Yesterday? Alderheart wondered. Sedgewhisker didn’t seem to be talking about Mistystar’s patrol just passing along the lakeshore. I didn’t know any cats had tried to visit Onestar. He pushed his curiosity aside for the moment, swallowing anger at the tabby she-cat’s hostile tone. “No,” he mewed. “We just want to pass over your territory to get to RiverClan.”
At his words, Sedgewhisker relaxed a little, though her companions, Leaftail and Oatclaw, still bristled with suspicion. Alderheart remembered that his Clanmates always spoke of Sedgewhisker as a reasonable cat; he was relieved that she was the one they had to deal with.
“Well—” she began.
“Don’t let them! It’s a ThunderClan trick!” Leaftail growled.
Sedgewhisker glanced over her shoulder at her Clanmate. “They’re medicine cats, mouse-brain!” Turning back to Alderheart and Mothwing, she added, “Okay, but put one paw more than three tail-lengths from the water and you might find yourself missing your ears.”
Alderheart and Mothwing both ignored the threat. “Thank you, Sedgewhisker,” Mothwing mewed with a polite dip of her head.
Alderheart could sense the eyes of the patrol boring into his back as he and Mothwing made their way along the lakeshore at the foot of the swell of moorland. “What did Sedgewhisker mean, ‘made it clear enough yesterday’?” he asked.
“I forgot you might not have heard,” Mothwing replied. “When Mistystar got back from RiverClan, she sent Mallownose and Petalfur to see Onestar and ask for his help. But a WindClan patrol turned them back at the border. Onestar doesn’t want to speak to any cat outside his own Clan.”
“That’s really weird,” Alderheart meowed. “When the rogues first arrived, Onestar was so keen to have them driven out. And now… things have only gotten worse, but he doesn’t seem bothered at all, whether they stay or go.”
Mothwing nodded agreement. “I heard how Darktail said something to Onestar in the first battle. I wonder what it was.”
“You and every cat in ThunderClan!” Alderheart responded. “It must have been catastrophic, to affect him like this.”
As he and Mothwing drew closer to the horseplace, Alderheart felt uneasy. It was bad enough in ThunderClan’s camp: Juniperclaw and Strikestone had arrived recently from ShadowClan, and with the additional warriors from RiverClan, all the cats were treading on one another’s tails. And all the newcomers were demanding help to get back their territory. Every cat was stunned that Darktail had invaded RiverClan. His power now extended over half the land around the lake.
Bramblestar had sent out extra patrols, afraid that the rogues could attack ThunderClan at any moment. So far there was no sign that Darktail was planning another invasion, but every cat knew that, sooner or later, it would come. And no cat knew where he was holding the prisoners or how they might be rescued, until Mothwing had come up with her idea.
If her idea even works…
“I’m sorry, Alderheart.” Mothwing broke the silence as if she had been following his thoughts. “I know this is a mouse-brained plan, but what else can we do?”
“You’re right,” Alderheart responded, pushing aside his misgivings. “We can’t let things go on as they are. Did you hear about Dawnpelt?”
Mothwing shook her head. “What about her?”
“Juniperclaw and Strikestone—you know, they’re Dawnpelt’s kits—came into our camp a few days ago. They asked to join Rowanstar and their other Clanmates, and they said that Dawnpelt was going to follow them, but she never showed.”
Mothwing gave Alderheart an uneasy glance. “That’s really worrying.”
“Juniperclaw and Strikestone don’t know what to do. They told us that things were really bad among the rogues, and they’re afraid that Darktail has done something to Dawnpelt.”
“That wouldn’t surprise me,” Mothwing mewed.
“It wouldn’t surprise any cat. I suppose Dawnpelt might have changed her mind about leaving, but I doubt it.”
“Then if we can get into the RiverClan camp,” Mothwing suggested, “we might keep a lookout for Dawnpelt, too. If she’s there, then at least we can reassure her kits that Darktail didn’t hurt her.”
And if she’s not there… Alderheart had a cold feeling in his belly when he thought about Dawnpelt. I’m sure something bad has happened to her.
He and Mothwing fell silent again as they passed the horseplace and padded along the stretch of marshland toward the RiverClan border. Glancing up toward the ridge, which Twigpaw had to have crossed on her journey to find the barn where SkyClan was sheltering, Alderheart thought of the other reason he felt tense from his whiskers to his tail-tip.
Dovewing, Tigerheart, and Molewhisker haven’t come back with news of her. A quarter moon is an awfully long time to travel to the barn and back.
Alderheart tried to convince himself that as long as the patrol was still out looking, there was still hope that Twigpaw was okay. But he couldn’t manage to banish his fear that he would never see the small apprentice again.
Passing the end of the tree-bridge that led to the island, Alderheart once more made an effort to thrust unwelcome thoughts away. It was time to concentrate on their mission.
When the two medicine cats reached the border, they discovered that the RiverClan scent markers were fading. Alderheart gagged on a mingled, unfamiliar scent, strong and sour, as if the cats who’d left it had never washed themselves since they were kitted. He knew that the reek must come from the rogues.
Are they nearby now? he wondered, his muscles tensing.
Mothwing wrinkled her nose and let out a huff of disgust. “Yuck! They’ve fouled the whole territory with their stink.”
Now she and Alderheart trod warily, taking advantage of the cover that every bush and tuft of long grass offered them.
“It’s weird,” Alderheart murmured as they paused to rest in a dip in the ground. “Before the battle, a RiverClan patrol would have met us long before now. But we haven’t seen a whisker of the rogues.”
Mothwing flicked her ears in agreement. “I don’t like the silence,” she whispered. “But maybe it means Darktail doesn’t have enough cats to patrol regularly. After all, he’s trying to hold two territories now.”
The two cats continued, growing even more cautious as they began to hear the gurgle of running water not far ahead: the stream at the edge of the RiverClan camp. The reek of rogue scent was in the air, growing stronger with every paw step they took.
To Alderheart’s surprise, he and Mothwing reached the bank of the stream without meeting any of the enemy cats. But as soon as they set paw in the water and began to cross, three heads appeared over the top of the opposite bank, and three cats came bounding down to the water’s edge, where they stood waiting for the medicine cats.
Alderheart couldn’t help his heart thumping harder in his chest when he saw that one of the cats was Needletail. Instinctively, he lifted a paw in greeting and stepped forward to meet her. Then he halted as he saw Needletail regarding him with a cold, unrecognizing stare.
We grew to be such good friends when she came with us on my quest, he thought sadly.
It was the cat in the lead, a long-furred black she-cat, who spoke.
“Greetings.” Though the word was polite, her voice was harsh. “What are you cats doing here?”
While she was speaking, the third cat stepped out from behind Needletail, and Alderheart got a good look at her for the first time. His heart lurched again as he realized that she was Violetpaw. She looked so much like the missing Twigpaw, and as he gazed at her, Alderheart’s compassion swelled up until it almost choked him.