She gulped it down, struggling to fill her lungs and coughing helplessly. The teeth held onto her scruff, dragging her until she felt pebbles brush her paws. She let herself be hauled, helpless, onto the shore. “You saved m e,” she mewed weakly. Her mother had come back! She rescued me!
Dazed, Twigkit coughed up water from her lungs and belched it from her belly.
“Twigkit?” A ginger she-cat was leaning over her, eyes flashing with fear. “Are you okay?”
Twigkit blinked in surprise. “Sparkpaw?” Disappointm ent j abbed her chest. It wasn’t my mother.
Fighting grief, she let her thoughts clear. Of course it wasn’t her mother. I’m a mouse-brain! What would her mother be doing here, beside the lake? She struggled to her paws, forcing a purr. “You saved m e, Sparkpaw! Thank y ou!” Coughing, she collapsed.
Sparkpaw sat down, her wet pelt stream ing. “What in StarClan are you doing here? Did y ou want to see what it’s like being a RiverClan cat?”
Twigkit blinked at her, sham e sweeping over her so hotly it drove the chill of the water from her pelt. “I cam e to fetch waterm int,” she mewed weakly.
Sparkpaw’s eyes widened. “Did Alderpaw send y ou?”
Twigkit shook her head. “It was m y idea. I wanted to help the Clan.”
“I’m not sure drowning y ourself is very helpful.” Sparkpaw shook out her pelt, spraying Twigkit with water.
Paws thrum m ed toward them and pebbles cracked as another cat leaped onto the shore.
Twigkit looked up and saw Cherry fall.
The warrior stared at Twigkit. “You were right, Sparkpaw,” she meowed in surprise. “It was a kit on the shore. I was sure it was an otter.”
“Otters can swim.” Sparkpaw butted Twigkit play fully with her m uzzle.
Twigkit blinked at her helplessly. She was cold, em barrassed, and exhausted.
Cherry fall slid past her apprentice. “I won’t ask what you were doing by the lake, Twigkit. We need to get you home and warm as soon as possible.” She crouched. “Clim b onto m y back. I’ll carry you back to camp.”
Twigkit reached up and tried to haul herself onto the warrior’s shoulders, but her paws weren’t strong enough. She felt Sparkpaw’s m uzzle beneath her haunches as, with a grunt, the apprentice boosted her up.
Twigkit clung on, relishing the warmth pulsing from Cherry fall’s pelt. Closing her eyes, she let the warrior carry her home.
“Why did you even leave the camp?” Jayfeather scolded as he tucked her deep into
Emberfoot’s discarded nest.
“I was try ing to help,” Twigkit rasped sadly. She glanced toward the entrance, hoping Alderpaw would arrive. Would he be cross with her too? She couldn’t bear not knowing.
“Kits should not try to help. They cause nothing but trouble!” He folded dry m oss around her.
“Briarlight, wrap y ourself around her. We need to get her warm.”
Briarlight slid gently into the nest beside Twigkit and curled close. Twigkit was still shivering, her throat sore from coughing up water. She could hear the Clan m urm uring outside. They’d gathered around as Cherry fall had carried her into camp.
“Where did you find her?”
“Did the rogues kidnap her?”
“What was she doing out of camp?”
“How did she get so wet?”
Anxious voices had surrounded her, and she had buried her m uzzle deep into Cherry fall’s fur and closed her eyes. This wasn’t the heroic return she had planned. She hadn’t even brought back any waterm int.
Now, in Emberfoot’s nest, she heard Lily heart’s mew.
“Where is she?” The queen pushed her way through the brambles.
Twigkit peeped at her from the m oss.
“Cherry fall said y ou’d gone to the lake.” Lily heart sounded as cross as Jayfeather. “How could you leave the camp? I’m asham ed of y ou. What will the Clan think?”
Twigkit shrank deeper into the nest.
Jayfeather stepped in front of the queen. “She needs rest,” he told Lily heart. “You can growl at her when she’s recovered.”
Lily heart fluffed out her pelt indignantly. “I’m supposed to be looking after her.”
“Then you shouldn’t have let her wander out of camp.” Jayfeather steered Lily heart firm ly toward the entrance. “Especially when there are rogues in the forest.”
Lily heart grunted and stalked from the medicine den.
Twigkit blinked at Jayfeather. Had he actually defended her?
He headed for the back of the den. “I’ll m ix you som e herbs for the shock,” he mewed over his shoulder. “And don’t complain if they taste bad. You deserve every thing you get.”
As he spoke, Alderpaw raced through the brambles and skidded to a halt beside Twigkit’s nest.
“I was out gathering oak leaves.” He was panting. “Cherry fall told m e when I got back. Twigkit!
What happened? What were you doing by the lake?”
Twigkit blinked at him, bracing herself for another scolding, but Alderpaw was staring at her, his eyes wide with fear. “Are you okay?”
“She’ll be fine.” Jayfeather growled from the back of the den. “Briarlight’s warm ing her up and I’m mixing some thyme and poppy seeds for her.”
Alderpaw leaned forward and nudged Briarlight with his nose. “Let me take your place,” he mewed softly. As Briarlight m oved away, he slid into the nest and wrapped him self around
Twigkit. His fam iliar scent soothed her.
“Sparkpaw said you were try ing to help,” he m urm ured softly. “How could you help by going to the lake?”
“I wanted to get waterm int,” Twigkit whispered, her throat tightening. “You’d run out, and I wanted to prove I was special.” Her heart seem ed to crack as the words tum bled out.
“Mousewhisker and Rosepetal said they thought I wasn’t special. They said there was a prophecy.
The Clan thought I was part of it but I’m not. They said I was just an ordinary cat. But if I’m just an ordinary cat, the Clan won’t want m e any more. So I had to prove I was special.”
Alderpaw squeezed tighter around her and for the first tim e, Twigkit stopped shivering. “Of course y ou’re special! StarClan led Needlepaw and m e to y ou. And the Clan will always want y ou. You’re one of us now, and nothing will ever change that.”
You’re one of us now. His words soothed her. Twigkit relaxed against him and began to purr.
“Alderpaw!”
Sparkpaw’s mew m ade her j um p. The flam e-colored apprentice burst through the brambles.
Her eyes were shining. “Cherry fall told Bramblestar that I rescued Twigkit, and he say s it’s time for m y assessm ent. You know what that means? I’m going to be a warrior!”
Twigkit felt Alderpaw stiffen beside her.
“A warrior already?” His mew was tight. “That’s great, Sparkpaw. That’s really great.”
“I know!” Sparkpaw paced. “I can’t wait for m y cerem ony. That’s if I pass m y assessm ent. I will pass, won’t I?” She glanced anxiously at Alderpaw but didn’t give him a chance to answer.
“Of course I will. I’ve been training so hard for this m om ent. I wonder where the hunting assessm ent will be. I hope they choose the glade beside the stream. There are always squirrels there…”
Twigkit’s attention slid away. The warmth of Alderpaw and the nest was m aking her drowsy.
Her ey elids felt heavy. As she closed them and sleep began to pull at her pelt, she wondered why
Alderpaw had felt so tense when Sparkpaw had told him about her nam ing cerem ony. He was happy for his sister, wasn’t he? Of course he was. Darkness swirled around her. Why shouldn’t he be?
Chapter 7