“Who are you?” she asked when she could speak again. She blinked up at the yellow tom, who was stroking her flank with the tip of his long tail. “You can’t be a medicine cat, not here.”
“That doesn’t matter,” the tom replied. His voice was warm and gentle. “Come on now, push hard, and you’ll soon have your kits here with you.”
“I’m trying my best …” Pebbleshine’s voice trailed off as she wondered for the first time how she could see the yellow tom when the tunnel was so dark. Then she noticed the frosty glimmer on the tom’s paws and the ends of his whiskers. “Oh …”
The pain came again, so intense that Pebbleshine thought her belly would burst open. She gripped the stick in her jaws, and through the chaos she heard the tom’s voice again. “Well done, Pebbleshine! A little she-cat.”
Pride and love flooded through Pebbleshine as the tom nudged the wriggling bundle toward her. She bent her head to lick the kit’s wet fur, when pain pulsed through her once again, and she felt a second kit slip from her onto the gritty floor of the tunnel.
“Another she-cat,” the tom announced. “And that’s all. You’ve done it, Pebbleshine.”
“They’re so beautiful … ,” Pebbleshine whispered.
She pulled both kits into the curve of her belly and licked them vigorously until their fur was soft and fluffy. One of them was black-and-white, while the other had a gray pelt just like Hawkwing’s.
“Thank you for—” she began, raising her head to speak to the tom, only to realize that the mysterious cat had left her. Maybe I imagined him, she thought, even though she knew deep inside that he had been too real, and she had needed him too much, for that.
But Pebbleshine was too absorbed in her kits to think for long about the StarClan cat who had come to help her. She was exhausted, and still in pain, but she was so full of joy and love that she felt it would spill out of her like a pool flooding in newleaf.
The kits squirmed closer to Pebbleshine’s belly and began sucking strongly. Tiny squeaking noises came from them as they pummeled her with soft paws. Pebbleshine felt that her heart would burst, it was so full of love. She knew that she would willingly give her life for these two precious little creatures.
“I wish your father could be here, little kits,” Pebbleshine murmured. “But I know that when Hawkwing sees you, he’ll love you just as much as I do.”
Chapter 7
Pebbleshine bent her head and gently licked her two daughters as they suckled at her belly. Almost a day had passed since she gave birth; they were still in the tunnel, but she had ventured out while her kits were sleeping and collected enough moss and leaves to make a cozy nest.
They are so beautiful… . Pebbleshine marveled that after all the danger and heartache she had suffered, her kits had been born strong and healthy. I promise I’ll get you to SkyClan, she told herself silently. You will grow up to be Clan cats. I don’t know how I’ll do it, but somehow, I will make it happen.
Pebbleshine couldn’t remember when she had last eaten, and her belly was rumbling with hunger. She knew that she had to keep her strength up now to care for her kits and provide enough milk for them. So when the kits were full-fed and had fallen asleep, curled around each other in a furry bundle, she rose to her paws, careful not to disturb them. She hated to leave them, glancing back over her shoulder as she padded reluctantly toward the tunnel entrance.
“That’s another problem with being a loner,” she muttered to herself. “You have to catch your own prey, even when you have tiny kits.”
When Pebbleshine emerged from the tunnel, she saw the sky still streaked with scarlet where the sun had just set. Dusk was already gathering in the hollows beneath the Thunderpath. Now and then the glaring light from the eyes of a monster swept over Pebbleshine as she stood at the foot of the bank and tasted the air.
Soon Pebbleshine picked up the scent of shrew. She tasted the air and pinpointed it in a clump of long grass a few tail-lengths away. She stalked forward until she spotted the small creature; then, with a bound and a swipe from one forepaw, she killed it and devoured it in two massive gulps.
The shrew was too small to have satisfied her hunger, but Pebbleshine didn’t want to spend any longer away from her kits. She would hope for more filling prey later.
But as she was making her way back to the tunnel, Pebbleshine picked up another scent, strong enough to swamp even the harsh tang of the Thunderpath.
Badger!
Pebbleshine froze, only her head moving as she tried to spot the intruder. The scent was fresh; the creature must be close by. Eventually she made out the clumsy dark body, the white stripe on the badger’s head seeming to glimmer in the twilight.
The badger was lumbering toward her, alongside the bank, thrusting its snout into clumps of grass as it approached. Pebbleshine guessed that it was hunting for slugs or beetles, but it wouldn’t turn its snout up at larger prey. She crouched down, trying to make herself as small as possible, while still keeping her gaze fixed on the fierce creature.
At first she thought that the badger would ignore the tunnel entrance and go harmlessly on its way. But as the badger was passing the tunnel, one of the kits inside sent up a thin wail.
Pebbleshine felt her heart begin to pound with terror. Oh, no! My precious kits! Why did you have to wake up now? She knew how strong and vicious badgers were—if it got in and found the nest, it would attack her kits and probably eat them.
The badger halted and turned back, its head raised alertly to sniff the air. It was too big to slip between the bars over the tunnel entrance. Pebbleshine waited for a moment, hoping they would be strong enough to keep it out. But as the wailing broke out again, louder now, the badger hurled itself forward, thumping against the bars. Pebbleshine heard a crack, as if the barrier was about to give way.
“No!” she screeched.
She raced toward the badger and flung herself at it, raking her claws down its side, then darting away. The badger turned toward her, startled, and Pebbleshine leaped at it again and clawed its shoulder.
The badger let out an angry growl. Seeming to forget the kit crying in the tunnel, it lumbered toward Pebbleshine. She let it get almost close enough to strike at her with its blunt, powerful claws, then turned and dashed away, up the bank to the edge of the Thunderpath.
Her heart pounded in a mixture of fear and exhilaration as she waited for the badger to follow her. She exulted in her own strength and speed, the warrior skills that gave her the power to save her daughters.
It’s so keen to catch me, it won’t think any more about my kits!
Pebbleshine glanced over her shoulder as she raced out onto the Thunderpath. The huge beast was hard on her paws, its jaws open to show a mouthful of strong teeth. “Come on, slow mole!” she taunted it. “You can’t—”
Pebbleshine broke off as a flash of light swept over her. Roaring filled her ears. A hard blow landed on her side, and she felt herself flying through the air. She barely had time to let out a choking cry before the whole world turned black.
Chapter 8
Pebbleshine opened her eyes to find herself lying on the hard surface of the Thunderpath. Harsh light surrounded her, and she could hear the sound of a monster, its roaring diminished to a throaty purr. When she tried to raise her head, every muscle in her body shrieked in agony.
Twoleg voices sounded somewhere close by; Pebbleshine wanted to get up and run away, but her legs wouldn’t obey her. The next moment a Twoleg was standing over her. Pebbleshine renewed her weak struggles, but she couldn’t fight back when the Twoleg stooped and gently picked her up, then wrapped her in something soft and carried her toward the nearby monster.