“Are you saying Hawkfrost is our enemy?”
For a few heartbeats Squirrelflight did not reply. The anger in her eyes faded, to be replaced by a look of deep sadness. “All right, I give up,” she mewed. “It’s not going to work, is it? You and me?”
“What do you mean?” Brambleclaw stared at her in dismay. “Why not?”
“Because I can see exactly where I stand in your life. I’m not as important to you as other cats are—as Hawkfrost is.”
Brambleclaw opened his jaws to argue, but another voice interrupted him.
“Hey, Squirrelflight! I’ve saved you a place over here.” It was Ashfur, signaling from a few fox-lengths away.
Squirrelflight gave Brambleclaw a last, long look, anger and sadness battling in her gaze, then stalked away to join the gray tom.
Brambleclaw leaped after her. “Squirrelflight, wait! I’d never choose another cat over you.”
But she didn’t look back, and there was no way Brambleclaw was going to chase her all the way over to Ashfur. He wasn’t about to give the young warrior the satisfaction of watching them fight.
Behind him, Blackstar jumped onto the tree stump and called for attention. As the cats gathered around, Brambleclaw saw Hawkfrost gazing curiously at him. He didn’t want to talk about the dream now. Whatever Squirrelflight said, no cat was more important than her, and he couldn’t think about anything except the way she was sitting next to Ashfur, the gray warrior bending down to murmur something in her ear.
Brambleclaw stared past Hawkfrost into the shadows at the edge of the clearing, waves of loss and disbelief surging around him like the churning, choking water of sun-drown-place.
Chapter 16
Leafpaw stood at the edge of the clearing and watched the four Clans slip back and forth, cautiously greeting old friends and looking for good places to sit. She wanted to ask Crowfeather how Morningflower was getting on, and if she had eaten the herbs Leafpaw had left for her. She knew he was here, because she had seen him with his Clanmates when ThunderClan and WindClan met beside the horseplace. But he had been padding along with his head down, as if he didn’t want to talk to her or any other cat. Now he had vanished. He couldn’t be more annoying if he tried! Leafpaw thought in frustration.
“Leafpaw! Leafpaw, are you dreaming?”
A paw prodded her in the side. Leafpaw jumped as she realized that Cinderpelt was calling to her. At the same moment she spotted Crowfeather across the clearing.
“Sorry, Cinderpelt,” she murmured.
“When the Gathering’s over,” Cinderpelt meowed, “the medicine cats are going to stay behind.”
Leafpaw pricked her ears. “Has one of them had a sign about the new Moonstone?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” Then she added more briskly, “Come on, let’s find somewhere to sit. The Gathering will start shortly.”
Leafpaw glanced at Crowfeather, wondering if she’d have a chance to speak with him first.
Cinderpelt’s gaze followed hers. “Take care where your affections fall, Leafpaw,” she warned quietly. “Remember that you are a medicine cat.”
“I do remember,” Leafpaw protested. “You don’t think I feel any affection for that bad-tempered furball, do you?
Every time we see each other he tries to make trouble. I just wanted to know if Barkface had given Morningflower the rest of the water mint; that’s all.”
Cinderpelt looked at her with the faintest hint of disbelief in her pale blue eyes before leading the way over to the other cats. Leafpaw trailed behind, thinking furious thoughts about the WindClan warrior. Affection? She hated every last hair on his pelt!
Cinderpelt settled down near the tree stump, hitching her injured leg underneath her. Leafpaw was about to sit down as well when she spotted Squirrelflight padding over to Ashfur.
Tingling pulses of distress were coming off her; Leafpaw felt them as painfully as if they were her own.
As Blackstar yowled for silence, Leafpaw darted over and sat down on Squirrelflight’s other side. “What’s the matter?” she whispered. “Have you fallen out with Brambleclaw again?”
“Don’t mention his name! It’s over between us!”
Leafpaw stared at her. “Tell me what happened,” she mewed.
“He was talking to Hawkfrost. He actually stood up for him—a warrior from another Clan! Why won’t he listen to me when I tell him that cat can’t be trusted?”
“Is that all?”
“What do you mean, is that all?” Squirrelflight lashed her tail. “I’ve told him you know Hawkfrost is untrustworthy, but he won’t take any notice. It all comes down to trust, and Brambleclaw obviously trusts Hawkfrost more than me. How can we be together, if that’s how he feels?”
Leafpaw felt totally helpless. She was a medicine cat—what did she know about relationships like this? She could understand why Squirrelflight might feel hurt if Brambleclaw preferred spending time with Hawkfrost rather than her, but she was puzzled by the way Squirrelflight seemed so quick to reject Brambleclaw altogether. She pressed her muzzle comfortingly against her sister’s. “Don’t forget they’re half brothers. It’s natural for them to enjoy each other’s company now and then.”
Squirrelflight’s green eyes flashed in the moonlight. “This is about trust! I don’t care that Tigerstar was their father. This is about much more than shared blood!”
Blood… The word echoed in Leafpaw’s ears, and she recoiled. Blood will spill blood, and the lake will run red. She had forgotten about her terrible dream, but now it flooded back into her mind, the water lapping thick and slow like a seeping wound. What did it mean? Whose blood would be spilled?
She looked around for Cinderpelt, desperate to ask her about it, but Firestar, Blackstar, and Leopardstar were standing on the tree stump, ready to begin. Leafpaw had to settle down beside her sister, trying to send wordless comfort to her through the warmth of her fur.
Onewhisker ran over to the stump, but when he tried to leap up his paws slipped and he fell back awkwardly. There wasn’t room for four cats to stand up there together. Firestar and Leopardstar exchanged an uncomfortable glance, but Blackstar meowed roughly, “Stay down there, Onewhisker.
We must get on with the Gathering.”
Onewhisker sat among the roots and bent his head to lick the ruffled fur on his chest.
“It looks as if he isn’t a proper leader,” Squirrelflight mewed.
“I know,” Leafpaw agreed quietly. “The sooner we find another Moonstone the better, so he can receive his nine lives and his name.”
Blackstar addressed the Gathering first. “As we agreed before, we have set our boundary markers along the small Thunderpath leading to the lake,” he announced.
“Leopardstar, I hope that suits you?” His gaze bored into the RiverClan leader as if he were daring her to argue.
Leopardstar dipped her head. “Perfectly, thank you, Blackstar.”
Blackstar looked surprised, and for a moment Leafpaw couldn’t understand why Leopardstar was being so coopera-tive. Squirrelflight had told her the small Thunderpath wasn’t all that far from RiverClan’s camp. The new boundaries had been only roughly agreed upon at the previous meeting, and she thought Leopardstar might have tried to extend her territory. Then she realized that if the Thunderpath were left as the boundary, the Twoleg half-bridge and the little nest Squirrelflight had described to her would be in ShadowClan territory. If the Twolegs caused any trouble it would be ShadowClan’s problem.