Squirrelflight's Hope полностью

“You’re only seeing it from your point of view,” Bramblestar growled. “Have you really thought about what it would be like for SkyClan to move again so soon? To build yet another camp? To learn about new territory? How do you know there aren’t Twolegs here? Or a family of foxes? Have you checked every tail-length of this land? What if one of their kits is killed by a snake here? Will you take responsibility?”

“Life is risky!” Squirrelflight ignored the doubt shimmering at the edge of her thoughts. “There will be risks wherever SkyClan lives!”

Bramblestar ignored her. “And how does it make SkyClan look—agreeing to live where the other Clans choose again? Do you think the other Clans will treat them as equals once they’ve finished pushing them around?”

“That’s not my problem!” Squirrelflight shot back. “It’s up to SkyClan! Leafstar wants to move. She knows what she’s doing.”

“I hope so.” Bramblestar paused and looked along the track as it steepened and disappeared among boulders. “Are you sure that, after a few seasons living among these hills, SkyClan won’t feel like they’ve been pushed outside the Clans again?”

“Why should they? This land is right next to ours, and ShadowClan’s. And they’ll have a strip of territory right down to the lakeshore. They’ll be as much a part of the Clans as we are.” Squirrelflight hurried after him, following the path as it snaked into a narrow gorge. Ahead, their Clanmates padded beneath overhanging rock. The star-specked sky showed in a narrow band above them. As the trail opened into another valley, Bramblestar spoke again.

“I was worried about you, you know?” His mew was husky.

“I know.” Guilt rippled beneath her pelt. “I didn’t know I’d be away so long, and I told Sparkpelt where I’d gone, just in case.”

“Sparkpelt was worried too,” he told her. “More so because you asked her to keep your secret. She didn’t know whether telling me was betraying you, or remaining silent was betraying me. You should never have put her in that position.”

Squirrelflight shrank beneath her pelt. “I know,” she mewed softly. “I just wanted to make the Clans okay again. How was I to know we’d be taken prisoner?” As she spoke, resentment bubbled in her chest. Bramblestar wasn’t even trying to understand. Was he enjoying making her feel bad? “But we weren’t hurt, and it was good to see how other cats live. The Sisters have an interesting way of life.”

“And we don’t?”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it!” He was acting like a kit! “They treated us well.”

“What about Leafstar’s wound?”

“She tried to escape.”

“And you didn’t?” He shot her a reproachful look. “Did you like the Sisters so much that you didn’t want to come home?”

“Don’t be mouse-brained!”

“‘Mouse-brained’!” He glared at her. “You force me to lead my Clanmates into hostile territory on a rescue mission and you call me mouse-brained. You’re Clan deputy, for StarClan’s sake! You’re supposed to be protecting your Clan, not putting them in danger. And you’re my mate. If there’s anyone I should be able to rely on in ThunderClan, it should be you!”

“You can rely on me!” The ground seemed to shift beneath Squirrelflight’s paws. Didn’t he trust her anymore?

“Not when you behave like a reckless apprentice.” Bramblestar glared at her. “From now on, I want you to run every decision by me. No more going off on your own ridiculous missions. No more arguing with me at Gatherings. If a deputy can’t support her own leader, perhaps she’s not fit to be deputy.” With that, Bramblestar pulled ahead, his shoulders stiff, and followed his Clanmates as the path wound into a wooded ravine.

Some of the ThunderClan warriors shot Squirrelflight sympathetic glances. It only made her feel more wretched. Did my own mate just threaten to replace me as deputy? She trailed behind. What was the point of talking to him? He seemed determined to twist her words, and he clearly didn’t want to admit that her mission might have helped the Clans. Suddenly she missed the amiable calm of the Sisters’ camp. In her days there, no cat had argued or worried about territory or fussed about whether their campmates were following the warrior code. They seemed to take life as it came, without judgment or complaint. As they neared the Clan border, Squirrelflight’s chest tightened as she felt the forest begin to close in on her.

She could sense that Bramblestar wasn’t going to forgive her anytime soon.

CHAPTER 7

Flippaw stopped as he crossed the clearing, a bundle of fresh moss for the elders’ den between his jaws. He dropped it as he reached Squirrelflight. “I’m glad you’re back. Hollytuft said the Sisters wanted to keep you captive forever.” He blinked at her eagerly. “She said they were twice the size of normal cats. Were they scary?”