Dark River

Hollypaw quickly clambered back around the jutting rocks and slipped into the hollow beside Willowpaw. There was more space inside the outcrop than she had imagined. It was a cave, hollowed out by countless moons of wind and water, protected from the wind and rain by a low roof.

Willowpaw crouched at the back, her eyes round with shock. “What are you doing here?”

“I promised I’d come,” Hollypaw reminded her.

“Does anyone know you’re here?”

Hollypaw shook her head. Then she tensed. Mothwing’s scent was wafting into the cave.

“Hollypaw?” Mothwing’s mew was sharp.

Hollypaw spun around.

“I came back for poppy seeds.” The RiverClan medicine cat was standing in the cave entrance. Her bones looked sharp beneath her pelt. “Hollypaw! What are you doing here?”

“I had to do something!” Hollypaw mewed desperately.

“ThunderClan are getting ready to fight WindClan.

Everyone’s scared about what will happen if RiverClan is driven out of its home.”

Mothwing looked at her. “RiverClan is not going to be driven out of anywhere.”

“How can you be sure?” Hollypaw gazed back at her thin frame, unconvinced. “You’re half starved, and you’re still living on the island.”

Willowpaw brushed against her. “It won’t be for long.”

Hollypaw glanced at the rows of herbs carefully stacked against the cave wall. It looked like RiverClan was planning to be here for some time. “But you’ve brought everything from your old camp,” she pointed out.

The RiverClan medicine cat sighed. “You’d better show her.”

“Really?” Willowpaw looked surprised. “Now?”

Mothwing nodded. “Just don’t let yourselves be seen.”

Willowpaw nodded and streaked from the cave. Hollypaw hurried after her, pelt ruffled with curiosity. She followed Willowpaw across the tiny causeway and back around the shoreline.

“Let’s swim across to the mainland,” Willowpaw mewed.

“It’ll be easier to stay out of sight.”

Hollypaw’s wet fur spiked in alarm. “I know I’m soaked, but there’s no way I’m swimming!” The tree-bridge lay only a few fox-lengths ahead of them.

“Okay, okay,” Willowpaw mewed impatiently. “But we’d better disguise you somehow. Your scent’s seeping through.”

She scanned the shoreline, whiskers twitching. “Follow me.”

The medicine cat apprentice pushed her way among some clumps of grass that grew half in, half out of the water.

“Here.” Before Hollypaw could complain, she scooped up a pawful of brown muck and smeared it over Hollypaw’s pelt.

Hollypaw gagged. “What’s that?” The goo clung to her fur, sticky and smelly.

“Otter dung,” Willowpaw mewed. “It should hide your ThunderClan scent.”

Hollypaw coughed. “You’re kidding!”

“You can wash it off later,” Willowpaw hissed. “Just be quiet and keep still.”

She smeared another few pawfuls along Hollypaw’s flank.

Hollypaw began to wish she had never come. Then Willowpaw reared up and scanned the shore on both sides of the lake.

“Quick!” She scrambled across the beach and up onto the tree-bridge.

Hollypaw followed, swallowing the nausea that rose in her throat at the smell of the otter dung. “Are you sure this stuff will disguise me?” she hissed as they crossed the bridge. “It’s so strong, I bet ThunderClan can smell me.”

“Certain.” Willowpaw leaped down from the tree, crossed the shore, and dived into a forest of reeds. Hollypaw followed, struggling in the soft ground. Mud clung to her legs and coated her belly fur. Willowpaw seemed to be hopping among the clumps of reeds, staying free of the mud.

Hollypaw watched her closely and began to follow her path exactly, relieved to find that, so long as she kept to her friend’s paw steps, she kept her paws and belly dry.

At last the ground became firmer and Hollypaw felt grass underpaw. Willowpaw was leading her up a slope. There were trees here and the undergrowth grew thick and lush. The slope grew steeper until Hollypaw found she was scrambling up a red sandy cliff. She followed Willowpaw as the RiverClan apprentice leaped up and up, using rocks that jutted from the earth to haul herself higher. At last the two cats clawed their way onto the grassy bank at the top. Panting, Hollypaw looked down. The lake shone far below, glimmering through the fresh green leaves.

“Where are we going?” Hollypaw panted.

“You’ll see in a moment.” Willowpaw headed up the bank and disappeared into a swath of long grass.

Hollypaw hurried after her.

“Look.” Willowpaw had stopped.

Hollypaw crept to her side as Willowpaw gently parted the grass. She peered through. Below them, a wide stream followed the line of the slope. An island rose in the middle, parting the water abruptly so that eddies swirled where the stream was forced to divide. The island was crowded with small trees and bushes, green amid the rolling brown water.

“That’s our old camp,” Willowpaw explained.

Hollypaw heard the clatter of rocks and stiffened. “What’s that?”

“The warriors are working.”

“Working?” Hollypaw blinked.