Tear the Trees Apart: Maple's Vengeance

Chapter 9: River Again

As dusk fell, bringing with it a cold, damp wind, Maple jumped down from the fence into the forest and followed the boundary along the edge of Twolegplace. Raindrops pattered around her as she reached the pine trees, whose spindly trunks and whispering needles gave little shelter. Maple padded softly over the forest floor, staying well outside the ThunderColony border as she skirted the Tree-cut place—silent and dark now—and plunged back into dense undergrowth. Brambles scraped her pelt and blocked her way, but Maple kept pushing through, ears pricked for the first sounds of the river.

By now the rain was falling more heavily, rattling the leaves and stalks around Maple's ears. She gasped when she suddenly emerged from a clump of stiff grasses to find herself at the top of a steep bank with the river sliding past, thick and black and deadly, just a tail-length below. She scrambled backward with a hiss. For a moment she thought she saw Birch, twisting and tumbling in the water, but it was only a reflection of starlight.

Maple stared at the reeds growing on the far shore. Somewhere in there was the RiverColony camp, perched like a bird's nest above the sodden ground. If she strained her ears past the sound of the rain, she could almost hear the murmurings of cats as they settled down for the night. Maple pictured Applestem lying in his den with Jewel curled beside him, her orange pelt merging with his soft brown fur. The hair rose on Maple's neck and she bared her teeth. Where was her happy ending? Why did Applestem get to live with his half kittypet mate while Maple got nothing?

Behind her, the sky was lightning above the trees. Dawn was a while off, but Maple felt more comfortable traveling in darkness, so instead of giving in to the urge to sleep, she picked her way downstream along the bank. There was a ridge of little stones stretching across the river down here—Birch had taught her to use them to cross to meet his friends on the other side once. There was no way Maple was going to swim across the river, but she could wade if she had to.

She reached the stones, invisible in the dark but recognizable by the way the noise of the river changed as it flowed over them. Shuddering, Maple jumped down the bank and waded in. Her belly fur was instantly soaked and she gasped at the cold. She forced her legs through the current, feeling the water tug against her and splash her flanks. The river was much slower and shallower than when she had tried to cross with Larch, but she still hated every paw step, and she hissed with relief when she hauled herself onto the far bank. She lay there for a while, panting, as the water trickled from her fur. It had stopped raining but the sky was thick with clouds and the wind was growing stronger, scented with more rain to come.

Maple forced herself to stand and keep going. Plunging into the reeds, stiff and springy so that they flicked her face and tripped her tired paws, she pushed forward until she detected RiverColony border marks, then retraced her steps so that she was following the edge of the territory safely out of scent-range. Dense reeds gave way to softer undergrowth dotted with low, slender-branched willow trees. Her belly rumbled but she didn't dare hunt in case it alerted the RiverColony cats. Sounds carried too easily on this side of the river.

Gradually the ground became firmer and drier beneath her paws, and the air filled with green, leafy scents rather than the taint of fish. Maple reached a dense stand of trees, leafier and sturdier than the other willows. The territory border was just close enough that she could look down from the branches and watch for passing cats. With a sigh as she recalled just how much time she had spent up a tree recently, Maple clawed her way up the nearest trunk and eased her way onto one of the lower boughs. Without knowing the habits of RiverColony warriors, she hadn't been able to think of a plan to trap Applestem alone. She would just have to learn what she could from watching.

Maple fluffed up her fur against the cold and waited. She was rewarded quite soon by a cluster of paw steps crackling nearer: an early hunting patrol, chattering and crashing through the undergrowth as if they wanted to alert all the prey to their approach. Maple curled her lip, thinking of ThunderColony's stealth. The patrol passed right under her branch without noticing her.