Bramblestar sighed. “I hope I can stop feeling guilty about the badger attack,” he confided to Sandstorm. “I lost Dustpelt and I angered Rowanstar.” Unfamiliar emotion surged through him, and more words spilled out of him. “I was just trying to do what Firestar would have done. He would have rescued the kittypets and helped ShadowClan not once, but twice.”
Sandstorm’s ears flicked up in surprise, and she fixed a compelling green gaze on Bramblestar. “That’s not what you’re supposed to do!” she exclaimed. “StarClan knew you would be a good leader in your own right. That’s why they led your paws along this path. Firestar didn’t appoint you to be his echo, but to be yourself. He trusted you to protect ThunderClan, to make decisions for them based on your own judgment and instincts.” Tucking her paws underneath her, she went on, “Tell me honestly, if there was no ThunderClan, no Firestar, no expectations, would you still have helped the kittypets? Interfered with ShadowClan?”
Bramblestar thought about how he had made those decisions. He had felt compassion for the kittypets, unable to abandon them to drown or starve in the flood. His bond with Tawnypelt had led him to save her Clan.
He took a deep breath. “Yes, I would.”
Sandstorm’s eyes narrowed in approval. “You are the leader of ThunderClan now, Bramblestar,” she mewed. “Not Firestar. Be the leader that you want to be. No cat expects anything else.”
Chapter 33
Repairs to the hollow progressed rapidly in the sunny days that followed. The Clan still lived in the tunnel, but their hunting and border patrols had to be fitted around the task of rebuilding.
Just before sunhigh, Bramblestar headed for the hollow to see how the work was going. He was tired after an early hunting patrol, but he shared with all his Clanmates the sense of jubilation that their home was being restored. As he approached the camp, he spotted Squirrelflight in the entrance helping Rosepetal and Bumblestripe, who were dragging brambles and tendrils of ivy to form a new barrier. She broke off when she spotted Bramblestar and padded up to him.
“It’s going well,” she mewed, looking exhausted but determined. “Come in and see.”
Bramblestar followed her into the camp. The hollow was swarming with cats, and for a moment he couldn’t make any sense of all the activity. Then he noticed Brackenfur moving from den to den, pausing to direct the building work with a great deal of calm meowing and waving of his tail. He looked confident, as if at last he was comfortable alone in the role he had once shared with Dustpelt.
Briarlight was sitting with Jayfeather and Leafpool at the mouth of their den, helping the medicine cats to sort herbs. Bramblestar realized with satisfaction that one of his Clanmates must have carried her down from the tunnel.
Jessy bounded over to Bramblestar, her eyes sparkling with triumph. “You have to see the nursery!” she announced.
Lionblaze was scrambling around on the nursery roof, patching the holes with tough stems of ivy. “Cinderheart!” he called, twisting around precariously to beckon his mate with one paw. “It’s nearly finished. Our kits will be warm and safe in here!”
Cinderheart hurried over and stood looking up with a warm glow in her blue eyes. “It’s perfect!” she purred.
Inside Bramblestar discovered Daisy with the other two kittypets, spreading huge bundles of moss over the nursery floor.
“Minty, make sure there aren’t any thorns in there,” Daisy mewed. “We don’t want Cinderheart’s kits to get scratched.”
“I’ll be careful, Daisy,” Minty responded, drawing her claws through the moss and setting aside a huge thorn.
Lionblaze dropped to the ground and stuck his head inside the entrance, with Cinderheart peering over his shoulder. “It’s great in here,” he meowed. “I can’t wait for our kits to be born. I’ll visit as often as I can.”
Daisy gave him a sharp flick with her tail. “You’ll visit if I say you can,” she told him. “Cinderheart and her kits will need a lot of rest. We all have to put mothers and their kits first.”
Lionblaze nodded. “Of course, Daisy.”
Jessy followed Bramblestar out as he left the nursery. “Daisy has enough help,” she remarked. “Is there anything else I can do?”
Bramblestar glanced around and spotted the apprentices, who were hauling a tangle of bramble tendrils up to the warriors’ den. “They could do with some extra paws,” he mewed.
“I’m on it!” Jessy responded, bounding across the camp toward the young cats.
Bramblestar watched her go, then went over to Squirrelflight, who was struggling with a hazel branch outside the elders’ den. “Let me help you with that,” he offered.
Together they began wrestling the branch into position. Squirrelflight kept darting swift glances at Bramblestar. “I’ve noticed how well you’re getting on with Jessy,” she murmured after a few moments.
Bramblestar’s pelt grew hot with embarrassment at the thought of discussing Jessy with Squirrelflight. “She’s a nice cat,” he responded; then, trying to sound lighthearted, he added, “for a kittypet.”
“She doesn’t seem like a kittypet now,” Squirrelflight mewed. After a pause, she added, “Do you think she’ll stay?” She didn’t look at Bramblestar. “I mean, if you want her to, that’s fine with me. Not that it’s up to me, of course…” Her voice trailed off; she sounded as awkward as Bramblestar felt.
Bramblestar blinked. Until now he hadn’t thought about what it would be like if Jessy stayed in the Clan forever, as a warrior and his mate. Is that what I want?
He looked at Squirrelflight, who had gone back to struggling with the branch. Behind him, he could hear Lionblaze talking to Cinderheart. “How many kits do you think we’ll have?”
Then Jayfeather’s voice, raised in annoyance, drifted across the camp. “How many times do I have to tell you apprentices? Watch where you’re putting your paws when you come into my den. That’s a whole bunch of yarrow crushed!”
My sons are so grown up, so confident and talented. How could I have regretted raising them for a single moment? Grief surged up inside Bramblestar. “I miss Hollyleaf,” he blurted out.
Squirrelflight let the branch drop. “So do I.”
She looked so heartbroken, her eyes wide and full of sorrow as if the pain had never left, that Bramblestar choked on the words he would have liked to stay. Instead he rested his head against Squirrelflight’s, hoping that the touch would bring her comfort.
Neither of them said anything more about Jessy.
As the sun reached its height, Cloudtail appeared at the entrance to the hollow with Blossomfall, Dovewing, and Berrynose. All four cats were loaded with prey.
“Hey, Bramblestar!” Cloudtail dropped his catch in the middle of the clearing and waved his tail at his Clan leader. “We brought our fresh-kill so we can eat here!”
“Good idea,” Bramblestar agreed.
Cheerful yowls rose from his Clanmates as they converged hungrily on the pile. Bramblestar chose a thrush and settled down to eat. As the noise died down while the cats gulped down their fresh-kill, he heard Blossomfall and Rosepetal talking together beside him.
“What’s this I hear, that Bumblestripe and Dovewing aren’t mates anymore?” Rosepetal asked.
Surprised, Bramblestar flicked a glance around the clearing and saw that the two warriors were eating on opposite sides of the group, about as far away from each other as they could get. Both of them looked downcast, and kept their gaze firmly fixed on their prey.
“That’s right,” Blossomfall replied to Rosepetal. “But I never did think Dovewing was right for my brother. She’s always been a bit… different, hasn’t she?”