"Saffron." Pilot shook her head. "You're telling me that our missing paramour, the house cat, killed one of your gang?"

"Chestnut says he saw it with his own eyes," said the Second. "Shoved him right out into traffic."

Pilot shuddered. The vehicles that raced over the concrete paths could take out any cat if they weren't careful. So even an untrained pet could take another cat by surprise. I'm not sure I buy their story, though. Orchid said not to bother with the gangs, so why are they suddenly involved?

She turned to Chestnut. "What did you see, exactly? Tell me everything from the beginning."

Chestnut blinked. He thought hard on the question, and Pilot could see his thoughts retracing back to the event that he'd witnessed. "I was passing through the Row when I heard screaming from the overpass. It's not weird to hear two toms having it out around our territory, but the bridge… we don't fight there as a rule. So I had to go check it out."

"I just get up under the road when I see Rue trading paws with an orange cat. Don't know what they were fighting about. All I know is before I could get on the support beams, Rue goes over the edge. All hell breaks loose. Two cars smash into each other, and a third goes into the dirt. All the machines start screaming at each other. Couldn't find hide nor hair of Rue or Saffron after that."

So there was some kind of altercation. If I take Chestnut's word for it, anyway.

"I was under the impression that Saffron didn't ever go into your territory," said Pilot. "You seen him there before?"

"No, this was the first time," said Chestnut.

"And you're sure that Rue is dead."

Chestnut knitted his paws uncomfortably. That was probably how he reported it to the Second – but she could tell from the look on the cat's face that the accusation wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

"Perhaps you can get to the 'truth' while you're looking for the trespasser," said the Second. "Either way, our ask is the same. You find him and you bring him to me."

Pilot let her ears relax. As tough as they were, the alley cats' thirst for revenge was working in her favor for the time being. "Does that mean I can move my investigation into your turf without causing any trouble?"

The Second grunted. "As long as you're working for us, I'll tell this lot to cooperate."

Pilot nodded. That was more than enough for her. If Chestnut was the only witness, then she wasn't going to get any further facts about Saffron's disappearance here. The next thing meant going to the overpass – but whatever was there could wait until the waning hours when the traffic would have tapered off.

"Before you go," said Pilot, "did you happen to see a black stone? Saffron supposedly had it on him."

Chestnut shook his head. "If it were, I didn't get a good look."

He must not like thinking about what happened to his friend, thought Pilot. No good reason to put him under the claw right just yet.

As they all settled into an uneasy alliance, the tension deflated in the yard. The Collector, who had watched the conversation with absent interest from the sill, had already vanished into the confines of her house. Prince stretched out his spine and prowled back into the middle of the tangle of listless cats.

"So," he said, "where are we going next?"

Pilot glowered at him. Now that cats were starting to disappear, she knew she couldn't guarantee his safety. "We are going nowhere," she said. "You're going back to your wet food and your stuffed rabbit before you stick your paw the wrong way."

The white tom's ears drooped and he let out a soft "aww," but he didn't start a fight in front of the gang.

"I'll let you know what I find," she said to the Second.

"I look forward to your findings, Pilot," said the Second. "If you live up to your reputation, I know you won't disappoint."

* * *

The sun had hardly set before the fireflies returned to the lawn. Their zigs and zags left echoes of light in Pilot's vision as if seeing her off on the next leg of her journey. She looked back over her shoulder to make sure that Prince was preoccupied with hunting a gray puff on a string before putting paw to pavement again.

The overpass was one of Twin Rivers' concessions to modernity. Its topside bore twin rails on which trains would come and go. What lay in their vast cargo containers, Pilot cared little to know. What she did know is that, when one of the metal giants was not crawling over them, it made easy passage for man and cat alike to reach the other side of the river.

But it was not just water that the bridge crossed. Hugging against the edge of the slope, a two-lane road chased the curve of the river. Small businesses sat squat against the rock edge, some of their rooftops peering above the rail on the layer above.

The steady rush of traffic had fallen to the occasional lone buggy growling its way along the riverside. Each came with a slice of light from its headlamps, making the blacktop shine before fading into darkness and silence again. Pilot watched them warily as she slipped down onto the steel beams that braced the bridge in place, and crawled her way underneath.

Saffron didn't take the top route… if he was trying to make it to the forest, he must have wanted to stay out of sight.

Both sides of the river were occupied by territorial groups, so that made sense. Pilot doubted it was as simple as him being struck with lovesickness and daring forth.

But then, she did find herself often overestimating other cats, even with her lack of charity.

The steel supports that ran underneath the bridge were just wide enough to accommodate one cat without some serious acrobatics involved. By herself, she felt comforted by the overhang of shadow. Without traffic, the sound of the river echoed under the bridge as if it were running along the ceiling.

"What secrets have you seen?" she whispered to the shadows. She paced along the landed side of the bridge, hoping she could find some trace of the cats' fight there. But the smooth surface would not be able to hold onto tufts of fur or broken claws. She found no sight nor sound of blood.

Instead, she found a spot where a patch of frantic claw marks had been just etched into the metal. The lines bore the frantic lashes of a cat clinging on for dear life.

So someone did fall, she thought. Chestnut's story checks out so far. But what does that mean? That Saffron has gone into the forest?

Pilot turned and paced the perimeter again, convinced that she had missed something. The steady drone of an engine approached, and as if by instinct, she braced back against the wall. The light of the truck's headlights filled the underpass like a stage, turning the gray stone of the wall a piercing gold.

A chill ran down her spine as her shadow grew and shrunk. Further down, next to the scratches on the beam, the shadow of an unseen cat screamed in silhouette. It reared back on its hind legs and scratched frantically at the stone wall, as if unable to escape.

Then the truck passed and darkness swallowed the figure again. Without the light, it almost felt like Pilot was alone again.

It must be my imagination, she thought. Seeing ghosts now, old girl? There's going to be a rational explanation for this. Some reflection on the road below.

Pilot sucked in a breath to calm her nerves, making her fur lay smooth again. Then she prowled to the place she'd seen the figure, pressing her paw against the wall.

Cold stone answered her back, radiating a dry chill through her pads.

Just my imagination… she repeated.

Then the world turned inside out.

Pilot's front paws fell through the stone, and a dull heat wrapped around her front half. Her feet rested on a mirror of the beam that supported her hind legs, but a deep blue instead of rusty red. Everything was wrong here—all the colors of sunset blasted across a landscape that seemed to shift in every direction.

The world was an unformed mess until she tried to focus on it. Then it was almost the world she recognized, except that it smelled old like time itself had been lingering for too long.

Better not stick around, she thought, trying to leave. As she turned, she found herself staring at the stone wall again, rather than some mysterious portal.

There was no sign of the cat's shadow, either, even in the false light of that place in Between. She crouched low, looking for somewhere to hide while she gathered her bearings.

A scream split the air, like ice shattering and scraping inside of her eardrums. She shuddered, unable to contain her fear, and leaped backward.

Good news, Pilot's nerves told her. You're back to your senses.

And the bad news?

Gravity's still real.

The illusion broke with the gut-wrenching sensation of falling. Pilot snapped her claws onto the steel ledge, but they slipped right off the smooth surface. Her grip failed and she fell, her breath rushing from her lungs as she plummeted towards the concrete below.