Moth Flight faced the tom. “What has he done?”
“He keeps sending hunting patrols onto our land!” Jagged Peak bristled.
Wind Runner growled. “Willow Tail and Jagged Peak found more rabbit remains on the border this morning.”
“Willow Tail spends too much time checking borders,” Moth
Flight snapped. “She should be hunting for her Clan, not searching for gossip.”
Wind Runner flattened her ears. “Prey theft is more than gossip!”
Acorn Fur’s tail twitched crossly. “Clear Sky hasn’t sent hunting patrols!”
Jagged Peak curled his lip. “Then why do we keep finding signs of fresh-kill on the moor?”
Acorn Fur stood her ground. “How do you know SkyClan left them?”
Moth Flight’s paw prickled with anger. What a dumb argument! Greenleaf was only just beginning. No cat was hungry. Who cared whether prey was left on one side of a border or another? She glared at Wind Runner. “This has nothing to do with Dappled Pelt and Acorn Fur!” she snapped.
“They are medicine cats, not hunters.” Blue Whisker scrambled across the clearing. “Moth Flight!” she mewed as she reached her mother. “Why does Wind Runner look so cross?”
Jagged Peak glared at Acorn Fur. “Because SkyClan cats are thieves and liars.”
Blue Whisker looked at Jagged Peak with round, anxious eyes. “Micah was a SkyClan cat. Did he lie too?”
Jagged Peak stared at the kit, his pelt rippling uneasily. “I never knew him,” he mumbled.
Wind Runner shifted her paws. “Perhaps we should save this discussion for another time.”
“Perhaps we should not have it at all!” Moth Flight snapped.
She dipped her head to Acorn Fur and Dappled Pelt. “I’m sorry about my Clanmates. They think borders are worth fighting over.” She glanced at Blue Whisker. “Go back to Slate, dear. I have to speak with our visitors.”
Blue Whisker blinked at her mother. “Will you be long?”
“No,” Moth Flight promised. She guided Dappled Pelt and Acorn Fur toward the stones beside the entrance. She could feel
Jagged Peak’s gaze burning into her pelt. “Is something wrong?” She lowered her voice as they reached the rocks.
“Nothing,” Dappled Pelt assured her. The tortoiseshell’s gaze drifted after Blue Whisker as she scrambled down into the sandy hollow beside her brother. “Your kits are beautiful.”
Moth Flight followed her gaze, her heart swelling. Beside the hollow, Bubbling Stream was still urging Storm Pelt to go faster. “They remind me so much of Micah.”
“They have his spirit.”
Acorn Fur’s words surprised her. “What do you know about Micah’s spirit?” Moth Flight questioned.
Acorn Fur dropped her gaze, flinching as though Moth
Flight had raked her muzzle. “I worked with him,” she mewed quietly. “He was my friend and I miss him.”
“We all miss him,” Moth Flight snapped pointedly. Jealousy bristled through her pelt.
“He spoke about you all the time.” Acorn Fur lifted her gaze cautiously. “He loved you very much. I’m sorry that you lost him.”
Moth Flight blinked, surprised by the warmth in Acorn Fur’s mew. It’s too late to be nice! She wasn’t going to forgive the SkyClan cat so easily. “You spied on him!”
Dappled Pelt’s tail flicked uneasily. “Moth Flight, I think you’re being unfair—”
Acorn Fur interrupted. “You’re right. Clear Sky ordered me to watch him. But I knew, after the first day, that Micah could be trusted. He cared about his Clanmates right from the start. I enjoyed working with him. And I loved helping. One time, Blossom got a thorn in her paw. It was really deep. Micah had to dig around for ages to get it out. He talked to her the whole time, distracting her with jokes and stories of when he was a farm cat. He showed me that there was more to being a medicine cat than learning herbs. You don’t just care about the wound; you must care about the cat.” Her eyes rounded. “He said that’s why StarClan chose you. Because you always knew that better than anyone.”
Moth Flight stared at her. She suddenly understood why
Micah had liked Acorn Fur so much. She was kind and honest and open. Moth Flight dropped her gaze, her pelt prickling with guilt. How could she have judged Acorn Fur so harshly? She hardly knew her. “Thank you,” she murmured.
Dappled Pelt glanced to where Wind Runner and Jagged Peak were crouched beside the camp wall, watching their visitors through slitted eyes. “We came here for a reason,” she mewed. “Acorn Fur has learned all she can from me and Cloud
Spots. Pebble Heart has shared all he knows. Now it’s your turn to train her, just as we trained you.”
Moth Flight’s ear twitched nervously. “But I have kits now.”
“You’re still a medicine cat,” Dappled Pelt reminded her.
She glanced back at the kits. They were playing happily with their Clanmates, Slate watching them fondly. “It looks like there are plenty of cats to take care of them while you’re busy.”
Worry jabbed Moth Flight’s belly. “I need to take care of them. They don’t have a father.”
Acorn Fur shifted her paws before she spoke. “Micah wants you to train me.”
Surprise rippled along Moth Flight’s spine. Someone is coming to visit you. Micah’s words echoed in her mind. You must help her. I’m depending on you. He’d meant Acorn Fur!
“How do you know?” she demanded.
“I dreamed about him,” Acorn Fur told her. “He told me to come to you and that you would teach me all I needed to learn.”
Moth Flight blinked at her. Acorn Fur must be SkyClan’s rightful medicine cat if StarClan visited her dreams. “But what about Wind Runner and Clear Sky? Will they want a WindClan cat training a SkyClan cat?”
Acorn Fur shrugged. “They don’t need to know.”
Dappled Pelt nodded. “They don’t understand the bond between us. They are hunters, not healers. They only understand prey.”
Moth Flight dipped her head. Micah wanted her to train Acorn Fur, and he was part of StarClan now. She couldn’t go against StarClan’s wishes. And she didn’t want to disappoint Micah. “Okay.” She glanced longingly at her kits. Blue Whisker had returned to Slate’s side and curled up against her. Bubbling Stream had slid off Storm Pelt’s back and was helping Spider Paw catch imaginary prey in the sandy hollow. Honey Pelt was chasing White Tail toward another gap in the heather wall. They could manage without her for a while. “We might as well start now.”
“Where have you been?”
Wind Runner’s accusing mew took Moth Flight by surprise as she padded into camp. The sun was sinking toward the horizon and shooting long shadows across the clearing.
Moth Flight dropped the bundle of comfrey she’d gathered.
“Training Acorn Fur.” I’m not going to lie about it.
“Why you?” Wind Runner’s hackles lifted. “Surely you understand that SkyClan cats are no longer our friends.”
“Why not?” Moth Flight demanded.
“They’ve been stealing our prey.” Wind Runner narrowed her eyes. “And I’m sending patrols across their border to hunt.”
“What?” Moth Flight stared at her. Did her mother want to cause a war?
Wind Runner lifted her chin stiffly. “It’s important that we show them they can’t steal from us without consequences.”
“Has anyone actually seen SkyClan stealing our prey?”
Moth Flight demanded.
“Willow Tail says she saw Red Claw carrying a rabbit over the border yesterday.”