Go inside a Twoleg nest? I didn’t plan on that. “What about the Twolegs?” she asked. “They won’t want strange cats inside their den.”
“They’ve gone out,” Snookpaw told her, stretching up to press his forepaws against the window. “Why don’t you come in? I’m lonely all on my own here.”
Leafstar was still reluctant, but she wouldn’t let her nervousness show in front of her Clanmates. “It’ll be a tight squeeze,” she replied, eyeing the gap doubtfully, “but I’ll give it a try.”
A vine was growing up the side of the window; Leafstar used the tough stem to claw her way up. Scrabbling with her hind paws she forced her way through the narrow gap and plopped down onto the floor of the Twoleg nest. Billystorm dropped down beside her a couple of heartbeats later.
The floor felt cold and unwelcoming underpaw, and the air was filled with unfamiliar scents. There was a faint buzzing noise in the air. Huge shiny objects lined the walls of the den; Leafstar thought they were gazing at her in the dim light, waiting for the right moment to pounce.
Every hair on Leafstar’s pelt began to rise. There was too much to take in at once, and all her muscles were shrieking at her to flee. Taking a few deep breaths, she made herself stand her ground.
“What’s going on, Snookpaw?” she hissed.
Snookpaw didn’t reply right away. “Come this way,” he mewed, waving his tail. “It’s better through here.”
Keeping low, Billystorm and Leafstar crept through an open door into a different part of the den. Here the floor was covered with something like grass, but it was short and much softer, and made up of different bright colors.
“Weird…” Leafstar muttered, flexing her claws in it.
This area was filled with what looked like squashy boulders, in the same bright colors; remembering the pile of Twoleg waste, Leafstar recognized what Snookpaw had called a sofa. She watched as the apprentice sprang up onto it and settled down; it looked comfortable, but Leafstar decided not to join him, preferring to stay on her paws with one eye on her escape route.
“We’ve missed you, Snookpaw,” she meowed. Her voice sounded strange in the enclosed space, muffled by the fuzzy floor and the sofas. “Why haven’t you been back to the gorge?”
Snookpaw looked at his paws, and gave one of them a lick. “I had a pain in my chest. My housefolk took me to the medicine Twoleg, and he gave me some sort of weird food to eat—things like white seeds, and they taste foul.”
“You would be better off with herbs from Echosong,” Leafstar told him. “I’ll bring you some, if you like.”
“No, thanks, Leafstar.” Snookpaw shook his head. “I’m feeling better now. Besides, my housefolk hardly ever leave me alone. This is the first time I’ve been on my own since I came back from the gorge, so you probably won’t be able to get in here again.” He heaved a deep sigh. “I really miss being in the Clan.”
Gloomily he stared out of the window. Following his gaze, Leafstar could see nothing but a small patch of sky and a Twoleg fence. He can’t see any real trees, she realized, sharing his pain. She felt trapped and hot, and couldn’t figure how any cat could stand being inside here all day and all night, without even the chance to feel earth beneath their paws.
While Leafstar had been talking to Snookpaw, Billystorm had been padding around the den, poking his nose into corners and giving everything a good sniff. Leafstar wondered how he had the confidence; she had a hard time not freezing into a crouch with her eyes closed, trying to shut out the stifling sights and smells.
“This nest isn’t too bad,” Billystorm meowed, returning from his explorations. “I hope your housefolk gave you a comfortable place to sleep.”
“I’ll show you,” Snookpaw invited, jumping down from the sofa.
Waving his tail, he led them back into the first area and pointed to a small squashy boulder in one corner. Its bright surface was covered in Snookpaw’s fur, and heavy with his scent.
“That looks… nice,” Leafstar murmured politely, though privately she thought the moss and bracken of the dens in the gorge was much better for sleeping.
“And there’s my food bowl,” Snookpaw added, twitching his whiskers toward a brightly colored Twoleg thing half full of small brown pellets.
“They feed you rabbit droppings?” Leafstar gasped. “Do they want you to get sick?”
“No, that’s a special sort of Twoleg food for kittypets,” Billystorm explained. His eyes glimmered with amusement and he gave Leafstar an affectionate nudge with his shoulder. “Try one.”
Leafstar shot him a doubtful look. The last thing she wanted was to put one of the shriveled brown things into her mouth, but it would be cowardly to refuse. She padded up to the bowl and sniffed. Yuck! Delicately she picked up a single pellet and rolled it around on her tongue; the den was so full of harsh smells that she couldn’t really taste anything. Just as well, she thought, if it tastes anything like it looks!
Just then Leafstar heard the sound of a monster, growing rapidly louder and then cutting off abruptly. Alarm sprang into Snookpaw’s eyes and his fur bristled.
“My Twolegs! They’re back!”
Leafstar gulped down the pellet, almost choking. “We’ve got to get out of here!” she rasped.
Even while she was speaking she heard a harsh clicking sound, and footsteps just beyond the den wall. For a few heartbeats her terror paralyzed her.
“I’ll delay them! You climb out, quick,” Snookpaw mewed. With a whisk of his tail he vanished through another door.
Billystorm was already streaking across to the window and leaped up to the opening in one massive bound. “Come on,” he urged Leafstar, balancing precariously. “I’ll pull you up.”
Leafstar bunched her muscles and put all her strength into her jump. She felt her front paws land on the edge of the window, and slid out her claws to grip. Billystorm’s teeth met in her scruff.
At the same moment she heard Snookpaw, somewhere out of sight, his voice raised in loud mewing. “Oh, I’ve missed you! Where did you go? Stroke my ears! I’m feeling better now.”
Billystorm dragged Leafstar through the open window and both cats tumbled onto the stony path outside the nest in a tangle of legs and tails.
A last yowl came from Snookpaw. “Run!”
Leafstar didn’t need telling twice. With Billystorm beside her, she raced across the garden and out through the half-open gate.
“Just get us back to the gorge!” she panted to Billystorm, and added silently to herself, I’ll chew my own tail off before I come here again!
Chapter 18
“Leafstar, I’m so sorry!” Billystorm wailed. “I should never have let you get into danger like that. I wasn’t thinking.”
The two cats had crossed the border of SkyClan territory and were heading across the open grassy stretch toward the edge of the gorge. Leafstar paused, thanking StarClan for the clean air and yielding earth of her home.
“It wasn’t your fault, Billystorm,” she meowed.
The ginger-and-white tom refused to be reassured. “It was my fault,” he insisted. “I should have been more careful. But I promise you, the Twolegplace isn’t always as dangerous as that.”
“I’m sure it’s not,” Leafstar responded as they went on. “It’s just that I’m not used to it.” Inwardly her heart was still pounding, and she didn’t ever want to go back to the Twolegplace. She watched Billystorm moving confidently through the long grass at the top of the cliff, his ears pricked and his nostrils flared.
He’s a warrior! How can he stand living somewhere like that?