The queen was fighting for breath. “I left them in the nursery and went to stretch my legs. They weren’t there when I came back, so I went looking for them. They’ve wandered out before, but not far. But this time there’s no sign of them. Their trail heads toward the RiverClan border and then just disappears. A hawk’s carried them off, I know it!”
“Calm down, Gorsetail.” Onestar was bristling but his mew was steady. “You can’t be sure. No hawk’s ever taken more than a single kit before. We must send out a search party.”
Suddenly, paws pounded through the entrance tunnel.
“Onestar!” Ashfoot pelted into the clearing. Jaypaw scented Breezepaw and Heatherpaw behind the WindClan deputy. “We’ve just seen a RiverClan patrol heading back into their territory.”
“They’ve been on our land!” Breezepaw spat.
“And there was rabbit blood where they’d been,” Heatherpaw added.
Terror flared from Gorsetail. “Are you sure it was
“What?” Confusion clouded Heatherpaw’s mind.
“My kits have disappeared!” Gorsetail wailed.
“You think the RiverClan patrol might have taken them?”
Heatherpaw sounded horrified. Her thoughts began whirling like leaves caught in a wind. Jaypaw tried to read them but they were moving too fast. He only knew that at their center something dark hovered, a sense of blackness that made his blood turn to ice. She knew more than she was letting on.
“You must leave.” Onestar had turned back toward Leafpool.
“You’re not going to attack RiverClan, are you?” Leafpool gasped.
“We’ll do what we must to get our kits back!” Onestar hissed.
“But you don’t know they’ve taken them,” Jaypaw objected. “A moment ago you thought it was a hawk.”
“That was before RiverClan crossed the border.”
“But they may have had good reason!”
Ashfoot growled. “To steal our kits!”
“But why—”
Onestar cut Leafpool off with a snarl. “Go home!” Jaypaw flinched as the WindClan leader leaned in close. “You can tell Firestar that it’s too late. You’ve wasted your time trying to protect RiverClan. We’ll attack at once!”
Chapter 18
“Good hunting,” Ashfur congratulated him. “You’ve improved a lot these past days. It seems like your mind is on your training again.”
Lionpaw blinked at his mentor. It
Stormfur tossed a wet blackbird onto the pile. “Something’s wrong.” The gray warrior glanced anxiously around the clearing. Beside him, Brook narrowed her eyes.
Cinderpaw was tugging twigs toward the thorn barrier where Cloudtail was stuffing them into gaps. Poppypaw and Mousepaw were hurriedly patching the nursery with fresh brambles. Their rain-soaked pelts were spiked, their tails bushed out. Thornclaw and Spiderleg were circling the edge of the camp, staring up through the rain at the walls.
Thornclaw flicked his tail toward a rift in the cliff face where the rocks jutted out. “We should reinforce the top there. It’s too easy for cats to climb down.”
Lionpaw’s belly tightened. He scanned the clearing. Had Jaypaw returned safely from his mission? He felt relief wash his pelt as he saw Jaypaw emerge from the dirtplace tunnel.
Leafpool was calling to him from the medicine den entrance. “We need more dock.”
“I’ll find some,” Jaypaw answered at once.
“Not by yourself,” Leafpool meowed.
Jaypaw nodded. “I’ll take Hollypaw with me.”
Lionpaw’s paws throbbed with unease. His brother normally bristled with rage at any suggestion that he couldn’t manage by himself. Now he accepted it without a murmur.
“Don’t go far from camp,” Leafpool warned.
“Lionpaw! Have you heard?” Honeypaw was charging toward him, her eyes stretched wide. “There’s going to be a battle!”
Lionpaw hurried to meet her. “When?”
“WindClan is going to attack RiverClan right now,” Honeypaw panted.
Lionpaw flattened his ears. “Has RiverClan invaded WindClan territory?”
Honeypaw shook her head. “RiverClan stole three WindClan kits,” she mewed. “WindClan are going to get them back. We have to be ready to fight!”
Lionpaw tensed. There weren’t many kits in WindClan right now. Could they be the same three who had followed Heatherpaw? “Are you sure RiverClan took them?”
“RiverClan was hunting in WindClan territory when the kits went missing,” Honeypaw told him.
“But it doesn’t make sense.” Lionpaw’s mind was whirling.
“Who cares if it makes sense?” Honeypaw trotted around him. “There’s going to be a huge battle anyway.
Leafpool said so.”
Sorreltail was heading toward them, eyes clouded with worry. “You’re jumping ahead of yourself, Honeypaw,” she meowed.