Эрин Хантер - Moth Flight’s Vision

They’d left WindClan as the sun sank toward the horizon.

Micah and Cloud Spots had met Moth Flight on the moortop where she’d been waiting, the wind rippling her fur, heart racing in anticipation of their journey to the Moonstone.

Now she glanced at Highstones, looming ahead of them.

“We’ve made good time.” Cloud Spots had hurried ahead. She could see him, no more than a shadow tracking back and forth at the bottom of a beech hedge, as though looking for the easiest way through. “What if the spirit-cats don’t come?”

Micah touched his muzzle to her shoulder. “You worry too much.”

Cloud Spots glanced over his shoulder. “I’ve picked up Dappled Pelt’s trail!”

“At last!” Moth Flight was beginning to wonder whether the RiverClan medicine cat had forgotten the meeting.

“Pebble Heart’s with her,” Cloud Spots called.

Moth Flight hurried to catch up with the ThunderClan medicine cat. “Is the trail fresh?”

“Yes!” Cloud Spots ducked under the hedge and disappeared.

Moth Flight squeezed after the long-furred black tom, the beech twigs scraping her pelt. Micah wriggled through at her tail.

On the other side, a meadow stretched into the shadow of Highstones. The cliff seemed to swallow half the sky. Cloud

Spots was already bounding through the long grass toward two feline shapes moving at the far side.

“Pebble Heart!” Cloud Spots’s yowl rang in the cold night air. “Dappled Pelt! Is that you?”

“Yes!” Pebble Heart’s call echoed back.

Micah broke into a run. “Come on! We’re nearly there!”

Moth Flight hared after him. As the soft grass turned to stones beneath her paws, she reached the RiverClan and ShadowClan medicine cats. “I thought you’d forgotten,” she puffed.

Dappled Pelt’s tortoiseshell fur rippled along her spine.

“How could we forget something as important as this?”

“I can’t wait to speak with the spirit-cats!” Pebble Heart’s eyes shone with starlight.

Micah paced back and forth, his tail twitching. “Cow and Mouse would never believe this.” He looked toward Highstones. The opening was just barely visible, a dark shadow in the face of the rock.

Cloud Spots followed his gaze. “Is that where we’re going?”

“Yes.” Butterflies fluttered in Moth Flight’s belly.

“Is it deep inside?” Pebble Heart’s mew trembled.

“There’s no need to be scared,” Moth Flight reassured him.

“Once we’ve entered, you’ll feel the Moonstone calling you.”

She remembered the strange calm that had enfolded her last time.

“Come on.” Micah began to cross the stones.

Moth Flight bounded after him, pebbles crunching beneath her paws as the slope steepened toward the foot of the cliff. “I bet you never thought, a moon ago, that you’d speak with dead cats,” she guessed as she caught up.

“I never thought I’d be living in a forest ,” Micah returned.

Moth Flight blinked at him anxiously. Did he resent how much she’d changed his life? “Are you sorry you met me?”

Micah halted and met her gaze solemnly. “No. It’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Joy rippled beneath Moth Flight’s pelt. “I feel the same w—”

“Hurry up.” Cloud Spots slid past them, his black pelt hardly visible against the dark rock. Only his white ears and paws gave him away.

Dappled Pelt hurried after the black tom. Pebble Heart bounded behind, scattering stones in his wake.

Wincing as one hit her paw, Moth Flight glanced up at the dark opening. What would the others think when they saw the Moonstone for the first time?

“Come on.” Micah nudged her forward.

Pebble Heart had already leaped onto the shadowy ledge.

The white spot on his chest glowed like a star. Cloud Spots hopped up beside him and stared blinking into the tunnel. Micah followed Dappled Pelt as Moth Flight scrambled up after them.

The icy stone felt familiar beneath her paws. She sniffed the shadows. The tang of stone and water washed her muzzle and she shivered, excitement swelling in her chest. “Follow me.” As she padded into the darkness, cold air flooded over her pelt.

Behind her, the starlight faded. “We have to reach the cave by the time moonlight strikes the stone.” Her breath billowed, warm around her nose.

She heard the other cats’ paws scuff the stone as they followed. Eyes wide, Moth Flight peered into the blackness, relaxing as she let her whiskers guide her. Brushing the wall of the tunnel, she followed it down as it snaked deep into

Highstones.

“Do you remember the way?” Cloud Spots’s anxious mew echoed behind her.

“What if you take the wrong tunnel?” Dappled Pelt fretted.

“I know where I’m going,” Moth Flight promised.

Micah’s breath rippled her tail-fur. “I can’t believe you came down here alone.”

“I wasn’t alone.” A purr trembled in Moth Flight’s throat.

“The spirit-cats were waiting for me.”

“Are they there now?” Pebble Heart’s mew sounded from the blackness.

“We’ll see when the moonlight hits the stone.” Moth Flight quickened her pace. She didn’t want to miss it. Fresh air touched her nose. “We’re nearly there!” She rounded a corner and felt the tunnel open around her. Air swirled over her pelt and she blinked as she saw weak starlight rippling on the cave walls ahead. She paused, her heart pounding. Pebble Heart padded past her, nose twitching. Dapple Pelt and Cloud Spots circled the great rock.

Micah stopped beside Moth Flight. He stared at the hole high in the roof. “Who’d have thought starlight could reach down this far?”

Moth Flight purred. “Wait until the moon light arrives.” She padded toward the rock and settled herself in front of it. “We have to touch our noses to it,” she told the others.

“How do you know?” Cloud Spots blinked at her.

“I saw another cat do it in a dream, and last time I came—”

Pebble Heart cut her off. “Look!”

Moth Flight followed his gaze. Through the hole, she could see the clipped edge of the moon. “Hurry!”

Fur brushing rock, the other cats settled around the Moonstone. Dappled Pelt’s eyes flashed with excitement.

Pebble Heart shifted on his belly, pelt pricking.

Cloud Spots crouched beside him, a whisker from the stone.

Micah settled beside Moth Flight. She felt warmth seeping from his pelt and closed her eyes.

Pebble Heart’s gasp made her blink them open.

Light blinded her. The rock shimmered in front of her muzzle, brighter than countless stars. Her breath quickened as she touched her nose to it.

The rock seemed to fall away. She was swept through the air, her head spinning, her heart pounding in her ears. And then she felt soft grass beneath her paws.

She blinked open her eyes.

Where was the cave?

She was on top of a hill. Green meadows stretched away on every side. In the distance, a forest lifted its branches to a clear, blue sky. She felt sunlight warm her pelt and smelled the fresh scent of newleaf.

Micah shifted beside her.

She caught his eye. “Where are we?”

“You don’t know ?” He blinked in surprise.

“Last time, I never left the cave.”

Cloud Spots looked around, pelt bristling. Dappled Pelt leaped to her paws.

“What is this place?” Pebble Heart’s eyes were stretched with wonder.

A silky mew answered him. “These are our hunting grounds.”

Half Moon was climbing the slope toward them. More pelts shimmered into view, encircling the hilltop. Starlight shone in their fur.

Joy swelled in Moth Flight’s chest. The spirit-cats! They’d come!

Half Moon padded past Moth Flight and halted.