Thunder dodged to and fro among bushes and clumps of ferns, but he couldn’t shake off his pursuer. Spotting an ash tree with an inviting low branch, he pushed off in a huge leap and clawed the rest of the way up the trunk until he reached the branch.
A furious snarl came from behind him. Turning and looking down, Thunder saw with a stab of fear that the black tom was climbing the tree after him.
Thunder slid out his claws and swiped at the black tom as he came within range, but the tom ducked under the blow and hurled himself at Thunder, almost knocking him off the branch. Thunder tackled him, grabbing the cat’s shoulder fur in his jaws. He let out a screech as he felt the black tom’s claws rake down his side.
Then he felt his paws slipping from the branch, and a heartbeat later he was falling through the air. He lost his grip on the other cat, who fell with him, paws and tail flailing.
Thunder managed to land on all four paws, wincing at the impact. The black tom was sprawled on his side; Thunder leaped forward and used his forepaws to pin down the black tom’s shoulders.
“You stupid furball, I wasn’t doing you any harm,” Thunder hissed. Glancing up, he saw that River Ripple and his companion had followed and were gazing at them from a couple of tail-lengths away. “I don’t want—” Thunder began.
Crashing from the undergrowth interrupted him. Clear Sky sprang into the open and halted for a heartbeat, his gaze raking the three strange cats.
“Get out of here now, and don’t come back!” he growled. “Thunder, you can let that mange-pelt up.”
Thunder stepped back obediently. As the black tom struggled to his paws, Clear Sky bounded up to him and gave him a warning shove, sending him sprawling.
The black tom scrambled up again and scurried off with the she-cat hard on his paws. River Ripple began to follow them, then paused, looking back at Clear Sky with a long, cold stare.
Clear Sky was unmoved by it. “Cats who attack my son will be punished,” he snarled.
“You can’t keep doing this,” River Ripple mewed simply. “You can’t try to tell other cats what to do.”
“Come over here and say that again,” Clear Sky challenged. “I can do what I like.”
Thunder could hardly believe what he was hearing. His own father, acting like some sort of bully.
“I’m sure it doesn’t… ,” Thunder started to say, but Clear Sky’s glare was so vicious that the words dried up in his throat.
River Ripple was watching him closely. “No, please, carry on,” he said. “I’m interested to know what a young cat thinks about all this.”
“Thunder’s opinion is none of your business!” Clear Sky hissed. “Thunder doesn’t have an opinion!”
Thunder felt his stomach shrivel. Was that really what his father thought? River Ripple was still staring hard at him and Thunder had to look away. Silence throbbed through the air, then there was the sound of River Ripple stalking away.
Clear Sky waited until River Ripple had vanished into the undergrowth before turning to Thunder. “Congratulations!” he meowed. “You have just expanded our territory. Those cats won’t dare come back here again, and hopefully they’ll spread the word that we don’t tolerate uninvited visitors.” Waving his tail for Thunder to follow, he headed back in the direction of the camp.
Is that what I did? he wondered. Thunder had never thought in terms of “tolerating” other cats.
Thunder felt miserable. His morning had been ruined. Instead of training by himself and returning triumphantly to camp with his jaws full of prey, he had ended up in an ugly brawl with rogue cats—including one cat who had probably saved all their lives. And I’d already defeated the black tom, he thought with a twinge of resentment. Clear Sky didn’t have to be so protective—or put me down like that.
“You know, I was fine back there,” he began nervously, not wanting to provoke an angry reaction. “The fight was over. You didn’t have to shove that cat.”
“Fine? The cats were in the forest, weren’t they?” Clear Sky hissed impatiently. “How can that be fine?”
“But the rogue cats were here before any of us,” Thunder replied, alarmed. “They can go where they like, can’t they?” He hesitated then plunged on. “I do have an opinion, you know.”
Clear Sky halted, his eyes widening as he gazed at Thunder and his claws working in the grass. “Haven’t you listened to a word I’ve said to you? We need to protect ourselves for the future, and that means no unwelcome visitors.” His voice softened. “Of course you have an opinion. I was just putting that cat in its place—you mustn’t take any notice. But it’s important you understand that we need to guard our home really carefully. You get that, right?”
“Uh… right.” What else could Thunder say? Of course he wanted the forest cats to have a safe and happy home, although it didn’t feel that happy right now.
His tail drooping, Thunder followed his father back to the camp.
What have I done? he asked himself. A moment of doubt pierced him. Maybe I should have stayed with Gray Wing. Even thinking that made Thunder feel both disloyal and like a coward. I had no idea what I was doing—I still don’t.
He watched his father’s silhouette, pulling ahead. Thunder’s heart felt heavy as a stone. I’m here now. There’s no going back. Being reunited with his father had once been Thunder’s biggest dream, but now it felt like a weight on his shoulders. He wondered where River Ripple and those other cats would be now. Spreading the word of their encounter?
I hope not, Thunder thought. I wish it had never happened.
Chapter 19
Gray Wing sat at the mouth of the den he shared with Turtle Tail, his paws tucked comfortably underneath him, and watched the three kits playing at the bottom of the hollow. Their squeals of excitement drifted over as they leaped on top of one another and rolled around in the scattered twigs and debris from the gorse bushes.
When Rainswept Flower said we’d have our paws full, she wasn’t wrong, he thought. I wonder how I used to fill my days before the kits came.
As Gray Wing slid into a doze, letting the warm sunlight soak into his pelt, he spotted Sparrow Fur racing up the slope toward him. “Gray Wing, come and play with us!” she begged, skidding to a halt in front of him.
Gray Wing’s jaws gaped in a massive yawn as he rose to his paws. “Okay,” he mumbled. “What do I have to do?”
“Owl Eyes is being a fox,” Sparrow Fur explained, looking over her shoulder at Gray Wing as she bounced down the slope ahead of him. “And we have to roll out of his way when he attacks us.”
That’s a good game for training, Gray Wing realized. One day they might have to do that for real.
When Gray Wing and Sparrow Fur reached the bottom of the hollow, Owl Eyes was racing toward Pebble Heart, with his teeth bared as he uttered tiny, high-pitched growls. “I’m a fox,” he declared. “I’m going to eat you up!”
“No!” Pebble Heart shrieked. He dived to one side as Owl Eyes leaped at him, landing on his back and waving his paws in the air.
Owl Eyes spun around and hurled himself at Sparrow Fur. His sister waited until the last moment before darting aside with a yowl of delight and rolling over and over among the scattered twigs.
Drawing his lips back in a snarl, Owl Eyes whipped around to face Gray Wing, his tail lashing to and fro. “I’m the fiercest fox in the forest!”