“We should get back to camp,” Star Flower murmured. “It’ll be dark soon, and the others will be worried about you.”
Clear Sky nodded slowly. He didn’t want to leave the last warm rays of the sun and return to the chilly clearing. But he was leader. He had a duty.
He leaped down the rocks, warily eyeing the gaps between the stones for snakes. He landed in the grassy clearing with a grunt of relief. Star Flower’s pelt brushed his as she landed beside him.
She led the way home, her tail swishing through the shadows. Twilight seeped through the forest as the sun disappeared. As they neared the camp, he smelled the familiar scents of his campmates. He nosed his way through the bramble and padded into the dim clearing.
“Back off, Leaf!” Blossom stood face-to-face with the black-and-white tom, her ears flat. Behind her, Milkweed was shielding her kits while Leaf eyed them angrily.
“They ate my mouse!” Leaf snarled.
“It’s not your mouse,” Blossom challenged.
“I caught it!” Leaf’s eyes blazed.
“And Owl Eyes caught the rabbit!” Blossom nodded at the carcass lying between Acorn Fur and Thorn. “But he was happy to share it.”
“Only because Thunder let him have the squirrel!” The fur lifted along Leaf’s spine. “All I’ve had is half the shrew Nettle caught this morning.”
Clear Sky hesitated. Why are they arguing over prey?
Star Flower nudged his shoulder with her nose. “Stop them,” she murmured.
Clear Sky shot her a warning glance. He didn’t need her telling him how to handle his cats.
“What’s going on?” He glared at Leaf.
Leaf turned on him. “I’m starving while they eat my catch!” He flung a hostile look at Milkweed.
“What has she brought to the group apart from two hungry kits and a cough that keeps everyone awake?”
Milkweed’s eyes narrowed to slits. Beside her, Thistle arched his back and hissed, while Clover ducked, wide-eyed, beneath her mother’s belly.
Blossom showed her teeth. “They need food more than you! Can’t you see that? They’re half-starved!”
“Then they should have gone hunting today, like I did!” Leaf spat back.
Clear Sky pricked his ears. Leaf wasn’t on today’s hunting patrols. “Who said you could hunt?”
“Thunder did.”
Clear Sky flashed a look at his son. “I told you to take Owl Eyes.”
Thunder’s eyes were dark. A chill ran along Clear Sky’s spine. How had the mood in the camp turned so sour? He turned back to Leaf. “I organize the hunting patrols.”
“Leaf-bare is here!” Leaf lashed his tail. “We’ve already had snow, and the days are still getting shorter. The sickness killed half the prey, and we’re feeding cats who can’t yet hunt for themselves.”
His gaze flashed to Birch and Alder.
Birch puffed out his chest indignantly. “We’d hunt if we got the chance!”
“Exactly!” Leaf turned back to Clear Sky. “Every cat should be out hunting, or at least learning to hunt. We shouldn’t be sitting in camp hungry while prey roams the forest.”
Clear Sky curled his lip. “Our prey is gorging on leaf-fall fruit, growing fat and strong again. If we hunt it while it’s still recovering from the sickness, we risk destroying it forever.” He looked around at his campmates.
Blossom stared at him nervously. Pink Eyes dropped his gaze. Acorn Fur and Lightning Tail exchanged glances.
Clear Sky stood up tall, looming over Leaf. “You think with your belly, not your head,” he snarled. “Which is why I’m leader and you’re not. If you’re not happy here, then leave! Go back to living as a rogue. I only want cats here who want to be here!” He backed away, his tail lashing as silence gripped the camp like a hard frost.
Thunder broke it. “You’re right.” He stepped forward, his shoulders square. “Cats should only be here if they want to be. So I should leave.”
Shock scorched through Clear Sky. Leave? He stared at his son. Numbness spread up from his paws until he could hardly feel the chill of the night settling over the camp. “Why?” he rasped.
“I can’t stay another day trapped in a camp and watching cats I care about go hungry just because you order it.”
A murmur rippled around the camp. Owl Eyes shifted his paws, while Pink Eyes nodded slowly.
Anger burned in Clear Sky’s belly. “I don’t let my cats gorge themselves into a stupor for a reason. I want the prey in this forest to last until newleaf. I want enough to share when Gray Wing and the others decide to join our group. If we hunt too much now, there’ll be nothing left. Just wait. You’ll see I’m right.”
Thunder’s eyes flashed. “That’s all you care about, isn’t it?” he snarled. “Being right! You’d sacrifice every cat in this camp just to prove you’re the smartest cat in the forest.”
“That’s not true—”
“It is!” Leaf’s hiss surprised Clear Sky. “Thunder’s right. You don’t care about preserving the prey. You just want to look clever.”
Clear Sky dug his claws into the cold earth. How could any cat believe that, after everything he had done for them?
Thunder spoke. “I won’t disturb you, or hunt near your camp. I’ll live somewhere else in the forest—but I can’t be a part of your group anymore.”
“I’m going with him!” Leaf lashed his tail.
“Me too!” Lightning Tail stepped forward.
Clear Sky’s thoughts whirled. What was happening? He wanted to unite the cats, not drive them apart.
Owl Eyes nodded to Thunder. “Can I come too?”
“And me.” Cloud Spots glanced anxiously toward Milkweed. “I’ll leave my herbs for your cough.”
Thunder was staring at the cats gathering around him, his eyes wide with surprise. “Y-you can come if you want,” he stammered.
Owl Eyes gazed hopefully at Sparrow Fur. “Are you coming?”
Confusion sharpened the young she-cat’s amber gaze for a moment. Then she dipped her head.
“No, Owl Eyes. I made my decision to join Clear Sky and I’m sticking with it.”
“I’ll come with you.” Pink Eyes padded toward Thunder.
“You?” Clear Sky wondered if he was dreaming. “But I took you in. I fed you. I thought…” His words trailed away. I thought you were my friend. Grief stabbed his chest like gorse thorns. He struggled to steady his breathing. What was going on? I’m losing control. His heart pounded in his ears so that he hardly heard his own raspy mew. “Thunder, can we speak in private?”
Thunder nodded and padded past his campmates. Smoothly, he leaped onto the steep bank. Clear Sky scrambled after him and followed him toward the bracken where they’d shared words just this morning. How had everything changed since then?
“What are you doing, Thunder?” He desperately searched the young tom’s gaze.
Thunder’s wide, white paws glowed in the fast-fading light. “I thought, when I came here, that I could help you lead. But you’re not interested in my opinion. You always ignore my advice. It’s pointless, me being here.”
Clear Sky’s ear twitched. Thunder was whining like a spoiled kit. Help me lead? What makes him think he’s so important? “Did you think you’d get special treatment because you’re my son?”
Thunder’s eyes widened. “No! I was no cat’s son on the moor, but the cats there respected me.”