After about 20 minutes of walking, Stream held her tail up to signal everyone to stop. They looked forward and saw a barn.
"So that's where the mice is?" Oak asked, glancing around. Cows and horses grazed in the field, humans were walking in and out of the barn, and three dogs were dazing in the sun. Stream nodded.
"Look, we'll be fine! The dogs are sleeping. If we are quiet they won't hear us." Stream grinned. Oak forced herself to stop shaking. Although Stream sounded confident, Oak wasn't.
Stream and her orange tabby brother crouched down. Oak, Tiger, and Shade did the same. Stream crept forward, her paws barely touching the rough ground. Her green gaze flickered over to the dogs, who were sound asleep. Stream nodded and slid forward, the other four cats after her.
Not far ahead of them was a chicken coop. Oak saw that her brother had a mischievous smirk of his face. Oak dug her claws into the dirt beneath her. Her brother was going to have his stupid moment. No, not now… she whispered in her head.
"Hey, Oak, you know that saying, 'don't be a chicken'? I'll prove it to you that chickens get scared easily!" Tiger hissed, tempted to scare them. Oak shook her head.
"Tiger, no-" Oak started, but to her dismay, her brother threw a small stick at the coop. There was a big clank,followed by squawking from the chickens. The dogs leapt to their feet, barking menacingly. Oak shot an angry look at Tiger, who was crouched beside her.
"Don't worry, guys, maybe the dogs are tied up," Stream reassured, but she was wrong. The dogs charged at them full speed, saliva dripping from their hungry jaws. They cats stared in shock until Shade herded them along.
"Hurry! To the barn!" Shade snapped. The other four cats took off in front of her. Oak could almost imagine the dogs eating Shade in one bite, then her brother, then her…
Oak felt great pain shoot through her body as she raced underneath a fence. Her fur got caught in the rails and she couldn't move.
"Help! Somebody help me!" Oak shrieked, but her pleaded calls drowned into the noise of the dogs barking. Oak tried to run forward, but instead the rails caught her skin. Her pelt began to feel sticky and the smell of blood drifted into her nose. The more she struggled, the more she got stuck and the more the rails dug into her skin. The could feel the dogs' hot breath on her bloody fur, and she prayed to her mother that she would be okay…
Suddenly, one of the dogs whimpered and backed away. The other two dogs walked up to the first dog and tried to help him. Oak swiveled her head to see Tiger on the first dog, ripping at its thick fur. Flame overtook the second one, and Stream battled the third one. Shade appeared and put a paw on Oak's flank.
"It's going to be okay, Oak, deep breaths," Shade told Oak. The calico followed Shade's instructions, and started to feel not as worried. "There you go. Now, relax, and come out this way." Oak took a few more breaths and started to wriggle out. Finally, she collapsed next to Shade. Although she hurt miserably, she started to feel better. Stream, Tiger, and Flame were heading towards the barn. Shade and Oak followed.
Stream sat down on a big pile of hay, itching her cheek. Tiger and Flame next to Stream, while Shade beckoned Oak to lay down.
"Where are the dogs?" Oak rasped. Her licked her shoulders, her mouth tasting salty blood.
"They aren't allowed in here. Their humans got them." Flame said. Oak sighed. If they weren't there, she would've died.
"What were you doing, Oak? You ran right into the pigs' pen… and got stuck. The best way is to climb over the fence." Stream queried. Oak wanted to swipe the cat's eyes out. Couldn't she tell that Oak was so scared that she had blindly rushed into the fence? Her neck fur began to bristle.
"Knock it off, you too," Shade ordered. Oak forced her fur to lie flat but glared at Stream angrily. The gray and white she-cat flicked the tip of her tail in annoyance. "Stream, Flame, Tiger, you guys go and hunt for Oak. I'll stay here and watch her." Oak watched as the three cats leapt over the edge.
"Hello?" A voice came. Oak looked up to see a white she-cat with a black muzzle. Her blue eyes scanned the cats below her. "What are you doing here?"
"We've come here for some food," Shade replied calmly. "We hear you have lots of mice." The white cat flicked the tip of her tail.
"Go ahead, there is plenty of mice to go around here," the cat smiled. Oak heard a loud hiss from her brother.
"Stupid house cat! You hunt for sport, we hunt to survive!" Tiger spat. The white she-cat stepped back a bit, then glanced at her paws.
"I'm not exactly a house cat, I mean, I belong to humans, but I spend most of my time in the barn." The cat whispered. Oak could tell she was timid.
"Tiger, let us handle this," Oak growled to her younger brother. "Thank you. What's your name, if I may ask?" The cat curled her tail around her paws.
"Jezebel," she responded. "What's your name?"
"I'm Oak, that's Shade, that's Tiger, that's Stream and that's Flame." Oak answered. Jezebel stared at Oak, fear flickering in her eyes.
"What happened to you?" Jezebel asked, leaping onto Oak and Shade's haystack.
"She ran underneath the fence that leads to the pigs' pen. The dog were chasing us," Shade murmured. Jezebel forced a weak smile.
"Those dogs, so stupid! They always just ignore me." Jezebel returned her attention to Oak's injury. "Let me get my humans, they can-" as Jezebel turned to leave, Oak let out a worried cry.
"No, you can't!" Oak shrieked. Jezebel turned to Oak, her expression quizzical.
"Why not?"
"Because, I don't want to become a house cat!" Oak yelled. Jezebel shrugged.
"Just let them take care of you, they won't keep you, besides, you can just live here in the barn," Jezebel soothed. Oak glanced at Shade. Although she wasn't sure, the black cat was smiling.
"It's bleeding pretty bad. You might want to have them take a look at it." Shade said. At that point, Oak started to feel dizzy. Her mind spun.
"I'll go get them," Jezebel whirled around and left, before Oak slipped into unconsciousness.