Tallstar’s Revenge

As Reena and Jake headed uphill, Talltail dropped into a crouch and ran low, as fast as a swooping hawk. The wind streamed past his ears and filled them with snow till he could only hear his own heartbeat. As he neared the rabbit he stopped and watched. It was munching the tips of the grass, lifting its head from time to time to peer nervously around. Talltail glanced upslope. Reena was nudging Jake into a crouch until they were both stalking low, circling wide around their prey and halting a little way past it.

Talltail lifted his head just high enough to catch Jake’s eye. Jake stared at him, questioning. Talltail nodded. Jake and Reena stalked forward. Talltail closed in. The rabbit was halfway between them, head down, ears flattened now against its spine. The warm smell of it bathed Talltail’s tongue. His belly rumbled. He padded closer, gaze fixed on its brown pelt. He glimpsed the ginger and orange pelts of Reena and Jake beyond. Another few paces and he’d be within pouncing distance. He quickened his step, eager to reach it before Reena. He wanted to carry this catch home to the rogues. It would help earn Sparrow’s trust.

If only the brown rogue would choke on it.

Rage stirred as Talltail realized he was hunting for the cat who’d killed his father. A growl rumbled in his throat. The rabbit lifted its head, eyes sparking with panic. It heard me! Furious, Talltail leaped for it. The rabbit shot away, eyes widening in terror as it spotted Jake and Reena lunging from the other side. It headed downhill, pelting through the thickening snowfall.

Talltail hared after it, his paws thrumming, wind howling in his ears. The field sloped steeper. He narrowed his eyes against the snow, his gaze focused on the brown pelt of the rabbit.

“Talltail!” A panicked yowl sounded from behind.

Reena? He could hardly hear for the wind and the roaring of the blood in his ears. It felt great to be tearing over the grass again, the scent of prey in his nose, no branches to trip on, no trees to swerve around. He was gaining on the rabbit easily. Just so long as it didn’t have a burrow to dive down. And even if it did, he could chase it inside. I’m a tunneler’s son. With a rush of triumph Talltail sprang and landed squarely on the rabbit.

“Talltail!” Reena’s terrified shriek sounded through the wind as he skidded down the slope, snow spraying from beneath his paws. He grabbed the rabbit in his jaws and, swinging it up, crunched through its spine. It stopped struggling and hung limply in Talltail’s mouth.

Reena was racing toward him. Jake’s orange pelt flashed behind. “Don’t move!” Reena screeched.

“Why?” Talltail dropped the rabbit and stared as Reena scrambled to a halt a tail-length ahead of him.

“Just walk toward me,” Reena ordered.

Bewildered by the terror in her eyes, Talltail picked up the rabbit and padded toward her. She weaved around him, herding him farther up the slope, her pelt bristling.

“What’s wrong?” Talltail asked.

“You nearly went over the edge,” Reena croaked.

“What edge?” Talltail glanced back through the blizzarding snow.

“That’s a cliff.”

“Like the gorge?” Talltail stiffened, remembering his first day as an apprentice, when he nearly fell into the river.

“Worse.” Swallowing, Reena padded warily forward.

Talltail followed her, stopping when she stopped and peering over the edge of a steep, sandy cliff. Through the snow, he saw monsters hurtling below them along a huge Thunderpath. It cut through the gorge like a wide, angry river. He flinched as wind from the monsters’ backs ruffled his whiskers.

“You stopped just in time.” Jake halted beside him and stared down. His ears flattened when he saw the monsters streaming along the gorge, teeming like fish in a river. “You would have been killed if you’d fallen down there.”

Talltail swallowed. He’d nearly died! The snow had hidden the Thunderpath’s sound and scent. He was lucky he’d caught up with the rabbit when he did. Another tail-length… He pictured plunging down, down, down, a monster hurtling toward him. He closed his eyes. I could have been killed.

An idea flared inside his mind. He trembled, not with fear but excitement. That’s how I’ll do it! All he had to do was lure Sparrow here. One push and the murdering rogue would plunge down beneath the paws of a monster.

Talltail’s heart pounded in his chest. Sandgorse! I promised you I’d avenge your death. Sparrow will never harm another cat again.

Chapter 37