Squirrelflight's Hope полностью

Stone’s eyes shone with sadness, and he ran his nose along his mother’s cheek. “We will always remember you.” He pulled away and glanced at Grass. They seemed to share a moment of understanding, then blinked and looked away.

Tempest padded back to join her Sisters. Hawk and Snow pressed either side of her as Moonlight dipped her head to the young toms. “This is the beginning of your great adventure,” the gray she-cat told them. “You must walk through the night, never looking back, and at dawn you will have left your kithood behind and become true toms. May the ancestors who walk the land find you and give you guidance.”

Stone dipped his head. “Thank you, Mother.”

Grass shifted his paws, seeming suddenly uncertain.

“Wander in peace,” Moonlight meowed.

The Sisters raised their voices to the sky. “Wander in peace.”

They moved, opening the circle they’d made, and Stone and Grass padded away, following the slope of the hill down into the next valley.

Squirrelflight glanced back over her shoulder. She wondered if she could ever give up the toms in her life. No. From here she could see the edge of the forest beside the lake. ThunderClan territory. She gazed wistfully toward it. What was Bramblestar doing right now? Was the Clan settling down for the night? Or was a patrol already searching for her? Guilt tugged beneath her pelt. Was Sparkpelt still keeping her secret? It would be a heavy burden to bear. She couldn’t let her daughter or her Clan worry any longer. She had to find a way home.

Grass and Stone had disappeared into shadow, but the Sisters stood watching silently as though breathing every last scent of them. Tempest leaned softly against Snow, her gaze misty.

Squirrelflight’s heart twisted with sadness. Tomorrow, once the Sisters’ loss was less raw, she’d ask Moonlight again if she and Leafstar could leave. If she explained how much she missed her Clan and her kin, perhaps the Sisters would understand her longing to go home. Would they believe her promise not to let her Clanmates come here until the Sisters had left? Her belly tightened. Was it a promise she’d be able to keep?

CHAPTER 6

Squirrelflight jerked awake, her nose twitching. The air was thick with the scent of nighttime dew. She could smell another scent in the darkness, one that made her heart quicken, filled with the warmth of memory and home. She scrambled to her paws. Bramblestar! He was near. She could smell Thornclaw too, and Larksong and Sparkpelt. “Wake up, Leafstar!”

The SkyClan leader lifted her head blearily. “What’s going on?”

“Quick!” Squirrelflight darted to the entrance. “They’re here. A rescue party’s here!”

As she spoke, wails shrilled outside the den. Alarm bristled through her pelt. She couldn’t let them fight. No cat must be hurt. “Stop!” She exploded from the den, skidding to a halt as she saw Clan warriors facing the Sisters.

Pale in the moonlight, Snow and Tempest had puffed out their fur. Ears flat, lips drawn back, they hissed at the warrior patrol. Bramblestar, Thornclaw, and Larksong snarled back at them. Furze, Sunrise, and Hawk slid like hissing snakes around their sisters as SkyClan cats—Hawkwing, Plumwillow, and Tree—fanned out around the ThunderClan patrol. The cats glared at one another through slitted eyes.

“Wait!” Squirrelflight flung herself between the Sisters and the warriors. ThunderClan and SkyClan outnumbered the Sisters. Blossomheart, Macgyver, and Sagenose appeared, pushing between their Clanmates, as Berrynose and Ambermoon stepped out from behind the ThunderClan warriors and bared their teeth. “You mustn’t fight!”

Confusion clouded Bramblestar’s gaze.

Leafstar limped from the den and stopped at the edge of the clearing, her eyes round with alarm. “Listen to her.”

Hawkwing stared at her, as though trying to understand.

“They haven’t harmed us,” Squirrelflight told him. She knew that it was a lie. Snow had wounded Leafstar, but only because the SkyClan leader had tried to escape. There would be time for honesty later; right now it was more important to defuse the rage sparking around her.

Creek, Flurry, and Sparrow darted from the shadows and stood beside their mothers. Moonlight hurried from the back of the clearing and wove between her campmates. She stopped at the front of the group and stared at Bramblestar.

Squirrelflight was shocked to see how small the Clan cats looked in front of the Sisters. She’d grown used to these cats, forgetting their size. She realized once more how different they were—their fur was longer, their bodies larger than any warrior or rogue Squirrelflight knew. Even Bramblestar seemed overshadowed by their size. She wondered suddenly if, for all their training, the Clans could win a fight with these cats. She brushed the thought away. Of course they can. Skill would always beat strength. And yet, how could she be sure the Sisters didn’t have as much skill as strength?