Эрин Хантер - Dark River

“It serves you right for wandering off!” Heatherpaw scolded. She sounded cross but Jaypaw could feel her fearful gaze jabbing his pelt as he worked on Thistlekit. Rain dripped down harder through the gap in the roof. The silt had turned to slimy mud around his paws. He rubbed Thistlekit more urgently. He had to get them out of here.

Lionpaw and Hollypaw leaped down from the boulder.

“Do you know the way out?” Swallowkit asked, trembling.

“Of course we do,” Breezepaw declared. “We found our way in, didn’t we? Getting out will be even easier.”

He doesn’t believe that.

“We’ll get out,” Jaypaw mewed softly. He waited for Fallen Leaves to whisper encouragement but he only felt the quiver of the young tom’s tail against his flank.

Thistlekit began to cough and fidget beneath his paws.

Warmth was seeping back into her body. She struggled to her paws. “You found us!” she gasped.

Hollypaw folded herself around the shivering kit. “Did you think we’d leave you in this horrible place?”

Surprise pulsed from the kit. “You’re from ThunderClan.”

“We’ve been helping your Clanmates to find you,” Hollypaw explained.

“You’ve caused a lot of trouble,” Breezepaw growled.

Lionpaw’s tail swished over the floor. “We can worry about that once we’re out.”

A noise like rushing air suddenly filled the tunnels.

“The rain’s getting harder,” Hollypaw mewed.

“That’s not rain,” Lionpaw murmured. “It’s coming from inside the tunnels.”

“Inside?” Sedgekit squeaked.

“What is it?” Breezepaw demanded.

Jaypaw felt sick. He knew what it meant. “The river is overflowing.”

Lionpaw darted to Jaypaw’s side, pelt bristling with alarm.

“How do you know?”

Jaypaw closed his eyes. “I’ve heard it before. The tunnels are going to flood.”

Energy exploded from Lionpaw. “We’ve got to get out of here!” Swallowkit squealed as he snatched her up in his jaws.

“Breezepaw, Heatherpaw, take the other two,” he hissed out of the corner of his mouth.

“I’ll lead,” Jaypaw mewed. He had brought them here. He had to get them out. He pelted back along the tunnel. Fur brushed stone and claws skittered after him.

Fallen Leaves fell in beside him and matched the rhythm of his stride.

“You’ve got to get us back to the cave!” Jaypaw hissed.

“I will,” Fallen Leaves promised. The young tom’s paws made no sound on the tunnel floor as they raced onward, but his pelt was hot with fear and his mind flashed with memories that echoed in Jaypaw’s mind: paws churning through muddy water, struggling against currents too strong to fight, gasping for air and finding only water, disbelief as the world closed in and life ebbed from his body. He’s remembering how we drowned!

Jaypaw pushed on harder, ducking just in time to squirm under the low roof. He wriggled forward, the rock scraping his spine, his claws splintering against the stone. Struggling out the other side he paused, waiting until he heard the others emerge. The kits squealed with fear and pain as they were dragged over the rough stone.

“Nearly there!” Jaypaw encouraged. The tunnel was sloping upward now. Water washed his paws. One more twist, another turn. He could smell the scent of fresh air. He burst into the cave, hope springing in his belly.

We’ve made it! He could feel Fallen Leaves trembling with relief beside him.

Ahead, the river was roaring.

Lionpaw shot out behind him. “Take Swallowkit!” He thrust the kit at Jaypaw.

Jaypaw snatched her in his teeth.

“What’s he doing?” Hollypaw exploded from the tunnel with Heatherpaw and Breezepaw.

Jaypaw heard water splash as Lionpaw plunged into the river.

“Lionpaw!” he yowled, dropping Swallowkit. He strained to hear over the roaring of the water. “Can you see him?” he begged Hollypaw.

“He’s swimming!”

“He’s crazy!” Breezepaw gasped.

“I’m okay!” Lionpaw coughed as he struggled, splashing, from the far side of the river.

“How are we going to get the kits across?” Heatherpaw called.

“There’s no point!” Lionpaw yowled back. “The tunnel’s blocked!” Panic edged his mew. “The rain has washed soil into the entrance. There’s too much mud to dig through.”

“What about our tunnel?” Heatherpaw called.

Breezepaw bounded away as Lionpaw splashed back across the river.

“Blocked, too! Boulders have fallen from the roof!”

Breezepaw called from the WindClan tunnel. “It’s like a waterfall in here. We’d never get the kits up it!”

“We have to try!” Heatherpaw screeched.

“I don’t think there’s enough space at the top to get through,” Breezepaw argued. Fear made him angry. “If a kit got swept down over the rocks, it might die!”

“We have to do something,” Hollypaw yowled.

Jaypaw pressed against Fallen Leaves, trying to read his thoughts, but the young tom’s flank seemed to be fading, and Jaypaw’s shoulder passed with a shiver through the soft fur.

“Fallen Leaves?” he hissed.

“I’m sorry!” Guilt and grief hung like mist in the air.

Jaypaw suddenly felt cold where the tom’s warm body had been. Panic gripped him and time seemed to slow. For a heartbeat Jaypaw glimpsed a pair of amber eyes.

“Wait!” he called. “Come with us!”

Fallen Leaves blinked, his gaze filled with sorrow. “It’s not my time to leave,” he mewed faintly and then he was gone.

Not again!

“Are we going to die?” Sedgekit’s terrified mew rose above the torrent.

Jaypaw’s mind whirled as he tried to work out some way to escape. Water sprayed his face as the river frothed and bub-bled against the cave walls. Lionpaw pressed him back with the others until they were huddled on a narrow strip of earth, water snapping at their paws.

Help us!

Blood roared in Jaypaw’s ears.

Could StarClan hear him down here?

Suddenly, a silvery light glowed at the edge of his vision, like moonlight creeping across a night-black forest. Jaypaw looked up and saw a smooth ledge near the top of the cave. A cat was sitting there. It was the cat from his dream, with twisted claws, balding pelt, sightless bulging eyes. The cat who had sent Fallen Leaves into the tunnels to die.

The cat looked straight at Jaypaw.

Anger rose in Jaypaw’s chest. Have you come to watch us die too?

A shadow moved beneath the cat’s paws. He was rolling something toward the lip of the ledge. Something long and slender and smooth. Jaypaw’s fur stood on end. The stick from the lake!

Its markings were clear in the moonlight and, as Jaypaw stared in confusion, the cat lifted his paw and held a trembling claw over a row of scratches. Five long and three short.

Jaypaw gasped. Those scratches weren’t there before! He had counted the marks so many times he knew them by heart.

Five warriors and three kits! He means us !

Jaypaw stared, panic-stricken, into the old cat’s eyes. Are we going to die?

The cat bent his head to look at the stick before slowly lowering his claw and running it through the scratches. With a rush of hope, Jaypaw understood.

We’re going to survive!

The cat nodded.

A paw clapped him sharply on the ear. “Stop staring at nothing and help us think!” Breezepaw snarled.

The vision disappeared and Jaypaw was in darkness once more. He turned to the others, his pelt bristling with excitement. “There’s a way out of here!” he mewed. “I know it!”

“What is it, then?” Lionpaw demanded.

“I’m not sure,” Jaypaw admitted. “Let me think for a moment.”