The Blazing Star (28 page)

“Jagged Peak and Dappled Pelt took the messages to River Ripple and Wind Runner,” Gray Wing went on. “River Ripple said he'd keep watch on the riverbank, and Wind Runner . . . well, she didn't say no this time. We can only hope that she and Gorse Fur will come and do what they can to help.”

Thunder glanced across the moor in the direction of the sandy dip and the rocks where Wind Runner lived, but he couldn't see any sign at all of approaching cats.

A gasp from Lightning Tail drew Thunder's attention and
he squinted into the bright sunlight. Clear Sky was padding into the center of the moor.

He's clever!
Thunder thought admiringly as he watched his father's stride, self-assured yet wary.
No cat would ever know that he feels his friends all around him.

Clear Sky reached the top of a small hillock, turned to face the forest, and sat down. Motionless, he waited.

Thunder realized that he was holding his breath as he gazed into the distance for the approach of One Eye. The sun beat down on his pelt. Beside him, Lightning Tail flicked his tail impatiently. “Where is he?” he muttered.

Movement flashed in the corner of Thunder's eye. Whirling around, he spotted One Eye. But the rogue hadn't come from the forest. Instead he exploded out of a nearby rabbit hole.

“The tunnels!” Gray Wing hissed in frustration. “Why didn't we think of those?”

“We should have known One Eye would do something sneaky,” Thunder responded, all the hair on his pelt beginning to bristle.

Clear Sky spun around, but a heartbeat too late. One Eye's paw was already raking through the air, his claws tearing at Clear Sky's ear. Blood poured down Clear Sky's face, and he let out a screech of mingled pain and anger. Thunder saw him shake his head, trying to clear the blood from his eyes.

This is the worst possible start!
Thunder thought.

He flexed his claws, digging them into the ground. All his instincts were shrieking at him to spring out from hiding and
help his father, but Clear Sky had insisted that he wanted to fight One Eye alone for a few moments. “I want him to feel overconfident,” he had explained.

Clear Sky lashed out at One Eye, striking a hard blow to the rogue's shoulder. One Eye countered by aiming for Clear Sky's throat, but Clear Sky leaped backward in time to avoid his slashing claws.

Then to Thunder's amazement One Eye drew back, padding around Clear Sky about a tail-length away from him. His words reached Thunder on the still air.

“You said you'd fight me, Clear Sky. Are you ready to die?”

Clear Sky's answer rang out. “There's only one cat who'll die today, and that's you.”

One Eye let out a furious snarl and launched himself again at Clear Sky. For a few moments they tussled together on the grass. At first it was hard for Thunder to see which cat was winning, until a heartbeat later Clear Sky was lying on his back with his belly exposed. One Eye raised his paw to slice down through the soft flesh.

Now!

Thunder leaped out of his hiding place, raising his voice in a great yowl of defiance. That was the signal for the other cats to launch themselves at One Eye.

As he bounded over the springy moorland grass, Thunder saw Clear Sky scramble back onto his paws. He faced One Eye, hissing to distract him, but One Eye had heard Thunder's cry and spun around, gazing at the cats who were converging on him.

Yes, One Eye, we're coming!
Thunder's paws skimmed the ground and he could sense Lightning Tail racing along at his shoulder and Gray Wing close behind. Cloud Spots was leading the other cats who had hidden behind the gorse bushes.

Beyond One Eye, Thunder spotted River Ripple, Dew, and Night charging across the moor from the river, and . . .
Yes, there's Wind Runner!
Gorse Fur was by her side, and as they closed in on One Eye, Clear Sky leaped aside to join them.

They must have left their kits with Slate.
The thought flashed through Thunder's mind as he remembered what Gray Wing had told him about his nighttime encounter.
She sounds like a cat worth knowing.

That fleeting thought distracted Thunder, and he caught his paw in a rabbit hole, hitting the ground hard and rolling over in a tangle of paws and tail.

Lightning Tail's voice rang out. “Thunder, look!”

Struggling to his paws, Thunder saw a line of cats rushing across the moor from the direction of the forest. He half expected to see some of Clear Sky's cats among them, but all of them were strangers to him.
One Eye's rogues! There are so many!

The group of rogues divided as they drew closer. One section barreled between One Eye and River Ripple, while another darted into Wind Runner's path. Three cats raced toward Thunder and Lightning Tail, who were leading the moorland cats, and snarled at them with claws extended. Thunder had to veer to one side, confusing the cats who were pelting up behind him. They all stumbled to a halt, panting, as the rogue cats hissed in their faces.

“Get out of here!” Thunder responded to the hissing with a hostile growl. “This isn't your fight!”

The rogues didn't move. Thunder's glance darted over to One Eye, who had leaped up onto a rock and was watching with sardonic satisfaction in his single eye. Thunder and his cats were being held back by the rogues. Thunder couldn't imagine how their plan had gone so wrong.

Did One Eye
know
that we would be in hiding to help Clear Sky?

One Eye let out a
mrrow
of harsh laughter. “Did you really think you could get the better of me?” he asked, his voice filled with mockery. “Oh, daughter dear, won't you show yourself?”

A golden tabby cat broke away from the back of the crowd of rogues
. No . . . it can't be! Star Flower . . .
Thunder stared in horror as the beautiful rogue leaped up beside her father.

Her father? I don't believe it!
Thunder felt his mouth go dry and his heart begin to beat faster with shock. He couldn't even look at Lightning Tail. Guilt crashed over him; his head spun, and for a heartbeat the sky darkened.

“Thunder.” Gray Wing's voice spoke from somewhere by his side, heavy with sorrow. “You've been betrayed.”

C
HAPTER
25

Gray Wing could hardly believe that
his plans had been so utterly torn apart.
How could I have let my cats down so badly?
He felt even greater pain at the shattered look on Thunder's face.

But there was no time to think about that now. The rogue cats were clustering around him and his denmates, hissing and showing their claws. In the lead was a raw-boned tabby tom with one shredded ear. His jaws gaped, showing snaggly teeth, and his claws worked eagerly as he pressed forward.
They're trying to scare us—and they're succeeding! We're way outnumbered.

Then a screech came from the branches of the thorn tree, and in a blur of movement Owl Eyes and Sparrow Fur hurled themselves at the crowd of rogues.

No!
Panic gripped Gray Wing's limbs.
This is too dangerous for kits!

Then he saw that their brave leap had worked. Startled, the rogues staggered back; the distraction was just enough for Gray Wing and the others to dart away.

“Follow me!” River Ripple yowled with a wave of his tail.

Streaking across the moor, he led the cats toward the river. Gray Wing glanced over his shoulder and saw that the rogues
weren't bothering to follow.

Why should they?
he asked himself, tasting the bitterness of defeat.
They've chased us off.

River Ripple leaped down from the riverbank onto the narrow strip of pebbles where, not long ago, Gray Wing had lain in wait for a vole. Now he shuddered at making his escape so close to the water.

Once all the cats had jumped down, River Ripple halted, giving them a moment to catch their breath. His chest heaving, Gray Wing glanced around to make sure all his cats had made it. The two kits were there, he noticed with relief, and all the others except for Wind Runner and Gorse Fur.
And Clear Sky himself,
Gray Wing realized, remembering his last glimpse of his brother surrounded by snarling rogues.
Oh, please let him be alive.

The cats huddled together on the pebbles, gazing at one another with wide eyes. “What are we going to do?” Jagged Peak asked. “Clear Sky is still out there. We can't leave him!”

River Ripple shouldered his way through the cluster of cats and headed upstream. “Come on! This way!” he called.

Gray Wing followed, the pebbles feeling cold and wet beneath his paws. The current sucked at the edge, and sometimes the strip of solid ground was only wide enough for the cats to pass in single file.
This had better be worth it,
he thought as he struggled to keep his balance on the slick stones.

Finally River Ripple paused at the mouth of a tunnel in the bank. “This will take us back onto the moor,” he meowed.

Tall Shadow balked at the entrance, gazing down into
the gaping darkness. “There could be anything living down there,” she objected.

“It was a badger set, but the badgers are long gone,” River Ripple responded. “You'll have to trust me. Do you want to save Clear Sky or not?”

Without waiting for a reply, he headed into the tunnel. Tall Shadow shrugged and followed, with the rest of the cats hard on her paws.

In the first few tail-lengths, Gray Wing could see white tree roots interlacing above his head, holding up the roof of the tunnel, but soon the light from the entrance faded and he padded along in darkness. He could feel damp soil beneath his paws, and smell earth all around him, and the scent of Tall Shadow just ahead of him.

In the lead, River Ripple was moving swiftly, passing a side tunnel with no hesitation. Gray Wing began to feel the familiar ache in his chest as he forced himself to keep up. He began to feel like he had been loping along forever in the darkness.
Surely Clear Sky will be dead before we can get to him!

Then he realized that a faint light was filtering into the tunnel from somewhere ahead, and he could make out Tall Shadow and River Ripple in front of him. The light grew until it became a wide circle of daylight.
We're almost there!
Gray Wing thought thankfully.

At the tunnel entrance, River Ripple halted. “We need to be careful,” he mewed softly. “Wait here while I see what's outside.” He pressed himself flat to the ground and crept into the open.

Gray Wing could see him looking around; then he glanced back and beckoned with his tail. “You can come out,” he told the others.

The rest of the cats followed him cautiously. Gray Wing saw that they had emerged in the middle of a gorse thicket. Peering through the branches, he looked around for Clear Sky, then drew in a gasp of horror at what he saw.

One Eye and the rogues had backed Clear Sky against a rock and were surrounding him, caterwauling insults and threats of what they would do to him.

“Mange-pelt! Fox dung–eater!”

“We'll spread your guts all over the moor!”

Each rogue in turn was padding up to him and aiming fierce kicks at his ribs with their hind legs.

Clear Sky was still on his paws, but just barely so, and Gray Wing feared that each kick might knock him over. Blood from his torn ear matted his pelt, but his eyes still blazed with defiance.

“We have to stop this, before they kill him,” Gray Wing meowed.

A rustle among the branches announced the arrival of Wind Runner and Gorse Fur. “We waited for you,” Wind Runner explained rapidly. “We knew you would come back. One Eye has been too busy torturing Clear Sky to worry about where you went. What should we do now?”

Gray Wing realized that the eyes of every cat had turned toward him.
I'd better come up with a really good plan,
he thought. The cold sun of leaf-bare was still high in the cloudless sky,
shedding its brilliant light down on the moor. The beginnings of an idea stirred in Gray Wing's mind.