“And how ugly it is,” River Ripple muttered. He went back to grooming his silver belly.
Lightning Tail stopped pacing and stared Thunder in the eye. “Do you believe it’s the right thing to take them back to the moor, even though Turtle Tail is dead?”
Thunder didn’t hesitate. “Yes.” The moor cats would care for them, just as they’d cared for him. The kits would be far more loved than if they stayed here with Tom.
Lightning Tail nodded. “Good. Then all I have to do is distract Tom so you can talk to the kits and get them away from here.” He circled River Ripple. “Will you help us get them home?”
River Ripple shook out his fur. “I’ll do anything I have to.” He flattened his ears. “That kittypet has caused nothing but grief. He deserves some grief of his own.”
Lightning Tail turned to cross the wide stone path to Tom’s den.
Thunder hurried after him. “What’s your plan?”
“I’m going to make him jealous.”
“How?” Thunder fell in beside his friend, puzzled.
“Leave it to me,” Lightning Tail told him. “You just have to persuade the kits to leave while I’m keeping Tom busy.” He marched to the middle of the opening of Tom’s den and stopped. Darkness engulfed the nest.
“You came back!” Pebble Heart dashed from the shadows.
Tom’s pelt rippled as he followed the kit into the pale evening light. “What are you doing?”
“You didn’t think we’d leave without saying good-bye to the kits, did you?” Lightning Tail’s mew was unruffled.
Thunder lifted his tail. “We’re going to miss you on the moor.” He glanced fondly at Sparrow Fur and Owl Eyes as they bounded forward.
Lightning Tail caught Thunder’s eye, suddenly mischievous. “What a shame you’ll never learn how to pluck a lapwing from the sky like Hawk Swoop can.”
Sparrow Fur blinked at him. “Tom promised to teach us to hunt.”
“I’m sure he will,” Thunder meowed enthusiastically. “I’m sure there are plenty of rats around here to practice on.”
River Ripple wove around Sparrow Fur and stopped beside Owl Eyes. “I wonder if the Twolegs will give you new names?”
“Names like Tom’s,” Lightning Tail suggested cheerfully. “You could become She-Kit instead of Sparrow Fur.”
Sparrow Fur’s eyes widened. “But I like my name.”
Guilt pricked at Thunder’s chest. This felt cruel. He stiffened his shoulders. It had to be done if they were to get the kits back to where they’d be safe and happy. He padded toward Pebble Heart and touched his nose to the kit’s head. “Cloud Spots will miss you,” he murmured. “I know how proud he was of your skills.”
Pebble Heart’s eyes glistened. “I still had so much to learn.”
“Stop it.” A growl edged Tom’s mew.
The kits turned to stare at him.
“We’re just saying good-bye.” Sparrow Fur blinked at Tom. “You don’t mind, do you?”
Before he could answer, Lightning Tail whisked past him. “Of course he doesn’t mind. Do you, Tom?”
Tom glared at him as Lightning Tail padded into the shadows at the back of the den, toward the Twoleg opening.
Hooking his paw through a narrow gap where light seeped in, Lightning Tail swung back a tall slice of wood.
Thunder blinked as yellow light streamed in. It flooded from the eyes of the Twoleg nest, illuminating a stretch of grass between the dens.
Lightning Tail padded onto the grass and began yowling loudly at the Twoleg nest.
What’s he doing?
Tom chased after him. “Stop it!” He glanced anxiously back at the kits, who were staring wide-eyed.
Thunder felt a prickle of triumph. He doesn’t want to show his true self in front of the kits.
Lightning Tail kept yowling, lifting his head toward the brightly lit eyes.
River Ripple slid close to Thunder. “What’s he up to?”
“I have no idea.” As he answered, a hole opened in the back of the Twoleg nest. Light flared, framing a pair of Twolegs. They stepped onto the grass, murmuring to each other.
Lightning Tail broke into a purr, so loud that Thunder could hear it from inside Tom’s den. Then he began weaving around the Twolegs.
Thunder felt River Ripple shudder.
“How’s he doing that?” the rogue breathed.
Thunder swallowed. “I don’t know.” Lightning Tail was acting like a kittypet! Wasn’t he scared? Twolegs were capable of anything. How did he know they wouldn’t steal him or hurt him? He wasn’t their kittypet, after all.
“What’s Lightning Tail doing?” Sparrow Fur’s squeak surprised Thunder. The young kit was standing beside him, Pebble Heart and Owl Eyes bunched beside her. They were watching the black tom anxiously.
Thunder searched for words. “I guess he’s thanking the Twolegs for looking after you,” he told them at last.
Tom turned and hissed at Thunder. “How dare he!” He charged across the grass. Stopping beside his Twolegs, he snarled at Lightning Tail. “Get out of here. They’re mine!”
“Really?” Lightning Tail gazed back at him mildly. “They look like they’d take in any cat. They took in Turtle Tail, didn’t they? Perhaps they want me to stay too. That way I can keep an eye on Turtle Tail’s kits.”
One of the Twolegs reached down and ran a paw along Lightning Tail’s spine. He lifted his tail and arched his back with pleasure, as though he was scratching an itch on a branch.
“He’s letting them touch him!” Pebble Heart sounded horrified.
Thunder looked at him gravely. “You’ll have to let them touch you if you stay here.”
“No way!” Pebble Heart backed away.
“I don’t want Twolegs touching me!” Sparrow Fur mewed crossly.
Suddenly the Twoleg bent and scooped Lightning Tail up into its paws.
Owl Eyes pressed against Thunder, trembling. “Will they do that to us too?”
“Of course.” Thunder tried to sound matter-of-fact, even though his flesh was crawling beneath his pelt at the thought. “Look.” He watched the other Twoleg pick up Tom. “Your father will show you what to do, I’m sure. He’ll show you how to be stroked and fussed over by Twolegs. You’ll be perfect kittypets before you know it.”
Tom hissed at Lightning Tail. “I’m going to shred you.” His growl was dripping with malice. The Twoleg holding Lightning Tail backed away, its face creasing. It rumbled something to its mate as Lightning Tail curled deep into its embrace, like a kit hiding against its mother’s belly.
The Twoleg purred and held Lightning Tail harder.
Tom lashed out a paw.
“He’s trying to hurt Lightning Tail!” Owl Eyes’s mew was filled with dismay.
“Why’s Tom being mean?” Sparrow Fur blinked up at Thunder.
Thunder leaned closer. “Perhaps he doesn’t like sharing his Twolegs,” he mewed innocently.
Pebble Heart frowned. “Perhaps he won’t like sharing them with us either.”
“I don’t want to share them!” Owl Eyes growled. “I want to go home where there aren’t any Twolegs!”
“Really?” Joy sparked in Thunder’s belly. “We can take you home if you want.”
“Yes, please!” Sparrow Fur bounded around him, her short tail flicking with excitement.
Thunder touched her spine with his tail-tip. “You have to be very brave and very quiet, though,” he told her gravely.
Owl Eyes blinked at him. “Why?”
“We’ll be traveling through Twolegplace in the dark,” Thunder told him. “It’s dangerous here for moor cats.” He exchanged glances with River Ripple. “River Ripple knows the way. Will you go with him while I help Lightning Tail get away from the Twolegs?”