The Sun Trail

by Erin Hunter

  Dappled Pelt stumbled forward, heading paw step by paw step toward the end of the scree, with Moon Shadow taking part of her weight. Gray Wing followed, scrabbling to keep his paw hold.

  When they reached solid ground, Moon Shadow boosted Dappled Pelt ahead of him, then clambered up beside her. Gray Wing raced after them as they dived underneath an overhanging rock where the rest of the cats were hiding. Rainswept Flower and Hawk Swoop joined them a heartbeat later, just managing to dodge an eagle’s outstretched claws.

  “Is every cat okay?” Shaded Moss asked, gazing around at the group as they cowered under the rock.

  “We’re fine,” Clear Sky replied.

  “Just scared out of our fur,” Turtle Tail added.

  Dappled Pelt was crouching with her head down and fur still fluffed out. She was shaking. “I’m so sorry,” she murmured. “I panicked back there, and I could have got you both killed.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” Moon Shadow puffed out his chest. “You’ll know better next time.”

  Turtle Tail leaned over to whisper into Gray Wing’s ear. “I’m quite impressed by how Moon Shadow saved Dappled Pelt. But I’d never tell him so!”

  Gray Wing nodded, grateful for her humor. “He’s brave, but he’s still an annoying furball,” he whispered back.

  Quick Water, who had been keeping watch at the edge of the overhang, glanced over her shoulder. “Those eagles are out there,” she reported. “They know we’re here, and they seem prepared to wait all day.”

  Gray Wing remembered how helpless he had felt when the eagle was trying to lift him off his paws. “If it’s the only way to stay safe, we’ll have to put up with staying under this rock,” he pointed out.

  “For how long?” Hawk Swoop demanded. “I don’t know about any other cat, but I need some prey!”

  Indignant murmurs showed that some of the others agreed with her.

  “We have to protect ourselves,” Shaded Moss decided, with a nod to Gray Wing. “It’s just a matter of waiting.”

  With a few more grumbles the cats settled down, licking pads sore from crossing the scree, or curling up to sleep. At first they seemed glad to rest, but as the day dragged on their anxiety began rising again.

  Cloud Spots stuck his head out into the open, then jerked back into cover. “There are two more eagles out there,” he reported, his eyes wide with dismay. “They’re sitting on the top of this rock.”

  More screeches split the air and Gray Wing shivered. It was as if the eagles were challenging the hidden cats. They know exactly where we are.

  As daylight faded, the eagles showed no signs of leaving. Even worse, one of them hopped down and stretched its neck under the rocky overhang. His heart pounding with fear, Gray Wing shoved Turtle Tail behind him to keep her away from the snapping yellow beak. All the cats shrank back, pressing themselves against the rock wall in a shuddering heap of fur. The eagle watched them for a few heartbeats with malignant yellow eyes, then flapped out of sight, but every cat knew that all four eagles were still there.

  “We’re not mice!” Clear Sky announced when the eagle had withdrawn. “We will not be treated like prey! We need to show these eagles that cats are the hunters around here.”

  “And how are we going to do that?” Rainswept Flower demanded.

  Clear Sky’s glance raked the cowering group. “By catching one of the eagles ourselves,” he meowed.

  Gray Wing couldn’t stifle a gasp of shock. Looking around, he saw the others exchanging scared glances.

  “That’s impossible,” Shaded Moss stated, in a tone that didn’t invite contradiction. “There are four eagles out there!”

  Clear Sky was undaunted. “And there are more of us in here,” he retorted.

  Admiration for his brother’s courage rose inside Gray Wing, bringing a trickle of hope like the first thawing of an icicle. “Let’s at least hear what Clear Sky has to say,” he urged the others.

  Shaded Moss hesitated, then gave a curt nod.

  “I believe that four cats could bring down one eagle,” Clear Sky explained. “Me, Tall Shadow, Quick Water, and Jackdaw’s Cry.” Glancing at the cats he had named, he added, “We can all jump high, and together we have the strength to pull down a bird.”

  Gray Wing took a pace forward. “I want to help,” he meowed.

  “You will,” Clear Sky responded. “You’re the fastest among us. I want you to draw the other birds away. Take three cats with you.”

  Shaded Moss shouldered his way forward until he stood beside Clear Sky. There was quiet authority in his voice. “Tell me exactly what you think we should do.”

  Clear Sky scraped a few pebbles together with one paw and began to lay them out as he spoke. “Here are the four eagles. Gray Wing and his cats will get three eagles to follow them. My group will isolate the fourth and surround it.”

  The other cats had gathered around him, watching closely. Gray Wing tried to picture the plan in his head, and eventually nodded. “It could work,” he agreed.

  “Or we could just wait until dark and sneak away,” Turtle Tail suggested.

  Clear Sky turned on her in outrage. “And let the birds follow us tomorrow, and the next day, and the next? We have to take them on now, so that they leave us in peace.”

  “Clear Sky is right,” Tall Shadow declared.

  No other cat looked so certain, but they all gradually let out murmurs of agreement.

  “Okay,” Clear Sky mewed briskly. “We must move fast, because it’ll be dark soon.”

  “Turtle Tail, Cloud Spots, and Bright Stream will go with Gray Wing to lure three of the birds away.” Shaded Moss gave his orders calmly. “Leave the fourth eagle as close to the rock as you can, so that Clear Sky and his cats can spring out and catch it.”

  Clear Sky’s whiskers twitched in alarm as his mate’s name was mentioned. “I’m not sure Bright Stream is fast enough,” he objected.

  Shaded Moss flicked his ears in surprise. “She’s almost as fast as Gray Wing.”

  Gazing at his brother, Gray Wing knew exactly why Clear Sky was reluctant for his mate to play such an important part in their plan. He’s worried about their kits.

  “I’ll be fine,” Bright Stream insisted, her tone full of hidden meaning. “Gray Wing will take care of me,” she added, flicking Clear Sky playfully over the ear with her tail-tip.

  “And what about the rest of us?” Jagged Peak asked, his tail twitching irritably. “I’ve attacked an eagle before, you know. I’ve got experience!”

  “The rest of you will stay here under the overhang, ready to rush out and help wherever you’re needed,” Shaded Moss meowed. Solemnly he added to Jagged Peak, “You must be ready to pounce at any moment.”

  Jagged Peak nodded eagerly and crouched down at the edge of the overhang, ready to spring.

  Gray Wing motioned to Turtle Tail, Bright Stream, and Cloud Spots with a flick of his ears, and they ventured out from beneath the overhang. The gathering darkness helped to conceal them as they crouched low among the rocks until they were some distance away.

  “Now!” Gray Wing mewed.

  Together they sprang into the open, caterwauling loudly to attract the attention of the eagles. All four birds were perched on the crags above them. A shudder went through Gray Wing from his ears to his pads as four heads swiveled toward him and his denmates.

  Two of the eagles took off with cumbersome wing-beats to gain height—then they swooped.

  “Cloud Spots! Turtle Tail!” Gray Wing yowled. “Run to the next boulder! Lure the birds toward you!”

  The two cats took off, racing across the snow-covered slope, and the pair of eagles flapped after them. Gray Wing and Bright Stream huddled into the shelter of a boulder as the birds passed over their heads.

  “I’ll attract the others,” Bright Stream whispered.

  Before Gray Wing could respond, she slipped out into the open, and began trotting in circles, pretending to limp. As the other two eagles took off and flew toward her, s
he darted back under the rock where Gray Wing was waiting.

  “That was risky,” he muttered.

  “It worked, didn’t it?”

  The two eagles settled, one on top of the rock and one on the ground, peering underneath. Gray Wing spotted Clear Sky and the others creeping out from under the overhang, preparing to surround the bird on the rock.

  We have to lure the one on the ground farther away, Gray Wing thought.

  Hoping Bright Stream would understand, he gestured with his tail toward a nearby bush. Bright Stream nodded. “I’m ready.”

  Together Gray Wing and Bright Stream sprang into the open, right in front of the eagle on the ground. Gray Wing heard it screech as it took off after them. Glancing over his shoulder he saw Clear Sky powering upward, leaping so high that he grabbed the neck of the eagle on the rock. It tried to take off, but Clear Sky’s weight was too much for it. The other three cats crowded after him and dragged the bird down to the top of the rock.

  Transfixed by the sight, Gray Wing didn’t look where he was going. His flying paw struck something and he stumbled. Haredung! he hissed, spotting a gnarled tree root almost concealed by snow.

  His pace faltered as a sharp pain sliced through his leg. He could sense the pursuing eagle swooping down on him and struggled to move faster. A heartbeat later Bright Stream’s pale tabby-and-white pelt reappeared in the dim light and he realized that she had swerved around to help him. Boosting him with her shoulder, she shoved him toward the bush, into a narrow gap beneath the thorny branches.

  His vision blurred by terror, Gray Wing scrabbled to pull himself farther in and give Bright Stream space to follow. But when he turned, he saw her sliding backward, her claws digging uselessly into the ground.

  What . . . ? Pain made Gray Wing slow to realize what was happening. Then he saw that the eagle had caught hold of Bright Stream, its cruel talons sunk into her haunches. She shrieked as the bird lifted her off the ground.

  “Gray Wing! Help me!”

  Ignoring the pain in his leg, Gray Wing scrambled out from under the bush and launched himself upward. But his outstretched claws only brushed Bright Stream’s tail as the eagle flapped out of reach, screeching in triumph.

  “Fight back!” Gray Wing yowled to Bright Stream as he raced along the ground below. “Get free somehow!”

  He spotted the two eagles who had chased Turtle Tail and Cloud Spots circling back to join their companion. Out of the corner of his eye he glimpsed Clear Sky and the cats with him finishing off the fourth eagle with bites to its neck.

  The other three eagles soared higher. Bright Stream’s cries faded as she was carried into the sky. Horror gave speed to Gray Wing’s paws as he followed, leaping from boulder to boulder, skidding on loose stones, flaying the skin off his pads.

  “Gray Wing! Stop!” Dimly he heard Turtle Tail’s voice screeching after him.

  Cloud Spots and Turtle Tail raced up to him, pacing him on either side. “You can’t help her now,” Cloud Spots panted.

  With a shriek of loss and frustration Gray Wing skidded to a halt and found himself on the very edge of the cliff. A few more paw steps and he would have toppled down into the valley below.

  “Bright Stream!” he gasped out, his flanks heaving as guilt and grief flooded through him. “It was my fault!”

  Cloud Spots pressed himself against Gray Wing’s side. Turtle Tail’s voice shook as she tried to comfort him. “You did everything you could.”

  Gray Wing hovered at the cliff edge, imagining himself crashing down below, his body shattered on the rocks. For a moment he swayed, his head spinning; then he felt Cloud Spots’s claws drag him back from the edge.

  “Come on,” the black-and-white tom meowed. “We have to go back to the others.”

  As Gray Wing turned away from the precipice, Clear Sky and Tall Shadow came running to meet them.

  “We did it!” Clear Sky exclaimed triumphantly. “We killed the eagle!”

  Even Tall Shadow, usually so reserved, was excited, her green eyes gleaming.

  Jackdaw’s Cry came racing up behind them. He had a torn ear, but otherwise looked uninjured. “Those birds won’t trouble us again,” he declared with satisfaction.

  Clear Sky halted, and gazed around, puzzled. “Where’s Bright Stream?” he asked.

  Gray Wing opened his jaws to reply, but found no words, grief crashing over him again.

  “I’m so sorry,” Turtle Tail mewed gently. “One of the eagles took her.”

  Clear Sky stared at her, as still as a cat made of ice. “Impossible!” he rasped. “Bright Stream is too fast to be caught like that! Gray Wing,” he went on, turning on his brother, “why didn’t you help her?”

  “I . . . hurt my leg,” Gray Wing stammered. “She was helping me escape, under a bush.”

  Horror welled up in Clear Sky’s eyes. “You left her outside?”

  Gray Wing shook his head helplessly. “It wasn’t like that . . .” he began to protest, then let his voice die away, because there was nothing he could say that would convince any cat, least of all himself, that he wasn’t responsible for Bright Stream’s death.

  “Don’t,” Cloud Spots murmured, brushing one paw along Gray Wing’s flank. “It wasn’t any cat’s fault.”

  “Right.” Clear Sky straightened and swung around, scanning the landscape. “Which way did the eagle go?”

  While the rest of the cats stared at him, Gray Wing saw Shaded Moss approaching from the overhanging rock where they had sheltered. Tall Shadow ran back toward him, mewing urgently as she told him what had happened.

  Approaching the group, Shaded Moss laid his tail on Clear Sky’s back. “We won’t be able to find Bright Stream now,” he meowed.

  “We must!” Clear Sky protested, his voice full of love and pain. “She’s going to have my kits!”

  Gasps of horror came from the assembled cats. Gray Wing felt more wretched than ever, remembering the tiny lives that had been destroyed with their mother.

  Shaded Moss shook his head. “So much loss . . .” he murmured.

  Keeping his tail across Clear Sky’s back, he coaxed him toward the overhang where the other cats were waiting. Turtle Tail ran ahead to break the news, while Cloud Spots padded alongside Gray Wing.

  A grief-stricken silence greeted the cats as they slipped under the overhang again. Even Moon Shadow was too stunned for his usual chatter.

  They gathered around Clear Sky, offering hushed words of comfort, but Gray Wing knew there was nothing any cat could say that would ease his brother’s pain. They couldn’t even reassure him that Bright Stream had died quickly and painlessly.

  Gray Wing crept into a corner and lay down, resting his head on his paws. A moment later Turtle Tail settled down beside him, so close that her pelt brushed his.

  “It wasn’t your fault,” she whispered.

  But it was, Gray Wing thought in anguish. It absolutely was.

  No cat got much sleep that night. As a gray, chilly dawn began to break, they crept out into the open. When Gray Wing emerged, Shaded Moss was dragging the body of the dead eagle across the snow toward them.

  “We need to eat,” he announced, dropping the prey in the midst of the group. “We have to keep our strength up.”

  Clear Sky was the last cat to appear, his eyes dark with grief. At first he turned away from the bird, but Tall Shadow nudged him closer, and eventually he crouched and choked down a few mouthfuls.

  “Clear Sky,” Shaded Moss began when he had finished eating, “do you want to return to the cave?” The usually confident leader sounded uncertain. “Because Bright Stream died here, in the mountains, you might want to stay.”

  Clear Sky hesitated, then shook his head. “I promised Bright Stream that there was a better place for us to live. I will keep my promise by finding it—for her sake, and our kits’.”

  A fresh pang of grief and guilt clawed at Gray Wing’s heart at his brother’s courage.

  “Bright Stream gave her life so that we
could escape from the eagles,” Shaded Moss meowed. “Honor her by carrying her in your heart, always.”

  Clear Sky bowed his head, but did not respond.

  “Right,” Shaded Moss continued, clearly finding it hard to sound as brisk and efficient as usual. “We’ll carry on toward the clump of pine trees. We should get there by sunhigh.”

  Sadness clung around the cats like fog as they set off again. Gray Wing noticed that all the cats seemed uneasy around Clear Sky. He braced himself to go over and walk at his side. I’d deserve it if he clawed my ears off, but I can’t ignore him.

  But at that moment Moon Shadow stepped forward. “Come,” he murmured to Clear Sky. “I’ll walk with you today.”

  As they headed for the pines, Cloud Spots fell in beside Gray Wing. He didn’t offer words of sympathy. They just padded along in comfortable silence.

  As Shaded Moss had predicted, it was almost sunhigh when they reached the wind-blasted copse of pines. Tall Shadow sprang up the trunk of the tallest and balanced precariously on a thin, prickly branch that swayed under her weight.

  “I can see the way out of the mountains!” she called.

  “Wow! We’re almost there!” Turtle Tail exclaimed.

  “What’s it like?” Quick Water asked.

  But the excited comments died quickly to silence. Gray Wing knew that every cat was remembering Bright Stream, grief-stricken that she didn’t make it this far.

  “Which way now?” Shaded Moss asked, looking up at Tall Shadow in the tree.

  “Down this slope,” Tall Shadow replied, gesturing with her tail. She dug her claws into the bark, beginning to edge her way down. “Around the shoulder of this peak there’s a narrow valley that leads to the end of the ridge. It’s flat down there!” she finished triumphantly as she leaped down the last couple of tail-lengths.

  As the cats continued, the sun shone into their eyes and wind buffeted their fur. Gray Wing felt uneasy as they crossed an open expanse of stone—a pair of eagles circled high above. But they came no closer.

  “They’ve learned their lesson about messing with cats,” Jackdaw’s Cry declared.