Fortunately, Leafpool and Jaypaw were already busy with Brook and Brightheart by the time he pushed his way through the brambles.
“I need more cobwebs!” Leafpool called to Jaypaw. Jaypaw spat out the poultice he had been licking into Brightheart’s tail and dashed to the back of the den. He returned with a mouthful of cobweb, which Leafpool pressed against Brook’s wound. A sodden red wad already lay on the cave floor.
“It will stop bleeding, won’t it?” Stormfur watched her anxiously.
“Yes,” Leafpool assured him. She pressed both paws on the wound. “Can you hold it like this?”
Stormfur nodded and placed his paws over Leafpool’s. She drew hers away and turned to inspect Brightheart’s tail.
“Oak leaf. Good choice,” she mewed to Jaypaw. “That’ll
stop any infection. It’ll be healed in a few days.” She glanced back at Stormfur, who was staring at his paws as he held the cobweb to Brook’s side. “Any news of Hollypaw?”
“We didn’t get a chance to ask,” Brook admitted.
Leafpool sighed. “I suppose not,” she meowed. “I was just hoping they might have given something away.”
“WindClan hasn’t got her,” Lionpaw announced.
Leafpool pricked her ears. “How do you know?”
Lionpaw stared at the ground. “Well, surely, they would have told us if they had?” He glanced up at Leafpool. “Why else would they have her?”
“Then where is she?” Leafpool’s mew sounded desperate.
Lionpaw touched Jaypaw’s shoulder with his tail. “Can’t you ask StarClan?”
Jaypaw’s fur pricked, almost as if he were annoyed. “No.”
Leafpool snorted and padded to the back of the cave.
Lionpaw frowned. What was going on? “Why haven’t you asked them?” he pressed. “She’s our sister.”
“I haven’t had a chance yet.” Jaypaw lapped up another tongueful of oak leaf and began licking it onto Brightheart’s tail.
Lionpaw stared at his brother, his pelt itching with frustration. “Have
Leafpool, cobweb dangling from her jaw, padded to Brook’s side. She dropped the pale web at Stormfur’s paws.
“It’s not always possible to speak with StarClan,” she explained. “If our warrior ancestors have something they
want to share, then they’ll find a way.”
Was that the best they could do? Sit and wait? Lionpaw flexed his claws.
“Let me get something for your ear.” Leafpool padded back to her store of herbs.
“I could try and ask StarClan tonight,” Jaypaw whispered to him. Lionpaw felt even more puzzled. What was going on with these two? Didn’t Jaypaw want Leafpool to hear?
“This should help.” Leafpool brought back a poultice wrapped in a leaf. “Can you manage to rub this on yourself?
Jaypaw and I need to check the rest of the patrol.” She padded out of the den, followed by Jaypaw.
“Do you want some help?” Brightheart was already pawing open the leaf and rubbing her pad in the poultice. “I’m sure Hollypaw will turn up,” she comforted, wiping the ointment onto Lionpaw’s ear.
Lionpaw winced as it stung. “Jaypaw will find out where she is,” he mewed hopefully. Weariness swept over him again.
His night in the tunnels and then the battle had sapped his last pawful of energy. He ducked away from Brightheart’s paw. “I think that’ll be enough.”
“Yes.” Brightheart wiped her paw on her chest and turned to Stormfur. “How’s the bleeding?”
“I think it’s stopped.”
Lionpaw padded out of the den, his paws heavy as clay. He couldn’t wait to curl up in his nest and close his eyes. Worry pricked his drowsy thoughts. A warrior should always be battle ready. What if he’d been too tired to fight today?
“Lionpaw!” Ashfur was bounding toward him.
Lionpaw’s heart sank, but he twitched his whiskers and tried to look as bright as he could. “Do you want me to go hunting?” he offered.
“No.” Ashfur stopped beside him. “You look worn out. Get some sleep. You obviously need to catch up.”
Lionpaw stiffened. There was a hint of warning in his mentor’s mew. Did Ashfur suspect there was more to his exhaustion than an early morning run?
Lionpaw’s heart thumped in his chest. “I promise I’ll always be ready to fight!” he mewed. “I’m going to become the best warrior ThunderClan has ever known! Really I am!”
Ashfur’s whiskers twitched. “I’m sure you will.”
Lionpaw smelled mouse, warm and delicious. He blinked open his eyes. A piece of fresh-kill was lying on the moss beside his nest.
Honeypaw was standing beside it. “I thought you’d be hungry.”
Lionpaw stretched his paws till they trembled. “Is it late?”
“The sunset patrol has just got back,” Honeypaw reported.
“They brought this.” She dabbed her paw at the mouse.
“Have the kits and elders eaten?” Lionpaw asked.
“Of course.” Honeypaw sat down. “Hazelpaw says you really taught Breezepaw a lesson.” Her eyes sparkled. “She says he ended up in the stream.”
Lionpaw got to his paws. “Yeah.” His heart warmed at the memory. “I don’t think any WindClan apprentices will be
hunting in our territory for a while.” A chill ran down his spine. What if it had been Heatherpaw hunting with Harepaw instead of Breezepaw?
“Lionpaw?” Honeypaw was staring at him. “Are you okay?”
Lionpaw shivered. “Just tired,” he mewed, faking a yawn.
“Okay.” Honeypaw shrugged. “We’re at the halfrock if you want to join us.” She padded out of the den.
Lionpaw gulped down the mouse and padded into the clearing to join his denmates. He chatted with them, acutely aware of Hollypaw’s absence, his paws itching for the other apprentices to go to their nests. He glanced at the moon, slowly crossing the sky, misted by thin clouds. Heatherpaw would be waiting for him.
Berrypaw and Hazelpaw were the last to head for the den, their gray-and-white pelts glowing in the darkness. As soon as they disappeared, Lionpaw padded quickly to the dirtplace tunnel. Glancing over his shoulder to make sure the clearing was still empty, he slipped out of the camp.
His ear was stinging from the cold night air by the time he reached the tunnels. He padded inside, the usual eerie sense of foreboding clutching his belly. But this time it was worse. There was something he had to do, something really difficult, but he couldn’t see any other way. However much it hurt . . . Pushing his dark thoughts away, he followed the twisting passageway to the cave. Heatherpaw was already there. She hurried to greet him, rubbing her nose along his cheek. She smelled warm and sleepy, as though she had just woken up.
“Your poor ear!” she gasped when she saw the blood-encrusted wound.
“It’s fine,” Lionpaw mewed.
“Is that your only wound?” Her eyes glittered with worry in the half-light. “Breezepaw said he’d shredded you!”
Lionpaw stepped back. She should be worried about her Clanmates, not him. He felt more certain than ever that he was about to do the right thing.
Heatherpaw tipped her head to one side. “What?” Could she sense the guilt pricking in his pelt?
Lionpaw gazed at her. “We can’t meet anymore.”
Heatherpaw’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“We just can’t.”
“But we’re having fun. Why do we have to stop? We’re not hurting anyone.” She sounded desperate, her voice coming out as a squeak.
