Bluefur wrinkled her nose. More than one cat scent tainted the air. “Should I get a patrol?” she whispered.
“There are no more than three of them,” Snowfur murmured. “We can take them ourselves.” She crept forward over the tree root and slithered under a bush. Bluefur slid in beside her. Now she could clearly hear ShadowClan voices muttering a few tail-lengths ahead.
“You should never have chased it over the Thunderpath.”
“But I nearly had it!”
“It’s gone now.”
Bluefur peered through the leaves and saw three pelts huddled in a small clearing between the pines.
“Let’s go back.” A black tom spoke.
“No!” a tortoiseshell she-cat insisted. “I can still smell the squirrel. It’s close.”
The black warrior flicked his tail. “ThunderClan has been as jumpy as fleas since RiverClan took Sunningrocks. We should go.”
“I’m not worried about ThunderClan,” meowed a mottled tabby tom. “They’ll be busy patrolling the RiverClan border. We’ll just get the squirrel and take it back over the Thunderpath. They’ll never know we were here.”
“You heard Sunstar at the last Gathering,” the black tom cautioned. “He said he’d shred any cat who crossed the border—kittypet or Clan.”
The tabby tom sighed. “Okay,” he conceded. “Let’s go.”
The tortoiseshell stiffened. “No! I can smell the squirrel.”
Small paws skittered nearby. The ShadowClan cats pressed themselves to the ground.
“This way!” The tortoiseshell began to stalk, keeping low.
Snowfur growled, “If they think they’re going to hunt on ThunderClan territory, they’ve got another think coming.” She leaped out from the bush and skidded in front of the ShadowClan warriors, her back arched and her claws unsheathed. “Stop right there!”
The ShadowClan cats flinched away, tails bushing.
Bluefur pelted after her sister. “Mangy crow-food eaters!” She bared her teeth, a growl rumbling in her throat.
The tortoiseshell blinked. “Is that it? Two cats? Not much of a patrol.”
“Enough to deal with you!” Bluefur spat.
The black tom straightened, eyes gleaming. “You think so?”
The tabby snarled. “If you’re all ThunderClan can come up with, I think we’ll catch this squirrel and then go home.”
“Oh, no, you don’t!” Snowfur launched herself at the tabby, knocking him sideways with a crashing blow from her forepaw.
The tortoiseshell’s eyes widened with shock. Even Bluefur was startled. “Snowfur…,” she began.
“I’ve been stuck in camp too long to miss the chance for a fight,” Snowfur spat.
There was no way Bluefur was going to let her sister battle these trespassers alone. Springing forward, she lashed out with unsheathed claws at the black tom, slitting his nose. He pelted, yowling, into the bushes.
The tabby tom scrabbled to his paws. “Let’s get out of here!” he yowled.
Snowfur hurtled after the fleeing ShadowClan warriors, screeching like a whole battle patrol. Bluefur was on her tail. They would teach those crow-food munchers a lesson they wouldn’t forget!
The forest brightened ahead where the trees opened onto the Thunderpath. The ShadowClan cats pelted out into the sunshine, and Snowfur hared after them. Bluefur raced from the trees, blinking against the sudden brightness.
The ShadowClan warriors were already halfway across the Thunderpath.
“You don’t escape that easily!” Snowfur screeched furiously as they skidded to the other side and disappeared into the pines. Pelt bristling, eyes wide, Snowfur streaked after them, over the oily Thunderpath.
Bluefur froze.
A monster was roaring straight at Snowfur.
Without slowing down, it slammed into her body.
Bluefur heard the dull thump, then the howl of the monster as it thundered away, leaving Snowfur’s body lying like a wet leaf at the edge of the Thunderpath.
“No!”
Chapter 28
The monster’s roar faded quickly away. Bluefur could see the ShadowClan warriors peering from the trees beyond the Thunderpath, their eyes wide with horror.
“Snowfur?” She bent down and nudged her sister with her paw. The white warrior didn’t respond, just lay limply on the stinking grass. “Come on,” Bluefur urged. “We have to get back to camp. We’ve got to report those ShadowClan warriors.”
A thin trail of blood rolled from Snowfur’s mouth.
“I’ll help you,” Bluefur offered. She grasped Snowfur’s scruff and began to drag her into the forest. “Try your paws,” Bluefur begged through her mouthful of fur. “Once you’re walking, you’ll feel better.”
Snowfur’s body slid over the leaf-strewn floor.
Oh, StarClan, why did I tell her about Oakheart? She wouldn’t have run off. We’d have never have found those ShadowClan warriors. They’d be home by now, Whitekit bouncing with excitement at seeing his mother back.
“Bluefur?” Adderfang’s mew sounded through the trees.
Bluefur let go of her sister and stared at the mottled warrior, her mind blank. Adderfang had come. Everything would be fine now. Dappletail was with him, and Windflight and Thrushpelt. They’d know what to do.
Her Clanmates swarmed around her. She felt their pelts brushing hers as they leaned over Snowfur.
“A monster hit her,” Bluefur explained. Her voice sounded as if it was coming from far away. “ShadowClan cats were hunting squirrels in our territory and we chased them, and it hit her.”
“Thrushpelt”—Adderfang’s order was brisk—“check ShadowClan has gone and isn’t coming back.”
As Thrushpelt raced away, Adderfang grasped Snowfur’s scruff.
“Be careful!” Bluefur cautioned, heart lurching. “I think she’s hurt.”
She felt White-eye’s tail drape over her shoulders.
“Come on,” the pale she-cat murmured, coaxing her forward. “Let’s get back to camp.”
Bluefur’s paws, numb with shock, stumbled over the forest floor. She’s hurt. She’s just hurt. No matter how many times she repeated the words in her mind, her heart had recognized the scent of death on her sister. She knew Snowfur was dead, and with each step the horror grew stronger, until grief threatened to swamp her.
“Just keep walking,” White-eye whispered, pressing closer.
“I told her she’d be back with Whitekit,” Bluefur mumbled.
At the top of the ravine, Adderfang laid Snowfur down and faced Bluefur. He stared steadily at her until she blinked away the haze of grief and looked into his eyes.
“Bluefur?” His mew was gentle.
“What?”
“You must tell Whitekit.”
Bluefur flinched. “Why me?”
“Because you love him,” Adderfang told her. “I’ll tell Thistleclaw and Stormtail and make the report to Sunstar.”
White-eye gazed at Snowfur’s body. “Thistleclaw could tell Whitekit,” she suggested.
“No!” Bluefur bristled. Thistleclaw would never be gentle enough for news like this. “I’ll tell him.”
Blindly stumbling, she managed to reach the bottom of the ravine. She padded into the clearing and past her Clanmates, who knew nothing of the tragedy, who still believed Snowfur was alive.
She slid into the nursery. “Whitekit.”
“You’re back!” Whitekit looked delighted. He glanced behind Bluefur. “Is Snowfur with you?”
Bluefur took a deep breath and tensed to stop her paws from shaking. “Come outside, little one,” she mewed.
“Has Snowfur got a present for me?” Whitekit chirped.
Tigerkit stopped chasing Brindlekit’s tail. “Can I come, too?”