Gray Wing did as she told him, trying to get his breathing back under control. I don’t want her to think I’m totally pathetic!
Slate led him across the moor until they came to a small, hidden pool surrounded by rushes that bent and swayed in the night breeze with a peaceful rustling sound. The gray she-cat padded out into the water until it covered her paws, breaking up the smooth surface into a silver dazzle.
“Come on,” she meowed to Gray Wing, beckoning him with a flick of her ears.
As Gray Wing waded out to join her, he was surprised to feel that the water was almost warm, even though it was the middle of the night.
“Why—” he began.
“The water is very shallow here,” Slate explained, guessing what he was about to say. “It sits on top of black rocks that soak up the sun’s heat. Even at night the pool keeps some of the warmth. It feels good, doesn’t it?”
“It feels wonderful!” Gray Wing agreed, relaxing into the gentle lapping. Who would have thought wet paws could be so pleasant?
“The rocks around here are called slate,” the she-cat told him. “I was named after them. We can use the water to clean your pelt from that fox attack.”
Gray Wing stood still and allowed Slate to scoop water over his hind leg until the pain had almost faded away. “That feels much better,” he mewed.
“You’re very lucky,” Slate told him, giving the wound a sniff. “The teethmarks haven’t gone too deep.” Looking up into Gray Wing’s face, she continued, “How do you like my secret hideaway? You should feel very lucky I’ve shared it with you. Only special cats are invited here.”
Gray Wing felt his pelt prickle with embarrassment. “I’m not used to any cat making such a fuss over me,” he muttered.
Slate’s amber eyes stretched wide with surprise. “You don’t know how respected you are?” she asked.
Now it was Gray Wing’s turn to be surprised. “How do you know what any other cats think of me?” he asked curiously. “You live with Wind Runner, far away from any other cats on the moor.”
“But I believe everything Wind Runner has to say,” Slate responded. “And she has a lot to say about you—all of it good.”
Gray Wing was so stunned by the she-cat’s words that he didn’t know what to say. Wading out of the shallow pond, he gave each paw in turn a shake. “I… uh… must get back to the hollow,” he mumbled. “They need me there.”
“Really?” Slate jumped gracefully out of the water and stood on the bank by his side. “When we met the other day, you gave me the impression that you had mixed feelings about your home in the hollow.”
Gray Wing looked at her, confused. “What do you mean?”
“You just didn’t seem very settled,” Slate replied with a shrug. “I mean, what were you doing wandering around on the moor by yourself at night, anyway?”
Her questions disconcerted Gray Wing. “If you must know,” he meowed defensively, “I was surveying the land.”
Slate let out a surprised mrrow of laughter. “You were what?”
“To find a good spot for a battle,” Gray Wing explained. A moment later, not knowing quite how it happened, he found the whole story pouring out: how One Eye had driven Clear Sky out of the forest, and how Gray Wing and his friends had planned to lure him out onto the moor and confront him. “It was my plan, and I had to make sure it was going to work,” he finished. “I just hadn’t counted on meeting angry foxes in pain…”
As she listened, Slate dried her fur on some of the long grasses that grew beside the pool. “It sounds like a great plan,” she mewed as she weaved in and out among the stems. “I’d like to help.”
“No!” Gray Wing protested immediately. “This isn’t your problem. We can’t involve you in the fighting.”
“Who said anything about fighting?” Slate asked. “But you’ll need help from Wind Runner and Gorse Fur, and they surely won’t want to leave their kits alone. If they’re willing to fight One Eye, then I’ll look after the kits. You had thought about their kits’ safety, hadn’t you?”
“Yes, I had!” Gray Wing spluttered, realizing that he had not. “I’d be so grateful if you’d take care of them while we fight,” he went on, his head hanging in shame. “Will I ever have any reason to stop thanking you for your help? I don’t seem very capable without you…”
“Of course you are!” Slate reassured him. She made her way over to him and touched his shoulder with her tail-tip. “Which cat came up with the whole plan to defeat One Eye? You! Come on,” she continued. “I’ll walk with you back to your hollow—you know, that place you love so much.”
Gray Wing felt curiously peaceful as he and Slate padded side by side back toward the camp.
Their paw steps matched so well, and he felt as though he’d known her for seasons.
I may as well tell her everything, he thought.
“If all goes well in the battle,” he began, “I may have the chance to explore other ideas. To try living somewhere else, even if it does mean being on my own for a while.”
Slate did not pause in her steady pacing across the moor, but she drew closer to him so that their pelts brushed. “You don’t have to be alone,” she murmured, her eyes glimmering in the moonlight.
Gray Wing felt his belly lurch. Does she mean what I think she means? But he couldn’t reply, because no words seemed big enough to express what he was feeling.
How did I come to rely so heavily on a cat I’ve only just met?
Chapter 22
Thunder woke to the first faint light of dawn creeping through the entrance of his den. He stumbled to his paws and ventured into the hollow, pausing to arch his back in a good, long stretch. The air was clear and cold; every leaf and blade of grass was edged with frost.
Leaf-bare is almost here, he thought.
When he had given his pelt a quick grooming, Thunder was ready to head out to visit Wind Runner and River Ripple, to ask for their help in the fight against One Eye. I don’t have much hope that Wind Runner will join us, he thought doubtfully. She made it clear that she wants to be left alone. And I’ll leave the forest cats for now, he decided, remembering how any cat who crossed the border had been attacked when Clear Sky first took over. One Eye was likely to be even more aggressive in guarding his territory. Maybe I can work out how to speak to some of them when our plans are in place.
As he padded toward the edge of the hollow, Thunder was surprised to see Gray Wing perched on Tall Shadow’s rock. He veered over to talk to him.
“Can you see anything?” Thunder called from the foot of the rock.
Gray Wing shook his head. “Everything’s quiet.”
For a moment the two cats fell silent, but Thunder felt too disturbed not to say what was in his heart. “Why did you leave, Gray Wing?” he blurted out. “I need you!”
Gray Wing narrowed his eyes as he gazed down at Thunder. “You don’t need me,” he responded.
“If you keep believing that you do, it will hold you back.”
I wonder if that’s true, Thunder thought uncomfortably, not wanting to accept his kin’s words.
“But you’ll stay now, won’t you?” he asked.
Gray Wing twitched one ear, gazing far out across the moor. There was something in his eyes that Thunder couldn’t read. Before he could respond, Lightning Tail popped out of his den and bounded over to Thunder’s side. “I’m coming with you,” he announced roughly.