Tempest lifted her chin. “We’re coming with her.”
Sparkpelt whispered in her mother’s ear. “Bramblestar won’t like it.”
Squirrelflight pulled away, her heart quickening as blood spread wider over Sunrise’s flank. “We have to help them.” Flesh showed where the wound opened. She couldn’t let a cat die. She’d deal with Bramblestar later. After all, things couldn’t get any more strained between them, surely. It was a risk she’d have to take. “You’ll have to carry her,” she told Hawk and Tempest. She nodded to Larksong and Mousewhisker. “You can help.”
She stood back as the toms ducked down and tucked their shoulders beneath Sunrise. Hawk and Tempest jerked their campmate up with their muzzles. Sliding beneath her, the four cats heaved Sunrise onto their backs and then, pressing together, began to head for camp. Sparkpelt walked close to Larksong’s side, while Blossomfall circled the group uneasily as it made its way toward the streambed.
Squirrelflight padded ahead, scanning the forest to find the easiest route. Snow fell in beside her as she led the way up a gentle rise where the trees grew so thickly that the brambles had died away. She looked back as she reached the top. Tempest and Hawk walkedslowly, their gazes dark with concentration as they carried their campmate. Mousewhisker and Larksong pressed close, matching the Sisters’ steps paw for paw. Sunrise lay limply across their backs. “We have to hurry.”
As Squirrelflight picked up the pace, Sparkpelt caught up to them. “Sunrise is still breathing, but only just.”
Squirrelflight kept her gaze on the trail. “We’ll get her home in time.” She hoped it was true.
“Alderheart will know what to do,” Sparkpelt mewed.
“I didn’t know if you would help.” Snow blinked gratefully at Squirrelflight. “But I had to do something. We were so far from home.”
“What were you doing here?” Squirrelflight returned her gaze. “You’ve never trespassed on Clan land before.”
Snow’s eyes darkened. “You’re not the only Clan cats who are suddenly interested in the land we’re using.”
Squirrelflight’s belly tightened. “What do you mean?”
“Yesterday, we smelled Clan scent on our side of your border,” Snow explained. “Hawk thought you’d sent a patrol back, but you’d promised to leave us alone. Then Moonlight noticed that it was a different Clan scent and sent me, Tempest, Hawk, and Sunrise to investigate.”
Sparkpelt pricked her ears. “Do you know which Clan it was?”
Snow shrugged. “Warriors all smell the same to me. We followed the scent into the pine forest that borders yours.”
“ShadowClan!” Sparkpelt glanced at her mother. Why were they suddenly interested in the Sisters’ land? Squirrelflight’s pelt prickled uneasily. Had her suggestion at the meeting woken ShadowClan’s curiosity about the land outside their border? Perhaps they wanted to check the land out for SkyClan too. Foreboding dropped like a stone in Squirrelflight’s belly. Were they planning to take the land for themselves?
Sparkpelt blinked at Snow. “Is that how Sunrise got injured? Fighting with ShadowClan?”
Snow nodded. “We tracked two toms across the border and followed them into their territory. We stopped them and asked them what they were doing there. They attacked us.”
Squirrelflight flicked her tail nervously. How would she explain to ThunderClan that Sunrise had been hurt fighting Clan cats? She pushed the worry away. The Sisters’ fight had been with ShadowClan, not ThunderClan. Until a few moons ago, ShadowClan had been their enemy. Why should ThunderClan defend them?
“We hurt them pretty good,” Snow meowed with obvious satisfaction. “But one of them—Stonewing, I think that’s what the other cat called him—managed to slice open Sunrise’s flank before they ran away.”
Sparkpelt’s eyes glittered with alarm. “Should we help cats who hurt ShadowClan?”
Squirrelflight lifted her chin defiantly. “We’re not ShadowClan’s protectors. Besides, the Sisters were defending themselves.”
“But Tigerstar won’t be pleased if he finds out.”
“Why should we behave without honor just to suit Tigerstar?” Squirrelflight returned Sparkpelt’s gaze.
“Is that what Bramblestar would say?”
“Sunrise could die from this injury. If Bramblestar is more interested in pleasing ShadowClan than saving another cat’s life, then he’s not the cat I thought he was.” Squirrelflight could see the camp in the distance. She glanced back at the others. “We’re nearly there.”
As she spoke, the bracken rustled ahead. Rosepetal and Bristlepaw burst out. They pulled up a tail-length from Squirrelflight, their eyes widening.
“What’s going on?” Rosepetal looked past her to the Sisters.
“We found a wounded cat in the forest,” Squirrelflight told her. “She needs our help.”
Bristlepaw’s pelt bushed. “Rogues!”
Snow dipped her head to the young she-cat. “We’re the Sisters.”
“The Sisters!” Bristlepaw stared at her. “What are you doing on our land?”
