Sadly it is. Gray Wing halted, realizing now that he couldn’t keep the truth from this sensitive kit.
“Owl Eyes, let’s stop for a moment. There’s something I need to tell you. Your father, Tom, is dead.”
Owl Eyes stared up at Gray Wing, his eyes dark with horror. “No! But—but how?” he stammered.
“Sparrow Fur was hurt because One Eye attacked her. Tom saved her, and One Eye killed him.”
Gray Wing rested his tail across the kit’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry.”
Owl Eyes’s head drooped. “I can’t come with you.”
Gray Wing felt like he’d been hit in his chest. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
The little tom didn’t look up, and his voice shook as he went on, “I have to go back to camp. I can’t face Clear Sky after he allowed that cat into his group.”
When the young cat finally met his gaze, Gray Wing could see the mixture of grief and anger in his expression, and his heart almost broke to think of what these kits had faced in their short lives.
“I understand,” he mewed.
Owl Eyes turned away and headed back toward the hollow, his shoulders hunched and his tail trailing along the ground. Gradually he picked up the pace until he was racing along, as if he could outrun the news of his father’s death.
With a heavy heart, Gray Wing turned his paw steps toward the forest. As he passed under the outlying trees, hearing the dead leaves crunching under his paws, he braced himself for what he might find in Clear Sky’s camp.
Sparrow Fur was so small… and One Eye’s claws are so cruel…
When Gray Wing finally reached the clearing where Clear Sky and his cats lived, he found Clear Sky waiting for him at the edge of the camp. His brother led him to a sheltered spot underneath an oak tree where Sparrow Fur was sitting up and nibbling on a mouse. There were scratches down her pelt and places where her fur had been torn out. One spot was still covered by a thick poultice of cobwebs. But her eyes were bright and she tried to struggle to her paws when she saw Gray Wing.
“You stay where you are,” Petal told her firmly, pressing her back with a gentle paw into a nest of moss and fern. “You need to look after those wounds.”
“That’s right,” Quick Water agreed. She was chewing up some marigold leaves, and began to trickle the juice onto Sparrow Fur’s scratches. “Keep still and let this soak in,” she told the kit.
“Dappled Pelt says it’s good to stop infection.”
“Thank you for taking such good care of her,” Gray Wing told the she-cats as he bent over to touch noses with Sparrow Fur.
Petal ducked her head, looking faintly embarrassed. “I don’t know much about healing herbs,” she meowed. “But I do know how to survive, after so many seasons living on my own.”
The little tom kit, Birch, pattered up with a bundle of dripping moss in his jaws. “There you go,” he told Sparrow Fur, dropping it in front of her. “Now you can have a good drink.”
Sparrow Fur looked up at him, blinking gratefully. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Me and Alder like having another young cat in the camp,” Birch added to Gray Wing.
Though he was impressed by kindness all these cats were showing Sparrow Fur, Gray Wing still didn’t want to spend too long in Clear Sky’s camp. He glanced around him, peering among the trees, wondering if he would catch a glimpse of One Eye lurking there. Clear Sky was obviously afraid that the rogue might come sneaking back, or he never would have called Gray Wing here to collect his kit.
“Come on, Sparrow Fur,” Clear Sky urged her now. “It’s time for you to go home. Owl Eyes and Pebble Heart are waiting for you, and there’s good news to share—Jagged Peak is going to be a father.”
But Sparrow Fur didn’t pay any attention to the news about Jagged Peak. Not moving from her nest, she glanced at Birch. “I’d rather stay here for now,” she mewed.
Gray Wing twitched an ear. What? But Clear Sky spoke his thoughts before Gray Wing could gather his wits.
“Don’t you want to be with your brothers and your own group?” Clear Sky asked, clearly as surprised as Gray Wing.
“It would be nice to see them, but I like it here,” Sparrow Fur retorted. “I think I’m just fine where I am.”
“In the very place you were attacked!” Gray Wing exclaimed, his pads tingling with alarm.
“She wasn’t attacked here,” Clear Sky pointed out. “And assuming you let her stay, I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Gray Wing shot his brother a skeptical glance. You were the cat who came dashing across the moor to see me, terrified that One Eye would hurt her again! But as he opened his mouth to protest, he was interrupted by a small mewl of pain as Sparrow Fur shifted on her haunches.
Instantly Birch bent over her, stirring up the moss and fern in her nest to make it more comfortable. Her eyelids were drooping with fatigue and she stretched her jaws wide in a yawn.
She’s still weak, Gray Wing realized. As much as he wanted her home, the kit was in no state to be trekking across the moor. “Very well. I can see she needs to stay put for now,” he meowed reluctantly. “But I want her home soon.”
“Would you like to stay with her?” Clear Sky offered. “You’re welcome here.”
“Yes, stay,” Quick Water urged. “I’ll make a nest for you.”
For a moment Gray Wing was tempted. But as much as he wanted to watch over the kit, his pelt prickled at the thought of staying in Clear Sky’s camp. He didn’t belong in the forest. And as much as he doubted his judgment where One Eye was concerned, Gray Wing knew that his brother had only good intentions toward Sparrow Fur, and would make sure she was well cared for. “No, I have to go,” he sighed.
“It might be best,” Petal murmured gently. “I know your denmates need you. We’ll let you know when Sparrow Fur is ready to travel.”
Meanwhile Clear Sky had beckoned some of his other cats, including Acorn Fur, who gave a nervous nod to Gray Wing. “Acorn Fur, I’ll put you in charge of making sure Sparrow Fur always has enough prey,” Clear Sky instructed. “And Quick Water, see if you can find some more marigold leaves to put on her wounds when she wakes up. And all of you, keep your eyes open,” he finished.
“You know what for.”
Gray Wing realized that Sparrow Fur was in good paws. There was no need for him to stay there any longer. He backed up and slipped away through the trees, trying not to feel hurt when no cat called after him.
The sun was setting as Gray Wing reached the edge of the forest. A chill wind had set in, ruffling his fur. The cold seemed to go right through to his bones.
Suddenly Gray Wing drew to a stop. The journey back to the hollow seemed like a huge effort. He felt no joy at the prospect of going home. He would need to see Jagged Peak, and while he knew he should apologize to his brother for his harsh words, he was still finding it hard to forgive him for letting Sparrow Fur go out alone.
Petal was wrong, he thought sadly. No cat really needs me.
Instead Gray Wing found his paw steps leading him along the edge of the forest to the place where so many of his friends were buried beneath the spreading branches of the four oaks. By now the ground was covered with dead leaves; there was no sign that there was a grave there at all.
Gray Wing was shivering with cold, but he couldn’t bring himself to move away. He gazed up at the sky, not feeling surprised when the spirit-cats failed to appear. But then a voice spoke behind him.
“I thought I told you to stay away from this place.” River Ripple stepped out of the undergrowth and pressed himself against Gray Wing’s side. Gray Wing was surprised, but also grateful for the warmth of his thick, silver pelt. “This isn’t doing you any good, Gray Wing. Come back to my island with me,” he invited.