The Blazing Star (10 page)

“Not many,” Mouse Ear replied. “It's wet and marshy over there, and few cats enjoy the feeling of mud on their paws . . . not even Mud Paws,” he added with a snort of laughter.

“But you must have been—” Tall Shadow began, only to break off as a bundle of mangy fur erupted from a pile of dead leaves and brush, hurling itself on top of Thunder, striking out to claw him across the nose.

“I saw it first!” a raspy voice meowed.

Thunder recoiled, stunned at the speed of the attack, and swiped a paw over his stinging snout. When he recovered he saw One Eye standing in front of him, his tail lashing and his lips drawn back in a snarl. A dead bird lay at his paws.

“We're supposed to be at peace!” Thunder snapped, sliding out his claws as he braced himself for another attack. “I didn't
even see your wretched bird!”

One Eye took a threatening pace forward.

“Get back!” The shrill screech came from Pebble Heart. “Every cat get back!”

A thrill of fear ran through Thunder at the urgency in the kit's voice. For the first time he looked closely at the bird and saw that its belly was swollen and some of its feathers were missing. Dried pus crusted the areas of exposed skin.

“Stop!” Pebble Heart squealed as One Eye stepped forward, about to sink his teeth into the prey.

Thunder sprang forward, barreling into the mangy tom, driving him back from the bird. One Eye fought back hard, digging his teeth into Thunder's neck.

“Get off!” Thunder mewed through gritted teeth. “I'm trying to save your miserable pelt!” He flung One Eye away, then pinned him down with both forepaws on his chest. The tom glared up at him with hatred in his one eye.

At last Tall Shadow realized what had frightened Pebble Heart. “The bird is sick!” she yowled. “Every cat stay away!”

While she was speaking, the undergrowth parted a few fox-lengths away, and Clear Sky appeared, followed by Petal and the two kits, Birch and Alder. “One Eye, what's going on here?” he asked with a rapid glance around at the other cats.

Thunder stepped back, allowing One Eye to get up, seeing recognition and then fear creep into his eye as he surveyed the dead bird. “Nothing,” the rogue muttered, not meeting Clear Sky's gaze.

I'm not letting him get away with that!
Thunder thought. Clearing
his throat, he dipped his head toward his father. “Actually,” he began, “One Eye attacked me for getting too close to his kill. I fought him off because the bird is sick. Whatever he says, I was trying to help.”

Clear Sky narrowed his eyes. “Sick?”

“Yes, it—” Thunder broke off as the two kits bounded forward and peered curiously at the bird. “No!” he went on sharply, pushing them away with a gentle paw. “Stay back.”

But Birch dodged around him, stretched out his neck, and touched the dead bird with his nose. “Yuck!” he exclaimed, his curiosity changing to disgust as he backed away. “It smells foul!”

Thunder let out a sigh and glanced at Clear Sky, who beckoned the kits with a jerk of his head. “Get back here
now
!” he mewed commandingly. There was concern in his eyes, which surprised Thunder—it was a look he hadn't seen from his father when
he
was a kit who needed him. He tried not to feel envious that Clear Sky cared for kits who weren't even his own.

The two kits bounced back to Petal, who gathered them close with her tail, and licked their ears affectionately.

Clear Sky padded forward and gave the bird a careful inspection, looking just as disgusted as the other cats.

“You've been in the forest a long time,” he said to One Eye. “Have you seen this illness before?”

One Eye twitched his ears. “It's just sickness,” he replied. “Sickness is part of life in the wild.”

Thunder could see that Clear Sky wasn't satisfied with
One Eye's answer. His eyes looked apprehensive as he glanced back at the kits. Then he turned back toward the moorland cats. “What brings you here?” he asked.

Tall Shadow stepped forward. “We found out something about the Blazing Star,” she explained. “It's a plant that grows on the other side of the Thunderpath, and we're going to get some, to see if it will help us to understand what the spirit-cats meant.”

Clear Sky's whiskers quivered in annoyance. “You got a clue as to what the message meant, and you weren't going to tell me? Aren't we all in this together?
Unite or die
, remember?”

Shame swept over Thunder as his father spoke. He could see that Tall Shadow felt the same. How could it not have occurred to any cat to tell Clear Sky what they had discovered?

“We never meant to keep it from you,” she assured Clear Sky. “We were just working quickly. But you're right. We should find the Blazing Star together.”

Clear Sky gave a grim nod, obviously not appeased by the black she-cat's words. “Petal, take the kits back to camp,” he ordered. “One Eye, you go too.”

Petal turned away, leading her kits back into the undergrowth, but One Eye stood still, bristling. “I should come with you,” he insisted. “You can't shoo me back to camp like some mewling kit!”

“You're not needed here,” Clear Sky meowed firmly. “And part of living in a group is knowing your place. Do you understand, One Eye?”

Thunder was suddenly aware that the air was thickening
with tension as the two toms faced each other. The mangy rogue's single eye burned with hatred, and Thunder could tell from Clear Sky's tight voice and rigid stance that he wasn't confident, in spite of his show of authority.

But Clear Sky's gaze never wavered, and at last One Eye took a few paces back toward the camp. Thunder hoped that the confrontation was over, but as he and the others were turning to leave, One Eye halted and looked back over his shoulder.

“There's not much you could do to keep me from following,” he hissed. “I may have only one eye, but it sees everything.”

Before Clear Sky could respond, One Eye turned away again and vanished into the undergrowth.

For a moment Clear Sky seemed lost for words. Then Tall Shadow padded up to him and brushed her pelt against his. “We'd better get going,” she mewed. “Daylight is short.”

She took the lead again as they headed toward the Thunderpath. Mouse Ear walked beside Clear Sky, while Thunder brought up the rear with Pebble Heart, who still looked uneasy.

“Are you okay?” Thunder murmured.

The kit nodded. “I'm fine. I'm just worried about what is happening in the forest.”

So are we all
. . . . Thunder thought.

Before they had gone many paw steps, Mouse Ear turned to Clear Sky. “Now you must see what a mistake it was to let One Eye join your group,” he meowed bluntly.

Clear Sky glared at him, the fur on his shoulders beginning
to fluff up. “I see no such thing,” he retorted. “One Eye may be a bit strong-willed, but it will just take time for such an independent cat to adjust to living with many other cats.” Thunder could see uncertainty in his father's eyes as he added with a show of confidence, “One Eye has given us invaluable fighting techniques, and that's what matters.”

Tall Shadow, who had glanced back to listen to the exchange, had a knowing look in her eyes, but all she said was, “No more talking! We have to get a move on, if we want to get across the Thunderpath and back before it gets dark.”

Already Thunder could pick out the acrid tang of monsters among the forest scents, and before long they emerged from the trees and stood on the narrow strip of grass that bordered the hard, black stone. A dead ash tree leaned over the grass, surrounded by a thicket of brambles.

Tall Shadow glanced carefully in both directions. “Okay, Thunder,” she mewed. “You go across first.”

“Wait!” Mouse Ear flicked out his tail to halt Thunder. “You haven't felt the Thunderpath yet.”

Tall Shadow gave him a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”

“Like this.” Mouse Ear cautiously placed one paw on the black surface and twitched his ears. “No rumbles,” he reported. “It's safe for us all to cross.”

Thunder exchanged a surprised glance with Tall Shadow and Clear Sky. “I suppose there's a lot we can learn from the rogues,” Clear Sky commented.

“So let's do it,” Mouse Ear urged, tapping his paw impatiently. “The monsters won't wait for us forever.”

Without hesitation he bounded across the Thunderpath, with Tall Shadow and Clear Sky hard on his paws. Thunder noticed that Pebble Heart was looking apprehensive, and touched him reassuringly on the shoulder with his tail-tip. “Come on,” he encouraged the kit. “We'll cross together.”

Pebble Heart looked up at him, eyes wide. “I never thought a Thunderpath could be so
big
! It's nothing like the ones in the Twolegplace.”

“So you'll have a great story to tell Sparrow Fur and Owl Eyes,” Thunder responded.

Taking a deep breath, the kit sprang forward. Thunder kept pace with him, and the two of them arrived safely beside Tall Shadow and the others. A moment later a monster swept past, its unnaturally bright red pelt glittering in the sun.

“Monsters can go that fast?” Pebble Heart exclaimed, his chest swelling with pride now that he had made the crossing. “Amazing!”

Mouse Ear took the lead again as the cats headed away from the Thunderpath. Thunder began to pick up a different scent, of mud and water and rich, growing things. His nose twitched.
That must be the marsh. Give me the moor or the forest any day!

Eventually Mouse Ear halted at the top of a shallow slope that led down to a wide stretch of stagnant water dotted with tussocks of grass. Clumps of reeds clattered together as they swayed in the breeze. A dragonfly hovered above the surface of the water, its body a bright, iridescent blue. As Thunder watched, a frog leaped from the bank nearby with a loud
plop
;
ripples spread out from the spot where it disappeared.

Tall Shadow was gazing across the marsh too, looking transfixed. A faint purr came from her throat. Mouse Ear had to prod her to get her attention.

“This is what we've been looking for,” he told her, pointing with one paw to a spot a little way up the slope.

Eagerly Thunder joined Tall Shadow and Clear Sky around the plant. “Oh . . . is that it?” he asked, slightly disappointed.

The Blazing Star was smaller than he had expected, with spiky leaves and yellow flowers whose five petals spread out separately. It didn't seem important enough to be the answer to the spirit-cats' riddle.

“Just a small, yellow flower, shaped like a star,” Tall Shadow murmured.

“It looks like a paw with claws extended,” Clear Sky commented, holding up his own paw to demonstrate. “Perhaps the spirit-cats meant that we need to fight. To defend our territory from . . .”

He left the thought unfinished.

“From who?” Mouse Ear asked, his challenging tone attracting the gaze of every cat.

Tall Shadow shook her head. “The spirit-cats did not tell us to fight. They said we should grow and spread like the Blazing Star.” She thought for a moment, then added, “All these flowers bend toward the sun. Perhaps they meant that we should follow the sun. Move again—follow the sun even farther than before?”

“No,” Clear Sky meowed with a whisk of his tail. “We've
made that journey already. I believe
this
is where we're supposed to be.”

Thunder stared thoughtfully at the flower, waiting for an explanation to occur to him.
Why couldn't the spirit-cats be a bit clearer?

“What do you think, Thunder?” Clear Sky asked him.

Thunder couldn't deny a secret spring of satisfaction growing in his chest, like water bubbling up between rocks.
My father wants my advice! How far we've come!

“I'm not sure,” he replied, unable to stop staring at the flower.
The petals spread from the center, each pointing in a different direction
. . . .

While he was still pondering, Thunder remembered Pebble Heart's presence. The kit was so quiet and serious that it was easy to forget he was there. “Do you have any ideas?” he asked, turning to Pebble Heart.

The little tom stared for a heartbeat longer, then backed away. “I—I don't know,” he stammered. But he wouldn't meet Thunder's gaze and Thunder guessed he wasn't telling the full story. “I think things are about to change,” Pebble Heart added in a small voice.

Tall Shadow's whiskers drooped. “It's time to go,” she meowed. “Sunset is almost here.” She bent her head and bit off a stem with two or three flowers on it. “I'll take this back and see if it gives any of the others some ideas.”

Clear Sky nodded approvingly. “I'll take some too.” He bit off one stem, then after a heartbeat's pause picked another. “And I'll take this to River Ripple,” he added.

I should have thought of that!
Thunder was annoyed with himself.
We're not doing a very good job of being united if we forget to tell Clear Sky or River Ripple about important stuff.

Clear Sky took the lead as the patrol headed back toward the Thunderpath. This time, they all stood back to let Mouse Ear rest his paw on the black surface.

“Better wait,” he warned them. “There's a monster coming.”

Thunder looked up and down the Thunderpath, but he couldn't see any trace of a monster.
I wonder if this is some crazy rogue superstition?

As he waited, he noticed that Tall Shadow was gazing back toward the marsh, a faraway look in her eyes. “Tall Shadow, are you okay?” he asked.

The black she-cat looked startled, almost as if Thunder had caught her doing something wrong.

“What are you looking at?” he asked.

Tall Shadow glanced back at the marsh, and her tail curled up happily. “It's just so beautiful here,” she purred.

Beautiful? Has she got bees in her brain?