“They’ve been stolen,” Lightning Tail explained.
Swift blinked. “They didn’t look stolen. They were following the tom quite happily. I thought he must be their father.”
“He is,” Thunder snapped.
“So what’s the problem?” Swift blinked at him.
Thunder clawed the earth. “He’s a cruel kittypet who hurt their mother and has taken them without her permission.”
“Where is their mother?” Swift stopped circling. “Shouldn’t she be looking for them?”
Thunder was losing patience with this nosy rogue. “She went on ahead. We’re trying to catch up to her before she finds the kittypet.”
“Why?” The rogue tipped her head to one side.
“Because he’s vicious and he might hurt her!” Thunder thrust his muzzle close to Swift’s. “Did you see where they went?”
Swift flicked her tail. “They crossed the meadow. They were heading toward the river.”
“Is that the way to Twolegplace?” Lightning Tail paced, scanning the sea of grass.
“Yes.” Swift sniffed. “Once he gets them there, you’ll never find them. It’s too noisy and smelly for any cat to pick up their trail.”
Thunder’s heart pounded. “We’ll find them before they reach it.”
“Good luck.” Swift padded down the slope and headed into the long grass.
Thunder watched her disappear. How long since the kits had passed this way? At least they weren’t scared. Swift had said they were following him happily. Why? A pang jabbed his belly. We raised them to be too trusting! Perhaps Clear Sky was right. Kindness was a weakness cats couldn’t allow. It made them vulnerable.
“Come on.” Lightning Tail was already heading toward the river. He slid into the grass. Thunder hurried after him.
How would they cross the river? How did the kits cross the river? A flash of hope flared in his chest. Perhaps they couldn’t! Perhaps they’d find them on the shore with Turtle Tail.
But what about Tom? He wouldn’t give them up without a fight. Not after having made it this far.
Thunder shouldered his way through the thick grass, following Lightning Tail. The young tom’s tail-tip snaked a muzzle-length ahead. As it slid out of sight, Thunder burst from the grass onto the pebbly shore of the river. Lightning Tail was already pacing at the water’s edge, his gaze fixed on the other side. The river was wide, but the long hot days had made it sluggish and it slid sleepily between the banks.
“Can you swim?” Lightning Tail looked over his shoulder.
Thunder shook his head. He crossed the pebbles and stood at the river’s edge, shuddering as water washed his paw tips. He scanned the bank, straining to see any sign of the kits. The shore was deserted, the far side empty. A frog croaked noisily a little way downstream.
“I smell Turtle Tail!” Lightning Tail ducked his head and began sniffing the stones. He padded downstream. “She definitely came this way.”
Thunder joined him, his heart lifting as he detected Turtle Tail’s familiar scent. He tracked it, muzzle skimming the stones.
Lightning Tail followed. “Do you think she crossed the river?”
“If the kits crossed, then she would have found a way to follow.”
“But how could the kits have got across?” Lightning Tail frowned.
“Perhaps kittypets swim.” Thunder pictured Tom dragging Sparrow Fur, terrified, through the water before swimming back for Pebble Heart and Owl Eyes. He padded faster over the stones.
“Look!” Lightning Tail’s cry rang through the shimmering air.
Thunder jerked up his head. “What?”
“Crossing stones!”
A line of flat stones showed above the water a little way downstream. They dotted the river, stretching from one shore to the other while the river flowed smoothly around them. The gaps between them were narrow enough for a full-grown cat to leap across easily—even one with a kit dangling from his jaws.
Thunder’s heart sank. “Tom would have taken them that way.”
“And Turtle Tail would have followed!” Lightning Tail streaked past Thunder, racing for the stones. He leaped from the bank onto the first and jumped from stone to stone, his eyes fixed on the far shore.
“Careful!” Thunder hurried after him, pebbles cracking beneath his paws. The crossing stones were smooth, worn by countless seasons of wind and water. “They might be slippery.”
As he spoke, one of Lightning Tail’s paws slid from beneath him, Thunder gasped as he heard the thud of his chin hitting the rock. “No!” Lightning Tail’s eyes rolled back and, dazed, he tumbled into the water.
Silently, smoothly, the river pulled him under.
“Lightning Tail!” Thunder leaped the crossing stones, claws stretched.
Black fur swirled beneath the surface, already tail-lengths away. Lightning Tail didn’t even struggle. The fall must have knocked him out. Thunder slithered to a halt in the middle. The river was stronger and faster than it looked. I’ll never reach him from here. He teetered at the edge of a stone, preparing to dive. I have to try and save him! Could he swim that far? And then what? Did he have the strength to drag his dazed friend to the shore?
A splash sounded from the far bank. Thunder gasped as he saw a shape slide through the water. A tom’s head surfaced, flicking water from his ear tips as he swam smoothly toward Lightning Tail.
River Ripple! As he recognized the tom’s silver fur, Thunder’s chest swelled with hope. He leaped the last few stones to the far bank and raced to the shore where River Ripple had dived in. The rogue was catching up with Lightning Tail as the river swirled him around. Lunging forward, River Ripple grabbed the helpless tom by the scruff. He turned and began to haul Lightning Tail back to shore.
Relief flooded Thunder’s pelt. He waded into the shallows to meet River Ripple as he neared the bank. Grabbing a mouthful of Lightning Tail’s pelt, he helped the rogue pull his friend from the water.
They laid him on the pebbles. Lightning Tail was as still as stone. “Is he dead?” Thunder blinked at River Ripple. Had they been too late?
River Ripple pressed his ear to Lightning Tail’s chest, then began pumping him with his forepaws. “He’s alive. If I can push out the water…” His mew trailed away as Lightning Tail twitched beneath him.
The black tom gurgled, half-opening his eyes. With a splutter, he coughed up a mouthful of water, then scrambled to his paws. He crouched, so much water falling from his mouth, Thunder began to wonder if he’d swallowed half the river.
“He’ll be okay now.” River Ripple’s calm mew sounded in his ear.
Thunder spun. “Thank you!” He purred loudly at the rogue. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t saved him.”
River Ripple shrugged. “You’d have either learned to swim or drowned trying.”
“Thanks, River Ripple,” Lightning Tail croaked.
River Ripple shook out his pelt.
Water sprayed Thunder. “Watch out!” he spluttered.
River Ripple purred. “You moor cats really don’t like getting wet.” He glanced at Lightning Tail, whose dripping pelt was clinging to his wiry frame. “What do you do when it rains?”
“You can’t drown in rain,” Thunder muttered.
“What are you doing here anyway?” River Ripple scanned the shore behind them.
Thunder nodded. “We’re looking for some kits.”
“Turtle Tail’s?” River Ripple narrowed his eyes.
“Have you seen them?” Thunder leaned closer.
River Ripple shook his head. “No. But I smelled Turtle Tail’s scent.”
“She’s looking for them, too. Their kittypet father snatched them from the camp,” Thunder explained. “We think he’s taking them back to his housefolk.”