Bramblestar gave a nod to the two toms, who set off with quick, steady paw steps. For the first few tail-lengths he kept an eye on Berrynose, knowing that the cream-colored warrior tended to be overconfident, but both he and his brother vanished up the path with no trouble.
Squirrelflight stepped up to him. “Rosepetal’s nervous,” she murmured in Bramblestar’s ear. “I’ll go up with her, if that’s okay.”
Bramblestar gave his deputy a grateful nod. “Please. I know she’ll be safe with you.”
“Come on,” Squirrelflight meowed, giving Rosepetal a friendly shove. “You chase squirrels up trees all the time. This is no different.”
Rosepetal nodded, but she clearly wasn’t convinced. “I’ll try,” she whispered.
“I’ll be right behind you,” Squirrelflight promised. “I won’t let you fall.”
Just do it now, not tomorrow, Bramblestar thought, conscious of the rising water.
Squirrelflight nudged Rosepetal over to the path and they began to climb. To Bramblestar they seemed to be going agonizingly slow, but the she-cats steadily gained height, and to his relief Rosepetal didn’t freeze with terror like Molewhisker. Bramblestar noticed that Lionblaze and Cinderheart were standing at the top of the path, helping their Clanmates up the last few paw steps. Thank StarClan for them, he thought. And for all the cats who’re helping. Where would we be without them?
His gaze fixed on the cliff, he didn’t see Millie until he felt her tail touch his shoulder, and turned to see her beside him, her whole body tense with worry.
“What about Briarlight?” she whimpered. “She’ll never climb up there!”
Bramblestar felt a heavy weight in his belly. He had imagined that some cat would carry Briarlight up the path, but now that he had watched his Clanmates make the climb, he knew that would be impossible. Glancing past Millie, he saw Briarlight waiting quietly beside Sandstorm and Dustpelt. She trusts me! Great StarClan, what am I going to do?
“We’ll get her out,” he promised. “Let’s send up as many of the others as we can first. Graystripe, Blossomfall, you go next. Sandstorm, as soon as they’re out of the way, can you help Purdy?”
“Sure, Bramblestar,” Sandstorm responded.
Purdy frowned at the narrow, twisty path. “I’m not sure my old legs will get me up there,” he grunted.
“Of course they will,” Sandstorm reassured him. “And think what a great story you’ll have to tell afterward!”
With a muffled curse, the old cat began to climb the cliff. Sandstorm followed, encouraging him every step, but his progress became slower and slower as he climbed higher. Purdy was less than halfway up when part of the cliff face flaked off beneath his paws and he plunged backward in a shower of stones. Sandstorm dived forward to grab him, but she was too late.
“Purdy!” she screeched.
As he fell, Purdy grabbed for a scrawny bush that was growing in a crack in the rock. His front claws sank into it, while his hind paws scrabbled against the cliff face.
“I’m stuck!” he yowled.
Sandstorm leaned over, gripped Purdy’s shoulder fur in her teeth, and heaved, but she couldn’t pull him up.
Bramblestar gave the waiting cats a swift glance. “I’ll be back,” he meowed, then began to climb.
When he reached Purdy, who still clung grimly to the bush, he realized the problem was worse than he thought. Just above them, the cliff face was starting to crumble away, probably eroded by the rain, and the weight of several cats was breaking it up even more.
“Sorry, Bramblestar!” Purdy gasped. “I’m too old and stiff for this. I can’t get up or down, so I’d better live here, okay?”
Bramblestar could see that the elder was trying to be brave, but he was clearly scared and humiliated by his failure. “No, this is no good as a den,” he responded, thinking quickly. “Sandstorm, go to the top and find a good, strong ivy stem, long enough to stretch down here. Get Lionblaze to help you.”
“We’ll never haul Purdy up on an ivy stem,” Sandstorm objected. “He’s too heavy.”
“Too many voles,” Purdy attempted to joke. “Not enough exercise.”
“We might not be able to get him up,” Bramblestar replied to Sandstorm. “But we can lower him down. Once his paws are on firm ground, we can think again.”
“Firm ground?” Purdy scoffed. “It’s a lake down there!”
Sandstorm gave her Clan leader a brisk nod, and headed up the path. Bramblestar thought she was moving too fast for safety, but he didn’t call out to her, just appreciating her care for her Clanmate.
Bramblestar stayed with Purdy until a long tendril of ivy came snaking down from the cliff top. Several stems had been twined together, making it strong.
“We’re ready!” Sandstorm called down.
“Okay, Purdy, grab the stem in your teeth,” Bramblestar instructed, guiding it into the old cat’s reach.
Once Purdy was biting down on the tendril, Bramblestar climbed down to the next curve of the path, so that he was directly underneath the old cat. “Let go of the bush!” he yowled.
Purdy hesitated, then pulled his claws out of the branch and clutched the ivy instead. He lurched down the cliff face, crashing and swinging from the tendril. Bramblestar fixed his hind claws into the gritty path and reached out with his front paws to take Purdy’s weight, guiding him to where he could stand. Purdy was stiff with fear, his eyes staring, but he let out a little snort of satisfaction when he felt his paws touch the rock.
Bramblestar thought it was too risky to expect him to climb down the path on his own. Instead he made Purdy keep hold of the ivy tendril and yowled instructions up to Lionblaze and Sandstorm, who lowered the old cat stage by stage until he reached the bottom of the cliff.
“We’re down!” Bramblestar called out to the cats at the top. But what do we do now?
“I’ll be fine,” Purdy meowed, shaking himself free from the ivy. “The hollow won’t fill right up. I’ll wait out the storm on the Highledge.”
“I’ll wait with him,” Briarlight meowed.
Millie moved closer to her daughter. “In that case, I’m staying too.”
Bramblestar looked at the water flowing into the camp through the thorn barrier. Already it was high enough to reach his flanks, and Briarlight was having to strain to keep her head above the surface. “No cat will be left behind,” he growled.
“Then what are we going to do?” Millie hissed, her eyes wild with fear.
Bramblestar spotted a branch bobbing past in the floodwater, and a plan began to form in his mind. “To start with,” he told Millie, “I want you and Leafpool to climb the cliff. Then I’ll know you’re safe.”
Millie stared at him in disbelief. “Have you got bees in your brain? I’m not leaving Briarlight!”
Bramblestar clenched his teeth on a sharp reply. He understood Millie’s anxiety for her daughter, but she wasn’t helping. To his relief, Leafpool stepped forward and curled her tail around Millie’s shoulder. “Come on,” she urged kindly. “Briarlight will be fine. You can trust Bramblestar.”
I hope she’s right, Bramblestar thought.
“It’s okay,” Briarlight mewed. “Go with Leafpool. I’ll see you at the top of the cliff.”