Leafstar nodded. “Good idea. I’ll send some cat to help you.”
Cherrytail and Sparrowpelt raced back to camp ahead of the others, so that by the time Leafstar arrived the cats who had stayed behind had been brought up to date with the news.
“We want to come!” Nettlekit squealed, hurling himself at Leafstar.
“Yes, we want to see Twolegplace,” Plumkit added, bouncing up behind her brother.
“Certainly not.” Fallowfern followed them, gathering all four kits together with her tail. “You’re not even apprentices. You can’t expect to be chosen for patrols yet.”
“It’s not fair,” Rabbitkit grumbled, lashing his tiny tail. “We never get to do the fun stuff.”
The rest of the Clan was clustering eagerly around Leafstar; for a few heartbeats she felt bewildered about whom she should choose.
“You should take all the kittypets!” Macgyver suggested. “We know Twolegplace really well.”
Sharpclaw fixed the black-and-white tom with a hard gaze. “It’s Leafstar’s decision who she takes.”
Leafstar flicked her ears at her deputy in acknowledgment. “I want you to come, Sharpclaw,” she mewed. “Snookpaw, of course, because you know where we’re going. And Billystorm.”
It was hard not to let her voice shake as she named the ginger-and-white tom. This would be the first time they had patrolled together since their quarrel. It’ll be so hard to have him with us, but I can’t leave him out; he’s Snookpaw’s mentor.
“Cora and Cherrytail,” she finished quickly. “Patchfoot, you’re in charge of the camp while we’re away. Have a few cats keep watch in case of trouble. Clovertail, I have a job for you.”
The light brown she-cat twitched her ears in surprise and padded over to Leafstar clumsily, because of the weight of the kits in her belly.
“Go up the gorge and join Echosong,” Leafstar instructed, waving her tail in the direction of the injured Twoleg. “She might need a bit of help.”
“From me?” Clovertail sounded even more surprised. “I don’t know anything about being a medicine cat.”
“You won’t need to. Echosong wants some cat to help her comfort the little Twoleg. Pretend she’s one of your kits. Cuddle up to her. Purr.”
“Cuddle? Purr?” Clovertail gave Leafstar a doubtful look. “Okay, Leafstar, if you say so.” She plodded off up the gorge, shaking her head.
Leafstar watched her go, feeling faintly amused in spite of everything. Then she gathered her patrol with a wave of her tail. “Let’s go.”
Leafstar stared up at the Twoleg nests as she and her patrol halted on the outskirts of Twolegplace. The red stone walls loomed over the cats and blocked out part of the sky. Already her senses were attacked by a chaos of scents and noises: monsters, dogs, strange cats, and the weird aromas of Twoleg food.
How can the kittypets put up with this every day?
“Okay, Snookpaw,” she meowed. “You’re in charge now. Which way do we go?”
Snookpaw gave her a scared look, as if he was overwhelmed now that he was actually faced with the task of finding the little Twoleg’s nest.
“Take your time,” Billystorm murmured. “You’ll be fine.”
Snookpaw flashed a grateful glance at his mentor. “I think it’s this way.”
He padded down an alley, pausing every few paw steps to taste the air. Leafstar followed, with the rest of the patrol bunched close behind her. After a few heartbeats, Sharpclaw brushed past her and bounded up beside Snookpaw. His paw steps were firm and his tail was erect, as if he was completely confident in these strange surroundings.
Leafstar watched him through narrowed eyes, her pelt quivering with concern. Had Billystorm been right after all, about the secret night patrols in the Twolegplace? She tried to catch the ginger-and-white tom’s eye, but Billystorm was resolutely not looking at her.
Sadness stabbed at Leafstar’s heart like a thorn. More than anything she wanted to forget her duty to her Clan, just for once, and ask Billystorm’s forgiveness. But I can’t do that, she thought with a sigh, trying to push the sadness away. And right now we have to concentrate on helping the little Twoleg.
Snookpaw led the patrol around a corner and to the edge of a small Thunderpath. “I think we have to cross here,” he mewed.
“Right.” Sharpclaw took over at once. “Every cat get ready. Run when I say ‘Now!’”
Leafstar stood at the edge of the Thunderpath beside her Clanmates, wrinkling her nose at the acrid scent that rose from the hard black surface. Her ears flicked up at the sound of a monster, and she exchanged a warning glance with Sharpclaw. The noise grew louder; the cats crouched down as the monster growled past, rushing on round black paws. A gust of wind buffeted their fur as it raced by, a couple of tail-lengths in front of their noses.
“It didn’t see us,” Cherrytail whispered as the noise died away.
Leafstar glanced up and down the Thunderpath. The monster had left a foul stink behind it; she passed her tongue over her lips a few times, trying get rid of its taste.
“Now!” Sharpclaw yowled.
All six cats launched themselves forward. Leafstar felt her flying paws beating on the hard surface; then she was safely across, looking around to make sure the rest of the patrol had made it, too.
“Nothing to it, really,” Sharpclaw mewed nonchalantly.
Oh, yes? Leafstar thought. And how come you’re so experienced with Thunderpaths?
Snookpaw took the lead again, over a fence and across a garden where a strange kittypet peered out at them from under a bush, but didn’t try to approach the patrol.
“I think the next nest is the one we want,” he told Leafstar.
Bounding up to the fence, he clawed his way up it and balanced, swaying, at the top, his fur spiked in shock. In the same heartbeat, a dog started yapping loudly on the other side of the fence.
“Now what?” Sharpclaw muttered. “He never said there was a dog.”
The wooden fence shook as something thumped into it from the other side, and the yapping grew louder still. Snookpaw half jumped, half fell down and staggered across the grass to where the patrol was waiting.
“S-sorry,” he stammered. “That’s the wrong garden.”
“Thank StarClan for that!” Cherrytail exclaimed, with a glance across to where the dog was still hurling itself at the fence.
“So what do we do now?” Sharpclaw asked with an irritable flick of his tail-tip. “Are we lost?”
“I’m really sorry…” Snookpaw repeated.
“Take it easy.” Billystorm rested his tail across his apprentice’s shoulders. “Just think. When was the last time you were really certain of where we were?”
“When we crossed the Thunderpath,” Snookpaw replied with a look of relief.
“Then let’s go back there,” Leafstar meowed.
She took the lead, all her senses alert for more dogs or monsters, until the patrol stood once more by the side of the Thunderpath. “Do we need to cross again?” she asked Snookpaw.
The apprentice shook his head. “I think it’s this way,” he meowed, pricking his ears as he led the patrol farther along the Thunderpath, slipping along in the shade of bushes that hung over the walls. He whisked around the next corner, picking up the pace as if he felt he was getting close, only to come to a halt when the path ended in a high wall built of the same Twoleg red stone.
“I don’t remember that at all,” he murmured unhappily.
Leafstar heard Cora’s claws scraping impatiently on the ground and cast a swift glance at the black she-cat. Cora’s eyes were snapping with annoyance, but she didn’t say anything.