River Of Fire

“You never told me that before,” Tree mewed. “It must have been terrible. I can see I’ll have to stay and keep an eye on you.”

Oh, yes! Violetshine thought, warmed by his promise. “Tree,” she asked after a moment, “did you . . . did you see any ghost cats walking with Yarrowleaf and Sleekwhisker?”

“Yes,” Tree replied. “I saw a dark brown tom with a tuft of fur on his head.”

“That must be Spikefur. They said he had died.”

“I sense they tried to help him when he was alive,” Tree went on. “I think they might be good cats. . . .”

Violetshine didn’t know whether to be relieved by that, or horrified. She wanted to think that Yarrowleaf and Sleekwhisker were good cats, but if that was true, then Leafstar had just driven them out undeservedly, while their kin watched. They would struggle to survive with no Clan, no cat to help them.

I can’t imagine this ending well. . . . Oh, StarClan, is there any way you can look after two Clanless cats?

CHAPTER 6

Alderheart toiled up the moorland slopes toward the Moonpool. The half-moon appeared fitfully through gaps in the cloud, and there was a tang of frost in the air. Leaf-fall was clearly upon them, and the hungry days of leaf-bare were not far off.

Leafpool and Jayfeather were walking ahead of him, while Puddleshine and Frecklewish, with her apprentice, Fidgetpaw, brought up the rear. So far there was no sign of Kestrelflight from WindClan, or the RiverClan medicine cats, Mothwing and Willowshine.

I don’t think the RiverClan cats will come, Alderheart thought. Not when Mistystar is still keeping the borders closed.

“So how is Twigpaw adjusting?” Leafpool asked Alderheart, dropping back to pad alongside him. “I saw you talking to her earlier, and I thought she looked sad.”

“I know.” Alderheart felt a pang of pain when he thought about the young cat who had been his friend ever since he’d found her as a kit in the tunnel under the Thunderpath. “I think she’s just having trouble fitting back into ThunderClan.”

Leafpool’s ears twitched in surprise. “I hope she’s not thinking of leaving again.”

“I don’t think so.” Alderheart shook his head. “She knows she belongs with us, but she’s missing her kin, and she’s frustrated at having to be an apprentice again. But I haven’t spent as much time with her as I would have liked,” he added. “I’ve been worrying about the prophecy, and what it means now that we’ve lost ShadowClan and RiverClan has shut itself off.”

Jayfeather, just ahead, let out a snort. “Aren’t we all!”

“Well, perhaps we’ll get some guidance when we meet with StarClan at the Moonpool,” Leafpool meowed.

“We’d better,” Jayfeather snapped.

The night grew colder as the cats approached the Moonpool, and by the time they clambered up the final rocky slope beside the stream, a brisk wind had arisen, flattening their fur to their sides. Turning to look back the way they had come, Alderheart spotted the small figure of a cat bounding across the moor.

“There’s Kestrelflight!” he exclaimed.

“Thank StarClan,” Leafpool mewed. “I was beginning to think there must be trouble in WindClan, too. I can’t bear the thought that we might be down to two Clans.”

“Have you seen any sign of Mothwing and Willowshine?” Jayfeather asked Kestrelflight as he scrambled up the rocks and stood panting at the top.

The WindClan medicine cat shook his head. “Not a whisker.”

“Then I suppose they’re not coming,” Frecklewish murmured. “After all, the RiverClan borders are still closed.”

“Maybe we ought to wait a little while,” Puddleshine suggested. “Just in case they show up.”

Jayfeather let out an irritated sigh, but none of the other cats objected. Moment after moment slid past, but the moorland was empty.

“They’re not coming,” Leafpool meowed at last. “We’d better get started.”

Along with his fellow medicine cats, Alderheart pushed his way through the line of bushes that surrounded the Moonpool and followed the spiral path down to the water’s edge. A shiver ran through him as his paws slipped into the paw prints made by other cats so long ago. His worries seemed to fade as he listened to the sound of the water falling into the pool, and watched the shimmer of moon and starlight on its surface.

When every cat had settled around the edge of the pool, Leafpool rose to her paws. “We have an outbreak of belly sickness and vomiting in ThunderClan,” she announced. “Our sick cats are recovering, thank StarClan, but many of our cats are sick.”

“We have it in WindClan, too.” Kestrelflight sounded eager to share information. “Several of our cats—six now—have the sickness. We and ThunderClan have used all the watermint from our border stream and the border with RiverClan.”

“Have you got it in Shad—in SkyClan?” Alderheart asked the other medicine cats.