From up here, he could look out at the whole lake and the land beyond. For a moment he swayed on his paws. The forest was a wreck of swirling water and floating debris. Water reflecting the pale gray sky had risen up the sides of the hill and spilled over the far shore, swallowing up the fields as far as Bramblestar could see.
RiverClan has been completely flooded! he thought, every hair on his pelt rising in horror. WindClan should be okay, he added to himself as his gaze swept around to take in the moor. Their camp is pretty high up. His belly lurched when he turned to look out across ShadowClan territory. The flat area of pines was waterlogged, with only the top halves of the trees sticking up above the flood.
“This is terrible!” Birchfall gasped, padding up behind Bramblestar. “What has happened to the other Clans?”
“We need to worry about our own Clan first,” Bramblestar replied. We’re in no state to help any other cats.
More warriors emerged from the shelter of the tree and studied the devastation with looks of stunned disbelief. Bramblestar beckoned to some of them with his tail. “I want a patrol to come down with me and check out the hollow,” he meowed. “Cloudtail, Brightheart, Cherryfall—and you too, Birchfall.”
With the cats he had named squelching after him through the muddy grass, Bramblestar led the way down the slope to a point on the cliff top where they could get a good view of the whole camp. His heart lurched when he looked over the edge. All that was left of the ThunderClan camp was a pool of gray water that stretched halfway up the cliff. There was no sign of the clearing, or the dens, or even the Highledge. Our home is gone!
“Great StarClan!” Cloudtail whispered beside him. “What are we going to do now?”
Chapter 9
“We can’t shelter under this tree forever,” Bramblestar announced. “We need to find somewhere to make a temporary camp.”
When the patrol had returned from the flooded hollow, Bramblestar had called a Clan meeting. To his surprise, his Clan seemed undaunted by the challenge of finding a new home.
“What about the old Twoleg nest?” Blossomfall suggested.
Bramblestar shook his head. “It’s lower than the hollow,” he replied. “It’ll be flooded.”
“Why don’t we use the tunnels?” Ivypool meowed.
Bramblestar heard a sharp intake of breath from Lionblaze, and remembered how the golden tabby warrior had once been trapped when the tunnels flooded. Other cats were exchanging nervous glances. But remembering his own vague knowledge of the tunnels from Hollyleaf’s training and the battle with WindClan, Bramblestar thought the idea had possibilities. It’s probably the best we can do.
“Good thinking, Ivypool,” he meowed. “And no cat needs to worry about getting lost or trapped by rising water. We’ll stay well away from the cavern where the underground river flows.”
His Clanmates started talking to one another, raising their voices to be heard above the clashing of the branches overhead. To Bramblestar’s dismay, the lull in the storm was over. The rain had started again and the wind was growing stronger. Heavy drops of rain penetrated the branches of the beech tree, soaking fur that had begun to dry out.
“I don’t care where we go,” Berrynose declared. “I just want somewhere out of the wet!”
Bramblestar ordered Lionblaze and Cinderheart to take the Clan to the tunnel entrance on the hillside above the cliffs.
Squirrelflight gathered the apprentices together and spoke in a low voice. “I want you all to look after Purdy,” she told them. “He’s had a tough time and he must be feeling sore and tired. But for StarClan’s sake, don’t let him know that you’re helping him.”
Lilypaw nodded, looking thoughtful. “I know! We’ll ask him to help us.” She pattered over to Purdy. “We’re scared about going into the tunnels,” she mewed to the old cat. “Will you stay with us?”
“Sure, young ’un.” Purdy heaved himself to his paws. “Nothin’ to be scared of when you’re with me.”
He stumbled off after Lionblaze and Cinderheart with all the apprentices clustered around him.
Squirrelflight glanced at Bramblestar with a smug flick of her whiskers. “Easy…” she murmured.
Bramblestar blinked gratefully at her, then turned to Dovewing. “Can you guide Jayfeather?” he asked her.
“Sure.”
“I can guide myself, thanks,” Jayfeather cut in with a snort.
“No, you can’t.” Bramblestar stood over the scrawny medicine cat. “Jayfeather, there may be a time when it helps for you to be an uncooperative furball, but this isn’t it. The whole forest has changed because of the wind. There are fallen trees, branches scattered everywhere… Just let Dovewing help you, and put up with it.”
Jayfeather sighed. “Yes, O great Clan leader.”
Leaving Dovewing to cope with him, Bramblestar went to look for Briarlight. He found her near the trunk of the beech tree with Millie and Graystripe. “Up you come,” he meowed, crouching down so that she could climb onto his back. “We’ll soon have you somewhere dry.”
“I’m giving you so much trouble,” Briarlight murmured as Graystripe helped her onto Bramblestar’s shoulders.
“No, you’re not,” Millie purred, though her eyes were worried. Bramblestar guessed that she was bothered by her daughter’s depressed mood.
“You’re doing me a favor, actually,” he told Briarlight. “You’ll keep the rain off my back while you’re up there. And you’re no heavier than a good-sized squirrel!”
That wasn’t entirely true, he thought as he plodded up the hillside. Briarlight’s weight pressed down on his shoulders, making it hard to force a way through the tangled undergrowth. The rest of the cats followed in a miserable line, their heads down and their tails trailing in the mud while the howling wind swept their fur backward.
When they reached the entrance to the tunnels, half-hidden behind an outcrop of rocks, the cats clustered around, waiting for their turn to squeeze inside. Though the dark hole looked forbidding, they were all eager to get out of the storm.
“Wow, this is so weird!” Amberpaw exclaimed as she padded a couple of tail-lengths down the tunnel. “You said Hollyleaf lived down here? Did she really?” she asked Spiderleg.
Her mentor nodded. “She did, for several moons. None of us knew she was here.”
“And you fought WindClan here?” Dewpaw added. “How did you see anything?”
“What happened if you got lost?” Snowpaw shuddered, though Bramblestar thought he was enjoying the adventure. “What if you never found your way out?”
“That’s enough,” Whitewing meowed. “You can’t stand here chattering all day.”
“Yes, you’re blocking the tunnel,” Ivypool hissed. “Cats are waiting out in the rain.”
“Sorry,” Seedpaw mewed, nudging the younger apprentices ahead of her. “They’re still kits, really,” she added to Ivypool.
“Kit yourself!” Amberpaw retorted.
“Let’s explore,” Dewpaw urged. “I want to see everything. Come on, Purdy.”
“Don’t go far!” Ivypool called after them.