The young cat’s blue eyes stretched wide. “I will get taller, won’t I?”
Appledusk purred. “Of course you will, but you still need to learn how to jump.”
“Why don’t I spring at you to show him how it’s done?” asked a voice. An orange she-cat slipped into the clearing. Mapleshade’s hackles bristled. Can’t Reedshine let Appledusk do anything on his own?
Appledusk went to meet his Clanmate and rubbed his cheek against hers. “I’m not letting you do anything,” he mewed. “Think of our kits!”
Reedshine glanced at her belly, barely swollen beneath her pelt. “I’m not sick!” she protested.
“I know you’re not,” meowed Appledusk. “But our kits are too precious to risk Perchpaw injuring you by mistake!”
Mapleshade gripped the branch so tightly that two of her claws snapped off. She barely noticed the jolt of pain. How could Reedshine be expecting kits already? How many lies had Appledusk told?
She bunched her quarters beneath her, ready to leap down the moment Reedshine and Perchpaw left Appledusk alone, but the three cats moved off together with Perchpaw earnestly discussing battle tactics.
Mapleshade crouched in the tree and seethed with rage. A cold wet figure pressed against her flank, screeching for help. Mapleshade tried to curl her tail around her last remaining kit, but there was nothing but empty air beside her. She was dimly aware of being hungry and thirsty, and exhausted after her trek through the night, but nothing mattered now except taking revenge on the cat who had destroyed her world. She would wait here for as long as she had to—for the rest of her life, if it meant she could finally silence Patchkit’s wails.
She must have dozed, because she woke with a start much later when the air was filled with misty rain and the ferns were filling up with shadows. Something was approaching through the undergrowth.
Mapleshade stiffened, wondering if StarClan would bring Appledusk to her twice in one day. Then a bundle of fur blundered into the clearing and skidded to a halt at the foot of the tree.
“Take that, ThunderClan mouse-dung!” Perchpaw squealed, slapping his paw down onto a twig.
As the twig snapped, he spun around, ears flattened. “Creep up on me, would you? You’re as fox-hearted as your Clanmate!” He lurched forward and crushed a large clump of moss. Then he straightened up and looked down at his enemy. “Oops. I could have taken that back to the elders’ den.
I’ll look for some more.”
He trotted toward Mapleshade’s tree, peering at the roots. Mapleshade let go of the branch and plummeted straight down onto the apprentice’s back, knocking him to the ground with an oof. Before Perchpaw could figure out what was happening, Mapleshade grabbed his scruff in her teeth and hauled him past the tree, across the border. Her eyes bulged with the effort; the fat apprentice weighed more than a badger!
Perchpaw yowled and thrashed but Mapleshade sank her teeth farther into his pelt until he stopped struggling. “Who are you? What do you want?” he growled.
Mapleshade placed one paw heavily on his shoulders and snarled, “Keep still or I’ll rip your throat out.”
Perchpaw blinked. “I’m a RiverClan warrior! Let me go!”
“No you’re not,” Mapleshade hissed. “You’re a stupid apprentice. It’s all right, I’m not interested in killing you. I only want you as bait.”
When Perchpaw tried to speak, she forced his face into the ground, muffling his protests. Then she squatted down, resting most of her bulk on his haunches, and waited.
“Perchpaw! Perchpaw, where are you?”
Mapleshade almost purred. A moment later, Appledusk trotted into the clearing, his eyes troubled.
“Why can’t you do what you’re told for once?” he complained, looking around. “If I find out you’ve been practicing battle moves instead of collecting moss, you’re going to be in big trouble, Perchpaw!”
Mapleshade gripped Perchpaw’s neck fur in her teeth and dragged him out from behind the tree.
She let the apprentice fall to the ground. “Is this what you’re looking for, Appledusk?”
The warrior stared at her in horror. “You were told to leave our territory!”
Mapleshade twitched the tip of her tail. “And you thought I would? You’re more mouse-brained than I thought. You killed our kits, and now you must pay.”
Appledusk bared his teeth. “What are you talking about? You killed our kits, making them cross the river. Let Perchpaw go and get out of here before I call for a patrol.”
Mapleshade jumped over Perchpaw and stood in front of the brown warrior, pelt bristling, paws planted firmly. “You can have that useless lump of fur back,” she snarled. “But you’ll have to fight me first.”
Chapter 9
Appledusk took a step back. His eyes clouded and he suddenly looked weary. “Mapleshade, I don’t want to fight you,” he meowed.
“I’m not giving you a choice!” Mapleshade hissed. She bunched her hindquarters beneath her and lunged at him.
Appledusk dodged away. “Just leave!” he gasped.
There was a crackle of stalks behind him and Reedshine appeared. “What’s going on?” Her gaze fell on Mapleshade. “What’s she doing here?”
Half-blind with fury, Mapleshade hurled herself at the orange she-cat. “You and your kits must die!” she screeched. “Appledusk is mine!” She unsheathed her claws, aiming for Reedshine’s face.
There was a thud of paws, then silence, and a solid brown shape flashed in front of Mapleshade.
Her claws struck home, piercing fur and flesh, and a spurt of blood leaped out at her. With a grunt, Appledusk dropped at her feet, blood pouring from his throat.
In the same moment, a heavy weight struck Mapleshade from behind. Perchpaw gripped her with his paws and bit down hard on her neck. Mapleshade staggered forward and almost fell. Perchpaw slid off her back. Mapleshade could feel him trembling against her flank; then she realized that she was the one shaking. Why? I’m not frightened.
“He’s dead!” Reedshine shrieked, crouching beside Appledusk. She stared up at Mapleshade, her horrified eyes ringed with white. “You killed him!”
Mapleshade tried to take a step forward but her legs felt strangely heavy and her vision was blurred. Is it raining? she wondered. Something hot and wet spilled down her front legs, and there was a dull ache behind her ears. She shook her head and bright red droplets spattered the ground like tiny fallen leaves.
Something small and ginger and white stirred beside Appledusk’s unmoving body. “You killed him, Mama!” shrilled Patchkit. His little tail was held high with triumph. “We are all free now!” He started to fade against his father’s light brown fur.
Mapleshade stumbled toward her son. “Wait!” she gasped. “Don’t leave me!”
Reedshine rose up from behind Appledusk and hissed at Mapleshade. “Don’t come any closer!
What you have done here is more terrible than anything a Clan cat has done before. But you have not won, Mapleshade. Appledusk will live on in his kits, and in their kits, and their kits in turn. His spirit will not die. He will be part of RiverClan forever!”
Mapleshade swayed, feeling the soil sticky beneath her paws. “Then I will watch over all your kin and punish each one for what you did to me,” she rasped. “My vengeance is not finished yet. It will never be finished!”
She lurched toward the bushes behind the willow tree. She dimly heard Perchpaw start to follow her, but Reedshine called him back. “She has done enough harm,” Mapleshade heard her mew. “Let her crawl away to die alone.”