Thistle blinked at Thunder. “Lightning Tail taught us how to fight together.”
Leaf narrowed his eyes. “Ready?” he asked the kits.
Clover nodded. Thistle flicked his tail.
Leaf swapped glances with Lightning Tail; then both toms lunged at the kits.
In a moment, Clover and Thistle had reared up. Turning on their hind legs, they pressed their backs to each other and swiped at Lightning Tail and Leaf with their forepaws. Lightning Tail and Leaf darted around them, but each time they moved, Clover and Thistle turned to meet their snapping jaws with well-aimed blows. Working together, the littermates defended themselves like experienced fighters.
Thunder purred loudly. “That’s great!” He padded toward them, his heart swelling with pride.
Leaf and Lightning Tail backed away, and the kits dropped back onto all fours.
“It’s really easy once we’ve found our footing,” Clover panted.
“We could fight off a whole patrol!” Thistle boasted.
Violet padded after Thunder and blinked at the young cats. “Even rogues wouldn’t be able to counter a move like that.”
Clover lifted her chin. “If Slash attacks us again, we’ll be able to defend the whole camp.”
Thistle’s gaze darkened. “Will he attack again?”
Thunder met his gaze solemnly. “I don’t know.” Thunder’s cats could defend the ravine if they had to, but he was uneasy about having Ember sleep alongside them. Since Bee’s attack on Fern, a dark fear had haunted his dreams. What if Ember was staying with the group for a reason? What if he, too, was planning to betray his new campmates?
Violet nudged him. “We’d better get back to work.” She glanced toward the hazel bush. Cloud
Spots was carrying a fresh bundle of bracken toward the pile.
“We can help!” Thistle ran past Thunder and raced toward the hazel.
Clover chased after him. “I can thread bracken quicker than you.”
Cloud Spots blinked at them warmly as they barged in front of him. “You two had better start on the lower branches,” he suggested. “I’ll reach up to the top.”
As they began work, padding the bush against the cold, Thunder blinked at Lightning Tail.
“You’ve taught them well.”
Lightning Tail shrugged. “That move was Leaf’s idea.”
Thunder dipped his head to Leaf. “Since you’ve been training them, they’ve improved so much.”
“I’ve enjoyed it,” Leaf answered. His glance flicked past Thunder toward the young cats. They were both tugging the same piece of bracken.
“I picked it up first!” Clover growled.
“You only want it because I said it looked like a strong piece,” Thistle retorted.
Leaf rolled his eyes. “We’ve trained them to fight rogues,” he huffed. “Now we must train them not to behave like rogues.” He headed toward them, whisking his tail. “Clover! Let your brother have the bracken. There are plenty of other stems.”
Lightning Tail gazed toward the trees. “Ember’s still not back,” he mewed thoughtfully. His gaze flashed toward Violet. “Can’t you explain to him that he needs to try to fit in to the group?”
Violet dropped her gaze. “I’ve told him,” she sighed. “He just says he prefers to travel alone.”
“Then why does he stay at all?” Lightning Tail snapped.
Thunder guessed his friend was anxious about the independent rogue too. “Perhaps we should suggest he leave the group.”
Violet’s eyes glittered with worry. “Give him another moon,” she suggested. “He may change.
He’s got a good heart. He’s just not used to living in this sort of group. Life with Slash was different.
We shared a camp and did as Slash told us, but we knew that no one would look after us but ourselves. It’s hard getting used to looking after one another.”
Thunder’s paws pricked as she turned her imploring gaze on him. Lightning Tail was staring at him too. He guessed by the black tom’s solemn look that his friend wasn’t as keen as Violet on giving Ember another chance. Feeling torn, Thunder changed the subject. “I wonder how River Ripple is getting on with his rogues.” He was worried about the river cats. They were a small group—River Ripple, Night, Dappled Pelt, and Shattered Ice. Having four extra mouths to feed would prove no problem with a river full of fish. But what if Dawn and Moss decided to betray them as Bee had done? River Ripple and his cats might be badly hurt.
Violet surprised him. “Why don’t we go and find out?”
“Good idea.” Lightning Tail agreed. “We can go together.”
Violet flashed a look at the black tom. “I thought Thunder and I could go alone.”
Amusement shone in Lightning Tail’s eyes. “I suppose I should stay and help the others.” His whiskers twitched knowingly.
Thunder shifted his paws self-consciously. What would he say all the way to the river? Talking to Violet while he was on patrol or in camp with the others was easy. “Are you sure we should go alone?”
Lightning Tail headed for the hazel bush. “Don’t worry, Thunder. I’m sure Violet will keep you safe from rogue attacks.”
“I’m not scared of rogue attacks,” Thunder answered without thinking.
Lighting Tail’s whiskers twitched. “Why are you looking so worried, then? Violet doesn’t bite.”
“Don’t be too sure.” Violet sniffed and padded toward the gorse entrance. “Are you coming?” she called to Thunder.
Lightning Tail flashed Thunder a teasing look. “You’d better hurry up.”
Thunder glared at his friend and followed Violet out of camp.
They climbed the ravine in silence, only breaking it as they met Owl Eyes and Pink Eyes at the top. The two cats were staring down the steep cliff.
“What does it matter if I can’t see the bottom?” Pink Eyes mewed to Owl Eyes. “I only have to see the next ledge, don’t I?”
“Just follow me and remember which route I use,” Owl Eyes told him.
Pink Eyes nodded to Thunder as he reached the top. “Are you going hunting?”
“We’re going to visit River Ripple to see how he’s managing with the new rogues.”
Violet scrambled over the rim and shook out her pelt. “It’ll be great to see Dawn and Moss again.”
Pink Eyes tipped his head, his rosy gaze gleaming in the cold afternoon sunlight. “They were the rogues with kits, weren’t they?”
Thunder nodded. “I can’t imagine they’ll be any trouble,” he told Pink Eyes. “They seemed happier than anyone to be leaving Slash’s camp. And I’m sure River Ripple will have made them welcome.”
Owl Eyes’s neck fur rippled. “We’ve tried to make Ember feel welcome,” he meowed pointedly.
“But he’s determined to act like an outsider.”
Violet lifted her chin defiantly and headed toward the river. “Ember just needs time, that’s all.”
Thunder trotted after her, nodding to Milkweed as he passed her stripping moss from the roots of a beech. Tasting the air warily, he was relieved to scent only the musty smell of leaf-bare. He caught up with Violet as she headed down the wooded slope that led to the shore.
“Nice weather,” he meowed awkwardly.
She glanced at him and didn’t reply.
He tried again, wishing he could think of something to say that wasn’t mouse-brained. “Are you enjoying life in the forest?”
“I guess trees are okay.” Violet wove between patches of frost-wilted nettles.
“Yeah, I guess.” Thunder felt a prickle of irritation. It was Violet who’d suggested they go alone.
Couldn’t she help make conversation? He tried again. “Have you been to the river before?”
“Yes.” She jumped down a steep bank and crunched through the leaves beyond.