Эрин Хантер - Tigerheart’s Shadow

“Nice move, Rascal!” Tigerheart was pleased the guardian cats had remembered the skills he’d taught them.

Blaze bounded toward him. “I want to learn a new move!” he mewed. “I already know all the old ones.”

“You do, do you?” Tigerheart purred at him proudly. “Show me one.”

Blaze arched his back and flattened his ears. Hissing, he approached Tigerheart side-first, looking as big as he could. Tigerheart shot out a paw to tumble the kit onto his back, but his sheathed claws swiped thin air. Blaze had ducked beneath his chest and was clinging to his hind leg, churning his paws against it energetically.

“Very good!” Tigerheart purred. “You’re a natural fighter.”

“I am?” Blaze leaped to his paws and stared excitedly at Tigerheart.

Tigerheart cuffed his ear playfully. You’ve a long way to go before you’d make a warrior. But the kit definitely had talent. He was quick-thinking as well as fast.

Movement near the trees caught his eye. Fog and Tuna were stalking through the grass there. Streak and Growler were heading the other way. They’re still checking out our territory. Tigerheart’s pelt prickled. He wished the guardian cats would admit this was their land and mark some borders. It would make it easier to challenge Fog and her gang. And yet how could he confront her now? He needed her to help them fight the foxes. As Fog caught his eye, he looked away. Focus on training the guardian cats.

Fierce lifted her muzzle. “What do we do if we’re attacked by two foxes at once?”

Tigerheart flicked his tail approvingly. She was thinking like a warrior. “If we fight the foxes, we’ll stay in pairs. That way we can be more prepared for an attack on two sides.” He beckoned Rascal and Mittens forward. “Stand tail to tail,” he told them. As they shifted into position, he padded around the circle of watching cats and nudged Pipsqueak forward with his nose. “You can be one fox,” he mewed, then moved on to Dotty. “You can be the other.” He guided her past Rascal and Mittens, who were facing outward, their tails touching. “If two foxes attack from two sides, get straight into a tail-to-tail position. Foxes will instinctively go for your legs. Duck down and claw their muzzle as they come in for the attack. Aim for their eyes if you can. Then rear up fast, so your backs are touching, and use each other to push off. Leap clear of the fox’s muzzle, onto its back. The foxes will crash into each other while you’ve got your claws around their spines. Try it.” Tigerheart stepped back to watch. “Remember,” he told Pipsqueak and Dotty, “you’re foxes. Aim for their legs. Everybody, keep your claws sheathed. We don’t want injuries.”

He watched, concentrating, as Dotty and Pipsqueak circled Rascal and Mittens.

“Keep your faces toward the fox at all times,” Tigerheart warned. “When you’re fighting large enemies, your teeth and claws are more important than your strength.”

Rascal and Mittens shifted to keep their muzzles pointed toward Pipsqueak and Dotty as they continued to circle. Then Dotty caught Pipsqueak’s eye and lunged forward. Pipsqueak followed. Rascal and Mittens threw a flurry of blows at their denmates’ muzzles, then reared together and pushed away from each other. They sailed over their attackers, flattening them as they landed squarely on their backs.

Pipsqueak grunted as his paws collapsed beneath him. “Rascal, you’re heavy!” He wriggled indignantly from under the tabby tom.

Dotty scrambled from under Mittens. “It seems like a good strategy.”

“Let’s all practice it.” Fierce waved Ant, Cobweb, Blaze, and Rascal into group with a flick of her tail.

Cobweb hesitated, his gaze flicking toward Blaze. “He’s too young to fight foxes,” he pointed out.

“He won’t be involved in any battles,” Fierce promised. “But he might as well learn the moves. He might need them one day—”

The terrified squeal of a kit cut her off.

Tigerheart froze. Pouncekit! He recognized her cry. Heart bursting with terror, he raced for the patch of grass where he’d left them. The kits were gone. He saw Dovewing’s pelt flash between the stone slabs and chased after her.

He caught up as she reached a shiny mesh cave, which sat in the grass behind a stone. Pouncekit was trapped inside, staring through the silver mesh, her eyes wide with horror.

“What happened?” Dovewing pressed her muzzle against the mesh.

Pouncekit pushed the tip of her nose through a gap and mewled pitifully into her mother’s cheek fur. “I smelled something tasty. And I crept inside to get it. But it banged shut behind me.”

Shadowkit and Lightkit scrabbled at the outside with their paws.

“She’s trapped!” Lightkit squealed.

“It’s eaten her.” Shadowkit looked at Tigerheart, his eyes dark and round. “She’s trapped forever!”

Tigerheart sniffed the edges of the cave. “Which end was open?” he asked Pouncekit.

“The small end behind me,” Pouncekit wailed.

“It’s okay, dear,” Dovewing crooned softly. “We’ll get you out.” She glanced at Tigerheart. Guilt glittered in her green eyes. “She was only away from me for a moment.”

“She’ll be okay.” Tigerheart hoped Dovewing couldn’t hear panic in his mew. His heartbeat pounded in his ears as he sniffed the small end and hooked a claw into the mesh. It was stuck firmly shut.

Fierce, Cobweb, and Dotty reached them.

“What is that?” Dotty stared in horror at the mesh cave.

“It must be some kind of Twoleg trap,” Fierce growled. “I can smell their stench on it.”

“That’s what they were doing in the night,” Cobweb gasped. “Setting this trap.”

A monster rumbled nearby. Tigerheart looked up and saw it stop at the edge of the grass. A Twoleg got out, headed toward the smooth path that led to the gathering-place entrance. Tigerheart felt sick. Was it coming to claim its trap with Pouncekit inside? Relief flickered in his chest as the Twoleg headed around the back of the gathering place. “We’ve got to hurry,” he meowed. “That Twoleg might come back.”

Dotty had pulled Lightkit and Shadowkit against her belly and was soothing them with gentle laps of her tongue, while Dovewing comforted Pouncekit through the mesh. Her eyes were still wide, but her breathing was slowing as Dovewing nuzzled her cheek.

Cobweb crouched beside Tigerheart and examined the trap. “There’s a gap,” he mewed. “Where the edges meet.” He hooked a claw into it and tugged. It shifted, but not much. He strained harder. “It’s stiff, but I think we can get it open if we can find something to wedge in.”

“A stick,” Fierce suggested. She darted away toward a tree.

Tigerheart glanced at Dovewing. Her gaze was fixed on Pouncekit as she whispered reassurance through the mesh. “Just hold still a bit longer. We’re getting you out.”

“We’ve got a plan,” Tigerheart told her.

She met his gaze, fright flashing in her eyes, then turned back to Pouncekit.

Fierce raced back, a stick between her jaws. “This end is thin,” she meowed as she dropped it beside Tigerheart. “But the other end is thick.”

Cobweb sniffed it. “If we feed the thin end through, we can wedge it open.”

Tigerheart understood, hope flaring beneath his fur. “If we push it all the way inside, up to the thick end, it might be strong enough to move the mesh.”

Fierce picked up the stick again and threaded the thin end through the gap while Tigerheart and Cobweb pulled at the mesh with their claws.