Clan of the Eclipse, Amanda and Tabitha [the little red hen ebook txt] 📗

time when she already knows. She’s known it her whole life. Besides…I don’t handle danger as well as she does. And Raven’s tried to learn. She just isn’t cut out for healing. Let alone telling other cats what to do!”
“No thanks.” Raven made a face.
The two shrugged.
“Where are you headed?”
“Anywhere cats can live in peace together, supporting one another. It’s a dream of mine to build a sort of…clan.”
Frost purred “Sounds wonderful, you guys.”
River paused in her eating. “You guys can stay as long as you like. I’d love to see your group in action. You’ve already impressed me.”
“Thank you for you hospitality, River.” Eclipse stretched. “It’s getting dark. Would you stand watch, Maya? Have Pepper replace you at moon-high. Then at dawn he can rest.”
“Oh, watch for foxes and raccoons as well as cats.” River told her. “I’ll patrol along the banks for them for a time.”
The black and white queen didn’t hesitate to scale the tree to a higher branch.
“In the morning, Raven can hunt.”
“I’ll go with you. By morning I should have plenty of energy.” Ghost meowed.
The cats talked for a time as their healers checked wounds and reapplied salves. After everybody was cared for, Eclipse watched the stars until once again she drifted off to sleep, curled up between Bramble and Raven once again.


Eclipse woke to bright sunlight and the quiet talking of three cats. The ground was extremely cold, and the smell of ice hung in the air. Eclipse sprung to her paws, looking around. Bramble and Raven jumped awake, startled by her sudden movement. Eclipse gasped at the world around her.
The world was bathed in snow and ice.
Ghost, Maya and Frost were talking to one another quietly while Misty sat quietly and listened, ears pricked. Their healer-leader bounded over to the river to look. Thankfully, it wasn’t frozen, as River had told her it didn’t. Instead, it was flowing faster than ever, and had swollen to twice its size. The frost had come. She looked around to see Pepper was asleep and back at the three talking cats nervously. By their concerned expressions, they were talking about what this meant. There would be no more fishing until the water was warmer and shallower, and most prey would be in their burrows. Most of the cats were still injured – including Raven, who would now be forced to hunt even with her injured shoulder.
“Can you still hunt?” Eclipse asked.
“I can.” She yawned and stretched as she joined the others. Misty blinked, greeting her warmly. Raven nodded at her, looking like even she was warming up to the energetic cat.
Bramble rose and stretched. Eclipse approached him when she saw him wince.
“It’s just stiff.”
“You need to warm it up. Stretch it while we try our best to find what’s left of the mint, feverfew and fire weed I’ll need for colds. We’ll also need comfrey, marigolds and horsetail in case of an infection.”
“In this weather?”
“It’s fresh, so many of the plants in the forest on either side will have sheltered the plants.” She lowered her voice. “We can’t be without these herbs in a sudden freeze, Bramble. Cats are injured and we will go hungry. That combination can cause a cold to be fatal. If an infection sets into a wound, then horsetail could save a cat’s life.”
He nodded. “It’s going to be a hard freeze isn’t it?”
She meowed “Even harder without a real supply of herbs.”
Then the healer approached the three cats.
“The river got deep!” River said suddenly, popping up out of nowhere soaking wet. Eclipse gasped, seeing her shiver.
“River!” Frost gasped, racing up to her.
“Lick her!” Eclipse ran up them. “Get that water off her! We have to get her pelt dry before she gets a chill!”
Frost, Bramble and her licked with River and Eclipse until she was relatively dry.
“We need a den – somewhere sheltered and out of the wind and snow.”
River shivered, frightening Eclipse. But she told this to Frost with a steady, brisk voice and an impassive face. It was all she could do to make herself remain calm. Frost answered “We have a den near-by. It’s a small cave between some rocks. It has a sandy floor. We even covered the entrance with ivy we found on the trees.”
“Good. I need a cat to go get some moss and bracken and take River to the den to warm up while I look for iron weed.”
“What does it like?” Bramble asked.
“I’ll get it and show you later, Bramble. This is where you prove how much you know; go out and gather every herb you have seen me collect.” They began to walk toward the forest, keeping along the river’s bank. “Also, mallow has erect, hairy stems and heart shaped, oval leaves. Mint is a square-stemmed plant with veined purple leaves that branch and grow from both sides. The leaves are jagged, and usually smooth, though the bottom can be hairy. It grows in rich, wet soil, so look by the riverside. Mallow needs dry soil. Feverfew grows in dry soil like ditches. Since you’ll be going that way, we need marigold. They grow by the river in sunny patches. You remember them, right?”
He nodded.
“Get them if you find them – they’re useful. Oh! Scratch!”
The tabby was there in a second. "Go with him. Do what he says. Protect him and help him carry everything you can back."
The two sped off. Eclipse scoured the riverside, looking for the course, tall stems and long, dark and showy leaves with thistle-like flowers of the iron weed plant. When she found it, she was grateful she didn’t need the flowers; they had died in the freeze. Thankfully, the plant had been sheltered by a fallen log, and most of it had survived. She took as many of the leaves as she could carry in her jaws. This with feverfew would help her with any chills and fever she had gotten from falling in the river. She whirled around and ran back to where they’d slept. Frost was waiting for her, looking concerned. She set the plants down.
“What’s wrong?”
“Her teeth are chattering, and she’s shivering. Bramble came back with lots of plants. He’s with her now, but the only thing he’s confident in doing is lying with her and licking her to keep her warm. She seems warmer with his long fur, but…”
“Show me to the den. I’ve got something that may help with her chills.”
Frost waited for her to collect the leaves and showed her across the stones and walked her up stream to a small cave beside the river under an oak. Pepper sat on guard on a root. A cat had lined the entrance with ivy, making it look very natural. Frost disappeared inside, with Eclipse hard on her paws.
The den was warm with the heat of a closed space shared by two animals. There was the smell of damp fur. Bramble lay close to her, licking away as much of the remaining water. He saw her and purred with relief. There was a gleam of interest in his eyes.
“Eat these.” Eclipse told River, watching her shiver. She looked at Bramble. “The feverfew?”
“They were white flowers, right?”
She nodded.
“I found it, but the flowers were dead. I didn’t know what you used of it, so I dug it up. I also found the mallow and mint. On my way back I found horsetail.”
“We use the leaves of feverfew for colds and fevers. Take the leaves off the stem and give her two, just in case she already has a fever and the ironweed isn’t enough; this cat saved our lives, and I’m not taking any chances on hers.”
River was making a face at the taste of the plant. Eclipse felt for her; she had carried them all the way back here, and the leaves weren’t the greatest tasting things in the world. She sniffed her carefully; there was no fever, but she wanted to make sure it stayed that way. And feverfew would help her warm up, too.
“Well…since we’re here, I will explain more about us.” Eclipse re-told her story and explained which cats were which, and what they were best at. Frost listened without saying a word. Then the white cat licked her chin anxiously.
We still need prey.

“Would you go ask Ghost, Misty and Maya to hunt for us? Raven went out some time ago, but she can’t feed us all.” She asked Frost.
“Sure. Do you want me to hunt to?” Frost asked.
They stared at her, confused.
“Um…sorry. I’m so upset with River and all. How do I join the group?”
She was about to just agree when River shivered.
“I’ll discuss it with Bramble and River.”
“River?” Frost asked as she rose.
“Unless she can hunt as well as she can fight and swim, I think she’ll need to join us just to stay alive.”
She shuffled her paws, looking even further embarrassed. River purred “If they’ll take another mouth to feed, I’ll be happy to join them.”
“Like I said, we must discuss this.” Eclipse warned. “There are laws that I’ve made, that the others have already agreed to, and our beliefs that you must be informed about.”
“Beliefs?” River and Frost asked together.
Eclipse’s whiskers twitched. “First, Frost, would you go tell them to hunt, please? River will especially require something to eat. Tell them not to go near the river banks, however. I don’t have enough ironweed and feverfew for two and three sick cats.”
She bowed her head and left. Why did it feel like that was turning into a customary sign of respect? Eclipse waited for her to leave before turning to Bramble and River.
“She’s an excellent hunter.” River vouched quietly, her shivering calming down. Bramble scooted two feverfew leaves into her paws. River ate them quickly, looking like she wanted to gag. “I’m sure she is. There’s other skills she needs to join the group, though.”
“Like the laws. I’m sure she wouldn’t hunt for her own meal first, would she?” Bramble asked.
“No. She always hunts for me first, then herself.”
“And then she must follow orders. Do you think she – or you – would challenge me or Bramble in a decision?”
“What?” She looked astounded. “We’re joining your group. Why would we do that?”
“…There’s one more detail…”
River shifted positions so she was more comfortable and waited quietly.
“Bramble and I were visited by the tribal ancestors. My parents are guiding us as spirits. They will send omens and signs through dreams and signs from our environment. As I gather a group, there will be those who don’t make it somehow…and they will join them, so long as they follow my laws. These cats see what we can’t, and know what we do not.”
She waited for her reaction. Bramble seemed to be holding his breath.
“Ancestors…” She muttered. “Yes…I have heard of them…and I believe in them. So does Frost. Our parents both had Tribe ties, though we never lived by their ways. But I’ve always believed the spirits of noble cats don’t just go away and are gone, period. That just doesn’t make sense.”
Both Eclipse and Bramble relaxed.
“Then as long as Bramble agrees, you may join.”
“Why Bramble?” River looked curious. “Why not Raven or Bear?”
“Bramble is going to take my place as Shaman one day. He has a right to influence my final decisions.”
She nodded and looked to Bramble. He looked surprised to have heard her say