Эрин Хантер - Tigerheart’s Shadow

No cat pushed ahead of Tuna as he led the winding way through alleys and streets to the dilapidated part of the city where his camp had been. He picked his way along a crumbling wall, which edged an open space between two broken Twoleg dens. Twoleg clutter littered the site.

“My nest was in there.” Tuna nodded to gap beneath a slab of wood. “There’s a fox nest inside now.”

Tigerheart padded softly along the wall, weaving past Cobweb, Ant, and Fierce. He stopped beside Tuna and tasted the air. The fox scent was strong, but stale after the night’s rain. “They’re not back yet.” He scanned the dark camp. No Twoleg light flickered here, and he strained to see through the gloom.

Overhead, the pale clouds were showing the first signs of dawn. “Let’s stay out of sight until they come.” Tigerheart hopped off the wall and crouched behind it. Silently, Cobweb, Ant, Fierce, and Tuna followed. “You remember the plan?” he whispered.

They nodded.

“Which group will Tuna be in?” Ant asked.

“He’ll come with me and Cobweb.” He glanced at Cobweb. The gray tom dipped his head in agreement. He looked small, his long fur slicked against his body by the rain.

They crouched in the shelter of the wall. Fear fluttered like a trapped bird in Tigerheart’s belly. The stone beneath his pads was slippery. What if one of the cats lost their footing while leading the foxes through the twisting route they’d picked out? “Keep your eye on your partner,” he warned Fierce, Ant, and Cobweb. “If you fall, call for help. Leave no cat behind to face the foxes alone.” He blinked at Tuna. “Agreed?”

“Agreed.” Tuna’s tail twitched nervously.

Ant and Cobweb eyed each other doubtfully.

“What?” Tigerheart glared at them. This was no time to start questioning orders.

“Aren’t you scared?” Cobweb ventured.

“Of course I’m scared,” Tigerheart told him. “But this needs to be done.”

“Maybe it would just be easier to find a new home after all,” Ant murmured.

Tigerheart stiffened. “Not after—”

Fierce cut him off. “We’re not leaving.” She looked sternly from Cobweb to Ant. “A cat can spend her whole life running, or she can make a stand and defend her home.”

Warmth washed Tigerheart’s pelt. Fierce was sounding like a leader.

Ant blinked in surprise. “You’re starting to sound like Tigerheart.”

Fierce sniffed. “I like our den, that’s all. Do you really think we could find a better place to spend the rest of ice-chill?”

“I guess not,” Ant conceded.

Cobweb shifted his paws. “Is this what it’s like to be a warrior?” he asked Tigerheart.

“Not all the time,” Tigerheart told him. “But we’re prepared to take risks to defend what’s ours, when we have to.”

Tuna’s whiskers twitched wryly. “I’m guessing warriors aren’t used to change.”

Tigerheart frowned. “What do you mean?”

“In the city, it’s rare to have anything long enough to need to defend it.” He nodded toward his old camp. “This was swarming with Twolegs before I was born. Now it’s swarming with foxes. Fog was raised beside the trash field. Then she lived under a bridge. Growler moved here when his Twolegs abandoned him.”

Tigerheart felt a twinge of pity for these strays, but they didn’t seem downhearted. They were watching him with interest, as though trying to make sense of him.

“Don’t you get bored of fighting for the same territory?” Tuna asked. “Don’t you ever just want to move on and find a new way to live?”

Fierce answered for him. “He’s here, isn’t he? He left one life to make a new life here.”

“Then why does he act like he’s still a warrior?” Tuna asked.

“Because I am!” Tigerheart bristled. Did these cats think he’d left the Clans because he was tired of Clan life? Did they think he wanted to be like them? To stay here forever?

Fierce tipped her head sympathetically. “You’ll need to learn to be more flexible if you want to survive in the cit—”

The crunch of shifting rubble made her stop. Tigerheart pricked his ears.

Tuna opened his mouth to taste the air. “They’re back.”

Tigerheart listened to the brush of fur and scrabble of paws beyond the wall. “Do you remember your routes?”

Cobweb, Ant, and Fierce nodded.

“Tuna,” Tigerheart blinked at the brown tabby. “Stay with me.”

“Okay.”

Tigerheart leaped onto the wall. His pelt prickled with fear as he saw five shapes moving in the half-light. Three of the foxes were large and well-muscled. The two smaller foxes looked lithe. The stench of them made Tigerheart’s nose wrinkle. As Fierce, Cobweb, Ant, and Tuna jumped up beside him, he nodded toward the biggest fox. “Tuna and Cobweb will surround that one while Fierce and Ant try to corner the other.” He pointed his muzzle toward the second largest fox. “If we can separate them now, hopefully the others will split up when they follow. Fierce, lead yours back the way we came. Cobweb, we’ll lead ours through the big stone clearing.”

The cats nodded.

“Let’s go.” Tigerheart jumped softly onto broken stone and picked his way down the pile. Tuna and Cobweb followed, while Fierce and Ant approached the sleek dog fox Tigerheart had directed them toward.

Tigerheart kept low as they moved through shadow to where the biggest fox was snuffling beside a heap of Twoleg clutter. The smaller foxes were snarling softy at each other, arguing over scraps they’d dropped at the edge of the camp. Tigerheart signaled to Cobweb and Tuna with a flick of his tail, ordering them to circle around the far side of their target. He paused and waited for them to get into position. As they surrounded the fox, Fierce’s yowl wailed eerily through the dawn air. Tigerheart saw the foxes freeze. Their beady eyes flashed toward Fierce. The orange flecks in her tortoiseshell pelt glowed in the dawn light. A moment before they lunged for her, Tigerheart lifted his head and screeched. The large dog fox, which he’d been stalking, jerked its muzzle toward him. Tigerheart leaped for it, raked his claws across its muzzle, and ran.

Blood roared in his ears as fear shrilled through every hair on his pelt. He streaked from the camp onto the deserted Thunderpath. Leaping scattered rubble, he glanced over his shoulder. Rain sprayed his face. Cobweb and Tuna were behind him. The dog fox followed, two vixens at its tail. Triumph surged in Tigerheart’s chest. They’d split the pack as they’d planned. All they had to do now was keep ahead of it. “Take the lead!” he called to Tuna. The stray had traveled these streets more often than Tigerheart, and Tigerheart wanted to stay between the foxes and the city cats. His fighting skills were better. If they hit trouble, he wanted to face the foxes first.

A deserted white dwelling loomed ahead. An alley opened beside it. This would be the first of their turns. Tuna had picked the alley especially because it led to a maze of passageways that cut one way, then the other. The cats could negotiate the turns more nimbly than the foxes, which would let them put some distance between themselves and their pursuers. They had to pull ahead as far as they could here, because once they hit the stone clearing, the foxes would have the advantage of speed. Alarm gripped Tigerheart’s belly. What if the foxes gave up chasing?

Tuna was almost at the head of the alley. Cobweb was at his heels. As Tigerheart reached the entrance, he stopped, twisted, and reared. The fox behind him bristled in surprise. Behind it, the two other foxes blinked in confusion as the lead fox slowed and showed its teeth.

“What are you doing?” Tuna’s panicked screech faded behind Tigerheart as the brown tom hared onward.