The gray-and-white warrior twitched one ear. “You’ll be fine! Take it steady, make sure your claws have a good hold on the bark, and don’t look down. Go on, I’ll be here watching you.”
Spottedpaw glanced around. Thrushpelt had vanished beneath the elderflower bush, and Tigerpaw was pushing his way into a clump of ferns. Thistleclaw gave her a gentle nudge. “You’re not scared, are you?” he teased.
“Of course not!” Spottedpaw crouched down and sprang onto the lowest branch. It swayed under her weight and she scrambled up to the next one before she could change her mind. Something gray and fluffy whisked around the trunk above her, and she caught the faint scent of squirrel.
“That’s it! You’re nearly there!” Thistleclaw called from below. Spottedpaw risked a glance down, then wished she hadn’t. The warrior looked tiny from up here, and the forest swam dizzyingly around her. She sank her hind claws more deeply into the branch and stretched up for the next one. It was out of reach by half a fox-length, so she would have to haul herself up the bare trunk.
Spottedpaw took a deep breath and wriggled her front paws until her claws snagged into the bark. She pushed upward with her haunches and felt her hind paws scrabble in thin air. Before she could plant them on the trunk, a voice came from underneath the tree.
“What in the name of StarClan are you doing up there? Come back at once!”
Spottedpaw twisted her head to look down, which loosened her grip on the bark. There was a sharp tearing sensation in her front paws and suddenly she was bouncing down the tree, banging her shoulder against the lower branches. The grass zoomed up to meet her in a green blur. Then everything went black.
She opened her eyes to see Thrushpelt peering down at her. “Spottedpaw, are you all right?”
She tried to nod, but a searing pain in her shoulder made her gasp out loud.
“Where does it hurt?” demanded Adderfang, appearing beside Thrushpelt. Spottedpaw’s father looked horrified.
Thistleclaw’s face joined them. “That was quite a tumble!” he meowed.
Spottedpaw struggled to sit up and get some air into her chest. The forest whirled around her so she leaned back against the tree to wait for the dizziness to pass.
“Tigerpaw has gone to fetch Featherwhisker,” Thrushpelt told her. “Keep still.” He pushed a ball of moss soaked with water toward her. “Thistleclaw brought this from the river.”
Spottedpaw bent down and sucked at the moss. The pain in her shoulder was like a bolt of lightning every time she moved. There was a strange roaring sound in her ears, and she felt sick. “Am I going to be okay?” she whimpered.
“You’ll be fine,” meowed a brisk voice. Featherwhisker’s soft gray head pushed between the warriors, and he studied her with concern in his eyes. “How far did you fall?”
“She was trying to reach the third branch,” mewed Thrushpelt. He glared at Thistleclaw. “She should never have been up a tree in the first place. She’s barely learned the hunting crouch!”
“Then you are training her too slowly,” Thistleclaw retorted. “Tigerpaw was climbing trees after a quarter moon.”
“This isn’t the time for comparing training methods,” Featherwhisker meowed as he gently pressed his paw along Spottedpaw’s flank. “Come on, let’s get this apprentice back to the camp.”
With Adderfang taking almost all of her weight on her uninjured side, Spottedpaw hobbled along the path, trying not to whimper out loud. Swiftbreeze bounded over as Spottedpaw scrabbled through the gorse tunnel on her belly. “Great StarClan, what happened? Spottedpaw, are you all right?”
“Thistleclaw sent her up a tree after a squirrel,” Adderfang meowed.
“It wasn’t Thistleclaw’s fault!” Spottedpaw protested.
“It was an accident,” Featherwhisker mewed. “Let’s get you into my den so we can find something to help with the pain.”
Swiftbreeze took Adderfang’s place and Spottedpaw breathed in her mother’s scent. Every part of her body was aching, even her ears and her teeth. She staggered through the ferns and flopped onto the soft grass beside Featherwhisker’s rock-cleft den. Goosefeather, the medicine cat who had trained Featherwhisker, was dozing in his nest. He briefly looked up at the new arrivals, then lay down again with a grunt.
Thrushpelt poked his face through the bracken. “I’ll come and see how you are later, Spottedpaw. Don’t worry about your duties; the other apprentices can take care of them. Just focus on getting better.”
Spottedpaw blinked. “Thanks, Thrushpelt.” She pressed her cheek into the grass and closed her eyes. She felt Swiftbreeze fussing around her, puffs of warm air coming from her muzzle as she sniffed along Spottedpaw’s body. Featherwhisker emerged from his den trailing herby scents.
“Eat this,” he urged, pressing something slimy and strong-smelling against Spottedpaw’s mouth. Without opening her eyes, she swallowed it down. It tasted bitter but not unpleasant. “That’s comfrey, to help with the swelling, and half a poppy seed to make you sleep.” Featherwhisker ran his paw over Spottedpaw’s head. “Lie still. You’ve taken a nasty knock today, but you’ll feel better soon.”
“Will she still be able to train?” Swiftbreeze asked.
Spottedpaw opened her eyes with a jolt. I can’t let an injury stop me from training!
Featherwhisker rearranged Spottedpaw’s wounded leg so that it was tucked under her more comfortably. “We need to give her a chance to recover first. I’m pretty sure nothing’s broken, but let’s wait and see how she gets on.”
Spottedpaw fought against the waves of blackness that swelled behind her eyes, dragging her to sleep. Oh StarClan, please let me get better! I promise I won’t do anything stupid again.
Chapter Three
Spottedpaw raced through the trees, flinching as brambles whipped her muzzle. Her foreleg felt as if it were on fire but she knew she couldn’t slow her pace or something terrible would happen. As she skidded past Snakerocks, she glanced down to see if the fox was still there. Yes, the creature was still clinging on, its jaws locked around her leg, the wound sending flames of agony shooting up to her shoulder. Spottedpaw wasn’t quite sure how she was able to go so fast and drag the fox along with her, but the weight of the creature didn’t seem to slow her down. However quickly she ran, she couldn’t dislodge the thorn-sharp teeth that sank deep into her flesh…
“Spottedpaw? Spottedpaw, wake up! You’re having a bad dream!”
Spottedpaw blinked open her eyes to see Featherwhisker bending over her, his pale face creased with concern. “If you don’t stop thrashing about, you won’t have a nest left!” he mewed, straightening the shredded moss.
Spottedpaw tried to sit up and let out a yelp as her shoulder burned with pain. “Ow!” She flopped back and licked her stinging fur. She noticed that Goosefeather’s nest was empty, and she felt a twinge of guilt. Had she driven him away with her troubled dreams?
Featherwhisker traced her leg with one paw. “I’m not surprised it’s sore. You gave it a nasty wrench. Leave the trees to squirrels from now on!”
“But I have to get back to my training!” Spottedpaw wailed. “What if Thrushpelt gets another apprentice?”
The medicine cat rested his tail on her flank. “Stop panicking. Thrushpelt will wait for you to get better. You’ve only been here for three sunrises.”
“But that’s too long,” Spottedpaw fretted. “I’m not learning anything! Can’t I start walking today?”
“Not when you’re in this much pain,” Featherwhisker meowed. “But if you’re really bored, I can find something for you to do.”