Eventually, still trembling with shock, she opened her eyes to see that she had fallen onto a pile of straw and some kind of soft Twoleg pelts. Her heart pounded with fear for her kits, and she curled herself around her swollen belly until she felt them shifting inside her. Letting out a long sigh of relief, she whispered, “Thank you, StarClan.”
Determined to pull herself together, Pebbleshine scrambled to her paws and looked around. The pigeon was long gone. Light pouring through the hole in the roof showed her walls made of rough strips of wood with one small window. Unfamiliar shapes were stacked around the walls—some kind of Twoleg stuff stored there, Pebbleshine supposed.
Right … How do I get out of here?
Pebbleshine padded over to the door and reared up to press on it with her forepaws, but it didn’t give way. The hole in the roof was too high for her to leap up and escape that way. She tried two or three times to jump up at the window, but her heavy belly made her clumsy, and there was less power behind her leaps than she was used to. She couldn’t break the clearstone even though there was a crack in it. And there was no other way out, not even a mouse hole.
The little den was full of dust and cobwebs, telling Pebbleshine that the Twolegs didn’t visit it very often. By the time anyone came to let her out, it would be too late. A shudder passed through Pebbleshine from ears to tail-tip at the thought that she might give birth to her kits while she was trapped here, and all of them would starve together.
She was alone. She couldn’t even see StarClan from here, or feel their guidance. Suddenly she felt more hopeless than she ever had.
If Hawkwing or any of my Clanmates were here, they would know I was missing and come to look for me, Pebbleshine thought, utterly miserable. I wouldn’t be in this mess. But as long as I’m alone, there’s no chance for me, or for my kits.
Tired and discouraged, Pebbleshine curled up in the straw and fell asleep. It didn’t seem long before she felt a warm sensation rousing her: some cat was licking her ears. Startled, she opened her eyes to see Hawkwing standing over her.
But he can’t … he can’t be real, can he?
“You have to get up,” he mewed, nudging her to help her stand.
If I can feel him, he must be … Pebbleshine pressed herself against her mate, twining her tail with his and purring so hard she thought she would never stop. For a few heartbeats Hawkwing leaned closer and his scent wreathed around her, so that she felt it was soaking into her pelt, carrying a flood of strength with it. Is he dead, and communicating with me from StarClan? The terrible thought squeezed her chest. But he’s not sparkling with starlight … he looks just like when I left him! What’s happening?
Hawkwing stood back. “Pebbleshine, there are things you must do,” he told her. Pebbleshine looked around and was relieved to see that others of her Clan were there, too: the deputy, Waspwhisker; Echosong the medicine cat; Tinycloud and Macgyver; and more behind them, vanishing into a blur. At their head stood the Clan leader, Leafstar, gazing at Pebbleshine with joy and affection in her amber eyes. A weird light surrounded them, flowing from the cats until it filled every cranny of the den.
“I’m dreaming, aren’t I?” Pebbleshine asked, her voice cracking with disappointment. Even Hawkwing’s touch and scent—they must have been part of the dream! For a few moments she had believed that Hawkwing and her Clan had really come to rescue her.
Hawkwing nodded, curling his tail around her shoulders. “I’m sorry,” he meowed. “I wish I could really be with you.”
“I’ve been trying to get back to you, ever since I was carried off on the back of that monster!” The words burst out of Pebbleshine, filled with all her fears and bitter regret for her useless striving. “But I can’t do it alone—I can’t!”
“You can.” Hawkwing’s voice was strong and encouraging. “Pebbleshine, you must. Our kits have important destinies, and right now they’re in your paws. You can do what needs to be done.”
“But how?” Pebbleshine wailed.
“You must keep calm,” Hawkwing meowed. “Think the problem through, and remember that StarClan is always with you.” Bending his head, he gave her ears another lick. “Walk toward the setting sun,” he murmured. “Come back to me.”
Then the light began to fade. “No, don’t leave me!” Pebbleshine gasped. “Not yet!”
But it was no use. The dream slipped from Pebbleshine as if she were trying to catch mist in her paws. Hawkwing and the rest of the Clan were gone. Pebbleshine woke and found herself still alone in the dusty little den.
Her heart ached with renewed loss. What was that?
A communication? A vision? Pebbleshine knew she didn’t have those powers; she wasn’t a medicine cat. Besides, she thought darkly, something truly terrible would have to have happened if all the cats she’d seen were now in StarClan.
It was just a dream.
Still, Hawkwing’s words about their kits’ destinies echoed in her mind. I want to believe my kits will be important to the Clan… . Is that why I dreamed Hawkwing saying it?
It didn’t matter, she decided. What mattered was that before her dream, she’d felt sure she was going to die … but now she believed she could find her way out on her own. I have to. For my kits … and for me. There has to be a way of escaping. I have to escape. And I can figure it out all by myself.
Looking more carefully around the den, Pebbleshine spotted a long stick leaning against the wall. A second stick with lots of protruding teeth was fixed across it at one end. Pebbleshine had no idea what Twolegs might use it for, but it looked like it might be just what she needed. She began pushing it carefully along the wall until the upper end was propped against the cracked window.
Pebbleshine crouched, staring at the stick for a long time while she worked out what to do. She tried pouncing on the bottom of the stick, where the teeth were; when she did that, the other end lifted a little way from the window, and when she let go, it fell back, hitting the hard clearstone.
Yes!
At first, Pebbleshine could only make the stick tap lightly, but as she tried with stronger and stronger pounces, the taps became harder. Finally, one tap made a tiny crack. And when she pounced again and again, wearing herself out, the crack got bigger and bigger, spreading in all directions. Finally, when she was sure she couldn’t keep going much longer, a tiny shard of transparent stuff fell out. She pounced one more time, and this time, when the stick struck the window, some of the transparent stuff fell out to make a hole big enough for her to fit through.
“I did it!” she yowled aloud.
Even better, the long stick remained leaning against the window, so Pebbleshine could run up it as if it were a tree branch. When she reached the window, she squeezed herself carefully through the gap, avoiding the sharp shards that still clung to the sides. More of the glittering fragments lay on the ground outside; Pebbleshine had to brace her muscles and push off in a strong leap that carried her beyond them.
As she landed safely on the soft grass, confidence flowed through her like a drink of cool, clear water. “My kits and I are going to make it,” she meowed. “I can do this alone. I’m strong enough!”
Thank you, Dream Hawkwing, for reminding me to believe in myself, she added silently. Now I know that I’ll find my Clan again.