There was no sign of ShadowClan cats as they padded back across the territory on their way home. By the time they reached the camp, the sun was beginning to dip down behind the tops of the trees. All the cats in the patrol were tired and wet through as far as their belly fur, their legs and paws caked with mud.
Squirrelflight and Stormpaw were sitting together outside the tunnel. “The warrior code says that the Clan must be fed first,” Squirrelflight was explaining. “The elders and the nursing queens eat before any other cat. We take care of those who can’t hunt for themselves.”
Stormpaw nodded. “That makes sense.”
Watching Squirrelflight teaching her apprentice, Bramblestar felt something warm well up inside him. She’s the best deputy a leader could hope for—and more than that…
He was distracted as the other cats in the clearing noticed their return and pressed around them.
“Is everything okay?”
“Did Minty find her Twolegs?”
“Was there any trouble with ShadowClan?”
Mousewhisker pushed his way to the front of the crowd, a bundle of dry bracken in his jaws. “Here,” he meowed. “Clean yourselves up with this. Honestly, I think if I see any more mud, I’ll turn into a heap of earth!”
While Bramblestar was scraping the worst of the mud onto the bracken fronds, he realized that Jessy had slipped through the other cats to his side.
“Would you like to go for a walk while it’s still light?” she offered.
Bramblestar nodded, though his belly began to churn with apprehension as they left the camp side by side. He knew that he couldn’t put off questions about their future any longer.
They headed for the ridge, trotting silently over the soft, new grass. Shadows were gathering under the trees, and a light breeze swept down from the heights, stirring the cats’ fur. When they reached the summit, they found a flat-topped rock where they could sit side by side, their pelts barely touching, and watch the sun go down in a blazing scarlet sky.
“I remember going this way to fight Victor and his friends,” Jessy meowed. “We certainly taught them a lesson! And the battle against the badgers—that was so scary! But worth every moment of danger, because we helped ShadowClan and protected our own hunting grounds.” She paused and looked at him, her amber eyes reflecting the orange sky. “Bramblestar, I’ll never regret a moment of the time I spent with your Clan.”
Bramblestar swallowed. “That sounds as if you’re leaving.”
Jessy rose to her paws. Her gaze was full of sadness. “I think you know I have to. If I stay, you—you might not follow where your heart truly lies.”
For a moment Bramblestar was silent. Did she really know him so well, this brave, bold, sparkling kittypet? He had never meant to hurt her, not for a single heartbeat. “I’m sorry. I really am.” He stood beside her, twining his tail with hers. Jessy leaned into him and they rested their heads together.
“I could have loved you,” Bramblestar meowed.
“I know,” Jessy murmured. “But you already love Squirrelflight. As you should. She is the mother of your kits.”
Bramblestar opened his jaws to interrupt, but Jessy silenced him with a flick of her tail. “I know they weren’t born to you,” she went on. “But you are their father, just as Squirrelflight is their mother. That is not a bond that’s easily broken. Not even washed away in a storm!”
“Will you go home to your housefolk?”
“I don’t know,” Jessy admitted. “They might not come back. Our den was very badly damaged. But I’ll go that way first, and then see where my paws lead me.” She raised her head, her eyes suddenly brighter. “Living with ThunderClan has given me a taste for adventure, and the life of a kittypet might be too tame for me!”
“You would have made a great warrior,” Bramblestar told her.
“Oh, I know I would,” Jessy assured him with a gleam in her eyes.
“I’ll never forget you,” Bramblestar mewed.
“Nor I you.”
Bramblestar pressed himself closer against Jessy’s side, breathing in her scent for the last time. I wish things could have been different, he thought. It’s hard to believe I’ll never see her again.
Looking over Jessy’s head, he saw the lake turned scarlet by the setting sun. He remembered his vision of Yellowfang, the blood rising to meet her paws, and realized that blood ran deeper than anything else.
Jessy is right. Whatever I have felt for her, whatever might have been, Squirrelflight and I share a bond that cannot be broken.
Chapter 35
Bramblestar woke to find his Clanmates already heading outside. Two sunrises had passed since Jessy and Minty left, and the tunnel seemed oddly empty without them. He sat up, gave one ear a thorough scratch, and followed the others into the clearing outside the tunnel.
The rest of the cats were crowding around Squirrelflight as she sorted out the early patrols. “Cloudtail,” she meowed, “I want you to lead the WindClan border patrol. Take Lilyheart with you, and… yes, Ivypool and Snowpaw. And can you take Stormpaw, too? It’s time he learned what happens on a border patrol, and I have other things to do this morning.”
Cloudtail dipped his head. “No problem.”
Ivypool beckoned Stormpaw over with a twitch of her ears. “You can set the scent marks.”
Stormpaw looked alarmed. “I don’t know how to do that!”
“Don’t worry.” Lilyheart brushed her tail over his shoulder. “We’ll show you what to do.”
“We’ll all help.” Snowpaw looked delighted to be on patrol with an apprentice who knew less than he did. “It’s easy!”
Bramblestar noticed Graystripe and Sandstorm standing to one side, looking a little sad as the patrols formed up and moved off. He could guess how hard it must be for them to adjust to their new life as elders. But Sandstorm was already looking plumper now that she had the chance to rest, and Bramblestar hadn’t heard her coughing for the last day or two. Now she and Graystripe settled themselves in a patch of sunlight where Purdy was already dozing, and began sharing tongues.
When the last of the patrols had left, Squirrelflight padded over to Bramblestar. She hadn’t mentioned Jessy at all, except to say that she would be missed, on the morning after the brown she-cat had left.
“It’s the night of the full moon,” Squirrelflight meowed, sitting beside Bramblestar and wrapping her tail around her paws. “Every cat is excited at the thought of going to the Gathering. Do you think the water is low enough?”
Bramblestar nodded. “The lake is almost back to its normal level. The island will be muddy, but it should be dry enough for us to meet.”
“Good!” Squirrelflight purred. “Who should we take with us?”
Bramblestar blinked. “Sandstorm and Graystripe will have to come. And Lilyheart and Stormpaw. I’ll be mentioning them in my report. And either Jayfeather or Leafpooclass="underline" We can let Jayfeather decide which.”
“Jayfeather will decide, whether we let him or not,” Squirrelflight commented, with a glint of amusement in her green eyes.
“True. What about Cherryfall and Molewhisker?” Bramblestar suggested. “They’ve worked so hard on rebuilding the camp; they deserve to come.”
“Good idea,” Squirrelflight agreed. “Brackenfur too, then.”
“Right. And there should be a few more… Give me some time to think about it. Oh, and could you tell Stormpaw what happens at a Gathering? He’ll enjoy it more if he knows what to expect.”
“The other Clans will know he used to be a kittypet,” Squirrelflight pointed out.
“Yes,” Bramblestar responded. “But he’s not anymore.”