Sign Of The Moon

Furled Bracken had been the leader of the ancient cats when Jayfeather first met them beside the lake. He had cast his stone in favor of staying, and when the decision went against him, he had yielded the leadership to Stone Song.

“I think most of us agree that coming here was a mistake,” Furled Bracken was meowing. “We should never have left the lake. As soon as the ice storm is over, I will lead those cats who want to return.”

“About time!” Jagged Lightning exclaimed. “I’ll go with you.”

“So will I,” Fish Leap meowed. “I never wanted to come in the first place.”

Shy Fawn raised her tail to speak. “Furled Bracken, we haven’t all agreed.” Her voice grew more determined as she went on. “Did the father of my kits die for nothing?” She whisked her tail-tip along her swollen belly and added, “I can’t travel, not until my kits are born and strong enough to make the journey.”

“I want to stay, too,” Dove’s Wing put in. “We had problems by the lake, and they won’t have gone away.”

“But maybe Fallen Leaves will be there,” Broken Shadows suggested, a brighter gleam in her eyes than Jayfeather had ever seen. “Take us home, Furled Bracken.”

Whispering Breeze let out a sigh. “I cast my stone to leave,” she mewed. “And now I regret that bitterly. This was a mistake. We should go home.”

“I wanted to leave, too, but now I want to go back.” Owl Feather drew her kits toward her with a sweep of her tail. “I’m afraid my kits will die if we stay here.” The kits set up a frightened mewling; their mother curved her body around them, soothing them with gentle licks.

“Then we’re agreed that—” Furled Bracken began.

“No!” Jayfeather interrupted. The eyes of every cat in the cave turned toward him, shining in the dim gray light. “You can’t go back—I mean, we can’t go back!”

Owl Feather drew her kits closer and glared at Jayfeather. “That’s easy for you to say,” she hissed. “You don’t have kits.”

Suddenly Jayfeather was conscious of Half Moon standing beside him. Flicking her a quick glance, he pressed on. “We can’t give up so soon. We should at least wait until the storm is over to see if we can find a way to catch prey.”

Rising Moon took a pace toward him, lashing her tail. “But we are prey!” she snarled. “How can we hunt if we’re being hunted ourselves?”

Jayfeather’s mind whirled. “We have to find a different way of hunting.” He suddenly recalled how the Tribe divided up the cats into cave-guards and prey-hunters, with their own special duties. “Some of us will hunt, while others will protect them—and our prey—against big birds.”

The cats looked at one another, muttering. Jayfeather could tell that they didn’t have any faith in his idea. But it will work! I’ve seen it working!

“We could try,” Half Moon meowed, standing closer to Jayfeather so that their pelts brushed.

A trickle of warmth crept through Jayfeather at her touch. It was good to have one cat who supported him. “Thanks,” he whispered, touching her ear with his nose.

“Oh, yes, try and have more cats with their fur ripped off!” Jagged Lightning’s neck fur bristled as he stared at Jayfeather.

Yowls of agreement followed his words. Jayfeather almost staggered backward at the wave of hostility he sensed coming from the crowd of cats around Furled Bracken. Half Moon’s support hadn’t been enough.

“Then that’s settled.” Furled Bracken’s gaze swept over the rest of the cats. “We’ll wait until the storm is over, then go back to the lake.”

Jayfeather stood blinking in disbelief as the cats began to shuffle toward the edges of the cave and find places to sleep. This can’t be happening!

“I’m sorry,” Stone Song murmured; he had stood in silence while the argument was going on. “We tried; it’s not our fault we failed. Maybe we’re not supposed to live in the stone hills after all.”

Jayfeather looked into his blue eyes and saw genuine regret there. He was the cat who was most committed to this…and now he was giving up, too! With nothing to say to him, Jayfeather stumbled away. Stone Song doesn’t understand. We’ve failed… I’ve failed!

“If these cats leave so soon,” he muttered, “how will the Tribe of Rushing Water end up in the mountains?”

Hardly aware of what he was doing, he found his paw steps leading him into the Cave of Pointed Stones. Soft paw steps sounded behind him; glancing back, he saw that Half Moon had followed him. She halted at the mouth of the tunnel, her eyes stretching wide as she took in the cave.

“Wow!” she breathed.

Jayfeather shared some of her wonder as he gazed around at the tapering columns and pinnacles of white stone. Being in the cave with Half Moon somehow made him realize how beautiful it really was.

“Let’s explore!” Half Moon mewed, giving a little bounce like an excited kit.

Jayfeather followed her as she darted around the puddles and stretched her forepaws as far as she could reach up the side of one of the stony spikes. “Look!” she exclaimed. “This stone is growing from the floor, and it almost meets the icicle of stone that’s hanging from the ceiling.”