Squirrelflight's Hope полностью

Alderheart met her gaze nervously. “ShadowClan might take offense if we bring a warrior to their camp. You should get Bramblestar’s permission.”

Squirrelflight swallowed her frustration. “Bramblestar is out hunting,” she reminded them. “I can’t ask him now.”

“We can’t wait.” Alderheart glanced anxiously toward the medicine den.

“If Puddleshine knows of a way to help Larksong, we need to hear it as soon as possible,” Jayfeather chimed.

Squirrelflight gazed at them desperately. She was Clan deputy. If she wanted to travel with them, she could. And yet she knew they were right. Tensions with ShadowClan were already high. If her visit to their camp made things worse, ThunderClan could find itself facing battle. She needed Bramblestar’s support for her mission. And, she realized, she needed his support as her mate. She was always better with him behind her. She should have realized that from the start. “Let’s find him,” she suggested.

“He could be anywhere,” Jayfeather objected.

“He said he was going to hunt near the beech grove,” she told him. “It’s not far out of the way. We could stop and get Bramblestar’s permission.”

Jayfeather’s ear twitched. “I guess we could,” he conceded. “But I’m not going to wait around while you search the area. If we find him, great. If we don’t, you ought to return home.”

“Okay,” Squirrelflight agreed reluctantly. She would respect her medicine cat’s wishes.

She let Jayfeather and Alderheart lead the way through the thorn tunnel, relieved to be out of camp as they headed into the forest. She couldn’t help Larksong, but hopefully she could put her Clanmates’ minds at rest by proving that ShadowClan wasn’t involved.

Jayfeather followed a rabbit trail into the swaths of blueberry bushes that covered the forest floor around the hollow. Alderheart followed, his gaze darting here and there as though looking for prey.

“Are you hoping to hunt?” Squirrelflight called to him as she padded behind them.

“I’m looking for herbs,” he called back. “New patches appear at the end of greenleaf. They’ll be too young to harvest, but it’s useful to notice where they’ll appear again in newleaf.”

Pride warmed Squirrelflight’s pelt. She remembered Alderheart as a kit, hardly able to tell a good piece of prey from a bad one. He’d been a terrible warrior apprentice, but he’d found his feet as a medicine cat. Now he could recognize every herb in the forest. He’s grown up now, she thought with a pang of grief. He doesn’t need me anymore. She pushed away the longing as she imagined a nest of newborn kits.

The forest sloped. She pricked her ears. The beech grove was beyond the next rise. Opening her mouth, she let the air bathe her tongue, searching for Bramblestar’s scent. What if he wasn’t there? If she had to turn back, would Jayfeather and Alderheart be able to tell whether ShadowClan had been involved in Larksong’s sickness? They hadn’t known them as long as she had. She scanned the woods. Thick brambles crowded between the beeches. The forest was lighter here. Sunshine glimmered through delicate leaves. She felt its warmth on her pelt and slowed, narrowing her eyes as she searched for a sign of Bramblestar’s hunting party.

Jayfeather, who was hurrying ahead, turned his face toward her, his blind blue gaze flashing through the green undergrowth. “We can’t slow down,” he told Squirrelflight. “Larksong is depending on us.”

Alderheart pushed through a stand of ferns. “Bramblestar’s not here.” His eyes glittered with worry. “Are you going to head back?”

“We’re not out of the beech grove yet.” Squirrelflight padded onward, her breath shallow as she scanned the forest desperately for some sign of Bramblestar’s patrol.

Jayfeather shrugged and pushed on, his tail flicking behind him.

Squirrelflight could see the shadows ahead where the beeches gave way to oak and pine beyond. She pricked her ears, listening for paw steps. Ahead, the brambles thinned, and Jayfeather padded softly into a clearing. As he crossed it, Squirrelflight’s heart sank. He isn’t here. Her paws tingled with the urge to keep moving, to go anyway, but in her heart she knew that wouldn’t work. Between Jayfeather’s objections and Bramblestar’s possible reaction, it could have terrible results … and she just couldn’t do that to Bramblestar again. So she wouldn’t be able to visit ShadowClan after all. “Alderheart.” She ducked from beneath a bramble.

He blinked at her. “What?”

“Will you ask Puddleshine whether the poison might have come from ShadowClan?”

His pelt ruffled. “I can’t accuse his Clanmates.”

“But you’ll try to find out as much as you can,” Squirrelflight pressed.

Jayfeather stopped in the clearing. “If Larksong’s sickness has anything to do with ShadowClan, we’ll find out,” he promised. “But we’re not going to start a fight. We’re healers, not warriors.”