“I don’t know if it grows in ThunderClan territory.”
“There’s some around the ShadowClan border.” Puddleshine winced. “It’s dark green and has a sour smell.”
“I’ll find some. Let’s hope it works.”
As he spoke, voices sounded in the clearing. He pricked his ears. They sounded like ShadowClan. His heart lurched. Tigerstar had told Twigbranch that he’d be sending a patrol to fetch Puddleshine in a few days. Was this it? Alderheart shifted his paws. How would he explain that Puddleshine was in no fit state to travel home? He noticed Puddleshine’s gaze flick anxiously to the medicine-den entrance. “You rest,” Alderheart mewed. “I’ll go and see what’s happening.” He hurried out of the den.
Tawnypelt and Scorchfur stood in the clearing, flanked by Brackenfur and Fernsong.
“We found them waiting on the border,” Fernsong was explaining to his Clanmates, who were watching the ShadowClan cats warily as Bramblestar scrambled down the rock tumble.
For the first time, Alderheart noticed Dovewing standing behind Tawnypelt. The former ThunderClan warrior’s pale gray fur was bristling anxiously.
Alderheart narrowed his eyes. Why had she come? Dovewing had visited the camp when she’d first returned with Tigerstar. Every cat had been so relieved to see she was safe, they’d barely reproached her for her decision to abandon her Clan and take her kits to live with their father in ShadowClan. But that had been more than a moon ago. He wondered how ThunderClan felt now, seeing Dovewing as part of a ShadowClan patrol.
Squirrelflight padded forward to greet her, but a warning look from Scorchfur made her hesitate. Lionblaze frowned from beside the fresh-kill pile. Graystripe and Millie slipped from the elders’ den and exchanged looks as they saw Dovewing. Cherryfall and Bumblestripe glared at their former Clanmate, their hostility plain as Bramblestar reached the ShadowClan cats.
“You’ve come for Puddleshine?” the ThunderClan leader asked.
Tawnypelt met his gaze stiffly. “Tigerstar told the two youngsters you sent that we’d fetch him in two days. Is he ready?”
Scorchfur scanned the camp, clearly looking for the ShadowClan medicine cat. Dovewing’s gaze had drifted to the nursery.
“Well?” Tawnypelt pressed when Bramblestar didn’t answer. The ThunderClan leader was staring at Dovewing.
“I’m surprised you brought her here,” he meowed. “Feelings are running high about her decision to leave.” He glanced uneasily at Cherryfall and Bumblestripe. The pale gray tom’s hackles were up.
“She’s a member of ShadowClan now,” Tawnypelt meowed simply. “She joins our patrols whether they’re hunting or escorting Clan members home.”
Bramblestar narrowed his eyes. “Surely she should be in the nursery taking care of her kits?”
Dovewing padded forward. “I asked to come,” she mewed softly. “I was hoping to see Ivypool.”
Bumblestripe lashed his tail. “You visited with Ivypool and her kits a moon ago. Before you went to ShadowClan. When you left your Clan, you left your kin. I thought you understood that.”
“I did what I thought was best for every cat,” Dovewing told him.
Alderheart’s pelt prickled uneasily. Bumblestripe’s feelings had clearly hardened since he’d last seen Dovewing. He looked toward the nursery.
Ivypool hung back in the shadows at the entrance, her gaze uncertain.
Bristlekit pushed past her mother, pale gray pelt fluffed with excitement. “Is that her?” she asked, bouncing into the clearing and staring at Dovewing.
Flipkit and Thriftkit crowded between Ivypool’s forelegs, their heads pressing against her chest. Their eyes were wide with curiosity.
“Are we allowed to talk to her?” Thriftkit asked.
“Why wouldn’t we be allowed?” Bristlekit padded closer to Dovewing and stared at her boldly. “Ivypool says you came to visit us before. But I don’t remember you. We’d only just opened our eyes. You look like Ivypool except you don’t have white splotches.”
Dovewing looked past the kit toward Ivypool, her gaze shimmering with hope. Ivypool didn’t move.
Daisy emerged from the nursery, pushing past the silver-and-white queen. “I don’t know what all the fuss is about. Kin is kin no matter the Clan.”
“Clan is more important than kin!” Cherryfall moved closer to Bumblestripe.
Lionblaze flicked his ears. “Loyalty is more important than anything,” he growled. “Bumblestripe’s right. When you leave your Clan, you leave your kin.”
Alderheart thought he caught a flicker of movement from the elders’ den. Graystripe was shifting uneasily, trying to look like he wasn’t listening to the discussion. Long before Alderheart was born, Graystripe had briefly left ThunderClan to be with kits he’d had with a RiverClan warrior. ThunderClan had eventually welcomed him back, though Alderheart had heard that not all of his Clanmates had trusted him right away.
Jayfeather stomped from the nursery and headed for the medicine den, his pelt twitching with irritation. “If warriors didn’t keep falling in love with the wrong cats, a lot of trouble could be avoided.” His blind blue gaze flashed toward Squirrelflight as though he could see her.
Squirrelflight bristled. “Don’t blame me for what your mother did,” she mewed sharply. “I only tried to help her.”
“So, that worked out well, didn’t it?” With a sniff, he pushed past Alderheart and disappeared into the medicine den.
Alderheart’s chest ached with sympathy for Dovewing. She was gazing at Ivypool with such longing he wondered how Ivypool could hesitate. But the ThunderClan queen returned her sister’s gaze blankly, her eyes round with indecision.
Flipkit padded into the clearing and stopped beside Bristlekit. He glanced shyly at Dovewing. “Ivypool says you have kits too. Do they look like us?”
“Shadowkit does, a little.” Emotion thickened Dovewing’s mew. “Lightkit and Pouncekit look more like their father.”
Graystripe padded toward Dovewing. Sympathy filled his warm amber gaze. “They must be very handsome,” he meowed softly.
“They are.” Dovewing blinked at him gratefully, then looked back to Ivypool, her tail drooping. “Won’t you come and greet me? I thought you’d understand. I made the best choice I could.”
Ivypool’s eyes glittered with pity. The two sisters stared at each other a moment, before Ivypool dipped her head and hurried to Dovewing, pressing her muzzle against her cheek. “Of course I understand,” she murmured. “It’s just so strange to think that you live with another Clan now, and our kits will grow up without ever knowing one another.” She pulled away. “How are your kits?”
“They’re well,” Dovewing purred. “I wish you could come and see them.”
Scorchfur flicked his tail. “That’s not going to happen anytime soon. Tigerstar doesn’t welcome visitors from other Clans.”
Alderheart shifted uneasily. That explained the frosty reception Twigbranch had reported when she and Finleap had returned from ShadowClan.
Scorchfur was glaring at Bramblestar. “Where is Puddleshine?”
Alderheart’s belly tightened. He stepped forward. “He’s too sick to travel.”
Scorchfur bristled. “Haven’t you treated his wounds?”
“Of course he has.” Bramblestar gazed evenly at the ShadowClan warrior. “But Puddleshine’s injuries are healing more slowly than expected.”
“I’ve dressed them with marigold and horsetail, but infection has taken hold,” Alderheart fought back anxiety as he tried to explain. “I don’t know how. I’m trying to clear it, but I haven’t found the right herb yet.”
Tawnypelt’s gaze sharpened. “You have three medicine cats!” she snapped. “Surely one of you is skillful enough to cure a silverthorn scratch?” She didn’t wait for an answer but marched toward the medicine den. Bramblestar hurried after her as she pushed past Alderheart and into the den. Scorchfur sat down in the clearing, his gaze mistrustful. Dovewing was admiring Ivypool’s kits, her whiskers twitching fondly as they slid beneath her belly, purring while their mother watched happily.