Dark River

Hollypaw’s tail drooped. He was right. She had scared off prey that could have fed her Clanmates. “I’m sorry,” she murmured.

“Now stop asking questions and find something to take back to camp!”

Hollypaw hunted even harder than usual and returned to the camp carrying three mice. Brackenfur led her through the

thorn tunnel, a crow in his jaws. He dropped it on a fresh-kill pile that had already been restocked by another hunting patrol.

“You did well,” he congratulated her. She felt relieved that she had made up for losing him the mouse. “Now go and get dry in your den,” he advised. “I’ll take food to Mousefur and Longtail.”

The rain had stopped but the forest was still dripping.

Hollypaw padded to the apprentices’ den. Inside, the nests were empty except for Lionpaw’s. Hollypaw could see his golden pelt rising and falling gently as he slept. How could he sleep the morning away while everyone else was busy looking after the Clan?

“Doesn’t Ashfur have any jobs for you?” she called irri-tably.

“Huh? What?” Lionpaw’s head shot up and he stared, blinking, at her. “Is it dawn already?”

“It’s halfway to sunhigh!”

Lionpaw leaped to his paws. His eyes were round with guilt. “Has Ashfur been looking for me?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been out hunting,” Hollypaw answered pointedly. She began tugging at the damp bedding closest to her, pulling at it with her teeth and shaking it to let moisture out and fresh air in. “Why are you so tired anyway?” she asked, her mew muffled by the moss.

“I didn’t sleep well,” Lionpaw replied.

Hollypaw glanced at him, but he was staring at the ground, as if avoiding her gaze. “Is there something wrong, Lionpaw?”

“No,” he mewed quickly.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course!” His mew was tetchy.

Hollypaw felt a wave of sadness. They used to share everything, but now getting details out of her brother was like trying to pick fleas off a hedgehog. Unless they jumped out by themselves, there was no way she could reach them.

“Okay, okay! There’s no need to bite my head off!” She started plucking at the moss again.

Lionpaw padded past her. “I wasn’t biting your head off,”

he muttered. “But sometimes it’s nice to be able to do stuff without being asked so many questions!” He stalked out of the den, leaving Hollypaw alone.

She sighed and let the moss she was working on drop to the ground. Perhaps Jaypaw knew what was up with Lionpaw.

He always seemed to guess what she was thinking. Perhaps he could do the same with Lionpaw. She headed for the medicine den and pushed her way through the brambles.

Jaypaw was sorting through herbs at the back of the cleft in the rock wall. “I’m busy,” he mewed without looking up.

“Leafpool wants me to see what herbs we need before she gets back from the nursery.”

“Are the kits sick?” Hollypaw asked anxiously.

“Daisy has a cold,” Jaypaw replied. “Nothing serious, but with all this rain, Leafpool wants to treat it before it gets worse.”

“I wanted to talk to you about Lionpaw,” she ventured.

“Is he ill?”

“No.” Hollypaw sat down, wishing Jaypaw would stop

messing around with the herbs and talk to her properly. “He’s just been so tired lately, and grumpy. Every time I talk to him he practically nips my whiskers off.”

“How should I know what’s wrong with him?” Jaypaw pushed a pile of dark green leaves together. Hollypaw tried to remember their name—she had, after all, trained as a medicine cat for a while—but she hadn’t a clue.

“It’s just that you usually know.”

“You share a den with him,” Jaypaw pointed out. “I’m stuck over here with Leafpool most of the time.” His voice prickled with resentment.

Hollypaw sat in silence for a moment. On top of worrying about Lionpaw, her dream about Willowpaw was still nagging at the back of her mind. But if Jaypaw wasn’t going to help her work out what was up with Lionpaw, there wasn’t much hope he would care what was bothering her RiverClan friend. And yet . . .

She decided to try coming at it sideways. Always a good hunting move when stalking tricky prey.

“Did you speak to Willowpaw at the Gathering?” she asked casually.

“Not much.”

“I think she’s worried you don’t like her.”

“Why do I have to like every cat I meet?” Jaypaw grumbled.

“Why do you have to dis like every cat you meet?” she shot back. “Willowpaw’s really nice. You don’t have to go out of your way to make her feel uncomfortable.”

“I don’t make her feel anything.” Jaypaw turned back to his herbs. “She feels what she wants to feel.”

“Didn’t you think she was feeling anxious at the Gathering?” Hollypaw decided to press on. “Didn’t you think the whole of RiverClan was acting oddly?”

Jaypaw turned from his herbs. “Perhaps.” His ears were pricked as if Hollypaw had finally said something that interested him.

“So I didn’t just imagine it?”

“Imagine what?”

“That something’s troubling RiverClan?”

“Do you think there is?” Jaypaw was leaning toward her now.

“I don’t know.” Hollypaw didn’t want to start a rumor that would make RiverClan look weak. It felt disloyal to her friend. And besides, it might not be true. “Do you?”

“I couldn’t tell.”

Hollypaw felt a wave of frustration. This conversation was going in circles!

“But I might be able to find out something when we go to the Moonpool,” Jaypaw went on.

Of course! The medicine cats would be traveling together to the Moonpool at half-moon. That was only a few days away.

“If there is something worrying Willowpaw, will you tell me?”

Hollypaw asked.

Jaypaw narrowed his eyes. “Sure. I know how I’ll be able to find out.”

Hollypaw’s pelt began to prick with unease. “I’m not ask

ing you to spy or anything,” she mewed. “Just let me know if I’m right to worry. . . .”

“Okay.” Jaypaw shrugged and began pawing at another pile of herbs.

“Hollypaw!” Brackenfur was calling her from the clearing.

Feeling slightly relieved, she hurried out of the medicine den. A small patch of blue had opened in the clouds above the hollow.

“We may as well do some training in the forest while the rain holds off,” Brackenfur meowed. “Cloudtail’s taking Cinderpaw out to explore and I thought we could join them.

Get to know the territory a bit better.”

Cinderpaw came bouncing toward them, followed by Cloudtail and Birchfall.

“Firestar wants us to check out the old fox den,” Birchfall called. “Make sure those fox cubs haven’t returned.”

Hollypaw shivered. She still remembered the awful day when she and Jaypaw and Lionpaw had set out to chase the fox cubs from the den and had ended up being chased themselves. In his terror, Jaypaw had fallen over the side of the hollow and nearly died.