“A few days.” Pebble Heart stepped back.
Clear Sky struggled to his paws. He twisted his head gently, as though feeling for pain. “Thank you.” He nodded to Pebble Heart. “That feels better already.”
“I chewed some dock into the poultice,” Pebble Heart told him. “It will soothe the wound. When you get back to the forest, put some dock leaves in your nest when you sleep. It will ease the pain.”
Clear Sky blinked gratefully at the young cat, then turned to Thunder. “See how well we manage when we work together?”
Thunder felt his heart grow heavy. Clear Sky was still trying to persuade him that the cats should join up.
He stared blankly at his father, searching for words.
Clear Sky spoke again before he could answer. “You saved me from that badger, and Pebble Heart has made sure my wound will heal. Imagine if we all lived in the forest?” His eyes grew brighter with each word. “We’d grow strong and spread, just like the spirit cats said.”
“I don’t think that’s what they meant,” Cloud Spots mewed gently.
Clear Sky turned on him. “How do you know? You weren’t there!”
Thunder flattened his ears as he heard his father’s temper flare. Perhaps Clear Sky hadn’t changed that much after all. “Leave Cloud Spots alone,” he murmured. “He just helped you.”
Clear Sky’s angry gaze flashed toward Thunder. “Why won’t any of you understand? Fluttering Bird wants us to be together!”
Thunder felt suddenly weary. Fighting with badgers was bad enough. He didn’t want to fight with Clear Sky too. He got to his paws. “Can Clear Sky take some fresh herbs home with him?”
Pebble Heart answered him. “I’ll wrap the leftover poultice in a leaf for him.”
“Thanks.” Thunder headed out of the den. “I’m going to check on the kits.” He wanted to make sure their nest was clear of snow.
Outside, a few flakes swirled around him as he crossed the clearing.
Jagged Peak was dragging a large piece of heather toward the far end.
“Are the kits okay?” Thunder called.
Jagged Peak dropped the branch and looked at Thunder. “We’re moving them to a more sheltered spot.”
Thunder caught up with him as he dragged the branch beneath the trailing broom. “Under here?”
Inside, a wide circle of clear earth sat sheltered by the dropping stems. Even stripped of their leaves they made a fine windbreak, and the snow hadn’t made it through. Holly was near the back of the den, weaving heather branches together with her teeth. Eagle Feather, Dew Nose, and Storm Pelt were darting around her, pouncing on one another, tails flicking with excitement.
Jagged Peak dropped the fresh branch beside his mate. “Shattered Ice and Lightning Tail have gone out to collect more now that the snow’s eased,” he told her.
“We’ll need moss to line it,” Holly told him.
Eagle Feather scrambled onto her back as she crouched to spear another twig into the half-built nest. “I want a badger ride!” he squeaked.
Holly huffed with annoyance and shrugged him off. “Not now! I only have two pairs of paws!”
Thunder padded forward. “I’ll play with the kits,” he offered.
Holly glanced at him, relief glowing in her eyes. “Thank you, Thunder.”
“I’ll play with them too,” Jagged Peak added quickly.
Thunder dipped his head. “We can both play.”
Eagle Feather jumped onto his father’s back. Dew Nose raced for Thunder and clawed her way onto his shoulders.
He winced at her tiny, thorn-sharp claws. “What about you, Storm Pelt?”
The gray kit was hanging back. “I want to help Holly.”
Holly’s ear twitched. “Go and play, dear.”
“I promise I won’t get in your way.” Storm Pelt gazed at her solemnly. “I can push in the sticky-out bits.” He reached up to the half-woven nest and tucked a heather sprig in with a nimble paw.
Holly purred. “Okay, then.”
“Hurry up, Thunder!” Dew Nose curled her claws into Thunder’s pelt.
“Careful!” Thunder gasped. “I’m not prey!”
Dew Nose purred as he pushed his way through the bushes.
“Hang on!” he warned as the trailing branches swept over them.
Dew Nose’s paws tightened around his shoulders, and he purred, grateful that she was keeping her claws sheathed.
Outside, the clouds were thinning. The snow had stopped, but the clearing was thickly coated. He waded through it, thumping his paws heavily against the earth like a lumbering badger, and trying not to think about the real badger he’d fought earlier. Dew Nose squeaked with delight and hung on harder.
Jagged Peak caught up to him. “Did I see Clear Sky coming back into camp with you?”
“Clear Sky?” Eagle Feather mewed on Jagged Peak’s shoulders. “Where?”
“He’s in Cloud Spots’s den,” Thunder explained. “We ran into a badger. He got a little scratch.”
He didn’t want to frighten the kits.
“A badger?” Jagged Peak looked alarmed. “Close to the camp?”
Thunder shook his head. “Near the forest border. It was injured. I doubt it’ll hang around long on the moor. Especially in this weather.”
Jagged Peak was frowning. “If it was close to the forest border, why did you bring him back here?”
“He was injured—” Thunder began.
Jagged Peak didn’t let him finish. “He’s caused enough worry and gossip in the camp already! We don’t need him stirring up more trouble.” He stopped and shook Eagle Feather from his shoulders.
The tiny kit plumped into the snow with a squeak. “That wasn’t long enough!”
Jagged Peak nodded toward the boulder at the other end of the camp. “Go and see if you can find some moss around the bottom of Tall Shadow’s rock.”
“But it’s covered in snow,” Eagle Feather objected.
“Then you’ll have to dig for it,” Jagged Peak told him firmly.
Dew Nose slithered down Thunder’s flank and landed beside her brother. “Come on, Eagle
Feather! Holly will be really pleased if we bring her moss.” She bounded over the snow, sinking deeper with each jump. Eagle Feather plunged after her. “Wait for me!” They looked like frogs bobbing through water.
Thunder purred and glanced at Jagged Peak, but the gray tabby tom wasn’t watching his kits. He was staring at Cloud Spots’s den beyond the rock, his eyes dark with worry.
“Was he hurt badly?” Jagged Peak asked.
“Just a scratch,” Thunder told him. Was someone other than Cloud Spots and Pebble Heart worried about Clear Sky after all? “Pebble Heart’s just making sure it won’t turn sour.”
“So he’ll be able to go straight home.”
Thunder stared at Jagged Peak. “Don’t you care that he was hurt?”
Jagged Peak dragged his gaze from the den. “It makes a change, I suppose,” he snorted. “He usually causes wounds.”
Thunder flinched, but didn’t argue. Clear Sky had killed Rainswept Flower and banished Jagged Peak from the forest. He understood why the tom was bitter. But Jagged Peak’s words worried him.
He glanced around the camp. Tall Shadow was on her rock, gazing across the moor while the kits burrowed eagerly below. Mud Paws was emerging from the long grass at the edge, shaking snow from his ears. Dappled Pelt sat a few tail-lengths away, her ears twitching, while Mouse Ear stood beside her staring into the sky. “You said Clear Sky had caused gossip?” Thunder asked.
“You know Tall Shadow has been thinking about making a new home in the pines,” Jagged Peak grunted. “And this weather has started everyone wondering whether living in such an exposed place is a good idea. Mud Paws and Mouse Ear said they were never this cold when they were strays. They could shelter in woods or by the river when the cold weather came.”