Tallstar's Revenge (33 page)

Quince's eyes stretched wide. “Wow.”

Talltail weaved past her and headed along the fence. “Hadn't we better be going?” He didn't want Jake inviting another kittypet along. Besides, he could hear Jake's Twoleg hooting over the fences.

Jake nodded. “Okay.” He nodded to Quince. “See you around.”

She watched Jake slide past. “You are coming back, aren't you?”

“Of course he is.” Talltail hopped over the wooden stalk at the end and headed along the next fence.

“There's an alleyway at the end of this row,” Jake called from behind.

“Great.” Talltail had no idea what an alleyway was but Jake seemed to think it was good. He glanced into the forest, wondering if a ThunderClan patrol was watching. Would they be gossiping to WindClan about him at the next Gathering? It would be full moon soon. Would Heatherstar tell the other Clans that he'd left?

“There it is!” Jake squeezed past him as they reached the last enclosed section of grass and jumped down from the fence into a passageway lined with red stone.

Talltail landed beside him. “Do you know where we are?”

“Yes.” Jake quickened his pace, following a thin stream of water that ran along the crack in the middle of the path. He hopped back and forth over it, avoiding piles of clear, sharp stones. “Don't tread on the broken glass,” he warned, stopping to point his nose toward shards of shiny, green ice. “If it sticks in your paw, you'll cut your tongue trying to lick it out, and the wound can turn bad easily.”

Talltail nodded. He'd never seen glass before, but he'd take care to avoid it.

“This way.” Jake veered toward a low wall as the sides of the alley ended. He jumped onto it and down the other side. Talltail followed, his paws stinging from the hard ground. The tall dens opened out onto a wide stretch of stone. Talltail's heart quickened as a monster rumbled past. A Thunderpath!

“Stay close to me,” Jake called over his shoulder. He followed a wide, flat trail that cut between the Thunderpath and a row of Twoleg dens fronted with large windows. Monsters growled slowly beside them, their eyes beginning to light up as the sun slid behind the dens. Thin, silver trunks lining the Thunderpath flickered and blazed at their tips, throwing pools of light onto the stone below.

Talltail blinked up at them. “What are they?”

“Thunderpath lights.” Jake didn't slow down, and Talltail quickened his pace. The noise and light and unfamiliar scents alarmed him, making his fur stand up and his ears swivel toward every new sound. Jake seemed unworried, his pelt smooth, his mouth open as though following a scent trail. Talltail could only smell monster fumes and carrion heaps.

“Wait.” Jake stopped suddenly and pressed Talltail back with a nudge. He'd stopped beside a gap between two dens. Black sticks crisscrossed it. “Don't move. You're safe.” A moment later barking exploded from the gap and a snarling muzzle poked between the black sticks.
Dog!
Talltail unsheathed his claws. Teeth glinted in the dazzling Thunderpath lights. A Twoleg growl sounded from farther down the gap, and the dog turned and ran into the shadows.

“We can pass now.” Jake strolled past the gap.

Talltail hurried after him, his pelt spiking. “How did you know that dog would be there?” he gasped.

“It does that every time I come this way.” Jake trotted past more windowed dens before veering away from the Thunderpath. Dusk was falling as they reached yet another row of dens, backed by tiny fenced-in meadows.

“Do you know where you're going?” Talltail wondered if Jake was just wandering aimlessly.

Jake jumped up onto a fence. “Of course.”

Talltail scrambled after him. “How?” He tasted the air. Now that the Thunderpath was behind them, there was a chance of scenting whether the rogues had passed this way. He dropped down the other side of the fence and began sniffing at the bushes crowding the edge of the grass.

Jake stared down at him. “What are you doing?”

“Searching for the rogues.” Kittypets were so dumb. Didn't they know that a nose was the best tracker a cat had?

Jake landed beside him. “Don't waste your time sniffing,” he mewed. “I'm taking you to a cat who knows everything that goes on around here. If the rogues have passed by here, she'll know.”

Talltail blinked at him. “Who is she?”

“Just a stray.” Jake flicked his tail and raced across the grass to the next fence.

Stars specked a black sky by the time they'd reached the far end of the row of dens. Jake jumped down from the last fence and turned along a wide alleyway. There were low dens here like the ones where Jake had been cornered by the dog.

“What are these dens for?” Talltail asked. “Are they for Twoleg kits?”

“Housefolk keep monsters in them,” Jake explained, using a wall to jump up onto one of the roofs. Talltail sprang up after him. Ahead of them, rough stone stretched like a raised Thunderpath. He fell in beside Jake as they padded along it.

“This is the perfect place to walk.” Jake sniffed the air. “No dogs or housefolk or monsters, and a clear view in every direction.”

Talltail gazed around, amazed to see red stone and the lights of Twolegplace stretching as far as he could see. “Where does Twolegplace end?” he breathed.

“We're getting close,” Jake answered. “But first we have to find that cat.”

“The one who knows everything?”

“She lives near the end of these dens.” Jake spoke with respect, and Talltail wondered if kittypets had leaders, too.

As they reached the end of the roof, Talltail peered over the edge. “Down there?” An open space—half-lit by Thunderpath lights, half-lit by the moon—stretched ahead of them. It was crisscrossed by high, mesh fences. To one side, yellow flames burned. Talltail bristled. “Fire!”

“It's just some Twolegs keeping themselves warm,” Jake explained. “There'll be cats too, hoping for food, but we'll steer clear.” He fluffed out his fur. “They're not that friendly.”

“Who? The Twolegs or the cats?”

“Neither,” Jake told him grimly.

Talltail shivered. This felt like walking into ShadowClan territory all over again. He followed Jake from the roof, jumping down onto a hard, square ledge, then to the ground. The soil underpaw was stony. Grass poked in clumps here and there. Smashed glass was strewn everywhere and Talltail watched where he put his paws, relieved that the glinting shards were easy to spot in the half-light. He halted while Jake scrabbled through a tight gap beneath one of the high, mesh fences, then squeezed under, grit scraping his belly. Tall, gray dens loomed ahead, jagged and unlit, their windows broken, their walls cracked.

Talltail unsheathed his claws as Jake led him into the shadows and began to follow a narrow alleyway that cut between two dens. Light glowed at the end and Talltail quickened his pace, eager to be out of the pressing gloom. It felt too much like a tunnel. As he broke into a trot, Jake hissed behind him. “Slow down!”

Talltail spotted movement at the end of the alley. Shapes slid from the shadow and stood silhouetted against the light beyond.
Cats
. A tom and a she-cat, from the scent that drifted down to him. Talltail could make out the ragged ends of their ears and their clumped fur. These were fighters. He stopped. “What now?” he whispered.

Before Jake could answer, the tom growled. “We have trespassers.”

“That's not good,” sneered his companion.

“You're wrong, Pixie
.
” There was malice in the tom's snarl. Talltail's belly tightened. “That's
very
good. We might have some fun with them. Let's take them to Jay and see what she suggests.”

Talltail glanced at Jake, his pelt lifting along his spine.
You stupid kittypet! You've led us into a trap!

C
HAPTER
32

“Why are you bothering me with
trespassers?” A mangy, old black-and-white she-cat looked up from a dead pigeon.

This must be Jay.
Talltail shifted his paws nervously. The cats had ushered him and Jake into a clearing surrounded by unlit dens and dotted with piles that stank of crow-food.

Feathers stuck to Jay's graying muzzle. She shook them away. “I'm trying to eat.” As she curled her lip, Talltail saw she had no teeth. If she were in a Clan, she'd be an elder by now.

Pixie nudged him forward. “We found these two nosing around the alley,” he explained.

Talltail flashed her a look. Unease was creeping beneath his pelt, but he wasn't going to show these ragged strays that he was scared. He flexed his claws. “You don't have to push.”

“Are you planning on pushing back?” Pixie challenged with a hiss.

“Not yet.” In the moonlit clearing he could see her scarred muzzle and thin, yellowing tail. He guessed she'd been white once.

Jake padded past Talltail. “We haven't come to start a fight,” he mewed to Jay.

Talltail saw movement at the edge of his vision. He jerked his head around, scanning the shadows. Cats were creeping forward, their eyes glinting in the moonlight. Some wore collars, but they couldn't be kittypets; their pelts were ragged and flea-bitten, their ears nicked, their noses scratched. Talltail eyed them warily, wondering if Jake understood how much danger they were in.

A russet-furred she-cat padded to Jay's side. “What are they doing here?” she asked, her narrow gaze fixing on Talltail.

Talltail stiffened. Were they going to have to fight their way out of here?

Jay shrugged. “Don't ask me, Red. It was Marmalade and Pixie who brought them.” She bent down stiffly and tried to wrestle a piece of flesh from the pigeon with her gums.

The ginger tom who'd helped Pixie escort them here pushed past Talltail. “We caught them.”

“Well done, Marmalade.” Red met his gaze with a withering look. “Did you think they were mice?” Marmalade's pelt rose along his spine but he said nothing. Red padded closer to Talltail and sniffed him. “You smell strange. And you're small for a kittypet.”

“He's not a kittypet; he's a Clan cat,” meowed Jake.

Red narrowed her eyes. “Then what's he doing
here
?”

“He's with me.” Jake shook out his fur. “We're on a mission. We came to ask Jay a question.”

Talltail hissed in his ear. “Don't tell them everything!”

Jake blinked at him. “They're not interested.”

Talltail nodded toward the cats milling in the shadows. “And we don't
want
them to be interested. They might try to stop us.”

Jake frowned. “But they might be able to help us.”

Talltail lashed his tail. These cats looked as helpful as a ShadowClan patrol. “Let me do the talking,” he insisted.

Jay lifted her head. “That's just what I need. A
talker
.”

Talltail straightened.
Just imagine she's Whiteberry.
He was used to coaxing grumpy elders into a better mood when damp weather made their bones ache. “I'm sorry to bother you,” he began softly. “But Jake said you're the only cat who knows everything that happens around here.”

“That's true enough,” Jay conceded, narrowing her eyes.

“We're tracking some rogues who may have passed this way two moons ago,” Talltail explained as briefly as he could. “We were hoping you'd seen them.”

“Why?” Jay rasped. “Are they worth seeing?”

Talltail shrugged, trying not to seem too eager. “They're just rogues.”

Marmalade pricked his ears. “What does a Clan cat want with rogues?”

Red padded around Talltail. “Perhaps he wants to join them.” Her gaze flicked over his pelt. “Perhaps he's bored of the Clans.”

Talltail ignored her. “One of them's called Sparrow.”

Jay rubbed a feather from her nose with her paw. “Why is a Clan cat traveling with a kittypet?” Her gaze rested on Jake.

Jake glanced at Talltail, as though asking permission to speak. Talltail kept his attention on Jay. “He likes Clan cats, that's all,” he mewed.

“Clan cats.” Jay's eyes clouded, as though she was remembering something from long ago. “I knew a cat once who liked Clan cats.” She bent down and tugged unsuccessfully at the pigeon's flesh.

Jake trotted forward. “Let me help.”

Talltail's heart lurched as Jake hooked the pigeon away from Jay. He flexed his claws, ready to fight, as Red and Marmalade showed their teeth. Growls rumbled from the shadows. At the edge of the clearing, the flea-bitten cats padded closer.

“I can rip off a chunk so you can get to the soft flesh,” Jake mewed cheerfully. He went on as Jay stared at him, wide-eyed. “It's okay. I won't eat any. I'll just find you a juicy bit.” He nuzzled through the feathers and, holding the pigeon still with a paw, peeled off a strip. He dropped it at Jay's paws and tore off another. Then he pushed the pigeon back toward her. “It'll be easy to get into now.”

Talltail blinked. Was Jake really as rabbit-brained as he seemed? He'd nearly had a swarm of spitting cats on their tails.

Jay leaned down and sniffed the hunks of flesh, dabbing a piece with her tongue. She sat up and glanced at her companions. “Why couldn't one of
you
think of that?”

Pixie bristled. Marmalade glared at Jake.

“I'm sure they did,” Jake told her. “But they were too polite to offer.”

Jay snorted. “Any more politeness and I'd starve to death.”

As she bent and took a bite, Jake leaned closer. “Can Talltail ask you those questions now?”

“About the rogues?” Chewing, Jay tipped her head. “Go on.”

Talltail pricked his ears. Perhaps Jake had just found a way to get them the answers he wanted.
Not so rabbit-brained after all, kittypet!
“I heard they might have come this way. Have you seen them?”

Jay swallowed. “Do they have names?”

“Sparrow,” Talltail told her again slowly. “He's brown. He was traveling with Bess, Algernon, Mole, and Reena.”

Jay poked distractedly at the pigeon with her paw. “Are they
all
rogues?”

“Yes
.
” Talltail dug his claws into the cracked earth.

Jake nodded to Jay. “Why don't you have another mouthful of pigeon?” he suggested. “It'll help you think.”

“Perhaps it will.” The old she-cat pulled at the flesh with her gums, tearing a fresh morsel away, and began chewing. “Rogues, you say,” she murmured, her mouth full. “Rogues with house-cat names, mind you.”

“They travel together.” Talltail tried to hide the impatience pricking in his fur. “They would have passed this way about two moons ago.”

Jay nodded slowly, then swallowed. “Oh yes. I remember them. Red found them hunting our alleys.” She looked toward the tawny she-cat. “Was that them?”

Red frowned. “Was there a black-and-white she-cat with them?”

Talltail's ears twitched excitedly. “And a small gray tom and a ginger-and-white—”

“That was them.” Red nodded. “We let them take one piece of prey each, then moved them on.”

“When?” Talltail's whiskers were quivering.

“Was the moon full, Marmalade?” Red asked.

Marmalade glanced at the sky. “Not as full as this.”

“How long were the days?” Talltail wanted to know if they'd passed one moon ago or two.

“Not much longer than this,” Red told him.

“So
last
moon?” Talltail prompted.

Jay's tail began to flick. “Whenever it was, they've gone now.” She ducked down for another mouthful of pigeon. “You should go too before you wear out my ears with your questions.”

Red and Marmalade padded closer to Talltail, tails flicking.

“Okay, we're going.” Talltail turned away from the mangy old she-cat, beckoning Jake with a nod.

“Thanks for your help,” Jake called to Jay.

Jay blinked at the kittypet. “Thanks for
yours
.”

Jake purred. “I'm sure Red or Marmalade will help with your fresh-kill next time.”

“Sure we will,” Red hissed through gritted teeth.

Talltail nudged Jake away. “Come on.”
Before you try to organize this bunch of loners into a Clan.
He steered him toward the far side of the clearing, his pelt rippling uneasily as they passed the watching strays. There was a gap between the cracked dens that would lead them clear.

“I told you she'd help,” Jake purred as they reached it.

“You didn't tell me you were leading us into an enemy camp,” Talltail muttered. He ducked into the alley and quickened his pace. The sooner he was away from here, the better.

Jake trotted after him. “You found out what you wanted to know, didn't you?”

“Yes. Now let's get out of here.” Talltail paused and looked back. “And thanks for your help, Jake. You did well to get that old she-cat to tell us about the rogues.”

Jake shrugged. “It's like dealing with housefolk. You get more out of them by being friendly.”

The far side of the alley opened onto a row of neat, grassy squares. A long stretch of mesh divided them from the dilapidated dens. Talltail squeezed under the mesh, relieved to see the tiny meadows ahead. No more dodging broken glass. The grass felt soft beneath his paws. “How far is it to the end of Twolegplace?”

Jake nodded toward the large red-stone den at the end of the little meadow. “There are open fields beyond there.”

Talltail followed his gaze. Beyond the den, there was nothing but wide, star-speckled sky and rolling, dark emptiness below. “The rogues would have kept going,” he guessed. “Past Twolegplace.”

“Or they might have turned back,” Jake pointed out. “There's warmth and shelter here.”

“Only if you've got a Twoleg looking after you,” Talltail meowed. He started trotting toward the red-stone den. Jake stayed where he was. Talltail stopped. Was Jake going to go home now? An unexpected pang tugged his heart. He glanced over his shoulder.

Jake was sniffing the air, his eyes flashing with excitement. “I smell food.” He turned and disappeared around the corner of the den.
Now where's he going?
Talltail peered around the edge of the red stone. Jake's hind legs were disappearing through a small flap, like the one where he lived. Talltail stared.
What in the name of StarClan is he doing?
His heart began to race as he stared at the flap, expecting Jake to explode out with a vicious kittypet or angry dog on his tail. But nothing happened.

As Talltail's belly began to growl, Jake's head poked from the flap. “Come and get some!” he called. “There's plenty.” He licked his lips, and the scent of little, brown pellets drifted to Talltail on the breeze.

“You want me to steal kittypet food?”

Jake nodded. “Why not? There's always more.”

“What about the kittypet who lives there?” Talltail asked. “Won't he mind?”

“It smells like a she, and she must be asleep upstairs, or out. There's no sign of her by the food.”

“I'd rather hunt, thanks,” Talltail muttered. Now that he was almost out of Twolegplace, he didn't need to eat those dry pellets anymore.

“Okay.” Jake ducked back inside.

Talltail growled under his breath. He might as well catch some fresh-kill while he was waiting for Jake to stuff his belly. He began to sniff along the bushes at the grass, sticking his head under the leaves of a laurel and tasting the air. He smelled shrew. Mouth watering, he crept under the branches. The soil crunched frostily beneath his paws. Following his nose, he squeezed past the thick stem and tracked the scent to a spiky bush, then into tall grass. The stems swished as he pushed through, showering dusty seed over his pelt. The shrew smell grew stronger. Grass rustled ahead. Straining to see in the shadows, Talltail spotted a small shape moving beneath a holly bush. He pressed his belly to the ground. He'd learned from chasing the mouse into Twolegplace that hunting in thick undergrowth took more patience than speed.