Star Flower refused to touch the rabbit until the afternoon patrol returned. As the sun sank slowly behind the trees, Clear Sky paced outside the den, listening for the sound of the hunting party. They should be back soon. He’d sent out a big patrol—Blossom, Birch, Nettle, Quick Water, and Thorn.
He wanted to make sure that if the rogues attacked again, they wouldn’t be able to steal whatever the patrol had caught.
Clear Sky stopped pacing. He poked his head into the den once more. “Please take just a mouthful.” He pushed the rabbit closer to Star Flower.
She shook her head. “I can’t eat while the others go hungry.”
Tiny Branch clambered onto his mother’s flank. “We’re not hungry.”
Dew Petal and Flower Foot were wrestling beside her belly. Dew Petal struggled free of her sister’s paws and grabbed her tail. “I win!” she squeaked.
Star Flower purred. “See?” She blinked at Clear Sky. “They’re getting plenty of milk, and they’re as strong as badgers.”
Clear Sky frowned. He could see bones showing sharply through Star Flower’s pelt. “But what about you?”
“I’ve been through worse,” she assured him.
Clear Sky glanced at the scrawny rabbit lying untouched at her side. Was it cruel to leave it where Star Flower could smell its fresh-kill scent? He’d been trying to tempt her, but if she refused to be tempted, perhaps he should move it away so she didn’t have to look at it.
As worry wormed in his belly, the bramble entrance rattled. Paw steps thrummed into camp.
“They’re back.” Hope flashed beneath his pelt. He turned eagerly from the den, pushed through the bracken, and leaped down the steep slope.
Blossom was standing in the middle of the clearing, two mice at her paws. Clear Sky looked past her hopefully at Birch, Nettle, Quick Water, and Thorn. Were they carrying any prey?
A vole hung from Nettle’s mouth.
Was that it?
Clear Sky tried not to look disappointed. At least they’d caught something. Perhaps they’d caught more and been ambushed by Slash. “Did you see the rogues?”
Blossom shook her head. “No sign of them.”
Nettle padded forward. “I know it’s not a big catch,” he apologized. “But we did our best.”
“Of course you did.” Frustration rippled through Clear Sky’s pelt. Where had all the prey gone?
Quick Water shook out her pelt. “It’s leaf-bare,” she reminded him. “Don’t you remember the cold seasons in the mountains? There was a time when the Tribe didn’t eat for five days.”
Clear Sky twitched his tail crossly. “That’s why we came to the forest! So we’d have prey no matter what season it was.”
Thorn padded across the clearing and settled in his favorite spot between the roots of the beech.
“Sometimes prey doesn’t make it through the first snows,” he meowed matter-of-factly.
“We’ll survive,” Nettle chipped in. “River Ripple will share his fish. Or we could scavenge in Twolegplace. Don’t forget, most of us have lived as loners. We know what it’s like to suffer through difficult times.”
Clear Sky gazed around his cats. “But living as a group, surely life should be easier?”
Quick Water blinked at him sympathetically. “Hunger is easier to bear when you’re surrounded by campmates. Why do you think the Tribe survived so long despite the hardship of the mountains?”
Thorn sat down and began to wash. “We have warm nests,” he mewed between laps. “And the hope that tomorrow’s hunting will be better.”
Unless the rogues take it, Clear Sky thought darkly.
Blossom glanced toward the bracken that shielded Clear Sky’s den. “Did Star Flower eat the rabbit?”
“She won’t eat until she knows the rest of you have food,” Clear Sky told her.
“Then give her this.” Blossom tossed him one of the mice. “We can share the rabbit and the rest of our catch. Tell her we have plenty. We’ll make sure she doesn’t go hungry.”
Clear Sky blinked at her gratefully. He knew that one scrawny rabbit, a mouse, and a vole wouldn’t fill every belly. But if Star Flower was well fed, the kits would have milk. “Thank you.”
Quick Water purred. “It’s good to have kits in the camp again. They bring hope.”
Clear Sky dipped his head, grateful for his campmates’ optimism. He picked up the mouse. It swung from his jaws as he leaped up the slope and headed for his den.
“Blossom says you should eat this.” He dropped the mouse beside Star Flower.
She blinked at him through the shadows of the den. “Did they catch much?”
“Enough for everyone to eat something.” Even if it was just a mouthful each.
Star Flower narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Did she know he was exaggerating?
“I think they would appreciate the rabbit,” he told her quietly, avoiding her eye.
Star Flower nosed it toward him. “Then they should have it. Make sure Birch and Alder get a bite. I know rabbit is their favorite.”
He purred, pressing his cheek to hers, then picked up the rabbit. Anger pricked in his belly as Slash’s words rang in his mind: Give this to Star Flower.
How would he stop the rogues from stealing their prey? He lifted his chin. Tomorrow they would start training to fight, as Thunder had suggested. But would that be enough? He hurried to the clearing and dropped the rabbit beside the meager prey pile, then headed back to his den.
“Aren’t you eating anything?” Birch called after him.
He shook his head. “I’ll eat tomorrow,” he replied without looking back. His belly felt tight with hunger, and as he reached his den, he smelled fresh mouse blood. Star Flower had eaten it already.
She must have been starving. Tomorrow he would hunt again. He slid into the nest and settled beside
Star Flower. She was lying drowsily in her nest while the kits clambered over her.
“Clear Sky?” Tiny Branch leaped onto his flank. “Can we leave the den tomorrow?”
“Yes.” Clear Sky stretched his muzzle forward and nudged the kit’s cheek.
Tiny Branch’s tail quivered excitedly. “Did you hear that?” he squeaked, leaping onto Dew Petal and Flower Foot. “We can go outside tomorrow!”
“Finally!” Dew Petal cheered.
She tumbled into the mossy depths of the nest, tugging Flower Foot and Tiny Branch with her.
Happiness filled Clear Sky’s empty belly as they wrestled beside him. And yet he couldn’t relax.
The idea of his kits training to go out into the world made him uneasy. Because as long as Slash and his rogues roamed the forest, none of his cats were safe.
Chapter 10
Thunder gazed across the four trees hollow. The cats from the other groups milled around him, waiting for the meeting to start. The sun glittered through the bare branches of the oaks, bathing the hollow in cold, bright light.
Lightning Tail’s breath brushed his ear fur. “This place looks bigger in the daylight.”
Thunder purred softly. “Are you missing the dark?” He knew that Lightning Tail enjoyed melting into the shadows and watching the other cats. His friend often teased him about his white paws and orange pelt. Too white to hide in shadow and too orange to hide in snow.
Lightning Tail leaned closer. “I don’t know why Clear Sky called a meeting so soon after the last one.”
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Thunder answered.
His father was pacing one edge of the clearing. Star Flower watched him, a few tail-lengths away, through green eyes. Thunder’s pelt pricked with curiosity. How had he persuaded the queen to leave her kits?
Wind Runner and Gorse Fur were shifting impatiently from paw to paw. Wind Runner had explained that Gray Wing had wanted to come, but his breathing was bad today. Thunder pictured the gray tom in his nest; he must be very ill to miss a meeting. Why? Had he worn himself out hunting? Or was his breathing growing steadily worse? Whatever sickness ailed him, Gray Wing seemed unable to escape its slowly tightening grip. Thunder pushed the thought away, his gaze flicking to Tall Shadow. The forest cat sat as still as stone beside Jagged Peak, while River Ripple and Shattered Ice gazed calmly at Clear Sky.