“But your medicine cat might know, right?” Snow looked at her imploringly.
Squirrelflight hesitated. What would Bramblestar say if she helped the Sisters? Surely he wouldn’t deny help to a wounded cat. And yet he’d been so angry that she’d found the Sisters in the first place. If he knows Snow was looking for me, he might accuse me of bringing them here.
“Let’s just take a look at the wounded cat.” Larksong padded to Squirrelflight’s side. “It might not be as serious as Snow says. We can patch her up and send them on their way without bothering the rest of the Clan.”
She looked at him, wondering. If they could fix this themselves, it would save questions about why the Sisters had been on their land. She frowned. But Bramblestar was bound to find out. The patrol would have no reason to keep this a secret. And yet she couldn’t turn her back on an injured cat. She flicked her tail. “Show us where she is,” she told Snow. “If I think she needs help, I’ll send for our medicine cat.”
“It might be a trap!” Blossomfall’s hackles lifted.
Squirrelflight turned on her. “I know these cats well enough to know they won’t hurt us.”
Mousewhisker narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure? They held you captive, don’t forget.”
“They didn’t harm me.” Squirrelflight nodded to Snow. “Let’s go.”
Snow led the way past the ferns and followed a rabbit trail through brambles. She crossed a dried streambed and ducked beneath a juniper. On the other side, she halted.
Squirrelflight scanned the forest ahead. Where was Sunrise? “I don’t see her.”
Sparkpelt and Larksong stopped beside her, glancing nervously between the trees.
Mousewhisker padded toward the bushes, which lined the slope ahead, and sniffed them warily. They quivered, and he recoiled in surprise, arching his back as Sunrise, Tempest, and Hawk slid out.
Blossomfall darted to his side, teeth bared. “I told you it was a trap!” Even with her pelt bushed, the Sisters were far bigger than her.
Tempest blinked at her in surprise. “Why would we trap you?”
“How should I know?” Blossomfall bristled.
Tempest ignored her and looked hopefully at Squirrelflight. “Have you come to help?”
“If we can.” Squirrelflight could smell blood and saw that Sunrise was leaning heavily on Hawk. The yellow fur on her flank was stained red.
Larksong padded around the Sisters, his ears twitching. “What happened?”
“We got into a fight with some toms.” As Hawk spoke, Sunrise collapsed to the ground.
Alarm sparked through Squirrelflight’s pelt. There was no way they could fix this themselves. Sunrise needed a medicine cat.
“Should we fetch Alderheart?” Mousewhisker blinked at her.
“It would take too long,” Squirrelflight told him. This was more serious than she’d imagined. “Let’s carry Sunrise back to camp.” She nodded to Snow, Hawk and Tempest. “You can go home. We’ll take care of her.”
Snow stiffened. “We’re not leaving her.”
Sparkpelt looked anxiously at her mother. “We can’t let them all come to the camp.” She leaned closer, lowering her voice so the others couldn’t hear. “Bramblestar wouldn’t be happy. He already thinks you’re too quick to defend the Sisters.”
“And he’s right to be cautious.” Blossomfall fluffed out her fur. “Don’t forget what happened when ShadowClan took Darktail and his friends in.”
“Darktail had always planned to destroy the Clans. He wasn’t wounded when ShadowClan found him,” Mousewhisker pointed out. “This cat really needs our help.”
“Her friends aren’t wounded,” Blossomfall argued. “Why do they need to come?”
“To make sure our campmate is okay,” Snow mewed. “We’ve met your Clanmates, remember? They weren’t exactly friendly.”
“We’ll take care of her,” Larksong promised.
Tempest lifted her chin. “We’re coming with her.”
Sparkpelt whispered in her mother’s ear. “Bramblestar won’t like it.”
Squirrelflight pulled away, her heart quickening as blood spread wider over Sunrise’s flank. “We have to help them.” Flesh showed where the wound opened. She couldn’t let a cat die. She’d deal with Bramblestar later. After all, things couldn’t get any more strained between them, surely. It was a risk she’d have to take. “You’ll have to carry her,” she told Hawk and Tempest. She nodded to Larksong and Mousewhisker. “You can help.”
She stood back as the toms ducked down and tucked their shoulders beneath Sunrise. Hawk and Tempest jerked their campmate up with their muzzles. Sliding beneath her, the four cats heaved Sunrise onto their backs and then, pressing together, began to head for camp. Sparkpelt walked close to Larksong’s side, while Blossomfall circled the group uneasily as it made its way toward the streambed.
Squirrelflight padded ahead, scanning the forest to find the easiest route. Snow fell in beside her as she led the way up a gentle rise where the trees grew so thickly that the brambles had died away. She looked back as she reached the top. Tempest and Hawk walkedslowly, their gazes dark with concentration as they carried their campmate. Mousewhisker and Larksong pressed close, matching the Sisters’ steps paw for paw. Sunrise lay limply across their backs. “We have to hurry.”
As Squirrelflight picked up the pace, Sparkpelt caught up to them. “Sunrise is still breathing, but only just.”
Squirrelflight kept her gaze on the trail. “We’ll get her home in time.” She hoped it was true.
“Alderheart will know what to do,” Sparkpelt mewed.
“I didn’t know if you would help.” Snow blinked gratefully at Squirrelflight. “But I had to do something. We were so far from home.”
“What were you doing here?” Squirrelflight returned her gaze. “You’ve never trespassed on Clan land before.”
Snow’s eyes darkened. “You’re not the only Clan cats who are suddenly interested in the land we’re using.”
Squirrelflight’s belly tightened. “What do you mean?”
“Yesterday, we smelled Clan scent on our side of your border,” Snow explained. “Hawk thought you’d sent a patrol back, but you’d promised to leave us alone. Then Moonlight noticed that it was a different Clan scent and sent me, Tempest, Hawk, and Sunrise to investigate.”
Sparkpelt pricked her ears. “Do you know which Clan it was?”
Snow shrugged. “Warriors all smell the same to me. We followed the scent into the pine forest that borders yours.”
“ShadowClan!” Sparkpelt glanced at her mother. Why were they suddenly interested in the Sisters’ land? Squirrelflight’s pelt prickled uneasily. Had her suggestion at the meeting woken ShadowClan’s curiosity about the land outside their border? Perhaps they wanted to check the land out for SkyClan too. Foreboding dropped like a stone in Squirrelflight’s belly. Were they planning to take the land for themselves?
Sparkpelt blinked at Snow. “Is that how Sunrise got injured? Fighting with ShadowClan?”
Snow nodded. “We tracked two toms across the border and followed them into their territory. We stopped them and asked them what they were doing there. They attacked us.”
Squirrelflight flicked her tail nervously. How would she explain to ThunderClan that Sunrise had been hurt fighting Clan cats? She pushed the worry away. The Sisters’ fight had been with ShadowClan, not ThunderClan. Until a few moons ago, ShadowClan had been their enemy. Why should ThunderClan defend them?
“We hurt them pretty good,” Snow meowed with obvious satisfaction. “But one of them—Stonewing, I think that’s what the other cat called him—managed to slice open Sunrise’s flank before they ran away.”
Sparkpelt’s eyes glittered with alarm. “Should we help cats who hurt ShadowClan?”
Squirrelflight lifted her chin defiantly. “We’re not ShadowClan’s protectors. Besides, the Sisters were defending themselves.”