Minty let out a scared squeal. “Foxes!”
Before any cat could react, Snowpaw and Dewpaw rolled into the open, their legs fastened around each other as they wrestled. Whitewing and Ivypool scrambled out of the bracken behind them.
“Careful!” Whitewing called. “Watch where you’re going!”
“Keep away from the edge, or you’ll fall,” Whitewing added.
The two apprentices broke apart, shaking their pelts, then suddenly froze. “I’m slipping!” Snowpaw cried in a shrill caterwaul, his paws paddling in the soil above the tunnel as if it were water.
“Mudslide!” Ivypool screeched.
For a heartbeat Bramblestar’s paws were rooted to the ground as he watched a chunk of earth above the tunnel entrance begin to give way, carrying the four cats with it. Then he pulled himself together. “Out of the way!” he yowled.
Before the words were out he flung himself across to where Briarlight was lying. With Millie’s help he heaved her onto his back, crumbling earth falling all around them, then raced toward the trees. Cats shot away from the entrance, wailing in panic, as the soil roared down, fierce as another storm.
As the sound died away Bramblestar halted and turned around, letting Briarlight slide down from his back. A mound of earth covered the entrance to the tunnel. At first he couldn’t see any of the four cats who had been caught in the slide, and his pelt prickled with the memory of the tunnel collapse that had buried Hollyleaf, so many moons ago.
Then Ivypool popped her head out of the heap, spitting earth and floundering through the loose soil as she dragged herself clear. Snowpaw reappeared a moment later, burrowing his way out. The soil at the top of the mound heaved and fell away to reveal Whitewing; she was helping Dewpaw, who seemed dazed, hardly moving at all.
Dustpelt, Cloudtail, and Brightheart dashed up to the heap of earth and helped the four cats to struggle free. Bramblestar followed hard on their paws. To his relief, none of them seemed seriously hurt. Even Dewpaw, who looked a little unsteady when he stood on solid ground again, soon recovered and began shaking himself furiously to get the soil out of his pelt.
“Ugh! I’ll never be clean again!” Ivypool spat. She had shaken off the loose soil, but her fur was still plastered with mud, and her claws were clogged with it.
“Let’s thank StarClan it was no worse,” Whitewing meowed.
Bramblestar looked at the pile of earth. At first he thought that it was blocking the tunnel, and that cats would have to burrow to release their Clanmates trapped inside. But then he realized that there was a narrow gap beside the mound of soil, just wide enough to let cats in and out of the tunnel.
“Are you all okay in there?” he called.
Purdy squeezed his way out and looked around with a disgusted expression. “What next?” he grunted. “Haven’t we got enough trouble, without the forest throwin’ earth at us?”
Bramblestar guessed that the rain must have loosened the ground above the tunnel, and the weight of four cats on top of it had been enough to bring it down. “No cat is to go up there again,” he ordered. “Not until everything has had a chance to dry out.”
“Don’t worry, we won’t,” Whitewing muttered. “I thought I was on my way to StarClan when the ground started disappearing under my paws.”
The rest of the Clan gathered around, surveying the mess with wide, wary eyes. Minty looked terrified; Daisy had curled her tail around the kittypet’s shoulders, and was mewing something to her in a low voice. Briarlight was managing to drag herself back, with Millie at her side as always.
Dustpelt padded up to Bramblestar and gave the earth mound an experimental prod with one paw. “You know,” he meowed, “maybe we shouldn’t clear this away. When the wind’s in the wrong direction it whistles straight down the tunnel and freezes our fur off, and this would make a good windbreak.”
“But won’t the wind scatter it?” Bramblestar asked.
“Not if we find something to shore it up with,” Dustpelt told him.
Bramblestar nodded to the older warrior. “I’ll put you in charge of it, then,” he mewed. “See what you can do.”
As Dustpelt studied the heap, Bramblestar glanced around again. The panic was over by now and the cats were chatting excitedly about what had happened. He could sense that they were dizzy with relief, that what had seemed to be a dreadful accident had turned out to be not too bad after all.
Bramblestar spotted Dewpaw scooping up a pawful of mud and throwing it at Snowpaw, who ducked to dodge it before scraping up some mud of his own.
“That’s enough of that!” Ivypool scolded.
“We can’t get any dirtier than we already are,” Dewpaw pointed out with a cheeky glint in his eye.
Ivypool sighed. “Apprentices!”
Meanwhile Poppyfrost, Dovewing, and Bumblestripe were helping Leafpool and Jayfeather to check every cat who had been close to the mudslide for possible injuries. But even the cats who had fallen were unhurt.
If this is what Jayfeather’s omen foretold, Bramblestar thought, then we’ve had a lucky escape.
“We want to take Whitewing, Ivypool, and the apprentices to the WindClan stream to get a wash,” Dovewing reported, padding up to Bramblestar.
Bramblestar flicked his ears back uneasily. “Is that a good idea after all that trouble with WindClan?” he asked. “Can’t they wash in the lake?”
“No, the lake water has that awful tang of salt,” Whitewing meowed, picking her way over the muddy ground to join Dovewing. “We’d never get it out of our fur.”
“Okay, then,” Bramblestar decided. “But if you do meet a WindClan patrol, don’t get into a fight about the water. We have enough problems without that.”
“We won’t,” Dovewing promised. Waving her tail to beckon the apprentices, she led the way across the hill in the direction of the WindClan border.
“What do we need to do?” Squirrelflight asked, padding around the mudpile with a disgusted look on her face. “Don’t tell me we have to shift all this.”
“No, Dustpelt thinks we can shore it up and use it as a windbreak,” Bramblestar replied. “There’s still room to get in and out.”
Dustpelt struggled up at that moment, dragging a branch. “We need more of these,” he panted. “And stones, as big as you can manage. If we pack them in at the bottom of the pile, they’ll stop it from spreading.”
“Right,” Squirrelflight mewed. “I’ll find some other cats to help.” She bounded off.
As Bramblestar helped Dustpelt to shove the branch into position, he heard Lilypaw’s voice coming from behind him.
“We’re supposed to be having hunting practice. But I can’t find Poppyfrost and Bumblestripe anywhere.”
“Nor can I,” Seedpaw added.
Bramblestar glanced over his shoulder. “They’ve gone to the WindClan stream,” he told the apprentices. “They’ll be back soon.”
Lilypaw and Seedpaw looked disappointed.
“Can we help you instead?” Seedpaw asked. “What are you doing? What do you need?”
The two apprentices crowded up, sniffing curiously at the branch that Dustpelt was still pushing into place.
“We’ll get more!” Lilypaw announced, but as she turned she skidded in the mud and Seedpaw tripped over her.
“For StarClan’s sake!” Dustpelt snapped. “A cat can’t move around here for nuisancy apprentices!”
“But we want to do something useful!” Seedpaw protested, scrambling to her paws.
“Then go and do it someplace else,” Dustpelt muttered. “I’m sure you can think of something.”
“Find a warrior to take you hunting,” Bramblestar suggested, but the two apprentices were already scampering away. I hope they don’t get into trouble, he thought.