Эрин Хантер - Tigerheart’s Shadow

Tigerheart pricked his ears. He heard the distant rumble of a Thundersnake. The tracks began to hum. Why was the healer making such a fuss? Thundersnakes passed them several times a day. “Every cat get off the tracks,” he called.

As Sparrowtail guided Berryheart to the safety of the grassy bank, Ant, Cinnamon, Cloverfoot, and Rippletail hopped from the tracks. Dovewing grabbed Shadowkit’s scruff and hurried to join the others. Like a fox darting from the shadows, a Thundersnake appeared from behind a rise. It was moving fast.

Tigerheart’s belly tightened as he saw Lightkit and Pouncekit chasing their acorn toward it. Hadn’t they heard him? “Get off the tracks!” The Thundersnake’s roar drowned his cry. Heart lurching, he raced toward the kits. “Run!” They turned as he yowled again, blinking first at him and then at the Thundersnake.

Pouncekit’s eyes widened in terror. She scrambled away from the acorn, tripping over the track. Tigerheart reached her and scooped her up, racing to the bank to drop her. He turned back for Lightkit. She was frozen between the tracks. The Thundersnake pounded toward her, moving faster than any Tigerheart had ever seen.

“Lightkit!” He hared toward her, but black fur flashed past him. Spire pelted onto the Silverpath as the Thundersnake howled closer. With a yowl drowned by its roar, the healer dragged Lightkit from the track. The Thundersnake screeched past. Its wind hit Tigerheart like a wall of water. As he staggered, he saw Lightkit tumble toward its flashing paws. Spire, pelt plastered against his thin frame, grabbed her scruff between his teeth. She clung to the ground, the Thundersnake tearing at her pelt as Spire gripped her, ears flat, belly pressed against the earth.

Horror surged beneath Tigerheart’s pelt as he watched, and then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the Thundersnake passed and roared away into the distance. Lightkit scrambled to her paws, her pelt bushed. “Tigerheart!” She raced toward him, her eyes wide with terror, and huddled against his belly as he wrapped his tail around her.

Dovewing rushed to their side. She was trembling almost as hard as Lightkit. “It nearly killed her.” Her mew was breathless. She hauled Lightkit toward her, pressed her close, and licked her head fiercely.

“Didn’t you hear it coming?” Tigerheart stared at the kit, his heart pounding.

“We were playing with the acorn.” Lightkit’s eyes glittered with shock.

“It was going so fast.” Pouncekit hurried toward them, Shadowkit at her heels. “We didn’t have time.”

As Dovewing pulled the kits close to her and purred quick, desperate purrs to reassure them, Tigerheart hurried toward Spire. The healer was pushing himself stiffly to his paws.

Blaze was already at his side. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.” Spire shook out his pelt and gazed along the Silverpath.

“You saved my kit.” Gratitude swelled in Tigerheart’s throat.

Spire met his gaze. His eyes were dark with foreboding. “Next time, I might not be able to.”

“Next time?” Tigerheart bristled.

“If we stay on the Silverpath, there will be death.” He held Tigerheart’s gaze. “Death too quickly. Death without meaning.”

The cold wind seemed to reach Tigerheart’s bones. He shivered.

“We have to leave the Silverpath.” Spire stared at him unblinking.

Ant reached them, Cinnamon at his side. “What did he say?”

Berryheart, Sparrowtail, Rippletail, and Cloverfoot crowded around Tigerheart, Blaze, and the healer.

Death without meaning. Fear tightened Tigerheart’s belly as Spire’s words burrowed deeper.

“That was close,” Rippletail murmured.

“Is Spire okay?” Berryheart’s pelt pricked anxiously.

“Why was the Thundersnake running so fast?” Cloverfoot asked.

Blaze glanced around them. He ignored their questions. “Spire says we have to leave the Silverpath.”

Cloverfoot blinked. “But Tigerheart said it leads to the lake.”

“We’ll have to find another way,” Blaze told her.

Should we follow Spire’s advice? Tigerheart’s mouth grew dry.

Rippletail shifted his paws. “That was scary,” he mewed. “But all it means is that we have to be more careful. There’s no need to leave the Silverpath.”

“We’ll get lost if we leave it,” Berryheart agreed.

Sparrowtail moved closer to his mate. “We need to get back to the lake before Berryheart starts kitting. We can’t risk losing our way.”

Spire’s gaze was still fixed on Tigerheart. “We have to leave the Silverpath,” he repeated. “If we don’t, cats will die.”

Tigerheart avoided the anxious looks of the others. “But we don’t know how to get to the lake without the Silverpath to guide us,” he told Spire.

“I know.” Spire didn’t move.

Tigerheart blinked. “But you’ve never even left the city before. How can you know?”

“My dreams will show me the way.”

Berryheart stiffened. “I know he’s some kind of medicine cat—somehow—but… are we sure he knows what he’s talking about?”

Blaze glared at the black-and-white queen. “His dreams found you , didn’t they?”

Tigerheart’s thoughts quickened. Leaving the Silverpath was risky. They could follow the sunset. But what if the Silverpath changed direction and headed away from the sunset? Why didn’t I pay more attention to which way I was heading when I left the lake? He should have watched the sunsets and made sure to remember the changing landscapes. But he’d followed the Silverpath blindly, like a squirrel chasing a trail of beechnuts.

He searched Spire’s gaze. He’d listened to this cat’s dreams before: the falling tree, Rowanstar’s voice. And his vision of the orange sun had led them to the ShadowClan cats. “Do you really think your dreams can lead us home?”

“I know they can,” Spire answered firmly.

Fear trickled along Tigerheart’s spine. I have to trust him.

Rippletail grunted. “I hope you’re right.”

“He is.” Tigerheart held Spire’s gaze. “He dreams with StarClan.”

Blaze lifted his tail. “Are we going to let Spire lead us?”

“Yes.” Tigerheart dipped his head. He thought of Lightkit, so close to the paws of the Thundersnake. His heart quickened. He wasn’t risking her life again by staying on the Silverpath. “We’ll follow Spire.”

Tigerheart tracked Spire’s and Blaze’s scents under the hedge that bordered the sheep meadow. His paws were mucky from crossing. The sheep were crowded at the far end of the field, but the ground here had been churned to mud by their paws. Dovewing was guiding Pouncekit, Lightkit, and Shadowkit around the stickiest patch, helped by Ant and Cinnamon, but Tigerheart had hurried ahead, anxious not to lose sight of Spire and Blaze as they headed through the beech wood beyond.

Rippletail, Cloverfoot, Berryheart, and Sparrowtail were already following them between the trees. The bare branches filtered sunshine, which dappled the golden forest floor. Tigerheart glimpsed Blaze and Spire beyond them, padding between the trees, and looked back to make sure Dovewing and the kits were okay. Dovewing was nosing Pouncekit beneath the hedge. Ant followed the kit through and turned to help Lightkit and Shadowkit over the roots while Dovewing and Cinnamon squeezed through on either side.

Pouncekit raced into the woods, her tail high. “It’s so crunchy!” she squeaked, padding happily over the near-frozen layer of dry leaves. Lightkit and Shadowkit hurried after her, their paws clogged with mud. Tigerheart caught Dovewing’s eye. She looked weary. “Do you want me to stay close to you and the kits for a while?” he asked.