Squirrelflight's Hope полностью

Squirrelflight hesitated. Should she tell Leafpool about feeling unwell on the way home? No. How could she help her Clan if she were confined to the medicine den? But Leafpool should know about my kits in case I get sick. “I think I may be expecting,” she told Leafpool.

“Really?” Leafpool’s eyes widened with surprise. “Are you sure?”

Doubt tugged in Squirrelflight’s belly. Leafpool had said that she always knew when a cat was expecting kits. Am I wrong? She changed the subject. “How’s Larksong?” She looked at the black tom’s nest. Larksong was barely more than a shadow against the bracken.

“He still hasn’t woken and he’s had difficulty breathing,” Leafpool told her. “But we’re giving him tansy and chervil root. And we’ve managed to get a little water into his mouth.”

Squirrelflight felt numb. What if he died? What if Sparkpelt died too, and their unborn kits? She headed for the entrance, shaking out her pelt before the thought could take hold. She pushed through the brambles, holding her face up to the sunshine. Perhaps the light could wash away the darkness she felt welling inside her.

Around the edge of the clearing, Jayfeather and Alderheart moved from warrior to warrior, leaning close as they checked them for symptoms. Finleap and Twigbranch moved aside as Graystripe padded from the elders’ den, his eyes dark. Flippaw paced nervously around Hollytuft, while Bristlepaw and Thriftpaw seemed rooted to the ground.

Thornclaw was blinking anxiously at Bramblestar. “Could Sparkpelt have eaten a tainted mouse too?”

“We haven’t hunted anywhere near the place Larksong’s mouse was caught,” Bramblestar reasoned.

Graystripe padded closer. “Perhaps there are tainted mice all over the forest. Sickness spreads between prey just as it spreads between cats.”

Bramblestar’s pelt bristled along his spine. “It might not even be prey that’s causing the sickness. What if Larksong picked up sickness in the forest and passed it to Sparkpelt?”

“Where could he have picked it up?” Thornclaw frowned. “We’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Mousewhisker padded nearer. “It might be a sickness from outside the Clans.”

Bramblestar blinked at him. “Larksong hasn’t left Clan territory.”

Squirrelflight tensed. A thought surfaced that she didn’t dare acknowledge.

Thornclaw’s gaze flashed suddenly. “But strange cats have come onto Clan territory.” Squirrelflight stared at him, knowing what he was going to say next. The dark warrior growled. “The Sisters might have carried this sickness with them.”

Bramblestar pricked his ears. Graystripe and Mousewhisker swapped glances. It made sense.

Squirrelflight padded quickly forward. “I’ll visit them.” If they’d brought this illness into the Clans, she had to warn them. “I’ll see if they’re sick.” As she spoke, Alderheart nudged Berrynose toward the medicine den. The pale warrior padded toward the trailing brambles, his eyes sparking with fear.

“Are you sick?” Mousewhisker asked Berrynose as he passed.

Berrynose glanced at him. “My chest is a little tight, that’s all.”

“I just want to keep an eye on him,” Alderheart explained.

Jayfeather looked up beside Thriftpaw. The apprentice’s ears were twitching nervously. “Thriftpaw is wheezing,” he mewed.

Alderheart hurried toward the young she-cat and pressed an ear to her chest. He straightened. “You’d better go to the medicine den too.”

Thriftpaw’s eyes widened. “Am I sick?”

“You’re probably fine,” Jayfeather told her. Across the clearing, Ivypool got to her paws, her pelt spiking with alarm. “But it’s best if we watch you for a while.”

Ivypool hurried toward her kit, panic glittering in her gaze. “I’ll go with her.”

Jayfeather shook his head. “If this sickness is contagious, we need to keep the affected cats isolated until we’ve found a way to treat it.”

Ivypool stared as Alderheart guided Thriftpaw toward the medicine den. Thriftpaw glanced at her mother as he passed. She blinked reassuringly, but Squirrelflight could see fear in the young cat’s eyes.

“I’ll go to the Sisters’ camp now,” she told Bramblestar. “If they do have this sickness, they might know a cure.”

Bramblestar nodded. “Take a patrol with you.”

She blinked at him, expecting him to choose warriors to go with her, but he turned and followed Alderheart toward the medicine den. Did he trust her to pick her own patrols again? She felt a flash of relief. “Ivypool.” She nodded to the silver-and-white tabby. “I want you to come with me.” Ivypool glanced toward the medicine den. “You can stay here if you want,” Squirrelflight told her. “But you’ll be more help to me than you will be to Thriftpaw right now.”

Ivypool dipped her head. “I’ll come.”

“Twigbranch.” Squirrelflight nodded to the gray she-cat. “I want you to come too. And Finleap.”

Twigbranch glanced toward the medicine den. “Should we take a medicine cat, to examine the Sisters?” she ventured.

“Good idea.” Squirrelflight flicked her tail. “Go and tell Leafpool that I need her.”