Snowfur groaned, trying to adjust her position without disturbing her kit.
“What’s that?” Tigerkit was already leaping for the dog fur.
“It’s for White—”
Tigerkit hooked it up before Bluefur could finish her sentence and started chasing it around the nursery. “Look!” he squealed. “I’m Thistleclaw, attacking that mangy dog!”
“Keep your voice down,” Snowfur pleaded.
Tigerkit paused, his claws pinning the dog fur to the den floor. “I hate the nursery,” he complained. “It’s too full of kits. I’m never allowed to play anymore. I should be in the apprentices’ den with Lionpaw. I bet he doesn’t have to take afternoon naps.”
Bluefur purred, “Maybe not, but he wishes he could.”
Whitekit lifted his head sleepily. “What’s going on?”
“You’ve woken him up!” Snowfur puffed.
“Good,” Tigerkit mewed. “Now he can play, too.”
Whitekit looked around. “Play what?”
“My new game; it’s called Kill the Dog,” Tigerkit told him. He flung the tuft of fur over Whitekit’s head. Whitekit scrabbled up to catch it, making Snowfur grunt as the kit’s hind claws dug into her pelt.
“Let’s go for a walk,” Bluefur suggested.
Snowfur blinked.
“Whitekit’s happy playing with Tigerkit,” Bluefur reasoned. “I’m sure he could spare you for a while.” She looked at the snowy kit bundling around the nests after Tigerkit. “You’ll be okay if Snowfur comes for a walk with me, won’t you?”
Whitekit didn’t even glance at her. “Of course.”
“We’ll keep an eye on him,” Robinwing promised.
Snowfur’s eyes brightened. “Well, I suppose I could go out for a while.”
“It’ll do you good,” Bluefur promised.
“Are you sure he’ll be okay?” Snowfur fretted.
“He’ll be fine,” Robinwing told her. “Now, go on. I’m sick of listening to you sigh.”
“I don’t sigh!” Snowfur objected.
Leopardfoot flicked her tail. “You’ve been snorting like a badger all morning!”
“Okay, okay!” Reluctantly Snowfur climbed out of her nest.
“Don’t come back till your paws ache!” Robinwing called as Snowfur followed Bluefur out of the nursery.
“Hurry up!”
Snowfur was dragging her paws as Bluefur led her to the entrance. “But what if he gets hungry?”
“He won’t starve.”
“What if he gets anxious without me?”
“He’s got a whole Clan looking out for him.” Bluefur nudged her sister into the gorse tunnel. “I think he’ll be okay.” Great StarClan, if this is what it’s like to have kits, I’m glad I don’t have any!
She shooed Snowfur up the ravine, shaking her head when Snowfur halted at the top and peered wistfully down at the camp.
“Look,” Bluefur huffed. “It’s a lovely day. Whitekit will be fine. It’s not like we’re going to Highstones. You’ll see him again before the sun’s moved a mouse-length.”
CHAPTER 27
Bluefur led her sister through the trees, following the route she’d taken that morning. It’ll be quiet by the river, she told herself, out of the way of hunting patrols. The sound of the water would soothe Snowfur. And it would be sunny, so they could bask for a while.
Snowfur was already looking happier, trotting through the breeze-rustled forest. “I’d forgotten how good it smells,” she chirped, taking another deep breath. Suddenly she stopped. “Wait.”
Bluefur paused, trying not to sigh. “What is it now?”
With a playful hiss, Snowfur lunged at her, giving her a shove that sent her tumbling against a bramble heavy with blackberries. The fruit trembled as Bluefur found her paws.
“Why, you—” She sprang out of the sweet-smelling thorns, bowling her sister to the ground, where they tussled like kits.
Snowfur pinned Bluefur down. “Do you give in?”
“Never!” Bluefur yowled. She pushed with her hind paws and rolled Snowfur off, tumbling her into the brambles so that the berries stained her fur.
Snowfur leaped away. “Look what you’ve done.” She stared in mock dismay at her purple-streaked pelt.
“Let’s go and wash it off in the river,” Bluefur suggested.
Snowfur blinked. “Or I could just lick it off.”
“It’s nice down by the river,” Bluefur pressed. She wanted to make sure Oakheart hadn’t returned.
“Okay. I could do with a drink,” Snowfur meowed. “It’ll be nice to lap water that doesn’t taste of moss.”
Bluefur headed for the riverbank.
“Not so fast.” Snowfur was puffing. “I’m out of practice, remember?”
Bluefur slowed as they padded from the trees onto the riverbank. She tasted the air, her pelt bristling with anticipation. Had he returned?
No sign of fresh scent.
Good.
And yet why did she feel disappointed? She padded to the spot where he’d been lying. The stone felt warm beneath her paws, and his scent lingered in the still air.
Snowfur had been lapping from the river; she lifted her dripping muzzle and stared across at the RiverClan bank. “Do you think they’ll try invading again?”
“Who knows?” Bluefur murmured.
“They’re so greedy, I wouldn’t be surprised.” Snowfur crunched over to her and sat down. “When do you think Sunstar will make a stand for Sunningrocks?”
“Do we really need to fight?” Bluefur queried.
Snowfur looked sharply at her. “Don’t you want to?”
“Battles are dangerous,” Bluefur reminded her.
Snowfur blinked. “Yeah?”
“Cats get hurt.” Bluefur gazed across the river. “RiverClan can’t be all bad, can they? I mean, they must be cats like us.”
“So that gives them the right to take Sunningrocks?”
“No, but…” Bluefur wasn’t thinking about Sunningrocks. “I just mean, why fight? We all want the same things.”
“You’ll be telling me you want to eat fish next,” Snowfur teased. She nosed Bluefur toward the water. “Why don’t you have a swim?”
Bluefur dug her paws into the stones to stop herself staggering into the water. She’d already gotten wet once today. “They probably think we’re strange for living under trees and chasing squirrels.”
Snowfur tipped her head on one side. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Fine,” Bluefur answered.
“Where’s your loyalty to ThunderClan gone?”
“I am loyal!” Bluefur snapped. “I chased a RiverClan warrior off this rock only this morning.”
Snowfur’s eyes grew wide. “Are they trying to invade again? Did you tell Sunstar?”
Bluefur shook her head. “It wasn’t like that. He was just sunning himself.”
“Who?”
Bluefur looked away. “Crookedjaw’s brother.”
“Oakheart?”
When Bluefur didn’t reply, Snowfur moved closer. “Why didn’t you mention it?”
“I chased him off, didn’t I?”
“Then why are you being so secretive?”
“He wasn’t invading. He was just lying in the sunshine.”
“On our side of the river,” Snowfur growled. “Arrogant fur-ball.”
“He wasn’t arrogant.” Bluefur’s heart lurched when she realized she’d jumped to Oakheart’s defense too quickly.
“You like him!” Snowfur’s eyes were huge and round. “You like a RiverClan cat!”
“No, I don’t!”
“I know you better than that!” Snowfur’s pelt was bristling. “If it had been any other RiverClan cat, you’d be telling the whole Clan how you chased him off, not making excuses for him.”
“I’m not making excuses.”
But Snowfur wasn’t listening. “You can’t make friends with cats from other Clans! It’s against the warrior code! And Oakheart, of a
ll cats! He thinks he’s StarClan’s gift to the Clans. He’ll cause nothing but trouble. What about Thrushpelt? He’s been following you around for moons. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed. Why don’t you like him? He’s one of the nicest warriors in the Clan.”
“Nice!” Bluefur scoffed. “Besides…” She glared at Snowfur. “I’m not looking for a mate. I don’t want to end up in the nursery suckling kits.”
Snowfur spun around, looking furious, and Bluefur instantly regretted her words.
“I didn’t mean there was anything wrong with having kits!” she called.
But Snowfur was marching up the bank, her tail kinked angrily over her back. She disappeared into the undergrowth.
Mouse dung! Why didn’t she think before she spoke? It was all Oakheart’s fault. Why did he have to come over there in the first place? She didn’t want a mate. And even if she did, it wouldn’t be him! A RiverClan cat? Never!
Bluefur hurried after her sister, following her scent trail through the undergrowth. As the oak trees turned to pine, she pushed through a clump of ferns, still fresh with Snowfur’s scent. She wanted to apologize. She’d brought her sister into the forest to cheer her up, but she’d just upset her instead.
“Snowfur?”
The white warrior was crouched behind a pine root, fur twitching along her spine, her jaws open to taste the air.
“Get down,” Snowfur hissed. “I smell ShadowClan!”
Bluefur ducked beside her. Sure enough, the stench of ShadowClan was fresh on the breeze. It mingled with the scent of the Thunderpath, several tree-lengths away.
Bluefur wrinkled her nose. More than one cat scent tainted the air. “Should I get a patrol?” she whispered.
“There are no more than three of them,” Snowfur murmured. “We can take them ourselves.” She crept forward over the tree root and slithered under a bush. Bluefur slid in beside her. Now she could clearly hear ShadowClan voices muttering a few tail-lengths ahead.
“You should never have chased it over the Thunderpath.”
“But I nearly had it!”
“It’s gone now.”
Bluefur peered through the leaves and saw three pelts huddled in a small clearing between the pines.
“Let’s go back.” A black tom spoke.
“No!” a tortoiseshell she-cat insisted. “I can still smell the squirrel. It’s close.”
The black warrior flicked his tail. “ThunderClan has been as jumpy as fleas since RiverClan took Sunningrocks. We should go.”
“I’m not worried about ThunderClan,” meowed a mottled tabby tom. “They’ll be busy patrolling the RiverClan border. We’ll just get the squirrel and take it back over the Thunderpath. They’ll never know we were here.”
“You heard Sunstar at the last Gathering,” the black tom cautioned. “He said he’d shred any cat who crossed the border—kittypet or Clan.”
The tabby tom sighed. “Okay,” he conceded. “Let’s go.”
The tortoiseshell stiffened. “No! I can smell the squirrel.”
Small paws skittered nearby. The ShadowClan cats pressed themselves to the ground.
“This way!” The tortoiseshell began to stalk, keeping low.
Snowfur growled, “If they think they’re going to hunt on ThunderClan territory, they’ve got another think coming.” She leaped out from the bush and skidded in front of the ShadowClan warriors, her back arched and her claws unsheathed. “Stop right there!”
The ShadowClan cats flinched away, tails bushing.
Bluefur pelted after her sister. “Mangy crow-food eaters!” She bared her teeth, a growl rumbling in her throat.
The tortoiseshell blinked. “Is that it? Two cats? Not much of a patrol.”
“Enough to deal with you!” Bluefur spat.
The black tom straightened, eyes gleaming. “You think so?”
The tabby snarled. “If you’re all ThunderClan can come up with, I think we’ll catch this squirrel and then go home.”
“Oh, no, you don’t!” Snowfur launched herself at the tabby, knocking him sideways with a crashing blow from her forepaw.
The tortoiseshell’s eyes widened with shock. Even Bluefur was startled. “Snowfur…,” she began.
“I’ve been stuck in camp too long to miss the chance for a fight,” Snowfur spat.
There was no way Bluefur was going to let her sister battle these trespassers alone. Springing forward, she lashed out with unsheathed claws at the black tom, slitting his nose. He pelted, yowling, into the bushes.
The tabby tom scrabbled to his paws. “Let’s get out of here!” he yowled.
Snowfur hurtled after the fleeing ShadowClan warriors, screeching like a whole battle patrol. Bluefur was on her tail. They would teach those crow-food munchers a lesson they wouldn’t forget!
The forest brightened ahead where the trees opened onto the Thunderpath. The ShadowClan cats pelted out into the sunshine, and Snowfur hared after them. Bluefur raced from the trees, blinking against the sudden brightness.
The ShadowClan warriors were already halfway across the Thunderpath.
“You don’t escape that easily!” Snowfur screeched furiously as they skidded to the other side and disappeared into the pines. Pelt bristling, eyes wide, Snowfur streaked after them, over the oily Thunderpath.
Bluefur froze.
A monster was roaring straight at Snowfur.
Without slowing down, it slammed into her body.
Bluefur heard the dull thump, then the howl of the monster as it thundered away, leaving Snowfur’s body lying like a wet leaf at the edge of the Thunderpath.
“No!”
CHAPTER 28
The monster’s roar faded quickly away. Bluefur could see the ShadowClan warriors peering from the trees beyond the Thunderpath, their eyes wide with horror.
“Snowfur?” She bent down and nudged her sister with her paw. The white warrior didn’t respond, just lay limply on the stinking grass. “Come on,” Bluefur urged. “We have to get back to camp. We’ve got to report those ShadowClan warriors.”
A thin trail of blood rolled from Snowfur’s mouth.
“I’ll help you,” Bluefur offered. She grasped Snowfur’s scruff and began to drag her into the forest. “Try your paws,” Bluefur begged through her mouthful of fur. “Once you’re walking, you’ll feel better.”
Snowfur’s body slid over the leaf-strewn floor.
Oh, StarClan, why did I tell her about Oakheart? She wouldn’t have run off. We’d have never have found those ShadowClan warriors. They’d be home by now, Whitekit bouncing with excitement at seeing his mother back.
“Bluefur?” Adderfang’s mew sounded through the trees.
Bluefur let go of her sister and stared at the mottled warrior, her mind blank. Adderfang had come. Everything would be fine now. Dappletail was with him, and Windflight and Thrushpelt. They’d know what to do.
Her Clanmates swarmed around her. She felt their pelts brushing hers as they leaned over Snowfur.
“A monster hit her,” Bluefur explained. Her voice sounded as if it was coming from far away. “ShadowClan cats were hunting squirrels in our territory and we chased them, and it hit her.”
“Thrushpelt”—Adderfang’s order was brisk—“check ShadowClan has gone and isn’t coming back.”
As Thrushpelt raced away, Adderfang grasped Snowfur’s scruff.
“Be careful!” Bluefur cautioned, heart lurching. “I think she’s hurt.”
She felt White-eye’s tail drape over her shoulders.
“Come on,” the pale she-cat murmured, coaxing her forward. “Let’s get back to camp.”
Bluefur’s paws, numb with shock, stumbled over the forest floor. She’s hurt. She’s just hurt. No matter how many times she repeated the words in her mind, her heart had recognized the scent of death on her sister. She knew Snowfur was dead, and with each step the horror grew stronger, until grief threatened to swamp her.
“Just keep walking,” White-eye whispered, pressing closer. br />
“I told her she’d be back with Whitekit,” Bluefur mumbled.
At the top of the ravine, Adderfang laid Snowfur down and faced Bluefur. He stared steadily at her until she blinked away the haze of grief and looked into his eyes.
“Bluefur?” His mew was gentle.
“What?”
“You must tell Whitekit.”
Bluefur flinched. “Why me?”
“Because you love him,” Adderfang told her. “I’ll tell Thistleclaw and Stormtail and make the report to Sunstar.”
White-eye gazed at Snowfur’s body. “Thistleclaw could tell Whitekit,” she suggested.
“No!” Bluefur bristled. Thistleclaw would never be gentle enough for news like this. “I’ll tell him.”
Blindly stumbling, she managed to reach the bottom of the ravine. She padded into the clearing and past her Clanmates, who knew nothing of the tragedy, who still believed Snowfur was alive.
She slid into the nursery. “Whitekit.”
“You’re back!” Whitekit looked delighted. He glanced behind Bluefur. “Is Snowfur with you?”
Bluefur took a deep breath and tensed to stop her paws from shaking. “Come outside, little one,” she mewed.
“Has Snowfur got a present for me?” Whitekit chirped.
Tigerkit stopped chasing Brindlekit’s tail. “Can I come, too?”
“Just Whitekit,” Bluefur told him, thanking StarClan that he listened for once.
Whitekit followed her out and she led him to the fallen tree and ducked in among the branches.
“What is it? Where’s Snowfur?” he squeaked. “Is she playing hide-and-seek?”
“Come here.” Bluefur wrapped her tail around his small body and pulled him close, sheltering him beside her belly. She bent over him, shielding the sight of Adderfang carrying his mother’s body into camp.
She felt her heart crack. So much pain. “Snowfur won’t be coming back.”
Whitekit looked up at her. “Till when?”
“Ever.”
“Why not?” Whitekit stiffened. “Doesn’t she like me anymore?”
“She loves you very much,” Bluefur promised. “She’ll always love you. But she’s with StarClan now.”
Whitekit put his head on one side. “Can I visit her?”