Dark River

When they had finished eating, Willowpaw led her to a mossy nest at the back of the cave. They washed themselves dry and squeezed together onto the soft bedding. Hollypaw was grateful for Willowpaw’s warmth. The cave was drafty and rain was starting to batter the rocks and hiss over the lake. She yawned, suddenly feeling bone-tired. “You know Leopardstar is just keeping me here because I know too much,” she murmured.

“Yes.” Willowpaw laid her tail across her friend’s paws.

“But would Firestar act any differently?”

Hollypaw sighed. “I guess not.” She closed her eyes. How long would she have to stay here? She was going to be in big trouble with her Clanmates when they found out she was being held by RiverClan, suspected of being a spy.

,

Chapter 14

Rain pattered on Jaypaw’s pelt as he crossed the clearing. He held a bundle of watermint and juniper berries in his jaws and their pungent scent filled his nose.

Millie trotted beside him. “I told him not to eat another sparrow!” She stopped beneath Highledge where Graystripe was groaning.

“How was I supposed to resist?” Graystripe gasped. He let out another low moan. “It’s been moons since there’s been so much prey.”

Jaypaw dropped his bundle of herbs. He rested a paw on Graystripe’s round belly as he lay fidgeting with pain.

“Keep still.” Jaypaw felt the hardness beneath Graystripe’s flank. “You’ve just given yourself gas.”

“I told you so,” Millie meowed.

Jaypaw rolled the juniper berries toward Graystripe’s muzzle. “These will help,” he mewed. “Then eat the watermint.”

“I thought a warrior would know that you have to start slowly after leaf-bare,” Millie went on. “All those moons on an empty belly. You can’t just stuff yourself as soon as the prey starts to run. You have to get used to it.”

“Don’t go on,” Graystripe pleaded.

Millie’s tongue lapped Graystripe’s pelt. Jaypaw felt her affection for her mate like warm air around him. His whiskers twitched with amusement. It was funny to hear a warrior being lectured by a kittypet. But she’s a warrior now, he reminded himself quickly.

Paw steps hurried into the camp. Jaypaw tasted the air.

Mousepaw and Poppypaw. From the mossy scent on their pelts, he could tell they had been in the training hollow.

“Have you seen Hollypaw?” Poppypaw called as she bounded toward Highledge.

Jaypaw felt Poppypaw’s anxious gaze burning his pelt. It darted away, awkwardness pricking from the apprentice.

“I didn’t mean see,” she corrected herself quickly. “I meant hear or scent—”

“She means, do you know where she is?” Mousepaw’s impatient mew chipped in.

Jaypaw’s pads tingled. He hadn’t seen Hollypaw since this morning. He let his awareness spread around the camp, feeling for her presence in the same way he would grope for poppy seeds among the herb store. Nothing. No sense of Hollypaw in the camp or near it. He shook his head.

Graystripe scrambled to his paws. “How long has she been missing?” he demanded.

“She was supposed to be training with us, but she didn’t turn up,” Poppypaw mewed.

“Brackenfur figured she’d been kept in camp for some reason,” Mousefur added. “So we just did the training with

out her. We thought she’d be here when we got back.”

“But she’s not!” Poppypaw’s shrill mew rang around the camp.

Brackenfur came bounding from the thorn tunnel. “She’s not here?”

Spiderleg and Ashfur were on his heels.

“Her scent is in the tunnel, but it’s stale,” Ashfur reported.

“She must have left camp when I told her to,” Brackenfur guessed.

“But she didn’t make it to the training hollow,” Spiderleg concluded.

Jaypaw felt the interest of their Clanmates pricking around the clearing.

Brightheart hurried over. “Perhaps she’s hurt!”

“Who’s hurt?” Sorreltail called.

“No one’s hurt!” Graystripe explained. “But Hollypaw seems to be missing.”

Jaypaw was starting to get squashed by the warriors pressing around him. Thornclaw and Whitewing had joined them.

“Perhaps WindClan has captured her!” Thornclaw declared.

Alarm flashed from the warriors and apprentices.

Cloudtail pushed his way to the front. “Why would they do that?”

Jaypaw smelled Brook’s mountain scent. “Has WindClan ever taken hostages before?” she asked.

“No, but they’ve never hunted squirrels before either!”

Dustpelt pointed out.

Sorreltail gasped. “I hope they don’t hurt her!”

Jaypaw felt torn between alarm and irritation. Everyone was panicking far too quickly. But what if Hollypaw had been captured?

Only Brook remained calm. “It wouldn’t make sense for WindClan to give themselves an extra mouth to feed.”

“But they have extra prey now that they hunt in the forest,” Brightheart meowed.

“They might think it’s worth it.” Sorreltail’s voice was taut with worry.

“We should send a patrol to rescue her!” Thornclaw announced.

Brambleclaw joined his Clanmates. “Rescue who?”

Jaypaw felt relief wash his pelt as he sensed Squirrelflight at his father’s side. She licked him between the ears. “What’s going on, Jaypaw?”

“Hollypaw’s missing.”

Squirrelflight stiffened. “Since when?”

“I spoke to her at midday,” Brackenfur explained. “She was supposed to come to the training hollow, but she never arrived.”

“WindClan must have captured her!” Brightheart meowed.

“Do we know that for sure?” Brambleclaw asked.

No one replied.

“Well, in that case, let’s not assume the worst,” the ThunderClan deputy urged.

“Knowing Hollypaw, she’s just gone off by herself,” Squirrelflight meowed.

Jaypaw nodded. Hollypaw had wandered off more than once when she needed time to think.

“But would she deliberately miss training?” Sorreltail fretted.

“She’s never missed it before.” Firestar’s mew sounded above them. He was on Highledge. The cats shuffled backward to look up at their leader. Jaypaw was relieved to have some space but he could feel guilt and anxiety flooding from Firestar. What did he have to feel guilty about?

“We can’t assume that WindClan have taken her,” the ThunderClan leader went on.

“But we know they want to attack us,” Thornclaw called.

“This might be their way of provoking a battle.”

Worried mews rippled around the Clan.

“We don’t know for sure they want to attack,” Firestar reasoned. “And as Squirrelflight pointed out, Hollypaw is perfectly capable of going off by herself. She’s always been independent. Don’t forget she went fox-hunting when