“Actually, my littermate lives down here,” Gray Wing explained. “Why don’t you come meet him?”
This time Gray Wing took the lead as he followed the path that led to Clear Sky’s new home. Four days had passed since he had hunted the squirrel with Clear Sky and Jagged Peak, and he was looking forward to seeing his brothers again.
Gray Wing soon picked up Clear Sky’s scent, and Jagged Peak’s too, mingled with another, stronger scent of a cat he didn’t recognize. Rounding a bramble thicket, he found himself facing a large brown tom with yellow eyes.
“Who are you?” Gray Wing asked, halting abruptly and bracing himself for an attack.
“Who are you?” the tom growled. “This is Clear Sky’s place.”
Gray Wing gaped with astonishment. He had assumed this was a rogue who lived in the forest. Hearing the tom mention Clear Sky had left him completely confused.
“Clear Sky is my brother,” he responded. “We’re on our way to visit him. Is that a problem?”
“Only if you make it one.” The rogue’s sharp yellow eyes narrowed. “Clear Sky doesn’t like strange cats wandering around here, close to his camp.”
His what? Gray Wing thought. Is that what rogues call the place where they live?
“I’m not a strange cat!” he snapped, growing exasperated. “I’m his brother!”
The brown tom narrowed his eyes. “Okay. But just in case you’re not telling the truth, I’ll take you to Clear Sky myself. Don’t even think about trying anything.”
Beckoning with his tail, he led the way down a narrow track between ferns. Gray Wing exchanged a glance with Storm.
“What’s all that about?” she asked.
“I have no idea,” Gray Wing replied.
He followed the brown tom, Storm hard on his paws, until they emerged from the ferns into the sheltered hollow where his littermate had made his home. Clear Sky was stretched out in the shade of some brambles, grooming himself, while Falling Feather sat beside the pool with Quick Water and the small yellow tabby she-cat Gray Wing had seen before. Remembering how aggressive the tabby had been, it was a shock to see her sitting peacefully beside his friends.
The brown tom stalked across the clearing and stood in front of Clear Sky. “I found these two on their way here,” he announced, flicking his tail at Gray Wing and Storm. “The tom says he’s your brother.”
Clear Sky leaped to his paws. “He is. Hello, Gray Wing.”
The brown tom looked disconcerted as Gray Wing and Storm padded over to Clear Sky.
“This is Fox,” Clear Sky announced as Gray Wing touched noses with him. “He decided to join us.”
“And this is Fox’s sister, Petal,” Falling Feather called from where she sat by the pool. “She’s come to stay with us as well.” Her eyes shone as she gazed at Fox. “Isn’t it great?”
Shock struck Gray Wing like a flash of lightning. “Really?” he demanded, facing Clear Sky in bewilderment. “Rogues living among you?”
Clear Sky let out a mrrow of amusement. “We’re rogues too, don’t forget,” he meowed. “So why have you come to see me?”
“I brought Storm to meet you,” Gray Wing responded, gesturing the silver she-cat forward with his tail. “She lives around here.”
“Welcome…” Clear Sky’s voice began by being cheerful, then trailed off as he fixed his gaze on Storm.
Storm seemed lost for words. Gray Wing hoped she hadn’t been intimidated by Fox’s hostility.
“So… where do you live?” Clear Sky asked, obviously forcing the words out.
“Nowhere special…” Storm blinked rapidly. “I… er…”
“She goes to the Twolegplace sometimes,” Gray Wing put in, since Storm seemed to be having trouble explaining herself. “But she’s not a kittypet.”
Neither Storm nor Clear Sky seemed to hear him. Clear Sky’s blue gaze met Storm’s green; Gray Wing had never seen such intensity.
“It’s… very nice here,” Storm went on, waving her tail around the hollow. “Comfortable.”
“Yes… we like it.”
Are they both completely flea-brained? Gray Wing wondered.
For a moment longer Clear Sky and Storm gazed at each other. Both cats’ neck fur was slightly fluffed up, and their tail-tips twitched from side to side. Gray Wing wouldn’t have been surprised if they had sprung at each other.
“Hey, why don’t we—” he began.
“I have to go,” Storm interrupted brusquely.
Clear Sky looked dismayed. “Why?”
Storm shook her head in confusion. “I need to hunt,” she mewed at last.
“Well, come back soon,” Clear Sky invited her, though he was clearly disappointed.
“I will.” Storm turned and headed out of the clearing. Gray Wing glanced at Clear Sky, then turned and followed her.
What just happened? he wondered, bounding forward to catch up to Storm. “Are you okay?”
“What?” Storm turned to look at him, her green gaze distracted. “Oh, yes, I’m fine.”
She headed toward the river and padded alongside it, in the direction of the four great oaks. Gray Wing realized their playful friendliness had faded like morning mist.
“Should we meet again tomorrow?” he asked as they paused on the edge of the trees.
Storm sighed. “I don’t know… I’ll see you around, okay?” Without waiting for a reply, she turned and plunged into the depths of the forest, leaving Gray Wing to stare after her.
Chapter 21
Gray Wing couldn’t understand how one day could make such a difference. The four great oaks stood the same as they always had, but their leaves were limp and still; there was not a breath of wind. The forest was gloomy, with no sun breaking through the clouds. Worst of all, there was no sign of Storm.
Hope sprang up in Gray Wing as he heard a rustle and saw fronds of fern shaking as a cat approached the bottom of the hollow. But his tail drooped in disappointment as Turtle Tail emerged into the open.
“Hi,” she meowed, bounding toward him. “I’m hunting. Do you want to join me?”
Gray Wing shook his head. “Sorry. I’m waiting for Storm.”
“Again?”
“Yes, again,” Gray Wing replied, slightly annoyed at the hint of disapproval in Turtle Tail’s voice. Then as all his hopes and doubts surged through him, he knew that he had to confide in some cat. “I… I really like her,” he confessed. “I want her to come and live in the hollow with us.”
Turtle Tail’s eyes widened; Gray Wing was surprised to see sadness in their green depths.
“Oh… I see,” she mewed. “I’ll be off, then.” She spun around, racing away swiftly in the direction of the Twolegplace.
But she said she was hunting, Gray Wing thought, then began to search for Storm. At one point he picked up her scent, then realized it was stale, probably from when she had met him the day before.
“Gray Wing.”
That wasn’t the voice he longed to hear. He turned and spotted Tall Shadow beckoning to him from halfway up the slope.
“Walk with me,” she invited as he came up to her. “I need to talk to you.”
Tall Shadow led the way through the forest and along the edge of the moor. “Tell me more about the new cats who are living with Clear Sky and Moon Shadow.”
Gray Wing shrugged, peering through the trees in case Storm appeared. “I told you all I know,” he replied. “They seem to have settled in well, as far as I could see.”
Tall Shadow nodded thoughtfully. “Do you think we should invite Gorse and Wind to move into the hollow with us?”