The Burning Horizon by Erin Hunter Read Free Book Online Page B

they’d been heading before they met the mules?
    â€œIf I go in the same direction,” she said aloud, trying to sound confident, “I’ll meet up with them . . . won’t I?”
    Lusa rose to her paws and staggered through the trees onunsteady legs, only to halt as another frightening thought came to her.
    What if they’ve noticed I’m not with them, and they’ve turned back to look for me? What if the flat-faces find them? They could be risking their lives for me.
    Trying hard to squash her fears down by doing something practical, Lusa checked the angle of the sun and studied the shape of the mountains and the way the trees grew. There should be a peak shaped like a squirrel’s tail, she thought, trying to focus on her distant memories of her first journey to the lake. Lusa couldn’t see that particular mountain from where she was, but she set off again on what she hoped was the right path. She blundered through the trees, trying to avoid the worst of the thornbushes and brambles, but as she waded through a stretch of long grass, she failed to notice the edge of a bank and half fell, half slid into a muddy stream, landing in the water with a splash.
    Lusa dragged herself out, her pelt covered in mud, and scraped her paws on a patch of low-growing, thorny plants that covered the far bank. Her head still spun, and she realized she had lost all sense of direction again. She wished that it was night, so that she could follow the Pathway Star.
    As Lusa tried to regain her bearings, a flicker of movement caught her eye. She turned her head to see a flat-face appear from behind a nearby tree. Startled, Lusa shrank back . I should have picked up his scent long before he got this close.
    The newcomer was big for a flat-face, with gray head-fur and a bright-scarlet pelt. He stood still for a moment, shockand fear in his eyes. Then he raised his forepaws and let out a roar.
    Lusa flinched away from him, pressing herself against the tree trunk behind her. It’s okay! I’m not going to hurt you. Just leave me alone!
    Then another flat-face appeared, smaller than the first one. When it opened its jaws and began yapping at the first flat-face, Lusa guessed that she was a female because of her higher voice. She had put one of her paws on the tall flat-face’s arm and was looking at Lusa with kindness in her gaze.
    I think she’s asking that fierce flat-face not to hurt me.
    Lusa took a lumbering step sideways, shifting away from the flat-faces and keeping her head low in an attempt to show them she wasn’t a threat. She moved slowly and carefully, aware that it was important not to spook them.
    But her head was hurting so badly now that she could hardly stand up. Her vision blurred again, shadows pressed around her as if they wanted to swallow her, and her hind legs felt too wobbly to hold her up. She staggered, took another wavering pawstep, and collapsed onto her flank.
    Lusa was dimly aware of the flat-faces approaching her, slowly and cautiously. She knew she should run away, but she felt too exhausted, and was in too much pain, to move a single step. The flat-faces were talking to each other again; their voices were gentle and low-pitched, and she had a sudden memory of being in the Bear Bowl, where the flat-faces brought her food and spoke to her in the same gentle tones.
    Ashia should be here, Lusa thought woozily. And Yogi and King . . .Where are they all? And is that fruit I smell?
    Her senses were drifting away when she felt flat-face paws pushing at her, and she realized that they were rolling her onto a flat, shiny pelt. A moment later she felt herself being dragged over the bumpy ground. As she lurched to one side, she let out a groan and felt a flat-face paw, warm and hairless, touching the side of her face. The female flat-face made a sound that Lusa guessed was meant to be soothing.
    This is all wrong, Lusa thought. I should be running away, finding the