Twilight

Chapter 19

“We’d better go straight to the camp,” Brambleclaw decided. “And hope that Onestar is in a welcoming mood.”

“I’m not going home without talking to Leafpool,” Squirrelflight mewed determinedly.

She hoped Onestar wouldn’t try to stop them from seeing her sister. The WindClan leader had been so hostile at the last Gathering that she felt very vulnerable crossing the open moorland where they could be spotted so easily. She kept scanning the bare slopes for approaching cats, but it was still a shock when a patrol leaped out from behind a jutting rock and raced across the turf toward them.

She let out a hiss. “Look—it’s Webfoot and Weaselfur.”

They stopped and waited for the WindClan cats to reach them. As well as the two warriors, there was an apprentice Squirrelflight didn’t recognize. Her belly clenched when she saw the hostility in Webfoot’s eyes and the way his neck fur bristled as he skidded to a halt in front of them.

“What are you doing on our territory?” he snarled.

“We need to speak to Onestar,” Brambleclaw told him.

Webfoot’s tail lashed from side to side. “More ThunderClan interference? What does Firestar want this time?”

“We’ll tell that to Onestar.”

Webfoot and Weaselfur exchanged a glance. Squirrelflight wondered if they were going to have to fight their way past.

Then Webfoot let out a faint snort of disgust. “We don’t need you to tell us why you’re here. We already know. And I guess Onestar will want to hear what you have to say.”

He and Weaselfur fell back to let Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight keep going, while the apprentice watched them with hot, accusing eyes. Squirrelflight shot a questioning glance at Brambleclaw, but the tabby warrior looked as bewildered as she felt. Webfoot must have been talking about Leafpool, but it didn’t make sense that they’d be so angry about a cat wanting to join their Clan.

The two WindClan warriors flanked them all the way to the camp, one on each side. As they climbed toward the hollow, the apprentice ran ahead to warn Onestar. By the time Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw reached the edge of the hollow, Onestar was waiting for them beside the pile of rocks in the center. His deputy, Ashfoot, and a couple of other warriors stood beside him, all looking up expectantly as Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw started to climb down into the hollow. There was no sign of Leafpool and Crowfeather, and Squirrelflight gulped. Surely Onestar wasn’t keeping them under guard?

“Here they are,” Webfoot mewed.

Onestar stepped forward, his ears flattened. “Well, I presume Firestar sent you. Have you come to explain why ThunderClan have stolen one of our warriors?”

“What?” Fury raced through Squirrelflight like flame through dry grass. She stepped forward until she was nose to nose with Onestar. “How dare you call us thieves? It’s WindClan who—”

She broke off when Brambleclaw slapped his tail across her mouth; she glared at him but his amber eyes clearly signaled a warning. Flexing her claws, she reluctantly took a pace back.

The tabby warrior dipped his head to Onestar.

“ThunderClan haven’t stolen any WindClan warriors,” he meowed. “Why? Has one gone missing?”

“It’s Crowfeather, isn’t it?” Squirrelflight’s heart started pounding hard.

Onestar’s eyes narrowed, but before he could speak, Ashfoot interrupted. “Yes—do you know where he is?” She sounded desperate, and Squirrelflight remembered she was Crowfeather’s mother.

“Keep quiet!” Onestar snarled, glaring at Ashfoot, but the gray she-cat didn’t flinch.

“When did you last see him?” Brambleclaw asked, breaking the tension between the WindClan leader and his deputy.

“We might be able to help.”

“We don’t want help from ThunderClan!” Webfoot spat.

Onestar silenced him with a wave of his tail. “Crowfeather did not sleep in the warriors’ den last night,” he meowed.

“This morning we followed his scent trail as far as the border with ThunderClan. There his scent mingled with a ThunderClan cat’s. They obviously met there.”

Weaselfur pushed forward to stand beside his leader.

“Wait a moment,” he mewed to Brambleclaw. “If you knew nothing about Crowfeather, why are you here? Do you know which ThunderClan cat he met with?”

Squirrelflight nodded. There was no use hiding the truth now. “My sister, Leafpool. She’s vanished too. We followed her scent trail to the border.”

“But she’s a medicine cat!” Ashfoot exclaimed.

“Medicine cats have feelings just like any other cat,” Squirrelflight said, defending her sister.

Onestar let out an angry hiss. “She has broken the laws of StarClan.”

“Crowfeather must have persuaded her to go!”

Squirrelflight flashed back at him.

Brambleclaw shot her a warning glance. “Onestar, you’re making a big mistake if you try to turn Firestar and ThunderClan into enemies. We have to work together and find both our missing cats.”

“How?” Onestar was clearly making a massive effort to control his anger; as it ebbed away, he just sounded bewildered. “If Crowfeather isn’t with you, then where have they gone?”

“Where could they go?” Ashfoot asked despairingly, as if she didn’t expect an answer.

“We can try to find out,” Brambleclaw meowed. “Maybe we can follow their scent trail.”

“I’ll go and look,” Ashfoot offered.

Onestar nodded. “Take another warrior with you.”

“We’ll come too,” Squirrelflight mewed. To her relief, Onestar didn’t object.

Ashfoot beckoned to Tornear; the four cats left the camp and headed for the place close to the border where they had last scented their Clanmates. Squirrelflight felt more anxious with every step. Would Leafpool be safe, traveling into unknown territory with only one other cat? How could they live a normal life, without the support of their Clans? We must find them, she vowed. They’re making a huge mistake!

Ashfoot was first to pick up the scent trail again. “This way!” she meowed, gesturing with her tail.

The four cats spread out with a few tail-lengths between them, noses to the ground in case the cats they were following split up again. But the two trails went on side by side, across the WindClan scent markers and on into the hills.

Squirrelflight’s heart sank. Until then she had clung to a faint hope they would find Leafpool and Crowfeather hiding on the edge of the territory. Now she had to admit they were truly gone.

The lake soon vanished behind a fold of moorland. The hills grew steeper and bleaker, with rocks jutting through the scratchy grass. Squirrelflight started to feel tired and cold. She couldn’t imagine how Leafpool had found the strength to set out into this hostile country. She must have been so desperate…

At last Brambleclaw came to a halt at the top of a rise.

Beyond, the ground fell away into restless gray scree, with only a few stunted thorn bushes poking out of it.

“I can’t scent them anymore,” he announced.

All four cats exchanged worried glances. Unwilling to give up yet, they padded along the crest of the hill, trying to pick up the scent again. But there was nothing. Squirrelflight launched herself down the slope, splinters of rock sharp beneath her paws. But there was no scent there either, nothing to tell her which way her sister and the WindClan cat had gone.

“This is hopeless,” Tornear was mewing as Squirrelflight scrambled up to join the others. “We’re never going to find them.”

“We’d better go back,” mewed Brambleclaw.

“No!” Squirrelflight protested. “We can’t let them go like this.”

Brambleclaw waved his tail to take in the harsh rock stretching in front of them, the barren moorland, and the sky.

“They could be anywhere.”

“He’s right.” Ashfoot’s eyes were dark with pain. “There’s nothing more we can do.”

Brambleclaw padded up to Squirrelflight and rested his tail on her shoulder. “We can’t track them down if they don’t want to be found,” he meowed gently.

Squirrelflight wanted to insist that they could, but deep within her fur she knew Leafpool and Crowfeather had gone. I’ll never see my sister again. She turned her head to press her cheek against Brambleclaw, letting his familiar scent comfort her. They had been through so much together to lead the Clans to their new home. She was glad he was here, helping her with this new agony.

The sun was close to sinking below the horizon when they reached the WindClan border again. Squirrelflight said good-bye to Ashfoot and Tornear and splashed wearily through the stream behind Brambleclaw. What were they going to say to Firestar?

“We’re losing all the cats who made the journey to find Midnight,” she mewed to Brambleclaw. “Feathertail, Stormfur, and now Crowfeather.” A chill rippled across her fur. “Do you think that means StarClan don’t want us to settle here after all?”

Brambleclaw shook his head. “I’m sure this is where they wanted the Clans to be. Don’t start doubting them, Squirrelflight. We never thought settling into our new homes would be easy.”

“No, but I never thought it would be this difficult,” Squirrelflight murmured as she followed him back through the shadowed forest.

Though it was dark under the trees, a few rays of sun still reached into the stone hollow, staining the clearing with blood-red light. Squirrelflight suppressed a shiver and wondered if a medicine cat would think that was a sign from StarClan.

As soon as she entered the camp, she could tell the whole Clan had noticed Leafpool’s disappearance. Ferncloud and Dustpelt were crouched beside the fresh-kill pile, their heads close together. Brackenfur, Ashfur, and their two apprentices were in an anxious huddle outside the apprentices’ den. The elders had emerged from their den underneath a twisted hazel bush, and just below the Highledge Firestar was speaking to Sandstorm, Cinderpelt, and Brightheart. Only Daisy’s kits hadn’t seemed to notice anything was wrong, scuffling happily together on the dusty ground outside the nursery.

Squirrelflight was aware of cats turning to look at her, their eyes burning into her fur as she crossed the clearing with Brambleclaw. She felt a ripple of hope go through her Clanmates like wind across grass, only to die away when they saw Leafpool wasn’t with them.

Firestar began to pad toward them, but it was Brightheart who reached them first. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” she meowed.

Her voice cracked with distress and her good eye was filled with guilt. “I wasn’t trying to take her place. Leafpool is our medicine cat, just like Cinderpelt.”

“I’m sure she didn’t leave because of you,” Squirrelflight replied awkwardly. She knew quite well that Leafpool had been unhappy about the way Brightheart was taking over her medicine cat duties.

“What happened?” Firestar demanded, halting in front of his daughter. “What did you find out?”

“Did you find Leafpool?” Sandstorm added.

Other cats gathered around, echoing Sandstorm’s question. Some of them mentioned Crowfeather. Leafpool’s secret wasn’t a secret any longer. Cinderpelt must have been forced to tell her Clanmates everything she knew.

It was Brambleclaw who explained. “Her scent trail led into WindClan territory, so we went to visit their camp.”

Cinderpelt limped up just then, in time to hear Brambleclaw’s words. “Did you speak to her?”

Brambleclaw shook his head. “She wasn’t there. She and Crowfeather had already left the territory. We followed their trail with a couple of the WindClan cats, but we lost it in the hills. They’ve gone.”

“No!” Cinderpelt’s voice was a rough whisper; terrible fear dulled her eyes.

Firestar and Sandstorm moved closer together until their pelts brushed. “We’ve lost her,” Sandstorm mewed softly.

“The whole Clan has lost her,” Firestar meowed.

Squirrelflight wanted to wail out loud. Leafpool had lost so much too. She must have loved Crowfeather very much to give up everything for him.

Would I do that for Ashfur? Squirrelflight wondered.

Somehow, she didn’t think she would.

For Brambleclaw?

She blinked, realizing that that was a question she couldn’t answer.