Tallstar’s Revenge

He must have slept, because voices woke him. Heart lurching, Talltail jerked forward and peered out from the tree. The hail had stopped and dark gray-and-brown pelts were weaving around the bottom of the trunk. The scent of ShadowClan filled the air. Talltail dodged back, fur bristling. A patrol! Had he crossed the border? He jumped to his paws and desperately scanned his cramped shelter. He was trapped!

“The scents are fresh.” He heard a ShadowClan warrior snarl. “He must still be here somewhere.”

Claws scrabbled outside the trunk. “There’s a hole up there.”

“Let’s look.”

Talltail froze. They’d think he was a spy. They’d haul him in front of Cedarstar. At the very best, he’d be sent back to WindClan. At the worst… He pushed away the thought and glanced up at the tiny circle of light at the top of the tree. There was a way out—if he could reach it. Digging his claws into the soft wood, he began to haul himself up. He braced his hind legs against the other side of the trunk and wedged himself high above the nest. There was a scraping noise outside and he glanced down.

A mottled tabby head poked in and sniffed the leaves. “They’re still warm,” he growled.

Talltail held his breath. Please, don’t look up!

The head ducked back out. Fast as a squirrel, Talltail scrabbled his way farther up the tree trunk. Above his head, the circle of light grew until he could feel fresh air washing over him. His claws screamed with pain as he dragged himself up the last tail-length. Leaves rustled below as a ShadowClan warrior jumped into the hollow and began sniffing at the nest. “Are you sure you can’t see him?” he called out to his Clanmates.

Talltail grabbed for the top of the trunk and hauled himself over the rim. Shards of bark showered down the shaft beneath him. He scrambled onto a crooked, lightning-blasted branch. Rotten with age, it creaked beneath his weight. He clung to it, flattening himself against the wood, praying it was wide enough to shield him from the gaze of the cats below.

“I heard something.”

“It must be a squirrel.”

“Smells like a tom.”

“A cat couldn’t climb that high.”

“Do you recognize the scent?”

“Stagnant water and earth. Too rank for a Clan cat.”

Talltail prickled with indignation.

“It could be one of those rogues we chased off last moon.”

“Those cats that smelled like WindClan? Why would they come back? I clawed that she-cat’s ears until she shrieked!”

He pricked his ears. The rogues came this way! He was still on Sparrow’s trail. A surge of hope sliced through his terror.

“Let’s check the Thunderpath.” The ShadowClan warrior’s mew echoed up the hollow trunk. “He’s obviously not in here anymore.”

Talltail clung to the branch, his heart pounding so hard that he feared it was ringing through the wood. Gingerly he peered down. Four warriors searched far below, picking their way among the tangled roots of the pine, sniffing every scent, their pelts bristling. Talltail’s legs began to ache, his claws throbbing with the effort of clinging on. Go away! He willed the patrol to move on, but they circled the trees again and again, tails flicking with anger.

At last one of the warriors wandered toward the open grass. “The trail comes from this way.”

“Let’s track it.” The mottled warrior padded after him.

Talltail watched as one by one the warriors headed away from the trees. They trekked across the grass, following his trail back along the Thunderpath. As soon as they were out of sight, he scrambled down the tree, feeling a rush of relief as his paws touched solid earth. Despite the cramp tightening his muscles, he ran fast as a rabbit, breaking through the scent line he hadn’t noticed in his rush to shelter among the trees, and diving across the narrow Thunderpath into a wall of thick bushes.

He slowed, catching his breath. Not much farther on, the bushes gave way to dense woodland. Oak and ash pushed up through patches of bramble. The cloudy sky showed through their bare branches. Talltail tasted the air. There were no Clan scents here. Bracken crowded between the trunks and hawthorn snagged his pelt, but he felt safe for the first time in a long while. As he pushed on, shadows darkened around him. The sun must be sinking. How could he tell where it was when he was trapped in all these trees? Tail drooping, Talltail padded to a halt. It was pointless trying to guess which way to go. He should wait till dawn and head for sun-up.

He pushed past a clump of shriveled ferns and found himself in a small clearing ringed by trees. There wasn’t enough sky to navigate by, but at least he wasn’t being smothered by branches. He curled among the jutting roots of the nearest oak. His belly growled, but he was too tired to hunt. Instead he laid his chin on his paws and closed his eyes.

“Talltail!” Sandgorse’s mew echoed through the dark. “Listen!”

“What is it?” Talltail looked wildly around, but all he could see was the blackness of shadow, washed with scents of trees.

“Talltail!”