“We saw some evidence that they visit places around the lake, but there are none there now,” he meowed. “Mistyfoot thinks there’ll be more of them around in greenleaf. That’s when they used to bring their kits to swim in the river, back in the forest.”
He noticed several of the cats glance anxiously at each other, and felt the familiar tremor of fear at the thought of what Twolegs had brought to the forest, apart from their kits.
He was relieved when Mistyfoot added, “We’ll be able to keep out of their way. They won’t be a big problem.”
“Well… that’s all.” Brambleclaw wasn’t sure what else to say. “Maybe each of us should tell our own Clans what we saw in more detail.”
“We need to decide where the boundaries will be,” Blackstar growled.
“Right,” meowed Firestar from where he was sitting at the base of the stump, next to Leopardstar. “We can do that when we have a clearer idea of each territory. Thanks, Brambleclaw.”
Brambleclaw dipped his head gratefully at his leader; he may have led his friends to sun-drown-place and back again, and explored the territory around the lake, but he felt as helpless as a kit among the other Clan leaders. His fur prickled, and he noticed Hawkfrost staring at him from the edge of the cats seated around the stump. Twitching his ears uncomfortably, Brambleclaw jumped down. He winced as Hawkfrost came over to meet him and braced himself for a hostile comment, perhaps a challenge about where the new boundaries should be.
To his surprise, there was a friendly gleam in the RiverClan warrior’s blue eyes.
“Thanks for finding the new territories, Brambleclaw,” he meowed. “I’m almost sorry that we’ll be going our separate ways now. I’d have liked to hunt with you.”
Brambleclaw blinked. Warriors of different Clans could not hunt together—but that wasn’t the real reason Hawkfrost’s suggestion startled him. Did the RiverClan warrior feel something like kinship with him? If he and Hawkfrost had been members of the same Clan, might they have been friends like Firestar and Graystripe, who had risked their lives for each other countless times?
“Well, we’ll meet at Gatherings,” he began.
“Brambleclaw, what are you doing?” Squirrelflight padded up with a glare at Hawkfrost. “Firestar is waiting for us.”
“Of course. And Leopardstar will be waiting for me.”
Hawkfrost dipped his head in farewell and padded away.
“Why are you talking to him?” Squirrelflight demanded crossly when Hawkfrost was out of earshot. “You know he can’t be trusted.”
“I don’t know anything of the kind,” Brambleclaw retorted.
Squirrelflight snorted. “Yeah, right. That cat has too much ambition for his own good.”
Brambleclaw felt his neck fur start to rise. “Really?”
“He wishes Mistyfoot had never come back, so that he could still be deputy. I’ve heard him arguing with her more than once.”
“He wants the best for his Clan, that’s all,” Brambleclaw meowed. There was something in him that understood exactly how Hawkfrost must have felt when Mistyfoot had escaped from the Twolegs, and claimed back her place as RiverClan deputy.
“That’s not all.” Squirrelflight paused, flicking her tail-tip back and forth. “I can tell Leafpaw doesn’t trust Hawkfrost, and she knows him better than we do. She was in the forest while he was RiverClan deputy.”
“Have you asked her why she feels that way?”
Squirrelflight shook her head. “I don’t need to ask her. I just know how she feels.”
Brambleclaw narrowed his eyes. “So you don’t have anything against Hawkfrost except for what Leafpaw feels about him? Because she’s your sister, right? Well, Hawkfrost is my brother.”
“Are you telling me you feel loyal to him because of that?”
Squirrelflight exclaimed. “But you hardly know him!”
“Neither do you. But you think you know him well enough to say he can’t be trusted.” Brambleclaw unsheathed his claws and let them sink into the fallen leaves. “Or are you accusing him because of who his father was?”
Squirrelflight’s green eyes stretched wide. “If that’s what you think, then you don’t know me at all!” she hissed. She whirled around and stalked away with her tail in the air.
Brambleclaw stared after her in dismay. He and Squirrelflight had quarreled ever since she became an apprentice. But he had never expected to hear such cold dis-like in her voice.
Icy claws pricked down Brambleclaw’s spine. If Squirrelflight distrusted Hawkfrost because of who his father was, did that mean she didn’t trust him?
Chapter 5
When Brambleclaw had finished speaking and leaped down from the tree stump, Leafpaw looked around for Squirrelflight. She was dying to hear about their new territory, and to know if her sister had found any useful herbs.
She spotted Sorreltail and bounded over. “Have you seen Squirrelflight?”
The tortoiseshell warrior shook her head.
Leafpaw was about to keep looking when a sharp pang sliced through her like a claw. She caught her breath, tucking her nose against her chest to take away the pain. Something was wrong with Squirrelflight, something was troubling her, but Leafpaw had no idea what it might be. The patrol had come safely home, and it sounded as if there were territories for all the Clans around the lake, so why should Squirrelflight feel such a jolting mixture of shock and anger?
“Are you okay?” Sorreltail asked.
“What? Oh, yes, fine. I just need to ask Squirrelflight something.” Leafpaw tried to speak calmly, but her voice shook. Luckily there was so much noise around them that Sorreltail didn’t seem to notice.
“I’ll help you look,” she offered. “I can’t wait to hear about our new home!”
Leafpaw nodded, and began to weave her way through the other cats, searching for the familiar dark ginger pelt. She felt a rush of relief when she spotted her sister with some other ThunderClan cats, her tail waving animatedly as she explained something to them. There certainly didn’t seem to be anything wrong now—but Leafpaw knew she hadn’t mis-taken the lightning strike of anger and dismay that had jolted through her.
She padded over with Sorreltail beside her.
“It’s a stone hollow, with walls all around,” Squirrelflight was mewing. “There’s plenty of space inside for dens, the nursery, even a training area.”
She was doing a great job of sounding normal, but as she drew closer, Leafpaw could feel waves of unhappiness coming from her. Squirrelflight’s eyes were too wide, too bright, and she kept looking around as if trying to spot a cat who wasn’t there. After a moment Leafpaw realized that the missing cat must be Brambleclaw. She guessed he was talking to other members of the Clan.
“Is this hollow empty?” Dustpelt asked. He was sitting in front of Squirrelflight with Ferncloud at his side; their one surviving kit, Birchkit, was rolling around in the grass with Tallpoppy’s three kits, all far too excited to sleep. “It would be just like you, Squirrelflight, to expect us to camp in a badger’s set.”
Squirrelflight’s tail curled up indignantly. “Dustpelt, I promise I’ll eat any badgers you find in there. Foxes, too. We didn’t scent anything like that.”
Dustpelt grunted.
“I think it sounds great.” Brightheart stepped up to Squirrelflight and pressed her muzzle against the younger warrior’s side. “How did you find it?”
“I… well, I fell into it,” Squirrelflight admitted.
Cloudtail let out a snort of laughter. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“Now look—” Squirrelflight spun around to face the white warrior, but before she could say any more a yowl rose into the air.