“Yes.” Red was always first to volunteer for morning patrol. And he still caught far more prey than he ate.
Gorse Fur blinked at Clear Sky. “Wind Runner is worried that the rogues have infiltrated our groups to cause trouble. But I can’t believe it. Willow is desperate to have her revenge on Bee. And why would Bee hurt Fern so badly if they were both part of the deception?” The wiry tom paused.
“And yet it does no harm to be careful until we’re sure where the rogues’ real loyalties lie.”
Clear Sky nodded and padded back to the clearing. “Tiny Branch! Dew Petal! Flower Foot!
You’ve been playing all day. You must be tired. Go rest with Star Flower.”
The kits stopped scrambling over Red and stared at their father, puzzled.
“But it’s not even sunset,” Tiny Branch complained.
“It soon will be,” Clear Sky told him firmly. “Another frost is coming. You’ll be warmer in your nest.”
“But we were having fun,” Flower Foot huffed.
Dew Petal lashed her stumpy tail. “It’s not fair!”
Clear Sky frowned. “Go to your nest.” Guilt pricked in his belly as the three kits clambered slowly off Red and padded toward the slope.
Tiny Branch glanced reproachfully over his shoulder. “It’s not like we’ve done anything wrong.”
“I know.” Clear Sky’s heart twisted in his chest. “Go and keep Star Flower company. I’ll bring you something to eat soon.”
As they scrambled up the slope, Nettle hurried toward Clear Sky. “Has something happened?” He nodded toward the kits as they disappeared through the bracken. “Why did you make them stop playing?”
Red jumped to his paws. He shook out his fur and headed for the fresh-kill pile.
Clear Sky watched him go. “Gorse Fur says one of their rogues has returned to Slash,” he told
Nettle quietly.
Nettle’s gaze flashed toward Red. “Do you think he might do the same?”
Clear Sky’s ears twitched. An idea was pushing at the edges of his thoughts. “I don’t know, but we need to find out.”
Gorse Fur got to his paws and dipped his head. “I must go. I want to warn Thunder and River Ripple before dark.”
As the moor cat headed for the entrance, Clear Sky called after him. “Will Fern be okay?”
“She’s strong, and she’s recovering quickly,” Gorse Fur answered without stopping.
“I wish her the best.” Clear Sky watched Gorse Fur disappear through the bramble barrier.
“Thanks for coming.”
Nettle’s pelt was rippling along his spine. “How will you find out if Red can be trusted?”
Clear Sky narrowed his eyes. “I have a plan… but I need you to help me.”
Rosy dawn light seeped between the bare branches. Clear Sky crouched lower beneath the arching root of an oak. Leaving the camp while the moon still shone, he’d tracked Nettle and Red’s scent here. The two cats had been hunting all night.
“Why?” Red had asked when Clear Sky had drawn him aside and told him that he was to spend the night hunting.
“It’s a test of your skills,” Clear Sky told him. “And your courage. Nettle will go with you. You must hunt, but you cannot eat. Every piece of prey that you catch is for your campmates.”
Red had blinked at him uncertainly, then nodded. “Okay.”
Now he could see Red’s pelt, fluffed out against the icy air. Clear Sky was downwind and hidden by the root. Neither cat would be able to see him.
He watched Nettle pad around the russet rogue. “Let’s eat one piece of prey,” Nettle meowed pleadingly. “I’m starving. Clear Sky will never know.”
“I promised him I’d take everything I caught back to camp,” Red told him. “You can eat if you want, but I’m not going to.”
Nettle rolled his eyes. “You’re a mouse-brain.” He pawed a dead mouse from beneath a pile of leaves and bit into it. “So delicious.” Chewing, he looked at Red. “Are you sure you don’t want some?”
Clear Sky leaned forward. The scent of fresh blood was making his mouth water. Red must be starving and frozen to the bone.
Red padded away from his campmate. “I promised Clear Sky, and I’m sticking to my promise.”
Clear Sky frowned. Was Red being smart? Had he guessed that Nettle was spying for him? It was time to push the rogue a little harder. He slid from beneath the root and padded toward the toms.
He caught Nettle’s eye as he neared. Red was scanning the trees distractedly, clearly looking for more prey. Quickly, Nettle swallowed his mouthful and kicked the remains of the mouse closer to the rogue.
Clear Sky padded toward them, his hackles high. “I thought I told you not to eat what you caught?”
Red swung around, shock rippling through his pelt. His gaze flashed guiltily to the remains of the mouse, then to Nettle.
Nettle blinked at Red calmly. “I told you we weren’t supposed to eat.”
Red stared at him in disbelief. “But—” He paused, then faced Clear Sky. “I’m sorry,” he meowed. “We were so hungry. We thought you wouldn’t miss one mouse.”
Clear Sky tipped his head in surprise. Red was taking the blame for his campmate. He forced himself to frown. “I need to be able to trust you,” he growled.
“I promise, it will never happen again.” Red began to haul away leaves from the pile, uncovering a heap of prey. A rabbit lay beside several shrews and another mouse. Two thrushes and a starling were draped over them. “We caught so much. No one will go hungry. And, if they do, I’ll go without food.”
This cat is too good to be true! Suspicion wormed beneath Clear Sky’s pelt. Why was Red being so honorable? He narrowed his eyes. “That’s not enough!” he snapped. “Catch more before you return to camp.” Turning sharply, he stalked away. As he passed a clump of bracken, he ducked down and spied on Red once more.
Nettle scraped leaves back over the prey heap. “Why did you take the blame?”
Red shrugged. “It seemed like the right thing to do.”
Nettle narrowed his eyes. “Clear Sky would never take the blame for you.”
“Wouldn’t he?” Red blinked at Nettle in surprise.
“You know he’s the meanest cat in all the groups, right?” Nettle didn’t wait for an answer. “He was spying on us! After making us stay out all night hunting, he still doesn’t trust us. He doesn’t trust anyone. Not even me, and I’ve shown him nothing but loyalty.” Nettle snorted. “Being loyal to Clear Sky is a waste of time. He’s hardly better than Slash. Did you know he killed a cat once? More than one. His campmates only put up with him because they’re scared of him.”
“But he’s so kind to Star Flower and his kits.”
“Of course he is,” Nettle snarled. “They belong to him. But he wasn’t so kind to his first litter.
Their mother ran away from him.”
Clear Sky winced. He’d asked Nettle to test Red’s loyalty, but he hadn’t prepared himself to hear such harsh truths.
“Only one of them survived,” Nettle went on.
“You mean Thunder?” Red’s fur was prickling nervously now. “What happened to his littermates?”
Nettle slowly circled the rogue. “No one knows,” he murmured darkly.
Red shifted his paws nervously. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you were a rogue once,” Nettle told him. “Like me. Like most of the group. We thought you’d understand.”
“We?” Red looked confused.
“A lot of us aren’t happy with Clear Sky as leader,” Nettle confessed. “When we found out you were one of the cats who drove Slash out, we started to hope.”