The Barn Cat

Chapter Sixteen

It had been a few days since the clan cats had the talk with Courage and Night, and now the barn cats all knew about everything. They had to in order to have cats on guard at night, and two nights ago Mistfoot was on guard with Feather, the sleek, gray tom with his matching white spot on his chest just like his brothers, Ash and Courage, and his father, Night. Now she was patrolling with Ash, the fluffy, black tom with his white spot on his chest of his own, Blaze, and a white she-cat with a green and a blue eye named Kar. "Over here seems fine," Blaze reported. They were near Berry Field, and were on their way to the corner of the territory where Grieving River was. The cats padded toward the river, and Mistfoot couldn't help the feeling of longing as her eyes met the river. Kar rested her tail on Mistfoot's shoulders. "I know it's hard," her mew was soft and sweet, like Nightglow used to speak to her. Mistfoot felt her heart grow heavy as she watched the river flow. These cats knew it as the water that drowned Storm's family, while the clan cats knew it as the Running River that flowed through all clans. The river that brought them all together. Her paws twitched at the thought of following the river back home, but Ash's call drew her away from it, and she turned to follow Kar back to the barn instead.

Once the cats got back to the barn, Ash told them that they could grab a meal from the fresh-kill pile, but Mistfoot kindly declined and padded over to the smaller barn, on her way to Large Trees. Large Trees was a place with trees that looked like they touched the sky, and it had soft, dark green grass underneath. Mistfoot would often go there to think, as well as help pick herbs with Echo since the best herbs grew there. Mistfoot padded her way into the area, which goes dark from the shade of the tress high leaves blocking out any sunlight, which makes the place a cool, dark place. She padded over to the only spot the sun reached the ground, which happened to lay on a stone. Echo started calling the stone 'The Stone of Mist' by how much Mistfoot would lay on it and relax, which always made Mistfoot's whiskers twitch with amusement. She may not like living here, but it's not so bad with Echo around. Mistfoot climbed onto her stone and laid her belly on it, letting the warmth of the sun soak into her fur as she relaxed. She missed her home so much, but she did enjoy being able to relax in peace, which is not something that you could easily do in a clan.

Voices in the distance made Mistfoot open her eyes. Her ears pricked up, trying to catch where the voices were coming from. It was easy, they were coming from the way she walked in. She jumped off her stone and hurriedly climbed a tree to it's lowest branch, which was still very high up. She stared down at the ground, watching as Leafstride and Flame padded into the Large Trees area. Their tails were entwined together, and their strides were matched perfectly together. He's so stupid, Mistfoot unsheathed her claws and started scraping at the tree's bark. He knows she can't come back to the clans when we leave, right? Mistfoot watched with disgust as they climbed onto her stone and started cleaning each other's ears. Another voice came from the distance, which made the two cats hop away from each other, and Leafstride gave himself a lick of embarrassment on his paw and he wiped it behind his ear. Mistfoot watched as the fluffy, white she-cat's pelt padded into the forest with the two cats, her light-gray tabby splotches making her very recognizable to Mistfoot. "That's the Stone of Mist you know," the she-cat mewed. Mistfoot's whiskers twitched as Echo padded closer to them. "I've never heard of that before," Flame retorted, "is it important?" "If you don't want your ears to be clawed of by Mistfoot, then yes, it is." "Well, she's not here, as long as she doesn't know I'd say we're good," Flame sounded pleased with her answer, "as long as you don't tell her." "I won't need to," Echo snorted, "she already knows." Flame's and Leafstride's ears flicked nervously, and they meowed just as in sync as they walked in the same stride, "how?"

Mistfoot decided this was her cue, and she jumped down from the tree landing silently just behind them. "Like this." Her mew made the two cats spin around and she watched as their hackles grew with alarm. "How long have you been there?" Leafstride asked. "Were you spying on us?" Flame meowed impatiently, her eyes growing with annoyance and hostility. "I was here before either of you two were, and when I heard you coming I climbed the tree," Mistfoot let her eyes fall into slits as she stared at Flame, "I saw and heard everything." Flame took a step forward, her tail swishing angrily, "and what do you mean by that?" "Oh calm down Flame, Mistfoot wasn't doing anything wrong," Echo nudged the orange she-cat away and turned her gaze to Mistfoot. "You're going to help me with herbs, right?" Mistfoot dipped her head, "of course I will. You don't even have to ask." Echo nodded in approval, "good, that's what I keep you around for." Mistfoot swiped playfully at her ears, "that's what you think fur-ball." The two she-cats padded away from the two lovers, and Mistfoot could still feel Flame's eyes heating the back of her head. Good. Let's keep you hating clan cats. It's better that way.

******

The sun had fallen and all the barn cats were tucked in their nests, sleeping. Mistfoot kept turning and turning, but no matter what she did she couldn't get comfortable. Finally, she cursed at her pile of hay, mumbling as she sat up. Everything was dark, but she could hear Midnight and Flake as the two tom's chatted outside the barn doing their guard duty tonight. A faint movement brought Mistfoot's eyes to try and focus on a spot further back in the barn. The silhouette of a cat slid out of it's nest and through a hole in the barn to the outside. Mistfoot immediately got to her paws, curiosity burning through her pelt. She followed the cat outside the barn, her pelt quivering with unease as she followed the cat through the dark forest. Mistfoot had to quicken her pace as she followed the cat, and soon enough she had to break out in a run after the cat. Who sneaks out of a barn and runs away in the middle of the night? Mistfoot's whiskers twitched, the only reason she could think of why a cat would sneak out of the barn in the middle of the night was to go to a secret meeting like she and the other clan cats did. But this was no meeting, it would be a talk with the Whisperers. That's what Night decided to call the cats that talked about attacking the clan.

Anticipation was growing in each of Mistfoot's paw steps, the silence making it even more eerie for her. Suddenly, the cat stopped in its tracks, making Mistfoot let out a silent gasp as it flung its head around to where she was. Mistfoot crouched in a heartbeat, hoping that the cat didn't spot her. The cat sat down, gazing at the spot where Mistfoot thought the cat saw her. Then, a rustle came from a bush close to Mistfoot, and a huge black tom padded out, his glowing yellow eyes the only thing lighting up the area. The two cats started talking, and the other cat that Mistfoot had been following sounded like a she-cat. To be sure, Mistfoot crouched and slowly crawled toward the cats. She had to get a better look to report for Night and the clan cats after all. So far what Mistfoot could make out of what they were saying was that they were talking about attacking the barn cats, and how they plan to do it at night. She crawled a little bit closer, and stopped dead in her tracks as she saw the barn cat. Mistfoot was right, it was a she-cat, a she-cat she grew to hate. Her orange tabby fur and white stomach and paws is a sight Mistfoot has grown familiar with. Her yellow eyes always burn in the back on Mistfoot's head, and Mistfoot is sure that the she-cat has an urge to attack her. Mistfoot got to her paws and sprinted off, back to the barn. Is Leafstride going to believe what she saw?