“I don’t have any Twolegs—I mean housefolk,” she responded mildly.
Bug blinked in surprise but said nothing more. Instead she padded up to Bunny and gave him a friendly shove with one paw. His tail thumped on the ground, but he stayed sitting.
It looks like Bug and this dog are friends. I can’t imagine any cat wanting that. What’s going on here?
Pebbleshine still didn’t trust him, and she kept her gaze fixed on him.
“Do you want to come into the barn?” Bug mewed to Pebbleshine with a welcoming swish of her tail.
Pebbleshine looked away from the dog and dipped her head gratefully. “Thanks.”
“Is it okay if I let Bunny get up?” Bug asked. “I promise he won’t hurt you.”
For a few heartbeats Pebbleshine hesitated. The dog was big enough to swallow her and Bug in one gulp, and she only had the word of a strange cat that he wasn’t dangerous. He doesn’t look like he’s going to attack … , she thought warily. She remembered the crazy eyes, drooling jaws, and vicious snarling of dogs she had encountered before. In contrast, Bunny just looked goofy. Even so, all of Pebbleshine’s muscles were tense and she was ready to flee at the first sign of a threat.
At last she gave a small, reluctant nod. Bug turned and looked up into Bunny’s liquid brown eyes. “Okay, you can get up,” she meowed. “But stay out of the barn for a while, all right?”
Bunny let out a short bark, then heaved himself to his paws and lolloped off toward the trees. Pebbleshine stared after him in amazement. “How does he know what you’re saying?” she asked Bug.
The small black cat gave a tiny shrug. “Oh, we’ve both lived on this farm since we were born,” she replied. “We just understand each other. Come on.” She turned and headed toward the barn.
Pebbleshine followed, still bemused. I was right. They are friends… . Wait until I tell Hawkwing! Then a hollow place opened up inside her as she remembered that she couldn’t tell Hawkwing, maybe not for a long time.
Her bewilderment faded as she slipped into the barn through the half-open door and breathed in the succulent scent of mouse that surged out from piles of sweet-smelling grass. Pebbleshine almost leaped forward to hunt before she remembered that she didn’t have permission. She halted, giving her chest fur a couple of embarrassed licks.
“Help yourself,” Bug invited her. “There are plenty of mice here—and they’re really fat.”
There was little light in the barn as darkness fell outside, but Pebbleshine could make out piles of hay just like the ones in Barley’s barn. High-pitched squeaking filled the air. Pebbleshine crept forward until she spotted blades of grass twitching at the edge of the pile and heard the scuffle of tiny claws. She launched herself forward and slammed her paw down on a plump mouse. It was the easiest catch she had ever made.
Bug settled down to keep Pebbleshine company as she ate. “I haven’t seen you around here,” she remarked.
Pebbleshine shook her head, hastily swallowing a mouthful of prey. “No, I come from a long way away,” she told the black she-cat. “I’m looking for my Clan—the cats I live with. I last saw them in a big monster camp in the middle of some Twoleg dens. Do you know anywhere like that?”
Bug was looking at Pebbleshine as if she had no idea what she was meowing about. “A monster camp?” she asked. “What’s that?”
Pebbleshine’s heart sank. Not only have you not heard of the Clans … you don’t even know about monsters? “You know monsters, right?” she asked hopefully. “Big noisy smelly things with round black paws?”
“Oh, them!” Bug nodded. “I know what you mean. But a camp … ?”
“A whole lot of them sleeping together,” Pebbleshine explained, trying not to let her tail-tip quiver with impatience.
Slowly Bug shook her head. “I’ve never seen more than one or two monsters together. I don’t think this ‘camp’ of yours can be near here,” she added with a doubtful twitch of her whiskers.
Cold dread crept through Pebbleshine. How far had she come since she’d lost Hawkwing and the others? I felt like I’dtraveled a long way in the monster, but it must be even farther than I thought if this cat has hardly ever seen monsters. “Then do you know of any other Clans—I mean groups of cats?” she asked, struggling to keep her voice steady. “They live beside a big stretch of water.”
This time Bug’s denial was more certain. “I haven’t seen any ‘Clans’ around here,” she asserted. “I don’t see many other cats, and the ones I have seen have been other farm cats or housecats. And there aren’t any big stretches of water nearby.”
Pebbleshine dug her claws hard into the earth floor of the barn. “I must find my Clan!” she meowed desperately.
Bug brushed her tail-tip down Pebbleshine’s side, a comforting gesture. “Finish your prey,” she suggested, “and then have a good sleep. You’ll feel better in the morning, and you can start fresh.”
Pebbleshine let out a long sigh. “Thanks. That’s kind of you, Bug.”
When she had eaten and groomed herself, Pebbleshine made a nest in the fragrant hay and curled up in it. Bug settled down at her side. Pebbleshine had believed that her anxieties would keep her awake, but she was so exhausted that her eyes closed at once.
I never used to get this tired, before I was expecting kits, she thought muzzily, drifting into a dream where she was searching for Hawkwing in a forest, but finding nothing except a faint trace of his scent, or a glimpse of a whisking tail among the undergrowth.
The next thing she knew, light was slanting into the barn from the open door and from gaps set high in the walls. Eager yapping from outside had woken her. Pebbleshine sprang to her paws, shaking clinging hayseeds from her pelt as she looked around. There was no sign of Bug. After padding to the door and poking her head outside, Pebbleshine saw the black she-cat wrestling with Bunny. The huge dog had her pinned down beneath one massive paw, while Bug’s legs waved helplessly.
Pebbleshine let out a hiss, tensing her muscles to come to her new friend’s rescue. I was right not to trust that dog! she told herself. Dogs and cats can’t be friends!
But before Pebbleshine could move, Bug wriggled out from under Bunny’s paw. Bunny bent his head, and the two of them nuzzled each other like kits before Bug hurled herself onto the dog’s back. Bunny let himself go limp, rolling over, and Bug sprang away before she was squashed.
They’re … play-fighting? Weird … , Pebbleshine thought, shaking her head. Maybe some dogs and cats could be friends, but all the same, she had no intention of getting closer to Bunny.
Spotting Pebbleshine, Bug left the dog and raced over to her. “Hi,” she mewed. “Are you okay? Do you want to hunt again? We could do it together.”
“Thanks. That’s a great idea.”
With Bug at her side, Pebbleshine plunged back into the hay. At a signal from the black she-cat, Pebbleshine began circling around, moving gradually toward the edge of the pile. Bug circled in the opposite direction. Working together, they steadily drove their prey out of shelter; it wasn’t long before frightened squeaks and scurrying told Pebbleshine that their strategy was working. Finally, almost in the same heartbeat, two mice popped out into the open. Pebbleshine pounced on the nearest one, while Bug dispatched the other with one swipe of her paw.
“Great catch!” Bug exclaimed.
A pang of loss pierced Pebbleshine as she crouched down to eat beside the black she-cat; for a moment she had almost felt as if she were hunting with her Clan again.