Hawkwing in the belly.
Pulling away, Hawkwing tottered to his paws and saw Dodge lying in front of him, a twitching heap of tabby fur. Blood still pumped from a gash in his throat. As Hawkwing gazed at him the last twitches faded and his eyes began to glaze over.
He’s dead! Hawkwing could hardly believe what he was seeing.
I killed him without even knowing it.
As he stood there, breathing hard, stunned at finding himself still alive, Hawkwing’s Clanmates surged around him.
“You won!”
“Well fought!”
“Hawkwing! Hawkwing!”
Pebbleshine ran up to him and rubbed her cheek against his.
“You’re so brave!” she whispered. “And so stupid!”
Gradually triumph began to swell in Hawkwing’s chest. He could feel the pain from Dodge’s teeth and claws in his shoulders, and the stinging of innumerable scratches he hadn’t felt before, but none of that mattered.
SkyClan is safe!
A moment later he wasn’t so sure. Furious screeches came from Dodge’s cats; some of them leaped down from their positions on the walls and came bounding toward Hawkwing and his Clanmates.
At a swift order from Leafstar, the SkyClan cats gathered in a tight circle, facing outward, with Hawkwing and the other wounded cats in the center. Despite his injuries, Hawkwing wriggled through to the outside, ready to take part in what might be SkyClan’s last battle.
“Stop!”
Before any of Dodge’s cats could reach SkyClan’s defensive circle, Harley let out a yowl from where he still stood on top of the pile of stones. The attacking cats halted, giving each other uncertain glances.
“Dodge made a bargain, and he lost,” Harley continued. “Now we must honor it. SkyClan must be allowed to leave, unharmed.”
“Just like that?” One of the cats, a ginger-and-white tom, looked up at Harley with disbelief in his eyes.
“Exactly like that, Skipper,” Harley retorted. Raising his head to address all the cats, he continued, “Do you want to live like this, always fighting and killing? There’s enough prey in this Twolegplace for every cat. We should stay on our side of the border and let Stick and his cats stay on theirs.”
To Hawkwing’s surprise, yowls of agreement came from all around on the ruined walls. He could see that not all the cats were happy about what Harley had said, but none of them argued any further, and none of them moved forward to attack.
“I hope Harley can establish himself as leader,” Sparrowpelt murmured into Hawkwing’s ear. “He would do a better job of it than Dodge, that’s for sure.”
“Bring up the prisoner,” Harley ordered.
Soon Hawkwing saw the two guards escorting Curlypaw up the jagged slope to ground level. She rushed over to Sagenose and Birdwing; they pressed closely against her and covered her ears with licks.
“Thank you,” Leafstar meowed to Harley. “Now will some cat show us the way out of here?”
“I can do that.” A small, dark shape darted out of the shadows behind the ruined wall; Hawkwing recognized Shorty.
“What are you doing here?” Harley challenged him.
Shorty dipped his head. “I followed my friends,” he replied, angling his ears toward the SkyClan cats. “I needed to know what was going on. Wouldn’t you have done the same?” he challenged Harley.
A glimmer of amusement appeared in Harley’s eyes. “I suppose I would,” he admitted. “Now get out of here. All of you.”
Chapter 24
“Tuck your hind paws in a bit further,” Hawkwing told Curlypaw.
“That way, you get more strength in your pounce.”
“Like this?” Curlypaw asked, shifting her paws farther forward.
“Very good. But if you stick your tail up in the air like that, the mouse will see you coming.”
The cats of SkyClan were sprawled out on the riverbank, taking a rest in the warmth of sunhigh. The river was wider here, winding along more slowly than in the gorge, and the edge was thickly fringed with reeds. On the landward side, a grassy slope stretched upward to where trees were outlined against the sky.
Several days had passed since the SkyClan cats had left the Twolegplace. Hawkwing’s wounds from his fight with Dodge were healing well, and he no longer needed Pebbleshine to hunt for him.
But it was still pleasant to relax and feel his strength returning as the sun soaked into his pelt.
“She’s doing well,” Blossomheart meowed as she watched Curlypaw practicing the hunter’s crouch.
“I think she is,” Hawkwing agreed. “Curlypaw,” he went on, “you need to understand that hunting on the move, like we are, is very different from hunting in familiar territory.”
Curlypaw sat up, her eyes wide as she drank in every word her mentor was saying.
“On the move,” Hawkwing continued, “you have to be continually scouting for good spots where prey might be hiding.
But in a familiar place, you already know the likely spots.”
“Yes,” Blossomheart put in. “Do you remember that rotting tree stump near the gorge? It was almost always full of mice.”
“Of course I remember it,” Hawkwing responded with a happy sigh. “The prey practically leaped into our paws.”
Curlypaw’s eyes gleamed. “Do you think there’ll be lots of good hunting spots in our new home by the water, when we find it?” she asked.
“I’m sure there will be,” Hawkwing replied. “And you remember Leafstar telling us about the friendly ThunderClan cats, Firestar and Sandstorm? They’ll probably tell us the best places to hunt. Now,” he added, “can you see a likely hunting spot around here?”
Curlypaw sprang to her paws and looked around. “What about up the slope?” she suggested, pointing with her tail toward a big oak tree with lots of twisting roots. “Prey could be hiding in there!”
“Very good,” Hawkwing purred. “Why don’t you go and check it out?”
While Curlypaw sped off up the slope toward the tree, Hawkwing followed more slowly. Blossomheart fell into step beside him.
“Do you think we’ll ever find Barley?” she meowed quietly after a moment. “We’ve been traveling for days and days. I didn’t get the impression that it took Barley that long to get to us when he and Ravenpaw brought Bellaleaf and Rileypool to SkyClan.”
“You may be right,” Hawkwing responded. “Rileypool and Bellaleaf were very young when they made the journey. I wonder if they really remember the way.”
“Well, they know to follow the river,” Blossomheart mewed.
“That’s easy enough. But I don’t think Barley lives on the riverbank. So at some point we have to leave it, and maybe
Bellaleaf and Rileypool don’t remember where. We could already have come too far.”
A yowl interrupted their conversation. “Cats of SkyClan! It’s time to move on!” Leafstar ordered.
Hawkwing turned back with Blossomheart and called to Curlypaw, who was crouched among the oak roots. He headed toward Cherrytail and Cloudmist, who had been resting in the shade of the reeds by the water’s edge.
Anxiety bit at Hawkwing when he looked at his mother. She still seemed tired and she stumbled a little as she rose to her paws in response to Leafstar’s summons.
“Are you okay?” he asked, padding up to her.
“I’m a bit weak still,” Cherrytail admitted, “but I’ll be fine. I don’t want to slow any cat down. We have to find the other Clans!”
Then I hope we find them quickly, Hawkwing thought. I’m not sure Cherrytail is up to a long journey.
“We’ll be heading off in a different direction,” Leafstar announced, when all the Clan was gathered. “Bellaleaf thinks she’s recognized a landmark.”