The Sun Trail

Chapter 10

Hunched against the rain, the cats crossed a grassy space and reached a broad path of dark stone leading toward the Twoleg dens.

“This is a Thunderpath,” Tall Shadow meowed, halting at the edge. “There’ll be more monsters.”

But everything was quiet. Shaded Moss led the way along the Thunderpath, keeping to the edge, and the rest of the cats followed, their fur bristling.

Suddenly a throaty growl sprang up and a monster headed toward them, slowly at first and then with gathering speed.

“It’s spotted us!” Rainswept Flower screeched.

“This way!” Gray Wing saw a much narrower path leading between two high walls of red stone, and raced toward it. “Follow me! The monster won’t be able to reach us down here!”

The cats streamed after him, just in time as the monster bore down on them. It passed by with a roar of frustration, its eyes glowing with a harsh yellow light.

“It missed us!” Turtle Tail mewed with relief. “Gray Wing, you were brilliant.”

“We still need to find somewhere safe and dry to spend the night,” Gray Wing pointed out. Bright lights like tiny suns were appearing in the dens, casting yellow squares onto the path. The shadows seemed much darker by contrast.

Taking the lead, Gray Wing walked down the narrow path, feeling trapped and suffocated between the high walls. It opened out into a square stone clearing surrounded by smaller dens. Glancing around, Gray Wing saw that one was gaping open, and padded cautiously up to it. Inside it was dark, and the reek of monsters was so strong he could hardly breathe.

“This must be a monster’s den,” Jagged Peak suggested, creeping up beside Gray Wing and staring wide-eyed into the darkness.

“The smell is stale and old, though,” Gray Wing mewed. “Maybe the monster doesn’t use it anymore.”

Rainswept Flower bounded past him into the den and looked around. “We’ll stay here tonight,” she announced briskly. “At least it’s out of the rain, and we can take turns keeping watch.”

Shaded Moss nodded as he came to stand beside his daughter. Gray Wing saw how his tail drooped, and his eyes were full of weariness. It can’t be easy for Shaded Moss, he thought. Leading us and being responsible for everything.

“You look tired,” Rainswept Flower murmured, pushing her nose into her father’s shoulder fur. “Get some sleep. I’ll take the first watch.”

“I’ll join you,” Gray Wing offered at once.

“But I’m hungry,” Quick Water protested as she padded into the den. “Aren’t we going to hunt before we sleep?”

“It’s too dangerous here,” Clear Sky pointed out. “And we haven’t smelled any prey since we left the woods.”

“We should have hunted earlier, when I wanted to,” Moon Shadow snapped.

“He’s right,” Hawk Swoop added. “It was a stupid decision to come into this Twolegplace.”

“No, it was our best chance of shelter,” Tall Shadow pointed out, her tail lashing irritably. “Away from dogs and all the things that were watching us from among the trees.”

Gray Wing agreed silently. We may be safer than we would be out in the open, but this is still a ghastly place. Dawn can’t come soon enough for me.

He sat at the opening of the den beside Rainswept Flower, looking out into the clearing. Gray Wing’s ears rang with the growl of distant monsters, shrieks of Twolegs, dogs barking—and then a yowl that made his fur stand on end.

Cats!

Rainswept Flower leaned over to whisper into his ear. “I never thought about what would happen if we met other cats! Do you think they’re… kittypets?”

Gray Wing remembered the elders’ tales of cats who chose to live with Twolegs, eating their food and sleeping inside their dens. Back in the cave, Gray Wing had thought the stories were just thistlefluff from the elders’ brains. But here, where everything seemed so crowded and dangerous, he could imagine they were true.

“What do you think kittypets are like?” he asked Rainswept Flower. “Will they understand us?”

“Surely they’d envy us?” Rainswept Flower responded. “We’ve seen more than they ever will.”

Gray Wing listened to his rumbling belly and looked down at his filthy pelt. Are we really enviable right now?

The yowls came no closer, and eventually Gray Wing felt sleep drifting over him. The louder roaring of a monster roused him and he saw it enter the clearing, its yellow eyes raking the walls.

Rainswept Flower and Gray Wing shrank back into the mouth of the den.

“Has it spotted us?” Gray Wing asked, struggling to control panic. “Are we in its den?”

“Distract it!” Rainswept Flower ordered, springing to her paws. “I’ll get the others.”

Gray Wing’s belly trembled with terror. Distract it? How?

But before he could make a move, the entrance to another den gaped open and the monster crawled inside. The den mouth glided shut behind it with a clang and the growling stopped.

“That was close!” Gray Wing exclaimed. “It must have gone to sleep.”

Rainswept Flower met his gaze with horror-filled eyes. “Then all these other dens could have sleeping monsters inside!” she whispered.

Gray Wing nodded. “Why do the Twolegs have their dens so close to the monsters? Aren’t they scared?”

Rainswept Flower shrugged, not replying, and settled down to watch once more. Gray Wing, still quivering from shock, thought he would never close his eyes again; but the next thing he knew, Rainswept Flower was prodding him in the side.

“It’s time you changed places with another cat,” she told him. “Get some proper rest.”

Gray Wing stumbled to the back of the den and woke Hawk Swoop by tripping over her. “It’s your turn to go on watch,” he told her.

“Okay, fine,” she mewed drowsily, and got up to join Rainswept Flower, who rose in her turn and fetched Jackdaw’s Cry before curling up to sleep.

Gray Wing lay down where Hawk Swoop had been, feeling her warmth on the dusty floor, and closed his eyes.

A heavy paw landing on his tail woke him, and he looked up to see Moon Shadow in the pale gray light filtering into the den.

“Sorry,” Moon Shadow mewed. “I’m going hunting.”

Gray Wing nodded, wondering if he ought to go as well, but too weary to make his legs move. “Good luck,” he said, watching Moon Shadow leave the den with a murmured good-bye to Turtle Tail and Shattered Ice, who were standing guard.

When he had gone, Gray Wing drifted into sleep again. He dreamed that he stood on the cliff top with Quiet Rain, gazing out over a vista of sunlit mountain peaks.

But the vision was shattered by a dreadful yowling.

Gray Wing sprang to his paws as Shattered Ice and Turtle Tail began scrambling out of the den. “Moon Shadow is being attacked!” Shattered Ice meowed urgently.

Gray Wing raced out of the den with the others. He could hear Moon Shadow on the other side of a wall at the far side of the clearing, screeching in fury. The voices of two other cats mingled with his shrieks, as if all three were battling.

Gray Wing, Tall Shadow, and Clear Sky raced across the clearing, outpacing their denmates, and leaped on top of the wall. Fur bristling, Gray Wing looked down and saw Moon Shadow rolling over and over on a wide stretch of grass, lashing out with teeth and claws as two cats raked at his fur.

Those are kittypets? Gray Wing thought, appalled, as he took in their plump bodies and the tendrils around their necks. None of the elders ever said kittypets were fierce!

Gray Wing plunged down and landed on top of the nearest kittypet, a huge, fluffy black-and-white tom. Clear Sky and Tall Shadow hurled themselves at the other, a ginger she-cat.

The black-and-white kittypet flipped over, slamming Gray Wing onto the ground, and slashing at his ears. Infuriated by the stinging pain, Gray Wing reared up and snapped at the kittypet’s throat, closing his teeth instead on a mouthful of fur. Choking, he felt forepaws battering at his shoulders. This kittypet isn’t as soft as he looks!

Spitting out the fur, Gray Wing brought up his hind paws and struck out at the kittypet’s belly, glad of his sharp claws and the wiry strength of his muscles.

The kittypet squirmed away, lashing out at him with clumsy blows that hardly connected. Gray Wing struggled to his paws as Moon Shadow barreled past him, butting the kittypet in the side with his head. Faced with two enemies, the black-and-white kittypet turned tail and ran. Panting, Gray Wing glanced around to see Clear Sky and Tall Shadow chasing off the ginger she-cat.

Both kittypets swarmed up a thin wall of wood on the far side of the grass. It wobbled under their weight, but they kept their balance as they turned and hissed.

“Rogues aren’t welcome here!” the ginger she-cat warned. “If you’re not gone by tonight, you’ll be in big trouble.”

With a final snarl, both kittypets disappeared down the other side of the fence.

“Good riddance!” Moon Shadow yowled after them.

“What were you doing,” Tall Shadow mewed, “going off on your own like that? Are you flea-brained?”

“‘Rogues’?” Clear Sky interrupted. “What did those kittypets mean—‘rogues’? Is that their name for cats who don’t live with Twolegs?”

Gray Wing was just as confused, though glad that they could understand what the kittypets were saying. His muscles ached from the fight, and the ear the big tom had slashed was dripping blood. Are we going to have to fight cats all the way to our new home? he wondered. It was a daunting thought. In the mountains there were no cats to fight. It was just us.

He and his friends clambered back over the wall. The other cats were huddled together in the mouth of the den.

“Who knew kittypets would fight?” Jackdaw’s Cry mewed. “In the elders’ tales, they’re all scaredy-sparrows!”

“Maybe you should have talked to them,” Rainswept Flower suggested. “You could have explained that we’re just passing through.”

Clear Sky rolled his eyes. “Oh, yeah? While they were clawing our throats out? They weren’t in the mood for conversation!”

Shaded Moss listened to the exchange, his paws shifting uneasily. “We have to get out of this place as soon as we can,” he announced. “We can’t afford more fighting.”

He set off at once and the others followed, the younger cats stumbling with tiredness. Gray Wing brought up the rear with Turtle Tail, both of them tense and watchful.

Shaded Moss led the way along narrow stone paths between the Twoleg dens, crossed quiet Thunderpaths and raced through enclosed stretches of grass. Gray Wing realized that Shaded Moss was determined to travel in a straight line, toward the peaks they had seen.

While they were crossing one stretch of grass beside a Twoleg den, the air was split by an outburst of shrill barking. Every cat froze in horror. Then, as he looked around, Gray Wing spotted the dog: a little white creature trapped behind a clear shiny sheet that blocked the entrance to the den.

“Look at that!” Moon Shadow meowed, taking a pace toward it. “Hey, flea-pelt! Wouldn’t you like to get at us?”

“Flea-brain!” Cloud Spots shoved Moon Shadow roughly after the others, who were already moving on. “What if the Twoleg lets it out?”

As he followed his denmates, Gray Wing kept a lookout for kittypets. He didn’t see any, but their scents were everywhere.

It was a relief to reach the edge of the Twolegs’ dens and gaze out again across open landscape. The rugged peaks were in plain view now.

“They’re not as big as the mountains,” Quick Water mewed, sounding disappointed.

“Stoneteller wouldn’t have sent us to live somewhere just the same, would she?” Dappled Pelt observed. “Our new home will be completely different.”

“I miss the mountains,” Falling Feather whispered.

Gray Wing rubbed his paws over the hard black stone at the edge of the Thunderpath. He sympathized with the young white she-cat. Picturing the cats they had left behind, he wondered how they were. If only there were a way to let them know that we’re safe!

“Come on!” Jagged Peak suddenly began marching ahead. “We’re not going to get anywhere if we stand around all day.”

Gray Wing suppressed a small mrrow of amusement at the young cat’s confidence as he and the others followed. Clouds covered the sky, so there was no sun to guide them, but the outline of the peaks was clear enough.

After the noise and reek of the Twolegplace, it was soothing to be back in the open, surrounded by soft grass and animal scents and sounds. Soon they reached another line of bushes; Moon Shadow swerved off and plunged into the branches. He emerged a moment later with a small brown bird in his jaws.

Dropping the bird on the ground, Moon Shadow took a mouthful then pushed the remains toward Shaded Moss.

Shaded Moss raised a paw to stop him. “Thanks, but let’s all hunt for ourselves,” he meowed. “There’s enough prey here.”

A shiver of excitement ran through the cats as they split up. Gray Wing headed into the open grass, searching for signs of movement. He spotted Clear Sky leaping into the air after a bird, and Jagged Peak with his nose down on a scent trail.

Tasting the air for prey, Gray Wing scrambled backward as a huge black-and-white animal loomed over him. His heart pounded as he gazed up at it and saw that more were following it, lumbering through a gap in the line of bushes.

They’re even bigger than sheep! he thought, casting his mind back to the elders’ stories. Maybe they’re cows? One of them let out a deep-throated moooo, and Gray Wing remembered how Misty Water loved to imitate that noise, scaring the kits who were listening to her tales.

He crouched in the long grass, too scared to move in case the cows saw him and gave chase. But the vast creatures bumbled past him without taking any notice, so he crept forward, skirting them at a safe distance.

Beyond the cows, Gray Wing spotted a rabbit startled out of hiding, and set off after it. He relished the feeling of wind in his fur, though the long grass tangled his paws and slowed him down.

The rabbit reached the bushes and darted into a hole among the roots. Haredung! Gray Wing thought, staring in frustration at the narrow opening.

“Hey!”

Gray Wing turned to see Turtle Tail with a small bird under her paws. “I got one!” she announced. “Do you want to share?”

Gray Wing left the burrow, still wondering whether he would be able to hunt underground. The rest of the cats were gathering in the shelter of the bushes. They had caught plenty of prey, so those like Gray Wing who had been unlucky wouldn’t go hungry.

“I got two crows!” Clear Sky boasted, flicking his tail toward two heaps of untidy black feathers.

Before they began to eat, Shaded Moss stood gazing back toward the mountains they had left, now no more than a blur on the horizon. “Thank you, Stoneteller,” he meowed, “for sending us to this place.”

When every cat was stuffed full, there was still prey left over.

“It seems so wrong to leave it,” Rainswept Flower murmured regretfully.

As the cats headed away, Gray Wing glanced back to see a thin, red-furred creature slink out of the grass. At first he stiffened, thinking it was a dog, but its snout was sharper and it had a stronger, rank scent. It snatched some of the remains of the prey and stood gulping it down, its gaze darting to and fro.

Gray Wing nudged Shattered Ice, who was walking next to him. “What’s that, do you think?” he asked.

“I have no idea,” Shattered Ice replied.

“It looks mean,” said Gray Wing. He quickened his pace, but decided not to alarm the others.

By the time the light started to fade, the cats had crossed several narrow Thunderpaths and skirted a cluster of red stone Twoleg dens where a number of dogs lurked, barking. Beyond the dens, the ground sloped down into a marshy hollow, covered by tussocky grass with clumps of reeds here and there.

“We can’t go this way,” Quick Water protested, staring down into the dip with a look of disgust on her face. “We’ll get our paws wet.”

Shaded Moss glanced in both directions; following his gaze, Gray Wing realized that the boggy area stretched out of sight on each side. “We have to,” Shaded Moss decided. When Quick Water opened her jaws to argue, he added, “Wet paws won’t kill any cat.”

But when they reached the bottom of the slope, Gray Wing and the others realized that they would be lucky to escape with nothing worse than wet paws. The ground shivered as they padded across; as they moved farther into the marsh, they began to sink until every cat was wading through mud up to their bellies. The stench of it rose around them and clouds of midges billowed into the air.

“This is awful!” Hawk Swoop exclaimed. “I’ll never get my fur clean.”

Quick Water was muttering under her breath as she floundered from tussock to tussock, and even Falling Feather looked uncomfortable.

Jagged Peak, the lightest of the cats, was having an easier time than the rest—until he slipped sideways from a clump of grass and started to sink, his forepaws splashing vainly at the mud.

“Help!” he wailed.

Rainswept Flower hauled herself onto the clump of grass and bent over, grabbing Jagged Peak by the scruff of the neck. She dragged him out and set him on his paws again, his pelt plastered with mud.

“Thanks!” he gasped.

Every cat was cold, soaked, and filthy by the time they reached the other side of the marsh. All they could think of was finding some kind of shelter.

Not far away, they spotted a huge cave made out of wood. It must be a different kind of Twoleg den, Gray Wing thought.

Shaded Moss took the lead again as they trudged toward it, pausing cautiously when they reached the entrance. Gray Wing peered over his shoulder. The den contained huge stacks of pressed, dried grass, and he felt even more exhausted as he thought about the warm and comfortable nests they could make in it. There were several raised pools of water in stone hollows; Gray Wing passed his tongue over his lips, realizing how thirsty he was after taking several mouthfuls of the foul marsh water. Even better, the scent of mice wafted out to meet them, and Gray Wing could hear myriad squeaks and scufflings coming from the dried grass.

“What are we waiting for?” Moon Shadow asked, shouldering his way past Shaded Moss. “This place is teeming with prey!”

Shaded Moss nodded. “It seems safe enough. There are no Twolegs here.”

With his go-ahead, the cats dived into the den, eager to hunt. We’ve eaten once today, Gray Wing thought, as his claws closed on a mouse, but I can definitely manage more. We can’t waste all this prey!

The cats settled in the warm grass to share their catch, taking one bite and then exchanging as they did in their mountain home. Gray Wing could feel his pelt tighten as his belly swelled, full of delicious food.

“I’ve been thinking,” Rainswept Flower announced while they were still eating. “Everything we want is here. What else could we possibly be looking for? What if we’ve found our new home?”