Эрин Хантер - Dark River

“I got plenty,” Mousepaw mewed indignantly. “I just want to show Spiderleg I can catch squirrels, too.”

“There are usually some upstream,” Hollypaw suggested.

“I think I’ll climb the Sky Oak,” Mousepaw announced.

“No way!” Cinderpaw looked amazed. “It’s the tallest tree in the forest!”

“There’ll be squirrels in other trees,” Hollypaw cautioned.

Mousepaw was Daisy’s kit, born outside the Clan, and keen to impress his Clanmates. But surely after the latest Clan meeting, he shouldn’t feel he had anything to prove.

“I’m going to climb the Sky Oak!” Mousepaw insisted.

“I’ve been practicing and I want Spiderleg to see how good I am now.”

“Wow,” Cinderpaw breathed, “that’s brave!”

“Come on.” Mousepaw darted among the trees. Cinderpaw, kicking up leaves, scooted after him. Hollypaw glanced once more at the beech to make sure she would remember where she had buried her catch, and raced after them.

At the base of the Sky Oak, Hollypaw gazed up through the branches. The trunk seemed to stretch up forever, the blue sky glinting between the bright green leaves. Mousepaw was staring up too, and Hollypaw felt sure she saw his tail tremble.

“You’re scared,” Cinderpaw teased.

Hollypaw dug her claws into the earth. Don’t dare him into doing something he doesn’t want to do. “Why not just catch a few more mice instead?” she suggested. “There’ll be plenty around here.”

The fur along Mousepaw’s spine was spiked like a hedgehog. “No. I’m going to catch a squirrel,” he muttered determinedly. He sprang up and stretched out his forelegs to grip the wide trunk with his claws. Dragging himself upward, he managed to clamber onto the lowest branch. “There!” he called. “Easy.” He looked up, searching for his next perch.

Hollypaw suddenly heard paws pounding toward them.

“Mousepaw!” Brackenfur hurtled out of the trees. He was panting and his eyes were wide with alarm. “Get down!”

Spiderleg skidded after him. “Leave him alone!” he snapped at Brackenfur. “If he wants to do it, let him!”

Cloudtail padded out from the trees. “I thought we weren’t meant to help—” He stopped when he spotted Mousepaw scrambling up to the next branch.

“I really think you should tell him to come down,” Brackenfur advised.

“Are you saying my apprentice isn’t good enough?” Spiderleg flattened his ears.

“He’s still young,” Brackenfur argued. “I wouldn’t let Hollypaw climb it.”

“Hollypaw’s not been training as long as Mousepaw,” Spiderleg pointed out.

“Look, it’s easy!” Mousepaw called. The branches were close together now and he was leaping nimbly upward.

“Not too high,” Spiderleg cautioned. Even he was beginning to look worried as Mousepaw hopped from branch to branch.

Leaves rustled just above him. A squirrel was scrambling up the tree.

“Look!” Cinderpaw called excitedly. “There’s one!”

Mousepaw darted after it. Hollypaw’s neck began to ache from looking up. She could see leaves shivering far above as the squirrel kept climbing, staying just a few tail-lengths ahead of Mousepaw, almost as if it were enticing him upward.

Be careful, Mousepaw!

Suddenly, the squirrel leaped out of the Sky Oak and landed in the tree next to it, sending twigs showering down.

Mousepaw froze.

He was so far away he looked the size of a mouse. But even from this distance, Hollypaw could see that his fur was bushed out from nose to tail-tip. The gray-and-white apprentice was terrified.

“Good try. You may as well come down,” Spiderleg called encouragingly.

“I can’t!” Mousepaw’s mew came out as a squeak. “I’m stuck!”

Brackenfur sighed. “What are we going to do now?”

“I could go up after him,” Cloudtail offered. Every cat knew he was one of the best climbers in the Clan.

“He’s not going to get down by himself,” Spiderleg agreed.

“I’ll fetch him!” mewed Cinderpaw.

“Wait!” Hollypaw yelped as the gray apprentice began to scramble up the tree trunk.

“Get down at once!” Brackenfur hissed at his daughter.

Cinderpaw paused on the lowest branch. “But I can see an easy route to get him down,” she argued.

Cloudtail exchanged worried glances with Brackenfur.

“I’ll go slowly,” Cinderpaw promised when they didn’t say anything. “And if I feel like I’m getting too high, I’ll stop.”

Brackenfur nodded. “Okay, but be careful.”

Cautiously, Cinderpaw began to climb the tree, taking her time between jumps, making sure that she only reached up a little at a time. Hollypaw watched, her mouth dry. She’ll be all right, she told herself again and again.

She felt Brackenfur trembling beside her. He was watching Cinderpaw with round, frightened eyes.

“She’s nearly reached him,” Cloudtail reported.

Cinderpaw was only a few branches from her denmate now. Mousepaw was watching her, his fur slowly flattening.

“It’s okay, Mousepaw,” Cinderpaw called up to him.

“There’s nothing to be frightened of.”

Hollypaw held her breath as Cinderpaw began to guide Mousepaw down, one branch at a time.

“That’s it,” Cinderpaw mewed. “The next branch is really close. Just make sure you grip with your claws and you’ll be fine.”

The two cats were easier to see now, getting closer and closer to safety with every uneasy jump.

They’re going to make it!

Suddenly, a bird shrieked and flapped out of the tree just below them. Mousepaw squealed in shock and slipped from the branch.

Quick as a flash, Cinderpaw lunged forward and reached for him. She caught him and hauled him back onto the branch, her hind legs scrabbling for a hold. Mousepaw grabbed at the branch and clung to the bark, his tail lashing in panic.

Relief flooded Hollypaw.

Then she saw Cinderpaw wobble. The gray tabby’s hind paws were slipping over the back of the branch. Her forepaws churned desperately at the air. With a yelp she slid over the edge and fell. Hollypaw stared in horror as Cinderpaw dropped through the leaves like a stone and landed with a sickening thud.

“No!” Brackenfur’s mew cracked as he darted forward.

“Cinderpaw? Cinderpaw!” He crouched over the limp body lying awkwardly on the ground.

“Get Leafpool!” Spiderleg hissed in Hollypaw’s ear.

Hollypaw glanced once more at her friend’s twisted body before hurtling away through the trees. Cinderpaw can’t be dead!

She mustn’t be dead!

“Ow!” Birchfall snatched his paw away from Jaypaw.

Jaypaw sighed. “If I don’t get the thorn out it’s going to hurt a lot more!”

Tentatively, Birchfall held out his paw again. Jaypaw leaned down and grasped the fat end of the thorn between his teeth.

“It’s not that big,” he muttered out of the side of his mouth.

“That’s because most of it is buried in my paw!” Birchfall complained. “It’s amazing I made it back to camp at all.”

Jaypaw braced himself and gave a fierce tug.

“Ow!” Birchfall leaped away, then hopped noisily around the medicine den.

Jaypaw dropped the thorn, spitting to get rid of the taste of blood.

“I told you it was huge!” Birchfall meowed triumphantly.

Jaypaw touched it with his pad. The curved barb felt like a claw. “Not exactly deadly, though,” he mewed.

Birchfall lapped at his wound. “You’re not very sympathetic for a medicine cat.”