Dark River

Paw steps sounded on every side as the Clan came running to see what was wrong.

“Cinderpaw was helping Mousepaw down the Sky Oak and she fell!” Hollypaw’s words came in great gulps.

“Leafpool, go to her!” Firestar ordered.

Come on! Jaypaw willed his mentor to move, but she seemed

rooted to the spot, her terror blocking out every other thought. “What herbs will we need?” he prompted. He could feel Hollypaw trembling behind him.

“Poppy seeds?” he pressed when Leafpool didn’t answer.

Just as panic threatened to overwhelm him, Leafpool snapped out of her daze. He felt her mind clear, like rain lifting. “Poppy seeds, yes. Rushes and cobweb to bind any broken legs, and thyme for the shock.”

“I’ll fetch them,” Jaypaw offered.

“Please hurry!” Hollypaw begged.

“Who’s with her?” Leafpool demanded.

“Mousepaw, Ashfur, Cloudtail, and Brackenfur.”

“Good. She’ll need carrying.”

Jaypaw pushed past Millie and Graystripe and raced to the medicine den, his tail bristling. He barged past Birchfall standing, fur spiked, in the entrance and darted to the herb storeroom. Lapping up several poppy seeds, he tucked them safely under his tongue, then grabbed a sprig of thyme and quickly wrapped it up in a fat wad of cobweb along with a pawful of rushes. He picked the bundle up in his jaws and hurtled back into the clearing.

“Got everything?” Leafpool asked.

Jaypaw nodded.

“Hurry!” Hollypaw called. She led them out of the camp at a run.

The forest floor felt soft beneath Jaypaw’s pads. Hollypaw plunged up the slope, Leafpool on her heels. Jaypaw ran after them, every sense alert, dodging the trees only by a whisker.

A bramble tugged at his paw and he stumbled forward, dropping his bundle.

“Here, I’ll carry that!” Leafpool turned and swiftly picked up the rushes before speeding away again. Jaypaw hurried after her, keeping close, following her paw steps as she weaved through the forest.

“I see the Sky Oak!” Hollypaw called. Her paws beat faster against the ground. “Watch out for the fallen tree!” she warned.

Her paw steps fell silent as she leaped over the log and landed with a thump on the other side. Leafpool followed her. Jaypaw didn’t hesitate. Tensing, he leaped as high as he could, praying he had timed it right. He felt the rotting bark of the fallen tree brush his paws as he sailed over and landed lightly on the ground beyond.

“Over here!” Hollypaw had reached the others. Jaypaw felt Brackenfur’s panic flash like lightning from his pelt. He could hear Ashfur pacing around the Sky Oak, could sense Mousepaw trembling.

“She’s still breathing!” Cloudtail called.

“Good!” Leafpool dropped the bundle. Jaypaw crouched beside her as she leaned over Cinderpaw. He could hear the injured apprentice’s breathing. It was quick and shallow. He touched her flank with his nose. She was as limp as a dead mouse. His belly tightened.

“She’s in shock!” Leafpool pronounced. “Lick her chest while I give her the thyme.”

Jaypaw spat out the poppy seeds and began to lick

Cinderpaw. Her heart beat rapidly beneath his tongue. He smelled the herbs as Leafpool tore open the bundle and chewed the leaves into a pulp that she could drip into Cinderpaw’s mouth.

“Is she going to die?” Brackenfur’s mew trembled.

“I won’t let her,” Leafpool snapped.

The medicine cat moved around to Cinderpaw’s other side. “Lick more gently now,” she ordered. Jaypaw began to lap Cinderpaw delicately, relieved to feel her heart slowing.

He could hear Leafpool sniffing Cinderpaw’s body, examin-ing her. Suddenly, the medicine cat stiffened.

“What’s wrong?” Jaypaw whispered.

Leafpool backed away as though stung by a wasp.

“What’s the matter?” Brackenfur surged forward, nearly knocking Jaypaw over.

What had frightened Leafpool so much? Jaypaw stopped licking, and searched her mind. He felt dread there like darkness, threatening to overwhelm her. What could be so bad?

“Sh-she’s broken a hind leg,” Leafpool gulped.

“We can bind it with the rushes,” Jaypaw suggested.

Leafpool didn’t reply. Not again!

Fear and bewilderment sparked from Brackenfur. “She won’t die of a broken leg, will she?”

Leafpool didn’t move. Jaypaw focused on her mind, saw an image of a gray cat limping, felt grief sear Leafpool’s heart.

“Here!” Jaypaw tugged one of the rushes free. He jabbed it at Leafpool. She jerked and then took it. Jaypaw felt a wave

of relief as she laid it beside Cinderpaw’s broken leg and took another. He passed her the cobweb, and she carefully began to bind the rushes to Cinderpaw’s leg. “We need to secure it until we can get her back to camp,” Leafpool muttered.

“Then I can set the break properly.”

When she had finished, Leafpool sat up. “Ashfur, Cloudtail, you help Brackenfur carry her back to camp. Make sure her leg moves as little as possible.”

Cinderpaw let out a soft moan as Brackenfur, Cloudtail, and Ashfur lifted her.

“Careful!” Leafpool gasped.

Jaypaw could hear her paw steps dancing around the warriors, pushing aside brambles, fear sparking from her pelt.

“Watch those roots! Take her around the fallen tree! Avoid that dip! Hold her more steadily!”

Hollypaw pressed against him. She was trembling. “I thought she was dead,” she murmured.

“She’s going to be okay,” Jaypaw reassured her. “She’s got a strong heart. And it’s only her leg that’s broken.”

“Only her leg!” Leafpool’s sharp mew took him by surprise.

“A warrior needs four good legs!”

Hollypaw pressed her muzzle to Jaypaw’s ear. “I’ve never seen her so upset,” she whispered.

Jaypaw shook his head. “Me neither.” He leaned against Hollypaw, letting her guide him through the undergrowth.

He wanted to focus his attention on Leafpool. He could feel panic, anger, and regret seething in the medicine cat’s mind. Why? She hadn’t pushed Cinderpaw out of the tree.

It was just an accident.

Why did Leafpool feel so responsible?

Cinderpaw’s fur swished against the sandy floor as the three warriors laid her gently down in the medicine den.

Sorreltail was in the den already, plucking at the ground with trembling paws. Grief and fear crackled from her pelt.

Poppypaw and Honeypaw fidgeted beside Hollypaw, breathing in frightened gulps.

“Thank you,” Leafpool mewed briskly to Brackenfur, Cloudtail, and Ashfur. “Leave us now.”

“But—” Brackenfur began to protest, but Sorreltail interrupted him softly.

“I’ll stay with her.”

The brambles rustled as the tom followed Ashfur and Cloudtail out.

Jaypaw bent down and licked Cinderpaw between her ears. She was unconscious again. “We’ll take care of you,” he promised. He felt Hollypaw’s gaze on his pelt.

“You’d better go too,” he advised her. “Firestar’s waiting.”

He could sense the ThunderClan leader’s heavy presence outside the den. “He’ll want to know what happened.”

“You will make her better?” Hollypaw mewed.

“We’ll try.”