The Silent Thaw

Nodding, Shadowsight ducked into the medicine den. Snowbird was still asleep. Scorchfur lay in one of the old nests, his eyes closed, but breathing steadily. Stonewing was gingerly licking his battered tail. Puddleshine leaned into a nest at the far end of the den where Antfur sat up straight, staring blankly ahead.

“What’s wrong with him?” Shadowsight hurried to his nest.

“No broken bones,” Puddleshine told him without taking his eyes off Antfur. “But the branch caught him on the head.”

There was a gash behind his ear, not that Antfur seemed to notice. He glanced strangely at Shadowsight. “Are you one of those forest cats?” He looked confused for a moment, then blinked and looked away. “I need to scavenge,” he mewed to no cat in particular. “There are hungry cats here. I know where the scrapcans are.”

Shadowsight frowned as he recognized the words from when he was a young kit. “He thinks he’s back in the city,” he whispered to Puddleshine.

“He’s dazed.” Puddleshine looked uneasily at the tom. “Rest might help.”

Antfur tried to step out of the nest. “Let’s go scavenging.”

“We can scavenge later.” Puddleshine nudged him back. “You have to rest now.”

“Why is the den spinning so fast?” Antfur wobbled and collapsed into the bracken.

“I’ll fetch some marigold,” Shadowsight mewed. “We can treat the gash, at least.” He turned away, fear opening like a bottomless pit in his belly. Another accident? On the same day? As he rummaged for marigold in the herb store, his thoughts whirled. StarClan must be trying to send him a message. What do they want? he thought desperately.

But he knew. His pelt prickled along his spine. As he took the marigold back to Antfur’s nest, Tigerstar padded into the den.

“How are they?” he asked Shadowsight as he glanced from nest to nest.

“We don’t know yet.” Shadowsight laid the dried marigold petals beside the nest.

Tigerstar padded to Scorchfur’s nest. “How did this happen?”

Scorchfur blinked at him, his pelt ruffled. “We were hunting and a branch just snapped above us.” He looked puzzled. “It wasn’t rotten,” he mewed. “There was no reason why it should have fallen.”

Shadowsight felt sick. It must be StarClan. He couldn’t keep this secret anymore. What if Tigerstar was wrong?

He had to ask another cat for advice. He glanced at Puddleshine. “Can you manage while I check on Dovewing? I want to put some marigold on her torn ear.”

“Okay.” Puddleshine nodded. “But don’t be long.”

Shadowsight grabbed a mouthful of marigold petals and hurried to the entrance. Treating his mother’s ear wasn’t the only reason he wanted to see her. She could advise him. He crossed the clearing and ducked into her den. Dovewing lay in her nest, her eyes half-closed.

Shadowsight padded forward and dropped the marigold beside her. “How are you doing?”

She blinked at him drowsily. “Just tired,” she told him. “How are the others?”

“Antfur’s a bit confused.” He didn’t tell her that the tom didn’t even know where he was. “Scorchfur will be fine with some rest.”

“Good.” Dovewing let her eyes close again.

Shadowsight took a few petals and chewed them into a pulp. He leaned into the nest and began gently to lap the ointment onto the torn edges of Dovewing’s ear. She flinched but said nothing. When he’d finished, he sat back and looked at her. “What would you do if you had a secret that might help a lot of cats, but might hurt a few if you told it?”

Dovewing tipped her head to one side and looked at him thoughtfully. “If it were me,” she mewed softly, “I’d tell the truth.” She held his gaze, and Shadowsight wondered for a moment if she was going to ask him why he wanted to know. But she didn’t. Instead she curled deeper into her nest. “You can never go wrong by telling the truth.”

Shadowsight’s pelt prickled uneasily. She was right. He had to tell the truth. The other medicine cats should know about the codebreakers. But how could he risk his mother’s safety? His heart ached as he watched Dovewing close her eyes once more. She had no idea that telling the truth might mean trouble for her. He just hoped it wouldn’t be as bad as Tigerstar feared.

Chapter 7

Rootpaw opened his eyes. Morning sunshine streamed through the woven branches of the apprentices’ den. He lifted his head, alarm jabbing his belly as he saw that Needlepaw’s and Wrenpaw’s nests were already empty. I’m late. He scrambled up. Where was Dewspring? Lately his mentor had been waking him each morning, sticking his head into the apprentices’ den just after dawn to hurry Rootpaw out of his nest. Needlepaw and Wrenpaw had teased Rootpaw about his new habit of oversleeping, telling him that leaf-bare hibernation was over, but Rootpaw ignored them. It wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t been getting to sleep until close to dawn, worried that Bramblestar’s ghost might be lurking nearby.