Chapter 12

The storm raged and whirled outside and pounded its fists on the walls of the box. It dampened the cardboard and soaked through the floor, and Stone shivered in his sleep. He rolled over on his side, and muttered something.

Mouse watched him snore gently. The kit then turned and gazed out of the box and watched the falling stars swirl furiously in the biting wind. Through the hazy white, he peered out at the corner of the street where Bob usually sat. It was empty.

The hobo had been gone for almost two days now, and Mouse was growing anxious. Was he alright? Where was he? Would Mouse walk out in the snow one day, only to find the Twoleg frozen stiff and blue from the cold?

He thought then of his parents. They were somewhere out there too, probably still wandering the edges of the streets in the hopes of finding warmth and shelter. And his sister was also there, stiff and cold, lying in the snow with her eyes frozen open and seeing nothing.

The kit huddled closer next to Stone. The older tom was the only family he had left now, even though he was sour and cranky most of the time. He recalled the anger and murder in the amber eyes not long ago, and the feel of cold metal claws raking through his fur. But…his eyes brushed over the sleeping form of Stone, and he decided that he would forgive him.

The warmth seeped through his fur, and they shared the moment in silence. Even though the blizzard was raging outside, even though the cardboard was no better than a soggy piece of paper flapping in the breeze, and even though his wounds stung, Mouse felt content, and he couldn't dream of being anywhere else in the snowy world.