Had he waited?
Her heart rose in her throat when she reached the edge of the hollow. Below her, Fourtrees stood eerily silent, casting thick black shadows across the clearing.
If Bluefur kept going, she would change the course of her life. She knew it with such intensity that her paws seemed to freeze. For a moment she sensed the spirit of Snowfur. Her sister’s scent drifted in the air as birch-smooth fur wreathed around her pelt. Snowfur was trying to tell her something.
What is it?
Frustration surged through Bluefur’s pelt. Was Snowfur trying to stop her, or was she giving her blessing?
“I have to do this,” Bluefur whispered. “Please understand. It doesn’t mean that I don’t love you, or that I’m not loyal to my Clan.”
She shook herself, letting the cold night air pierce her fur and chase away the scents of her sister. Then she stepped over the crest and headed down the slope into the moon-bathed hollow.
Chapter 36
He waited!
Bluefur’s heart quickened as she saw Oakheart silhouetted in the moonlight. He sat gazing at the Great Rock, eyes shining. Leaves crunched under Bluefur’s paws as she approached him, echoing across the hollow.
He whipped around. “You came!”
She could smell his scent now. She opened her mouth, but couldn’t think of what to say.
“I thought maybe you weren’t going to…” He seemed to run out of words and stared at her instead.
Such softness in his eyes.
“I couldn’t get away,” she whispered.
“But you did.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Is that it? Bluefur felt panic rising inside her. She shouldn’t have come. This was a big mistake. Beneath their feet, the grass was sparkling with frost. Were they going to stand here like mouse-brains searching for words till their paws froze to the ground?
“It’s too cold to stand around.” Oakheart echoed what she was thinking.
This is ridiculous. She might not know what to say to the RiverClan warrior, but she knew the best way of warming up. Bluefur nodded toward the largest of the trees. “I’ll race you to the top of that oak!” She raced away, then realized Oakheart wasn’t following.
She skidded to a halt and looked back at him. “What’s wrong?”
Oakheart was twitching the tip of his tail. “RiverClan cats don’t climb!”
Bluefur purred. “You’re a cat, aren’t you? Of course you climb. Come on, I’ll show you. Unless you’re scared,” she added mischievously.
“No way!” Oakheart’s eyes lit up. He charged past her and balanced on one of the roots twisting out of the earth at the foot of the nearest oak tree. “What now?” He gazed up at the wide, gnarled trunk.
“Watch.” Bluefur jumped up with her claws stretched out, and gripped the bark with her front paws. She kept her hind claws sheathed so she could use her back paws to push herself up. “Old trees like this are easier,” she called down over her shoulder. “The bark’s thick and soft. Even a hefty cat like you should be able to claw his way up.”
“Who are you calling hefty?” Oakheart sprang after her. His paws grabbed clumsily at the tree trunk, but strength and determination kept him hanging on, and he prepared for his next jump.
Bluefur said nothing. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of hearing that he was doing better than she expected. Taking a deep breath, she scooted upward, bounding onto a low branch. Oakheart scrambled up and collapsed next to her, panting. “Do you actually enjoy this?”
“Of course!” She waved her tail over the edge. “Look.” The clearing sparkled below them as if stars had fallen onto the ground.
Oakheart gazed cautiously over the edge. “Not bad,” he conceded.
“Ready for the next branch?”
“As soon as you are.”
Bluefur reached up to a knotty hole and used it to haul herself higher before digging in her hind claws and leaping up onto the next jutting branch. “Can you manage?” she called down.
Oakheart was hanging from the knot with his hind legs churning the air. “I’m absolutely fine,” he muttered through clenched teeth. He caught the bark with his claws and propelled himself upward so fast that Bluefur had to jump along the branch to avoid getting knocked off.
“Very elegant,” she teased.
“I’m glad you think so,” he growled playfully. “But I’ll get you back!”
“How?”
“Wait till I teach you to swim.”
Bluefur stared at him, gripping the branch harder with her claws. “No way,” she told him, feeling her heart begin to race. Stop it! He doesn’t know about the prophecy! He’ll think you’re just being a scaredy-mouse.
Oakheart’s whiskers twitched. “Scared of water?”
“Scared of heights?” She flashed him a challenging look and scrambled up to the next branch.
“You can’t scare me,” Oakheart boasted, catching up to her and squeezing his bulky shape onto the slender strip of wood.
“Oh no?” She jumped to the next branch.
“No.” He landed next to her.
“Okay, I’m impressed.” Bluefur leaned her head to one side. “Have you really never climbed before?”
“Never.”
“Do you want to go higher?”
“Right to the top.”
Bluefur led him up through the tree, sending half-dead leaves showering down. The Great Rock looked like a pebble by the time they’d reached the highest branch that would support their weight. It dipped and bobbed when Bluefur jumped onto it, but she let her body rock with the motion, allowing the branch to find its own balance.
Oakheart sat down beside her, puffing, and stared at the ground far below. “Wow.”
Bluefur gazed at the starry sky, open above them. “Do you think StarClan knows what we’re doing?” The stars blurred as she felt Oakheart’s pelt brush against hers.
“If they can’t see us up here, they can’t see us anywhere,” Oakheart replied. He didn’t seem in any hurry to move his pelt away.
Bluefur tensed. So he thought StarClan was watching them right now?
Oakheart turned to look at her. “Look at that clear sky,” he mewed gently. “Don’t you think StarClan would send clouds to cover the moon, or rain, if they disapproved of us meeting here?”
Yet again, he’d known exactly what she was thinking. “I guess so.” Bluefur hoped it was true.
A breeze made the tree tremble and their branch started to sway again. Oakheart gasped and clung on tighter, which made it lurch more.
“Let’s go down,” Bluefur suggested. “Just follow me.” She led him the easiest route she could find, glancing over her shoulder to check that he was okay. He looked a lot less confident now. He scrambled and slithered from branch to branch without speaking, and she saw relief flood his gaze as they landed back on the roots.
“Thank StarClan,” he sighed, sliding down onto the ground and sinking his claws into the earth.
Bluefur purred. “Not bad for a fish-face.”
Oakheart looked at her sharply. “What did you call me?”
Bluefur met his gaze. “Fish-face.”
He lunged for her, purring, but she hopped quickly out of the way and hared toward the Great Rock.
“You wait till I get my paws on you!” Oakheart threatened, but his voice cracked with amusement.
“You’ll never catch me!”
Bluefur charged around the Great Rock and dodged behind the oaks, Oakheart never more than a tail-length behind her, until she flopped onto the ground, panting.