A Forest Divided (24 page)

Storm Pelt jumped.

The breath caught in Clear Sky's throat as Storm Pelt landed. The kit's paws slithered for a moment on the bark; then he dug in his claws and steadied himself.

“Well done!” Relief washed Clear Sky. “Now just keep
walking toward me.” Blood roared in his ears as Storm Pelt approached slowly. “The branch is wider here,” he encouraged.

Storm Pelt was less than a tail-length away. As he neared, Clear Sky leaned forward and grabbed the kit's scruff. Curling his claws deep into the bark to steady himself, he swung the kit behind him and placed him gently in the crook where the branch met the trunk. “You're safe there, as long as you don't move.” Storm Pelt cowered in the shallow dip. Clear Sky turned back to Dew Nose, surprise pricking his paws as he saw Eagle Feather padding along the branch toward him. He waited until the kit was within reach, then leaned forward and, grasping his scruff, plopped him down beside his brother.

“Dew Nose.” He faced the she-kit, forcing his mew to be as gentle as he could. She was still clinging to the thin branch, her eyes wide with fear. “Did you see how easy it was for your brothers?”

She nodded slowly.

“You need to uncurl your claws just enough to stand up,” Clear Sky told her. “Then start walking toward me. You'll be okay. Kit claws are
really
sharp—sharper than thorns, I promise you. They'll dig into the bark and keep you safe. All you have to do is walk.”

Dew Nose stared at him for a moment, then slowly pushed herself to her paws.

“Well done!” Pride surged in Clear Sky's chest. “Now walk.” Hope and relief welled in his belly as Dew Nose put one trembling paw in front of the other. Her gaze was fixed on him, her ears flat against her head. “You're nearly there,”
he told her. She was almost close enough to grab. “Just a few more steps and—”

As he spoke, her forepaw slipped off the branch. Her chin hit the bark as she fell.

Horror scorched through his fur. As fast as lightning, he lunged forward and grabbed her scruff between his teeth. The she-kit swung down, jerking him toward the ground.

“Dew Nose!” Eagle Feather squealed behind him.

Pelt on end, Clear Sky dug his claws deep into the bark.
I've got her.
Forcing himself to stay calm, he straightened slowly, ignoring her terrified wails as she struggled beneath his chin. Carefully, he found his balance and lifted her, swinging her toward her brothers. Weak with relief, he dropped her between them.

Storm Pelt pressed his nose into his sister's pelt. “You're safe,” he mewed.

Eagle Feather huddled against her. “How will we get down?”

Clear Sky looked at them, trying to steady his breath. “I can lower myself tail-first down the tree,” he told them, keeping his mew light. His claws pricked at the thought of the weight that would be swinging from them. “You just have to cling onto my back like squirrel kits.” He padded past them and straddled the trunk. “Climb on. There's room for all of you. This is going to be the most exciting badger ride you've ever had!”

“Clear Sky?” Quiet Rain murmured, her
eyes closed.

Gray Wing leaned toward her and touched his nose to her cheek. “He's out looking for the kits.”

Quiet Rain moved her head, groaning softly.

Gray Wing could see the black wound at the top of her hind leg. The flesh around it was swollen, fiery where it showed through her thin fur.

“Rest,” he murmured.

But Quiet Rain was blinking open her eyes. “He's looking for kits?” she rasped.

“Jagged Peak's kits have disappeared,” Gray Wing told her softly.

“He's too soft on them,” she grunted. “No kit of mine would have strayed from the cave.”

Gray Wing met her gaze softly. “
We
knew what dangers lay outside. The forest here is safer.” Was he telling the truth? Slash was bound to return sometime. The lure of false prey would not keep him away forever.

“
No
place is safe for foolish kits.” Quiet Rain lifted her head, her eyes dull with pain.

“We have three patrols looking for them,” Gray Wing told her. “They will be found before they come to any harm.”

Quiet Rain looked at him, kindness warming her blue gaze. “You were always the gentlest of my kits. I worried sometimes that you lacked Clear Sky's spirit and Jagged Peak's stubbornness. But you have the kindest heart. You always hope for the best.” She shifted stiffly in her nest, wincing with pain, before she went on. “I knew you'd find Jagged Peak when I sent you after him.”

“I only wish I could have returned to the mountains.” Gray Wing remembered his frustration after he'd realized there would be no way back, that he would have to go on with Clear Sky to find their new home.

And we've never been able to agree on where that home even is!

“I knew Jagged Peak would insist on following Clear Sky—and that you wouldn't leave him until you knew he was safe.” A broken purr sounded in Quiet Rain's throat.

“But I didn't keep him safe, did I?” Gray Wing murmured. “He's lame now.”

“Was it your fault he fell from a tree?” Quiet Rain asked.

Gray Wing dropped his gaze. “No.” It had been Clear Sky who'd pushed the young tom into climbing so high.

“Don't pity him,” Quiet Rain rasped. “He has a mate and kits. He has prey to feed them and a good, strong den for them to shelter in.”

Gray Wing felt his heart lift. Was Quiet Rain finally accepting that their new life was not as bad as she'd first feared? His heart twisted in his chest.
She must live until newleaf.
When she
saw the green lushness and smelled the prey beneath every bush, she'd know they had done the right thing in coming here.

He realized that Quiet Rain was still gazing at him, a question in her eyes.

“What?” He blinked at her, puzzled.

“Why don't you have a mate?”

Heat flushed beneath his fur. “I
had
a mate,” he murmured. The ache in his heart was still sharp when he thought of the loss that he had suffered. “Turtle Tail.”

Quiet Rain's eyes brightened a little. “You noticed her at last.”

“Yes.” The ache tightened in his chest. “We were happy together, though I wish we'd had longer before she died.”

“Did you have kits?”

“She was carrying someone else's kits when we became mates.”

Quiet Rain blinked. “Whose?”

“A kittypet.” Gray Wing dropped his gaze, trying to hide his bitterness at the memory of the arrogant, selfish tom. “Turtle Tail and I raised them together.”

“Where are they now?”

“Sparrow Fur and Owl Eyes live in the oak forest. Pebble Heart has been caring for you.”

“Pebble Heart is Turtle Tail's kit?” Quiet Rain's tail twitched. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“I didn't think to.” So much else had been going on.

“Now I know why he looks to you whenever you speak, and with such fondness,” Quiet Rain commented. “Does he know you're not his real father?”

“Of course.”

“You must have raised him well to have inspired such affection.”

Gray Wing dipped his head. “I hope so.”

“You shouldn't spend the rest of your life mourning.”

Gray Wing jerked up his head. “Who said I was going to?”

Quiet Rain looked at him fondly. “You should have a mate and kits of your own.”

Paw steps sounded in the clearing. A young mew rang around the camp. “Holly! Jagged Peak? We're home!”

“The kits!” Gray Wing darted from the den.

Clear Sky was following Eagle Feather, Dew Nose, and Storm Pelt as they bobbed across the snowy clearing.

“Are they hurt?” Gray Wing asked.

“They're fine,” Clear Sky told him.

“We climbed a tree!” Eagle Feather boasted.

Gray Wing noticed the lumps of fur sticking out from Clear Sky's pelt. “Have you been in a fight?”

Clear Sky glanced along his ruffled spine. A purr rumbled in his throat. “I had to climb down from a tree with three kits hanging off me.” He winced, as though the memory stung.

“We were nearly eaten by a crow.” Dew Nose stopped at Gray Wing's paws and stared at him proudly. “But it didn't get us!”

He frowned at her. “You shouldn't have wandered off. Holly and Jagged Peak are crazy with worry!”

“Where are they?” Storm Pelt looked around the clearing.

“I smelled their scent outside camp,” Eagle Feather commented.

The pine nest rustled at the edge of the clearing. Pebble Heart was sitting up, blinking away sleep. “What's happened?”

Dew Nose bounded toward the young tom. “We've been climbing trees!”

Clear Sky snorted. “They were almost a meal for a crow.”

“But you saved us!” Eagle Feather stared happily at Clear Sky.

Pebble Heart hopped from his nest and sniffed Dew Nose. “You're frozen.”

Gray Wing suddenly realized that the kits were shivering. “We need to warm them up.”

Pebble Heart nodded toward Quiet Rain's den. “Quiet Rain's fever will warm them, and they'll help cool her fever.”

Dew Nose stared at Pebble Heart, round-eyed. “We can't go in there! She'll eat us up!”

Gray Wing's whiskers twitched with amusement. Quiet Rain
had
been bad-tempered since she arrived. But she seemed mellower now. And Jagged Peak's kits might boost her spirits. “She'll be pleased to see you,” he promised. “But she's in pain, so you shouldn't climb over her or fidget.”

Storm Pelt's teeth began to chatter. His pink nose tip was white with cold.

“Come on.” Pebble Heart nudged Dew Nose toward his den.

Storm Pelt and Eagle Feather fell in beside them. “When will Holly be back?”

“I'll go and find her.” Clear Sky eyed the kits sternly. “
And
the others. Every cat in the camp has been searching for you.”

“You can scold them later,” Pebble Heart told Clear Sky briskly. “Right now we must warm them up.” As he nosed them into his den, Clear Sky headed out of camp.

Gray Wing followed Pebble Heart.

Inside, the kits lined up like owlets and stared nervously at Quiet Rain.

“Pebble Heart wants us to get warm,” Dew Nose told her timidly.

Quiet Rain flicked her tail. “I hear you wandered off in the snow.”

“We climbed a tree all by ourselves,” Storm Pelt told her.

Pebble Heart padded forward. “Can they share your nest until their fur is warm?”

“Of course.” Quiet Rain shuffled backward, pain showing in her eyes as she moved.

“We'll be careful not to hurt you,” Eagle Feather promised.

“Thank you.” Quiet Rain eyed him fondly as he climbed over the heather fronds and nestled beside her belly. Dew Nose followed, and Storm Pelt climbed in behind.

“You have your father's eyes,” Quiet Rain told Storm Pelt.

“I don't,” Dew Nose chimed in. “But Holly says I'm as smart as him.”

“And what about you?” Quiet Rain asked Eagle Feather. “What do you get from your father?”

“I can climb trees,” Eagle Feather told her. “But
I
don't fall out of them.”

Quiet Rain's whiskers twitched. “He must be proud of you all.” She wrapped her tail around them. “Tuck up tight and you'll be warm in no time.”

Gray Wing felt memory sweep over him like a warm wind.
She comforted me and Clear Sky like that when we were kits.
The thought seemed to come from a different lifetime. Suddenly weary, he settled onto his belly and tucked his paws under him.

Pebble Heart's breath stirred his ear fur. “I'm going to go to the moor to see if I can find more of my old herbs,” he whispered.

There was worry in his mew.

“Do you need them that badly?” Gray Wing glanced toward Quiet Rain, her muzzle resting beside the kits.

“Her wound is getting worse.” Pebble Heart's mew was no more than a breath.

“Should I come with you?” Gray Wing began to move.

Pebble Heart touched his nose to Gray Wing's shoulder. “Stay with them.”

As he slipped from the den, Gray Wing gazed at the kits. Their heads were drooping. Dew Nose rested her muzzle on Storm Pelt's spine. Eagle Feather tucked his muzzle under Dew Nose's shoulder. Bundled like mice in a burrow, they slipped into sleep. Beside their gentle snores, Gray Wing
heard the rattle of his mother's breath.

Her eyes were still half-open, but unseeing.

Let Pebble Heart's herbs work!
Gray Wing's chest tightened.
She can't have come all this way just to die.