The Silent Thaw полностью

Bramblestar sat up. “You have to get a message to Squirrelflight.”

“Me?” Rootpaw cringed. Squirrelflight was ThunderClan deputy. Even if he could find his way through ThunderClan territory and speak to her, she wasn’t going to listen to a SkyClan apprentice, especially if he tried to tell her that he had a message from Bramblestar’s ghost. “How?”

Bramblestar stared at him, giving a sharp mew. “Find a way.”

If a dead cat has a message to pass on, we must listen to it and do our best to honor their wishes. As he remembered Fidgetflake’s words, a shiver raced along Rootpaw’s spine. Bramblestar was asking the impossible.

He closed his eyes. You want to be a warrior, he told himself sternly. Then do what Bramblestar says and find a way.

Chapter 8

A cold wind swirled around the hollow, and pigeon-gray clouds hung heavily above the camp. Bristlefrost fluffed her fur out to keep herself warm as she tugged a young bramble shoot that was creeping toward the elders’ den. Prickles jabbed her paws, and she leaned down to bite through the young stem where it disappeared into the camp wall. She picked the stem up gingerly between her teeth and carried it to the pile she had made. Finleap and Stormcloud were clearing brambles farther along the wall.

Bristlefrost had organized the dawn patrols, but Squirrelflight had gone back to deciding the patrols for the rest of the day—without telling Bramblestar. So Bristlefrost was busying herself, along with her Clanmates, tidying the camp while she waited for the ThunderClan deputy to emerge from her den. Lionblaze and Spotfur were clearing dusty bedding and old leaves from the nursery while Daisy wove fresh bracken into the roof. Ivypool and Fernsong stripped withered strands of bracken from the walls of the warriors’ den, and Thornclaw and Blossomfall looked for gaps that needed patching in the sides of the apprentices’ den.

Pride warmed Bristlefrost’s pelt. StarClan would be pleased to see ThunderClan working so hard. She wondered if they were watching.

“Bristlefrost!” Finleap called to her. He nodded to a thick bramble snaking past him. Stormcloud was already tugging it with his teeth. “Help us with this one.”

Bristlefrost hurried to join them and grasped the stem carefully between her teeth.

“Pull!” Finleap grabbed it farther along, and together they tugged until, with a jerk, it came away from its root.

As it snapped, pain pierced Bristlefrost’s lip. As Stormcloud dragged the stem to the pile, she sat up, licking blood where a thorn had spiked her. Finleap glanced up at the Highledge.

“Every cat’s working except our leader,” he muttered.

Bristlefrost glanced sharply at the brown tom. Was he criticizing Bramblestar?

Outside the elders’ den, Jayfeather pricked his ears. The blind medicine cat was rubbing goldenrod pulp into Cloudtail’s hind leg to ease an ache. “Perhaps he forgot he was a warrior when he died,” he mewed sourly.

Cloudtail’s eyes glittered nervously. “Careful what you say.” He glanced toward Finleap. “Bramblestar hasn’t been in the best of moods since he lost a life.”

Across the clearing, Lionblaze snorted. “That’s an understatement. I’ve never seen him act like this before. I hope he’s okay.”

“Of course he’s okay.” Stormcloud dropped the bramble stem onto the pile. “Losing a life must be hard, that’s all. We can’t imagine what it’s like.”

Bristlefrost blinked gratefully at the gray tabby. “He just wants us to be the best warriors we can be.” She looked at Finleap. “So StarClan will come back.”

Finleap shrugged. “Bramblestar’s always wanted us to be the best warriors we can be. He’s just going about it in a funny way these days.” He turned and began to tug another bramble stem.

Bristlefrost’s pelt prickled uneasily. Surely Finleap shouldn’t question his leader. StarClan had given Bramblestar nine lives. Wasn’t arguing with him like arguing with StarClan? And since StarClan was still silent, shouldn’t they listen to Bramblestar even more?

On the Highledge, ginger fur rippled at the entrance to Bramblestar’s den. Lionblaze turned quickly back to his work as Squirrelflight padded out and leaped down the rock tumble. She stopped in the clearing and looked around the camp. “Good work, every cat.” As her Clanmates turned to listen, she glanced at the empty fresh-kill pile. “I want two more patrols to go hunting, and another to check the SkyClan border.”

“I’ll go.” Stormcloud hurried toward her.

“Me too.” Ivypool padded from the warriors’ den, Fernsong at her heels.

“I’d be happy to go,” the yellow tom mewed eagerly.

Bristlefrost was pleased to see ThunderClan so keen to support Squirrelflight.

“Happy to go where?” Bramblestar slid out of his den. Fernsong stiffened as the ThunderClan leader leaped from the Highledge and crossed to Squirrelflight’s side.

“Hunting,” Fernsong told him.