by S. F. Said
‘Look!’ cried Tam. ‘Look, he’s shimmering!’
‘Varjak, no!’ warned Holly. ‘He’ll kill you—’
Wind streaked through Varjak’s fur. Snow spiralled down around him. He braced himself, and as Razor sprang through the air, he spun his Moving Circle out to meet him.
SMASH! The impact knocked Varjak off his paws. But the Moving Circle held true. He rolled with the blow. He twisted, turned, and tipped Razor off-balance.
Razor recovered fast. He lashed out with his back legs. Slashed at Varjak’s face. It was a fearsome kick, and it connected with brutal accuracy.
Blood spattered on the snow around them. Varjak was cut.
He ignored the stinging pain. Gathered his power. Let the energy rise up in him, let it build – and as Razor came to finish him, he unleashed it in a blinding burst of force.
SLAM!
Razor blinked. His legs gave way. The big cat sank to the ground. Varjak dived in, pinned him, held him down. The energy blazed through him.
SLAM!
SLAM!
SLAM!
He pounded Razor, again and again. The power was so strong. It filled his mind. He couldn’t stop. I’m going to teach Razor a lesson, he thought. This bully who’s hurt my friends and stolen my food – I’m going to smash him up so badly he’ll never fight again –
‘Varjak!’ He heard a gravelly voice, far away. Holly’s voice. He stopped hitting Razor, and turned round. Holly was right behind him. ‘Varjak, that’s enough.’
He looked down at Razor. The tiger-striped tomcat was gazing up at him, helpless. Dazed, bloodied, he was almost out cold. One more hit and he’d be finished.
Varjak started to shake. What had he done? He’d lost control. Lost it completely.
He dropped his paws. Put away his claws. He stood up, and let Razor go free.
‘What?’ gasped Razor, blinking. ‘Aren’t you – aren’t you going to—?’
‘No,’ said Varjak. He was shaking, shaking with the force of it. Holly, Tam and Cludge were looking at him, eyes wide.
‘Let’s get out of here,’ said Holly, ‘before Luger and the others get back!’
Chapter Three
VARJAK AND HIS friends raced away from the alley. They left the dump behind, and sprinted into the night. New streets opened up ahead of them. Above, the moon shone through clouds.
‘You showed him, Varjak!’ said Tam. ‘Did you see it, Holly? You saw what he did to that big bully?’
‘It was crazy!’ said Holly. ‘It was amazing!’ She was smiling; so was Tam.
Varjak tried to smile with them, but he couldn’t. He felt scared. He was scared of his power. It had grown so strong, it had taken him over. He might have even killed Razor, if Holly hadn’t stopped him.
He came out of Slow-Time. It was hard. The side of his face was starting to throb. That must have been where Razor slashed him.
‘What’s wrong, Varjak?’ said Holly, as they ran through neon streets. ‘You won!’
‘I went too far.’
‘Razor would’ve done worse,’ panted Tam.
‘He deserved it,’ said Holly. ‘He hasn’t been the same since he joined that gang.’
Tam’s ears twitched. ‘What’s going to happen when Luger comes back? And when she finds out?’
Varjak glanced over his shoulder. For a moment, he thought he could see Sally Bones, the thin white cat, coming after him with her ice-blue eye. But it was just a neon light, flashing through the snow.
‘We’ll lie low,’ said Holly. ‘We’ll hide for the night. Follow me!’
Varjak followed, glad to have Holly by his side. She always knew what to do. He didn’t want to fight any more. He just wanted to hide, to huddle up and go to sleep, somewhere secret, somewhere safe.
They came to a row of tall brick buildings. Between the buildings, there was a maze of narrow passages. Holly plunged into the maze, and led them swiftly through. Snow lay thick on the ground. As they ran, new snow filled in their paw-prints behind them, and covered the trail from Cludge’s bloody nose.
‘Cludge sorry,’ panted the big dog. ‘Should of . . . Could of . . .’ He tailed off. ‘Sorry,’ he concluded.
‘No, Cludge!’ said Tam. ‘You were so brave. You stood up for me, and I’ll never forget it. Except – maybe you shouldn’t stay with us – you’ll only get in trouble—’
‘Cludge stay! Stay with friends! Always!’
Tam smiled. So did Varjak. But Holly was shaking her head.
‘Cludge, you can stay as long as you like,’ she said. ‘But don’t you have a family? Or some friends who are . . . you know . . . dogs?’
Cludge’s eyes went cloudy. ‘Family?’ he muttered. ‘Cludge got no family.’
‘Why not?’
‘Angry with Cludge. Can never go back. Never!’
‘Well, there’s only one place to hide,’ said Holly, ‘and you’re too big for it. Look.’
Before them now were some black iron railings, deep in the shadows of a back street. The railings were hidden behind heaps of rubble and coils of electrical cable. It looked like a dead end that didn’t lead anywhere, but this was actually the entrance to a little network of alleys. Only Varjak, Holly and Tam knew about these secret alleys. They were right in the centre of the city, in the neutral ground that didn’t belong to Sally Bones. It was the only safe place they knew, and Varjak had never felt more glad to see it.
hissssssss!
His neck fur prickled. He heard something in the shadows. It sounded like a cat. A cornered cat, with its back against the wall. And there was the strangest scent: something unnatural, like a cat’s ghost.
An animal bolted out of the shadows, into the night. Varjak hardly saw it; just a blur at the edge of his vision. It was the size of a cat, but it couldn’t be a cat. It was the wrong shape. No tail, and its head was . . . he wasn’t sure what it was. He turned to look, but it was gone.
‘What was that?’ he said.
Tam’s fur was standing on end, like she’d had an electric shock. ‘It’s – it’s—’
‘It’s all right,’ said Holly. ‘It’s gone now.’
‘But what was it?’ said Varjak. ‘And how could it find the secret alleys? And—’
‘It’s nothing to do with us. Forget about it. It was hiding in the shadows; it didn’t find the alleys.’ Holly shimmied past the rubble, through the railings, and disappeared onto the other side. ‘It’s all clear,’ came her voice. ‘Everything’s safe in here. But you see the problem, Cludge? We’re going through these railings. They’re too small for a dog.’
Varjak still felt rattled by the strange animal, whatever it was; but it was gone now, and Holly was right about Cludge. He could see she was right – yet he could also see Cludge, pressing his muzzle into the railings, trying to follow, trying to fit.
‘Then . . .’ panted Cludge, ‘then . . . Cludge guard it!’ He moved in front of the railings, covering them with his huge body, and made his most fearsome face. ‘Cludge not scared!’ He snapped his teeth. ‘Cludge guarding!’
‘Oh, Cludge,’ said Tam. ‘He can stay, can’t he, Varjak?’
‘It’s dangerous!’ came Holly’s voice. ‘We can’t leave him out there, like a giant signpost—’
‘He’s our friend,’ said Varjak, ‘and he’s staying if he wants to.’ He turned to the big dog. ‘You stay here, Cludge. Stay and guard it. Bark if anyone bad comes.’
Cludge barked and wagged his tail, sending up a flurry of snow. Tam cheered.
‘It’s asking for trouble,’ said Holly, ‘but there’s no time to argue. Now get in here, before Sally Bones comes!’
Varjak and Tam scrambled through the railings, into the secret alleys.
There were no neon lights here; just the faintest glow from faraway windows. Fire escapes led up to the rooftops. Drainpipes snaked down, through grilles in the ground, to sewers below. The ground was made of tight-packed cobblestones. The alleys were sheltered from the weather, so the cobbles
were dry and free from snow. A little warmth filtered up from the sewers through those grilles in the ground. Varjak could see something glimmering down there, like water moving far beneath the frozen city.
He curled up in a corner. ‘It’s good to be back,’ he sighed.
‘I’m never leaving the secret alleys again,’ said Tam, as she made herself comfortable.
‘Then you’ll never eat another mouse,’ said Holly. ‘Except in your dreams.’
‘Mmm . . .’ she murmured. ‘Sweet, sweet dreams.’
‘Shame we lost that mouse,’ mused Holly. ‘I wish we’d eaten it before they got there. But then we would’ve had Sally Bones’s punishment—’
‘What is Sally Bones’s punishment, anyway?’ said Varjak.
‘You don’t want to know,’ said Holly. ‘There shouldn’t be a punishment, should there? All cats should be allowed to hunt, not just her gang.’
‘I’m never hunting again,’ muttered Tam. ‘Not after tonight. And not when she does those horrible things—’
‘What things?’ said Varjak. Tam just flinched.
Holly’s ears and tail twitched. ‘Don’t say. It’s too horrible.’ She shook her head. ‘You know what gets me most?’ she said, changing the subject. ‘It’s the way they call it the law, as if it’s something we all agree on. But it’s not. They just do whatever they want, and we have to accept it.’
‘And now we can’t even go to the dump any more!’ groaned Tam. ‘If we don’t get some food soon, I’ll waste away! I’ll become thin!’
‘What gives them the right?’ said Holly. ‘Just because they’re bigger and stronger than us, they think they can push us around.’ There was silence for a moment. Then she carried on, very quietly, her voice full of gravel. ‘We shouldn’t be scared of them,’ she said. ‘So many cats in this city hate the Bones gang. Mrs Moggs always says we should stand up to them, but no one ever dares.’
‘Mrs Moggs?’ said Varjak.
‘The oldest, wisest cat in the city,’ said Tam. ‘She lives by the river, in the centre, where we grew up. Wait till she hears how you beat Razor! We’ll take you to meet her tomorrow – right, Holly?’
Holly yawned. ‘Maybe. Right now, though, we could all use some sleep.’ She curled up in the shadows, next to Tam. ‘Night, Varjak,’ she said, as her eyes closed.
Varjak frowned. He’d always dreamed of being a great fighter, the greatest – but reality was turning out to be more difficult than any dream. Wait till she hears how you beat Razor. He didn’t even want to think about how he’d lost control of his power, or about Luger and Sally Bones, and that strange animal he’d seen outside the secret alleys . . .
He was too tired to think at all. He shut his eyes. A great wave of exhaustion washed over him, and took him down into sleep.
Chapter Four
VARJAK DREAMED.
He dreamed he was standing on a mountain at sunrise. The air tasted sharp and sweet, like wild mint. Everything seemed brighter and clearer than normal. Everything was glowing with silent sunlight. The sky was so clear and blue, he could see the stars, though it was daytime.
An old cat stood beside him. He wasn’t big, but something about him looked dangerous. His fur was silver-blue and his eyes were amber, like Varjak’s. It was Jalal: Varjak’s ancestor, who he met in dreams, and who’d taught him the Way.
‘Where are we, Jalal?’ said Varjak.
‘The mountains of Mesopotamia,’ said Jalal. ‘We are on top of the world. Everything starts here.’
He gestured at a silver stream, shimmering beneath them in the sun. The stream flowed down into a river that wound through hills and valleys below, making the world green with life. On the banks of the river, far away, sparkled a city.
‘You were down there when last we met,’ said Jalal. ‘Down on the ground with everyone else. But now see where you are?’
Varjak looked around. They were completely alone on top of the mountain. The blueness of the sky was dazzling, the silence pressed in on his ears, and the wild mint air was making him light-headed. They were too high; higher than the sun.
‘What am I doing here, Jalal?’ he said. ‘I know the Seven Skills, I know everything you’ve taught me, and here I am, on the highest mountain—’
‘The highest mountain?’ interrupted Jalal, eyes sparkling with amusement. ‘Well. Perhaps you are here because you have more to learn. When first you came to Mesopotamia, you were but a helpless kitten.’
‘I didn’t know anything back then. I thought I wanted to be a great fighter.’
‘And you no longer wish that?’ said Jalal. ‘That is good. For truly great fighters know there are things more powerful than fighting. Seeing, for instance.’
‘I don’t want to be a fighter!’ snapped Varjak. The old cat just looked at him calmly. ‘Anyway, seeing’s not powerful,’ he muttered. ‘Everyone knows how to see.’
‘Yes?’ said Jalal. ‘You know how to see, and yet you say you are on the highest mountain?’
Varjak looked down. He saw the hills and valleys below. He looked up, and saw the sky, with stars as clear as day. No mountains above him; only sky.
‘That’s right,’ he said. ‘The highest mountain.’
‘Hmm,’ said Jalal. ‘You have much to learn, indeed. Now see what is behind you.’
Varjak turned round – and what he saw, he would never forget.
A whole range of mountains reared up above him. They were impossibly huge and white. Their sheer faces filled the sky: massive, unknowable, a perfect mystery. And he was only on the lowest peak.
‘There are more mountains beyond those too,’ chuckled Jalal, ‘and more, even higher, on the other side. Look in the wrong direction, and you would never notice them. But up in those mountains, perhaps you will learn what is more powerful than fighting. So come now, Varjak Paw. Come climb with me.’
Chapter Five
VARJAK WOKE IN the secret alleys. It was late afternoon. The first street lights were flickering on. High above, a few bright windows lit up the dark outlines of city buildings. The snow had stopped, but it was still freezing cold, and the wind chilled him beneath his fur. He huddled by one of those grilles in the ground, beside a drainpipe. It didn’t smell good, but at least it was warm.
Holly and Tam were already up. They’d been searching the secret alleys for food. They hadn’t found a thing.
‘Where do all the mice go in winter?’ sighed Holly. ‘I wish I knew. Maybe Mrs Moggs’ll have some. You ready to go, Varjak?’
He nodded. He felt better after sleeping, and he was hungry again. But Tam looked worried. She was crouched in a corner, by a fire escape, nibbling nervously at her paws.
‘We’re not going now, are we?’ she said. ‘I dreamed of the white cat last night . . .’
‘What, Sally Bones?’ said Holly.
‘Ssh! Don’t say her name! She’ll hear you! And then she’ll—’
‘Tam, calm down,’ said Holly. ‘It’s OK.’
‘It’s not OK! She’ll be looking for us, after last night.’
‘Well, we can’t hide here for ever. We’ve got to eat. And Mrs Moggs always has something good to eat.’
Tam bit her fur. ‘I’m not hungry.’
‘Now that’s a first,’ grinned Holly. She leaned in close to Tam, and whispered temptingly. ‘Think of the mice. The taste of fresh mice—’
‘Too risky.’
‘Hot, juicy mice—’
Tam licked her lips. ‘Stop it,’ she pleaded.
‘Melting in your mouth—’
‘No! I said stop it, Holly, and I meant it! I’m not going out. It’ll be night soon, and she’ll be on the prowl.’
‘Fine,’ said Holly. ‘Stay here on your own. Come on, Varjak.’
She slipped out through the railings. Tam gawped.
‘Come on, Tam,’ said Varjak. He knew it was risky, but he was going with Holly. He couldn’t imagine being in the city without her. Besides, he wanted to meet Mrs Moggs.
&nb
sp; He emerged from the secret alleys into the winter afternoon. Cludge was squatting in the rubble, guarding the railings. He barked cheerily at them.
‘Where you go?’ he asked.
‘We’re meeting some cats in town,’ said Holly.
‘Cats?’ He blinked. ‘Cludge come?’
Holly frowned. ‘Of course you can come. Only – you’ll scare them. It’s just that – well, you’re a dog, Cludge, and we’re cats.’
Varjak could see her point. He didn’t like it, though. He hated the idea of leaving Cludge on his own.
But Cludge seemed relieved. ‘Cludge not meet cats,’ he said. ‘Cludge stay.’ He planted himself firmly down in the rubble again. It looked like nothing would ever shift him from the spot. ‘Tam not go?’ he panted.
‘No, she’s too scared,’ said Holly.
‘Silly Tam!’ barked Cludge.
‘Yes, she’s a very silly Tam,’ said Holly, loudly. ‘And she’s going to be a hungry Tam, too, because we won’t be bringing any food back for her – no juicy mice, no scrumptious fish – nothing!’
Tam squeezed out through the railings. ‘All right, all right, I’m coming!’ she said. ‘But only because I’m a greedy, stupid Tam!’
They all laughed, and the three cats set off into the city. Just for a moment, Varjak thought he saw a flash of winter sun through the clouds, lighting up the sky, but then the clouds closed, and it darkened quickly. It was late afternoon, so there were many people about, bustling and striding along the pavements. The main roads were full of screeching, roaring cars.
The three friends avoided them, and stuck to alleys where these noises faded, and it was quiet enough to hear their own paws, padding through the snow. This was the world of cats: invisible to people, but going on constantly, just below the city’s surface.
There were many walls before them. Holly always found a way over. She led them up lofty ledges, along strips of scaffolding, and down the other side. Varjak loved climbing walls. It felt free, up in the air, off the ground. This is how it should be, he thought to himself. The city’s a magical, wonderful place. It’s our place. And now we’re going to meet some new friends.