Lionblaze noticed Dovepaw stiffen. “It’s just the wind,” he murmured.
She shook her head, her eyes widening. “There’s something else.”
Lionblaze leaned closer. He recognized the distant look in her eyes. “What?”
“A sucking noise.” Fear lit her gaze. “Roots.” Her breath quickened. “Roots coming out of the ground.” She stared directly at Lionblaze. “A tree is falling. One of the trees at the top of the hollow.” Her shrill mew echoed around the cave. “Clear the camp!”
Firestar was on his paws in a moment. “Is it true?” he asked Lionblaze.
“It’s true.” Lionblaze had no doubt that Dovepaw was describing something real. “We’ve got to get everyone out.”
He pelted out of the cave, taking the rockfall in three bounds. “Everyone leave the camp!” he screeched. The wind howled around him, almost drowning his words.
Faces peeped out from the den entrances. Dustpelt and Brightheart, who had been picking through the fresh-kill pile, spun around.
“What’s going on?” Alarm filled Dustpelt’s call.
“A tree is falling!” Lionblaze stared up at the rim of the hollow, trying to spot the tree that was losing its grip on the rain-drenched earth. The whole forest was swaying in the gale. It was impossible to tell if one was about to crash down onto the camp. “Clear the dens!”
Brambleclaw skidded from the warriors’ den as Firestar scrambled down the rocks from Highledge. “You heard him!” Firestar yowled. “Clear the camp!”
Brambleclaw headed straight for the nursery.
Firestar nodded to Dustpelt. “Apprentices’ den.” He turned to Brightheart. “Elders’ den.”
Jayfeather raced over the clearing. “The medicine den’s empty.”
“Double-check it!” Firestar ordered. He turned to Lionblaze. “You check the warriors’ den; I’ll check the rest of the camp.” The ThunderClan leader pelted past the warriors’ den as warriors began to stream out.
Lionblaze pushed his way in between Thornclaw, Foxleap, and Toadstep as they crowded through the entrance, ripping it wide in their rush to escape. Frantically he began searching the dark thornbush. “Hurry up!” he snapped at Cloudtail, who was stretching in his nest.
The white warrior blinked sleepily at him. “What’s happening?”
“Just go!” Lionblaze ordered. “Get every cat out of camp!”
He weaved through the nests, reassuring himself that each one was empty, then darted outside. The Clan was bunched together at the entrance to the tunnel through the barrier of thorns.
Brambleclaw stood at the nursery entrance, pulling Ferncloud by the scruff as she squeezed through the brambles after Daisy. He ducked inside, then hopped out. “Nursery clear!”
Poppyfrost was running for the tunnel with Molekit swinging in her jaws. Cherrykit sprawled on the ground behind her, wailing, her eyes glazed in terror. Daisy scooped her up and headed after Poppyfrost.
“Apprentices’ den clear!” Dustpelt’s yowl rang across the clearing.
“Warriors’ den empty!” Lionblaze called.
“No one in the medicine den!” Jayfeather’s fur was barbed with prickers from the brambly entrance.
Firestar emerged from behind the nursery. “Perimeter clear!” He charged over to Brambleclaw, who was guiding his Clanmates through the barrier. “Slow down!” he ordered as Rosepetal slipped and Brackenfur tripped over her.
Lionblaze glanced at the elders’ den. Brightheart hadn’t made her report yet.
Purdy was plucking anxiously at the ground outside the entrance. “Hurry up!” he hissed through the honeysuckle.
Why were they dawdling?
“Dovepaw!” Lionblaze caught sight of his apprentice. She was circling the clearing, staring up at the rim of the hollow. “Which tree is it?” he demanded.
“I don’t know!” Terror filled her mew. “I can hear its roots slipping through the earth. It’s the rain. Too much rain! It’s loosened the roots!”
Ivypaw paused beside the halfrock and stared at her sister, bewildered. “Get out of the camp!”
“I can’t go till I’m sure!”
Ivypaw blinked. “Sure of what?”
“Which one is falling!”
“Why in the name of StarClan do you need to know?”
Lionblaze lashed his tail. “It doesn’t matter which one!” he screeched. “Just get out of the hollow! Both of you!”
As the two apprentices scooted from the clearing, he turned back to the elders’ den. Still no sign of Longtail, Brightheart, or Mousefur. He pelted for the den, skidding past Purdy, and ducked inside. “What’s going on?”
Brightheart was staring in panic at Mousefur.
Mousefur glared back at her indignantly. “If I leave my bed, the moss will get wet!”
Longtail was thrusting his muzzle under his denmate’s flank. “Just get up!” he urged. “We’ll get dry moss when we come back.”
“Where are we going to find dry moss?” Mousefur objected. “It’s been raining all moon!”
Fury surged through Lionblaze. “Get out!” His order barked like cracking wood, and Mousefur jumped to her paws, gazing at him in shock.
“Get out!” he repeated, unsheathing his claws. He wasn’t going to let this stubborn old cat die for the sake of a dry bed!
Brightheart rolled her eyes thankfully as Mousefur headed for the entrance. She nudged Longtail, herding them both through the trailing honeysuckle and into the clearing.
Lionblaze darted after them. The camp was empty apart from the elders hobbling across the clearing. He stared around the top of the hollow, wondering again which tree was falling, praying that Dovepaw had overreacted, though his gut told him she was right.
As Brightheart and Purdy steered Longtail and Mousefur through the tunnel, Firestar and Brambleclaw barged back in. Dovepaw slid in after them, her fur on end.
“Is the camp clear?” Firestar demanded.
Lionblaze nodded.
Brambleclaw darted from one den to another, poking his head in.
Dovepaw’s ears were pricked. “It’s clear,” she assured them.
“Come on, then,” Firestar ordered. “Let’s join the Clan. They’re sheltering along the gully on the way to the lake.” He glanced at Dovepaw. “You’re sure they’ll be safe there?”
Dovepaw was looking up to the top of the cliff that overhung Highledge. “It’s falling!” she whispered.
She knows which tree it is. Lionblaze followed her gaze to a tall beech that still had nearly all its leaves. He could see the danger clearly now. The wind kept tearing at the tree’s heavy branches as it began to slip from the earth and slide toward the rim of the hollow.
“Come on!” Firestar insisted. He prodded Dovepaw toward the entrance. Lionblaze ran across the clearing and followed her out, Brambleclaw and Firestar on his tail. As he ran, Lionblaze glimpsed the pelts of his Clanmates through the trees, huddling in the gully several tree-lengths from the entrance to the hollow. Then he spotted Mousefur stumbling toward him. She was trying to dodge back into the camp.
Longtail stood in her way. “Leave the mouse! We can catch another.”
“I’m not wasting prey!” Mousefur growled. “It’s an insult to StarClan!”
“Then I’ll get it!”
Before Lionblaze could stop him, Longtail had darted back through the thorn barrier.
Briarpaw raced after him, a blur of dark brown fur. “Come back! It’s not safe!”
Lionblaze slowed to a halt and spun around. He pelted after Longtail and Briarpaw. “The tree’s going to fall!” he shrieked, tearing through the thorns in time to see Longtail and Briarpaw disappear into the elders’ den. “Get out!”