The Blazing Star Read Free Page B

“But you’re all welcome to visit, anytime you want. No more guards on the borders. I promise.”
    Tall Shadow acknowledged his words with a stiff nod. “We’ll meet here again at the next full moon,” she announced. “Then we’ll see how we’re all getting on.”
    Clear Sky murmured agreement and returned to his own cats, leading them up the slope and into the shadow of the trees. Thunder watched them go until the last tail-tip had vanished into the undergrowth.
    â€œCome on,” Tall Shadow mewed, gesturing to her owngroup with a swish of her tail. “Let’s go home.”
    But will it still feel like home, Thunder wondered sadly, with so many of us gone?
    He took the lead as the cats headed toward the moor. In spite of all their promises, he still felt uneasy. They might have made peace with Clear Sky’s group, but he couldn’t help wondering how long it would last.
    Dawn light slipped through the branches, growing stronger as they neared the edge of the forest. Their progress was slow as they limped painfully through ferns and around bramble thickets, weakened by their wounds and their grief. Gray Wing wheezed with every breath he took.
    If anything attacks us now, we’re crow-food, Thunder thought, worrying that the scent of blood might attract predators.
    As if his fear had called it up, he heard a rustling in the undergrowth a few paw steps ahead. He froze, raising his tail in a signal for the others to halt. Tasting the air, he wondered what might be lying in wait for them. There was no scent of fox or badger, but whatever was lurking in the bushes was too big to be prey.
    â€œWho’s there?” Thunder called, making his voice sound loud and commanding. “Show yourselves!”
    After a moment’s pause three cats emerged from underneath a holly bush. They all looked wiry and half-starved, and a faint, rank smell came from them. They held their tails low, and their pelts bristled with nerves.
    Thunder let his gaze travel over the three cats as they stood in front of him, half cowering and half-defiant. Two of themwere toms: One had pale brown fur except for four black paws; the other was a big tabby with unusually small ears. The she-cat had bushy fur that stuck up in prickles. Thunder relaxed slightly. Even in their present injured state, he couldn’t see this sorry collection giving them much trouble.
    The she-cat was first to step forward. “We saw the battle, and heard what you said afterward,” she began, meeting Thunder’s gaze. “We wondered if your group would have room for three more cats.”
    Tall Shadow padded forward to stand beside Thunder. “You were wise not to get involved in the fight. But who are you?” she asked.
    â€œI’m called Holly,” the she-cat replied. “These are Mud Paws and Mouse Ear.”
    The tabby tom ducked his head, looking shyly amused. “Can you guess how we got our names?” he asked.
    Won over by their friendly tone, Thunder couldn’t resist replying. “Mud Paws is easy,” he meowed. “That cat has black rings of fur around all his paws, as if he’s been padding through a muddy field.”
    Lightning Tail was curiously circling around the big tabby.
    â€œYou must be Mouse Ear because your ears are the size of a mouse’s,” Lightning Tail announced at last.
    â€œWhat?” Mouse Ear faced Lightning Tail with his lips drawn back in the beginning of a snarl. Lightning Tail braced himself, as though ready for an attack.
    Thunder took a pace forward, but Holly raised her tail to stop him. “It’s okay,” she reassured him. “Mouse Ear may looklike a big bully, but underneath that tough shell he has a soft heart.”
    â€œUnlike you!” Mouse Ear retorted, backing away from Lightning Tail.
    Holly’s spine stiffened and her neck fur began to bristle.
    Thunder let out a mrrow of laughter. “I get