Meanwhile, Clear Sky was watching the small birds that circled overhead. “Do you want me to see if I can catch any of those?” he asked Shaded Moss.
Shaded Moss glanced along the trail in the direction they needed to go, then shook his head. “We haven’t traveled far enough yet.”
“What’s the rush?” Moon Shadow complained. “This new home, wherever it is, won’t disappear, will it?”
“That’s right,” Jackdaw’s Cry agreed. “We’ve been walking for ages!”
Other cats murmured in agreement.
“You lazy bunch!” Turtle Tail exclaimed. “We’ve only been traveling for four sunrises. We haven’t even left the mountains yet.” Her neck fur fluffed up with indignation. “No cat said it would be easy.”
Before any cat could argue, Tall Shadow rose to her paws and pointed with her tail to a distant clump of pine trees on the side of the mountain. “Let’s aim for those by tonight,” she suggested.
“Good idea,” Dappled Pelt agreed.
To Gray Wing’s relief, the threatened discord vanished like frost in sunlight as the cats rose to their paws, ready to set out again. As they moved off, he fell in beside Bright Stream. “Clear Sky tells me you’re having kits,” he mewed. “That’s great!”
Bright Stream glanced at her paws in embarrassment. “I don’t want any cat to know yet,” she murmured. “I don’t want the others to think I’m going to slow them down.”
“No cat will think that,” Gray Wing reassured her. “And your kits will be a great start for our new home, wherever we end up.”
Sunhigh had just passed when Shaded Moss drew to a halt; the other cats bunched up behind him. Gray Wing saw that the ledge they had been following had petered out. A wide slope of slippery scree lay in front of them, leading to a sheer drop into a valley far below.
“I don’t like the look of that,” Hawk Swoop muttered.
“Me neither,” Jackdaw’s Cry added. “Do we have to go this way?”
“Yes, we do,” Shaded Moss stated firmly, before any cat could start arguing. “We’ll take it slowly, in pairs. The younger, less experienced cats can walk on the inside.”
“Can I go with you, Clear Sky?” Jagged Peak asked, wriggling forward until he stood at the edge of the scree.
Gray Wing admired his little brother’s courage. Guessing where he could be of most help, he padded over to Jackdaw’s Cry. “You can come with me if you like,” he mewed.
Jackdaw’s Cry gave him a grateful glance. “Thanks.” His whiskers twitched nervously, but his voice was steady as he added, “I keep worrying about the drop into the valley. It’s a long way down.”
“Then don’t look down,” Gray Wing advised. “Stay close to me, and make sure there’s something solid under your paws before you put your weight on them.”
Jackdaw’s Cry listened seriously to what Gray Wing told him. “What about using my tail for balance?” he asked.
“Good idea. Keep your gaze fixed on the far side, and whatever you do, don’t panic,” Gray Wing added.
Jackdaw’s Cry nodded. “I’m ready now.”
Shaded Moss had already started off across the scree, heading slowly and steadily for the mountainside beyond, where boulders and scrubby thorns broke up the slope. Clear Sky set out after him, with Jagged Peak at his side.
Bright Stream and Falling Feather followed, with Bright Stream taking the outer position, nearer the cliff edge. Glancing back, Clear Sky looked uncertain for a moment, as if he wanted to go back and help his mate.
“I’ll be fine!” Bright Stream called out to him. “Watch where you’re putting your own paws.”
Gray Wing exchanged a glance with Jackdaw’s Cry, and ventured out onto the scree with the young black tom at his side. Even though he didn’t look, he was aware of the sheer drop into the valley, only a couple of tail-lengths away. His paws slipped as he dislodged some of the smooth, flat stones and sent them skittering over the edge. For a heartbeat he thought he was going to follow them, but he managed to regain his balance.
“Are you okay?” Jackdaw’s Cry asked, his eyes wide and his ears flattened.
“Fine,” Gray Wing replied tersely. “Just keep going.”
Glancing over to the far side, he saw that Shaded Moss had already reached safety, and Clear Sky was nudging Jagged Peak up onto a flat, snow-covered stone before clambering off the scree and sitting down beside him.
“Come on!” Jagged Peak called encouragingly in his shrill voice. “It’s not too hard!”
Bright Stream and Falling Feather reached them a few heartbeats later. Gray Wing began to relax a little, seeing the solid ground was only a few paw steps away. He risked a glance over his shoulder and saw the long line of cats behind him, moving steadily.
I think we’ll be okay.
A sudden screech split the quiet air. “Eagles! Eagles!”
Jagged Peak was leaping up and down on the flat rock, his tail waving at the sky. Gray Wing looked up to see two huge birds swooping down toward the cats exposed on the scree.
Yowls of panic rose up and the cats began to run, loose stone sliding beneath their paws as the well-organized line broke up. A horrible vision flashed through Gray Wing’s mind of cats plummeting helplessly into the valley, or shrieking as they were carried away in the eagles’ talons.
Jackdaw’s Cry had frozen in terror a tail-length from safety. Gray Wing grabbed him by the scruff and hurled him off the scree toward Clear Sky and Shaded Moss. Then he whipped around and headed back toward his Tribemates.
His paws slipping as he tried to hurry, Gray Wing noticed that Dappled Pelt had lost her footing completely and was sliding helplessly down the slope. She let out a panic-stricken yowl as she struggled to find a firm paw hold.
“I’m coming!” Gray Wing called.
He ran between Dappled Pelt and the line of his Tribemates, dodging the rain of loose stones that pattered around him, dislodged by the other cats’ paws. Reaching a place above the she-cat where the stones weren’t moving, he cut back down toward her, aiming for a spot just below her where he could halt her fall.
Dappled Pelt stared at him, her eyes stretched wide with fear and her tail waving as she scrabbled vainly at the scree.
Reaching the spot, Gray Wing dug his paws firmly between the stones to find a firm purchase, and braced himself to take Dappled Pelt’s weight. When she slithered into him he panicked for a moment as he felt the ground shift under his paws, but he managed to hold her.
Still frantic, Dappled Pelt tried to claw back up the way she had come, but there was nothing solid for her to grip.
“Keep still!” Gray Wing gasped. His belly lurched with fear as he saw the eagles swooping lower, their claws extended and their wing tips brushing the heads of the cats. Most of the others had reached safety, but Hawk Swoop and Rainswept Flower had fallen behind, and Gray Wing couldn’t make any progress with Dappled Pelt.
We’re chickfeed, for sure!
As Dappled Pelt kept on struggling, Moon Shadow came bounding down the slope just ahead of them. “Come on… this way,” he meowed to Dappled Pelt, bracing his shoulder against her.
Dappled Pelt stumbled forward, heading paw step by paw step toward the end of the scree, with Moon Shadow taking part of her weight. Gray Wing followed, scrabbling to keep his paw hold.
When they reached solid ground, Moon Shadow boosted Dappled Pelt ahead of him, then clambered up beside her. Gray Wing raced after them as they dived underneath an overhanging rock where the rest of the cats were hiding. Rainswept Flower and Hawk Swoop joined them a heartbeat later, just managing to dodge an eagle’s outstretched claws.