Erin Hunter - The First Battle

As she hurried toward the heather, thunder rumbled overhead. Lightning split the air with a deafening crack. A roar exploded behind her. Wind spun, her pelt bushing. The gorse beside the holly tree was on fire! As the dry leaves crackled swiftly into flame, a shriek of terror sounded from beneath the branches. Wind froze.

The kits!

Wind hared toward the burning gorse . Tansy had already limped from beneath the bush and was nosing Willow away from the flames.

The she-kit’s eyes were wide with terror. “Frog!”

Wind skidded to a halt beside them, flinching from the heat. The sound of the fire roared in her ears. “Get away!” She tried to nudge Tansy and Willow back, but they dug their claws in deep and stared in horror at the holly tree.

She followed their gaze. Frog was scrambling up the trunk. With a squeal of panic he reached the lowest branch and disappeared among the prickly leaves.

The flames from the gorse burned harder, sending sparks flashing up into the holly branches. If the sparks caught, the holly would blaze like dry heather.

Frog will be burned alive.

“Come down!” Tansy wailed.

Frog stuck his head through the spiky leaves, his eyes wild. “The fire will burn me!”

Wind forced herself closer to the heat. “If you don’t come down now , it’ll be too late!”

Frog disappeared, and Wind saw the branches shiver as he climbed higher.

Willow shrieked. “He’s climbing up , not down!”

“Get back!” Wind ordered Tansy. “Get Willow to safety.” She dodged around the flaming gorse and leaped at the holly trunk. Her claws sank deep into the gnarled bark, and she pulled herself upward.

“Stop!” Gorse’s cry rang behind her.

She glanced over her shoulder and saw the gray-striped tom staring up at her from beside Tansy.

“You’ll be killed!” he yowled.

“I have to save Frog!” She dragged herself higher up the trunk. When she reached the lowest branch, she flung her forepaws over it, hauling herself up.

The heat from the fire grew fiercer. She coughed as smoke engulfed her. “Frog!” she cried desperately. “Where are you?” Her heart pounded in her ears. Her throat was raw with fear. Blindly she reached up and squirmed around the thick branches, climbing higher and higher, the prickly leaves scraping her fur.

As she cleared the worst of the smoke, she scanned the holly, trying to glimpse Frog’s gray pelt. Her eyes streamed, stinging like fury, but she blinked away her tears and pulled herself onto the next branch.

A panicked mewl sounded ahead, and she saw a scrap of gray fur near the very end of the branch. “Frog!” She began to pad toward him, the bough creaking beneath her paws.

Suddenly the tree jerked and trembled. Unbalanced, Wind dug her claws in, her heart lurching. She glanced over her shoulder, panic sparking in her chest.

Gorse!

The gray-striped tom was hauling himself up into the holly, his weight shaking the tree. “Stay where you are!” His gaze fixed on her, glittering with fear. “That branch is too thin. It might break!”

“I have to get to Frog!”

The kit was clinging to the very tip, which dipped under his weight.

“Wait!” Gorse nosed his way through the leaves, wincing, and began to pick his way along a sturdy branch below. “Keep him calm until I get below him,” he called up to her. “Make him trust you.”

Wind fixed her gaze on the frightened eyes of the kit, forcing her mew to remain calm. “We’re going to save you.”

Lightning flashed around them. Thunder cracked. Frog squealed with terror.

“You’ll be fine!” Wind called through the rising gusts. She dropped onto her belly and pulled herself along the branch, her breath stopping as it began to dip. Halting, she reached a forepaw toward Frog. The kit was trembling. “Gorse is right underneath you.”

Frog looked down as Gorse picked his way along the branch below. It seemed thicker, easily holding his weight as he neared the stretch below Frog.

The tree lit up as another crack of lightning split the air. The roar of the burning gorse swelled beneath them. Wind dared not look down to see if it had reached the trunk yet. Let the wind change, she pleaded silently. Make it blow the fire away from the tree!

“Frog!” Gorse was balancing on his haunches on the branch below, his belly showing as he lifted his forepaws toward the kit. “I’ll catch you!”

Wind nodded. “Let yourself drop, Frog,” she urged.

“I’ll fall right down to the ground!” Frog wailed.

“Gorse will catch you,” Wind promised.

“How do you know?”

“I just do!” Frustration wormed beneath Wind’s pelt. The flames were getting closer. “You can trust him.”

“I don’t know him!” Frog cried.

“You didn’t know me until today, but I gave you my rabbit!” Wind argued.

Frog looked at her, his eyes glistening with doubt.

“He’ll catch you,” Wind promised again. “Just let go.”

Her breath stopped in her throat as she saw Frog shift his paws. He was uncurling his claws from the bark. With a squeak, he let go and slithered down from the branch. She jerked her muzzle over the edge in time to see Gorse snatch Frog’s falling scruff in his teeth.

The gray-striped tom wobbled as the weight of the kit swung from his jaws. But his claws were dug firmly into the bark, and with a grunt he regained his balance.

Wind slithered down onto the branch below and stared at him. “Now what?” She glanced over her shoulder. The flames were licking the holly trunk. They couldn’t get down that way.

Gorse stared back at her. Fear glittered in his gaze as Frog squirmed beneath his chin.

He doesn’t know what to do! Wind squared her shoulders. “We’ll have to jump down.” She glanced toward the earth. It seemed so far away! But if they scrambled down through the branches to the lowest one, the leap to the ground wouldn’t be too hard. They just needed to make sure they landed on smooth earth. If they caught a paw on one of the gnarled roots snaking from the ground, they could really hurt themselves.

“Follow me.” As Wind hopped down onto the branch below, a gust of wind blew smoke into her face. She screwed up her eyes, digging her claws into the bark to keep her balance. A raindrop splashed onto her back.

Rain! She blinked her eyes open. Water was dripping down through the holly leaves. She peered out and saw the moor darkened by driving rain. Behind her she heard the fire crackle and hiss as the downpour smothered it.

Gorse landed on the branch beside her, hope sparking in his gaze. Did he think the rain would put out the fire right away?

Wind shook her head. “The rain won’t save us if the holly catches.”

“Put me down!” Frog squealed as he hung from the tom’s jaws.

“Not until we’re safe,” Wind told the kit firmly. She jumped down to the next branch, then the next, until there was nothing between the tree and the ground but air.

Gorse landed nimbly beside her and caught her eye.

“I’ll jump down first,” she told him. “Wait until I’ve found my paws. I’ll try and steady you as you land with Frog.”

Gorse blinked his agreement, and Wind peered over the edge. It was a long way down. Tansy and Willow stood trembling in the rain, their pelts slicked against their thin frames.

Wind took a deep breath, picked out a spot between the roots, and jumped.

Air rushed around her as she fell, but she was ready. As her paws hit the ground, she dropped into a crouch, her belly brushing the earth as she absorbed the landing. Pain spiked through her old injury, but her hind leg held firm.