As the last of the guardian cats followed Dovewing and Dotty inside, he slid into the shadow of the gathering-den wall and crept to where Fog stood as rigid as stone. “Don’t let the Twoleg see you,” he hissed. “It might take you too.” He nudged her backward until a jutting wall blocked the Twoleg’s view.
“It stole Streak!” Fog’s eyes were wide with disbelief. “He’s my brother. They can’t take him!”
Tigerheart stared at her, his heart aching with pity.
“We’ve got to rescue him.” She lurched forward, but he blocked her way.
“We can’t,” he meowed flatly. “There’s nothing we can do.”
Fog turned her stricken gaze on him. “You’ve traveled. You’re a warrior. You must have seen this happen before. You must know where the Twolegs take the cats they steal!” Her pelt bristled with alarm. “Tell me where they’re taking him!”
“I don’t know.” Tigerheart mewed helplessly.
“I can’t lose Streak.”
“He’ll be okay.”
“How do you know that?”
“They’ll make him live like a kittypet. But eventually he’ll escape. Twolegs can’t stop a cat from leaving if he wants to leave. He’ll find his way back.”
“What if they don’t make him a kittypet?” Fog’s grief was quickly hardening into rage. “What if they kill him?”
The monster began to rumble. Fog darted from behind the wall and stared at it. Tigerheart padded after her and watched the monster pull away.
“No!”
Fog’s wail tore his heart. As the monster disappeared around a corner, she turned on him. “This is your fault!”
“My fault?” Tigerheart blinked at her.
“Why didn’t you tell us there were traps?”
“I didn’t know.”
Paw steps sounded beyond the wall. Tuna and Growler raced around the corner. They stopped in front of Fog.
“Did it take him?” Tuna asked.
Fog stared at him bleakly. “There was nothing I could do.”
Growler glanced around nervously. “We’ve found more traps.”
“More?” Fierce’s mew took Tigerheart by surprise. He turned to see the tortoiseshell padding toward them. Ant and Cobweb were following.
“Are the kits hidden?” Tigerheart asked.
Fierce nodded. “Even if the Twolegs found the den, they wouldn’t find the kits. There’s a lot of clutter to hide behind.” She turned to Growler. “Show us where these other traps are.”
Growler headed across the grass, leading Fierce around the end of the gathering place. Tigerheart followed, Cobweb and Ant at his heels.
He glanced back and saw Tuna weaving around Fog, trying to comfort her.
“Here.” Growler led them to a mesh trap identical to the one that had caught Pouncekit. It sat behind a stone slab, one end wide open. The mouthwatering scent of fresh-kill wafted from inside. Tigerheart could see how Pouncekit had been tempted.
“There’s another one over there.” Growler nodded toward the slabs a few rows away. Then he turned his muzzle toward the patch of trees. “And one near our camp.”
Cobweb was leaning close to the trap, sniffing at it.
“Don’t go inside,” Fierce warned.
“I’m not a mouse-brain,” Cobweb answered. “I was just wondering how Pouncekit made her trap shut.”
Tigerheart peered through the mesh. He could see the tasty fresh-kill wasn’t fresh-kill at all, but just mush smeared beyond a shiny strip that stuck up in the middle of the trap. “It’s not even real fresh-kill.”
Cobweb’s gaze paused as it reached the shiny strip. “That part of the trap wasn’t sticking up in Pouncekit’s trap.”
Ant’s ears pricked. “Do you think it went down when she stepped on it?”
“And shut the trap!” Growler’s eyes shone.
“Let’s find out.” Cobweb hurried away toward a tree and returned carrying a stick.
Tigerheart’s chest tightened as Cobweb poked the stick through the mesh and touched the end to the strip. The trap snapped shut. Tigerheart’s pelt bushed with alarm.
Fierce blinked, her hackles lifting. “Twoleg fox-hearts!”
Cobweb lifted his muzzle triumphantly. “Now we know how to close them!”
Fierce padded away. “Come on. Let’s close the others.”
“Let’s hurry!” Cobweb followed her, tail twitching anxiously. “The sound of the traps shutting seems to attract the Twolegs.”
As they headed toward the next trap, Ant and Growler at their heels, Tigerheart paused. Fog had seen danger here. Now would be the best time to persuade her that they needed to do something about it… He called after Fierce. “There’s something I must do.”
She waved her tail in reply. Cobweb was already fetching a stick to close the next trap. Tigerheart turned and padded around the end of the gathering den. Fog was still standing beside Tuna, staring at where the monster had disappeared as though she could still hardly believe her eyes.
Tigerheart dipped his head as he reached her. “I’m sorry for your loss,” he meowed gently.
She turned on him. “You’re probably glad to see one of us gone,” she snapped.
Tigerheart shifted his paws. He had to handle this conversation carefully. “I’m never glad to see a cat fall into Twoleg paws,” he meowed. “I’m a warrior. I believe all cats should live free.” He caught Tuna’s eye. “But now you see that this is a dangerous place to live.” Tuna shifted his paws. “Perhaps you and your friends would be safer in your old home.”
“How could we be?” Fog demanded. “It’s full of foxes.”
Tigerheart changed tack. “Did you see us training earlier?”
“Do you call jumping around on the grass ‘training’?” Fog grunted.
“We wondered what you were doing.” Tuna looked curious.
“We were practicing battle moves, so we could drive the foxes away from your old home,” Tigerheart explained.
“Battle moves?” Tuna tipped his head.
“Where I come from, all cats learn how to fight,” Tigerheart told him. “We have to fight badgers and foxes and sometimes hawks. It takes special training to learn to fight bigger creatures.”
Fog glared at him. “There are five foxes living in our camp. Do you think that bunch of featherbrains will be able to fight them?”
Tigerheart felt his paws dig into the earth. Five foxes certainly sounded terrifying—but if he could convince Fog that he wasn’t scared, then maybe she’d believe that her cats stood a chance. “We could if you and your friends fought beside us.” He searched her gaze hopefully.
Tuna glanced at her. “We’d outnumber them,” he meowed.
“They’re foxes!” Fog snapped. “They could strip the fur off your muzzle and crush your spine in their jaws.”
“Not if I taught you how to fight.” Tigerheart’s chest tightened with hope. “And once you learned, you’d always be able to defend your land. You’d be safe forever.”
Tuna blinked encouragingly at Fog. “It would be nice not to have to sleep in grass nests anymore.”
“It would be nice to keep my pelt,” Fog growled. “I’m not risking it fighting foxes. Can’t you see? He’s trying to trick us.” She flicked her nose dismissively toward Tigerheart. “He wants us gone, and he’s willing to do anything to get rid of us, even if it means feeding us to foxes.”
“It sounds like a good plan,” Tuna persisted.
“It is a good plan,” Tigerheart pressed. “Two groups of trained cats could fight a whole pack of foxes.”
“Really?” Fog sneered at him. “In that case, train your friends. I’m not risking mine. If you manage to drive the foxes away, we’ll go home.”