Эрин Хантер - Tigerheart’s Shadow

The river was almost as wide as a lake. It flowed smoothly between tree-lined banks, brown and muddy. The water swirled, streams and eddies betraying the powerful currents that churned beneath the surface.

“Look!” Pouncekit squeaked from his shoulders. “A floating monster!” A large, pawless monster chugged upstream, sending wide ripples in its wake. Twolegs moved around near the top.

Dovewing looked at the river. “Is Spire planning to find a way around it?” The healer was heading downstream along the bank.

Tigerheart glanced at her. “He said we had to cross it.” He didn’t tell her the healer’s warning.

“Can we cross it in a floating monster?” Pouncekit asked excitedly.

“No.” Tigerheart never wanted to be in the belly of another Twoleg monster. He glanced beyond Spire and saw a large Twoleg bridge spanning the river. Monsters prowled over it. “I think he’s planning to use that.” It must be a Thunderpath, like the one that arced over the herb patch in the city.

Spire was already climbing the slope that reached toward the end of the bridge. At the top, the healer stopped and turned to watch the rest of the party. His tail flicked impatiently as he saw them trailing behind.

Dovewing’s gaze was fixed on the bridge. “How will we get past all those monsters?”

Tigerheart let his flank brush hers. “We survived monsters in the city,” he meowed encouragingly. “We can survive these.”

Rippletail, Berryheart, Sparrowtail, and Cloverfoot were already beside Spire when Tigerheart and Dovewing reached them. Ant and Cinnamon caught up a few moments later.

The healer was sitting on the grass that edged the Thunderpath. As Tigerheart eased Pouncekit from his shoulders, he glanced along the line of monsters flowing across the bridge in both directions. They lurched, growling as they sped up; fumes billowed from their tails as they slowed down. Tigerheart slid in front of Pouncekit protectively. He could see that a narrow walkway edged the Thunderpath as it crossed the bridge, but a high fence hemmed it in. His pelt prickled nervously at the thought of being trapped between monsters and a wall. “We should wait till sundown,” he suggested. “There may be fewer monsters then.”

Spire narrowed his eyes as he followed Tigerheart’s gaze along the bridge. “We can’t wait. We’re already behind. We have to keep going.”

Rippletail and Sparrowtail exchanged glances.

Ant put Shadowkit down and padded a few steps closer to the bridge. “It’s a bit cramped,” he mused. “But no worse than a Thundersnake tunnel.”

As he spoke, clanging filled the air. Tigerheart’s pelt bushed as Twoleg lights began to flash above him. The cats bunched protectively around Berryheart and the kits as the monsters halted beside them and, with a clatter, two long fences began to descend like slow-falling trees across both ends of the bridge.

“What’s happening?” Cloverfoot jerked her muzzle around, eyes wide with alarm.

Dovewing pulled Pouncekit, Lightkit, and Shadowkit close to her chest as monster fumes rolled over them.

Cinnamon peered between the thin slats of the fallen fence. The stretch beyond was clear right up to the fence at the far end. “We should cross it now.”

“Before the monsters clog it up again.” Rippletail hurried toward the fallen fence and squeezed between the slats. He beckoned the others toward him with a flick of his tail.

Tigerheart hesitated. “Is it safe?” He looked at Spire, remembering his words. Crossing will be dangerous.

“We have to get across. There’s no time to lose.” Spire followed Rippletail and slid between the slats, Blaze at his tail.

Dovewing glanced questioningly at Tigerheart, the kits sheltering beside her flank.

“Come on.” Tigerheart led her to the fence. “There are no monsters.”

Berryheart was already heaving her wide belly between the slats after Sparrowtail. Ant and Cinnamon slid through either side. As they followed Rippletail, Spire, and Blaze across the bridge, the monsters behind them began to honk like geese.

Tigerheart’s chest tightened. “Quick.” He glanced back and saw Twoleg faces staring in horror. “I think they’re angry.” He nudged Pouncekit through the fence while Shadowkit, Lightkit, and Dovewing squeezed through the slats on either side. Relief washed his pelt as he led Dovewing and the kits across the clear stretch of Thunderpath. Behind them, the monsters honked harder. Why were they so furious?

A hard silver strip spanned the stone halfway across. Tigerheart hopped over it, worried it might be a trap. Berryheart, Sparrowtail, Ant, and Cinnamon were almost at the far side. Rippletail and Cloverfoot were already squeezing through the fence.

“Hurry!” As Tigerheart called over his shoulder to Dovewing and the kits, the stone jerked beneath his paws. Alarm sparked through his fur as the Thunderpath began to lift. It tipped beneath his paws, turning the flat stone into a slope slanting down toward the flat stretch of Thunderpath where Rippletail and Cloverfoot watched, pelts bristling.

What’s happening! Tigerheart’s thoughts whirled as he struggled to keep his balance. He looked back to where the silver strip had marked the halfway point of the bridge. There, the bridge had cracked and opened like a stick snapping in half. Dovewing yelped beside him and gripped the rapidly slanting Thunderpath. Lightkit and Shadowkit squealed in panic. Below them Berryheart, Sparrowtail, Ant, and Cinnamon leaped clumsily down onto the stretch of flat stone where Blaze and Spire had already landed.

Tigerheart gasped as Lightkit and Shadowkit plummeted past him. Cinnamon reared and caught Shadowkit. Rippletail reached out and wrapped his paws around Lightkit.

Tigerheart flattened himself against the stone, clinging with his claw-tips as he watched Dovewing desperately trying to scrabble up the slope. “Where are you going?” he yowled. “We need to get off the bridge now!”

“Pouncekit!” Terror filled in Dovewing’s cry.

Tigerheart looked up. Pouncekit was teetering at the top of the slope where the bridge had cracked in the middle. Her ears flat, she wailed with terror.

Fear-scent pulsed from Dovewing. “She’s going to fall through the gap!”

“Pouncekit!” Tigerheart’s breath caught in his throat as Pouncekit tumbled out of sight. His belly lurched. She’s gone! He tore at the stone, trying vainly to haul himself closer. Pouncekit! Horror shrilled beneath his pelt as he scanned the top.

Two small paws showed against the silver strip. Hope flashed in his chest. Pouncekit was clinging on. He tried again to heave himself toward her, but his claws couldn’t dig into the stone. Dovewing wailed desperately as she slipped farther away from her kit.

Suddenly, claws scraped the stone beside him. Spire’s black pelt flashed past. Scrambling higher, the healer leaped for the top of the raised bridge. He must have pushed off from the flat stretch of stone with such power that momentum carried him forward. The healer hooked his paws over the end of the bridge. He churned the stone with his hind paws and managed to pull himself up so that he was balancing at the top. Hindquarters trembling, he leaned over and hauled Pouncekit up, then let her drop toward Dovewing. With a squeal, Pouncekit tumbled past.

Tigerheart watched the kit fall, his heart in his throat. As Ant stretched to catch her, relief flooded his pelt. The tom grabbed Pouncekit and swung her safely onto the Thunderpath.

“Spire!” Dovewing’s anguished cry made Tigerheart look up again. The bridge was still rising, so steep now that Tigerheart couldn’t keep his grip. As he began to slide, he saw Spire wobble at the top. The skinny black tom opened his mouth in a wail that never came. As he swayed backward and fell, silence filled the space where he’d been.