Ratha's Courage (34 page)

“Are you learning to be a Firekeeper?” she asked, half teasing.

“I’m just helping Bira.”

“Clan leader,” Bira began, “I thought you might like a little fire near your den. I’ll make you one, if you like.”

The night wasn’t that cold, but Ratha welcomed the thought of a bright friendly flame. She also sensed that Bira wanted to talk. After Bira and her treeling had built and lit the campfire, Ratha invited the young Firekeeper to lie down facing her. Wanting Thakur next to her, she gave the ground a pat with her tail, and he settled there.

“I just wanted to tell you and Thakur that I appreciated what you did for me. Tell Thistle, too. She was frightened, but she still tried to comfort me.”

Ratha waited, giving Bira time to untangle her thoughts.

“I’m feeling better now,” Bira said. I’m still having dreams about those horrible males in the courting circle, but I think they’ll go away. Especially since Thakur got there before they mated with any of us.” She looked at her paws, then said abruptly, “I know that sharing the Red Tongue with the hunter mothers and cubs helped bring all this on, but . . .”

“Go on,” Ratha coaxed.

“I still don’t feel that it was a bad thing to do. I wanted to help the hunters.”

“And you still have that wish.”

“Yes, even after what happened.” She gave a small cat-grin. “Am I crazy, clan leader? Rolling around with my tail in my mouth, scratching Fessran across the face, then turning around and saying that I want to build Red Tongue-nests for the young hunter cubs—I must be up a tree.”

Ratha exchanged glances with Thakur. “Bira, if you are up a tree, than I must be as well. I’ve been thinking about the same thing.”

Bira’s eyes widened. “You want to continue what we were doing? Letting me make the fires to warm their cubs?”

Ratha paused. “Yes, but not right away. We need to think of a way to do it so that what happened this time doesn’t happen again. I can’t do that by myself—I need all of the clan to help me, including you, Bira.” She paused. “We can take the opportunity to plan. The nights are warmer now and not as windy. The hunters won’t need the Red Tongue until the fall.”

“So you are willing to help them, after all that happened?” Bira asked.

“Well, you are,” Ratha answered with a cat-grin. “Bira, I can’t make absolute promises. We’re still feeling our way with the hunters. If we are respectful and careful, we can share my creature without hurting them or us. When the clan’s mating season is over, I intend to meet with True-of-voice again. I’ll tell him what I just told you.”

“I can’t ask for anything more than that, clan leader,” Bira said, getting a contented glow in her eyes. “Will the fire be all right for a while? I need to go feed cubs in the nursery.”

With a soft swish of her tail, Bira got up and padded away. Ratha went to the small woodpile and gathered up some sticks. She came back and fed the fire.

“What a trail my creature has led us along!” she said as she laid the wood gently in the hearth with her teeth. “What do you think will come next, Thakur?”

He sighed, but it was a sound of contentment, not worry.

She wiggled closer to him. He laid a paw over her. Nesting between them, the two treelings cuddled and groomed one another.

“My Ratha and her courage,” he said.

“Why courage, Thakur?”

“Because you’ve found out what courage really is, yearling.”

“I thought you told me. Courage is taking the risk of being kind.”

He nuzzled her nape, breathing gently into her fur. “That was only part of it. Real courage is being kind again, after you’ve felt that your kindness was thrown in your face. To risk it once more, or even twice more takes a special strength.”

Ratha felt warmed by the fire and by her mate. She had taken another step forward in learning leadership, though she wasn’t sure exactly when or how. “Thakur,” she said sleepily, “it wasn’t their fault. I mean True-of-voice and even New Singer. They were doing what their natures told them to. They didn’t mean the harm they did.” She paused. “They didn’t have a choice. I’m glad we do.”

“We can choose to be careful, and at the same time, we can choose to reach out,” Thakur answered.

“I know that we can’t prevent all the mistakes. Something like this could happen again, but I feel better prepared . . . and I will try not to be so hard on myself again.”

In answer he licked her nape. His closeness woke her heat again. Ratharee and Aree, sensing what was starting, scurried aside. Ratha flipped her tail mischievously. “You know what I want now?”

“I do,” he said, his voice deepening with hunger.

With a strong paw, he rolled her over, and they both tumbled into the shelter of her den.

CLARE BELL

Clare Bell
is a scientist, engineer, and author whose work has taken her to Norway to build electric cars, to Tahiti for research, to Marine World/Africa USA to meet a cheetah, and into the depths of prehistory to develop the Ratha series. She is the author of four other books about Ratha and the Named: Ratha’s Creature, Clan Ground, Ratha and Thistle-Chaser (all of which were ALA Best Books for Young Adults), and Ratha’s Challenge. Bell and her husband live in the hills west of Patterson, California, where they have their own solar and wind systems.

Visit her Web site at www.home.earthlink.net/~ratha13/