“What’s the matter with you two?” Cherrytail asked, halting in front of the dejected toms. “You look as if you’ve lost a squirrel and found a beetle.”
“It’s worse than that,” Harveymoon muttered.
“What, then?” Bouncefire demanded.
“We were fooling around,” Macgyver admitted; he sounded genuinely ashamed. “And then this flea-brain”—he gave Harveymoon a shove—“was really rude to Sharpclaw. So Leafstar has banished us from camp until the next full moon.”
“That’s terrible!” Bouncefire squeaked, wide-eyed.
“It sounds as if you asked for it,” Cherrytail meowed tartly. “You must have bees in your brain if you think you can come here and just fool around.”
“Cherrytail’s right.” Leafstar jumped as Ebonyclaw spoke quietly behind her from the mouth of the cave. “It was all their fault. Don’t feel bad about it, Leafstar.”
“That’s right,” Frecklepaw added; she was a leggy light brown tabby, and she looked scared stiff at speaking directly to her Clan leader.
Leafstar touched her shoulder gently with her tail-tip. “Thank you, Frecklepaw.”
More cats pushed their way out onto the ledge to watch the two daylight-warriors leave. Billystorm and Snookpaw joined Ebonyclaw and Frecklepaw, with Tinycloud just behind, while Shrewtooth crept out last of all. Leafstar blinked in surprise; she hadn’t realized how big this cave was.
“It’s a pity they couldn’t stay,” Tinycloud mewed sadly. “There won’t be as many of us to fill the fresh-kill pile.”
Billystorm and Snookpaw glanced at each other, murmuring agreement.
“And there won’t be as many mouths to feed,” Rockshade pointed out, swiping his sister over the ear with one paw. “Besides, how much prey did those two ever bring in?”
“What about enemies?” Shrewtooth crouched at the front of the ledge and peered along the gorge. “Will there be enough of us to fight them off?”
Rockshade rolled his eyes. “What enemies, mouse-brain? There’s only us.”
Leafstar’s heart grew heavier as she heard her Clanmates arguing. Will this Clan ever learn to work together?
“Thanks for supporting me.” Sharpclaw broke in on her thoughts. “It was the right decision.”
“I didn’t do it for your sake!” Leafstar snapped, surprising herself with her sharp tone. “This problem isn’t over yet.”
Sharpclaw looked surprised, too, his green eyes flashing at her, but he said nothing. Leafstar wondered if she should apologize, but she couldn’t think of the right thing to say.
Apologizing is all I do these days, when I’m not being baffled by something going on in the Clan.
Giving her deputy a brusque nod, she headed down into the gorge. At the foot of the cliff she met Cherrytail and Bouncefire; Harveymoon and Macgyver had disappeared.
“We’re looking for Billystorm and Snookpaw,” Bouncefire meowed. “We’re supposed to be doing a border patrol.”
“They’re up in the caves,” Leafstar told them.
“Great! Er… Leafstar,” Cherrytail went on, “we spoke to Harveymoon and Macgyver. Do you still want us to patrol the border, or should we hunt instead?”
Leafstar remembered the few miserable pieces of prey that had remained on the fresh-kill pile when she passed it on her way up the gorge.
“You’d better hunt,” she decided. Border patrols can wait. Right now, it feels as if all SkyClan’s problems are inside its borders, not outside.
Leaving Cherrytail yowling for Billystorm and Snookpaw at the bottom of the cliff, Leafstar headed for the elders’ den. Just as she reached the end of the trail that led up the cliff face, she met Sagepaw.
“Can you go to help Sharpclaw with the new caves?” she mewed. “Some of his cats are going hunting, and there’s still a lot of work to do.”
Sagepaw blinked in disappointment. “Sure, Leafstar. But I was just going to check the elders for fleas.”
“You want to check the elders for fleas?” Leafstar mewed.
Sagepaw gave his chest fur a couple of awkward licks. “Well, Tangle was telling this really great story…”
Leafstar let out a soft purr of amusement and gently flicked the apprentice’s ear with her tail. “There’ll be plenty of chances to listen to Tangle,” she promised. “Now you need to go and help Sharpclaw.”
“Okay.” Sagepaw dipped his head and bounded along the gorge toward the new caves.
Leafstar watched him go, then padded up the trail that led to the elders’ den. “Greetings, Lichenfur, Tangle,” she meowed as she poked her head inside.
“Where’s that pesky apprentice?” Tangle growled without returning her greeting. “He was supposed to be sorting out my fleas.” The old cat vigorously scratched his rumpled tabby pelt. “They’re driving me mad.”
“I’ll do your fleas, Tangle,” Leafstar offered, slipping right inside the den. “Sagepaw is busy.”
Lichenfur raised her head from the nest of moss where she was curled up. Her amber eyes were wide with shock. “Do other Clan leaders search their elders’ pelts for fleas? I didn’t know that.”
The barb in her voice was unmistakable, like a thorn hidden in a bed of moss. Leafstar guessed the old cat thought she was inviting criticism by taking on tasks that were beneath her rank. She bit back a sharp reply.
“I wouldn’t ask any of my cats to do something I’m not prepared to do myself,” she responded mildly. “And I have no idea what other Clan leaders do. But if you want to lie here with fleas in your pelts, I can go away and leave you in peace.”
“I suppose it’s all right,” Lichenfur admitted grudgingly.
Tangle just grunted; Leafstar assumed that was agreement. I bet elders are the same wherever they are.
“What’s this I hear about you sending those kittypets away?” Lichenfur asked as Leafstar settled down beside Tangle and started to probe deep into his ragged fur.
Leafstar blinked, surprised even though she knew how fast gossip traveled within the Clan. “How do you know about that?”
“Petalnose met Harveymoon and Macgyver on their way out,” Tangle explained. “And she came to tell us.”
And the whole Clan will know about it by now, Leafstar thought, pouncing on a flea and cracking it between her teeth.
“I’m not sure I did the right thing,” she admitted. “There seem to be so many arguments at the moment, and I’m afraid I’ve just added to them.”
Tangle twisted his neck to look up at her with bleary amber eyes; Leafstar thought she could make out a trace of wisdom lurking in their depths. “Whatever you decide,” he rumbled, “you have to be strong. The path SkyClan walks is shadowed, and you’re the one leading us along it.”
Lichenfur snorted. “Cats are supposed to be able to see in the dark, and I for one don’t want a blind leader.”
Leafstar tensed at the hostility in the elder’s tone.
Tangle gave her a nudge. “Ignore her,” he whispered. “She sat on a thistle all night.”
Leafstar nodded, warmed by the grumpy old cat’s support. But how many more of my Clanmates think that I’m a blind leader? she wondered.
Leaving the elders, she turned her paws in the direction of Echosong’s den. It would be a relief to discuss Harveymoon and Macgyver with the young medicine cat and ask her advice. She hadn’t gone more than a couple of paw steps, when she heard a scrabbling sound from above; grit and scraps of debris pattered down onto the trail. The shriek of a terrified cat echoed through the gorge.
Looking up, Leafstar saw Sagepaw dangling from the cliff face above the highest of the new caves, clinging to the rock by the tips of his claws.