“SkyClan may be gone, but Juniperclaw is still your deputy.” Bramblestar spoke evenly. “Aren’t you worried that a cat capable of such a rogue trick might one day take your place? Is that the future you see for ShadowClan?”
Doubt glistened in Tigerstar’s eyes.
“You can’t ignore this,” Dovewing pressed. “You can’t let ShadowClan become rogues again. Don’t you remember what happened last time?”
Tigerstar blinked at her. “Do you expect me to turn on my Clanmate because of ThunderClan gossip?”
“It’s more than gossip!” Alderheart’s paws pricked with indignation. “We have evidence.”
“Juniperclaw’s not far away.” Dovewing glanced toward the camp entrance. “He’s hunting beside the ditches. Send someone to fetch him; have him explain.”
Tigerstar held her gaze for a moment, then nodded to Scorchfur. “Fetch Juniperclaw.”
Alderheart watched the tom race from the camp. Rain dripped from his whiskers as he waited beside Bramblestar. No cat spoke until, at last, paw steps sounded outside.
Juniperclaw’s eyes were dark as he padded into camp.
Strikestone hurried to his littermate’s side. “Tell these ThunderClan cats that it’s not true!”
Juniperclaw didn’t look at his Clanmate. Instead he glared at Alderheart.
“You knew where I’d buried the seeds!” Alderheart growled. “Shadowkit saw you digging them up. And Violetshine saw you beside the fresh-kill pile. You poisoned SkyClan’s prey!”
Strikestone pressed against Juniperclaw, but the other ShadowClan cats didn’t move.
“Well?” Tigerstar growled. “Is it true?”
Juniperclaw flattened his ears. “I saved ShadowClan from countless battles. We got our land back, and Grassheart was the only cat seriously injured.”
“Not the only one.” Bramblestar’s tail twitched angrily. “Sparrowpelt nearly died.”
Juniperclaw’s gaze flashed toward Tigerstar, doubt showing for the first time. “I did it to protect my Clan!”
“It’s true, then?” Strikestone shrank from his brother.
Relief washed Alderheart’s pelt. Juniperclaw acted alone. ShadowClan’s warriors still had honor. He watched as Strikestone curled his lip.
“Only a rogue would use poison!” the brown tabby snarled. “Did you learn nothing from Darktail?”
Dovewing lashed her tail angrily. “It looks like he learned too much!”
“I’m loyal!” Juniperclaw glanced frantically around his Clanmates. “I saved you from fighting.”
“We are warriors.” Tigerstar stared at his deputy. “We fight. We don’t murder. Did you never learn the warrior code?”
“I protected my Clan!” Juniperclaw backed away.
Pity pierced Alderheart’s chest. How could any warrior be so misguided?
“You are no longer ShadowClan’s deputy.” Tigerstar’s dark gaze fixed on Juniperclaw. “I’m not even sure if you are worthy of being a ShadowClan warrior.” He jerked his muzzle toward Tawnypelt and Scorchfur. “Take him to the warriors’ den and guard it. I will decide his punishment later.”
Juniperclaw’s shoulders sagged as the two warriors escorted him to the den. Silently, he slunk inside.
“I was mistaken.” Tigerstar looked bleakly at Bramblestar. “I shouldn’t have chosen him for deputy. I thought his experience with Darktail would have strengthened his faith in the warrior code, not weakened it.”
“I understand why you did it,” Bramblestar told him. “You wanted to unite your Clan by including those who once betrayed you. It was a noble gesture.”
“But wrong.” Tigerstar dipped his head.
Dovewing pressed against him. “You couldn’t have known that.”
“I wasn’t just wrong about Juniperclaw.” Tigerstar lifted his muzzle to the driving rain. “The storm StarClan warned us about is here, and I drove SkyClan away. I was so focused on rebuilding ShadowClan that I ignored the warning of my ancestors.”
He regrets SkyClan’s leaving! Hope sparked in Alderheart’s belly. But before he could ask whether Tigerstar would let them return, Pouncekit peered from the nursery. “Dovewing, we’re hungry! Can we have fresh-kill?”
“I’ll bring you some,” Dovewing told the gray tabby she-kit. As she turned toward the fresh-kill pile, she called to Pouncekit. “Will the two of you share a shrew with Shadowkit?”
“Shadowkit’s not here.” Pouncekit blinked at her mother.
Dovewing’s eyes darkened. She hurried toward the nursery. “What do you mean?”
Tigerstar was at her heels. He pushed past her and raced inside. “Where is he?” Pouncekit and Lightkit crowded around him as he ducked out again.
“He was playing a game,” Lightkit told him. “He was pretending he had an important mission to save his Clan. Pouncekit wanted to go with him, but he said it was something he had to do by himself.”
“Search the camp!” Tigerstar’s desperate gaze flashed toward his Clanmates.
Dovewing wove frantically around Lightkit and Pouncekit. “Did he say where he was going?”
Pouncekit looked frightened. “No.”
“He just said he had to save us and then he sneaked out of the den,” Lightkit told her.
Bramblestar was already searching the dripping grass at the edge of the camp. Scorchfur had hurried into the elders’ den while Blazepaw hunted behind it. Tawnypelt and Strikestone left their post outside the warriors’ den and began sniffing the ground.
Alderheart stared toward the entrance tunnel. Could the kit have left the camp without anyone noticing? He remembered with a jolt the dirtplace tunnel and hurried to check it. Dodging around the back of the warriors’ den, he saw black fur disappear into shadow. His eyes widened with surprise. The fur was too dark to be Shadowkit’s. Who was sneaking out? He hurried to the narrow tunnel entrance and smelled Juniperclaw’s scent. The former ShadowClan deputy smelled frightened. “Juniperclaw’s escaped!” Alderheart raced back to the clearing.
Tigerstar glanced at him distractedly. “Let him go,” he snapped. “We don’t need rogues like him in the Clan.” He pushed his way past Strikestone and sniffed the muddy path to the entrance. His pelt spiked. “Shadowkit went this way.” He followed the trail through the tunnel before darting back. “He’s left the camp!”
“I didn’t see him leave!” Dovewing’s eyes were round with guilt.
“Perhaps we should send a cat to WindClan,” Bramblestar suggested.
Tawnypelt bounded over to her son. “I’ll go!”
Tigerstar nodded at the tortoiseshell. “Yes . . . Go to WindClan and tell them that Shadowkit is missing. Tell Harestar and Mistystar that he must be found. He’s in . . .” His voice was now barely a whisper. “. . . he’s in great danger.”
As Tawnypelt raced from the camp, Alderheart watched his father. Bramblestar was gazing at Tigerstar. The ShadowClan leader’s eyes were bright with fear. “We will find him,” Bramblestar promised. Tigerstar stared wordlessly back, and Alderheart’s throat tightened with pity. “Have faith, Tigerstar,” Bramblestar went on. “If the Clans work together, we will save him.”
CHAPTER 23
Twigbranch stared through the rain. The sky darkened as night drew in. SkyClan scents filled her nose. Behind her they crowded into Tree’s shallow cave, thankful to be out of the rain and to be heading back to the lake. She shifted her paws uneasily. She and Finleap hadn’t spoken on the journey back from the flooded moor. His former Clanmates had clustered around him as they’d traveled, praising him for saving Leafstar and sharing stories of their adventure.
When they’d reached the cave, the nests they’d made were still there, and dry, thanks to the shelter of the overhanging rock. They’d needed to make more. But there was enough space, and even though the fresh bedding they dragged from the woods was wet, there would be a chance to get dry and warm while they rested overnight.