“I don’t know.”
Hawkpaw blinked in surprise. I thought Ebonyclaw knew everything, even if she is just a daylight warrior! “Do you think there’s some new kind of animal near the gorge?” he asked, trying not to let his voice quiver with the sudden apprehension he felt.
“There could be,” Ebonyclaw replied. “I’ve picked up this scent once or twice before, near the place where my Twolegs put their rubbish, but this is the first time I’ve caught it on our territory.”
“What are we going to do?”
Ebonyclaw’s ears twitched. “Nothing, for now. You can’t fight a scent. But we’ll report it to Leafstar, and tell all the others to be on the lookout for a strange animal. You never know—it might not be dangerous.”
Stinking like that, it can’t be good! Hawkpaw was drawing in more of the tainted air, trying to commit the scent to memory, when he noticed another smell, something strange and bitter, that made his nose wrinkle. Glancing at Ebonyclaw, he saw that she had her ears perked up and her nose stuck in the air.
“What’s that? Another animal?” he asked.
Ebonyclaw shook her head. “I think it’s fire, but I hope it isn’t.” She sniffed the air again. “It must be coming from the Twolegplace. They’re such mouse-brains, they always like to start fires to stick their food into. We should go check it out to make sure they have it under control. Follow me.”
Anxiety fluttered in Hawkpaw’s belly like a whole nestful of birds. That’s where Duskpaw and the others went! Will they still be there? Surely they would have left by now… right?
Hawkpaw had never seen fire before, but he had heard enough stories from the elders to know that it could be a serious threat.
“Will it reach the camp?” he asked, padding alongside Ebonyclaw as her paws turned purposefully toward the Twolegplace.
“Probably not,” Ebonyclaw reassured him. “The Twolegplace is quite a way from the gorge. But the scent is quite strong, so it’s best to make sure that we’ll all be safe.”
As they emerged from the bushes, Ebonyclaw picked up the pace until she and Hawkpaw were racing across the stretch of dry grass that separated their territory from the Twolegplace. The scent grew stronger with every paw step, and Hawkpaw’s flutter of fear grew stronger too.
I really hope Duskpaw has gone back to camp!
To his surprise, Hawkpaw spotted movement in the grass and realized that small creatures—mice and shrews—were pelting through the stems toward them, away from the source of the smell.
One mouse practically ran into his paws, then veered away at the last moment.
Hawkpaw’s jaws watered. “Hey, look, Ebonyclaw,” he mewed.
“Easy prey!”
“There’ll be time for hunting later,” Ebonyclaw told him, racing on without a pause. “Right now we have to make sure that everything’s safe for our Clan.”
As they drew close to the Twoleg greenplace, the air grew thick with a gray swirl that billowed around the two cats. The acrid scent was overwhelming, catching Hawkpaw in the throat so that he had to cough.
“Stay back,” Ebonyclaw warned him.
At the heart of the gray swirl, Hawkpaw could just make out a red glow that began to grow as he watched it, reaching up into separate licking tongues. He stared at the scarlet flames as they spat out gray puffs of air. They seemed to be feeding like some greedy animal on a kind of Twoleg rock made from flat sticks.
Hawkpaw had sometimes seen Twolegs sitting on it with their kits, eating the weird food Duskpaw was so crazy about. Now the fire blazed up, crackling orange sparks leaping up into the low-hanging branches of a tree.
Duskpaw, Cloudpaw! he thought, gazing around in terror as he looked for his littermates.
But there was no sign of them. They must have left by now, Hawkpaw reminded himself. I wish I could leave, too!
The gray air was making his eyes sting, and his lungs burned with every breath he took. “Ebonyclaw, can we—” he began.
Suddenly the gray air swirled again. The wind shifted, blowing harder from the Twolegplace. The fire surged, and the low-hanging tree branches burst into flame. For a few heartbeats they blazed, then with a loud crackle the lowest branch fell right next to the burning Twoleg rock.
Ebonyclaw let out a gasp, and pushed Hawkpaw back. Every muscle in Hawkpaw’s body tensed. He had never heard a warrior sound so terrified before, let alone his own mentor.
But Ebonyclaw’s gasp was instantly drowned out by the sound of terrified yowling from beneath the Twoleg rock. It was hard to hear over the rushing and crackling sounds of the fire, but the yowling sounded dreadfully familiar to Hawkpaw.
“StarClan, no! There are apprentices in there!” Ebonyclaw screeched.
Oh, no! Hawkpaw felt as if his belly was dropping out. His littermates were still there—and in grave danger. Duskpaw…
Cloudpaw!
“Stay back!” Ebonyclaw snapped, then raced toward the fire and smoke, her belly fur brushing the grass and her tail streaming out behind her.
Hawkpaw crouched, staring at her, his claws digging hard into the ground. The shrieking came again, louder than before, and now he could make out separate voices. Duskpaw, Cloudpaw, and Pebblepaw are all in there!
Ignoring Ebonyclaw’s order, Hawkpaw sprang forward and hurled himself toward the blaze. “I’m coming!” he yowled.
As the smoke thickened around him, Hawkpaw found it hard to see what was going on. The gray tendrils stung his eyes and caught him in the throat. Coughing, he groped his way forward until he spotted Cloudpaw trapped between the burning branch and the Twoleg rock. A heartbeat later he managed to make out Pebblepaw crouching underneath the strange rock, while Duskpaw scrabbled on the ground at the far side of the blazing branch.
Guilt flowed over Hawkpaw, hotter than the flames. I wanted Duskpaw to get into trouble—just a bit—but not for something like this to happen!
Then Ebonyclaw appeared through the smoke, fighting her way to Cloudpaw’s side. Hawkpaw froze for a moment. Do I try to help Duskpaw, or Pebblepaw?
Pebblepaw seemed to be in more danger. Flames had burned through parts of the Twoleg rock, and pieces were starting to fall off; Pebblepaw cringed away from them, letting out a wail of terror.
Beyond her, Duskpaw was still scrabbling around as if he was trying to get to Pebblepaw. He yowled something. Hawkpaw couldn’t hear the words through the roaring of the fire, but when he saw his brother turn his head, he understood.
He wants me to help Pebblepaw.
It did look like Pebblepaw was in more danger—but Duskpaw was his kin. I wish I could ask Ebonyclaw for advice, but she’s busy saving Cloudpaw!
Hawkpaw thought he had been standing motionless for moons, but it couldn’t have been more than a few heartbeats before he flung himself through the flames toward Pebblepaw. All his instincts were telling him to run for safety in the other direction; burning grass scorched his paws and hot sparks landed on his pelt.
But he kept going until he reached Pebblepaw and grabbed her by her scruff.
“This way, furball!” he growled through a mouthful of her fur as he dragged her away from the fire and onto a clear patch of grass.
Ebonyclaw approached as Hawkpaw let Pebblepaw flop to the ground, pushing Cloudpaw in front of her.
But where’s Duskpaw? Hawkpaw couldn’t understand why his brother hadn’t followed them out of the blaze.