“You took your time,” he snapped. “We’re wasting moonlight.”
Shadowpaw realized that Kestrelflight of WindClan and Mothwing and Willowshine, the two RiverClan medicine cats, were sitting just beyond the two from ThunderClan. The shadow of a rock had hidden them from him until now.
“Nice to see you, too, Jayfeather,” Puddleshine responded mildly. “I’m sorry if we’re late, but I don’t see Frecklewish or Fidgetflake, either.”
Jayfeather gave a disdainful sniff. “If they’re not here soon, we’ll start without them.”
Would Jayfeather really do that? Shadowpaw was still staring at the ThunderClan medicine cat, wondering, when a rustling from the top of the slope put him on alert. Looking up, he saw Frecklewish pushing her way through the bushes, followed closely by Fidgetflake.
“At last!” Jayfeather hissed.
He’s in a mood, Shadowpaw thought, then added to himself with a flicker of amusement, Nothing new there, then.
As the two SkyClan medicine cats padded down the slope, Shadowpaw noticed how thin and weary they both looked. For a heartbeat he wondered if there was anything wrong in SkyClan. Then he realized that he and the rest of the medicine cats looked just as skinny, just as worn out by the trials of leaf-bare.
Frecklewish dipped her head to her fellow medicine cats as she joined them beside the pool. “Greetings,” she mewed, her fatigue clear in her voice. “How is the prey running in your Clans?”
For a moment no cat replied, and Shadowpaw could sense their uneasiness. None of them wants to admit that their Clan is having problems.
Shadowpaw was surprised when Puddleshine, who was normally so pensive, was the first to speak up. Maybe the cold had banished his mentor’s reserve and enabled him to be honest.
“The hunting is very poor in ShadowClan,” he replied; Shadowpaw felt a twinge of alarm at how discouraged his mentor sounded. “If this freezing cold goes on much longer, I don’t know what we’ll do.”
The remaining medicine cats exchanged glances of relief, as if they were glad to learn their Clan wasn’t the only one suffering.
Willowshine nodded in agreement. “Many RiverClan cats are getting sick because it’s so cold.”
“In ThunderClan too,” Alderheart murmured.
“We’re running out of herbs,” Fidgetflake added with a twitch of his whiskers. “And the few we have left are shriveled and useless.”
Frecklewish gave her Clanmate a sympathetic glance. “I’ve heard some of the younger warriors joking about running off to be kittypets,” she meowed.
“No cat had better say that in my hearing.” Jayfeather drew his lips back in the beginning of a snarl. “Or they’ll wish they hadn’t.”
“Keep your fur on, Jayfeather,” Frecklewish responded. “It was only a joke. All SkyClan cats are loyal to their Clan.”
Jayfeather’s only reply was an irritated flick of his ears.
“I don’t suppose any of you have spare supplies of catmint?” Kestrelflight asked hesitantly. “The clumps that grow in WindClan are all blackened by frost. We won’t have any more until newleaf.”
Most of the cats shook their heads, except for Willowshine, who rested her tail encouragingly on Kestrelflight’s shoulder. “RiverClan can help,” she promised. “There’s catmint growing in the Twoleg gardens near our border. It’s more sheltered there.”
“Thanks, Willowshine.” Kestrelflight’s voice was unsteady. “There’s whitecough in the WindClan camp, and without catmint I’m terrified it will turn to greencough.”
“Meet me by the border tomorrow at sunhigh,” Willowshine mewed. “I’ll show you where the catmint grows.”
“This is all well and good,” Jayfeather snorted, “every cat getting along, but let’s not forget why we’re here. I’m much more interested in what StarClan has to say. Shall we begin?” He paced to the edge of the Moonpool and stretched out one forepaw to touch the surface, only to draw his paw back with a gasp of surprise.
“What’s wrong?” Puddleshine asked. One by one, the medicine cats cautiously approached the Moonpool’s surface. Shadowpaw sniffed the Moonpool curiously, then reached out a tentative paw. He was stunned when he hit something solid. What in the stars … ? Instead of water, he had touched ice, so thin that it gave way under the pressure of his pad, the splinters bobbing at the water’s edge.
“The Moonpool is beginning to freeze,” Kestrelflight meowed, while Shadowpaw licked the icy water from his paw. That felt really weird!
“Well, that proves it: the cold is worse than usual,” Jayfeather grumbled.
“Has it never happened before?” Fidgetflake asked, his eyes wide.
“I can’t recall it happening before,” Mothwing replied in an even voice. “There has been ice in the Moonpool from time to time, but I don’t remember it freezing all the way through.”
“Well, never mind—it’s time to share dreams with StarClan,” Jayfeather announced abruptly. “Maybe they can tell us how long we have to suffer this bitter cold.”
“And maybe we’ll be able to speak with Leafpool,” Willowshine added, her voice soft with grief.
Shadowpaw had hardly known the ThunderClan medicine cat, but he had heard stories about her and knew how much every cat in the forest admired her. Even though ThunderClan had two other medicine cats, they must be feeling the loss of Leafpool as if a badger had torn away one of their limbs. He noticed that Jayfeather had closed his eyes, as if he was struggling with desperate pain, and he remembered that Leafpool had been Jayfeather’s mother as well as his mentor.
Suddenly Shadowpaw could forgive all Jayfeather’s earlier gruffness. Dovewing can be really embarrassing at times, treating me like I’m still a kit, but I can’t imagine how much it would hurt to lose her.
Alderheart drew closer to his Clanmate. “She still watches over us from StarClan,” he murmured.
“I know.” Shadowpaw could hardly hear Jayfeather’s low-voiced response. “But even for medicine cats, it’s not the same.”
Huddling together for warmth, the nine medicine cats stretched their necks out over the Moonpool and lowered their heads to touch their noses to the surface. Shadowpaw’s breathing grew rapid from excitement. Within a couple of heartbeats, he knew, he would find himself transported into StarClan; either that, or the StarClan warriors would leave their territory and come to meet with the living cats at the Moonpool.
Instead there was only silence. Then, as the moments crawled by, Shadowpaw heard a confused clamor of cats’ voices, faint as if coming from an immense distance. He couldn’t make out what the cats were trying to say, or even if there were coherent words in their cries. Alarmed, Shadowpaw looked up to find cloudy images in the sky, like scraps of softly glowing mist. For a few heartbeats, each of the scraps would almost solidify into the form of a cat, then fade and dissolve again into a shapeless blur.
Icy fear flooded over Shadowpaw, and he pressed himself closer to Puddleshine’s side. Fighting back panic, he tried to tell himself that he was being stupid. I haven’t been to the Moonpool as many times as the others, he told himself. Maybe this isn’t unusual.
But as the misty images faded, Shadowpaw saw that the other medicine cats were staring at one another, shocked and unnerved. “Has this happened before?” he asked, striving to stop his voice from squeaking like a terrified kit.
Kestrelflight shook his head. “I’ve never seen anything like that before,” he replied. “I’ve never even heard of it, not from any cat.”
The other medicine cats murmured agreement.