Thunder’s mouth turned dry and it was hard for him to speak. “But where will you go?”
Wind Runner gazed farther out toward the moors. “Back where I came from. I’ll take my kits and disappear among the long grasses, and none of you will ever have to care about me again.”
“But we want to care about you!” Holly protested. “I was a rogue cat too, and I remember how hard it was, even if you don’t. Wind Runner, don’t cut yourself off, not when you’re having such a tough time.”
“She won’t be alone,” Gorse Fur meowed, stepping forward. “I’ll go with her.”
They arrived together, Thunder thought. And now they’re leaving together. “Are you sure?” he asked.
But Wind Runner was already turning away, running through the trees with Moth Flight and Dust
Muzzle following her.
Gorse Fur cast a regretful glance at the other cats. “Don’t worry,” he mewed. “I’ll look after them.” Breaking into a run, he followed his mate and their kits out of sight.
Will we ever see Wind Runner and Gorse Fur again? Thunder wondered.
Chapter 14
Scarlet light slanted through a gap in the clouds as the sun went down. A chilly breeze sprang up, and a few dead leaves whirled down over the waiting cats.
Leaf-bare is almost here, Thunder thought.
Then he noticed movement among the bushes that lined the sides of the hollow, and a heartbeat later Clear Sky padded into the open, the rest of his cats trailing behind him.
“Greetings,” he meowed, dipping his head to Tall Shadow and Thunder.
“Greetings,” Tall Shadow responded. “Let’s all gather around the rock, and—”
She broke off at the sound of more rustling from the bushes. A clump of ferns parted and River Ripple emerged.
“River Ripple!” Thunder exclaimed, pleased to see the silver-gray tom. “How did you know there was going to be a meeting?”
River Ripple paused to give his silky chest fur a couple of licks. “I know everything,” he purred.
“When are you going to learn that? And I brought a friend with me.”
To Thunder’s amazement, Gray Wing slipped out of the ferns behind River Ripple. His whole body was tight with tension, and he didn’t meet any cat’s gaze.
Thunder felt his whole body sag with relief. Gray Wing is okay! He bounded over to the gray tom. “Gray Wing, where have you been?” he demanded, relief and anger mingled in his voice. “How could you go off like that and leave us all to worry about you?”
Gray Wing still didn’t look at him. “Sparrow Fur didn’t want to come home with me,” he explained, “and I couldn’t face returning to the hollow alone. I—I just needed to be on my own.”
“Yes,” River Ripple meowed. “I found him shivering beside the grave. I took him back to my river island with me.”
“And that’s where I’m staying for now,” Gray Wing added with a grateful glance at the silver tom.
“I need some time to think.”
“To think about what?” Thunder asked. “Where has all this come from? Gray Wing, we need you!”
Gray Wing met his gaze for the first time. “Do you? Or am I just getting in the way? I’m not feeling angry, or anything like that,” he went on, overriding Thunder’s attempt to protest. “But I do feel like I’m getting in the way. You’re a great leader, and so is Tall Shadow. Aren’t three cats making decisions too many?”
“No,” Thunder responded, hardly able to believe that Gray Wing was thinking this way. “We were all working together! I thought it was going well.”
Gray Wing shook his head. “You’ve grown into your huge paws, Thunder, and I don’t want to keep you from becoming the cat you should be. So I need to think about the next step for me—and I need space to do that.”
At last Thunder was shocked into silence. He saw how relieved Gray Wing looked to not have to face any more objections. But before either cat could say more, Tall Shadow stepped forward.
“I see your point, Gray Wing,” she rasped. “But did you have to disappear like that? We were all really worried about you—especially Owl Eyes and Pebble Heart.”
Gray Wing dipped his head. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “It was shortsighted of me. I’ll never do that again.”
While they talked the breeze had strengthened, driving the last of the clouds away, and moonlight flooded the clearing, picking out every remaining leaf on the four oak trees.
Clear Sky bounded across to the Great Rock and leaped to the top. “Gather around, all of you!” he called. “Let’s begin the meeting.”
As the cats found places to sit near the foot of the rock, Thunder noticed another cat slip quietly out of the undergrowth and settle down a few tail-lengths from the others in the shadow of a clump of ferns. With a gasp of amazement he recognized the golden tabby she-cat who had spoken to him after the second meeting with the spirit-cats. Now she turned her intense green eyes toward him and for a moment their gazes locked. Then she glanced away again, looking up at the rock as she waited for Clear Sky to speak.
A shiver ran through Thunder from ears to tail-tip. Who is she? And what is she doing here? The thought was quickly followed by another. If one strange cat can join us, others might do the same.
Suddenly feeling vulnerable and exposed, he took a careful look around the clearing, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw no trace of One Eye.
Tall Shadow leaped up onto the rock and sat beside Clear Sky. “We have had sickness in our camp,” she began. “Wind Runner’s kit Morning Whisker died earlier today. Her belly was swollen and there were cracks in her skin oozing blood. Has any cat seen this illness anywhere else?”
“We found a mouse that had died the same way,” Thunder added.
“And there was that bird,” Clear Sky meowed. “The one you argued over with One Eye.”
“There was a dead fox near the Thunderpath.” Snake sprang to his paws to make his contribution.
“It had a swollen belly and froth all over its jaws.”
Quick Water nodded. “I saw it too. And a squirrel with half its fur gone, and sores all over its body.”
“And I found a dead vole by the river,” River Ripple contributed.
“Cloud Spots, you know herbs,” Shattered Ice began. “So do you, Dappled Pelt. Have you seen anything like this before?”
“Yes, are there herbs that could help?” Jagged Peak asked.
Cloud Spots rose reluctantly; Thunder saw that he looked bewildered, and knew before he spoke that he wouldn’t have any useful answers.
“I advised Pebble Heart to treat Morning Whisker with tansy,” he meowed. “It might have slowed down the progress of her illness, but it didn’t cure her. I’m sorry.”
“River Ripple, what about you?” Tall Shadow looked down at the silver tom from her place on top of the rock. “Have you come across this before?”
River Ripple dipped his head to her. “I haven’t seen this exact sickness before, but I have seen severe illness. There was one greenleaf when many of the rogue cats died. It seemed like it had something to do with the heat.”
It’s been hot this past greenleaf, too, Thunder thought. Maybe the same thing is happening again. “How did you get rid of the illness last time?” he asked.
“Most of the cats split up,” River Ripple replied. “I didn’t see some of the rogues for a long time.
Then after greenleaf we started to mix again, and the sickness seemed to have worked its way out.”
“One Eye sounded as if he knew something about it,” Clear Sky put in. “He mocked me but wouldn’t give me specifics on what he knew, just that some of the cats in my group were as good as dead.”