The Blazing Star

Chapter 26

Thunder watched in silence as Star Flower padded over to him, her brilliant green gaze pleading.

“Thunder, he’s my father,” she mewed. “Please let me say good-bye.”

Thunder felt as if everything in him was frozen, like the icy peaks Gray Wing had told him about.

“How interesting that you never mentioned that when we were together.” He let out a snort of disgusted laughter. “But then, we were never ‘together,’ were we? It was all a lie.”

Hurt flashed into Star Flower’s eyes. But it’s for her father, not for me, Thunder told himself. I feel so stupid, he thought, embarrassment flooding through him at the memory. And worst of all, he still felt something when he looked at her. It was a struggle to pretend that he no longer cared, though knowing how she had used him made it easier.

“Please listen to me, Thunder,” Star Flower went on, taking another pace toward him, so that her sweet scent wreathed around him. “I did like you, truly. Meeting you by the four trees, and calling out to you on the moor. Taking you to the secret garden… that was all my idea.”

“Like I’d believe that!” Thunder scoffed.

“It was. It was only after my father found out that I’d been spending time with you that he suggested I should use our closeness to find out what the other cats were doing.” She looked down and studied her paws. “When I left you at the secret garden, One Eye was waiting for me. He’d been listening to us, and he sent me to follow you. I hid outside your camp and listened to what you were planning.”

Thunder winced. I even heard paw steps; I thought some cat was following me! “So that’s how

One Eye came to be waiting for us beside the Thunderpath,” he meowed. “And then you showed me a plant that was nothing like the Blazing Star. It was a trick to pump me for information.”

Star Flower hung her head. “That’s true. But I told you the truth when I said that the Blazing Star is a healing herb. You have to believe that.”

“I believed every word you said,” Thunder told her. “I was… I was…”

“What?” Star Flower asked encouragingly, looking up at him again.

“Tricked,” Thunder replied, letting all the bitterness he felt seep into the one word. “And I won’t let it happen again.”

He turned his back on Star Flower, ignoring her as he saw Tall Shadow stepping forward with a commanding whisk of her tail. “Why are we standing here doing nothing?” she asked. “Now that One

Eye has been defeated, we need to get the Blazing Star.”

“You’re right,” Thunder agreed. I do believe Star Flower when she says the Blazing Star heals.

She has nothing to gain by lying now.

“I’ll lead an expedition to go across the Thunderpath to fetch it,” Tall Shadow announced briskly.

By now River Ripple and Wind Runner had padded over to where Clear Sky still lay bleeding on the grass. Cloud Spots and Dappled Pelt were bending over him, while Sparrow Fur and Owl Eyes dashed up with pawfuls of cobwebs and bunches of herbs in their jaws.

Gray Wing nodded at them, and then turned back to Tall Shadow. “And I’ll come with you,” Gray Wing added, padding up to her side.

“What about One Eye’s rogues?” Shattered Ice asked. “They could still be lurking in the forest.”

Tall Shadow swiveled her head, her gaze raking the moorland. None of the strangers One Eye had brought with him were in sight. “I doubt it,” she meowed in reply to Shattered Ice. “They ran away pretty quickly when we ambushed their leader. It’s my guess that we won’t see so much as a tail-tip.

And if I’m wrong…” She slid out her claws. “We’ll deal with them.”

“We’ll come with you,” Mouse Ear meowed, beckoning with his tail to Mud Paws. “Just in case.

It’ll feel good to do something for Holly.”

Tall Shadow dipped her head to the big tabby tom. “Thank you,” she responded, before setting off across the moor at the head of the patrol.

As she and Gray Wing headed toward the forest, Thunder felt a sudden panic at being left in charge. What am I supposed to do now? Desperately he ran after them. “Gray Wing, I need to know—” he began.

Gray Wing halted and turned toward him. “Do as your heart tells you, Thunder,” he mewed calmly. He stretched out his neck to touch noses with Thunder, his eyes warm and affectionate. “I trust you,” he added, before hurrying after Tall Shadow.

Thunder watched the older cat—almost his father—walk away. He felt a twinge of sadness at the realization that Gray Wing didn’t want to advise him anymore. But at the same time Gray Wing’s faith in him had sent new energy flowing through his body.

Thunder turned back toward Clear Sky as Sparrow Fur and Owl Eyes ran over to him with even more cobwebs. Reassured that his injured father was receiving the best care possible, Thunder took a deep breath and turned back to where Star Flower was crouching over One Eye’s body. A soft keening sound came from her. How did something so beautiful come from something so ugly? he asked himself, looking at the grotesquely sprawled limbs of the dead rogue. One Eye was ugly inside and out. But Star Flower…

Thunder paced slowly up to the golden tabby she-cat and stood beside her. “It’s time for you to leave,” he meowed quietly. “You’re not welcome among any of our groups, and if you won’t leave by yourself we’ll have to make you.”

Star Flower looked up at him, and seeing the despair in her eyes made Thunder feel as though a giant claw was piercing his heart. “Please,” she whispered, “can’t we at least bury him? Then I’ll leave you alone and never bother you again.”

Thunder hesitated, then gave her a curt nod. Leaping up onto a nearby rock, he cleared his throat and called the cats around him. “It’s time to bury the dead,” he announced when they had all gathered.

Sparrow Fur’s eyes stretched wide with amazement. “Why would we give him the respect he would never have given any of us?” she demanded.

Thunder glanced over at River Ripple, Wind Runner, and Clear Sky, who had managed to sit up, looking shaky but determined. “It’s because we’re different from One Eye,” he responded, “and we always have been.”

The other leaders nodded their agreement.

“One Eye believed every cat was out for themselves,” Clear Sky meowed. “But we believe that life is better for every cat when each of us acts for the greater good.”

A murmur of approval rose from the crowd at Clear Sky’s words. Thunder glanced around and picked out cats who seemed to have suffered least from their enemies’ claws: Shattered Ice, Lightning Tail, and Night. “Come and help me dig the grave,” he instructed, leaping down among them.

“I want to help, too,” Star Flower mewed as Thunder led the way to the foot of the thorn tree where One Eye was lying.

With so many paws working together, it didn’t take long to dig a hole deep enough to bury One

Eye. Then Star Flower nudged his body into the hole and watched as the others covered him with earth and leaves.

When the task was finished, the cats who had gathered looked at one another uncertainly, murmuring together as if they weren’t sure what to do now. Should one of us say something? Thunder wondered.

Then Star Flower stepped forward, raising her face to the sunshine. “To my father, a true ray of light,” she mewed.

Thunder narrowly stopped himself from gaping, and heard scornful snorts of disbelief from one or two of the others. But no cat said anything.

River Ripple came to stand beside her, and dipped his head toward the grave. “One Eye was a survivor,” he pronounced. “A cat like no other who will be missed by those who loved him.”

Perfectly true, Thunder thought, admiring River Ripple’s cleverness. But it leaves an awful lot out!

Star Flower stretched out a paw and laid it gently on her father’s grave. For several heartbeats she remained motionless, her eyes closed. Then at last she opened her eyes again and slowly padded up to Thunder.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “I won’t trouble you anymore.” She slipped past him and headed toward the forest.

Thunder stood with his back to her. A massive urge to turn and call her back crashed over him like a storm, and he had to fight with all his strength not to yield to it. When he finally couldn’t fight anymore, he spun around to see that Star Flower had disappeared over the swell of the moor.

Meanwhile, River Ripple was rounding up his cats, while Wind Runner joined Gorse Fur. Cloud

Spots helped Clear Sky to his paws and let him lean on his shoulder.

“I’ll come with you back to the forest,” Cloud Spots meowed. “No—don’t argue. I don’t want you collapsing halfway there.”

“I’ll come too,” Shattered Ice offered. “Just in case there’s trouble.”

“And me!” Sparrow Fur bounced up enthusiastically.

As they set out, Clear Sky paused and looked back, his gaze traveling over the cats who had fought for him. “Thank you,” he mewed. “Thank you, every cat. I’ll never forget this.”

Watching them go, Thunder realized that River Ripple had sidled up to him and was angling his ears toward the place where Star Flower had disappeared. His eyes were alight with a mixture of sympathy and amusement.

“Don’t worry,” he murmured. “There will be others.”

Thunder felt his heart pounding hard in his chest. “Right,” he meowed with a casual flick of his ears.

But while River Ripple padded away, Thunder couldn’t tear his gaze away from the spot where he had last seen Star Flower.

I’m not so sure there will be others…