I’m doing what she wanted…
Sun Shadow emerged from the end of the path and began to scramble down the rocks, his paws sliding where the surface was slick from the spray of the waterfall. Down and down into the darkness
… Sun Shadow’s heart was pounding, and he had no idea where he was going, only that he had to get away from the cave as fast as he could. Sharp stones poked into his pads, and once he almost hurled himself over a precipice because he didn’t see the curve in the path in time.
Sun Shadow drew back, shivering against the rock wall, trying to block out his glimpse of the dizzying depths. As he was gathering himself to go on, he heard paw steps approaching him from farther up the rocks.
Springing up, Sun Shadow tried to pick up the pace, to escape from the cat who was pursuing him.
“Wait!” a voice yowled from behind him.
Sun Shadow realized that the sound came from a she-cat. He halted in surprise and turned. Has my mother followed me to say good-bye? Then he spotted Quiet Rain only a few tail-lengths behind him on the path.
“I’m not going back!” he blurted out, his shoulder fur bristling.
“Of course you’re not,” Quiet Rain replied. “But we’d better hurry. Stoneteller has died, and Sharp Hail is waking all the cats.”
Even though he had known what was happening, Sun Shadow felt a pain gripping at his heart when he heard the news of Stoneteller’s death. Then as he fought with his grief, he realized what Quiet Rain had said.
“We?” he repeated.
“I’m coming with you,” Quiet Rain hissed, squeezing past him on the narrow path. “Now let’s hurry. The Sun Trail is long, and we don’t know what dangers we’ll face…”