She led Runningpaw to the same holly bush where she and Sagewhisker had sheltered during the previous battle, though her belly felt cold at the memories it conjured up. As she set her herbs down beneath the branches, Yellowfang noticed that part of the silver mesh had fallen down, so it was easy for the cats to get into the Carrionplace. And the rats can get out to where Brokentail is waiting.
Brackenfoot led his part of the patrol in among the rotting piles, where they swiftly disappeared. Meanwhile Brokentail directed the cats under his command into hiding places among the trees and bushes. Raggedstar and Foxheart were left alone in front of the gap in the silver mesh, at the edge of the closest pile of waste.
“They’re really brave!” Runningpaw commented.
Yellowfang murmured agreement as she watched the two cats go through the motions of hunting: tasting the air, sniffing around the roots of trees, crouching to creep up on tangles of bramble or clumps of fern. She kept watching, her heart pounding, as a rat poked its head out, then edged its way into the open. It was soon joined by another, then a third, then more. They crept forward, almost as far as the silver mesh. Their glittering gaze was fixed on the cats who were apparently too stupid to notice them.
But Raggedstar and Foxheart clearly knew they were there. Skillfully they moved farther away, tempting the rats away from the safety of the heaps. Once they were well clear of the silver mesh, Brokentail, Cloudpelt, Blizzardwing, and Finchflight leaped out of their hiding places. Raggedstar and Foxheart sprang forward, until the rats were surrounded.
“Prepare to die!” Brokentail snarled.
Chapter 32
A rustle of rat noise came from the heaps of waste, but Brackenfoot and his patrol sprang out of hiding and guarded the holes. Yellowfang could see twitching noses and the gleam of malignant eyes, but for the moment at least none of the rats dared emerge.
“Don’t let them out!” Brackenfoot yowled. “But keep far enough back so they can watch what happens!”
“Flea-pelts!” Brokentail taunted the captured rats, springing forward to score his claws down the flank of the nearest, then darting out again. “Crow-food eaters!”
The rest of the patrol copied him, driving the rats together into a tight knot and wounding them while staying out of reach of their claws. Yellowfang dug her claws into the ground. “Get on with it, before something goes wrong!” she muttered.
A heartbeat later, two rats, terrified and desperate, sprang out of the huddle and leaped upon Foxheart. Yellowfang stared in disbelief at how precise their movements were, like trained hunters. Foxheart let out a screech and crumpled to the ground, blood gushing from her neck.
“No!” Raggedstar yowled.
In the same instant, Brokentail and Cloudpelt leaped on the two rats who had attacked Foxheart, breaking their necks and tossing them into the air. Raggedstar hurled himself into the center of the knot of rats, his Clanmates only a heartbeat behind, their claws slashing and tearing. The orderly plan broke up into a chaos of shrieks and blood.
“Great StarClan!” Runningpaw whispered.
Even Yellowfang was awed as she watched the slaughter, the rats struggling to escape only to be clawed back. They hurled themselves on the warriors, who met their onslaught with teeth that ripped into them and left the rats twitching as their blood soaked into the snow.
Within moments it was over. The last of the rats that had been tempted out were dead and the ShadowClan warriors stood over them, panting. Apart from Foxheart, who lay ominously still, none of them seemed to have serious injuries. Raggedstar called Brackenfoot and the others out of the Carrionplace, while Brokentail worked himself underneath Foxheart’s body and draped her over his shoulders. He was covered in blood but as far as Yellowfang could see, it all belonged to the rats.
“We won,” Runningpaw mewed, sounding stunned.
“Yes,” Yellowfang agreed grimly, gazing at Foxheart’s body. But we paid a high price. I didn’t like her. I didn’t want to serve under her as leader. But she was too young to die.
The elders and the few cats who had remained in the camp gathered around as the warriors returned. Yellowfang spotted Rowanberry looking in horror from the entrance to the nursery as Brokentail laid Foxheart’s body in the middle of the clearing. A flash of joy warmed Yellowfang at the sight of her sister’s kits, Cinderkit and Stumpykit, peering out curiously beside their mother.
Warriors die, but the Clan survives.
Foxheart’s mother, Poolcloud, dashed out of the warriors’ den and flung herself to the ground beside her daughter. “StarClan, no!” she wailed. “Why did you have to take her?”
Wolfstep followed his mother out and crouched beside her, pushing his nose into his sister’s blood-soaked fur. “Good-bye,” he rasped. “We were so proud of you. You would have made a great leader.”
Cloudpelt, who shared a father with Wolfstep and Foxheart, padded over to her and bowed his head. “She died like a warrior,” he meowed.
Yellowfang took her place beside Foxheart’s head. “We will keep vigil for her,” she announced.
Raggedstar stayed for a short time beside the body of his deputy, then vanished into his den, reappearing as the moon rose above the trees. Leaping onto the Clanrock he summoned the Clan, though most of them were already in the clearing, clustered around Foxheart.
“I grieve for Foxheart,” the Clan leader began. “She served us well, and should have continued to do so for many seasons to come. But she died bravely, protecting her Clan from rats. She will have a place of honor in StarClan.” He paused, looking down at his Clan, and Yellowfang could feel the tension mounting, for every cat knew that this was the moment when Raggedstar must announce the name of his new deputy. Several of the cats glanced at Brokentail, who was looking particularly alert, his eyes gleaming.
“However much we miss Foxheart,” Raggedstar went on, “the Clan needs a new deputy. I say these words in the presence of her body, that her spirit may hear and approve my choice. Cloudpelt will be the new deputy of ShadowClan.”
Both Cloudpelt and Brokentail looked equally astonished. Yellowfang could see bitter disappointment in Brokentail’s eyes, and he bared his teeth in a snarl.
“Wow!” Runningpaw whispered. “I guess we all know who was hoping to be deputy!”
Cloudpelt rose to his paws and stammered, “Th-thank you, Raggedstar. I promise I will serve my Clan well.”
Raggedstar jumped down from the Clanrock while the rest of the Clan raised their voices in yowls of welcome to Cloudpelt. Yellowfang could see that he was a popular choice. She was pleased with the decision, too; she knew that Cloudpelt would make a far better leader than Foxheart, if she had lived.
Then Yellowfang spotted Brokentail cornering Raggedstar as the Clan leader tried to return to his den. I need to hear what they’re saying! Unobtrusively she eased her way over to them, halting in the shadow of the Clanrock.
“I should have been made deputy!” Brokentail growled. “The rat attack was my idea, and it worked!”
Raggedstar gazed at him with slitted eyes. “Use your brain,” he snapped. “I’m your father, and I have to be careful not to show favoritism in front of the other warriors. Besides, you need an apprentice before you can be deputy. But don’t worry. I’ve many seasons left in me, and if anything should happen to Cloudpelt, it will be your turn next.”
The thaw came and gradually newleaf crept through the forest. Pushing her way through a fresh growth of fern, Yellowfang reveled in the feeling of the sun on her thick pelt, and the sight of green shoots springing up everywhere in the frost-burned forest. Nightpelt, who had accompanied her, jumped up to swipe at a butterfly that was fluttering above the grass. Yellowfang watched him fondly as he chased it, reflecting that his cough was much better now that he wasn’t trying to keep up with all the warrior duties.