Tigerheart’s Shadow

“The Twolegs have been back,” Mittens reported. “Their scent is so fresh they must have only just left.”

“They’ve taken all the traps we closed.” Rascal’s pelt prickled nervously.

“They’ve left new ones,” Mittens told her.

“Bigger ones this time,” Rascal chimed.

“Big enough to trap a fox.” Mittens’s eyes were dark with worry.

Tigerheart reached Fierce’s nest and glanced around the three cats. “Could we close them all again?”

Mittens flicked his tail. “What good would that do? They’d only bring more.”

Fierce gazed anxiously around the den. “Perhaps it’s time we moved on.”

“Where to?” Mittens demanded. “This is the quietest part of the city.”

Fierce’s pelt was still ruffled by sleep. It prickled along her spine. “I don’t know,” she mewed irritably. “I thought this place was safe.”

“It was, until Fog and her gang arrived,” Rascal growled. “The Twolegs didn’t know we were here.”

“We need to get rid of her,” Mittens grunted.

Fierce looked at Tigerheart. “What about your plan to get her cats to help us fight the foxes?”

Tigerheart shifted his paws. He hadn’t told the guardian cats about his conversation with Fog yet. “I asked her,” he confessed. “She said no. She said she’d go back to her old home if we drove off the foxes, but her cats won’t help us.”

“Did you find out how many foxes there are?” Fierce asked.

“Five,” Tigerheart told her.

Mitten’s tail twitched angrily. “We can’t drive off five foxes alone!”

Rascal looked up at a clear stretch of wall, narrowing his eyes against the light outside. “Perhaps we should fight Fog and her friends,” he grunted.

“We should shove them into those traps and let the Twolegs take them away,” Mittens growled.

Tigerheart twitched as a thought sparked in his mind. He wouldn’t drive any cat into the paws of Twolegs, but perhaps there was another way to use the traps. “We don’t have to give cats to the Twolegs,” he ventured. “But what if we gave them something else?”

Fierce’s sleepy gaze sharpened suddenly. “Like what?”

Tigerheart hesitated. This would be a dangerous plan, but if it worked, it could solve all the guardian cats’ problems.

Fierce stepped out her nest and pricked her ears. “Well?”

“If we can trick the foxes into the traps—”

Mittens cut him off with a snort. “How could we do that?”

Fierce flicked her tail at the tabby irritably. “Let him finish.” Her green eyes sparkled with interest.

Tigerheart’s mind quickened as he traced out the plan. “We’d need to get Fog to show us where they are.” He hesitated, remembering Fog’s hostility yesterday. “Or Tuna. Yes. Tuna would show us.” The brown tom had wanted to go back to his old home. “Then we’d just need a small patrol to get the foxes to chase it. It could lead them here, and the rest of us could lead them into the traps.”

Mitten’s pelt bristled. “They’d kill us.”

“Cats are fast,” Tigerheart argued. “And we’d know where we were running. We could choose a route that would be hard for a fox’s clumsy paws.”

Rascal looked unconvinced. “And what if we get them here and they don’t go into the traps? We’d have led foxes right to our home for nothing!”

“We have enough cats here for two cats to take on each fox once they reach the gathering place.” Tigerheart pictured the stretch of grass around the den. “There are plenty of stone slabs to dodge around. Cats are nimble; foxes aren’t. We could easily confuse them until they don’t know where to run. Then we’d guide them to the traps. Even if we can’t drive them right inside, the scent of food might draw them in.”

“That Twoleg mush does smell tempting,” Mittens conceded.

“If my plan doesn’t work,” Tigerheart went on, “we could just hide in the den. The entrance is too small for the foxes, and they won’t stay here. There’s not much for them to scavenge. They’d probably go back to their den. But if it does work, we’ll get rid of the foxes, and Fog’s cats. And with Fog’s cats gone, if we keep a low profile for a while, the Twolegs will think they’ve gotten rid of us and stop leaving traps.”

Fierce looked from Rascal to Mittens. Her gaze was thoughtful. “There is a lot to gain.”

“It’s dangerous,” Mittens murmured.

“I can lead the foxes here,” Tigerheart offered. “But I’ll need some help.”

“I’m fast, even if I run a little wonkily,” Fierce meowed, stretching out the leg that was shorter than the others. “I’ll help.”

A mew sounded across the floor. Tigerheart turned. Ant was sitting up in his nest, his ears pricked. “I’ll come.”

Cobweb padded from the shadow of Twoleg clutter. “Me too.”

Mittens and Rascal exchanged glances.

“Okay.” Mittens sounded suddenly determined. “If you four lead the foxes here, Rascal and I will organize the rest of the group to lead them to the traps.”

Excitement pricked in Tigerheart’s paws. The guardian cats were talking like warriors! “We can do this.” He whisked his tail encouragingly. All he had to do now was persuade Tuna to show them where his old camp was.