“She’s a spy!” Moth Flight snapped. “Clear Sky told her to watch Micah because he didn’t trust him.”
“That might be true.” Pebble Heart looked up. “But Micah taught her a lot. She knows more about healing than any other SkyClan cat. And she likes it. Besides—” He paused, avoiding her gaze. “I’ve had dreams about her healing her Clanmates.”
“You knew she’d become their medicine cat?” Outrage flared in Moth Flight’s belly. “Why didn’t you warn me?”
“I never knew,” Pebble Heart corrected her. “I have lots of dreams. They don’t all turn out to be visions.” He met her gaze steadily. “Seeing Acorn Fur giving herbs to sick cats isn’t the same as knowing Micah would die. Even if I’d guessed he would die, would you really have wanted to know?”
“I could have—”
He cut her off. “What? Changed his destiny? Loved him more?”
Moth Flight stared at him, wordless. If she had known, would she have done anything differently? Her time with Micah had been wonderful. Would she really have wanted the shadow of his death looming over those perfect days?
Pebble Heart’s mew softened. “I was worried you didn’t come to the Moonstone because you blamed StarClan for letting him die.”
She blinked at him. “I did blame them,” she admitted. “But that’s not why I didn’t go.”
“Do you still blame them?”
Moth Flight shook her head. “Even if they’d known his destiny, they might have been powerless to change it. And you’re right: What would I have done if I’d known?”
As she spoke, Pebble Heart’s gaze flicked past her shoulder.
She stiffened as she saw his hackles rise. Opening her mouth, she tasted the air. Cat scents were billowing behind her.
She turned, flattening her ears.
Two cats padded from among the trees.
“Moth Flight!” A plump black-and-white farm cat called out to her.
The brown tom at her side swished his tail. “We thought we’d never find you!”
“Cow!” Moth Flight hurried toward them, her heart quickening with delight. “Mouse!”
Cow’s gaze was rimmed with sadness. “We heard about Micah.”
Mouse’s tail drooped. “Did he suffer?”
Moth Flight stopped in her tracks, her mew catching in her throat as she remembered Micah’s last moments. “Not for long,” she managed to mew.
Cow weaved around her, her soft pelt brushing warmly against Moth Flight’s fur.
Mouse dipped his head to Pebble Heart. “I hope you don’t mind us coming,” he meowed. “We crossed the moor, looking for Micah. A cat named Gorse Fur told us about the accident.”
Cow held Moth Flight’s gaze, her eyes brimming with sadness. “He said you were with him at the end.”
Moth Flight wondered for a moment if they blamed her for taking Micah away. But Cow wrapped her tail over Moth
Flight’s spine, her gaze warm with sympathy. “It must have been hard for you.”
“At least I was with him.” Her throat tightened as she remembered. She swallowed back grief, noticing their dusty pelts. “You must be tired. It’s a long journey from the farm.”
Pebble Heart padded forward. “Come back to the camp and rest.” He glanced at the bunch of stems. “I need to get these back before they start to rot.”
Cow stared at the sodden bundle. “Why are you gathering wet nettles?”
Mouse glanced around the shadowy pine forest, puzzled.
“Isn’t there any prey here?”
“There’s plenty,” Pebble Heart purred. “I’m collecting nettles in case one of my Clanmates gets sick.”
Cow blinked. “Will stinging them help?”
Moth Flight’s whiskers twitched with amusement. “They don’t sting, now that we’ve soaked them. They’ll help soothe wounds and, if you eat them, they ease aching bones.”
“You seem a lot smarter than when we first met.” Cow winked at Pebble Heart. “She tried to cross a field while the farm dog was herding sheep.”
Moth Flight purred, remembering. “Micah saved me.”
Cow caught her eye. “You must miss him.”
“I do,” she answered huskily. “We were mates.”
Cow pressed her muzzle to Moth Flight’s cheek.
Pebble Heart flicked his tail toward brambles showing among the pines. “The camp’s not far.” He picked up one end of the grass stem between his teeth and began to drag the nettle bundle across the forest floor. Mouse hurried to grab the trailing end.
Cow fell in beside Moth Flight. “How long since Micah died?”
“A moon,” Moth Flight told her softly.
They walked on, sharing their grief in silence.
As they neared the camp, Raven Pelt padded from the entrance, tasting the air. His gaze flashed toward them, narrowing as he saw Mouse and Cow.
Moth Flight hurried to meet him. “They’re friends,” she explained. “They lived on the same farm as Micah.”
Tall Shadow slid out of camp, her nose twitching. “Do we have visitors?”
Cow dipped her head to the ShadowClan leader. “We came to see Moth Flight.”
“Come in and share some prey,” Tall Shadow told her. “It’s running well at the moment. There’s more than we can eat.”
She led Cow into camp, the scent of fresh-kill heavy in the air. Moth Flight and Raven Pelt followed at her heels, while Mouse and Pebble Heart dragged the nettles after them.
Three kits looked up from the long grass where Juniper
Branch was resting.
The biggest, a black tom with an orange tail, blinked at them. “Look, Dusk Nose!” He nudged the she-kit beside him.
“Visitors!” He dashed across the clearing.
Dusk Nose, a black-and-orange tortoiseshell, followed.
“Who are you?” she called to Cow.
“Are you a Clan cat?” Another tom-kit hurried after them, his dappled brown pelt perfectly camouflaged against the shady forest floor.
Moth Flight purred. “This is Cow,” she explained. “She and Mouse were friends of Micah.”
“I’m Dangling Leaf.” The orange-tailed tom scrambled to a halt in front of Cow.
“I’m Dusk Nose,” his sister mewed.
The dappled brown tom stopped beside them. “I’m Shade
Pelt.”
Dangling Leaf tipped his head. “Do you know Micah’s dead?” he asked Cow.
Moth Flight flinched, but Cow returned his inquisitive gaze steadily. “Yes.”
Dusk Nose nudged her brother. “You can’t ask questions like that, Shade Pelt. It’s rude.”
“Raven Pelt says we can ask anything we like,” Dangling Leaf mewed back.
Shade Pelt sniffed. “He also says we have to know when to be quiet, or we’ll never be good hunters.” He blinked at Moth
Flight. “Do you mind us talking about Micah?”
Moth Flight ignored the sadness pricking in her chest. “No.”
It wouldn’t change anything to pretend Micah had never existed. It wouldn’t hurt any less.
Dangling Leaf was still staring at Cow. “Why did you come, if Micah’s dead?”
“We came to see Moth Flight,” Cow told him.
Dusk Nose lifted her chin. “Are you her friends too?”
“Yes.” Cow gazed around the camp. “This looks very cozy.”
Behind them, Mouse was helping Pebble Heart hoist the nettle stems high into the bramble wall of the camp to drain.
The nettles dangled from the prickly branches and dripped muddy water onto the ground.
“I have my own den,” Moth Flight told her.
“You’ve got Sun Shadow’s den,” Shade Pelt corrected her.
Moth Flight shifted her paws. “That’s true. Sun Shadow’s letting me use his den until I go home.”
Cow blinked at her. “Isn’t this your home?”