Tallstar’s Revenge

“Sorry.” Jake hopped down beside him and began picking twigs from the litter. He tossed them out, then paddled the soft moss with his paws. “That feels better!”

“In WindClan, we line our nests with sheepswool,” Talltail remarked.

“I’ll get some.” Jake jumped out.

“It’s okay; you don’t have to.” Bones aching with tiredness, Talltail sat down.

Jake was already heading toward the edge of the trees. “I won’t be long!”

Talltail curled back into the moss, ignoring the dampness. He rested his nose on his paws and closed his eyes. Just a few more moments’ sleep and he’d feel better. Darkness swirled through his thoughts and pulled him into tumbling dreams.

Talltail! His father’s voice echoed from the shadows. Talltail, dreaming, stared around. Shadows crowded against his pelt, turning the air thick until he struggled for breath. Then something started falling on him—cold, wet earth, heavy as stones, more and more until his mouth and nose were clogged. He was inside the gorge tunnel! Suddenly eyes blinked in the blackness. Sparrow! Talltail recognized the cold, amber gaze of the rogue flashing in the dark.

“Where’s Sandgorse? Have you left him behind?” Panic surged beneath Talltail’s pelt. “Sandgorse? Sandgorse?” He pushed past Sparrow, calling into the darkness. Water rumbled in the distance, its roar growing louder, and sticky mud dragged at Talltail’s legs. “You abandoned him!” Talltail turned on Sparrow, lashing his soaked tail.

But the flashing eyes had gone, and he was alone underground. More earth slid weightily onto Talltail’s flank. He struggled, trying to kick free of the mud as it flooded around his paws. It lapped against his belly and dragged at his fur. “Sandgorse!” he shrieked in panic.

“Talltail!” His father’s voice returned his call. “Talltail! Talltail!”

A paw shook his shoulder. Talltail jerked up his head. Jake was in the nest beside him, poking him. His eyes were wide with excitement. “You have to come and see this!”

Sheepswool surrounded Talltail, soft against his pelt. “Did you collect all that?” Talltail stared at it, still dazed from his dream.

“Yes!” Jake hopped out of the nest. “But I found something else. Come on!”

Talltail struggled to his paws, fighting the heaviness of sleep. “I’m coming.” He hauled himself out of the nest and followed Jake.

Jake padded briskly between the trees, weaving past brambles and bracken, and hopped a rotting log. Talltail scrambled over it, still drowsy. “What is it?” Irritation itched beneath his fur. Couldn’t Jake have let him sleep?

“Look!” Jake stopped beside a beech trunk and nodded toward the ground. “Smell that.” Talltail’s nose was already twitching. “Cat scent,” Jake announced proudly. “When I’d fetched the wool, I decided to have a sniff around. And I found this.”

A jumble of scents clung to the leaf-strewn soil between the tree roots. Talltail leaned closer, opening his mouth.

“Is it the rogues?” Jake demanded.

There was a familiar hint to the smell. “I think it might be!” Talltail straightened up and stared at Jake, feeling a worm of excitement stir in his belly. The scents were too frozen to tell for sure. But they were definitely cat scent and definitely familiar. “They’re stale.” He unsheathed his claws and sank them into the cold, damp earth. “But we’re on the right trail!”

Chapter 34

Talltail woke in the wool-lined hollow between the oak roots. He could feel Jake breathing beside him, his pelt warm where their fur touched. He lifted his head, tasting the air. The icy chill had gone, replaced by dampness. The musty aroma of dying leaves flooded the nest.

“Jake.” Talltail nudged the kittypet. Unfrozen, the cat scents they’d found last night would be much stronger. He hopped out of the nest, his paws sliding on the soggy leaves that had crunched underpaw yesterday.

Jake blinked open his eyes. “What is it?” He yawned.

“The weather’s changed,” Talltail told him. “There might be a trail we can follow.”

Jake scrambled out of the nest, his nose twitching. He glanced at the remains of the squirrel Talltail had caught last night and licked his lips. “Should we hunt first?”

Talltail blinked. “We can hunt later.” We have to check those scents! Heart quickening, Talltail headed for the trail Jake had led him along yesterday, mouth open, tasting for scents. He smelled moldy bark and damp leaves. Prey-scent hung heavy on the air, and the stale tang of fox.

Jake trotted after him. “Can you remember where they were?”