Эрин Хантер - Tigerheart’s Shadow

Cinnamon’s eyes shone.

Ant looked at Fierce. “We’re sorry to leave.”

“Others will come,” Fierce reassured him. “Ice-chill is here. Your nests won’t be wasted.”

“When are we leaving?” Blaze asked excitedly.

Tigerheart glanced through a clear stretch of wall. It was sunhigh and the weather was fine. The cold would be hard on the kits, but rain would be worse. “We leave now.”

Cinnamon hurried quickly toward Mittens and Rascal, touching them each on the cheek with her muzzle. Tigerheart pressed against Dovewing as they watched the guardian cats say good-bye to their denmates. Then Ant jumped toward the den entrance. Cinnamon, Spire, and Blaze followed and waited on the wooden ledge for Tigerheart, Dovewing, and the kits.

Pouncekit rushed ahead, leaping nimbly onto the ledge. Lightkit jumped after her and turned as Shadowkit leaped up. His forepaws reached the ledge and clung on, his hind legs dangling. Tigerheart felt Dovewing stiffen beside him. He guessed what she was thinking. If Shadowkit couldn’t make such an easy jump, how would he manage the long journey to the lake? Then Lightkit ducked down and nipped Shadowkit’s scruff between her teeth. Pouncekit reached a paw under his tail and helped heave him up. Hope flickered in Tigerheart’s belly. That’s how. We’ll take care of one another.

Blaze glanced down at him. “How do we get out of the city?”

Tigerheart returned the young tom’s gaze. He’d thought about this night after night. There was only one way he could be sure that they’d find their way home. “We head for the station. We have to find the Silverpath that led me here.”

Cinnamon helped Tigerheart retrace the path he’d followed from the station, on his way here, a few moons ago. She’d lived in this part of the city before she joined the guardian cats, so she knew it very well. Tigerheart hadn’t walked this way since he’d first found the thorn den. But as soon as he followed her around the final corner, he recognized the tall, wide Thundersnake camp.

He glanced over his shoulder at Dovewing and the kits. The walk here had been slow. Crossing the Thunderpaths had been easier than he’d expected. They’d used the green Twoleg lights to find gaps in the traffic, and carried the kits over by their scruffs. But the bustling walkways had been harder to negotiate. Dovewing and Ant had flanked Pouncekit, Lightkit, and Shadowkit; Blaze had walked behind with Spire as Tigerheart and Cinnamon led the way. Twolegs hardly ever seemed to look where they were walking, so steering the kits between their legs had proved tricky. In the end, Dovewing, Spire, and Ant had scooped them up, ducking into alleys whenever Twolegs seemed to take an interest in the strange patrol.

Crowds of Twolegs flocked at the entrance to the station. Monsters crawled outside, stopping to let out or pick up Twolegs. Tigerheart took the lead. He knew where he was going now. He skirted the thickest part of the crowd, heading toward the alley that led to the rot piles Dash had shown him.

Relief washed his pelt as he ducked clear of the thronging Twolegs and into the quiet of the deserted alley. He waited while Dovewing, Cinnamon, Ant, Blaze, and Spire caught up. “You can put the kits down now,” he told them. “There aren’t any Twolegs here.”

Dovewing placed Pouncekit on the stone path as Ant and Spire put Lightkit and Shadowkit down. Her gaze darted around warily as she gathered Shadowkit and Lightkit closer to Pouncekit with a swish of her tail. “Where now?” she asked Tigerheart.

“We need to get inside.” Tigerheart nodded down the alley. “There’s an entrance along here.”

He knew Dovewing hadn’t been here before. She’d found her own way into the city, avoiding the long tunnel that had swallowed the Thundersnake at its outskirts. Instead she’d padded along countless streets, wandering for days before she’d found the thorn den. What would she think when she saw inside the Thundersnake nest? Tigerheart shuddered, remembering the terrifying Thundersnakes, each with its own Silverpath. They needed to find the right one. If they chose the wrong track, only StarClan knew where it might lead.

Tigerheart pushed back the fear pressing in his chest and headed down the alley. The three-pawed monster was still sleeping at the side. He tasted the air as he approached the rot piles, pleased to find only Dash’s scent lingering there. Mae, Floyd, and Scrap had clearly found new territory to scavenge. Past the rot piles, he found the loose mesh where he and Dash had squeezed out. Lifting it with a paw, he let the others inside. “Keep going until you reach the next mesh,” he called, his mew echoing along the narrow tunnel. He followed them in, his belly tightening as the rush of scents washed over him. For a moment, terror gripped him as he remembered arriving. The shock of the sounds and scents had overwhelmed him. They threatened to overwhelm him now. But he had to be brave. Dovewing and the kits were depending on him. “Have you found the mesh?” he called as he saw her shape silhouetted against the harsh light streaming in at the far end.

“I think so.” Dovewing’s ear flicked nervously.

He hurried toward her, squeezing past Ant, Spire, Cinnamon, Blaze, and the kits. Their fear-scent filled the space. He pushed against the mesh at the far end and let them into the big bright tunnel beyond.

A pair of Twolegs clip-clopped past them, heading toward the wider space. Tigerheart faced the group. “We have to stay bunched tight,” he warned them. “There are a lot of Twolegs here. And the lights and scents and movement will be disorienting. Don’t lose sight of one another. I’m going to lead us to Dash. He helped me when I first arrived. He can help us find the right Silverpath out of here.”

“I’m not scared.” Pouncekit puffed her chest out. But her pelt was bushed. So was Lightkit’s. Shadowkit cowered against Dovewing’s legs, his eyes wide with alarm.

“Let’s carry the kits.” He scooped up Shadowkit, worried at how cold his pelt felt. Tucking in his chin to hold the kit close, Tigerheart headed along the tunnel.

He retraced the steps he’d followed with Dash, eventually leading the cats into the great arching space where he’d first scented the station cat. Glancing past the Twolegs hurrying in every direction, he recognized the brightly lit Twoleg den at the side of Dash’s nest and hurried toward it, hoping that Dash would be there.

The station cat’s scent touched his nose. Hope flashed beneath Tigerheart’s pelt. Picking up his pace, he headed for the gap in the wall where he’d first met Dash. He dropped Shadowkit inside as soon as he reached it. “Dash,” he called into the darkness.

Yellow eyes blinked ahead of him, and Dash’s scent filled Tigerheart’s nose as the black-and-white tom scrambled to his paws.

“Tigerheart?” Dash looked alarmed as his gaze slid past Tigerheart and rested on Dovewing and the others crowding behind him. “What are you doing here?”

“I found my friend,” Tigerheart told him quickly. He didn’t want to scare the station cat. “We need your help.”

Dash slunk from the shadow and squeezed out past Tigerheart. He stared in surprise at Shadowkit, Pouncekit, and Shadowkit. His ears twitched. “Are these yours?”

“Yes.” He nodded to Dovewing. “This is Dovewing, my mate. We’re taking them home.”

“To the forest?” Dash narrowed his eyes as he looked at Spire, Blaze, Ant, and Cinnamon. “Are they going with you?”

“Yes.”