Graystripe's Vow by Erin Hunter

Author:Erin Hunter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2020-06-23T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

– Then –

The rabbit was streaking through the trees, heading for the ShadowClan border. In a few more heartbeats it would cross, and escape the ThunderClan fresh-kill pile. Graystripe put on an extra burst of speed and leaped on top of it with less than a fox-length to spare. Its squeal of terror was cut off as he bit down on its throat.

“Thank you, StarClan, for this prey,” Graystripe panted, flopping down for a few moments to catch his breath. It was a good, plump rabbit and would fill the bellies of several cats. Maybe the elders would like it. . . .

Once he had recovered from the chase, Graystripe rose to his paws, ready to return to camp with the rabbit. “Brackenfur?” he called, gazing around for his Clanmate, who had been hunting with him.

But there was no reply, and no sign of the golden-brown tabby warrior. Graystripe realized that in his frantic chase after the rabbit, he had strayed a long way from their original hunting ground.

I’ll probably find him on the way back, he thought, picking up his prey and heading in the direction of the camp.

But before Graystripe had gone more than a few fox-lengths, he heard a rustling in a clump of elder bushes just ahead of him. “Brackenfur?” he mumbled around his mouthful of rabbit fur.

There was no response; clearly, whatever was in the bush, it wasn’t his Clanmate. Instantly alert, Graystripe dropped the rabbit and slid out his claws, bracing himself for an attack. He thought once more of the eyes he had been imagining in the darkness. It had been only a quarter moon since the last attack—long enough to begin to relax, but certainly not long enough for the threat to be gone. Now that he wasn’t carrying the rabbit and his jaws weren’t filled with the overwhelming tang of fresh-kill, he could pick up BloodClan scent coming from the bush. His heart began to pound as he fought to wrestle down his panic.

Have some of the BloodClan cats caught me alone?

“Come out, whoever you are!” he commanded. A moment later, a single cat emerged into the open. Graystripe recognized the pregnant queen with the patchy-colored fur. She was the one who had allowed him to escape after the ambush, when her Clanmates had left him for dead in the Twoleg garden; he didn’t imagine that she would attack him now.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“I’m not looking for trouble,” the she-cat assured him, giving him a respectful dip of her head. “In fact, from what I’ve seen, I think we could be helpful to each other. My name is Gremlin.”

“That’s an odd name,” Graystripe muttered.

Gremlin flicked her ears dismissively. “No odder than Graystripe.”

Graystripe flinched, offended. But the she-cat went on: “It’s the name my housefolk gave me, back when my brother and I had housefolk.”

“You were a kittypet?” Graystripe asked, surprised; she did not look, or smell, like any kittypet he had ever met.

“Once,” Gremlin replied. “A while ago now.

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