“Over there!” Bellaleaf meowed excitedly, flourishing her tail at a tall pointed hill outlined on the horizon. “You can see that from where Barley lives.”
Hawkwing and Blossomheart exchanged a glance, relieved that they seemed to be getting somewhere. “M aybe we’re not far away from the other Clans!” Blossomheart exclaimed.
At that moment Curlypaw dashed up. Her eyes were sparkling with triumph and the limp body of a mouse dangled from her jaws.
“Look!” she exclaimed, dropping her prey at Hawkwing’s paws. “I caught one!”
“Your very first! Well done,” Hawkwing praised her, almost as pleased as Curlypaw herself. “Now you can take it to Clovertail.
Warriors take care of Clan elders. And after that you can walk with Fidgetpaw for a while. I’m sure you want to hear all about his medicine cat training.”
Curlypaw padded off importantly with her prey, her tail straight up in the air.
While they rested, Pebbleshine had sat down to groom herself and talk to Plumwillow, whose belly was swelling with her unborn kits. Hawkwing knew that all the Clan shared his compassion for the pregnant she-cat. It must be so hard, expecting kits when she has no idea what happened to her mate.
Now, as the Clan turned away from the river, Pebbleshine bounded up to Hawkwing to walk alongside him. There was a gleam of excitement in her eyes, and a spring in her step that Hawkwing hadn’t noticed before.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Nothing.” Pebbleshine turned toward him, blinking innocently.
“Nothing at all.”
And hedgehogs fly, Hawkwing thought. Pebbleshine was hiding something, he was sure. Well, she’ll tell me about it in her own good time.
“How is Plumwillow doing?” Blossomheart asked.
At once Pebbleshine looked more serious. “She’s coping well,” she replied, “but she misses Sandynose a lot. It must be so hard to lose her mate,” she added with a sigh. “Especially when she’s expecting their kits.”
Hawkwing exchanged a glance with her, and saw all the love she felt for him shining in her eyes. “I can’t imagine losing you,” he murmured.
“Well, excuse me!” Blossomheart snorted, half amused, half exasperated. “I’m going to walk with Tinycloud.” She bounded off and joined the small white warrior.
As the cats continued, the grassland became broken up by lines of bushes or Twoleg fences made of shiny tendrils, reminding Hawkwing of the terrain he had crossed with Darktail and Rain on the second quest. His pelt prickled with uneasiness, though he told himself that he had no reason to suspect danger here.
“This is so weird!” Pebbleshine exclaimed as they slipped along the edge of one of the fences. “Look at those huge white animals! I’ve never seen anything so big.”
“Those are cows,” Hawkwing told her.
“They look like they could swallow a cat with one gulp,” Curlypaw meowed, keeping close to Hawkwing as they padded past.
“No, they’re not dangerous,” Hawkwing reassured her, watching the cows rhythmically champing the grass beyond the fence. “They don’t have any claws, and as far as I know they only eat plants. Besides, they can’t move as fast as we can.”
They had not left the cows far behind when Hawkwing heard a screech of triumph from the front of the Clan, where Rileypool and Bellaleaf were walking with Leafstar.
“That’s it!” Bellaleaf exclaimed. “That’s our kin Barley’s barn!”
Every cat clustered around to look where Bellaleaf’s tail was pointing. Hawkwing spotted a huddle of Twoleg dens in the distance, and another, larger den a little way away from them.
Bellaleaf and Rileypool were purring with excitement. “I knew we’d find it!” Rileypool mewed, though Hawkwing thought he could detect relief in his Clanmates’ faces, as if they hadn’t been quite sure they could find the barn until they actually set eyes on it.
Hawkwing’s optimism was rising as he and his Clanmates veered toward the barn. He could see from their bright eyes and brisk paw steps that the others felt the same, now that the first stage of their journey was coming to an end. Maybe we’re not far from finding ThunderClan and our new home by the water.
As they drew closer to the barn, they could hear the distant barking of a dog, which sounded like it was coming from the cluster of Twoleg dens. Hawkwing’s pelt began to bristle, and Leafstar called for a halt.
“Stay closer together,” she ordered. “Stronger warriors on the outside. Cherrytail, Clovertail, Plumwillow, keep in the middle of the group. And every cat, stay alert!”
Bunched together more tightly, the cats moved off again, using bushes for cover. The barking continued, but grew no nearer, and there had been no sign of the dog by the time they approached the barn.
Rileypool and Bellaleaf broke away from the rest of the Clan and bounded up to the barn door. “Barley! Barley!” they yowled excitedly.
Hawkwing spotted a flicker of movement at the bottom of the door, and recognized the broad, black-and-white face of the old farm cat peering out through a gap.
“Rileypaw? Bellapaw?” Barley sounded astonished. “What are you doing here?”
“We’re Rileypool and Bellaleaf now,” Rileypool told the farm cat proudly.
“Congratulations!” Barley meowed. He squeezed his plump body out through the gap and only realized as he straightened up how many cats were standing in front of him. His eyes widened.
“What are you all doing here?”
Leafstar stepped forward and dipped her head to the farm cat.
“It’s a long story,” she meowed. “M ay we come in?”
“Of course.”
Barley stood aside and Leafstar led the remains of her Clan through the gap and into the barn.
Hawkwing was one of the last cats to enter, and stood motionless for a few heartbeats as he took in his surroundings. Dim light filtered in through holes in the roof. Dried grasses were heaped up everywhere in huge piles, and the air was filled with their sweet scent. There was another scent too: Hawkwing’s mouth watered as he picked up the unmistakable traces of mice and heard the rustle of their tiny bodies.
While most of the cats settled down comfortably in the dried grass, Leafstar told Barley the story of how Darktail’s rogues had driven SkyClan out of the gorge. Echosong added the prophecy
StarClan had sent to her, and how they were sure that “the spark that remains” must refer to Firestar’s kin.
“I’m so sorry to hear what happened to you,” Barley meowed when they had finished. “And sorry too that your vision must mean that Firestar is dead. I can point you in the direction Ravenpaw told me the Clans went, but I don’t know anything beyond that.” He sighed. “The days when Ravenpaw and I lived alongside the Clans seem such a long time ago now.”
For a moment the old cat remained lost in thought, his eyes seeming fixed on something in the distance; Hawkwing realized he must still be grieving for his friend.
Then Barley gave his pelt a shake. “You’re all welcome here,” he mewed. “Feel free to hunt; there’s plenty for every cat.”
His words made Hawkwing aware of the yawning emptiness in his belly. What he had told Curlypaw earlier was true: It was harder to find prey when the Clan was on the move. Along with every other cat, Hawkwing had become used to feeling hungry.
“Let’s go,” he meowed to Curlypaw. “You can show me your hunting technique.”
His apprentice sprang up, bright-eyed, and began prowling among the heaps of grass. Tiny sounds of scuttling and squeaking came from all directions.