thunder turned to the loner who had already helped them so much, the silver-furred tom dipped his head in answer to the unspoken question. “I’ll unite with you,” he meowed. “Haven’t you noticed? I’ve been doing that ever since the day you first arrived here from the mountains.”

“The only difference,” Thunder told him, “is that now our survival depends on your help.”

Every cat fell silent, as if they were thinking of the enormous commitment they had just made to one another. But Thunder couldn’t feel satisfied.

“But what about when they said we had to grow and spread like the Blazing Star?” Thunder asked. “What does that mean?”

For a moment the six cats exchanged baffled glances. Then Gray Wing mewed, “I think I understand.”

Sun Shadow slipped out from beneath a scrubby bush rooted in the shallow soil between two boulders. As he halted to sniff the cold mountain air he saw that the sun was already going down, flooding the gray rock walls with scarlet light.