Squirrelflight's Hope полностью

Snow turned her blue eyes on Squirrelflight. Squirrelflight could see panic sparking in the she-cat’s gaze.

“Who is it?” Blossomfall stopped beside Squirrelflight.

“It’s Snow,” she told her. “She’s one of the Sisters.”

Mousewhisker caught up to them. “What are you doing on ThunderClan land?” he snarled at Snow.

Blossomfall cut in. “She shouldn’t be here.” The tortoiseshell flattened her ears as Larksong and Sparkpelt reached them.

Sparkpelt blinked at Snow in surprise, then looked at Squirrelflight. “Why’s she here?”

“She’s trespassing on our land,” Blossomfall growled.

Squirrelflight looked at Snow. “Why have you come here?” she asked gently.

“I was looking for you,” Snow mewed. “You said you have medicine cats. They might know what to do. Sunrise needs help. She’s been wounded.”

Squirrelflight tensed. “Is it bad?”

“It’s not our problem.” Blossomfall curled her lip.

Snow kept her gaze fixed on Squirrelflight. “Can one of your medicine cats come and see her? She’s not far from here.”

Why had Sunrise been wounded so close to their territory? Squirrelflight shifted her paws uneasily. Blossomfall’s fur was already bristling. She wouldn’t be pleased if Squirrelflight treated this trespasser too kindly. “I’m not sure there’s anything I can do.”

“But your medicine cat might know, right?” Snow looked at her imploringly.

Squirrelflight hesitated. What would Bramblestar say if she helped the Sisters? Surely he wouldn’t deny help to a wounded cat. And yet he’d been so angry that she’d found the Sisters in the first place. If he knows Snow was looking for me, he might accuse me of bringing them here.

“Let’s just take a look at the wounded cat.” Larksong padded to Squirrelflight’s side. “It might not be as serious as Snow says. We can patch her up and send them on their way without bothering the rest of the Clan.”

She looked at him, wondering. If they could fix this themselves, it would save questions about why the Sisters had been on their land. She frowned. But Bramblestar was bound to find out. The patrol would have no reason to keep this a secret. And yet she couldn’t turn her back on an injured cat. She flicked her tail. “Show us where she is,” she told Snow. “If I think she needs help, I’ll send for our medicine cat.”

“It might be a trap!” Blossomfall’s hackles lifted.

Squirrelflight turned on her. “I know these cats well enough to know they won’t hurt us.”

Mousewhisker narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure? They held you captive, don’t forget.”

“They didn’t harm me.” Squirrelflight nodded to Snow. “Let’s go.”

Snow led the way past the ferns and followed a rabbit trail through brambles. She crossed a dried streambed and ducked beneath a juniper. On the other side, she halted.

Squirrelflight scanned the forest ahead. Where was Sunrise? “I don’t see her.”

Sparkpelt and Larksong stopped beside her, glancing nervously between the trees.

Mousewhisker padded toward the bushes, which lined the slope ahead, and sniffed them warily. They quivered, and he recoiled in surprise, arching his back as Sunrise, Tempest, and Hawk slid out.

Blossomfall darted to his side, teeth bared. “I told you it was a trap!” Even with her pelt bushed, the Sisters were far bigger than her.

Tempest blinked at her in surprise. “Why would we trap you?”

“How should I know?” Blossomfall bristled.

Tempest ignored her and looked hopefully at Squirrelflight. “Have you come to help?”

“If we can.” Squirrelflight could smell blood and saw that Sunrise was leaning heavily on Hawk. The yellow fur on her flank was stained red.

Larksong padded around the Sisters, his ears twitching. “What happened?”

“We got into a fight with some toms.” As Hawk spoke, Sunrise collapsed to the ground.

Alarm sparked through Squirrelflight’s pelt. There was no way they could fix this themselves. Sunrise needed a medicine cat.

“Should we fetch Alderheart?” Mousewhisker blinked at her.

“It would take too long,” Squirrelflight told him. This was more serious than she’d imagined. “Let’s carry Sunrise back to camp.” She nodded to Snow, Hawk and Tempest. “You can go home. We’ll take care of her.”

Snow stiffened. “We’re not leaving her.”

Sparkpelt looked anxiously at her mother. “We can’t let them all come to the camp.” She leaned closer, lowering her voice so the others couldn’t hear. “Bramblestar wouldn’t be happy. He already thinks you’re too quick to defend the Sisters.”

“And he’s right to be cautious.” Blossomfall fluffed out her fur. “Don’t forget what happened when ShadowClan took Darktail and his friends in.”

“Darktail had always planned to destroy the Clans. He wasn’t wounded when ShadowClan found him,” Mousewhisker pointed out. “This cat really needs our help.”

“Her friends aren’t wounded,” Blossomfall argued. “Why do they need to come?”

“To make sure our campmate is okay,” Snow mewed. “We’ve met your Clanmates, remember? They weren’t exactly friendly.”

“We’ll take care of her,” Larksong promised.