Silent Heroes: Wildcat

Chapter 29: The Horse and the Wildcat

Woohooo!!

I hurled my thoughts out to the universe as I raced along the aerial boardwalk.  Leaves and branches and sweeping drapes of moss flashed by me at a dizzying rate.  My long tail acted like a rudder, helping to keep my balance as I twisted and turned among the trees.

I caught a glimpse of Reza in his lion form, sprinting along a second boardwalk off to my right.  Jewel darted in from the left as her own walkway curved in towards mine.  Then she vanished again just as quickly.  Danielle’s footsteps pounded out a rhythm just above my head, but she was physically obscured by a curtain of branches and leaves.

I released another shout, unable to contain my excitement.  After two weeks of spending every afternoon with a pack of skittish birds, this felt absolutely amazing.

My boardwalk climbed upward, heading straight for the canopy.  The sky became brighter, the branches thinner as I surged toward the sky.  I took a hard left.  The boardwalk angled toward the ground like the turn on a roller coaster.  For a split second, it felt like my furious speed was the only thing that kept me from plummeting into oblivion.

As the boardwalk straightened out, I saw a crossroad approaching up ahead.  A blur of movement was coming in from the right.

Heads up! Danielle shouted.

I hit the intersection a split second before she did.  The black panther leapt straight over me, clearing the top of my head by several inches.

My boardwalk now took a steep plunge back into the depths of the trees.  My pace accelerated almost beyond my control.  I could barely make my legs move fast enough to keep up. 

The human inside of me was completely thrilled and exhilarated.  The wildcat was feeling strong and invincible and recklessly confident. 

The boardwalk leveled out roughly four stories above the ground, then abruptly ended as if someone had quit right in the middle of construction. 

Hey guys, check this out!

I pushed myself to run even faster, hurtling toward the drop-off and breakneck speed.

Eve, Jewels disembodied voice echoed inside my head.  What are you doing?

You’ll see.  Just watch.

I hit the end of the boardwalk and launched myself off the edge.  I sailed through the air and landed with all four paws against the trunk of an enormous tree.  Before gravity had time to do its work, I switched trajectory and pushed off with my back legs, aiming for another tree several meters away.  I landed hard, dug my nails into the bark and took another flying leap.  I kept the momentum going, bouncing from one tree to the next like a pinball.  With one final leap, I landed deftly on the forest floor and kept running.

Within a few minutes, the others had joined me on the ground.  They converged on me, matching my pace.

Eve, are you totally nuts? You could have killed yourself, you numbskull.

Oh come on, Jewel.  I wasn’t that high up.

Don’t pay any attention to her, Eve.  That was awesome!

Thank you, Reza.

Jewel grunted and took the lead.  We headed deeper into the forest.  Trees and shrubs closed in around us.  We had been running like this for the better part of an hour, and we had yet to show even a hint of fatigue.  In fact, the more we ran the more energy we seemed to have.

So, Isn’t this better than hanging out with the birds, Eve?  Jewel said.

Way better! I agreed.  I took a running leap and started bouncing back and forth between the trees again.  My wildcat was purring loudly.