Midnight

Chapter 9

Brambleclaw chose a plump starling from the fresh-kill pile, carrying it a few paces away before he began to gulp it down. Sunhigh was just past, and the clearing was full of cats enjoying the warmth. Brambleclaw caught a glimpse of Leafpaw padding over to the elders’ den, a wad of herbs in her jaws. He was surprised to see how unhappy she looked; perhaps she was in trouble with her mentor, though he found it hard to imagine that Cinderpelt would drive any cat to look so worried.

Closer to the nettle patch, Firestar was eating with Graystripe and Sandstorm. As Brambleclaw bit into his prey he saw his leader raise his head and give him a hard stare, as if he might be in trouble. Brambleclaw couldn’t remember anything he had done wrong that his leader knew about, but his fur prickled uneasily; surely Firestar hadn’t found out about the dreams?

He braced himself for his leader to call him over and tell him what was on his mind, but when he heard a cat speak his name it was Squirrelpaw. She snatched a mouse from the heap of fresh-kill and bounced across to sit by his side.

“Whew!” she exclaimed, dropping the mouse. “I thought I’d never finish feeding the elders. Longtail has the appetite of a starving fox!” She took a bite from her piece of prey and gulped it down. “So what’s happening?” she asked. “Have you had any more messages from StarClan?”

Brambleclaw swallowed his mouthful of starling. “Ssshhh, not so loud,” he hissed.

It was the day after his encounter with Crowpaw and his visit to ShadowClan territory, and he had still not decided how much to tell Squirrelpaw about the second dream. If he vanished on the day before the half-moon without confiding in her, he would have broken his part of their bargain, but he did not know what he would say if she demanded to come with them.

“Well, have you?” Squirrelpaw persisted, lowering her voice.

Brambleclaw chewed slowly, playing for time. He had just decided that he would have to tell the nosy she-cat something, if only to stop all her questions, when he realized that Firestar had padded over from the nettle patch and was standing over them. He stiffened, instinctively unsheathing his claws so that they sank into the breast of the starling.

“Squirrelpaw, I want you to go out with Thornclaw,” Firestar ordered. “He’s going to show Shrewpaw the best hunting places near Fourtrees.”

Squirrelpaw took another gulp of mouse and swiped her tongue over her whiskers. “Do I have to? I’ve been up there with Dustpelt loads of times.”

The tip of Firestar’s tail twitched back and forth. “Yes, you do. When your leader gives you an order, you obey it.”

Squirrelpaw rolled her eyes at Brambleclaw before picking up the last of the mouse and swallowing it.

“Now, Squirrelpaw.” Firestar’s tail twitched again.

“Thornclaw’s waiting.” He nodded toward the tabby warrior, who was padding across the clearing with Shrewpaw.

“You could at least let me finish my mouse in peace,” Squirrelpaw argued. “I’ve been on my paws all morning, chasing after the elders.”

“And so you should be!” Firestar’s voice was sharp. “That’s what being an apprentice is all about. I don’t want to hear you complaining.”

“I’m not complaining!” Squirrelpaw leaped to her paws, her fur bristling. “I only said I wanted a bit of peace and quiet to eat. Why are you always nagging at me? You’re not my mentor, so stop acting like you are. Or are you just afraid that I’ll let you down, and not live up to our great leader’s shining example?”

Without waiting for a response, she spun around and flounced off to meet Thornclaw and Shrewpaw near the entrance to the camp. Brambleclaw noticed that the tabby warrior looked surprised when Squirrelpaw spoke to him, though he was too far off to hear what she said, and it crossed his mind that Thornclaw hadn’t been expecting her to join the patrol at all. Then the warrior nodded, and all three cats vanished into the gorse tunnel.

Firestar watched Squirrelpaw go with a grim look. He didn’t say a word to Brambleclaw, but turned and padded back to Sandstorm and Graystripe.

Brambleclaw heard Sandstorm growl, “You know that’s the wrong way to handle her. If you order her about, she’ll just get more stubborn.”

Firestar replied in a low voice that Brambleclaw couldn’t catch; then the cats got up and headed toward Firestar’s den.

What was all that about? Brambleclaw wondered. Firestar was annoyed with Squirrelpaw, so he made up an excuse to get her out of the camp. His blood ran chill. To get her away from me, maybe?

If he was right, there could only be one reason. Squirrelpaw must have told her father about the first dream, and the meeting with the other cats at Fourtrees. She might have done it deliberately, or she might have let something slip because she wasn’t thinking. Whatever had happened, Brambleclaw knew there would be more trouble to come, but at least it meant he didn’t have to tell her about the second dream; she had obviously broken the agreement they had made at Fourtrees.

Trying to put his fears about what Firestar might do next out of his mind, he went back to the fresh-kill pile. If he was going to set off on a long journey in a few days’ time, it would be a good idea to eat more and build up his strength. He would also ask Cinderpelt about the traveling herbs that cats ate to give them strength for the journey to Highstones, as long as he could think of a way to do it without arousing the medicine cat’s suspicions.

He was just reaching down to pick up a juicy-looking vole when he heard a voice behind him. “Hey—what do you think you’re doing?”

It was Mousefur. Brambleclaw looked around to see the brown she-cat glaring at him from a few foxlengths away.

“I’ve been watching you,” she went on. “You’ve already eaten. You haven’t hunted enough today to take any more prey.”

Embarrassment flooded over Brambleclaw. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“So I should think,” Mousefur snapped.

Cloudtail, who was standing beside her, let out an amused purr. “He’s trying to compete with Graystripe,” he teased.

“Looks like one big eater isn’t enough for ThunderClan.

Never mind, Brambleclaw. Do you want to hunt with me and Brightheart? We’ll catch as many voles as you can eat, and double the fresh-kill pile.”

“Er, thanks,” Brambleclaw stammered.

“Hang on, I’ll just fetch Brightheart.” Cloudtail raced over to the warriors’ den, and Mousefur, with a last glare at Brambleclaw, followed him.

While Brambleclaw waited for his friends to reappear, he decided to suggest going up to Fourtrees, where they might come across Thornclaw’s patrol. He needed to get hold of Squirrelpaw and find out exactly what she had told her father.

If Firestar knew that StarClan had chosen four cats, each from a different Clan, would he try to warn the other leaders, and put a stop to their journey before it even started?

But Brambleclaw’s patrol saw nothing of Squirrelpaw and the others while they were out, and by the time he returned to camp with Cloudtail and Brightheart, with plenty of prey to add to the pile, night was falling. Most of the cats were already heading for their dens. Brambleclaw kept watch until the evening patrol had left and the moon had appeared above the trees, but he still did not see Squirrelpaw. He slept badly that night, worried about the prophecy and Squirrelpaw’s unwanted involvement.

The next morning he pushed his way out of the warriors’ den as soon as he woke, determined to find the ginger apprentice and get some answers to his questions. But it seemed as if StarClan itself were against him, making him hiss out loud with frustration. No sooner had he set paw in the clearing than Graystripe called him to join the dawn patrol with Sorreltail and Rainwhisker. By the time they returned, after a circuit of the whole territory, it was almost sunhigh. When Brambleclaw checked the apprentices’ den it was empty, and as he could not see Dustpelt in the camp either, he assumed that Squirrelpaw had gone out training with her mentor.

He took a nap in the heat of the day, his worries soothed for a short while by the quiet murmur of bees and the sigh of wind in the branches, and woke to catch sight of Squirrelpaw disappearing into the gorse tunnel, a wad of old bedding clamped in her jaws. Springing to his paws, he was about to follow her when a cat called his name.

Brackenfur was padding toward him with his apprentice, Whitepaw. For some reason the golden brown tom looked uneasy. “Hi, Brambleclaw. I… I thought you might like to come and watch a training session,” he meowed.

Brambleclaw stared at him in surprise. Warriors hardly ever watched the apprentices training, unless they were mentors themselves. With a swift glance at the tunnel where Squirrelpaw was now out of sight, he replied, “Er… thanks, Brackenfur, but some other time, okay?”

He headed quickly toward the camp entrance, but realized after a couple of heartbeats that Brackenfur was keeping pace with him.

“It’s just that Firestar thought it might be good practice for you,” the older warrior explained. “For when you have an apprentice of your own.”

Brambleclaw halted. “Let me get this straight,” he meowed. “Firestar asked you to tell me to watch you and Whitepaw training?”

Brackenfur’s gaze slid past him and he looked acutely embarrassed. “That’s right,” he mewed.

“But we never do that,” Brambleclaw protested. “Anyway, it’ll be moons before Ferncloud’s kits are ready for mentors.”

Brackenfur shrugged. “An order’s an order, Brambleclaw.”

Brambleclaw blinked. “It’s an order?” He shook his head crossly. It wasn’t StarClan that was against him—it was his own leader. And it was hardly surprising, if Squirrelpaw had told Firestar that one of his warriors had been having prophetic dreams without telling the rest of the Clan.

Fuming, he followed Brackenfur and his apprentice out of the camp and along the ravine to the sandy hollow where the training sessions took place. He sat on the edge, watching Brackenfur put Whitepaw through her fighting moves. A little later, Mousefur arrived with Spiderpaw, and the two apprentices started a mock battle. Brambleclaw watched as Whitepaw darted in to give Spiderpaw a quick nip in the neck; Spiderpaw spun around at once, his long black limbs whirling as he leaped on her and pinned her to the ground.

They were both making good progress, Brambleclaw noticed idly, yawning with boredom.

I could be doing something useful, he thought miserably. There were only two days to go before he was due to meet the other cats at Fourtrees and set out on their journey. He needed to talk to Squirrelpaw soon.

When Mousefur called a halt and the two apprentices climbed out of the hollow, shaking sand from their fur, Brambleclaw returned to camp even more determined to find Squirrelpaw and get some answers. To his relief, when he emerged from the gorse tunnel he spotted her with Shrewpaw beside the apprentices’ den.

Racing across the clearing, he halted in front of her and demanded, “I want to talk to you.”

He knew that issuing orders was not the way to handle Squirrelpaw. Ready for her to snarl or spit, he was surprised when she mewed in a hurried, low voice, with an uneasy glance at Shrewpaw, “Okay, but not here. Meet me behind the nursery.”

Brambleclaw nodded and padded away to greet Sootfur and Ashfur, who were returning with fresh-kill. He paused at the entrance to the nursery where Ferncloud was watching her kits play, forcing himself to sound normal as he commented on how strong and healthy they were growing.

Finally he made his way behind the nursery, a sandy area bounded by nettles where the cats went to make their dirt.

Squirrelpaw was already waiting for him, her dark ginger fur almost hidden in the shadows. “Brambleclaw, I—”

“You’ve told your father something, haven’t you?”

Brambleclaw interrupted. “After you promised to keep your mouth shut.”

Squirrelpaw straightened up to face him, her neck fur bristling furiously. “I have not! I haven’t said a word to any cat.”

“Then why is Firestar so determined to keep us apart?”

“Oh, you’ve noticed too, have you?” Squirrelpaw tried to sound calm, but her voice rose to a wail as she went on, “I don’t know! I promise I didn’t tell him anything. But he looks at me like I’ve done something bad, and I haven’t.”

Suddenly feeling sorry for the confused, unhappy she-cat, Brambleclaw padded up to her to press his muzzle against her side, but she whisked away from him, her teeth bared in the beginnings of a snarl.

“It’s nothing I can’t handle. Leafpaw’s upset, too,” she added. “She hasn’t said anything, but I can tell.”

Brambleclaw sat down and stared across the nettles to the thorn hedge around the camp, without really seeing it. He couldn’t make any sense of Firestar’s behavior if Squirrelpaw was telling the truth about keeping quiet. Brambleclaw couldn’t bring himself to think that she was lying to him, which meant there had to be another reason Firestar was angry with them both. But what on earth could it be?

“Perhaps we should ask him?” he suggested. “If he told us what the matter is, we might be able to put it right.”

Squirrelpaw looked doubtful, but before she could reply Brambleclaw heard the sound of more cats pushing their way through the nettles. Springing to his paws, he whipped around to see Firestar himself, with Graystripe just behind.

“So.” The ThunderClan leader stepped forward until he stood between his daughter and Brambleclaw. “Shrewpaw said I’d find you here.”

“We weren’t doing anything wrong!” Squirrelpaw blurted out.

“But I wonder what you think you are doing.” Firestar gave his daughter a hard stare and then transferred it to Brambleclaw. “Wasting your time, for one thing, when there’s work to be done.”

“We’ve worked hard all day, Firestar,” Brambleclaw meowed, ducking his head respectfully.

“That’s true, Firestar, they have,” Graystripe put in.

Firestar shot him a quick glance, but did not respond.

“Does that mean you think there’s nothing more to do?” he asked Brambleclaw. The younger warrior opened his mouth to protest, but his leader did not give him the chance. “If you’re so sure,” he went on, “then take a look at the elders.

Frostfur got burrs tangled in her pelt today. You can help her get them out.”

Anger flared inside Brambleclaw. That was an apprentice task! But he could see from Firestar’s cold green gaze that there was no point in arguing. He mumbled, “Yes, Firestar,” and padded away toward the main clearing.

Once the nettles had rustled back into place, screening him from the little group of cats, he paused to hear Firestar speaking to Squirrelpaw, still in that same hard, displeased tone. “Squirrelpaw, you must have better things to do than hang about with an inexperienced warrior like Brambleclaw.

Stay with your own mentor in the future.”

Brambleclaw couldn’t hear Squirrelpaw’s response, and it wasn’t safe to stay there listening any longer. Sadness flooded over him as he made his way to the elders’ den. Somehow he had lost his leader’s respect, and if Squirrelpaw really hadn’t told her father about the dream and the meeting with the other cats at Fourtrees, he couldn’t imagine why.

In two nights’ time he was supposed to leave on his journey with the cats from the other Clans to find the sun-drown place, and see what midnight told them. How could he possibly go, Brambleclaw wondered despairingly, when Firestar was watching him so closely? A chill ran through him from ears to tail-tip as he realized that to be loyal to the prophecy and to StarClan, he might have to be disloyal to his leader.