Эрин Хантер - Tigerheart’s Shadow

Dash fell in beside him as they reached a monster sleeping beside a wall. It had lost one of its paws, and its pelt was dull. Tigerheart wondered if it was dead. Dash padded past it, unconcerned, and Tigerheart followed. At the end of the path, wind whisked around the corner. It stung his eyes so that the monsters and Twolegs, streaming past, blurred in front of him. Tigerheart hesitated, fear sparking beneath his pelt as Dash padded onto the stone walkway that edged the Thunderpath.

“Come on.” The station cat beckoned Tigerheart with his tail.

Tigerheart forced himself out into the flood of movement. A stinking breeze washed his pelt. The glittering walls and towering dens made him dizzy. Roofs cut a jagged line through the sky. He dodged a Twoleg and pressed against a wall. “Why do the Twolegs here need such big dens?” he asked, trying to distract himself from the panic welling in his chest.

“There are a lot of Twolegs in the city.” Dash ducked beside him as Twolegs streamed past them. “I guess they’ve all got to sleep somewhere.”

Tigerheart blinked at the station cat. How did he stay so calm? Beyond the Twolegs, monsters were crawling along the road in an endless stream, honking at one another like geese. He was glad Ajax and Fuzzball had shown him how to slip around Twolegs and monsters in their small Twolegplace. That had seemed busy. This was overwhelming. He stared at Dash with wide eyes. “How do you get around here? It’s so crowded!”

Dash shrugged. “Everything keeps moving, but not very fast, and the Twolegs and monsters aren’t interested in cats. Just keep your head down and don’t get in anything’s way and you’ll be fine. Follow me.” He skirted the wall, following the stone walkway until a Thunderpath crossed it.

“Where now?” Tigerheart stared at the gap between the dens where two Thunderpaths crossed. Lights flashed on sticks, red and green, above their heads.

“Wait until that light shows green.” Dash nodded to a light shaped like a Twoleg. “Then we cross the Thunderpath with the Twolegs. Just don’t trip them. That makes them mad.”

Tigerheart stared at the green light as it suddenly brightened. The monsters stopped as though an invisible wall had dropped in front of them, and the Twolegs streamed over the Thunderpath.

“Now!” Dash nudged Tigerheart forward with his shoulder.

Tigerheart hurried beside him. His heart pounded with terror. He focused on the Thunderpath, smooth beneath his paws, and forced himself not to break into a run. Twolegs flowed around them, and he didn’t want to risk tripping them. Relief washed over him as he reached the walkway on the other side. Dash guided him forward along another stone walkway that lined an even wider Thunderpath.

Tigerheart kept his eyes fixed ahead. The noise and bustle around him made his head swim. How had Dovewing found her way through these noisy crowded trails? “Is the gathering place far?”

“Just a little farther.” Dash picked up his pace as the crowd of Twolegs began to thin. He turned a corner onto a quieter walkway, narrower and with fewer Twolegs and monsters teeming between the dens.

They crossed more Thunderpaths, each a little quieter than the last, until finally Tigerheart saw a break in the dens and a stretch of green ahead. His heart soared at the sight of grass and trees. In the center sat a den, squat compared to the towering dens that surrounded it. Its stone walls were punctuated by stretches of colored stone that reflected the late afternoon light like shattered rainbows. A sloping roof stretched along the den like a bony spine. On either side, small spikes poked into the sky, and in the middle, one huge spike looked as though it were trying to spear the clouds. “The gorse thorns!” Tigerheart stopped and stared. Was this the den Dovewing had dreamed of? Surely it must be. He’d followed the Silverpath and here it was.

Dash stopped. “You can find your own way from here.” He dipped his head to Tigerheart. “Thanks for chasing Floyd and the others away. I’ll be able to sleep easier for a while.”

Tigerheart dragged his gaze from the thorn den. “If they come back, don’t forget the fighting move I taught you.”

“I won’t.” Dash blinked at him happily. “Good luck. I hope you find your friend.”

“So do I.”

As Dash turned back along the pathway, Tigerheart stared at the gathering place. It seemed empty. The stretch of grass surrounding it was deserted. Thin slabs of stone stood upright in neat rows. Tigerheart hurried forward and, relieved to feel grass underpaw once again, wove between them. He tasted the air, hoping to catch Dovewing’s scent. His heart tightened as he scanned the great, glittering den. I’m here… I just hope that Dovewing is here too.

The thin stone slabs cast long shadows as the sun slid behind the huge dens. Tigerheart shook out his fur. The rumbling of monsters was quieter here. This patch of green seemed sheltered from the noise and movement of the heaving city by the trees growing among the slabs. Their branches crisscrossed the sky, rattling softly in a breeze that carried reminders of forest scents among the Twoleg stench. Tigerheart remembered with a pang the secluded glade where he and Dovewing had met in secret. Would she forgive him for not meeting her there before she left? He tasted the air anxiously, hoping to catch a scent that would lead him to her.

“Who are you?” A growl sounded on the evening air.

Tigerheart unsheathed his claws defensively and scanned the stones.

Green eyes glared through the fading light. A tortoiseshell she-cat faced him, her black muzzle thrust forward. Two toms flanked her, one small but well-muscled with a brown-and-black splotched pelt, the other smoky gray and long-furred.

The three cats padded slowly toward him, flattening their ears aggressively as they neared.

“I’m looking for someone,” Tigerheart told them quickly. His heart lurched as he wondered if Dovewing had met these cats. They didn’t seem welcoming. What if they’d chased her off? Or hurt her?

The toms halted as the tortoiseshell flicked her tail. She padded closer to Tigerheart, showing her teeth. “Who are you?” she repeated slowly.

“My name’s Tigerheart.” He glanced at the gathering place behind the tortoiseshell. The sun had dropped behind the skyline and swept it into shadow. Without its glittering walls and glinting roof, it looked gloomy and forbidding. “My friend traveled a long way to find this place. And I’ve traveled a long way to find her.”

Curiosity glittered in the tortoiseshell’s gaze. “You’re looking for a she-cat?”

“She’s my mate.” Tigerheart felt his throat tighten. Saying the words opened grief in his chest that he’d ignored for so long. He’d forgotten how much he missed Dovewing. “She’s carrying my kits.”

The tortoiseshell tipped her head. Her ears pricked. Her gaze lost its menace. “What’s her name?”

“Dovewing.” Tigerheart’s mew was thick with emotion. He felt suddenly weary.

She glanced over her shoulder at the brown-and-black tom. “Ant. Go and see if there’s a cat with that name here.”

As he hurried away, she snapped her gaze back to Tigerheart.

Tigerheart blinked at the tortoiseshell hopefully as Ant disappeared into the shadows around the gathering place.

“My name’s Fierce,” she told him. She nodded toward the gray tom. “That’s Cobweb.”

“Do you live here?”

Fierce eyed him distrustfully. “How long have you been traveling?”