“Every cat who was there knows that isn’t true,” Leafstar comforted her.
Petalnose let out another long sigh, and leaned her head briefly against Leafstar’s shoulder.
Leafstar watched Stick patting the last of the twigs and brambles into place. “That looks great,” she mewed, not wanting to seem as if she begrudged praise for the visitors’ help. “But the Clan still has mouths to feed. Some cats need to go on a hunting patrol. Sparrowpelt, will—”
“No,” Sharpclaw interrupted, “every cat has to stay here for Stick’s battle training.”
Leafstar felt her claws slide out. Who exactly is Clan leader here? “We need to restock the fresh-kill pile,” she declared firmly. “Stick can hold another training session in the morning.”
“But we don’t want to hunt,” Cherrytail objected. “We want to learn to fight rats.”
“Yes, that’s more important than our next meal,” Sparrowpelt agreed.
Leafstar raised her tail to cut short a full-scale argument, but before she could speak again Billystorm stepped forward.
“I’ll lead a patrol if you like,” he offered. “Ebonyclaw will come with me, and our apprentices. Shrewtooth, will you come as well?”
“Glad to!” the black tom gasped, looking relieved to be away from the terrifying preparations for battle.
Leafstar blinked gratefully at the kittypet. “Thanks. Go anywhere you like, but stay away from the rats.”
“We’ll hunt on the other side of the gorge,” Billystorm promised, waving his tail to gather his patrol together.
Leafstar watched him lead his cats away, then turned back to the training area, where Stick was gathering the rest of the Clan together for the training session to start.
“I want to be the first cat to attack a rat,” Mintpaw insisted, her fur bristling as she angled her ears at the rat-shaped bundle of bracken she had made. “Rainfur was my father, and this is my chance to avenge his death!”
“I want to fight, too.” Sagepaw’s disconsolate voice came from behind Leafstar; she turned her head to see the injured apprentice limping around the spur of rock with Echosong beside him. “It’s not fair!”
“And us!” All four of Fallowfern’s kits bundled up to the edge of the training area, scampering ahead of their mother. “We’ll kill lots of rats!”
“No, I told you, you’re only allowed to watch,” Fallowfern meowed.
Leafstar stifled a purr of amusement. Her earlier panic was being replaced by a warm glow of pride as she watched her Clanmates rise to the challenge of the rats.
Is this what it takes to unite us as one Clan? Did StarClan send the rats?
Chapter 10
Leafstar reached the top of the gorge and crept into the undergrowth, flinching as thorns scraped along her pelt. The moon had already set, but the stars shed enough light to show her, as she glanced back, the dark outlines of her Clanmates slipping onto the cliff top. The first glimmer of dawn had yet to show itself above the rocks.
Five sunrises had passed since Patchfoot’s patrol had found the mound of Twoleg waste in the forest. Every cat had practiced Stick’s battle moves until they could do them in their sleep.
And I have. Each night Leafstar’s dreams had been full of thin faces and glittering, malignant eyes, the squeaking of rats and the stench of blood. Now is the time to end it.
A cool night breeze rustled the leaves above her head as Leafstar headed toward the rat heap. Sharpclaw and Stick had pressed up beside her, the other warriors following. Every cat kept low, gliding along the ground, their paw steps making no more noise than raindrops dripping from branches after a shower.
Suddenly a sharp snapping noise broke the silence. Leafstar jumped, her heart beginning to pound.
Sharpclaw whipped around. “What was that?” he hissed.
Every cat had halted, their neck fur bristling, their gazes flicking warily to the shadows. Shrewtooth looked frozen with fright.
“Sorry.” Bouncefire’s voice came from the darkness at the back of the patrol, sounding embarrassed. “I stepped on a twig.”
“Great!” Sparrowpelt grunted. “Now the rats know we’re coming!”
“It doesn’t matter,” Stick assured him. “All the rats will do is hide deeper inside their nest. And they’ll soon find out there’s nowhere safe in there.”
As Leafstar’s heartbeat slowed, she waved her tail as a signal for the patrol to move on. She could feel the tension in the air now, like the sparks before a storm broke.
This is the first time I’ve led my Clan into battle. StarClan, please give us strength and bring all our warriors home safe.
The first faint light of dawn was filtering down into the forest. Leafstar’s nose twitched as the breeze carried a foul stench toward her. A few fox-lengths ahead, the waste pile was just visible through the trees, pale in the half-light. Even if the rats had heard the patrol approaching, there was no time to change their plans.
This is it.
Leafstar signaled with her tail for the patrol to halt and turned to face her Clanmates. Sharpclaw turned with her; his eyes blazed with a green light and his dark ginger fur bristled. Leafstar could almost taste his desire to avenge the death of Rainfur.
“You’re sure you remember the plan?” he demanded, his gaze raking over the patrol. “We block most of the holes, then frighten the rats so they try to escape through the holes we’ve left open. And then…” He bared his teeth, giving Stick a glance to make sure he had repeated the loner’s plan accurately.
Stick replied with a curt nod. “They won’t know what hit them.”
Leafstar began to feel more confident as she listened to her deputy and saw the determination in his eyes. We can win this battle!
She could see tension mounting even higher in the listening cats, in their twitching tails and flexing claws. Fear-scent came from the senior warriors, those who had battled the rats before, in spite of their struggles to hide it. The younger warriors picked it up, too; Shrewtooth was visibly trembling.
It’s time to get on with this, Leafstar decided. Before some cat starts to panic.
“Sparrowpelt, you led a patrol here yesterday,” she mewed softly. “Did you locate the exits from the heap?”
The young tabby tom nodded. “We didn’t want to get too close,” he explained, “in case the rats spotted us. But we think there are three gaps on the far side from where we are now, one on each side, and two in front—one up high where that piece of wood is poking out, and the other low down, underneath the Twoleg sofa.”
Peering through the trees, Leafstar could make out the two front holes Sparrowpelt had mentioned: dark cracks leading into the center of the dump. She forced herself to stay calm as she thought of rats pouring out of them.
“We’ll leave these two exits open,” she meowed, relieved that her voice stayed steady. “Patchfoot, Tinycloud, and Petalnose, you go around the back and block the exits there. Cherrytail, you deal with the one on that side”—Leafstar gestured with her tail—“and Bouncefire, you take the one over there. When the holes are blocked, stay beside them, in case any rats try to force their way out.”
She paused briefly, letting her gaze travel across the cats standing in front of her. “Sharpclaw, you’re in charge of catching the rats as they come out of the front.”
Her deputy didn’t speak, but his eyes glittered and he gave a single lash of his tail.
“Waspwhisker, Sparrowpelt, Rockshade, Stick, Coal, and Shorty, go with Sharpclaw.”
“And what about the rest of us?” Mintpaw asked, fluffing up her fur as if she wanted to make herself look twice her size. “We want to fight rats, too!”
“In a moment you’ll have all the rats you want,” Leafstar promised. “You and Cora and Shrewtooth will come with me, once the exits are blocked. We’ll prowl over the heap and chase the rats out so Sharpclaw’s patrol can deal with them.”