Tigerheart tracked Spire’s and Blaze’s scents under the hedge that bordered the sheep meadow. His paws were mucky from crossing. The sheep were crowded at the far end of the field, but the ground here had been churned to mud by their paws. Dovewing was guiding Pouncekit, Lightkit, and Shadowkit around the stickiest patch, helped by Ant and Cinnamon, but Tigerheart had hurried ahead, anxious not to lose sight of Spire and Blaze as they headed through the beech wood beyond.
Rippletail, Cloverfoot, Berryheart, and Sparrowtail were already following them between the trees. The bare branches filtered sunshine, which dappled the golden forest floor. Tigerheart glimpsed Blaze and Spire beyond them, padding between the trees, and looked back to make sure Dovewing and the kits were okay. Dovewing was nosing Pouncekit beneath the hedge. Ant followed the kit through and turned to help Lightkit and Shadowkit over the roots while Dovewing and Cinnamon squeezed through on either side.
Pouncekit raced into the woods, her tail high. “It’s so crunchy!” she squeaked, padding happily over the near-frozen layer of dry leaves. Lightkit and Shadowkit hurried after her, their paws clogged with mud. Tigerheart caught Dovewing’s eye. She looked weary. “Do you want me to stay close to you and the kits for a while?” he asked.
“No.” She peered between the trees. “Keep your eye on Blaze and Spire. They’re moving so fast.”
Spire had been pushing ahead relentlessly, and the other cats always seemed to be trailing behind. Tigerheart wondered if the healer had forgotten that he had a queen and kits with him. The days of walking had been hard for them all. But at least the rain, which had started to fall soon after they left the Silverpath, had stopped now. It had rained for two days, and as the fields and meadows had become muddier underpaw, Tigerheart had increasingly wondered whether they’d been wise to leave the Silverpath. The stones there had been hard on every cat’s pads, but trudging over sucking earth was exhausting.
Cloverfoot had stopped and was sitting at the foot of a tree while Berryheart caught her breath. “Can you ask him to slow down again?” Cloverfoot asked Tigerheart as he neared. “Berryheart can’t keep up this pace.”
“I will.” Tigerheart looked back at the kits. Lightkit scooped up a pawful of dust and flicked it over Shadowkit. As it fluttered around him, the gray tom lifted his muzzle to the sky and sneezed. Pouncekit ran and skidded through a pile of dry grass. “There’s no time to play!” Tigerheart called.
Pouncekit looked up from the grass and blinked at him sadly. “But it’s so nice here. Can’t we stop for a bit?”
“Not today.” Tigerheart could see Spire and Blaze disappearing over a rise. Why was Spire hurrying? Did ShadowClan need them so badly? Or was Spire just eager to get Berryheart home before she kitted? He left Berryheart and Cloverfoot with Dovewing, Cinnamon, Ant, and the kits and quickened his pace. He’d catch up with Spire and ask him to slow down. The woods thickened, and shadows striped the forest floor. As Tigerheart rounded a juniper bush growing between the trunks, he heard Rippletail and Sparrowtail. He could see their pelts through the branches. They had stopped and were talking in hushed tones. Tigerheart paused and pricked his ears.
“What if that weird tom has got it all wrong?” Sparrowtail snorted.
“I don’t like the way he talks to himself,” Rippletail mewed. “He stares into space and mumbles as though someone’s listening. I’ve never seen a medicine cat act that . . . crazy.”
“I don’t think Spire’s crazy,” Sparrowtail sounded worried. “But I don’t think he knows where he’s going, either. That stream he made us cross yesterday was dangerous. Berryheart nearly fell off the log. The water would have swept her into rocks.”
“He could be leading us anywhere,” Rippletail murmured, her voice weary.
“What if we never find our way back to ShadowClan? The kits are due soon. What if Berryheart kits before we get home?”
Tigerheart backed away. He didn’t want them to know he’d been listening. He wish he could reassure them, but as they trekked farther and farther from the Silverpath, he too had begun to doubt whether Spire truly knew where he was headed.
He climbed the rise where Spire and Blaze had disappeared and saw them halfway down the slope below. Breaking into a run, he bounded after them, breathless by the time he caught up with them.
“Hi, Tigerheart.” Blaze greeted him with a flick of his tail. “Is everyone okay?”
“Berryheart and the kits are struggling to keep up,” Tigerheart told him.
Spire stopped and blinked at him, his gaze vacant.
“Did you hear me?” Irritation flickered through Tigerheart’s fur. “You need to slow down.”
“I can’t,” Spire answered distractedly. “There’s no time to waste.”
Anxiety pressed Tigerheart’s belly. “Is ShadowClan in trouble, or are you worried about Berryheart kitting before we reach the lake?”
Spire frowned without focusing. “I don’t know. I only know that something is tugging me forward, and we mustn’t delay.”
“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Tigerheart asked Spire. He saw worry flash briefly in Blaze’s eyes. It alarmed him. If Blaze had doubts, then something must be very wrong.
Spire lashed his tail. “Of course I know,” he snapped. “I told you.”
“But how do you know?” Tigerheart pressed. “Do you dream tomorrow’s route every night?”
“No,” Spire meowed curtly. “But I can feel when we’re on the right path.”
“So we’re going wherever you feel is best?” Tigerheart’s paws pricked with alarm. They might be wandering around the hills for moons.
Spire began walking. “We must hurry. There’s a river ahead. Crossing will be dangerous. But we must keep going.”
Tigerheart saw brightness beyond the trees where the beech woods ended. He strained to see between them. Could Spire see water? Land stretched beyond, rising toward hills. His worry deepened. “Are you sure there’s a river?”
Spire flashed him a look, then headed on.
“Blaze.” Tigerheart held the tom back with a paw. “Do you think we’re making a mistake, letting Spire lead?”
Blaze avoided his gaze for a moment, as though he was thinking. Then he blinked at Tigerheart. “I trust him.”
Tigerheart dipped his head. They had come this far because of Spire’s vision. They might as well keep going. What else could they do?
He followed Blaze and Spire to the edge of the wood and waited there while they carried on, crossing the wide field beyond. Spire veered to one corner of the field, heading for a dip that curved around the foot of the hill. Sparrowtail and Rippletail caught up with Tigerheart and paused beside him. They stared across the field at Spire.
“Where’s he heading now?” Rippletail asked.
“He says there’s a river ahead,” Tigerheart told him.
“I don’t see any river.” Rippletail grunted.
Sparrowtail glanced back into the woods. “Let’s wait for the others.”
As Berryheart padded heavily from between the trunks, Sparrowtail hurried to meet her and fell in beside her. Dovewing, Ant, Spire, and the kits followed, Cloverfoot close behind.
“Can we rest soon?” Dovewing asked as she saw Tigerheart.
Tigerheart glanced at the sky. The sun was sliding toward the horizon, but there was still a way to go until sunset. “There’s still plenty of traveling time left before dark.”
“The kits are tired.” Dovewing glanced across the field toward Spire and Blaze. “They need to rest.”
“I’m not tired!” Pouncekit lifted her chin, but Tigerheart could see weariness in her face.
“Do you want a badger ride?” he asked.
Her eyes shone. “Yes, please!”
“I’ll carry Lightkit,” Cloverfoot offered.
Dovewing looked gratefully at the she-cat.
Ant stooped beside Shadowkit. “Do you want to ride on my back?” he asked.
Shadowkit scrambled onto the tom’s shoulders and snuggled against his fur.
Tigerheart crouched so that Pouncekit could climb onto his back.
“How many more days do you think we’ll be traveling?” Dovewing mewed softly to Tigerheart.
“I don’t know.” Tigerheart shifted his weight as he walked so that Pouncekit was balanced comfortably between his shoulder blades. “I lost track of where we were as soon as we left the Silverpath. But Spire seems to be in a hurry to get to the lake.”
“Do you think he really knows the way?” Dovewing asked.
“I hope so.” Tigerheart gazed at the horizon, hoping to recognize the shape of a distant hill. But nothing seemed familiar. He had to believe Spire would find the way.
They trekked on, and as they rounded the curve of the hill, Tigerheart saw a river meandering along a wide valley floor. Relief washed his pelt. “Spire said a river lay ahead,” he told Dovewing. “He must know where we’re going.” Crossing will be dangerous. He didn’t dwell on the healer’s words.
The river was almost as wide as a lake. It flowed smoothly between tree-lined banks, brown and muddy. The water swirled, streams and eddies betraying the powerful currents that churned beneath the surface.
“Look!” Pouncekit squeaked from his shoulders. “A floating monster!” A large, pawless monster chugged upstream, sending wide ripples in its wake. Twolegs moved around near the top.
Dovewing looked at the river. “Is Spire planning to find a way around it?” The healer was heading downstream along the bank.
Tigerheart glanced at her. “He said we had to cross it.” He didn’t tell her the healer’s warning.
“Can we cross it in a floating monster?” Pouncekit asked excitedly.
“No.” Tigerheart never wanted to be in the belly of another Twoleg monster. He glanced beyond Spire and saw a large Twoleg bridge spanning the river. Monsters prowled over it. “I think he’s planning to use that.” It must be a Thunderpath, like the one that arced over the herb patch in the city.
Spire was already climbing the slope that reached toward the end of the bridge. At the top, the healer stopped and turned to watch the rest of the party. His tail flicked impatiently as he saw them trailing behind.
Dovewing’s gaze was fixed on the bridge. “How will we get past all those monsters?”
Tigerheart let his flank brush hers. “We survived monsters in the city,” he meowed encouragingly. “We can survive these.”
Rippletail, Berryheart, Sparrowtail, and Cloverfoot were already beside Spire when Tigerheart and Dovewing reached them. Ant and Cinnamon caught up a few moments later.
The healer was sitting on the grass that edged the Thunderpath. As Tigerheart eased Pouncekit from his shoulders, he glanced along the line of monsters flowing across the bridge in both directions. They lurched, growling as they sped up; fumes billowed from their tails as they slowed down. Tigerheart slid in front of Pouncekit protectively. He could see that a narrow walkway edged the Thunderpath as it crossed the bridge, but a high fence hemmed it in. His pelt prickled nervously at the thought of being trapped between monsters and a wall. “We should wait till sundown,” he suggested. “There may be fewer monsters then.”
Spire narrowed his eyes as he followed Tigerheart’s gaze along the bridge. “We can’t wait. We’re already behind. We have to keep going.”
Rippletail and Sparrowtail exchanged glances.
Ant put Shadowkit down and padded a few steps closer to the bridge. “It’s a bit cramped,” he mused. “But no worse than a Thundersnake tunnel.”
As he spoke, clanging filled the air. Tigerheart’s pelt bushed as Twoleg lights began to flash above him. The cats bunched protectively around Berryheart and the kits as the monsters halted beside them and, with a clatter, two long fences began to descend like slow-falling trees across both ends of the bridge.
“What’s happening?” Cloverfoot jerked her muzzle around, eyes wide with alarm.
Dovewing pulled Pouncekit, Lightkit, and Shadowkit close to her chest as monster fumes rolled over them.
Cinnamon peered between the thin slats of the fallen fence. The stretch beyond was clear right up to the fence at the far end. “We should cross it now.”
“Before the monsters clog it up again.” Rippletail hurried toward the fallen fence and squeezed between the slats. He beckoned the others toward him with a flick of his tail.
Tigerheart hesitated. “Is it safe?” He looked at Spire, remembering his words. Crossing will be dangerous.
“We have to get across. There’s no time to lose.” Spire followed Rippletail and slid between the slats, Blaze at his tail.
Dovewing glanced questioningly at Tigerheart, the kits sheltering beside her flank.
“Come on.” Tigerheart led her to the fence. “There are no monsters.”
Berryheart was already heaving her wide belly between the slats after Sparrowtail. Ant and Cinnamon slid through either side. As they followed Rippletail, Spire, and Blaze across the bridge, the monsters behind them began to honk like geese.
Tigerheart’s chest tightened. “Quick.” He glanced back and saw Twoleg faces staring in horror. “I think they’re angry.” He nudged Pouncekit through the fence while Shadowkit, Lightkit, and Dovewing squeezed through the slats on either side. Relief washed his pelt as he led Dovewing and the kits across the clear stretch of Thunderpath. Behind them, the monsters honked harder. Why were they so furious?
A hard silver strip spanned the stone halfway across. Tigerheart hopped over it, worried it might be a trap. Berryheart, Sparrowtail, Ant, and Cinnamon were almost at the far side. Rippletail and Cloverfoot were already squeezing through the fence.
“Hurry!” As Tigerheart called over his shoulder to Dovewing and the kits, the stone jerked beneath his paws. Alarm sparked through his fur as the Thunderpath began to lift. It tipped beneath his paws, turning the flat stone into a slope slanting down toward the flat stretch of Thunderpath where Rippletail and Cloverfoot watched, pelts bristling.
What’s happening! Tigerheart’s thoughts whirled as he struggled to keep his balance. He looked back to where the silver strip had marked the halfway point of the bridge. There, the bridge had cracked and opened like a stick snapping in half. Dovewing yelped beside him and gripped the rapidly slanting Thunderpath. Lightkit and Shadowkit squealed in panic. Below them Berryheart, Sparrowtail, Ant, and Cinnamon leaped clumsily down onto the stretch of flat stone where Blaze and Spire had already landed.
Tigerheart gasped as Lightkit and Shadowkit plummeted past him. Cinnamon reared and caught Shadowkit. Rippletail reached out and wrapped his paws around Lightkit.
Tigerheart flattened himself against the stone, clinging with his claw-tips as he watched Dovewing desperately trying to scrabble up the slope. “Where are you going?” he yowled. “We need to get off the bridge now!”
“Pouncekit!” Terror filled in Dovewing’s cry.
Tigerheart looked up. Pouncekit was teetering at the top of the slope where the bridge had cracked in the middle. Her ears flat, she wailed with terror.
Fear-scent pulsed from Dovewing. “She’s going to fall through the gap!”
“Pouncekit!” Tigerheart’s breath caught in his throat as Pouncekit tumbled out of sight. His belly lurched. She’s gone! He tore at the stone, trying vainly to haul himself closer. Pouncekit! Horror shrilled beneath his pelt as he scanned the top.
Two small paws showed against the silver strip. Hope flashed in his chest. Pouncekit was clinging on. He tried again to heave himself toward her, but his claws couldn’t dig into the stone. Dovewing wailed desperately as she slipped farther away from her kit.
Suddenly, claws scraped the stone beside him. Spire’s black pelt flashed past. Scrambling higher, the healer leaped for the top of the raised bridge. He must have pushed off from the flat stretch of stone with such power that momentum carried him forward. The healer hooked his paws over the end of the bridge. He churned the stone with his hind paws and managed to pull himself up so that he was balancing at the top. Hindquarters trembling, he leaned over and hauled Pouncekit up, then let her drop toward Dovewing. With a squeal, Pouncekit tumbled past.
Tigerheart watched the kit fall, his heart in his throat. As Ant stretched to catch her, relief flooded his pelt. The tom grabbed Pouncekit and swung her safely onto the Thunderpath.
“Spire!” Dovewing’s anguished cry made Tigerheart look up again. The bridge was still rising, so steep now that Tigerheart couldn’t keep his grip. As he began to slide, he saw Spire wobble at the top. The skinny black tom opened his mouth in a wail that never came. As he swayed backward and fell, silence filled the space where he’d been.