Stumbling over fallen branches, Bramblestar made his way closer to the lake. The creaking and clattering trees made him jump, his senses stretched to the edge of panic. The air smells different, too. What’s going on?
He picked up the pace, desperate to find out if something was threatening his Clan. A tree stump loomed up in front of him; bunching his muscles, he leaped over it. A heartbeat later he landed up to his belly fur in icy water.
Bramblestar let out a startled screech. But I’m only halfway to the lake!
For a moment he floundered while the water dragged at him, surging around his legs. With a hiss he dug his claws into the ground and paw step by paw step hauled himself backward up the slope until he was clear of the water. Then he whirled around and raced for the hollow.
StarClan help us! The lake has flooded!
Chapter 8
Bramblestar scrambled through the long grass, heavy with rain, back up the slope to the hollow. Thornclaw was still crouched by the entrance; he leaped to his paws and stared in astonishment when he saw Bramblestar, drenched to his skin.
“What happened?” he demanded.
“The lake is flooding!” Bramblestar panted. “The water is coming up through the forest.”
“What? It can’t be!”
“Come and see.”
Bramblestar whipped around and led Thornclaw at a run back down the hillside. This time he knew what to expect, and he halted beside the tree stump, right at the edge of the floodwater.
“Wow!” Thornclaw breathed. “That’s some flood!”
In the darkness Bramblestar thought there was something sinister about the water, the surface ruffled by the wind and glinting in the light from the stars. Waves slapped against the tree trunks, sucking and gurgling around the roots.
“What should we do now?” Thornclaw asked.
“I’m not sure,” Bramblestar admitted. “Let’s get back to the camp and see what the others think.”
The rain began lashing down more heavily, and by the time Bramblestar and Thornclaw reached the hollow, they were equally soaked through. While Thornclaw went back on watch, Bramblestar slipped inside the warriors’ den and roused Squirrelflight and Brackenfur.
“What is it?” Squirrelflight muttered, struggling up out of her nest. “A fallen tree?”
“No, thank StarClan.” Bramblestar gestured toward the entrance to the den. “Come over here where we can talk without waking the others.”
Brackenfur picked his way among sleeping warriors to join them, disturbing Graystripe on the way. The gray warrior glanced up, and when Bramblestar beckoned to him, he hauled himself out of his nest and padded over to the little group by the entrance.
“What’s the problem?” he asked with a massive yawn.
Bramblestar explained how the lake water had risen and flooded the forest. “It’s still some way away,” he meowed. “I don’t think it will get this far.”
“What do you want us to do?” Squirrelflight meowed.
Bramblestar gazed out across the camp. The clearing was covered with puddles that were starting to run together as the rain hissed down. “We need to decide what to do about hunting and border patrols,” he mewed.
A screech from the elders’ den interrupted him and Purdy stumbled into the open. “There’s water all down my back!” he yowled.
Daisy emerged after the elder, her shoulders hunched against the downpour, and began chivvying him across to the nursery.
At the same moment Bramblestar heard cats stirring in the den behind him, and grunts of complaint as water seeped through the roof and showered the warriors. Cloudtail jumped up and shook himself with a disgusted look at the woven brambles above his head. Rosepetal tried to burrow deeper into the moss to get away from the cold trickles, while Berrynose snarled with annoyance as he squashed himself into a tiny, dry corner.
“We’re going to be washed out of here,” Bramblestar meowed. “Brackenfur, can you check the other dens, and see if anywhere is watertight?”
“Sure.” Brackenfur slipped out into the storm and pelted across to the nursery.
“Do you think we need to leave the hollow?” Squirrelflight suggested.
Bramblestar glanced at Graystripe, wondering what he thought.
Graystripe shook his head. “It’s just as wet out in the forest as it is here,” he pointed out. “And it’s too dark to see where we’re putting our paws.”
“There’s more danger out there, too,” Bramblestar agreed. “The wind is still strong enough to knock over trees. No, I think we’ll stay put.”
“What are you going to tell the others about the lake?” Squirrelflight asked.
Bramblestar hesitated for a moment. “Nothing,” he decided. “They’ll find out soon enough, and there’s no point scaring them in the middle of the night.”
Squirrelflight didn’t look as if she agreed with him, but she just dipped her head and mewed, “Okay.”
Behind them in the warriors’ den, more cats were waking as the rain forced its way through the roof. Startled squeals sounded through the darkness.
“This is no good, Bramblestar,” Cloudtail grumbled, squelching his way through the soaked moss and picking up each paw to shake it. “It’s like trying to sleep under a waterfall!”
“We’ll all die of greencough at this rate!” Spiderleg called out.
For a moment Bramblestar didn’t know what to tell his Clanmates. I can’t make it stop raining!
Just then Brackenfur returned, his pelt drenched and his legs splashed with mud. “The nursery is dry,” he reported. “And so is the apprentices’ den.”
“Good.” Bramblestar puffed out a breath of relief. “Jayfeather should be able to fit a couple of cats into his cave, and my den on the Highledge will be sheltered, too.” He turned to face the shivering cats in the warriors’ den, raising his voice so they could hear him above the clamor of wind and rain. “We have to move out of this den. Graystripe, take Blossomfall, Dustpelt, and Sandstorm to join Millie and Briarlight in my den. Mentors, you can bed down with your apprentices in their den. Brightheart and Cloudtail, go to Jayfeather. The rest of us will sleep in the nursery.”
He stood with Squirrelflight at the entrance to the den, watching as his Clanmates darted out into the storm, hunched and miserable. Sandstorm and Dustpelt bounded toward the tumbled rocks, while Berrynose touched noses with Poppyfrost before she scurried off to join her apprentice. Whitewing seemed reluctant to leave Dovewing, who looked spooked by what was happening, as if she was straining to listen to all the forest at once.
“I’ll keep an eye on her,” Lionblaze promised.
Whitewing flashed him a grateful glance, then dashed through the teeming rain after Poppyfrost.
As the last of the warriors left the soaked den, another cat raced up to Bramblestar; peering through the darkness he made out Leafpool’s pale tabby pelt.
“Jayfeather and I have spare dry bedding,” she mewed. “Where do you need it?”
“Take some to the Highledge,” Bramblestar ordered. “They’ll be short up there. And check the apprentices’ den. The nursery should have enough.”
“Okay.” Leafpool sped off again.
“Thanks, Leafpool!” Bramblestar called after her.
When all the cats had left, he and Squirrelflight headed for the nursery, but Bramblestar veered aside to check on the apprentices. When he stuck his head inside the den, he saw that all of them were awake now, squashed up tightly with their mentors.