Tallstar’s Revenge

“Sparrow,” Talltail told her again slowly. “He’s brown. He was traveling with Bess, Algernon, Mole, and Reena.”

Jay poked distractedly at the pigeon with her paw. “Are they all rogues?”

“Yes.” Talltail dug his claws into the cracked earth.

Jake nodded to Jay. “Why don’t you have another mouthful of pigeon?” he suggested. “It’ll help you think.”

“Perhaps it will.” The old she-cat pulled at the flesh with her gums, tearing a fresh morsel away, and began chewing. “Rogues, you say,” she murmured, her mouth full. “Rogues with house-cat names, mind you.”

“They travel together.” Talltail tried to hide the impatience pricking in his fur. “They would have passed this way about two moons ago.”

Jay nodded slowly, then swallowed. “Oh yes. I remember them. Red found them hunting our alleys.” She looked toward the tawny she-cat. “Was that them?”

Red frowned. “Was there a black-and-white she-cat with them?”

Talltail’s ears twitched excitedly. “And a small gray tom and a ginger-and-white—”

“That was them.” Red nodded. “We let them take one piece of prey each, then moved them on.”

“When?” Talltail’s whiskers were quivering.

“Was the moon full, Marmalade?” Red asked.

Marmalade glanced at the sky. “Not as full as this.”

“How long were the days?” Talltail wanted to know if they’d passed one moon ago or two.

“Not much longer than this,” Red told him.

“So last moon?” Talltail prompted.

Jay’s tail began to flick. “Whenever it was, they’ve gone now.” She ducked down for another mouthful of pigeon. “You should go too before you wear out my ears with your questions.”

Red and Marmalade padded closer to Talltail, tails flicking.

“Okay, we’re going.” Talltail turned away from the mangy old she-cat, beckoning Jake with a nod.

“Thanks for your help,” Jake called to Jay.

Jay blinked at the kittypet. “Thanks for yours.”

Jake purred. “I’m sure Red or Marmalade will help with your fresh-kill next time.”

“Sure we will,” Red hissed through gritted teeth.

Talltail nudged Jake away. “Come on.” Before you try to organize this bunch of loners into a Clan. He steered him toward the far side of the clearing, his pelt rippling uneasily as they passed the watching strays. There was a gap between the cracked dens that would lead them clear.

“I told you she’d help,” Jake purred as they reached it.

“You didn’t tell me you were leading us into an enemy camp,” Talltail muttered. He ducked into the alley and quickened his pace. The sooner he was away from here, the better.

Jake trotted after him. “You found out what you wanted to know, didn’t you?”

“Yes. Now let’s get out of here.” Talltail paused and looked back. “And thanks for your help, Jake. You did well to get that old she-cat to tell us about the rogues.”

Jake shrugged. “It’s like dealing with housefolk. You get more out of them by being friendly.”

The far side of the alley opened onto a row of neat, grassy squares. A long stretch of mesh divided them from the dilapidated dens. Talltail squeezed under the mesh, relieved to see the tiny meadows ahead. No more dodging broken glass. The grass felt soft beneath his paws. “How far is it to the end of Twolegplace?”

Jake nodded toward the large red-stone den at the end of the little meadow. “There are open fields beyond there.”

Talltail followed his gaze. Beyond the den, there was nothing but wide, star-speckled sky and rolling, dark emptiness below. “The rogues would have kept going,” he guessed. “Past Twolegplace.”

“Or they might have turned back,” Jake pointed out. “There’s warmth and shelter here.”

“Only if you’ve got a Twoleg looking after you,” Talltail meowed. He started trotting toward the red-stone den. Jake stayed where he was. Talltail stopped. Was Jake going to go home now? An unexpected pang tugged his heart. He glanced over his shoulder.

Jake was sniffing the air, his eyes flashing with excitement. “I smell food.” He turned and disappeared around the corner of the den. Now where’s he going? Talltail peered around the edge of the red stone. Jake’s hind legs were disappearing through a small flap, like the one where he lived. Talltail stared. What in the name of StarClan is he doing? His heart began to race as he stared at the flap, expecting Jake to explode out with a vicious kittypet or angry dog on his tail. But nothing happened.

As Talltail’s belly began to growl, Jake’s head poked from the flap. “Come and get some!” he called. “There’s plenty.” He licked his lips, and the scent of little, brown pellets drifted to Talltail on the breeze.

“You want me to steal kittypet food?”

Jake nodded. “Why not? There’s always more.”

“What about the kittypet who lives there?” Talltail asked. “Won’t he mind?”

“It smells like a she, and she must be asleep upstairs, or out. There’s no sign of her by the food.”

“I’d rather hunt, thanks,” Talltail muttered. Now that he was almost out of Twolegplace, he didn’t need to eat those dry pellets anymore.

“Okay.” Jake ducked back inside.