“Go with Twigbranch,” Bramblestar told Lionblaze. “Help her recruit volunteers for her patrol and tell Mistystar and Harestar what we’ve decided.”
As Lionblaze dipped his head and turned away, Alderheart padded forward. “I need to talk to you.” He blinked expectantly at his father.
Bramblestar narrowed his eyes. “You look worried. Do you think it’s too late to bring SkyClan home?”
“It’s not about SkyClan.” Alderheart jerked his nose toward the Highledge. “Let’s talk over there.” He led Bramblestar away from the crowded fresh-kill pile, relieved to find shelter beneath the jutting rock.
Bramblestar gazed at him anxiously.
“We have to help ShadowClan,” Alderheart told him.
“Help them?” Bramblestar looked puzzled.
“Shadowkit saw Juniperclaw take deathberries from the medicine den,” Alderheart told him quietly. “Violetshine says Juniperclaw was beside the SkyClan fresh-kill pile just before Sparrowpelt got sick.”
“So you really think Juniperclaw poisoned Sparrowpelt?”
“I know he did,” Alderheart insisted. “He told me that every cat is safe on ShadowClan territory as long as they’re allowed to be there. As far as ShadowClan is concerned, SkyClan wasn’t allowed to be on ShadowClan land. It’s obvious—he poisoned Sparrowpelt as a warning. He wanted SkyClan gone, and he saw a way to drive them away without a battle.”
Bramblestar’s gaze darkened. “Tigerstar should never have trusted him,” he growled.
“But he did!” Alderheart blinked expectantly at his father. What was Bramblestar going to do about it?
Bramblestar looked away. “This is Tigerstar’s problem. We can’t interfere with another Clan.”
“But you must! I spoke to Tigerstar. He won’t accept that one of his warriors would break the warrior code. He’s not going to do anything.”
“And what would you have me do? Accuse his deputy of murder?” Bramblestar shifted his paws uneasily. “It’s not my place to interfere.”
Alderheart held his father’s gaze. “ShadowClan is in danger. Juniperclaw was a rogue once. We saw what happened last time ShadowClan let a rogue tell them what to do. They could abandon the warrior code again—and once a Clan abandons the warrior code, it stops being a Clan.”
CHAPTER 20
Twigbranch’s paws were numb with cold. She’d been trudging beside Tree across muddy fields since dawn. Nightcloud, Flypaw, and Willowshine trekked after them with the rest of the patrol, and she wondered if they regretted now having agreed so easily to join her on this quest. She stopped and shook out her fur, then glanced at the woods beyond. She couldn’t wait to reach the trees. They would offer a little shelter. “I’m tired of being wet and cold.”
Tree looked at her. “Get used to it. This weather doesn’t look like it’s going to let up.”
Twigbranch eyed the dark sky ahead. “Let’s hope we can persuade SkyClan to come back, or it might never stop.”
They’d left the day before at dusk and trekked half the night before resting in a makeshift camp outside Clan territory. Tree remembered the route he’d followed when SkyClan had led him to the lake. He’d suggested they follow it now, since it was the most likely path SkyClan had taken.
It had been easy to find volunteers from WindClan and RiverClan. Cats had hurried forward, alarmed by the worsening weather and eager to put an end to it by bringing SkyClan back. But Tree had insisted they take only cats who had always wanted SkyClan beside the lake. Twigbranch had agreed and had chosen Nightcloud, Hootwhisker, and Gorsetail from WindClan, and Willowshine, Icewing, and Lizardtail from RiverClan.
She glanced back at them now, their heads down and tails drooping. Flypaw padded between them. Finleap was at the back with Lionblaze and Cherryfall. Twigbranch hoped to catch Finleap’s eye, but he didn’t look up. She’d been pleased when he’d volunteered to come and hoped that the journey would bring them closer. But he was keeping his distance, the same way as he had back at camp, and she was finding it hard to shake the nagging worry that, when they found SkyClan, he’d ask to join them again. Sadness tugged at her belly. Perhaps they weren’t meant to be together. She was sure that, in a different life, their love would have flourished. But here, perhaps love wasn’t enough to overcome the troubles they faced. She blinked at Tree. “You must be looking forward to seeing Violetshine again.”
“I can’t wait.” He flicked rain from his ears. Worry darkened his gaze. “I just hope we can reach them in this weather.”
The wind was picking up, rocking the trees at the edge of the meadow.
Willowshine fell in beside Twigbranch. “How much worse can the storm get?” She raised her voice to make herself heard over the wind.
Twigbranch narrowed her eyes against the rain. “I don’t know, but we have to keep going.”
Willowshine nodded and hunched her shoulders harder.
The wood sheltered them for a while, but they were soon out of the trees and crossing wetlands, picking their way through sedge, their paws sinking into the waterlogged ground. Twigbranch could see a Thunderpath on the far side of a valley. She pointed her muzzle toward it. “Is that where we’re heading?” she asked Tree.
“Yes. We follow it toward moorland. But we have to cross a stream first.”
She heard the stream before she saw it. Water thundered beyond the sedge. Her pelt prickled nervously. “It sounds more like a waterfall than a stream.”
Willowshine hurried ahead and disappeared between the bushes. She returned a moment later. “It’s a torrent.” Her eyes glittered with fear. “I don’t know how we’ll cross it.”
Twigbranch followed as the small gray she-cat beckoned her though the sedge. On the other side, white water roared past. It was too wide to leap. It swirled and frothed and slapped angrily at the muddy banks. “How in StarClan do we cross that?”
“It’s too wild to swim across.” Willowshine eyed Icewing and Lizardtail as they followed Tree through the sedge. “Even for a RiverClan cat.” Her Clanmates stopped on the bank and stared in dismay at the foaming water as Nightcloud led the rest of the patrol out.
Lionblaze padded to the edge. “Could we make it across if we hang onto one another and let the strongest swimmers lead?” He looked at Icewing.
The RiverClan cat’s ears twitched. “Those currents would sweep us away.”
“Look.” Tree nodded to a young alder farther along the bank. It bent over the water. A worn crack where the trunk had snapped moons ago showed fresh, pale wood where the storm had torn it wider. The tree rocked in the wind, yielding at the crack so that its branches dipped toward the river. “If we climb past the broken wood, our weight will bend the tree more,” he mewed. “Its branches will reach the far bank, and we can use it to cross.”
The alder looked fragile, creaking as the wind tugged it. It wouldn’t take much weight to snap the trunk so that it collapsed into a makeshift bridge.
Nightcloud shivered. “It looks dangerous.”
Hootwhisker’s eyes glittered with fear. “The water might wash the tree away, too.”
Twigbranch blinked at Tree. “Perhaps we look for another place to cross.”
He shook his head. “This is the only place. The water will be wilder if we head downstream, and upstream the banks are too steep.”
Flypaw’s eyes were wide. “What if I fall in?” she breathed.
“I won’t let you.” Twigbranch ran her tail along Flypaw’s spine. She glanced at the others. “Let’s try to snap the trunk first. We can decide after that.”