by Erin Hunter
Larksplash stopped. Uncertainty showed in her eyes.
“It’s okay,” Talltail told her. “You don’t have to welcome me. I chose to leave the Clan.”
Wrenkit fidgeted on his shoulders. “You went on an adventure!”
Flykit scrambled over the hawk’s carcass and tried to jump up beside his sister. Talltail crouched down to let him on.
“You should speak with Heatherstar,” Larksplash murmured.
“I know.” Talltail padded forward, stepping carefully so the kits could keep their balance. He felt the warmth of their bellies as they pressed close against this back. They were heavier than the last time he’d given them a badger ride.
“Do big paw steps!” Wrenkit begged.
“We won’t fall; we promise!” Flykit mewed.
Talltail lifted his paws high, thumping them down to jolt the kits as they clung on, squealing with delight. When Talltail reached the clearing outside camp, a black-and-white pelt slid through the heather and halted on the grass.
“There you are!” Palebird stared angrily over Talltail’s head. “Heatherstar was about to order a search party.”
“Talltail’s home!” Wrenkit scrabbled from Talltail’s shoulders and hurried to meet her mother.
“He saved us from a hawk!” Flykit jumped down after her and weaved through Palebird’s legs.
“Talltail?” Palebird stared at her son.
He stared back. Had she forgotten him already?
Palebird snatched her gaze away. “You know they weren’t supposed to be out of camp.” She gave Wrenkit’s head a brisk lick. “Why in the name of StarClan were you playing with them, Talltail?” she snapped. “You should have brought them straight home.”
Talltail blinked at her. Palebird was acting like he’d never left. But I did leave. He lifted his chin. “I was bringing them home,” he meowed. “You shouldn’t have let them out of the camp. They were nearly taken by a hawk.”
Larksplash stopped beside him. “He’s right, Palebird,” she meowed. “If Talltail hadn’t come back when he did, you’d have lost them.”
Wrenkit gazed up at her mother with round eyes. “He put us down a rabbit hole and caught the hawk.”
“You caught it?” Palebird mewed in surprise.
Talltail glanced over his shoulder. “You might want to send some warriors to fetch it. It’ll provide food for the Clan.” He padded past his mother, dipping his head. “It’s good to see you again, Palebird,” he muttered. Ducking through the heather, he headed into camp.
“Talltail?” Barkface was carrying a bundle of dripping moss to the elders’ den. He dropped it and bounded over the tussocks. “You came back!” A loud purr rumbled in his throat.
Talltail nosed his old friend’s cheek. “Yes.” His gaze flicked around the camp.
In the cold leaf-bare light, the heather looked dull. The grass had wilted in the frost. The bracken patch where the tunnelers made their nests was bent and shriveled. Only Tallrock seemed the same, looming above the Meeting Hollow.
The bracken stirred as Hickorynose got to his paws. “Plumclaw, come see who’s here.” He nudged his denmate, keeping his eyes fixed on Talltail.
Whiteberry peered out of the elders’ den. “Where’s that moss, Bark . . .” His mew trailed away as he spotted Talltail.
Lilywhisker pushed past him. “I smell Talltail’s scent!” Her eyes lit up. “You’re back!”
“Who’s back?” Shrewclaw padded sleepily from the long grass.
Ryestalk followed him out. “Is that Talltail?”
“Talltail?” Stagleap scrambled out of the Meeting Hollow and raced past Aspenfall and Cloudrunner as they emerged from the shadows at the edge of the clearing.
“Did you find him?” Barkface’s urgent whisper sounded in Talltail’s ear. “Did you kill Sparrow?” His eyes were dark with concern.
“I found him,” Talltail told him. “But I let him live.”
Barkface closed his eyes. “Thank StarClan.”
“Sandgorse died saving him when the tunnel collapsed,” Talltail went on. “How could I kill him, knowing that?”
“Talltail!” Stagleap nudged Barkface aside. “You look well!”
Shrewclaw caught up to him. “The wormcat’s back?” He looked Talltail up and down. “I thought you’d left for good.” There was a taunt in his mew.
“No, I’ve come back.” Talltail glanced around the camp. “If Heatherstar will let me.” Where was she? He strained to see into the gloom of her den beyond Tallrock.
“She’s leading a hunting patrol,” Stagleap meowed.
Ryestalk stopped beside Shrewclaw. “It’s good to see you, Talltail.”
“And you, Ryestalk.” Talltail tipped his head. Ryestalk’s pelt was touching Shrewclaw’s. Their whiskers brushed casually. Were they mates now? It was strange to think that life had carried on in the Clan while he’d been away.
“Talltail!” Dawnstripe leaped from the Meeting Hollow. “You came back!” Delight lit up her eyes.
Talltail stood still as she raced to meet him. “I couldn’t stay away.”
She stopped in front of him and gazed warmly into his eyes. “Then my training wasn’t wasted.”
“It was never wasted,” he meowed softly. “Not once.”
Behind him, Palebird was shooing Wrenkit and Flykit crossly through the heather. “I can’t take my eyes off you for a moment!”
Bristlekit and Rabbitkit came haring from the nursery. “Where did you go?” Rabbitkit demanded, glaring at Wrenkit. “Why didn’t you let us come?”
Bristlekit nudged his brother, his gaze fixed on Talltail. “Who cares? He’s back!”
Larksplash padded into camp. “You would have lost Wrenkit and Flykit if he weren’t.” She flashed another stern look at Palebird.
Ryestalk pricked her ears. “What happened?”
“Talltail saved them from a hawk,” Larksplash explained.
“Impressive!” Stagleap nudged Talltail with his shoulder.
Larksplash nodded toward the entrance. “Why don’t you and Cloudrunner go get it? There’ll be fresh-kill for everyone tonight.”
“Don’t bother.” Heatherstar’s mew took Talltail by surprise. He spun around as the WindClan leader padded through the entrance with Reedfeather at her heels. “Redclaw and Hareflight are carrying it back.” She narrowed her eyes. “I thought I smelled your scent on it, Talltail. It seems you’ve learned new skills while you’ve been away.”
Reedfeather stopped beside his leader. “Let’s hope he’s learned more than skills,” he muttered.
Talltail kept his gaze on Heatherstar, his heart quickening. Would she let him rejoin the Clan?
Shrewclaw stepped closer. “What are you doing here, Talltail? Was the land beyond the Clans too scary for you?” But there was curiosity and affection in his mew, underneath the teasing.
“My heart wanted to be home.” Talltail dipped his head. “And my paws carried me back.”
Heatherstar blinked slowly. Branches rustled behind her. Grunting with effort, Hareflight emerged, dragging the hawk carcass through. Redclaw followed, a taloned foot in his teeth as he helped Hareflight heave the bird into camp.
Whiteberry padded around the body as they laid it on a tussock. “You caught this by yourself?”
“I surprised it,” Talltail confessed. “The hawk thought it was the hunter, not the hunted. It was easy to knock it out of the sky.”
Whiteberry sniffed its bloody neck. “You must have been quick to kill it before it escaped. These wings could crack a warrior’s spine.”
Talltail hadn’t thought about the danger, only saving the kits. He swallowed, relieved that StarClan had been kind to him. Was it a sign that he was welcome home? He glanced at Heatherstar.
She flicked her tail toward the entrance. “Walk with me, Talltail.” She turned, pausing beside Reedfeather. “Organize the dusk patrol while we’re gone, please.”
Heatherstar didn’t speak as she led the way upslope.
She weaved through the bushes, following an old rabbit trail. Talltail trotted after her, relishing the feel of familiar stems brushing his pelt, his tongue steeped in scents he’d known since he was a kit. As he emerged onto the moor-top, the wind buffeted his face. It promised rain. He opened his mouth and tasted the distant tang of Highstones. Gray clouds dragged along their peaks, hiding the mountains beyond. Heatherstar kept moving, head high, pelt smooth. She’s heading for Outlook Rock.
The familiar crop of stones jutted from the moor, pale gray against the dark gray sky. Talltail padded onto the ledge and felt the smooth stone underneath his paws. He’d spent so many moments here, dreaming of traveling farther than he could see. Now he’d been beyond the horizon that had once made him feel trapped and suffocated. And still he’d come back.
Heatherstar sat at the edge of the rock and stared across the valley. “Are you glad to be home?”
Talltail stopped a muzzle-length behind her. He opened his mouth and let the wind wash his tongue. He’d traveled far, far away, where every paw step was strange and new. Now he was walking on WindClan land once more. His kin had walked this moor since the dawn of the Clans. Sandgorse and countless others had tunneled beneath it. This was home. He belonged here. His Clan needed him. Even if they didn’t know it, he knew it, as surely as he knew that daylight would bathe the Highstones every sunrise.
“Yes, I’m glad to be back,” he murmured.
“Good.” She kept her eyes on the distant peaks. “You always loved it here.”
“I did.” Talltail had never felt more free than when he was sitting on the rock, the sky high above, the land far below.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” Heatherstar’s question sounded casual, but Talltail guessed from the stiffness in her shoulders that she knew exactly what she was asking.
“No.”
“So Sparrow is alive.”
Talltail swallowed. “Yes.”
“Couldn’t you find him?” Heatherstar’s mew was soft.
“I found him,” Talltail replied. “But he told me that Sandgorse had given his life to save him in the tunnels. I couldn’t kill him then. Sandgorse would have died for nothing.”
“So you didn’t need to leave the Clan after all?” Heatherstar probed.
“That’s not true,” Talltail growled. “I didn’t leave just for revenge. I didn’t feel like I belonged here.”
“Sometimes we have to leave to find out where our heart truly lies,” Heatherstar whispered.
Talltail’s pelt pricked. Heatherstar had said the same thing when he’d left. Does she know something she’s not telling me? Right now, he didn’t care. She understood that he had needed to leave, and that was what mattered. Relief swamped him. “I learned a lot,” he told her. “Friendship and kinship matter more than adventure. Boundaries only exist in our minds. A heart can travel to the horizon without moving a paw step. And I made the best friend any cat ever had.”
Heatherstar glanced over her shoulder. “But your loyalty is with the Clan now, right?”
Talltail’s pelt pricked with irritation. “I came back, didn’t I?”
“For good?”
Talltail winced. She was right to question his loyalty. “Yes,” he meowed.
Heatherstar turned her muzzle toward the horizon once more. “I always knew you would leave.”
Talltail stiffened. “What do you mean?” He padded forward and stopped at her side.
“When I received my nine lives, Mothflight warned me a warrior would leave my Clan.” A purr edged Heatherstar’s mew. “I was headstrong then. I told Mothflight that no warrior of mine would dare abandon his Clan.” She dipped her head. “But Mothflight was right. Sometimes a cat needs to go a long way to find that his true home is right where he started.”
Talltail’s ear twitched. “How did you know that cat was me?”
“You were restless even as a kit. You were a tunneler’s kit who hated tunnels, and a moor runner who couldn’t grasp the importance of boundaries. I let you go, as Mothflight had told me I should, so that you’d come to understand that it’s not boundaries that tie us down. We are held by much deeper bonds.”
Grief stabbed Talltail’s chest. Jake. That was the deepest bond he’d ever known, and yet Talltail had left him to return to his Clan. He shifted his paws. “This friend that I made, he’s the one who told me to come back.”
Heatherstar nodded. “He sounds like a wise cat,” she murmured. “He knows you better than you know yourself.”
Talltail turned away, his heart aching.
Heatherstar called to him as he padded from the rock. “You’ll still have to earn the trust of your Clanmates.”
Talltail hesitated. “I know.”
“You must prove that you’re willing to lay down your life for any of them,” Heatherstar meowed. “Even Shrewclaw.” There was a hint of amusement in her voice.
“I’ll try,” Talltail promised. As he headed onto the grass, relishing its softness beneath his pads, Heatherstar called after him.
“I’m glad you came back.”
The claws that had been sunk for so long into Talltail’s belly seemed to give one final squeeze before letting go. “So am I,” he answered.
CHAPTER 41
Steadily falling water turned the hills gray. It had rained every day since Talltail had returned, and the familiar trails ran like streams through the heather. Out in the open, sand washed around Talltail’s paws as he trekked toward the gorge.
Reedfeather trudged beside him. “A hard frost now would burn away the youngest heather,” he commented as they skirted a swathe of dripping bushes, their roots exposed where rain had washed away the soil.
Talltail glanced at the heavy sky. “There won’t be frost for a while.”
Reedfeather shook out his pelt. “I prefer snow,” he grumbled. “It stays out of my fur.” The WindClan deputy was limping. A sprain in his shoulder that he’d suffered half a moon earlier was refusing to heal.
Talltail noticed him wince with every step. “Do you want to find shelter and rest?” he offered. “I can hunt alone.”
“I can still hunt for my Clan.” Reedfeather shot him a look. “Even on three legs.”
“You’re not on three legs yet.” Talltail eyed the stretch of grass ahead. A thrush, impervious to the rain, was pecking for worms. “See that?” He nodded toward the bird.
Reedfeather paused. “Your eyesight’s as good as ever.”
“Go around and come up behind it,” Talltail whispered. “Send it toward me. I’ll do the rest.”
Reedfeather hesitated.
“Hurry,” Talltail urged. “I can’t catch it alone.”
Reedfeather headed away, keeping low, rain dripping from his whiskers as he veered wide around the thrush. Talltail waited. The bird had gripped a worm in its beak and was tugging it determinedly from the ground. As Reedfeather closed in, Talltail stalked forward. He kept one eye on the deputy. The old warrior would know when to make his move.
Talltail’s paw steps were hidden by the thrumming rain. The thrush only realized what was happening when Reedfeather darted at it. With a shriek, it fluttered away from the WindClan deputy. Talltail sprang as it flew toward him. Stretching up his forepaws, he knocked the bird from the sky. It dropped to the ground, dazed, and he nipped its spine.
Reedfeather hobbled to meet him. “That’s a useful technique,” he grunted. “Even an elder could make a catch like that.”
“Or a kittypet.” Talltail fought to keep the wistfulness from his mew as he remembered Jake’s startled face when he caught his first mouse.
The rain was easing by the time they reached camp. Reedfeather led the way through the heather, nodding to Talltail before he carried their catch to the prey heap. Talltail scanned the camp. Water dripped into a puddle in the apprentices’ den. With no apprentices, the gorse had not been patched and the nests were wilting and soggy. Meadowslip was resting outside the nursery, Palebird sitting beside her. Lilywhisker was
dragging old bedding from the elders’ den. Heatherstar sheltered below Tallrock with Aspenfall and Doespring. On the Hunting Stones, Wrenkit, Flykit, Bristlekit, and Rabbitkit were bickering about who got to sit on the highest rock.
“It’s my turn!” Rabbitkit sounded indignant.
“You sat there last time,” Wrenkit argued.
“I never get to sit on the highest one,” Bristlekit complained.
Talltail headed away before they spotted him and begged him to decide. As he padded toward the long grass, hoping to find enough shelter to wash some of the rain from his fur, Hopkit scrambled out of the nursery. One moon from becoming an apprentice, he looked too big for the old gorse den. Perhaps it was time to start clearing the old nests from the apprentice den and repairing the roof.
“Talltail!” Hopkit raced around the edge of the Meeting Hollow. He ran nimbly, compensating so well with his three strong legs that sometimes Talltail forgot about his useless, twisted forepaw. “Will you help me practice my attack crouch like you promised?” Worried that he wouldn’t be given a mentor because his paw made the moves more difficult, Hopkit wanted to learn everything before he left the nursery.
Talltail glanced at the sky. The clouds were beginning to tear apart, showing patches of blue. It was the first sign of good weather in days. “Okay.”
The black kit flicked his tail excitedly.
“Let’s use the Meeting Hollow.” Talltail jumped into the dip, feeling the wet earth slide beneath his paws. Days of rain had washed the hollow clean, and stones hidden for moons beneath the soil flashed and sparkled on the surface as the sun peeked through a gap in the clouds.
Hopkit scrambled down and crouched into an attack stance, his flanks quivering as he tried to balance.
“Spread your hind legs farther apart,” Talltail advised him. “It’ll give more power to your leap.” He pressed Hopkit’s shoulders lower with his muzzle. “Keep your chin close to the ground. That way you’ll be ready to duck under your enemy if he leaps first. And remember to use your hind legs to push you forward.” He padded around the young tom, stooping to inspect his twisted paw. “Your forepaws are for balance, remember?”