“What’s that?” he demanded, his gaze raking the Clan.
“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Leafstar explained. “We don’t know what can be making that noise.”
Sharpclaw tipped his head to one side. “It sounds like a Twoleg to me.”
“It’s that horrible old Twoleg!” Rabbitkit squealed.
“Yes, he’s come to punish us!” Plumkit bounced up and down in a mixture of fear and excitement.
Shrewtooth gazed in horror at the kits and his fur bristled even more until he looked twice his size.
“That’s nonsense,” Clovertail mewed sternly to the kits. “Stop trying to frighten every cat. If that is a Twoleg, it sounds like a young one, and it’s in trouble.”
“We need to investigate,” Leafstar decided. “Clovertail, Fallowfern, stay here and look after the kits. Cora, Shrewtooth, and Ebonyclaw, guard the camp. The rest of you, follow me, but quietly.”
With Leafstar in the lead, the SkyClan cats crept up the gorge, past the training area, and around the next corner. The wailing sound started up again, louder now as they came closer.
Peeking around a boulder, Leafstar saw the source of the noise. A young Twoleg kit—a female—was lying among the rocks. She was small, about half the size of a full-grown Twoleg, with brown head-fur and brightly colored pelts covering everything except her smooth, pink front paws and face. As Leafstar padded closer she saw that the kit’s face was streaked with mud and moisture, and there was earth smeared on her pelts; up above were raw gashes on the rock face. Even worse, one of her hind legs was splayed at an awkward angle beside her, and from the way the kit’s muscles were tensed, it was clear she was in agony.
“She fell over the cliff,” Leafstar murmured, raising her tail to halt her Clanmates who were following her. “Poor kit, she’s badly hurt.”
She had halted a few tail-lengths away, but even at this distance the kit’s pain and fear-scents were almost overwhelming. “Keep back,” Leafstar warned her Clan. “She’s so scared, she might lash out at us. Echosong, come with me.”
“Hang on a moment.” Sparrowpelt pushed his way to the front of the crowd. “I don’t think we should have anything to do with this. It might be a trap.”
“That’s right,” Shorty mewed. “There could be bigger Twolegs hiding, ready to trap us.”
“They do that sort of thing,” Coal agreed.
Petalnose was nodding, too, and some of the other cats looked uncertain. And they might be right, Leafstar thought. She pricked her ears and tasted the air, but the scents of the young Twoleg, and the noise she was making, drowned out everything else.
“That’s nonsense.” Echosong padded forward with a flick of her tail. “This is an injured kit, for StarClan’s sake. Look at her leg! No Twoleg would put one of their own in that much pain just to trap us.”
Without waiting for Leafstar’s order, she padded past and approached the little Twoleg. Leafstar heard her purring loudly; her tail was straight up in the air and her fur fluffed up in a way that made her look soft and pretty. She must have been such a popular kittypet! Leafstar thought suddenly.
The Twoleg kit stopped wailing as Echosong trotted up to her and reached out feebly with one paw to stroke her. Echosong purred even louder, and pushed her head up against the kit. “I don’t want to frighten her,” she mewed apologetically, with a glance back at Leafstar.
Leafstar gestured with her tail for the rest of the Clan to back off and hide among the rocks. She was conscious of their gleaming eyes peering out as she padded cautiously forward. Now I have to behave like a kittypet, with all the Clan watching me, she thought, wincing. I’ll never hear the last of it!
She wasn’t sure exactly how kittypets behaved, but she tried to copy Echosong, who was brushing her pelt against the Twoleg kit and making affectionate trilling sounds. Leafstar flinched as the kit stretched out to touch her, but she felt a purr rising in her throat at the feeling of the Twoleg paw stroking along her back. It’s kind of… nice.
She let the kit stroke her while Echosong gave the injured leg a good sniff. “It’s broken,” the medicine cat reported. “But it’s too big for me to treat with a splint. And I’m not sure that Clan medicines would be any good for Twolegs.”
“If we can’t help her, we shouldn’t waste any more time with her.” Leafstar jumped at the sound of Sparrowpelt’s voice, and glanced over her shoulder to see that the brown tabby tom had approached without her noticing. “There are patrols to get on with,” he reminded them.
Leafstar was uneasy about leaving the kit, yet she didn’t see what else they could do. But as she stepped back out of reach, the little Twoleg started wailing again and her pink paws scrabbled on the stones.
“We have to do something!” Echosong protested.
“Like what?” Sharpclaw growled, emerging from behind a rock and padding up to stand beside Sparrowpelt. His voice was harsh and unsympathetic.
“We have to find her family,” Echosong insisted, her neck fur bristling at the deputy’s tone. “We can’t help her, so we must find Twolegs who can.”
Cocking his head to one side, Sharpclaw fixed Leafstar with his brilliant green gaze; he was waiting for her order, but it was clear what he wanted her to say.
Leafstar felt uneasy. She wanted to help the Twoleg kit, but she wasn’t sure if that was the sort of thing that Clan cats were supposed to do. Should we work alongside Twolegs to help them? She couldn’t imagine that Firestar would get involved in something like this. Not that the ThunderClan leader wouldn’t care that a Twoleg was hurt, but his life seemed so completely separate from the affairs of Twolegs.
But I’m not Firestar, and this isn’t his Clan.
Suddenly Leafstar was aware of the presence of Spottedleaf close beside her. She seemed to hear the tortoiseshell she-cat’s voice: Seize the moment! Leafstar felt as though Spottedleaf was telling her that this could be very important for the future of SkyClan.
“Echosong is right,” she announced. “SkyClan will help the injured Twoleg.”
Chapter 27
“Okay, but how are we going to find out where the Twoleg kit comes from?” Sharpclaw queried.
Leafstar was relieved that her deputy seemed to be accepting her decision, even if he didn’t agree with it. “Snookpaw, Billystorm, come here,” she ordered, beckoning with her tail. “You know the Twolegplace. Have you ever seen this kit before?”
She tensed as Billystorm approached, but the ginger-and-white tom padded past without even looking at her. He and his apprentice stood gazing down at the little Twoleg’s face for a couple of heartbeats.
“Sorry,” Billystorm meowed. “I don’t recognize her.”
I’d better send back to the camp for Ebonyclaw, Leafstar thought. I’m not sure about asking Harveymoon and Macgyver. They live quite close to Billystorm. Maybe this kit comes from a different part of the Twolegplace.
But before she could give the order, Snookpaw, who had turned away from the kit, suddenly turned back and gave her a deep sniff. “I know that scent!” he chirped. “There’s a Twoleg nest with really strong-smelling flowers outside, and that same scent is on her pelts.” Examining the Twoleg again, he added, “I think I’ve seen these pelts hanging on the Twolegs’ spiky silver tree, too.”
“That’s great, Snookpaw,” Leafstar mewed, while Billystorm blinked proudly at his apprentice. “Can you take us there?”
“I think so.” Snookpaw straightened up, looking very serious. “I’ll try.”
“Then let’s get back to camp and sort out a patrol.”
As Leafstar was gathering her cats together, ready to head back down the gorge, Echosong padded over to her. “I’ll stay behind,” she meowed. “I might be able to do something. And the Twoleg seems calmer when we’re here.”