“Why?” Bewildered, Clear Sky let Thunder help him to his paws.
Tall Shadow lifted her tail. “Come with us,” she told him. “We have something to show you.”
Chapter 5
Gray Wing peered through the shadowy pines. Scrubland stretched ahead of him, bathed in moonlight. In the distance, he could hear the rumbling of the Thunderpath. Beyond the scrub, the carrion place rose against the star-specked sky. Gray Wing shuddered as the stench of the mountain of Twoleg trash touched his nose. Was Slash really keeping Star Flower so close to such a filthy place?
Lightning Tail shifted beside him. The forest cat’s musky scent seemed strange to Gray Wing now.
Leaf and Reed fidgeted in the shadows behind them.
Leaf and Lightning Tail had volunteered to join the patrol when Gray Wing had traveled to Thunder’s camp to discuss his plan. Reed had insisted on coming right from the start, and Gray Wing had been grateful to his campmate. The silver tom’s knowledge of healing might be useful. Who knew what state they’d find Star Flower in?
Lightning Tail wrinkled his nose. “Are you sure this is the place?”
Gray Wing kept his gaze fixed ahead. “Fern said it was.”
Leaf glanced over his shoulder uneasily. “Where is Fern? You said she’d meet us here.”
“She has to slip away from her campmates without being seen,” Gray Wing reminded him.
“Let’s hope she hurries,” Reed muttered. “We need to get Star Flower away before the meeting is finished and Slash leaves the four trees. If he’s willing to kidnap a queen, what in the stars will he do to us if he finds us trying to help her escape?”
Gray Wing glanced at the half-moon. It was still rising. How long would the meeting last? Wind Runner had promised to stretch it out as long as she could. Hopefully there was still plenty of time.
He glanced back into the shadows anxiously. Was Fern coming? Perhaps they should start searching the scrubland for Star Flower without her.
Gray Wing had spent the last quarter moon tracking Fern, scouring the pine forest for some sign of her scent as he tried to figure out where she’d gone after she’d left Tall Shadow’s camp. He’d ranged farther and farther, trekking through the oak forest and even beside the river in the hope that he could catch up with her. She was his only link to Slash and his only chance of finding out where Star
Flower was being held.
At last, he’d found her scent, beyond the pines. He’d tracked it, growing wary as it mingled with rogue stench. The scents had thickened as he’d followed her trail, until he could smell nothing else.
He had halted, his pelt pricking with fear. He had located the rogues’ camp. It was a dip where the pines thinned onto boggy land, hidden by a thick wall of marsh grass. He’d circled it gingerly, then climbed the slope beyond. Hazel thickets crowded between willow trees, which stretched toward denser forest. It was a perfect hiding place from which to observe the comings and goings of the rogues. Gray Wing had found a patch of rotting moss and rolled in it to disguise his scent, then crouched at the heart of the most tangled thicket and waited.
A long day and night passed before he glimpsed Fern. As dawn washed the marshland in watery light, he saw her. She was following a patrol along a trail toward the camp. Gray Wing’s heart had lurched as he wondered how to attract her attention without being spotted by her campmates.
He was lucky that she had such a keen sense of smell. She’d paused as she padded along the bottom of the slope, her nose twitching. She had pricked her ears. Gray Wing’s heart had quickened as she turned and glanced toward the willows.
“I’ll catch up to you!” she’d called to the patrol.
As soon as they were out of sight, Fern had hared up the slope, darting between the hazel thickets, her pelt rippling.
She’d guessed he’d come about Star Flower but swore she didn’t know where the queen was being held. “Slash won’t tell anyone but her guards,” she’d confided. “He’s keeping her away from the camp so no one can find her.”
“But we have to know where she is,” Gray Wing had pressed.
Fern had promised to find out where Star Flower was being held. “But you mustn’t come back here,” she had told him. “I’ll find you. It’s safer for both of us.” He’d left her, feeling more anxious than relieved. Was it fair to let Fern put herself at risk? He’d pushed the worry away. Clear Sky’s unborn kits were at greater risk.
Days had passed, with the meeting at the four trees looming ever closer. At last Fern had come, slinking at dawn from a patch of heather as he passed on hunting patrol, her eyes round with fear. “I know where she’s being held,” she’d breathed. “I can’t show you now. Slash will already be wondering where I am.”
They’d arranged to convene at the edge of the pine forest on the night of the meeting.
The night had arrived and Gray Wing glanced at the half-moon again. Where was she? Hadn’t she been able to get away? He shifted his paws, feeling stiff from crouching on the damp earth.
“What if Fern doesn’t come?” Lightning Tail glanced at him.
“We’ll find Star Flower ourselv—” Gray Wing broke off as the brambles rustled behind them.
He spun, signaling with a twitch of his tail-tip for the others to be silent.
“Gray Wing?” Fern’s frightened whisper sounded between the trees.
Gray Wing felt a flicker of relief, then stared anxiously into the shadows. “Are you alone?”
“Of course I am.” She slid from the tangled branches, wincing as the thorns tugged her black, knotted fur.
Leaf straightened. “We thought you weren’t coming.”
Fern glared at him. “I said I would, didn’t I?”
Reed dipped his head. “We’re just glad you made it here safely.”
Lightning Tail blinked at her expectantly. “Where’s Star Flower?”
“Follow me.” Fern brushed past him and padded from the trees. Keeping low, she led them across the scrubland.
Short, wiry grass jabbed between Gray Wing’s claws. Frost-blackened bushes crowded on either side. The stench of the carrion place grew stronger as they neared it.
Fern slowed her pace. She nodded toward a dense patch of bracken. “She’s in there,” she breathed. “Swallow and Snake are guarding her.”
Lightning Tail padded closer, tasting the air.
Gray Wing saw Fern hesitate, fear-scent wafting from her pelt.
“You’d better get back to your camp,” he whispered.
She glanced at him gratefully. “If Slash finds out I led you here—”
“I know.” Gray Wing touched his nose to her head gratefully. “You’ve been very brave, and we will remember your kindness and courage for many moons.”
She blinked at him expectantly. “I hope you get her away from here. It’s no place for a queen who’s carrying kits.” Dipping her head quickly, she hurried back toward the cover of the pines.
Gray Wing turned to Lightning Tail. “Are you ready?”
“Of course!” Lighting Tail lifted his chin.
Gray Wing nodded toward Leaf. “Do you remember what to do?”
Leaf nodded.
Gray Wing tasted the air. Rogue scent touched his tongue. The bracken swished in the light breeze. He signaled Lightning Tail and Leaf forward with a flick of his tail, then crouched, pressing his belly to the earth. Reed dropped down beside him as the two forest cats padded closer to the bracken.
Gray Wing held his breath as they neared the shadowy fronds. Leaf glanced at him quickly, then ducked beneath the cover of a juniper bush. Lightning Tail lifted his chin and marched straight on.