“None, if you and RiverClan agree to wait.”
“Like you and WindClan agreed to wait?” Tigerstar spat. “How can we expect anything but hostility from RiverClan now that you’ve given WindClan their moorland back?”
“Perhaps you should think about giving RiverClan their marshland back—”
Tigerstar cut her off. “How dare you?” he hissed. “You tell me that SkyClan must make their own decision, then tell me I should give RiverClan our land!”
“I’m just trying to help.” Heat burned Squirrelflight’s pelt. She could understand Tigerstar’s frustration. But for the sake of the Sisters, he had to wait.
Jayfeather flicked his tail impatiently. “The last argument didn’t solve this, and neither will this one.” He turned his blind blue gaze on Squirrelflight. “We should get back to camp. Leafpool might need our help.”
A growl rumbled in Tigerstar’s throat. “Your medicine cat is right. Leave.” He nodded to Dovewing and Scorchfur. “Escort them to the border.”
“We know the way,” Squirrelflight told him, bristling.
“I want to make sure you go.” Tigerstar eyed her darkly.
As Squirrelflight stalked past him, he called after her. “Tell Bramblestar that if our border dispute goes on much longer, we won’t wait for StarClan to decide whether we can take the Sisters’ land, or for Leafstar to make her decision. We’ll take the land ourselves. RiverClan might even help us, for the sake of peace.”
She ignored him, but her belly churned with fear. The Sisters were impressive and powerful cats, but could they defend themselves against the aggression of two Clans?
Alderheart fell in beside her, his gaze flitting anxiously around the camp. From all sides, ShadowClan cats were glowering at them menacingly.
Jayfeather padded behind, his tail twitching as Dovewing and Scorchfur followed. “Warriors,” he grumbled. “All they think about is borders.”
As they ducked out of the camp, Dovewing and Scorchfur fanned out. Scorchfur stared ahead, his pelt bristling along his spine.
Dovewing glanced nervously at Squirrelflight. “Tigerstar has a point,” she murmured.
Squirrelflight looked at her, surprised. Dovewing had been raised in ThunderClan. She had kin there and had been a loyal ThunderClan warrior until she’d joined ShadowClan to be with Tigerstar so they could raise their kits together.
Dovewing dropped her gaze. “I just mean I can see ShadowClan’s point of view now.”
“I know they’ve lost territory,” Squirrelflight conceded. “But if they just wait a moon—”
“It’s not that.” Dovewing moved closer, lowering her voice. “It’s the way ThunderClan does things,” she murmured. “I can see why the other Clans get irritated. ThunderClan cats only seem to be able to see their point of view. It’s like they think they’re better than everyone else. And Bramblestar always acts like he knows best, when he doesn’t know any more than any other leader.”
“But he’s smart,” Squirrelflight argued.
“So is Tigerstar,” Dovewing shot back. “And Mistystar and the others. They can see that moving SkyClan to new land would solve everyone’s problems, but Bramblestar is hung up on making sure SkyClan’s feelings don’t get hurt. Tigerstar is right—the mountain territory would be great for SkyClan. It would be great for any Clan.”
Alarm sparked in Squirrelflight’s pelt. “But what about the Sisters?”
“Who cares about the Sisters?” Dovewing blinked at her. “They’re just a bunch of rogues who don’t even want the land. They were planning to move on anyway; we just want them to do it a little sooner. It’s not like chasing a Clan from their home.”
Jayfeather sniffed beside them. “She has a point.”
“No, she doesn’t.” Squirrelflight swished her tail crossly. “Being a warrior is more than being practical. It’s about doing what’s right. Bramblestar is only trying to make sure that SkyClan doesn’t feel they’re being pressured. It’s important that they feel like the other Clans respect them. And the Sisters aren’t rogues. They’re more like a Clan than you think. And their leader is expecting kits. What kind of fox-heart would chase an expectant mother from her den?”
Dovewing shrugged. “I guess ThunderClan will never see that protecting your own Clan is sometimes more important than being right.” She moved away, shadowing the patrol but keeping distance between herself and her old Clanmates.
Squirrelflight glanced at Jayfeather. “Does ThunderClan really think it’s better than everyone else?”
Jayfeather grunted. “Every Clan thinks it’s better than everyone else.” He quickened his pace, his empty gaze on the forest ahead. “Isn’t that part of the warrior code?”
Squirrelflight stared at him. Didn’t cats believe in honor anymore? Couldn’t they see that she and Bramblestar wanted the best for everyone? She shook out her fur. At least and she and Bramblestar agreed on something at last. The borders must stay the same until SkyClan and the Sisters were ready to move. A chill wormed beneath her pelt. But what if protecting the borders led the Clans into battle? War was the one thing StarClan had warned them against. She shivered. By protecting the Sisters, would she anger her ancestors?
CHAPTER 16
Leaves, green and brittle, drifted at the roots of the oak trees. They rustled in the wind as Squirrelflight, Jayfeather, and Alderheart crossed the border and headed home through ThunderClan territory. Squirrelflight glanced over her shoulder. Strikestone had turned away, but Dovewing was still watching them through narrowed eyes. Squirrelflight used to wonder if the former ThunderClan warrior felt a pang of regret when she met her old Clanmates, but it seemed that every hair on Dovewing’s pelt was ShadowClan now.
“I don’t think they know anything about Larksong’s sickness.” Alderheart’s mew jerked her from her thoughts. “Puddleshine had no idea what could have caused it. He was scared his Clanmates would catch it.”
Relief washed Squirrelflight’s pelt. The sickness had nothing to do with ShadowClan. At least now it wouldn’t mean war. “Cloverfoot was surprised, and I didn’t notice any of her Clanmates looking guilty.” She glanced at Jayfeather. “What do you think?”
“I can’t read thoughts anymore,” Jayfeather grunted. “But Tigerstar wasn’t hiding anything. I could hear it in his mew. ShadowClan had nothing to do with Larksong’s illness. He must have picked up the infection in the forest.”
As he spoke, a pile of leaves shivered in front of them. Squirrelflight pricked her ears. Prey was rustling beneath it. She stopped, signaling with a flick of her tail for Jayfeather and Alderheart to wait. They paused beside her as she opened her mouth. Mouse-scent touched her tongue. “This was where Larksong was hunting before he got sick.” Her pelt prickled. She glanced at the medicine cats. “Would you be able to tell if a mouse was tainted by examining it?”
Alderheart blinked at her. “I don’t know.”
“We could try,” Jayfeather mewed. “But you’d have to catch one first.”
“Okay.” Squirrelflight dropped into a hunting crouch and crept forward, her belly brushing the earth. The leaves rustled again. She pictured the mouse underneath the pile, fixing with her gaze the place where it moved. Tensing, she bunched the muscles in her hind legs and leaped. She slammed her paws into the pile. Leaves exploded around her, fluttering to the ground as she jabbed her paws deep, feeling for soft flesh with outstretched claws. She hooked something warm. It wriggled in her grasp and squealed. The mouse. She tugged it out and, pinning it to the ground, gave a killing bite. Then she spat out the blood and flung the dead mouse toward Jayfeather and Alderheart. “Take a look.” She scraped her tongue through her fur to clean any infection off it. “Can you see anything strange?”