I must be one of those roots, Leafstar decided. I must tether SkyClan to its home for all the moons to come.
Yawning and stretching, she remembered her other dream, when she had raced through the forest with Spottedleaf and other cats of StarClan. “Seize the moment!” Spottedleaf had told her.
This is one of those moments, Leafstar decided. I can’t be with Billystorm. I have to stay apart from him, for the good of my Clan.
For the next few days, Leafstar managed to avoid Billystorm. She spotted him once heading to the training area with Snookpaw, and later joining a hunting patrol with Sharpclaw, Stick, and Egg. When the Clan settled down to eat beside the fresh-kill pile, Leafstar carried her prey back to her den so she didn’t have to talk to him.
On the third sunrise after their quarrel, Leafstar padded down from her den to find Sharpclaw organizing the morning’s patrols. Billystorm shouldered his way through the cats toward the deputy, who was standing beside Stick at the foot of the Rockpile.
“Can I join your patrol today, Sharpclaw?” Leafstar heard him ask. “It might be a good idea to go into the Twolegplace and see if we can persuade any more cats to join the Clan.”
Is that really what he wants to do? Leafstar wondered. Or is he trying to spy on Sharpclaw, to find out what he’s doing in the Twolegplace?
But Sharpclaw shook his head. “We’re hunting today. I doubt we’d find many squirrels in the Twolegplace. Besides, we don’t need any more cats. The Clan is full enough.”
You didn’t say that when you persuaded Egg to join, Leafstar thought. Her suspicions of her deputy were reviving, and she wished she could discuss the problem with Billystorm. She realized that she had lost not only a potential mate but also a wise friend whom she could rely on for advice.
“I’m putting you in charge of a training patrol,” Sharpclaw went on to Billystorm. “Take Ebonyclaw and Frecklepaw, and you can have Patchfoot, too. See if you can find any prey near the rat pile; no cat has hunted there for a while.”
Billystorm dipped his head in agreement, though he looked dissatisfied.
Unexpectedly, Sharpclaw turned to Leafstar. “Do you want to join Billystorm’s patrol?”
Leafstar couldn’t meet Billystorm’s eyes. “Uh… I don’t think so,” she stammered. “Cherrytail brought back a really fat squirrel from the far border yesterday, so I thought I’d take a patrol up there and see if there are any more.”
There was a spark of surprise in Sharpclaw’s eyes. Leafstar felt uncomfortably hot, wondering if he realized she was making an excuse.
“Fine,” he mewed at last. “Which cats do you want to take with you?”
Leafstar remembered with a pang how Billystorm had accused her of being biased against the daylight-warriors. That wasn’t fair, and I’ll prove it to you!
“I’ll take Harveymoon and Macgyver,” she replied. “And may I have Egg? I’d like to see how he’s getting on.”
“Sure,” her deputy replied, turning away to call to Sparrowpelt and Bouncefire.
Billystorm collected his patrol and headed for the trail up the cliff, while Leafstar looked around for Harveymoon and Macgyver. They seemed surprised and pleased to be chosen for a patrol by their Clan leader.
Maybe if I paid them a bit more attention, they wouldn’t be such pains in the tail.
With the daylight-warriors hard on her paws and Egg bounding along excitedly in the rear, Leafstar led the way toward the Rockpile, ready to cross to the other side of the gorge. Before she reached it, she saw Echosong urgently waving her tail, and halted for the medicine cat to catch up.
“You’re going into the woods on the other side?” Echosong called, setting down some wilted leaves she was carrying. When Leafstar nodded, she mewed, “Can you look for borage while you’re there? I need some to help Clovertail’s milk come when she has her kits.”
“Of course,” Leafstar replied.
Echosong patted the leaves. “This is borage. It’s the last I have, and you can see it’s past its best.”
Leafstar studied the herbs and gave them a good sniff, then ordered her patrol to do the same. “Remember the shape of the leaves and the scent,” she instructed them, and added to Echosong, “We’ll bring you back a good supply, don’t worry.”
Echosong slid closer to her Clan leader as the rest of the patrol sniffed the leaves. “You’ve made the right decision about Billystorm,” she whispered. “I know it wasn’t easy, but StarClan will thank you for putting the Clan first.”
Leafstar felt her fur start to bristle, and struggled to hide her reaction from the medicine cat. She has no idea how hard it is to have Billystorm as an enemy! “Are you ready?” she asked her patrol, waving her tail to move them on again.
“Thank you for looking out for the borage,” Echosong meowed, and added in a lower voice, “and good luck with Harveymoon and Macgyver. Maybe they’ll even catch something this time.”
This time Leafstar didn’t try to conceal her indignation. “I’m sure they’ll be fine!” she snapped.
Echosong blinked in surprise, and Leafstar felt slightly guilty, though she said nothing more as she led the patrol away.
On the way back to camp, Leafstar had to admit that Echosong had been right about the daylight-warriors. Harveymoon and Macgyver had managed to catch only one small sparrow between them, and let a perfectly good rabbit escape because they were messing around. Egg, however, had hunted brilliantly, catching two squirrels and a young pigeon.
“You’ve picked up the SkyClan hunting techniques really quickly,” Leafstar told him, managing to speak around her own prey, a blackbird. “Are you glad you joined the Clan?”
Egg nodded eagerly. “It’s great, bringing prey for the fresh-kill pile,” he mumbled around the feathers that filled his jaws. “And Sharpclaw’s a really good teacher. I’ve learned so many battle moves! If that fox comes back, it’d better watch out!”
“That’s good to hear,” Leafstar replied. “But don’t even think of tackling a fox on your own.”
It was sunhigh when the patrol returned to camp. As she crossed the Rockpile, Leafstar realized that almost all the Clan were out in the open, circling anxiously at the foot of the boulders.
“What’s going on?” she asked after she dropped her fresh-kill on the pile.
Fallowfern pressed up close to her, with her kits around her paws; for once they weren’t jumping about and getting in every cat’s way. “Nettlekit and Plumkit heard a strange noise,” she explained, “and we’ve all heard it now.”
“It’s really weird!” Plumkit squeaked, her eyes wide with curiosity.
Leafstar’s pads began to tingle. “Where’s Sharpclaw?”
“His patrol isn’t back yet,” Cherrytail replied.
“What do you think the noise could be?” Clovertail fretted. “Do you think it’s a fox?”
Tangle flicked his ears dismissively. “I’ve never heard a fox that sounded like that.”
“It might be some sort of bird,” Waspwhisker suggested.
“Or maybe it’s the Twoleg’s dog?” Shrewtooth’s black pelt was fluffed up and his eyes were wide with fear.
“I don’t think so.” Billystorm let his tail rest on the young cat’s shoulders.
“Then it’s rats!” Tinycloud’s tail lashed. “Why are we standing here? Let’s go fight them!”
“Please, everyone be quiet!” Leafstar waved her tail to quiet the excited suggestions. “Let me hear this noise for myself.”
Gradually the chatter died away. As silence fell, Leafstar heard a drawn-out, eerie wail coming from farther up the gorge, on the far side of the spur of rock that sheltered the training area.
The whole Clan stood frozen as the sound went on and on. Just as it died away there was a flurry of paw steps, and Sharpclaw arrived with Stick and Sparrowpelt.