Crowfeather's Trial

Chapter 21

Crowfeather plodded across the moor toward the WindClan camp. The daylight had faded, and the first warriors of StarClan had appeared through ragged gaps in the cloud, casting a pale glimmer on the surface of the snow. Crowfeather’s head still throbbed, and he was exhausted from pushing his way through drifts that reached almost to his shoulders. But at least no more flakes were falling, and his determination to find Nightcloud kept him going.

He became more watchful as he approached the camp. He was acutely aware that he was still not allowed inside, and if Onestar or any of the warriors spotted him, he could be driven out before he got the chance to explain why he had returned.

I need to find a way to talk to Breezepelt without any other cat knowing.

Drawing closer still, Crowfeather could see a cat standing at the top of the hollow, keeping watch. At first he crouched down in the shelter of a jutting boulder, hoping for a chance to sneak past without being noticed. Then he recognized the graceful figure outlined against the gleaming snow.

Thank StarClan! It’s Heathertail.

Crowfeather emerged from behind the bush and dropped into the hunter’s crouch. Using the snow for cover, he crept forward, thrusting his way through and wincing as the cold stuff soaked into his fur. He was acutely conscious of how his dark gray pelt would stand out against the snow, and he didn’t want to alert Heathertail in case she called out to warn the Clan before he was close enough for her to recognize him.

When he was within a few tail-lengths he rose up and called out in a low voice. “Heathertail!”

Heathertail stiffened as she gazed at him, then bounded lightly through the snow until she reached his side.

“Crowfeather! You came back after all!” she exclaimed.

“Yes, but I don’t mean to stay,” Crowfeather responded. He felt slightly embarrassed by the warmth in Heathertail’s voice, and the glow in her blue eyes. “I’m sorry for the way I behaved before, Heathertail. I’m sure you’re figuring out… I’m not always the easiest cat.”

Heathertail’s eyes danced with amusement. “Well, I enjoy a challenge sometimes. Breezepelt isn’t always easy, either.”

Like father, like son, Crowfeather thought. “Speaking of Breezepelt… I need to talk to him, and tell him that I’ve found out where Nightcloud is.”

Heathertail gave a gasp of astonishment. “Really? That’s great! How did you do that?”

Quickly Crowfeather explained how he had met Yew, and how the powerful tabby had told him about meeting Nightcloud on the edge of the Twolegplace. “I think she must be trapped there,” he finished, “and I want Breezepelt to come with me to get her out.”

Heathertail nodded agreement. “I’ll go fetch him for you.” Heading back to the camp, she glanced over her shoulder. “I’m coming too,” she mewed.

While he waited, Crowfeather trudged over to a nearby thornbush and slid underneath the branches. His heart was racing with tension; if any other cat spotted him now, there would be real trouble.

Peering out from his hiding place, Crowfeather thought he spotted a flicker of movement at the edge of the camp. Drawing in a hissing breath, he pressed himself lower to the ground. Everything was still, and for a moment Crowfeather assumed he had been mistaken.

I’m so nervous, I’d run away if a mouse jumped into my paws!

Then a breeze started up, teasing the surface of the snow into little flurries and carrying to Crowfeather a scent that he recognized all too well.

“Okay, Hootpaw,” he mewed. “I know you’re there somewhere. You can come out now.”

Heartbeats later the dark gray tom popped up from behind a rock, scuffled his way through the snow, and skidded into the shelter of the bush beside Crowfeather. His eyes gleamed and his tail was bushed out with excitement.

Oh, StarClan, now what do I do?

“What are you doing out of your den?” Crowfeather asked, fixing the apprentice with a stern glare. With any luck, he didn’t hear anything.

“I only went to make dirt,” Hootpaw excused himself. “But I was so excited to see that you’ve come back — and you’ve found Nightcloud!” The apprentice gave a little bounce. “That’s so great!”

“So you were listening to me and Heathertail!”

For a heartbeat, Hootpaw looked chastened. “I didn’t mean to spy,” he insisted. “I want to come with you! Please, Crowfeather!”

Crowfeather was briefly tempted. He knew how much Hootpaw cared for his former mentor, just as Featherpaw, surprisingly, cared for him. And Hootpaw had learned his battle moves well; he could be an asset if they ran into trouble.

But then Crowfeather realized that it was quite impossible. And he’d had enough of taking apprentices into danger.

“Absolutely not,” he replied. “Take another warrior’s apprentice on a dangerous mission?” It’s a secret mission, too, he reflected. A banished cat sneaking an apprentice out without his leader’s approval! “You must have bees in your brain,” he finished.

Hootpaw’s tail drooped and he blinked in disappointment. “Please, Crowfeather,” he repeated. “I’ll do everything you tell me.”

“I’m telling you no.” Crowfeather slid forward, so close to Hootpaw that his nose almost touched the top of the apprentice’s head. Being tough with him now is the best way to protect him. “And if you breathe a word of this to Onestar,” he continued, “I’ll personally make sure that you wish you’d never left the nursery. Got it?”

Hootpaw’s eyes were wide and scared. “Got it, Crowfeather.” He wriggled out from under the bush and streaked off, back toward the camp.

Crowfeather watched him go, shaking his head a little. He’s got great spirit, he reflected. He’ll make a fine warrior one day. And I’ll do all I can to make sure that Nightcloud is around to help him do it.

While Crowfeather waited for his Clanmates to return, the sky cleared and the moon shone down on the snowy moor. Crowfeather let out a purr of satisfaction; their journey would be much easier if they could see where they were putting their paws — provided they got away without any cat spotting them.

When Heathertail reappeared with Breezepelt padding in her paw steps, the light was bright enough for Crowfeather to see how battered and exhausted they both looked. Their tails and shoulders were drooping; Heathertail’s pelt was matted with twigs, and Breezepelt had a scratch on one foreleg.

He wondered if they were even in any shape to go through with the plan.

“What happened to you?” Crowfeather asked, emerging from his hiding place under the bush. “Has there been trouble?”

Heathertail shook her head. “We spent the whole day lugging stones and brush around to plug up the tunnel entrances,” she told Crowfeather. “It’s exhausting work.”

“And after all that, we didn’t have time to do them all,” Breezepelt complained. “Onestar insisted on stopping when the sun went down. That means the stoats can still get out, so it was all for nothing. I feel like every scrap of skin has been scraped off my pads.”

“It’ll be fine.” Heathertail gave Breezepelt a friendly nudge. “We can finish tomorrow.”

Crowfeather had listened to their news with mounting anxiety. “Are you sure you’re fit for this?” he asked. “It’s a long way to the Twolegplace.”

There was a determined gleam in Breezepelt’s eyes as he gazed at his father. “I could do more than this for Nightcloud,” he meowed. “We have to find her.”

“It’s the least we can do,” Heathertail agreed.

A trickle of pride in the two young cats began to flow through Crowfeather, like a frozen stream beginning to melt. The determined look on Heathertail’s face filled him with confidence. She would definitely be a useful cat to have around on this journey. But what about the camp? he wondered. She’s supposed to be keeping watch.

He tilted his head, thinking hard, when the sound of paw steps swishing through the snow behind him made him start. He swung around to see Hootpaw and his mentor, Gorsetail, looming up out of the darkness.

Crowfeather felt every hair on his pelt beginning to rise. “What in StarClan’s name are you doing here?” he demanded in a low voice. “Hootpaw, I told you not to tell any cat.”

“You told me not to tell Onestar,” Hootpaw reminded him, as bright and confident as ever. “But I told Gorsetail. I reckoned you’d have to let me come if I had my mentor’s permission.”

“And has she given it?” Crowfeather angled his ears toward Gorsetail. “Are you as bee-brained as he is?”

“Bee-brained yourself,” Gorsetail retorted coolly. “I’m not the cat who’s showing his face here after being banished from the Clan. And yes, Hootpaw has my permission — on one condition.”

“And what’s that?” Breezepelt growled, taking a pace toward the gray-and-white she-cat.

“That I get to come with you too,” Gorsetail replied.

Crowfeather’s eyes widened in shock. Gorsetail wants to help?

“Don’t look so surprised,” the she-cat mewed. “I respected Nightcloud as much as any cat.”

Crowfeather stared at his Clanmate, hardly knowing what to say. He hadn’t forgotten that Gorsetail had once said that the Clan would be better off if Breezepelt were killed by a badger. Though lately her attitude seemed to have relaxed, she still wasn’t a cat Crowfeather wanted with him on a dangerous expedition.

It was Heathertail who broke the silence, giving Crowfeather an irritated nudge. “For StarClan’s sake, let them come! If we stand here arguing, some cat will hear us, and we won’t be able to go at all.”

Crowfeather could see the sense in that. “Okay, you can come,” he meowed. Privately he still wasn’t sure that it was a good idea to take so many cats, especially when they had to cross a rival Clan’s territory. And if Onestar found out, it would surely cause problems. Not to mention, the camp would be unguarded for a little while. But then, he told himself, the more noses, the more chance of finding Nightcloud. We have to take the risk.

Hootpaw leaped right off the ground in his excitement. “If we meet any stoats, I know what to do,” he boasted, landing on his hind paws and striking out with both forepaws against an imaginary stoat.

“If we meet any stoats, you’ll stay beside me and do as you’re told,” Gorsetail responded, with a severe look at her apprentice.

“Sure, Gorsetail!” Hootpaw’s enthusiasm wasn’t dampened in the slightest.

Let’s hope we don’t find any stoats, Crowfeather thought as he took the lead away from the camp. But we will find something. I just hope that something is Nightcloud.

Surprising himself, he couldn’t stifle a pulse of excitement at the thought of seeing her again.