Chapter Three

The apprentice opened her eyes. She was still lying on her side. This time the world was red. In front of her waved hues of red and a streak of yellow. The colors gently vibrated close to her face. Bright summer sunlight was coming through something, lying all around her, and the glow that shown through to her was brilliant bright red.

She blinked a couple of times. Must have been napping, she thought, but for how long? And where am I? Things didn't make sense. The apprentice sized up that she should be in the grassy fields, looking for prey and following the lead of her mentor. But she could neither see nor smell her.

Silverpaw raised a paw to her mouth and gave it a lick. She then rubbed it over her nose. That felt good and she remembered recently not being able to move at all. Glad to find that her paw was responding, she turned to figuring out whether breathing still hurt and then whether standing up might be possible.

The line of pain across the top of her head had subsided. It felt as if she had used it to ram into something strong, but what that might have been she did not know.

…

Mother and daughter waved good-bye to Dr. Bernard as she drove off. Margret then made Sarah promise three times that she would stay standing right where she was. Leaving Sarah crouching over the covered up cat, she went back to the car, started it, waited until the road was empty of traffic and then turned the car in a U-turn. Driving back passed her daughter, she turned a second U-turn. Slowing, she pulled the car onto the strip of gravel and dust that bordered the roadway. She stopped well short of Sarah and the injured cat, put the car in park, even put on the parking break, and then got out. Their car now effectively blocked the gravel strip on the little cat's side of the road from oncoming traffic.

She called Sarah over, who initially pretended not to hear her. Giving her a moment longer, Margaret busied herself by making a place for them to sit in the grass next to the car. The car, sitting on the gravel alongside the road, gave them a bit of noise barrier from the passing cars and bit of shade from the afternoon sun.

…

Shade crouched low and stalked out of the taller grasses, covering half the distance to Silverpaw. Her ears were held back and her eyes were locked on the hunched over tall one. She moved forward and up the start of the incline with the skills of an experienced warrior, strong muscles working together and her footsteps entirely silent.

The larger tall ones had moved away. With only a single tall one remaining overtop her apprentice, Shade was gaining confidence. This one, the smallest of the ones who had been here, should be easier to drive away once Silverpaw was ready to move.

She watched as this tall one continued to toy with the large red sheet that had been wrapped around her apprentice. Shade had been unable to see Silverpaw since the red thing had been placed around her, but Shade was very confident Silverpaw was still there underneath it.

Reaching a point barely short of leaping distance, she settled herself down low into the shoulder high grass. This would be her forward position from where to strike.

Then a surprise happened. The tall one straightened up, all the way to full height. The she-creature was so close yet did not realize Shade's presence. Shade calmly looked up, way up, at the tall one. The creature's face perhaps was not as horrible as she had been imagining. The face seemed gentle and completely without any expression of malice, rather the opposite, and was framed by a mane of hair that blew about her head. Then with purposeful movement the tall one walked away from Shade and moved over to where the other tall one was crouched beside a quiet road beast. Shade repositioned herself slightly so as to keep an eye on them yet also so as to keep an even closer eye on her apprentice's resting spot.

Shade let out a low call to her apprentice, hoping she would hear.

…

"Sarah…"

"Mom?"

Sarah had arranged herself on the grass next to her mother, sitting with her knees up. She brushed the roadside dirt from her dance tights and turned her head to look at her mom.

"I'm sorry I don't have any snacks for us…"

"Do you think she'll like we put the towel around her? It's like a little house for her, isn't it?"

"I think she will like it," said Margaret, pleased to see how well her daughter was handling all this. "Yes, I suppose it is rather like a little house. Did you leave her a way to get out?"

"Yes! I made it so that if she lifts her head, it'll lift right up through and she'll be able to see where she is."

"Oh, that's good Sarah. She will like that."

Sarah turned back to looking at the where the cat lay. She rested her head on her knees and held a hand up to remove the sunlight's glare. Margaret reached over and gently played with her daughter's brown hair as it floated in the afternoon's gentle breeze.

…

Silverpaw had taken a couple good breaths. She hurt but the pain was not like before. Pulling in her paws she righted herself and then sat up. Her head poked up and out of the red lit world she had been lying in and now she returned to the afternoon sunshine. At almost the same moment she heard her mentor call to her. She looked. And there, no more than a good leap away into the grasses, crouched Shade.

…

Sarah jumped with delight when she saw the little cat's head appear above the beach blanket. "Oh!" she and her mother both said at the same time. Sarah was on her feet in a heartbeat, wanting to give the little cat a hug.

"Sarah, wait. Just watch."

But Sarah didn't wait. As the little cat took a short leap out of the beach blanket, landing a little unsurely, Sarah moved forward. She didn't want the cat to wander again into the roadway. "No Kitty!"

"Sarah –wait!"

Then it happened. Shade launched herself into full view. Sarah was caught up short as a dark blur leaped unexpectedly from somewhere close by, straight out of the grasses. It landed almost where she was about next to step and let out a loud hiss. Shade spat at the approaching tall one with all her nerve. It was unquestioned in Shade's mind that Silverpaw would be coming home tonight. Whether she herself did or didn't survive wasn't to be worried about; she was a warrior and this was the enemy. Sarah stepped back in surprise as Shade snarled a second time.

"Sarah – get back!" Margaret, just as surprised as Sarah, got quickly to her feet. She realized this was the second cat, the one who had made it across the road, the one who had darted off safely into the grass. "Sarah!"

But Sarah was frozen. She too recognized this as the second cat. Yet her legs were frozen. She had never seen a cat act as bold as this and as raw as this. This was truly a feral cat as named by her doctor. Yet this one was far from sweet and soft; it was clearly a creature of these fields, alive and most likely dangerous.

Shade dared to move forward a step. The second tall one was coming up, she could see. Shade's fur was bristling over her entire length. There was no way she was going to back down.

Then as mother came to daughter's rescue, so too came the apprentice to the mentor's. Margaret got within distance and pulled Sarah back a step. At that same moment Silverpaw took a few unsteady steps and arrived by Shade's side. For a moment Shade glared at Margaret just the same as Margaret glared back at her. And then it passed between both that they both were guardians to the smaller ones with whom they stood and whom they deeply loved. The mutual glare turned to a drawn out moment, tied up in this bridge of understanding. Shade lowered the hair on her shoulders. Margaret relaxed a bit. Then Shade made a slight nod with her head, to her given as a sign of respect. Margaret took a relaxing breath.

With the flick of a tail it was over. Shade and Silverpaw darted into the grasses, reunited as a pair. Mother and child were left, hand in hand, along the edge of a busy road. Silverpaw would gloat about this tonight to her clan. Sarah would relive the entire story to her father and brother tonight over dinner. Both would dream tonight of what happened here alongside the roadway, about what could have happened and revel in what did - on this stretch of gravel and dust