“Then why do you keep talking about the Sisters?” Bramblestar held her gaze.
“Mousewhisker and Berrynose started it!” Squirrelflight defended herself.
Berrynose sat up. “I just think it will be better when they’re gone. As long as they’re living on our border, Tigerstar will be bristling for a fight, Leafstar will be dithering over whether SkyClan should move, and you two will be bickering.” His gaze flashed toward Bramblestar.
The ThunderClan leader’s ears twitched. “Maybe it’s a good idea to pay them a visit. They can tell us when they’re planning to leave and what meadow saffron looks like. I want to organize a patrol to destroy any of those plants on our land.”
“I’ll go,” Squirrelflight offered again. She didn’t trust her Clanmates to treat the Sisters with the respect they deserved.
“Blossomfall and Cherryfall can go with you,” Bramblestar meowed.
“I don’t need a patrol,” Squirrelflight objected.
“You’ll be a long way from home,” Bramblestar pointed out.
Squirrelflight shifted her paws. She wasn’t going to let Berrynose accuse them of bickering again. “Okay,” she agreed. “But I want to go now.”
“Take Leafpool with you, too,” Bramblestar ordered. “A medicine cat should learn all they can about this new plant.”
Squirrelflight’s heart lifted. It would be good to have Leafpool at her side. She headed toward the medicine den. “I’ll see if she’s ready.”
“I’ll let Blossomfall and Cherryfall know,” Bramblestar told her.
Squirrelflight nosed her way into the medicine den. Sparkpelt was alone with Leafpool. The orange tabby sat in her nest, staring blankly at the den wall. “How are you?” Squirrelflight crossed the den and touched her nose gently to her daughter’s head.
Sparkpelt ducked away distractedly, as if Squirrelflight had interrupted a thought.
“This grief will pass,” Squirrelflight told her.
Sparkpelt lifted her empty gaze to meet her mother’s. “I don’t want it to pass.” Her mew was hollow.
“But what about your kits?” Squirrelflight blinked at her, worry pricking through her fur. “You haven’t even named them yet.”
“I can’t think about names.” Sparkpelt turned her gaze back to the wall. “It hurts too much.”
Squirrelflight glanced anxiously at Leafpool. Her sister blinked back encouragingly, and Squirrelflight tried again to connect with her daughter. “Sorrelstripe is exhausted,” she told Sparkpelt. “For her sake, you need to feed your kits. Besides, you’re their mother. They need you.”
“Do they?” Sparkpelt looked puzzled.
“Of course they do!”
“I guess I’d better feed them.” Sparkpelt heaved herself to her paws. “Where are they?”
“In the nursery, of course.” Squirrelflight swallowed back frustration. Sparkpelt was so caught up in misery, she barely seemed to know where she was. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“Why?” Sparkpelt stared at her. “You can’t feed them.”
Leafpool padded forward and nudged Sparkpelt toward the den entrance. “Go and feed them,” she mewed matter-of-factly. “You can come back here afterward. Daisy can keep them warm.”
Squirrelflight’s heart ached as she watched Sparkpelt pad limply from the den. “Doesn’t she care?” She turned her gaze on Leafpool.
“She’s numb with grief,” Leafpool told her. “It will pass. Feeding the kits might help.”
“Might?” Squirrelflight stiffened.
“Larksong only just died,” Leafpool reminded her gently. “Give Sparkpelt time.”
Squirrelflight closed her eyes. I must be patient. She blinked them open and flicked her tail. “Can you come with me to visit the Sisters?”
“Of course.” Leafpool tipped her head to one side. “Why?”
“Bramblestar wants to know what meadow saffron looks like, and I want to see if Moonlight’s had her kits yet. She looked close to kitting last time we saw her.”
“Are you wondering when they’re going to move on?”
“It would be better if they could leave soon,” Squirrelflight confessed. “Mousewhisker and Berrynose think the Sisters are responsible for the sickness and unrest. I’m worried that if all the Clans turn against them, they might be in danger.”
Leafpool nodded. “Come on.” She headed for the den entrance. “Let’s go.”
“Squirrelflight!” Tempest met the patrol at the top of the valley, lifting her tail as she caught sight of them. She hurried along the ridge to meet them. “How are your sick Clanmates?”
Squirrelflight dipped her head. “Larksong died.”
Tempest’s eyes widened. “Didn’t the dandelion root work?”
“There wasn’t time to give him any. He was too sick.” Squirrelflight glanced over her shoulder at Blossomfall, Cherryfall, and Leafpool. Their fur was ruffled from the journey. A brisk, chilly wind was whisking over the valley.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Tempest blinked sympathetically at Squirrelflight. She began to head down toward the camp. “Come on. It’s cold here.”
“We managed to save another cat, though.” Squirrelflight followed her along the winding trail, Leafpool, Cherryfall, and Blossomfall at her heels. “Actually, it was my daughter.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Tempest pushed through the ferns at the camp entrance, the fronds brushing her long fur flat.
Squirrelflight followed her through. “How’s Moonlight?”
“She’s well.” Tempest stopped on the grassy clearing.
Furze poked her head from a den. “Why did you come?”
“I need to know what meadow saffron looks like,” Squirrelflight told the ginger cat. “Too many plants have purple flowers.”
Moonlight’s den rustled. “It’s a tall purple flower.” The gray she-cat squeezed out. She padded heavily across the grass, her belly so wide that she looked like a badger. Squirrelflight saw Leafpool frown. Was something wrong? She stiffened as Moonlight went on. “It’s easy to spot. The leaves die back before the flower opens. It’s quite strange, poking up from the forest floor without leaves. Like an owl without feathers.”
Flurry padded from behind the dogwood, followed by Snow, sliding from between the bushes. They blinked at the ThunderClan patrol.
Snow narrowed her eyes. “You’re back soon.”
Blossomfall’s pelt prickled. “We need to know when you plan to leave.”
“Once the kits are ready.” Moonlight looked at her belly. “They will come soon. We’ll leave once they’ve opened their eyes.”
Leafpool narrowed her eyes. “You’ve been expecting kits for a long time.”
Moonlight looked back at her wearily. “It feels like moons since I first felt them move.”
Squirrelflight shifted her paws. “Sparkpelt found out she was expecting kits soon after we met you. She’s had them now.” Surely you should have had yours. But Sparkpelt’s kits had come early.
Moonlight purred. “Congratulations. Are they well?”
Squirrelflight dropped her gaze. “The youngest died. A tom.”
Moonlight’s gaze darkened. “I’m sorry to hear that. Such a loss is never easy.” She glanced at Snow. “We could perform a small ceremony for him.”
Blossomfall bristled. “We’ve sat vigil,” she mewed sharply. “That’s ceremony enough.”
Leafpool’s ears pricked. “I’d be interested to see the Sisters’ ceremony.”
Blossomfall huffed. “Don’t expect me to join in.”
“We expect nothing of you but to witness it,” Moonlight told her. “A spirit so young needs guiding. He won’t understand what he’s lost and who waits for him beyond death. We must help him find a place in the hearts of the living and the dead so that he can know both.”
She beckoned Snow, Furze, and Creek nearer with a flick of her tail. Then she nodded to Tempest. “Do we have coltsfoot?”
“I’ll fetch some.” Tempest slipped quickly into one of the dens and returned holding a small bunch of yellow flowers between her jaws. She carried them across the clearing and dropped them at Moonlight’s paws.