Shadow and the tribe have made a decision: they’re leaving old Joseph’s house and searching for a new home. But there are many dangers on the streets for a tribe of stray cats (and a dog) who are no longer protected by four walls and a roof. Can Shadow still keep everyone together and bring up Sophia the kitten well, even though they’re now wild?

Cats Wild

I don’t know where I am. The ground beneath me is soft but prickly at points, confusing my body. I shift a little. Excited voices, quickly shushed, enter my ears. Words I don’t quite know or can’t quite understand. 


 It isn’t a failure on their part, I realise, but mine. I haven’t quite woken up yet, so some of my senses are still fast asleep. 


 A short while later, my eyes blink open. They frighten me for a moment. Around me, it is dark, as if I’ve entered a world of nothingness—or lost my sight entirely. I can feel my eyes opening and closing, but I can’t see… 


 Until I can. Small shapes appear, grey against black, introducing me to the joys of sight once again. I notice walls around me, forming a narrow, earthy chamber, and leaves beneath me. The prickles are their short, stubby stems, along with the odd thin branch. 


 My mind leaps to ‘bird’s nest’ before I recognise that birds, as far as I know, do not nest underground. 


Chapter Seven