“There are three tunnels,” Lionpaw told him.
Jaypaw tasted the air, but there was no scent of the kits.
“This way,” Fallen Leaves whispered. Jaypaw felt his whiskers brush rock on either side as he let Fallen Leaves guide him into another tunnel.
“How do you know we’re going the right way?” Breezepaw’s mew was sharp, but Jaypaw could sense the panic throbbing beneath his pelt. It came from every cat, filling the darkness with a suffocating dread that Jaypaw tried to block from his mind.
“I can smell them,” he lied. He mustn’t let their fear overwhelm him. Listen to Fallen Leaves!
The tunnel twisted and veered upward, then widened. Air filtered through a gap overhead. The patter of paw steps slowed behind him.
“I knew it was a dead end,” Heatherpaw sighed, stopping.
Jaypaw halted. A boulder was blocking the tunnel ahead.
He sensed its unyielding bulk.
“We’ll never get past that,” Breezepaw mewed.
Rain pounded overhead, dripping through a gap into the tunnel and echoing off the rocks as Jaypaw sniffed the wet stone. He ran his nose along the boulder, following its smooth contours until his whiskers touched the tunnel wall.
A tiny gap opened between boulder and wall, too small to squeeze through.
“Now what?” Breezepaw snapped. “Do you think you can lead us back?” He didn’t sound convinced. “Or did you just bring us here to show us this boulder? Let me guess, it’s a special StarClan rock and it’s going to tell us where the kits are.”
“Shut up!” Heatherpaw hissed at her Clanmate.
“Why?” Breezepaw snarled. “We’re lost underground! Do you want me to thank him?”
“Shh!” Hollypaw mewed suddenly.
“I’ll say what I like!” Breezepaw retorted. “Just because he’s your brother—”
“I can hear something!” Hollypaw hissed.
“What is it?” Lionpaw’s pelt was tingling with excitement.
Jaypaw strained to hear.
A tiny squeaking sound, just louder than the rain, echoed ahead of him.
The kits?
“Anyone there?” he called.
The squeak turned into an excited mewling.
They were behind the boulder!
Jaypaw felt Fallen Leaves breathe in his ear. “I told you I’d help you find them.”
“I think I can climb over it!” Lionpaw mewed. Jaypaw heard claws scrabbling against stone as his brother clambered over the boulder. Shallow water splashed faintly when he jumped down the other side.
“They’re here!” His joyful mew echoed around the tunnel.
More claws scraped against rock as Hollypaw, Heatherpaw, and Breezepaw scrambled over to join him.
“Thank StarClan we found you!” Heatherpaw purred.
Paws splashed and a frightened mew answered her. “We couldn’t climb back over!”
“We thought we were stuck forever!”
“We’ll take you home,” Breezepaw reassured them.
“Go on, Swallowkit,” Heatherpaw urged. Tiny claws scraped stone and a soggy bundle of fur slid clumsily down onto the ground beside Jaypaw.
“Are you okay?” he asked. The rain was pounding harder.
They had to get out quick.
“I’m fine but—”
Breezepaw’s mew interrupted her. “Your turn, Sedgekit.”
Fur brushed rock and another kit thudded lightly on the floor. Jaypaw reached out his nose to the newest arrival. “Are you hurt?”
“No.”
Jaypaw swept the two kits together with his tail, pressing against their sodden pelts to warm them.
Breezepaw landed beside him. Jaypaw stiffened. He was holding the third kit in his jaws. She was barely breathing and when Breezepaw laid her on the ground, she didn’t move.
“Thistlekit went to sleep and now she won’t wake up!”
Swallowkit wailed.
Jaypaw pushed the trembling kits against Breezepaw and crouched beside the limp, wet body at his feet. She was cold, shivering with small convulsions. Jaypaw began to massage her body with his paws, trying to rub some warmth into her pelt.
Heatherpaw slithered back over the boulder. “Is she okay?”
“Help Breezepaw warm the other two!” Jaypaw ordered.
“We’re hungry!” Sedgekit’s mew was muffled by Heatherpaw’s fur.
“It serves you right for wandering off!” Heatherpaw scolded. She sounded cross but Jaypaw could feel her fearful gaze jabbing his pelt as he worked on Thistlekit. Rain dripped down harder through the gap in the roof. The silt had turned to slimy mud around his paws. He rubbed Thistlekit more urgently. He had to get them out of here.
Lionpaw and Hollypaw leaped down from the boulder.
“Do you know the way out?” Swallowkit asked, trembling.
“Of course we do,” Breezepaw declared. “We found our way in, didn’t we? Getting out will be even easier.”
He doesn’t believe that.
“We’ll get out,” Jaypaw mewed softly. He waited for Fallen Leaves to whisper encouragement but he only felt the quiver of the young tom’s tail against his flank.
Thistlekit began to cough and fidget beneath his paws.
Warmth was seeping back into her body. She struggled to her paws. “You found us!” she gasped.
Hollypaw folded herself around the shivering kit. “Did you think we’d leave you in this horrible place?”
Surprise pulsed from the kit. “You’re from ThunderClan.”
“We’ve been helping your Clanmates to find you,” Hollypaw explained.
“You’ve caused a lot of trouble,” Breezepaw growled.
Lionpaw’s tail swished over the floor. “We can worry about that once we’re out.”
A noise like rushing air suddenly filled the tunnels.
“The rain’s getting harder,” Hollypaw mewed.
“That’s not rain,” Lionpaw murmured. “It’s coming from inside the tunnels.”
“Inside?” Sedgekit squeaked.
“What is it?” Breezepaw demanded.
Jaypaw felt sick. He knew what it meant. “The river is overflowing.”
Lionpaw darted to Jaypaw’s side, pelt bristling with alarm.
“How do you know?”
Jaypaw closed his eyes. “I’ve heard it before. The tunnels are going to flood.”
Energy exploded from Lionpaw. “We’ve got to get out of here!” Swallowkit squealed as he snatched her up in his jaws.
“Breezepaw, Heatherpaw, take the other two,” he hissed out of the corner of his mouth.
“I’ll lead,” Jaypaw mewed. He had brought them here. He had to get them out. He pelted back along the tunnel. Fur brushed stone and claws skittered after him.
Fallen Leaves fell in beside him and matched the rhythm of his stride.
“You’ve got to get us back to the cave!” Jaypaw hissed.
“I will,” Fallen Leaves promised. The young tom’s paws made no sound on the tunnel floor as they raced onward, but his pelt was hot with fear and his mind flashed with memories that echoed in Jaypaw’s mind: paws churning through muddy water, struggling against currents too strong to fight, gasping for air and finding only water, disbelief as the world closed in and life ebbed from his body. He’s remembering how we drowned!
Jaypaw pushed on harder, ducking just in time to squirm under the low roof. He wriggled forward, the rock scraping his spine, his claws splintering against the stone. Struggling out the other side he paused, waiting until he heard the others emerge. The kits squealed with fear and pain as they were dragged over the rough stone.
“Nearly there!” Jaypaw encouraged. The tunnel was sloping upward now. Water washed his paws. One more twist, another turn. He could smell the scent of fresh air. He burst into the cave, hope springing in his belly.
We’ve made it! He could feel Fallen Leaves trembling with relief beside him.