Эрин Хантер - Tigerheart’s Shadow

Tigerheart wanted to join the patrol. Hurry up, Dovewing! He glanced at the den entrance. She’d gone out to make dirt. He couldn’t leave the kits. Perhaps Blaze and Peanut would watch them again. His heart leaped as he saw a gray pelt beyond the clear stretch of glass beside the entrance. Dovewing slid through.

Tigerheart blinked at the kits. “Dovewing’s back. Be good for her. I’m going out with Fierce.”

“When can we go outside?” Pouncekit’s mew echoed after him as he hurried across the floor. He passed Dovewing and paused, his head drooping. “I wish I could bring home real prey,” he told her.

She nosed him playfully. “I don’t care what you bring home, so long as it fills the kits’ bellies.” She hurried quickly away as Pouncekit, Lightkit, and Shadowkit raced to meet her.

Blaze charged from between the nests where Spire was tending to the sick cats. “Can I come?” he asked.

“There will be a lot of Twolegs there,” Tigerheart warned. The young tom had grown in the past two moons, but he was still a kit. Tigerheart didn’t want to lose him in the crowd.

“Please?” Blaze trotted beside Tigerheart. “Spire’s busy with the new cats. It’s boring here. I want to see the outdoor gathering.”

Fierce looked up as they reached her. “Are you coming?” she asked Tigerheart.

“Yes, please.”

“I want to come too,” Blaze mewed.

Fierce glanced at the young tom. She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. “You’d make a good lookout,” she meowed. “You could help Dotty guard the stash.” She glanced at the pale white-and-ginger she-cat.

Dotty nodded. “Don’t wander off,” she warned Blaze. “It gets crowded. You have to stay near me, okay?”

“Okay.” Blaze nodded eagerly.

Fierce headed for the den entrance and leaped onto the wooden ledge. Tigerheart waited for the rest of the patrol to follow and fell in at the rear. He jumped up onto the ledge and squeezed out of the entrance after Rascal and Mittens.

Fierce followed a new route away from the gathering place. Tigerheart had never been this way before. It led through quieter streets, where few monsters and even fewer Twolegs patrolled outdoors. Then she cut through a narrow alley, which opened onto a wide, open stretch of stone. The clearing was lined with ledges, just as Fierce had promised. The Twolegs had decorated them in bright colors; some had roofs. Tigerheart could see food piled high wherever he looked. The smell of smoke tinged the air. Fire? He scanned the clearing warily and saw plumes rising here and there among the ledges. But there was no sign of fire raging out of control. And the smoke carried mouthwatering scents. Countless Twolegs filed slowly between the ledges, picking at the food, lifting it to smell it, passing it to other Twolegs to wrap. Delicious scents filled Tigerheart’s nose. His belly growled with longing. He hadn’t smelled such tempting prey since he’d left the forest. No wonder the guardian cats came every moon and were willing to brave the crowds of Twolegs to scavenge here.

Fierce led the patrol quickly beneath a line of ledges. Twoleg paws padded around the edges, but in the shadows beneath, Tigerheart felt safe. A Twoleg would have to crawl on all fours to see them.

“We could keep the stash here.” Dotty stopped beside two low stones jutting up from the ground. Dotty reached into the gap between. “This will be easy to guard.”

“From what?” Tigerheart wondered out loud.

Rascal glanced around. “Some of the Twolegs bring dogs. They keep them tied to vines. But the dogs can still reach under the ledges.”

“Don’t worry.” Dotty unsheathed her claws. “A few quick swipes will scare then away.”

“Not too vicious, though,” Fierce warned. “Remember. We mustn’t attract the Twolegs’ attention.”

Mittens lifted his nose, his eyes sparkling. “I’m heading for the ledge where they pile the fish.”

Cobweb purred. “I’ll come with you.”

Tigerheart blinked at the two cats. “You like fish?”

“ All cats like fish,” Ant meowed.

Tigerheart wrinkled his nose. “Where I come from, we only eat prey with legs. Except RiverClan.”

The other cats stared at him as though he were crazy. His pelt prickled self-consciously.

Fierce whisked her tail. “I’ll take Tigerheart and Cobweb to see what food the Twolegs have brought this moon.” She nodded at Mittens, Rascal, and Ant. “You hunt for fish while Blaze and Dotty wait here.”

The patrol split, and Tigerheart followed Fierce and Cobweb as they slid from the ledges and dodged between the Twolegs streaming past. With relief, Tigerheart saw another row of ledges and ducked under it with the others.

Fierce tasted the air. “This way.” The ledges formed a tunnel, edged with Twoleg paws, and she led the way along it before dashing across another stream of Twolegs, and then another, until they reached a ledge where the scent of food was so strong, Tigerheart’s mouth began to water. Fierce stopped beneath it and glanced up at a narrow gap. A grouse’s head hung over the edge. Fierce lifted her forepaws off the ground and peered through the slit. “No one’s watching,” she whispered. Reaching up a paw, she tugged at the grouse’s head. It shifted a little, then tumbled through the gap.

Tigerheart stared down at the fat piece of prey. He couldn’t believe his eyes. A grouse in the middle of the city. Delight surged beneath his pelt. The kits were going to taste real prey today.

“Take it to Dotty, then come back here,” Fierce told him.

Eagerly, Tigerheart lifted the grouse between his jaws. The weight of it reminded him of hunting trips with ShadowClan. None of the scraps they scavenged from scrapcans weighed so much or smelled so good. Musky prey-scent filled his nose as he carried the grouse along the ledge tunnel. Peering between the brightly pelted paws of the Twolegs, he scanned the far ledges, looking for Dotty. He spotted her, crouching with Blaze beside the jutting stones. Looking both ways, he waited patiently for a gap in the stream of Twolegs that filled the space between the ledges. As the crowd eased, he darted from one row to another until he reached the stash place.

“Wow.” Blaze stared wide-eyed at the grouse as he dropped it between the stones. “I’ve never seen fresh-kill that big.”

“Fierce and Cobweb are collecting more.” As Tigerheart spoke, Rascal and Mittens dashed toward him, Ant on their tail. Each cat held a glittering fish between his jaws.

They dropped the fish between the stones.

“ They’re here,” Rascal huffed.

“Who?” Alarm sparked in Tigerheart’s chest.

“Fog and her gang,” Ant told him. “They’re scavenging.”

Tigerheart peered through the maze of ledges, his fur spiking as he spotted Tuna slinking through the shadows on the far side of the clearing. Fog was with him, and an orange she-cat. Fog stopped and signaled to another group of cats nearby with a flick of her tail. How many cats did Fog have following her? Unease rippled beneath Tigerheart’s pelt.

Dotty followed his gaze, her fur pricking nervously. “There’s enough food here for everyone to share, isn’t there?” She sounded uncertain.

“ If Fog wants to share it,” Tigerheart meowed darkly. He didn’t trust the smoky she-cat. She’d chased away the guardian cats’ rats. What if she wasn’t simply a mouse-brained hunter? What if she’d been trying to wreck the guardian cats’ hunt? Perhaps depriving her rivals of prey was more important than hunting. Perhaps she was just here to cause trouble, like Darktail. He nodded to Ant, Rascal, and Mittens. “Keep collecting prey. I’ll warn Fierce.”