Cherryfall and Molewhisker muttering just behind him.
“That cat is going to be in a lot of trouble once she gets back to her own territory,” Molewhisker grumbled.
“But that’s not our problem,” Cherryfall responded. “It’s hers!”
While they were away, Needlepaw had obviously been grooming herself, and her sleek silver pelt shone in the growing light of dawn.
Alderpaw, still covered in dust and bits of debris from the fox fight, felt very scruffy by contrast.
“We’ve decided to let you join us,” Sandstorm announced.
Needlepaw raised one paw and examined her claws. “Well, of course you have,” she mewed coolly. “It’s not like you could stop me, anyway.”
Alderpaw’s pelt prickled with irritation at her rudeness, and yet he sensed that Needlepaw was much happier than she was prepared to admit. There’s something sort of… lonely about her, he thought.
As the sky began to flush red where the sun would rise, Alderpaw saw Needlepaw’s face more clearly. And he thought he could see in her eyes how pleased she was to be included.
Chapter 12
“Sandstorm,” Alderpaw meowed, “now that the sun is up, I want to have a better look at your shoulder.”
The old she-cat sighed. “I was expecting you to say that.”
She stayed still while Alderpaw peeled off the cobweb he had applied the night before. A
small amount of blood was still oozing from the wound.
“What can we do to help?” Sparkpaw asked, peering anxiously over his shoulder.
Alderpaw was pleased and relieved that he knew exactly what was needed. Leafpool and Jayfeather would be proud of me.
“Comfrey root,” he replied. “Cherryfall, Molewhisker, could you go and find some? It has large, long leaves. The root is black, and it has a tangy smell.”
“The stuff you put on my pad, right?”
Cherryfall asked. “I know exactly what to look for. Come on, Molewhisker.”
“Honestly, it’s not that serious,” Sandstorm protested as the two warriors disappeared into the undergrowth. “I’ll be fine.”
“You still need to let me treat the wound,” Alderpaw responded. “It’s important.”
It felt weird to be telling an elder what to do, and he was glad when Sandstorm gave a reluctant nod. “Meanwhile, give it another good lick,” Alderpaw added. “Then it’ll be ready for the poultice.”
The sun had not risen much farther up the sky by the time Cherryfall and Molewhisker returned, carrying plenty of comfrey. Alderpaw set to work at once, chewing up the root, and once it was a fine enough paste he applied it to Sandstorm’s wound. Sandstorm relaxed, letting out a long sigh, as the juices sank in.
“That feels so much better,” she murmured.
“Now the rest of you,” Alderpaw meowed.
“We’re fine, honestly,” Sparkpaw protested.
“You’re fine when I say you are,” Alderpaw retorted, remembering what Jayfeather liked to say to cats who didn’t want to be fussed over.
Sparkpaw twitched her whiskers but stood still while Alderpaw examined her. In the clear light of morning he spotted a scratch on her foreleg that he had missed the night before, and he patted some of the comfrey poultice onto it.
“Thanks, that’s great,” Sparkpaw mewed.
“Hey, do you know your ear’s been bleeding?”
Alderpaw hadn’t realized his ear was stinging, distracted first by the stress of the fight and then by the discussion about Needlepaw and the need to treat his Clanmates.
“Daft furball!” Sparkpaw gave him a nudge.
“Hold still, and I’ll give it a lick.” Her tongue rasped swiftly over his ear. “Now I’ll dab a bit of that root on it,” she continued. “There! All done. Do you think I’d make a good medicine cat?”
“No way!” Alderpaw gave a purr of amusement. “But you’re going to be a sensational warrior!”
When he checked his other Clanmates, Alderpaw was pleased to find that although the fox had clawed out some of Cherryfall’s fur, she wasn’t actually injured.
“My shoulder still aches a
bit,” Molewhisker told him, “but it’s not so bad. I think it’ll be fine once we get moving.”
“I can see a scratch on your back,” Alderpaw meowed, turning to Needlepaw. He felt slightly shy at offering help to a cat from another Clan. “Do you want me to look at it?”
“Please,” Needlepaw replied with an uncomfortable wriggle. “That mange-pelted fox threw me into a gorse bush, and it hurts.”
Examining her more closely, Alderpaw saw that a couple of thorns were sticking into
Needlepaw’s back, and she had a nasty scrape clotted with dried blood.
“You’ve picked up some thorns,” Alderpaw mewed. “Crouch down and I’ll get them out.”
Needlepaw flattened herself, and Alderpaw managed to get his teeth into the shanks of the thorns and yank them out, then spit them onto the ground. A trace of blood welled up where they had been.
“Now comfrey root,” Alderpaw continued.
“This will take the pain away.”
She stretched and relaxed as the comfrey juices soaked into her back. “Thanks, Alderpaw.
You must be a really good medicine cat, because I feel better already. And hungry!”
Alderpaw’s pelt grew hot with embarrassment at Needlepaw’s praise, and he was glad to step back as Cherryfall organized a hunting patrol. She and Molewhisker, Sparkpaw, and Needlepaw headed off into the trees, while
Alderpaw stayed with Sandstorm.
“You’re doing a good job, Alderpaw,” Sandstorm murmured when the others had gone.
Alderpaw ducked his head. “Thanks, Sandstorm.” He wasn’t sure he deserved the compliment, but he felt himself filling up with happiness like a hollow filling up with rain.
Sunhigh was still some way off when the hunting patrol returned. Molewhisker and Sparkpaw were each carrying mice, while
Cherryfall had a vole. Alderpaw’s eyes stretched wide with amazement when he spotted Needlepaw with her prey. She was dragging along a pigeon and a squirrel, both of them so big that she could hardly manage them.
She picked up her pace to stride ahead to the bottom of the hollow, where Alderpaw and Sandstorm were sunning themselves beside the pool, and dropped her catch at their paws.
Alderpaw tried hard to hide how impressed he was, but he was sure that Needlepaw could tell.
“Not bad, huh?” she meowed. “You don’t regret having me around now, do you? And I got even more than that!”
Sparkpaw and the others caught up and put down their own prey. Alderpaw could see that his sister looked a bit annoyed to be outdone by Needlepaw, and kept casting sidelong glances at her.
“It’s true,” she meowed to Sandstorm.
“Needlepaw did catch more than the squirrel and the pigeon. She caught a big, fat rat.”
“So where is it?” Sandstorm asked.
“Needlepaw already ate it!” Sparkpaw sounded outraged. “She ate it herself! That’s against the warrior code.”
Alderpaw would never have said so out loud, but he felt that it wasn’t their place to teach Needlepaw about the warrior code. She’s not part of our Clan, and even if she did eat the rat, she still brought back more prey than the other three put together!
“Let’s all just eat and relax a bit,” Sandstorm responded to Sparkpaw; her voice sounded weary. “We’ve had an exhausting time, and we could all do with a good meal and some rest.”
Sparkpaw said no more, though she ruffled up her fur indignantly and glared at Needlepaw, who seemed quite untroubled by her complaints.