Jayfeather heard the patter of paws as the two apprentices padded across the den, and the sound of Briarlight dragging herself over the ground to meet them.
“Do your legs hurt?” Cherrypaw mewed. “Is it tough, not being able to move them?”
“Yes, it’s tough,” Briarlight replied calmly. “But I’m used to it. And it doesn’t hurt.”
“Bumblestripe says you’re the bravest cat in the Clan,” Molepaw told her.
Jayfeather could feel Briarlight’s embarrassment. “I don’t know about that,” she murmured. “Now keep still so I can get this cobweb off your fur.”
Jayfeather squeezed past the kits and joined Sandstorm in the clearing. “Thanks for taking them out,” he mewed. “Those cobwebs will come in handy.”
“No problem,” Sandstorm responded. After a moment she added, “It seems like you’re overworked. Maybe you should think about taking an apprentice sometime soon.”
I’m planning to be around for a while yet, Jayfeather thought. “Briarlight is being very useful,” he meowed out loud.
To his relief, Sandstorm didn’t push it. “I’ll see you later,” she murmured.
“Could you find Sorreltail for me?” Jayfeather called after her. “Tell her I’d like to see her.”
“Sure.” Sandstorm padded off.
Jayfeather was turning back toward the den when the scent of more approaching cats drifted over him. He halted as the sound of their pawsteps grew louder.
Brightheart… Foxleap… Rosepetal… What do they want?
“Have you come to pick up your apprentices?” he asked. “They’re inside, being untangled.”
“Yes, we’re going out for a training session,” Rosepetal replied. “Brightheart is going to teach them some of her battle moves.”
“Firestar wants every apprentice to learn them.” Brightheart’s voice was full of quiet pride. “That way, if they injure their eye in a battle, or they have to fight at night when it’s hard to see, they’ll know what to do.”
The scamper of paws told Jayfeather that Molepaw and Cherrypaw had appeared from the den.
“Are we training now?” Molepaw mewed eagerly. “We collected masses of cobwebs.”
“Yes,” Brightheart told him. “You’re training with me today. I’m going to teach you some moves that none of the other Clans know about.”
“Cool!” Cherrypaw exclaimed.
“You’ll need to have your wits about you,” Brightheart warned. “We’re going to the slope above the hollow, and the brambles are very thick there.”
“Great! Let’s go!” Molepaw squeaked.
Jayfeather listened as they moved away, enjoying the sunshine soaking into his fur, and the cool breeze that kept the air fresh. Around him the camp was humming with activity. A hunting patrol had just left, passing Thornclaw at the entrance as he returned with a border patrol. Jayfeather padded over when Brambleclaw emerged from the warriors’ den to hear Thornclaw’s report.
“WindClan seems very jumpy at the moment,” Thornclaw meowed.
“So what else is new?” Jayfeather could picture Brambleclaw rolling his eyes.
“More jumpy than usual, I mean,” Thornclaw went on. “We met a WindClan patrol on the border, and they were convinced they’d seen one of our cats crossing into their territory.”
“Oh?” Brambleclaw’s voice grew sharper. “Did they say which cat?”
“No, they didn’t get a good look. So I told them no way was it a ThunderClan warrior. It must have been a loner—if there was a cat there at all.”
“Hmm…” Jayfeather could tell that Brambleclaw was thinking hard. “Did they believe you?”
“I have no idea,” Thornclaw admitted. “Those cats jump at their own shadows! But Sedgewhisker was leading the patrol, and she’s a decent cat, so maybe they did.”
“We’d better tell Firestar,” Brambleclaw decided. “If WindClan starts throwing accusations around, he’ll need to know. Come with me, Thornclaw.”
The two cats padded off toward the tumbled rocks, and Jayfeather headed back to his den. Sorreltail was waiting for him at the entrance.
“Hi, Jayfeather. Sandstorm said you wanted to see me.”
“Right. Come in. I need to check you over.”
“I’ll be fine, honestly,” Sorreltail went on as she followed Jayfeather into the den. “I’ve done this before, you know.”
“I know. And that was many seasons ago. Older she-cats need their medicine cat to keep an eye on them when they’re having kits.”
“Who are you calling older?” Sorreltail bristled, but Jayfeather could tell she wasn’t really annoyed.
He made her lie down in the bracken and felt her belly gently with one forepaw. Then he leaned close to her to listen to her heartbeat. Briarlight dragged herself over to watch; Jayfeather could feel her breath on his neck fur.
“Will she be okay?” Briarlight whispered.
Jayfeather nodded. “Everything seems fine,” he replied, adding to Sorreltail, “I’ve noticed a bit of stiffness in your hip joints. You might need some poppy seeds to take the edge off the pain when you give birth.”
“I’ll be fine,” Sorreltail told him. “Leafpool has already given me some exercises to help keep the joints flexible.”
Jayfeather stiffened. “Leafpool is not your medicine cat,” he hissed through gritted teeth.
“She’s still my friend,” Sorreltail pointed out, “and I’ll listen to her, no matter what happens.”
Jayfeather suppressed a sigh. I can’t be bothered to argue. With the flick of an ear to dismiss Sorreltail, he followed her out into the clearing. Sitting in a pool of sunlight, he listened to what was going on in the camp. Dovewing had just come back from a hunting patrol, and was settling down beside the fresh-kill pile to eat with Hazeltail and Graystripe. Dustpelt was leaving at the head of a hunting patrol. Leafpool, Ivypool, and Poppyfrost followed him; Jayfeather detected Poppyfrost’s delight at going out on warrior duties again.
The patrol had scarcely left the clearing when a commotion broke out at the top of the hollow. Jayfeather sprang to his paws, every hair on his pelt bristling. Yaps and snarls and the shrieking of cats came from up above, and wails of dismay broke out in the camp.
“That’s Molepaw and Cherrypaw!” Berrynose yowled, leaping out of the warriors’ den and charging across the clearing. “And that sounds like a fox!”
He hurled himself toward the thorn tunnel, with Firestar, Cloudtail, Graystripe, and Brackenfur hard on his paws. Jayfeather ran back into his den. Briarlight was dragging herself toward the entrance; Jayfeather could sense her shock.
“What’s happening?” she asked. “What’s that awful noise?”
“Fox,” Jayfeather replied tersely. “Get the supplies for wounds ready.”
As Briarlight headed for the storage cleft, Jayfeather heard Dovewing behind him, standing by the bramble screen. “A fox?” she gasped. “But that’s not possible! I didn’t hear anything.”
Jayfeather wanted to ask her what she meant, but he was distracted by the yowls and screeching that still came from the top of the cliff.
“It sounds really bad!” Briarlight’s voice was shaking. “There’ll be terrible injuries.”
“We’ll deal with it.” Jayfeather made himself sound calm, but he was still worried by what Dovewing had just said. Why didn’t she hear the fox coming?
Gradually the sound of battle died away; moments later Jayfeather heard the voices and pawsteps of his Clanmates returning through the thorn tunnel. He padded out to meet them, bracing himself for the scent of wounds and spasms of pain.
But as soon as he emerged into the clearing Jayfeather realized that things weren’t as bad as he had feared. He could hear that Brightheart and Rosepetal were limping, and picked up the scent of blood coming from Foxleap, but their injuries were nowhere near as serious as the wounds an angry fox could inflict.