Chapter three

Enderpaw shot into the twolegnest. Then, she scanned her surroundings. Shimmerpaw climbed onto one of the beams at the top of the twolegnest in a corner and flattened herself to the beam. Clever thought Enderpaw. Shimmerpaw was small enough to fit on the beam without any of her body parts sticking out from on top of the beam. Besides, you could barely see her if you stood at the farthest corner away from the beam she was on. Anyone who didn't know they were playing a game of hide and seek would think she was just a clump of hay on the beam. Enderpaw wanted to hide in a place even better than Shimmerpaw.

She walked further into the twolegnest. This was her second time in the twolegnest, so she didn't know all of the hiding spots. She sniffed the air. Wait a second! thought Enderpaw. She sniffed the air again. There it was again! The smell of fresh air! Enderpaw padded towards the source of the smell. She followed smell to a pile of hay. Then, Enderpaw burrowed into the hay. Yes! She thought. There was a small jagged hole in the wooden wall. Wait a second thought Enderpaw confusedly. There was another layer of wood only a tail length inside the hole. She carefully poked her head inside. There was a narrow passageway down the wall of the twolegnest. The passageway was as high as twolegnest and smelled a bit musty and like mildew.

Enderpaw cautiously slipped into the passageway. The wood was a bit damp and the sides pressed against Enderpaw's flanks. She quietly turned around in the passageway so she was facing the entrance. She stuck her paw out and scooped some hay to cover the entrance. Once the hay was in place, Enderpaw got into the hunting crouch she'd been taught at the start of her apprenticeship and waited for the game to start. She heard Silverheart yowl at Snarlpaw

"Okay you can come and find your sisters now!"

Enderpaw heard scuffling on the floor of the twolegnest before there was a scratching and scrabbling sound right in front of her. Enderpaw held her breath in anticipation. It sounded like Snarlpaw was climbing the fallen wooden beams in front of her hole. The sounds got quieter and quieter until they stopped completely.

Enderpaw closed her eyes and waited. The top of the twolegnest was where Shimmerpaw was hiding.

There was a startled yowl and a solid thump on the floor before Enderpaw heard Snarlpaw crow triumphantly "Yes! I got you Shimmerpaw!" Enderpaw squeezed out of the passageway and out of the hay pile. Snarlpaw's eyes widened in surprise. "You were hiding in the hay pile the whole time? No wonder I didn't smell you!" Enderpaw just shrugged, not wanting to give away her hiding spot.

Just then, Silverheart came into the twolegnest. "Okay everyone. Since Enderpaw wasn't found, she will be seeking for you two next." Silverheart nodded at Enderpaw. "Come on. Out of the twolegnest we go!"

Enderpaw turned around and walked out of the twolegnest. She crouched down and covered her eyes. She didn't cover her ears though. If I can listen hard enough, maybe I'll get a picture of where they are; high or low, on the right or on the left.

She listened hard, straining her ears and pointing and swivelling them in the direction of the twolegnest. For a few heartbeats, there was only the sound of crickets of chirping. There! Thought Enderpaw. She could someone scrabbling their on the floor. Then, the sound stopped abruptly and there was creaking from above the second level of the twolegnest. The sounds in that direction stopped. Enderpaw twitched her ears, mapping out the twolegnest in her head and placing the location of the last sound on the map. There was another sound. It was near the entrance of the nest and was a strange sound that Enderpaw couldn't quite place as to what was making it.

Something nudged her flank and Enderpaw nearly jumped out of her fur! She looked up to see Moorspring looking down at her. Moorspring nodded at the twolegnest. "You can go look for your sisters now!" Enderpaw sprang up and raced happily toward the twolegnest ready to find her sisters.

(Cat above in pic is Snarlpaw, sister to Enderpaw and Shimmerpaw)