The Sun Trail

Chapter 18

The cats were all glancing at one another, confusion and sadness in their eyes.

“We won’t be far away,” Quick Water meowed; Gray Wing could tell she was trying to sound cheerful. “Our paths will cross all the time!”

Jackdaw’s Cry gave Falling Feather a friendly nudge. “You’ll be back when you miss the taste of rabbit, or the feeling of wind in your fur!”

“Wait till it rains!” There was real amusement now in Quick Water’s voice. “Then you’ll be sheltering under the trees with us.”

As the cats who were leaving began to climb the slope out of the hollow, Clear Sky hung back and faced Gray Wing. “Good luck,” he murmured. “I’ll see you soon.”

Gray Wing dipped his head, thankful that he and Clear Sky were close once again.

“Are you sure you won’t come with us?” Clear Sky asked.

Gray Wing shook his head. “My heart lies in the open, in the high places,” he explained. “But I’ll walk with you a little way.”

Together he and Clear Sky bounded up the slope to catch up with the others. Tall Shadow and Rainswept Flower came too, padding in a tight group across the moor until they reached the edge of the trees.

“Good-bye,” Tall Shadow meowed, dipping her head to Clear Sky and the others. “May you find good prey and shelter. There will always be a place for you with us.”

“Thank you,” Clear Sky responded. “And you will always be welcome to visit us.”

Even though he knew he would see his brothers again, it was wrenching for Gray Wing to turn away and leave them. His pace was slow as he headed back to the hollow, and he felt a deeper ache in his wounds. After a few paw steps he glanced back over his shoulder, but Clear Sky and the others had already vanished into the trees.

The hollow felt empty and quiet when Gray Wing and the others returned. Dappled Pelt was still busy treating wounds, while Turtle Tail was gathering grass, trying to repair the damaged nests.

Cloud Spots padded over to Gray Wing and touched him on the shoulder with his tail. “How about hunting?” he suggested. “We’d all feel better for some prey.”

Gray Wing felt his spirits reviving. “Let’s do that,” he agreed.

Together they headed out onto the moor. A stiff breeze was blowing away the clouds, and patches of blue appeared here and there. Gray Wing caught a powerful whiff of rabbit, and spotted the creature nibbling the grass at the bottom of a rocky bank. Angling his ears toward it, he drew Cloud Spots’s attention.

Cloud Spots circled the rabbit to come at it from the other direction. Remembering how they used to hunt hares in the mountains, Gray Wing braced himself, crouching in a clump of longer grass. A couple of heartbeats later the rabbit flicked up its ears, saw Cloud Spots and fled, heading straight for Gray Wing. Leaping out of the grass, Gray Wing knocked it over with a blow from his paw. Its squeal of terror was cut off as he killed it with a bite to the neck.

“Great job,” Cloud Spots commented as he padded up. “It’s a good plump one, too. It’ll fill a few hungry bellies. You know,” he added as Gray Wing began dragging the rabbit back to the hollow, “the others’ leaving won’t make much difference. It’s just as if our home has gotten bigger.”

Gray Wing muttered agreement through his mouthful of fur, but inwardly he wasn’t so sure. I hope Cloud Spots is right. But I just feel things are changing beyond any cat’s control.

Gray Wing paused near the edge of the trees, jaws parted to taste the air, half hoping that Clear Sky or one of the others would appear. A few sunrises had passed since the cats had left the moor, and Gray Wing still felt as though half of him had been torn away.

He was turning back, disappointed, when he spotted movement under the outlying trees. A cat emerged from a clump of ferns, glancing furtively from side to side before heading up the slope toward him. But it wasn’t Clear Sky or any of his group; it was Turtle Tail.

Was she visiting Clear Sky? Gray Wing wondered. But then, why would she look as if she doesn’t want any cat to see her?

He drew back into the shelter of a rock until Turtle Tail walked past him. “Hello,” he meowed, stepping out in front of her.

Turtle Tail jumped. “You frightened me out of my fur!”

“Where have you been?” Gray Wing asked her. There was a weird scent on her pelt, one that he couldn’t place, and his suspicions deepened. “And don’t tell me you’ve been visiting Clear Sky, because I know you haven’t.”

Turtle Tail took a step back, her neck fur fluffing at his challenging tone. “Okay, I won’t,” she retorted. “I was visiting Bumble in the Twolegplace.”

“What?” Even though Gray Wing had been suspicious, he had never imagined that. “Are you completely flea-brained?”

“I don’t know what you’re so angry about. It was fine! I went right into a Twoleg den.” Turtle Tail’s annoyance faded and she began to bubble over with pride in her achievement. “I was really scared, but Bumble was so nice, and she showed me everything. The Twolegs have soft rocks with colored pelts in there. They’re so comfortable!”

Gray Wing struggled to find words to express how shocked he was. “You have to stay away from the Twolegplace,” he told her. “It’s dangerous!”

Turtle Tail flicked her tail dismissively. “Stop fussing. Bumble looked after me. You should come and visit too!”

Gray Wing felt as if his whole life was coming apart. His brothers and his friends had left the group to live in the trees, and now Turtle Tail seemed to have forgotten that she was a wild cat. “You’re being ridiculous!” he snapped.

“And you know so much about it, I suppose?” Turtle Tail’s neck fur bristled up again as she glared at him.

“Whatever.” Gray Wing was suddenly tired of arguing. “Do what you want.”

Leaving Turtle Tail to find her own way home, he stalked off into the woods. Instantly he felt swallowed up in the dense green world, the air heavy with lush growth. He found a familiar trail and headed along it, steering clear of strange cat scents.

Without warning two cat shapes dropped from the trees on either side of him and landed in the undergrowth. Gray Wing braced himself for an attack, then in the next heartbeat recognized Jagged Peak and Clear Sky.

“Surprise!” Jagged Peak yowled triumphantly.

Gray Wing let out a welcoming mrrow and touched noses with each of them. “You scared my tail off!” he mewed.

“We’ve been hunting in the trees,” Jagged Peak boasted. “It’s awesome!”

“Why don’t you join us?” Clear Sky suggested.

Gray Wing glanced up at the nearest tree. It looks awfully tall! “Okay,” he agreed, not wanting his brothers to know that he was scared, and looking forward to spending some time with them again.

He scrambled up the trunk after Clear Sky and Jagged Peak, and balanced on the lowest branch. Digging his claws in nervously, he glanced around, trying to enjoy the different scents and the rustling of leaves around him.

Clear Sky took off in pursuit of a squirrel leaping from branch to branch. Jagged Peak followed, and Gray Wing clambered after them, envying their confidence and speed.

The squirrel leaped from the end of one springy branch into a nearby tree. Gray Wing paused, assuming they’d lost it, but Clear Sky didn’t stop. He jumped after it, almost flying as he hurtled into the next tree, right on the squirrel’s tail. Gray Wing was even more surprised when Jagged Peak followed him.

“I have to do this,” he muttered, struggling to keep his balance as he edged his way along the branch. Bunching his muscles, he pushed off, reaching out his forepaws to grab the nearest branch of the other tree.

Gray Wing’s claws scraped along the bark and he let out a screech as he felt himself falling. At the last moment he managed to get a grip, but he was left swinging helplessly, with nowhere to rest his hind paws. Fighting off dizziness, he managed to shift bit by bit along the branch until it grew wider near the trunk. He pulled himself up and sat shaking, wondering how he was going to get down again.

His pounding heart had quieted by the time that Clear Sky and Jagged Peak came back. Clear Sky was carrying the squirrel in his jaws.

“That was a great chase!” Jagged Peak exclaimed, his eyes gleaming with enthusiasm. “Are you okay, Gray Wing?”

“Er… I think I’m stuck here,” Gray Wing confessed.

“That’s okay. I’ll help you down,” Jagged Peak mewed confidently. “You go tailfirst. Put your paws there… and there.”

Gray Wing heaved a sigh of relief when he once again stood with all four paws firmly on the ground. “You’re really good at this,” he told Jagged Peak admiringly.

Jagged Peak ducked his head in embarrassment. “Clear Sky has been giving me a few tips.”

Clear Sky leaped down the last few tail-lengths. “It helps to practice new techniques for hunting among the trees,” he explained with a modest look.

“Good luck with that!” Gray Wing meowed fervently. “Give me rabbits on the ground any day!”

Gray Wing followed his brothers along forest trails until they reached a sheltered hollow with a shallow pool at the center and deep banks of fern and bramble all around.

“Welcome to our new home!” Clear Sky announced.

Quick Water and Falling Feather poked their heads out from the fern. “Hello, Gray Wing,” Falling Feather mewed as they emerged into the open. “It’s great to see you.”

“I’m glad you came to visit,” Quick Water told him. “We’re settling in well, we’ve made nests of twigs and lined them with moss, and we’ve already scared off a couple of nosy cats. No way am I letting them use my nest!”

“They looked okay,” Falling Feather put in. “If they’re really interested in us, we might invite them to move in.” Looking faintly embarrassed, she added, “They might become our friends.”

Hmm… what has made Falling Feather so keen to have more cats join them? Gray Wing wondered, though he said nothing out loud. “I’m glad it all turned out so well for you,” he told Clear Sky.

“Yes,” Clear Sky mewed with a satisfied look around him. “I really feel this is the place where I was meant to be. Are you happy on the moor?” he added.

“Yes.” Gray Wing dipped his head. “I am.”

Gray Wing headed back through the trees, pleased to have seen his brothers and their new home. His thoughts full of them, he wasn’t paying as much attention as usual to his surroundings. When a cat leaped out of the bushes ahead of him, he halted, so startled that he almost fell over his own paws, brushing against a jagged tree stump.

Gray Wing found himself confronted by a silver tabby she-cat, her green eyes narrowed in a glare.

“I’ve seen you before,” the cat hissed. “You’re one of those newcomers making trouble. We were here first, so stop stealing our prey!”

Gray Wing didn’t feel like fighting. “There’s enough prey for every cat,” he replied mildly instead. “My name’s Gray Wing. What’s yours?”

The she-cat didn’t answer his question. “Just so you know,” she meowed grudgingly, “there’s a wasps’ nest in that stump you nearly fell over.”

Looking more closely, Gray Wing spotted a swollen gray lump in the tree beside him, and two or three tiny black-and-yellow creatures hovering over it. He could hear a muted buzzing.

“What are they?” he asked.

The she-cat rolled her eyes. “Wasps! Don’t you know anything? They sting if you disturb them. Stick your paw in there if you don’t believe me.”

Gray Wing backed off a pace or two from the stump. “Thanks,” he mewed. “That’s really useful to know.”

“I’m not doing it to help you,” the she-cat growled. “I just don’t want your screeching to scare off all the prey.” Whirling around, she spat out, “Leave us in peace!” before scampering off into the undergrowth.

As Gray Wing emerged from the trees and raced across the moor, he found the silver-furred she-cat stuck obstinately in his mind.

As he climbed the final slope toward the hollow, Gray Wing felt a twinge of guilt about his earlier quarrel with Turtle Tail. Maybe she won’t want to go to the Twolegplace if I show her how great it is here.

Padding into the scoop, he spotted Turtle Tail under a bush, washing her ears. “Hi,” he greeted her. “Do you want to hunt?”

Turtle Tail sprang to her paws, her eyes shining. “Sure!”

“I was out with Cloud Spots the other day,” Gray Wing explained as he and Turtle Tail headed onto the moor. “We caught a rabbit like we used to hunt hares in the mountains, one cat driving the prey into the other cat’s claws. Let’s try that today.”

Though dark clouds were massing on the horizon, the sky above the moor was clear blue, and the sun shone strongly. Tiny brown butterflies fluttered among the wild thyme.

“Okay, let’s find a rabbit,” Turtle Tail agreed.

Before long they spotted one, hopping peacefully here and there, stopping every few moments to nibble at the grass.

“Wait here,” Gray Wing murmured. “I’ll send it over to you.”

Turtle Tail nodded, crouching. Gray Wing crept around in a wide circle until he could see the rabbit between him and Turtle Tail, whose ears just poked up above the grass clump where she was hiding.

Letting out a yowl, he hurtled toward the rabbit. With a squeal of terror the rabbit raced off, heading straight for Turtle Tail. But Turtle Tail leaped out of hiding just a heartbeat too soon, and the rabbit veered off. Though Turtle Tail dashed after it, and Gray Wing forced an extra burst of speed, the rabbit dived down a nearby hole before either of them could catch it.

“Haredung!” Gray Wing spat as he halted, panting. “You weren’t concentrating.”

Turtle Tail’s eyes widened with shock and hurt. “Have you never missed a catch?” she challenged him.

“Not an easy one like that.”

“Well, good for you!” Turtle Tail snapped. “I’m going off to find some cat who doesn’t expect me to fly like a bird and run like a rabbit.”

I suppose she means Bumble, Gray Wing thought, watching as she stalked off across the moor.

Clouds gradually covered the sky, and by nightfall heavy rain had set in. Turtle Tail still hadn’t returned. Gray Wing settled into his nest under a gorse bush, but sleep was hard to come by. Was I too hard on her? he asked himself.

At last he fell into a troubled sleep, and awoke as the sky was growing pale with dawn. Rising, Gray Wing padded across the hollow and checked Turtle Tail’s nest. It was cold and empty, and her scent was stale.

Anxiety gripped Gray Wing like a fox’s fangs. Where is she? Why hasn’t she come home?