Jayfeather dropped the mallow beside Purdy’s nest. “Have you been hunting?”
“Mousefur was hungry,” Purdy rasped.
“Don’t use me as an excuse!” Mousefur snapped. “He wanted to hunt,” she told Jayfeather.
“We’ve been stuck inside for days,” Purdy complained. “I needed to get out for a while.”
Mousefur shifted in her nest. “Bored of my company?”
A purr rumbled in the old tom’s throat. “I thought you could do with a break from my stories.”
“Your stories are the only interesting thing that happens around here,” she croaked.
Jayfeather picked up a few mallow leaves and dropped them beside the cantankerous elder. “Perhaps you could spend more time with Lilykit and Seedkit. They’re getting to that restless age.”
“Brightheart’s kits are due soon,” he added. “You’ll be busy enough once they’re bouncing around the clearing looking for trouble.”
“I suppose.” Mousefur sniffed. “No doubt it’ll be up to me to teach them manners. Kits nowadays don’t know how to show any respect.”
Jayfeather’s whiskers twitched with amusement.
“Don’t you believe it,” Purdy whispered. “She was teaching Lilykit and Seedkit how to reach under the wall of the warriors’ den and catch stray tails yesterday.”
“I heard that!” Mousefur snapped.
Jayfeather left the two old cats bickering and pushed through the honeysuckle into the rain. The nursery rustled on the other side of the clearing. Fur scraped thorns and Jayfeather smelled the scent of Cinderheart. She was squeezing into the bramble bush.
Jayfeather crossed the camp and poked his head inside. “Is everything okay here?”
Brightheart shifted in her nest. “Ferncloud’s under the weather,” she puffed. Her belly was so round with kits that even sitting up to talk was an effort.
“She’s got a bellyache.” Cinderheart’s mew sounded beside Ferncloud’s nest. “I thought I’d check on her. You’ve got plenty to do.”
Jayfeather hesitated, uncertain as usual whether he should let Cinderheart act as medicine cat or tell her to go back to her warrior duties. But it was a decision she needed to make for herself. “If you need herbs, let me know,” he told her. “I’ll leave them outside the medicine den for you.”
Jayfeather withdrew, turning toward the apprentices’ den, where he could hear Molepaw coughing.
“Cough again, Molepaw.” Leafpool’s mew surprised Jayfeather. She was already inside the den. Molepaw forced out a cough and Leafpool sat up. “It’s not bubbling in his chest. Perhaps some honey will soothe his throat?” Jayfeather felt her gaze flit toward him.
There are more medicine cats than sick cats! Ruffled, Jayfeather pushed past Leafpool and listened to Molepaw’s chest. She was right. It sounded clear. “I’ll wrap some honey in a leaf and leave it outside my den.” He turned and stomped from the den.
“That was quick.” Briarlight greeted him as he pushed his way through the brambles and shook the rain from his pelt.
“Cinderheart and Leafpool are helping,” Jayfeather muttered. He padded to the store, hauled out a lump of honeycomb, and folded it in a laurel leaf. Then he picked a few chervil roots for Ferncloud’s bellyache. Grasping them between his jaws, he carried them to the den entrance, thrust his head out, and dropped them on the ground.
A familiar scent surprised him. RiverClan. As he slid out into the clearing, he tasted the air. Poppyfrost and Brackenfur were padding from the thorn tunnel. The two warriors smelled fresh from the forest. And there was a third cat behind them, walking into the clearing with hesitant steps. Mothwing?
Poppyfrost called to him. “Mothwing wants to speak with you.”
“It’s a RiverClan cat!” Squeaking excitedly, Lilykit dashed from behind the warriors’ den.
“Why’s she here?” Seedkit bounced after her sister.
Jayfeather waved them away with his tail and hurried to greet the RiverClan medicine cat. Nodding to Poppyfrost and Brackenfur, he steered Mothwing to the edge of the clearing.
Behind them, Spiderleg grumbled, “Why is she allowed to tramp across our territory when our medicine cat isn’t even allowed at the Gathering?”
Jayfeather ignored him. “What is it?”
“You have to come with me,” Mothwing told him.
Stones clattered as Firestar bounded down from his den. He skidded to a halt beside Mothwing. “Is anything wrong?”
“No,” Mothwing meowed evenly. “There’s just something I need to show Jayfeather.”
Firestar shifted his paws. “Jayfeather can’t leave ThunderClan territory.”
Mothwing’s pelt brushed Jayfeather’s. “He can for this.”
“What is it?” Firestar thrust his muzzle closer.
“Something only Jayfeather will understand.” Mothwing headed away. “Are you coming?” she called to Jayfeather.
“I’d better go with her,” Jayfeather meowed apologetically to Firestar. He ran after Mothwing as she vanished into the thorns. What was so important that she’d overrule a Clan leader?
Excitement sparked from Mothwing’s pelt as she headed onto the narrow beach and followed the edge of the lake, crossing the WindClan border without even pausing to taste the air. Jayfeather followed, his pads pricking with curiosity. He hardly noticed the rain battering his face. Had Mothwing discovered proof she was the fourth cat? Hope flared in his chest.
A shout from the hillside made him jump. Crowfeather. The WindClan warrior was pelting toward them, yowling.
“He’s leading a patrol,” Mothwing warned. She shoved Jayfeather behind her and waited as the WindClan cats swished through the heather.
“What are you doing here?”
Jayfeather flinched as Crowfeather slowed to a halt in front of them. He tasted the scents of Whitetail and Owlwhisker as they joined their Clanmate.
“He’s not allowed to cross Clan territory,” Crowfeather growled.
Mothwing didn’t move. “This is not your territory. We’re within a tail-length of the water.”
“It’s not a full moon!” Crowfeather snarled. “There’s no truce.”
Jayfeather dug his claws into the pebbles. He couldn’t believe this bad-tempered warrior was his father.
“We’re medicine cats,” Mothwing meowed calmly.
Crowfeather padded closer. “He’s not.”
Owlwhisker growled, “Let’s escort him back to his border.”
Whitetail shifted her paws. “He’s not doing any harm,” she meowed.
“He’s a murderer!” Owlwhisker hissed.
“Do you believe everything ShadowClan says?” Whitetail snapped at her Clanmate.
Stones rattled beneath Mothwing’s feet as she stepped closer to the WindClan patrol. “Let us pass,” she insisted.
Crowfeather’s tail lashed the air. “Jayfeather is trespassing.”
“Do you want to fight me?” Mothwing challenged. “Because you’ll have to if you lay a claw on him.” There was a growl in her mew. “Would StarClan approve of you harming a medicine cat?”
Jayfeather felt frustration flare from Crowfeather’s pelt. “You can pass.” He leaned closer to Jayfeather. “But this is the second time we’ve caught you trespassing on our territory.” His breath smelled of rabbit. “Make it the last.”
Mothwing’s tail flicked past Jayfeather’s nose. “He’ll have to travel back,” she pointed out. “Will I need to escort him? Does WindClan take pride in attacking blind cats?”