Midnight

Chapter 16

Brambleclaw raced back to the hedge with Feathertail right behind him. All his instincts told him to dash into the garden and rescue the other cats, but the memory of what happened when they had first crossed the Thunderpath warned him to be more careful. Instead, he pushed his way through the branches until he could peer out while still remaining hidden.

What he saw made his belly flip over. Near the Twoleg nest, two huge kittypets had cornered Stormfur and Crowpaw. The WindClan apprentice was crouched close to the ground, his ears flattened and his lips drawn back in a snarl. Stormfur had one paw stretched out in front of him, threatening the kittypets with unsheathed claws. Brambleclaw could see that they wouldn’t get away without a fight, and there was nowhere for them to retreat except through the half-open door of the Twoleg nest.

“Great StarClan!” Feathertail gasped in his ear. “Those kittypets are bigger than most warriors!”

Brambleclaw wasn’t sure that mattered. Size and a glossy pelt didn’t make a warrior. He didn’t have any doubts that he and his friends would win the battle, but the two kittypets were defending their territory, and they looked capable of inflicting nasty wounds—wounds the Clan cats could not afford if they were to keep on with their journey.

He tensed his muscles, preparing to leap on the kittypets from behind, but before he could move, a flame-colored streak flashed down from the fence and across the garden.

“Squirrelpaw, no!” Brambleclaw yowled.

The apprentice took no notice; he was not even sure she had heard. Hurling herself into the midst of the bristling cats, she clawed at the nearest kittypet. Both of them swung around, snarling.

At once Brambleclaw called out, “Stormfur, Crowpaw!

Over here!”

Crowpaw shot across the grass and crashed into Feathertail’s flank as he charged under the hedge, but Stormfur stayed where he was, screeching at the advancing kittypets with Squirrelpaw beside him. At the same moment Tawnypelt appeared on top of the fence from the next garden and leaped down to join them.

“Back off, fox dung!” Squirrelpaw spat as the two kittypets closed in.

The nearest of them lashed at her with one paw, missing her by a whisker. Then the door to the Twoleg nest was flung open and a female Twoleg appeared, shouting and waving her arms. The kittypets fled around the side of the nest, while the Clan cats dashed for the refuge of the hedge. The Twoleg glared after them for a moment and then retreated into her nest, banging the door behind her.

“Squirrelpaw!” Brambleclaw hissed as the apprentice skidded to a halt. “What were you thinking of out there? Those two could have clawed your fur off.”

Squirrelpaw shrugged, quite unrepentant. “No, they couldn’t. All kittypets are soft,” she meowed. “Anyway, Stormfur and Crowpaw were there.”

“Brambleclaw, don’t scold her.” Stormfur’s amber eyes glowed as he gazed at Squirrelpaw. “That was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Feathertail murmured agreement, and Brambleclaw began to feel uncomfortable. Tawnypelt gave the young cat a nod of approval, too; only Crowpaw looked cross, perhaps aware that Squirrelpaw had come off better than him, perhaps regretting that in the moment of crisis he had obeyed an order from Brambleclaw.

“I never said she wasn’t brave,” Brambleclaw defended himself hotly. “Just that she needs to think first. We’ve still got a long way to go, and if any of us is injured it’s going to hold us back.”

“Well, we’re all here now,” Tawnypelt pointed out. “Let’s get going.”

Brambleclaw led the way back to the patch of rough ground where he had waited with Feathertail. By now the sun had gone, but red streaks stained the sky, showing them the path they must follow.

“We could spend the night here,” Feathertail suggested.

“There’s shelter, and prey.”

“It’s too close to the Twoleg nests,” Stormfur argued. “If we cross the Thunderpath into those fields, we’ll be able to find a safer place.”

No cat disagreed with that. StarClan sent them an easy crossing of the second Thunderpath, and as twilight gathered they began the trek across the fields. The surface was rough, with boggy patches and heaps of stone, as if once there had been Twoleg nests here that had been allowed to fall into ruin.

It was almost dark when they came to a stretch of broken-down wall. Ferns and grasses had rooted in the cracks, giving some shelter, and moss covered the fallen stones.

“This doesn’t look too bad,” Stormfur meowed. “We could stop here.”

“Oh, yes, please!” Squirrelpaw agreed. “I’m so tired I think my paws will drop off!”

“Well, I think we should go on a bit farther,” Crowpaw objected stubbornly. Brambleclaw suspected he was just trying to be difficult. “There’s no prey-scent here.”

“We’ve traveled a long way today,” Brambleclaw meowed.

“If we go any farther we could run into more trouble, or have to spend the night in the open. Let’s look around first, though, and make sure there aren’t any nasty surprises. No badgers or foxes holed up nearby.”

The rest of the cats agreed, all except Crowpaw, who grunted disagreeably. Squirrelpaw went to investigate on the other side of the wall. When she had been gone for a while, Brambleclaw set off after her, bracing himself to find that she had run into trouble again, only to meet her bouncing back around the line of stones.

“This is a great place!” she announced, shaking droplets of water from her whiskers, while Brambleclaw wondered where all her energy came from. “There’s a puddle on the other side, with plenty of water.”

“Water? Lead me to it,” Tawnypelt mewed, trotting in the direction Squirrelpaw indicated. “My mouth’s as dry as last season’s leaves.”

A moment later she came back, and stalked threateningly across to Squirrelpaw with her tail bristling. “That was a dirty trick,” she growled.

Squirrelpaw looked bewildered. “Trick? I don’t know what you mean.”

Tawnypelt spat. “The water tastes disgusting. Full of salt or something.”

“No, it doesn’t!” Squirrelpaw protested. “I had a good long drink, and it was as fresh as anything.”

Tawnypelt turned away and snatched angrily at some juicy stalks of grass. Stormfur shot Squirrelpaw a worried glance.

“Wait there,” he ordered. A moment later he reappeared with drops gleaming on his whiskers. “No, it’s fine,” he reported.

“Then why did I get a mouthful of salt?” Tawnypelt mewed.

A shiver ran down Brambleclaw’s spine. “What if…” he began, his gaze darting from one cat to another. He swallowed. “What if it’s a sign from StarClan that we’re doing the right thing, trying to find the sun-drown place? My dream was about salt water, remember.”

The four chosen cats looked at each other, eyes stretched wide with awe and, Brambleclaw thought, apprehension.

“If you’re right,” Feathertail murmured, “it would mean that StarClan are watching us, all the time.” She glanced around as if she expected to see starry shapes stalking toward them across the darkening field.

Brambleclaw dug his claws into the earth, feeling the need to anchor himself in something real and solid. “Then that’s a good thing,” he meowed.

“So why haven’t we all had a sign?” Crowpaw asked challengingly. “Why just the two of you?”

“Perhaps we’ll have one later,” Feathertail suggested, brushing her tail against Crowpaw’s flank. “Maybe they’re spread out to let us know we’re staying on the right path.”

“Perhaps.” Crowpaw shrugged angrily and went off to curl up by himself at one end of the wall.

The rest of the party settled down too. Brambleclaw thought longingly of the mice in Ravenpaw’s barn; there was no prey-scent here, and they would have to go to sleep hungry. The next day they would have to spend some time hunting before they went much farther.

The first stars of Silverpelt were beginning to appear above his head. Warriors of StarClan, Brambleclaw thought drowsily, watching us and guiding us on our journey.

If only I could speak to you right now, he thought. I wish I could ask you if we’re really doing the right thing, and why we have to travel so far. I wish I could ask you what trouble you have foreseen for the forest.

The stars glittered more brightly still, but no answers came.