“Right, Fireheart.” Cloudtail sounded utterly determined. “I’m on my way.”
“Thank you,” Fireheart called after him as he raced across the clearing to Lostface’s side. “I trust you, Cloudtail.”
As he watched the assembling cats, a movement beyond them caught his eye. Darkstripe was slinking through a gap in the thorn hedge, closely followed by Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw.
Fireheart shot after them and managed to catch up with them as they pushed their way through the thorns. “Darkstripe!” he snapped. “Where do you think you’re going?”
The dark warrior turned. There was a flicker of alarm in his eyes, though he faced Fireheart boldly. “I don’t think Sunningrocks is safe,” he meowed. “I was taking these two to a better place. They—”
“What better place?” Fireheart challenged him. “If you know one, why don’t you share it with the rest of the Clan? Unless you mean you’re taking them to Tigerstar?” A surge of fury made him long to spring at Darkstripe and claw him, but he forced himself to stay calm. “Of course, the ShadowClan leader wouldn’t want his kits to be eaten by the dog pack,” he realized out loud. “You’re taking them to him before the dogs get here, aren’t you? I suppose you arranged all this at the last Gathering!”
Darkstripe did not reply. His expression darkened, and he would not meet Fireheart’s eyes.
“Darkstripe, you disgust me,” Fireheart hissed. “You knew Tigerstar meant to bring the dog pack down on us—and you never said a word to any cat! Have you no loyalty to your Clan?”
“I didn’t know!” Darkstripe protested, his head swinging up. “Tigerstar told me to bring his kits to him, but he never told me why. I never knew about the pack; I swear it by StarClan!”
Fireheart wondered how much worth an oath by StarClan could possibly have in this treacherous warrior’s mouth. He swung around to face the two apprentices, who were staring at him, their eyes wide and scared. “What did Darkstripe say to you?”
“N-nothing, Fireheart,” stammered Tawnypaw.
“Only to go with him,” her brother added. “He said he knew a good place to hide.”
“And you obeyed him?” Fireheart’s voice was scathing. “He’s Clan leader now, is he? Or maybe some cat made him your mentor, and I didn’t notice? Follow me, all of you.”
Whipping around, he led the way across the clearing to where the Clan was gathering near the camp entrance. He was half-surprised to see that Darkstripe followed him, as well as Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw. Sooner or later, Fireheart knew, he would have to have a reckoning with the dark warrior, but there was no time now.
As he reached the other cats, he summoned Brackenfur with a flick of his tail. “Brackenfur,” he meowed, “I’m making you responsible for these two apprentices. Don’t take your eyes off them, whatever happens. And if Darkstripe so much as sniffs at them, I want to know about it.”
“Yes, Fireheart,” Brackenfur mewed, looking bewildered. Nudging the two apprentices, he herded them away, among the other cats.
Seeing Whitestorm close by, Fireheart padded over to him and jerked his head at Darkstripe. “Keep an eye on that one,” he ordered. “I don’t trust a single hair on his pelt.”
Then he addressed the warriors he had chosen to run ahead of the pack. “If you haven’t eaten today, I suggest you eat now,” he meowed. “You’ll need all your strength. We’ll go soon, but first I have to talk to Bluestar.”
As Fireheart turned toward Bluestar’s den, he realized that Cinderpelt was beside him. “Do you want me to come with you?” she asked.
Fireheart shook his head. “No. Go and help the others get ready to leave. Do what you can to keep them calm.”
“Don’t worry, Fireheart,” the medicine cat assured him. “I’ll take a few basic remedies with me, just in case.”
“Good idea,” Fireheart meowed. “Get Thornpaw to help you. You can leave as soon as Bluestar is ready to join you.”
When he looked into Bluestar’s den, his leader was awake and grooming her fur. “Yes, Fireheart? What is it?”
Fireheart padded into the den and dipped his head. “Bluestar, we have discovered the truth about the evil in the forest,” he began carefully. “We know what the ‘pack’ is.”
Bluestar sat upright and watched Fireheart with unwavering blue eyes as he told her what he and his patrol had seen that morning. As he went on, her face grew blank with horror, and Fireheart’s fears rose again that the discovery would drive her into madness.
“So Brindleface is dead,” she murmured when Fireheart had finished. Bitterly she added, “Soon the rest of the Clan will follow her. StarClan have sent Tigerstar to destroy us. They will not help us now.”
“Perhaps not, Bluestar, but we’re not giving in,” Fireheart insisted, trying not to be panicked. “You must lead the Clan to Sunningrocks.”
Bluestar’s ears flicked. “And what good will that do? We can’t live at Sunningrocks, and even there the pack will hunt us down.”
“If my plan works, you won’t be there for long. Listen.” Fireheart told her how he was hoping to lure the dogs through the forest and drown them in the gorge.
His leader’s gaze grew vague, fixed on something Fireheart could not see. “So you want me to go to Sunningrocks like an elder,” she meowed.
Fireheart hesitated. Telling Bluestar what she should do was a lot harder than giving orders to Cloudtail. “Like a leader,” he told her. “Without you there, the Clan will panic and scatter. They need you to hold them together. Besides,” he added, “don’t forget that this is your last life. If you lost it, what would the Clan do without you?”
Bluestar hesitated. “Very well.”
“Then we should go now.”
Bluestar nodded and led the way out of the den. The bulk of the Clan—all the cats Fireheart had not chosen to come with him—were already huddled together near the entrance to the camp. As Bluestar went to join them, Fireheart flicked his tail to call Whitestorm. “Stay beside her,” he mewed softly. “Look after her.”
Whitestorm dipped his head. “You can rely on me, Fireheart.” The glance he exchanged with Fireheart showed that he understood perfectly how fragile Bluestar’s mind was. He padded at Bluestar’s shoulder as she led the way out of the camp.
Seeing the white warrior, old but still vigorous, beside her, Fireheart was struck all over again by how frail his leader looked. But her presence among them would reassure the other cats, especially the elders.
When the last of the Clan had filed out into the ravine, Fireheart turned to the warriors who remained, crouched beside the burned stalks of the nettle patch. Graystripe and Sandstorm met his gaze, their eyes filled with resolution and fear in equal measure. Fireheart was reminded of the last time he had evacuated the camp, when the fire came, and how three cats had never returned.
But he knew thoughts like that would only push him into panic. He had to be strong for the sake of his Clan. Padding over to his warriors, he meowed, “Are you ready? Then let’s go.”
Chapter 26
When Fireheart reached the top of the ravine he halted and turned to Fernpaw and Ashpaw. “You two wait here,” he ordered. “As soon as you see the dogs, run straight for the gorge. Sandstorm will be next in line. When you see her, climb a tree, and then when the dogs have picked up her trail and gone, head for Sunningrocks.”
He looked down at the two apprentices. Their eyes gleamed with fury, grief for their mother momentarily forgotten in their desire to avenge her death. Fireheart hoped they would remember their instructions and not panic, or even worse, try to attack the dogs by themselves. “The Clan’s relying on you,” he added. “And we’re all proud of you.”