Dawn ignored him. She kept her gaze fixed on Wind Runner. “They’re so small, they’ll freeze out here on the moor. Please give them shelter. They can’t harm you.”
Wind Runner eyed the kits, her gaze wavering with uncertainty.
Gray Wing hurried to her side. “We can’t separate them from their mother. We have to take them all in. They’re no threat to us now. They need our protection. What if the dogs follow their scent? Or Slash comes back?”
Wind Runner’s pelt bristled. “If dogs are following them, we don’t want them in our camp.”
“We can drive off dogs.” Gorse Fur’s mew took Gray Wing by surprise. “And Slash if we need to.” He glanced at the kits. “We can’t turn them away.”
Thunder stepped forward. “Lightning Tail and I will stay in your camp too, if you’ll let us. We can help if there’s any trouble.”
Gray Wing blinked hopefully at Wind Runner. “Let’s prove that we’re better than Slash,” he begged. “He abandoned them. We can’t.”
Wind Runner’s eyes flashed. “We don’t need to prove anything.”
Willow padded forward, her head low. “I understand why you don’t want to take us in. But please let me bury my brother here before we move on. He deserves to rest in peace.”
Wind Runner followed Willow’s gaze toward the scrap of wet fur curled in the bark. “Did you drag him all the way here?”
“We thought we could save him,” Willow told her bleakly.
Wind Runner blinked, her eyes clouding, as though suddenly overwhelmed by the tragic scene confronting her. “Very well.” Her mew was husky. “You may all shelter in our camp for the night,” Wind Runner told her. “We will post extra guards, and in the morning we’ll decide what to do.”
Above, a cloud drifted away from the moon. Silvery light bathed the rogues.
Gray Wing dipped his head. “Thank you, Wind Runner.” Relief washed over him. The rogues would be safe for the night.
What would happen to them in the morning? He pushed the thought away and turned to Willow.
“Let’s find a sheltered spot to bury Frog.”
Chapter 15
Clear Sky glanced at the moon, not yet full in the indigo sky. Frost glittered on the branches as he padded through the dark woods.
Blossom walked beside him, her paws crunching leaves as they headed for the four trees hollow.
“Do you think Wind Runner will ask you to take in some rogues again?” Her breath billowed in the cold night air.
“I hope not.” Clear Sky fluffed out his pelt. Memories of One Eye pricked his conscience. He’d been a fool to trust that rogue, even if he was Star Flower’s father. He was determined to protect his group better this time.
Blossom sniffed. “Then why did she call this meeting?”
“She wants to hear how the groups are getting on with their new campmates.” It had been a quarter moon since Wind Runner had come to ask him to take in some of Slash’s followers. She had seemed irritated by his refusal to take any rogues off her paws. But he’d pointed out that he’d taken in a loner the night before—a tom called Red who’d turned up at the border, ruffled and frightened, claiming he’d been attacked by dogs in Twolegplace. Clear Sky assumed they were the same dogs that had gone on to attack the rogue camp. He’d been ready to send Red back to Twolegplace, but Star
Flower had insisted he let the skinny tom rest in their camp. Although Quick Water and Nettle had argued, still not ready to trust another rogue, the others had eventually voted them down based on Red’s condition. He was clearly underfed, with lumps of fur missing where the dogs had snapped at him.
When Wind Runner had come to ask him to take in more rogues, he’d said simply, “I have enough mouths to feed already.” It was true, after all. Clear Sky worried that Quick Water still nursed a lingering distrust of Star Flower and any other rogue cat. He sensed it best to limit the number of rogues he allowed into the group, lest Quick Water’s wariness spread.
He slowed where a fallen branch blocked their path and let Blossom leap it first. He jumped after her, his paws sliding on the icy leaves beyond. Perhaps he should have offered to take one of the rogues. Now that Slash had stopped stealing their food, the prey pile was tall enough to feed all his cats. Red had proven himself a good hunter and fed more than his own belly.
The musty scent of the four trees hollow touched Clear Sky’s nose. As they reached the rim, he paused and looked down.
Wind Runner was already pacing the clearing. Gray Wing sat and waited at the edge. River Ripple had brought Dappled Pelt with him. Tall Shadow sat beside them, while Pebble Heart sniffed curiously at the frost-wilted plants edging the slopes. Seeing Thunder’s orange pelt, pale in the moonlight, Clear Sky was surprised once again how broad the younger cat’s shoulders had grown. He still thought of his son as a young tom, feisty and argumentative. How mature he looked now.
Clear Sky shifted his paws guiltily. This past moon, Star Flower’s kits had shown him how close the bond between father and kit could be. He knew he should have handled his firstborn son better.
Instead of advising him, he’d reacted defensively to Thunder’s challenges, and criticized where he should have guided. Why did I waste my chance to be a father to him?
But as he watched Thunder lead Leaf across the clearing, stopping to speak with Wind Runner, his chest swelled with pride. Thunder had grown into a fine leader even without his guidance.
Why worry about the past? He could only change the future.
Clear Sky plunged down the slope, Blossom at his heels, and crashed through the bracken into the clearing. The other leaders turned as he raced through the moonlight. “Good evening!” He greeted them warmly. For the first time in a moon, he felt optimistic. Slash was gone; the groups were growing; prey was starting to creep from its burrows so that, once more, bellies were full.
Wind Runner eyed him darkly. “You seem pleased with yourself.”
Leaf snorted. “That’s because he didn’t take any of Slash’s rogues into his group.”
Clear Sky blinked in surprise. Why were they so resentful? Were the rogues causing trouble? “Is something wrong?”
Tall Shadow whisked her tail. “The groups are unsettled. You should try sleeping in a nest beside a cat who, half a moon ago, was stealing your prey.”
“It must be hard,” Clear Sky sympathized. “But they’re hunting for us, not stealing, now.”
River Ripple’s eyes shone in the moonlight. “Actually, Dawn and Moss are great hunters,” he reported. “They still haven’t learned to swim, but they’re trying. They’ll be catching fish in another moon.”
Gray Wing pricked his ears. “How are Pine and Drizzle?” he asked anxiously. “Have they settled in well?”
Dappled Pelt purred. “They’re like a pair of ducklings. They can’t wait to learn how to swim.”
Thunder blinked. “Surely they’re too young?”
River Ripple’s whiskers twitched. “They’re only allowed to paddle in the shallows for now. And there’s always someone with them. They can learn to swim as soon as they’re strong enough to ride the currents.”
Wind Runner’s tail twitched impatiently. “I’m pleased Dawn and Moss and their kits are adjusting to group life,” she muttered. “I just wish I could say the same about Fern, Willow, and Bee.”
Clear Sky noticed Gray Wing’s pelt ripple irritably. Was he annoyed with Wind Runner?
“They’re trying their best,” Gray Wing meowed sharply.