Tigerheart’s Shadow

“I don’t know.” Tigerheart frowned. Why had the Twolegs decided to leave such a dangerous thing now? He glanced toward the trees beyond the slabs where Fog and her gang had made their nests. Had too many cats caught the Twolegs’ attention? “But I think they might be trying to catch us.” He’d heard nursery tales about cats carried off by Twolegs and forced to live as kittypets. He shuddered.

A terrified wail sounded at the far end of the gathering den. The Twoleg had appeared from behind it and was carrying a mesh trap. White fur flashed inside. Paws scrabbled against the mesh as the trapped cat wailed again. Tigerheart recognized the anguished face of Streak.

“No!” Fog stared from beside the den wall, her face twisted with grief as she watched the Twoleg carry the trap to its monster and shut it inside.

“Quick.” Tigerheart nudged Dovewing toward the den. “We need to hide. It might be coming for this trap. It mustn’t find us here.”

Dovewing scooped up Pouncekit by the scruff. Cobweb picked up Lightkit. Dotty grabbed Shadowkit. Keeping low, they scurried toward the den entrance. Fierce waved Mittens, Rascal, and the others toward the gathering place with a flick of her tail. As the cats streamed toward their home and began to file inside, Tigerheart watched Fog. The gray she-cat was staring desperately at the monster where Streak was trapped while the Twoleg headed toward Pouncekit’s trap. It grunted angrily as it picked up the mesh cave. Tigerheart guessed it wasn’t pleased to find the trap closed but empty.

As the last of the guardian cats followed Dovewing and Dotty inside, he slid into the shadow of the gathering-den wall and crept to where Fog stood as rigid as stone. “Don’t let the Twoleg see you,” he hissed. “It might take you too.” He nudged her backward until a jutting wall blocked the Twoleg’s view.

“It stole Streak!” Fog’s eyes were wide with disbelief. “He’s my brother. They can’t take him!”

Tigerheart stared at her, his heart aching with pity.

“We’ve got to rescue him.” She lurched forward, but he blocked her way.

“We can’t,” he meowed flatly. “There’s nothing we can do.”

Fog turned her stricken gaze on him. “You’ve traveled. You’re a warrior. You must have seen this happen before. You must know where the Twolegs take the cats they steal!” Her pelt bristled with alarm. “Tell me where they’re taking him!”

“I don’t know.” Tigerheart mewed helplessly.

“I can’t lose Streak.”

“He’ll be okay.”

“How do you know that?”

“They’ll make him live like a kittypet. But eventually he’ll escape. Twolegs can’t stop a cat from leaving if he wants to leave. He’ll find his way back.”

“What if they don’t make him a kittypet?” Fog’s grief was quickly hardening into rage. “What if they kill him?”

The monster began to rumble. Fog darted from behind the wall and stared at it. Tigerheart padded after her and watched the monster pull away.

“No!”

Fog’s wail tore his heart. As the monster disappeared around a corner, she turned on him. “This is your fault!”

“My fault?” Tigerheart blinked at her.

“Why didn’t you tell us there were traps?”

“I didn’t know.”

Paw steps sounded beyond the wall. Tuna and Growler raced around the corner. They stopped in front of Fog.

“Did it take him?” Tuna asked.

Fog stared at him bleakly. “There was nothing I could do.”

Growler glanced around nervously. “We’ve found more traps.”

“More?” Fierce’s mew took Tigerheart by surprise. He turned to see the tortoiseshell padding toward them. Ant and Cobweb were following.

“Are the kits hidden?” Tigerheart asked.

Fierce nodded. “Even if the Twolegs found the den, they wouldn’t find the kits. There’s a lot of clutter to hide behind.” She turned to Growler. “Show us where these other traps are.”

Growler headed across the grass, leading Fierce around the end of the gathering place. Tigerheart followed, Cobweb and Ant at his heels.

He glanced back and saw Tuna weaving around Fog, trying to comfort her.

“Here.” Growler led them to a mesh trap identical to the one that had caught Pouncekit. It sat behind a stone slab, one end wide open. The mouthwatering scent of fresh-kill wafted from inside. Tigerheart could see how Pouncekit had been tempted.

“There’s another one over there.” Growler nodded toward the slabs a few rows away. Then he turned his muzzle toward the patch of trees. “And one near our camp.”

Cobweb was leaning close to the trap, sniffing at it.

“Don’t go inside,” Fierce warned.

“I’m not a mouse-brain,” Cobweb answered. “I was just wondering how Pouncekit made her trap shut.”

Tigerheart peered through the mesh. He could see the tasty fresh-kill wasn’t fresh-kill at all, but just mush smeared beyond a shiny strip that stuck up in the middle of the trap. “It’s not even real fresh-kill.”

Cobweb’s gaze paused as it reached the shiny strip. “That part of the trap wasn’t sticking up in Pouncekit’s trap.”

Ant’s ears pricked. “Do you think it went down when she stepped on it?”

“And shut the trap!” Growler’s eyes shone.

“Let’s find out.” Cobweb hurried away toward a tree and returned carrying a stick.