Squirrelflight's Hope

CHAPTER 4

The gray cat narrowed its eyes. “Why are you here?”

The other cats moved closer, pelts bushed, eyes flashing menacingly.

“We’re exploring. We didn’t realize …” Squirrelflight’s mew trailed away as she saw that the gray cat’s belly was round. She was expecting kits!

Leafstar shifted beside her. “We thought the camp was abandoned.”

“The rain had washed away your scent,” Squirrelflight mewed quickly.

The gray queen exchanged glances with a young white she-cat near the brambles. As the white she-cat flicked her tail, her gaze flashed back to Squirrelflight. “You must have seen our tracks and our dens.”

“Yes.” Leafstar leaned forward. “And we were just going to leave.”

“But you said you thought this would be a good place to make camp.” The queen was still glaring at Squirrelflight. “Why?”

“We were looking for new territory,” Squirrelflight told her. “We didn’t realize this land belonged to a Clan.”

“A Clan?” The queen tipped her head.

Leafstar growled. “Why are you explaining yourself to these cats?” she snapped at Squirrelflight.

Squirrelflight looked at her. What else was she supposed to do? “They outnumber us, or hadn’t you noticed?”

“I noticed.” Anger glittered in Leafstar’s gaze. “But they’re rogues, not a Clan!” She turned back to the queen. “I’m Leafstar, leader of SkyClan.”

“I’m Moonlight, and these are the Sisters.” The queen nodded toward her campmates.

“We only came to find out if this land was empty,” Leafstar snarled. “Now that we know it isn’t, we’ll leave.” She began to pad forward, but Moonlight hissed. The Sisters fanned out until every stretch of grass was covered.

“Wait!” Squirrelflight swallowed back panic. They’d never be able to fight their way out of here. She looked imploringly at Moonlight. “We just want to go home.”

Moonlight’s gaze flicked over her. “Are you one of the cats from the lake?”

“Yes.” Had Moonlight and the Sisters been watching the Clans?

“I didn’t think you ever strayed past your scent markers,” Moonlight meowed.

“We don’t, usually,” Squirrelflight told her. “But as I explained, we’re looking for territory.”

“And you think you’re going to take this land?” Moonlight’s eyes narrowed into hard slits.

“We were just looking,” Leafstar growled. “But we don’t need it. Keep your land.”

Moonlight didn’t move. “Who says it’s our land?”

“You live here, don’t you?” Leafstar shot back.

“For now.” She shook out her fur suddenly and sat down. Squirrelflight sensed the other cats relaxing around them. She let her fur smooth and glanced at Leafstar, hoping the SkyClan leader would do the same. These cats clearly didn’t want to fight. Why provoke them? Moonlight lifted a paw and licked it. “We’re not like you lake cats.” She drew her paw over her ear. “We don’t make boundaries or leave markers.”

“If you did,” Leafstar muttered, “we might have stayed away.”

“True.” Moonlight nodded to the white cat, who padded to her side. Her snowy pelt was sleek and well-groomed, and she sat down noiselessly as Moonlight went on. “But other cats don’t show much interest in our land. They come and go; they hunt, then continue on their way. They leave us mostly in peace.” She licked a paw and washed her other ear.

Squirrelflight wasn’t surprised that other cats left them alone. The Sisters were larger than Clan cats. Their broad shoulders and wide paws were intimidating, and she wondered if even a trained warrior could fight more than one of them. The three males she could make out seemed younger than the other cats and smaller, but they were sleek and well-muscled, as though they’d never suffered a harsh leaf-bare or gone to sleep with an empty belly.

Leafstar looked around the camp, her gaze sharp. “You said you only live here for now. Are you going to stay long?”

Squirrelflight pricked her ears. Leafstar sounded curious. Was she considering this territory?

Moonlight followed the SkyClan leader’s gaze. “We’ll stay until my kits are ready to travel.”

Leafstar glanced at her belly. “Will you ever return?”

“It’s a good place for birthing,” Moonlight told her. “But if it’s occupied when we come back this way, we’ll find someplace else.” She sounded unconcerned.

Hope flashed beneath Squirrelflight’s pelt. The Sisters didn’t want this land, and Leafstar sounded interested in making it SkyClan’s home. “Will you move SkyClan here?” she asked Leafstar.

“It’s good land,” Leafstar told her. “Once Moonlight and her friends have moved on, I will send patrols to explore more and discuss a future here with my warriors.”

Squirrelflight’s heart soared. Her plan had worked! She couldn’t wait to tell Bramblestar. He’d see what a great idea it had been once he heard about the land and knew Leafstar was open to moving SkyClan there. She looked at Moonlight’s belly again, trying to guess how long it would be until she had her kits. They would be ready to travel before leaf-bare. Surely the Clans could wait that long to redraw their borders? “Let’s go back and share the news,” she meowed eagerly.

“I don’t want to tell the other leaders until I’ve made a definite decision.” Leafstar’s pelt rippled along her spine.

“But once they know you’re willing to think about moving, they’ll be happy to live with the current borders for a few moons longer,” Squirrelflight argued.

Leafstar dug her claws into the damp grass. “We’re not announcing anything until we’ve checked out the whole territory and found it safe.”

Why was Leafstar being so stubborn? The peace of the Clans depended on SkyClan finding new territory. This was better land even than the forest. “But it’s perfect!”

Leafstar glared at her. “Why doesn’t ThunderClan move here, then? We can go back to the Clans and suggest it—”

“No cat is going anywhere.” Moonlight was watching them, her tail twitching.

Squirrelflight stiffened. The queen’s mew was determined. “What do you mean?”

Moonlight shifted her weight. “I can’t let you go back to your friends. Not yet. We don’t want swarms of strange cats trekking through here.”

Leafstar’s ears twitched. “We won’t come back until you’ve left.”

“We want to go home and tell our Clans that this land will be free soon,” Squirrelflight added.

Moonlight narrowed her eyes. “You’ve only just arrived, and already you’re arguing about which Clan should take our home. Do you expect me to believe that you won’t want to get your paws on it as soon as you can?”

“We will respect your right to this territory until you’re ready to move on,” Squirrelflight promised.

“You might,” Moonlight mewed. “But your campmates might not.”

The white she-cat nodded. “We’ve heard enough about the Clans to know that when they see something they like, they believe they have a right to it. Now that you’ve discovered this land, your Clanmates will want to take it by force.”

“ThunderClan would never do that!” Squirrelflight bristled.

“And the others?” Moonlight gazed at her evenly. “Would they respect our right to be here too?”

Squirrelflight hesitated. Would Tigerstar leave these cats alone? Was Harestar patient enough to wait? Would Mistystar deny her Clan if she thought there was something better for it? “We want this land for SkyClan,” she meowed firmly. “And you already have the word of SkyClan’s leader not to take it until you’ve left.”

“We’ve learned not to invite trouble if we don’t have to.” Moonlight flicked her nose toward a den at the edge of the clearing. “You will sleep there until the time comes for us to move on.”

“But our Clans will come looking for us,” Squirrelflight insisted.

“Will they find you?” Moonlight glanced toward the end of the valley, where one hill rose into another. Squirrelflight realized how deep they’d ventured into this territory. And the forest was wet with rain heavy enough to have washed away their scent. She gazed toward the hilltops, feeling suddenly how small she was and far from home.

Leafstar was frowning at the gray queen. “You can’t hold us here against our will.”

Moonlight didn’t reply, but the other cats shifted around them, as though reminding Leafstar of their presence.

Leafstar bared her teeth.

“Stay calm,” Squirrelflight whispered. “They won’t be able to watch us all the time. We’ll be able to slip away.”

The white she-cat padded around them, sniffing curiously. Leafstar gave a warning growl.

“Quiet!” Moonlight’s mew was suddenly fierce. “Snow is our sister. Show her respect.”

Leafstar’s growl turned into a hiss.

“Hush!” Squirrelflight nudged the SkyClan leader sharply.

Snow stopped and stared at Leafstar, a threat in her eyes. She was big, with muscles visible even beneath her pelt. Leafstar held her gaze, refusing to be cowed. Snow stalked back to Moonlight’s side, her fur bristling.

“Forgive Leafstar.” Squirrelflight ignored Leafstar’s sharp hiss. “She’s a warrior. We’re not used to surrendering. But if you fear our Clanmates so much, we will stay as willing captives until you are ready to move on.”

Moonlight dipped her head. “Thank you. You will be treated as our campmates.” She nodded to a tabby she-cat. “Tempest, bring food from the prey-hole for our visitors.”

As the tabby padded to a large juniper bush and began digging between the roots, Squirrelflight surveyed the camp. The sun was sinking toward the hilltop, and shadow reached into the valley. She saw now how well the surrounding bushes hid the camp, so that anyone climbing down the side of the valley would see only undergrowth until they reached the bottom and pushed through to the grassy clearing. The dense bushes that lined the sides of the valley would make it easier to hide if she and Leafstar managed to slip away. And she knew Bramblestar would find them eventually, no matter how hidden the camp seemed. Her heart quickened. What would he think when he discovered that she’d gone behind his back and brought Leafstar here without his approval? Things were already tense between them. This would make it worse. She wondered, her paws pricking nervously, how long Sparkpelt would keep her secret before she told her father where they’d been heading.

Moonlight’s campmates glanced at one another, as though unsure of what to do. Two of them sat down; the young toms padded to the edge of the grassy clearing and watched their captives while the others moved closer and murmured to one another, their inquisitive gazes flicking over Leafstar and Squirrelflight.

Leafstar leaned toward Squirrelflight. “These cats are strange,” she hissed under her breath.

“I don’t think they want to hurt us.”

Leafstar snorted. “They’re holding us captive.”

Squirrelflight tried to keep her tone bright. “At least it looks like they’re going to feed us.”

“I guess,” Leafstar conceded, her gaze flitting over the Sisters. “They don’t look like they know what hunger is.”

Squirrelflight saw Moonlight watching her and lifted her muzzle. “What’s the hunting like here?” she asked the queen loudly.

“You can see for yourself.” Moonlight nodded toward the tabby.

Tempest dragged two fat mice from a hole beneath the juniper. She lifted them in her teeth and shook the earth from them with a sharp toss of her head. Then she padded across the grass and dropped the mice at Squirrelflight’s paws.

The mice smelled good, and Squirrelflight realized that she was hungry. She nodded to the tabby. “Thanks.”

Moonlight stood up and flicked her tail toward the young toms. One darted toward the prey-hole and began fishing for more food. Another ducked behind a bush at the edge of the camp and dragged out a dead rabbit. The other cats slipped away and came back with more prey. Squirrelflight guessed that the group had been returning from a hunting patrol and dropped their catch outside the camp when they’d smelled intruders. The prey-hole must be where they stored prey left over from one day for the next. She wondered how the cats decided who ate yesterday’s prey and who ate fresh. A tortoiseshell carried two voles to Moonlight and laid them on the ground in front of her. She padded away as Moonlight nodded her thanks, and settled on the grass between two young ginger she-cats.

Squirrelflight lowered herself onto her belly and pulled one of the mice close. “Eat,” she whispered to Leafstar.

Leafstar ignored her, sitting straighter and staring at her captors.

She hoped that the SkyClan leader wouldn’t start a fight. Didn’t she realize they only had to play along until they had the chance to slip away, or until their Clanmates came to free them? Why risk hurting another cat or getting hurt themselves?

As she bit into her mouse, she watched the Sisters relax. They shared prey and tongues like Clanmates. Moonlight swallowed a mouthful of vole. Beside her, Snow was eating a shrew. With a sigh, the queen shifted onto her side to ease the weight away from her swollen belly. She blinked calmly at Squirrelflight. “I hope you will find your stay with us comfortable. It seems better to enjoy the company of others rather than resist it. The Sisters don’t like violence, and we avoid it when we can.”

“The Clans avoid violence too, when possible,” Squirrelflight told her. “Peace is better for every cat.”

Tempest had settled beside the young toms. She looked up from the mouse she was eating. “How long will it be before your Clan wonders where you are?”

“A quarter moon at least,” Squirrelflight told her. She guessed that Bramblestar would send a patrol sooner, but rescue would be easier if the Sisters weren’t expecting it.

Leafstar huffed beside her. “My Clan will be missing me already,” she meowed pointedly. “They’ll send out a search party. It won’t take long for them to find me.”

As Squirrelflight swallowed back frustration, Tempest glanced at Moonlight, alarmed. “Perhaps we should let them go. We don’t want trouble.”

Moonlight hooked up another vole with her claw. “There won’t be trouble. Keeping these cats will send an important message to their Clans.”

The tabby-and-white tom beside Tempest frowned. “What message?”

“That we don’t fight easily, but we don’t scare easily either,” Moonlight told him. “And they’re less likely to start anything if it might endanger their Clanmates’ safety.”

The tom scowled at Squirrelflight. “If they hurt us, we hurt you!”

Moonlight blinked at him coolly. “Keep your claws sheathed, Stone.” She glanced at Tempest. “Your kit reminds me of his father.”

Tempest’s tail twitched self-consciously. “He’s young, that’s all.”

The tom looked like an apprentice, not yet fully grown, but old enough to be a skillful hunter and fighter. The tom beside him looked the same age. He was white with tabby splotches on his legs.

“Are you brothers?” Squirrelflight asked. Stone nodded.

“I’m Grass,” his brother added.

Squirrelflight looked at the only other tom in the group. He was moons younger than the other two—barely more than a kit—and ginger, like the she-cat beside him. The she-cat nodded to her. “I’m Furze,” she said, “and this is my kit, Creek.”

Squirrelflight greeted her, then leaned toward Leafstar. “Have you noticed that there are no grown males here, only youngsters?”

“Now that you mention it …” Leafstar narrowed her eyes. “I wonder what happened to their fathers.”

“Maybe they ate them.” Squirrelflight glanced at Leafstar, joking, yet she couldn’t help feeling that the absence of adult toms was strange.

Moonlight pointed to a yellow she-cat crouching beside the juniper. “That’s Sunrise.” Sunrise nodded as Moonlight’s gaze flicked past her, toward two young ginger-and-white she-cats sharing a thrush a tail-length away. “They’re Flurry and Sparrow. Hawk’s their mother.”

Leafstar jabbed her mouse with her paw. She hooked it up and inspected it. “We don’t need to know every cat’s name,” she mewed. “We won’t be here long.”

Moonlight glanced at her thoughtfully for a moment, then returned to her vole as though dismissing the SkyClan leader’s claim.

They finished their meal in silence. Squirrelflight was aware of the Sisters snatching watchful glances at her as they ate. Some of them clearly weren’t comfortable with Moonlight’s decision to keep them. But Sparrow and Flurry stared with open curiosity, and Squirrelflight couldn’t help warming to the pair. They reminded her of apprentices, eager to start training.

Dusk was creeping over the valley. As shadow swallowed the hillside, Squirrelflight glanced around at the bushes encircling the camp. There were gaps here and there where she and Leafstar could slip out. The Sisters would have to sleep eventually, and it might be possible to sneak past even the most careful guard. Once they were out of the camp and in the thick undergrowth of the valley, it would be hard to follow them. Her thoughts flitted back to ThunderClan. Bramblestar would be worried that she hadn’t returned. She felt guilty about asking Sparkpelt to keep her secret. It wouldn’t be easy for her daughter to sleep while her father fretted. Perhaps she’d tell him, and Bramblestar would be angry. Would he send a search party straight away? No. Even if he was angry with her for coming, he’d respect her enough to let her finish the mission she’d started and only worry when she hadn’t returned in a day or two.

Moonlight beckoned Tempest with a flick of her nose and, when the she-cat hurried to speak with her, murmured something first to Tempest and then to Snow. The white cat got to her paws and followed Tempest across the clearing. They stopped in front of Squirrelflight and Leafstar.

Tempest nodded toward the juniper bush. “Moonlight says you’re to sleep there.”

Snow hung back, watching through narrowed eyes as Squirrelflight and Leafstar stood and padded toward the juniper bush.

Leafstar glanced over her shoulder at the white she-cat. “I don’t care how big she is,” she hissed to Squirrelflight. “If she snarls at me again, I’ll claw her fur off.”

Tempest stopped beside the juniper bush. “She’s protective of her campmates, that’s all.” She blinked apologetically at Leafstar. “And she doesn’t trust strangers.”

Squirrelflight sniffed the bush. The warm scent of bracken hung around it. Tempest nodded to a small gap between the branches. “You’ll find nests inside. Snow will guard the entrance. If you need anything, ask her and she’ll let me know.”

Squirrelflight dipped her head. “Thank you.”

Leafstar pushed past her and strode inside.

“Do you have to make this difficult?” Squirrelflight followed her in. The entrance opened into a small den. Bracken and moss were piled at the edges. It had clearly been slept on. “Cats have given up their nests so that we can sleep comfortably.”

“They wouldn’t have to if they let us go.” Leafstar sat on one of the piles and curled down stiffly into the moss. “I don’t know why you’re treating them like friends.”

“Why make this any more uncomfortable than it is?” Squirrelflight mewed irritably. “Besides, I saw a gap beside the dogwood that looks like it might lead to a track through the brush. I doubt we’ll get past Snow tonight, but if we play along, the whole group might be less watchful and we’ll be able to slip away tomorrow.”

“‘Play along,’” Leafstar grunted. “I thought we were warriors.” She turned her back on Squirrelflight and tucked her nose into the bracken, grumbling. “Held hostage by a bunch of rogues.”

Squirrelflight settled onto the bracken beside her. She sympathized with the SkyClan leader. It was humiliating to be kept prisoner here, but conflict could be dangerous, not just for them. What if Moonlight’s unborn kits were hurt in the fight? She rested her muzzle on her paws and closed her eyes. Tired after the long trek into new territory, she pushed worries from her mind and let herself sink into sleep.

A screech woke her. It split the air and she jerked her head up. In the darkness, it took a moment to remember where she was. Another shriek sounded. With a sickening jolt, Squirrelflight realized that Leafstar wasn’t beside her. She scrambled from her nest and darted outside.

Snow had pinned Leafstar to the grass. Her pelt bushed, the white she-cat snarled at the SkyClan leader and pressed her shoulders harder against the earth. Leafstar struggled beneath her, hind paws churning. But Snow had twisted out of reach. The white cat glanced up as Squirrelflight skidded to a halt behind them. “I don’t like to start fights any more than Moonlight,” she hissed. “But I’m more than willing to finish them.” She let go of Leafstar and backed away, her ears flat.

Flurry and Sparrow had hurried from their den. Stone and Grass watched from across the clearing.

Moonlight padded toward them. “What’s going on here?”

“She tried to escape,” Snow hissed.

Leafstar pushed herself to her paws and shook out her pelt. Rage shone in her eyes.

Squirrelflight hurried forward. “She was probably just going to make dirt,” she mewed quickly.

“No, I wasn’t,” Leafstar growled.

“Get inside,” Squirrelflight hissed. Did she want more trouble? She smelled blood and saw that Leafstar was wounded. “You’re hurt!”

Leafstar snorted and turned toward the den. Squirrelflight’s chest tightened as she watched her limp inside. Snow was glaring at her, eyes glittering. Stone and Grass glanced nervously at each other.

Flurry stepped forward. “We can guard if you like,” she told Snow.

Sparrow pressed beside her. “You can get some sleep.”

Snow narrowed her eyes. “I’ll finish what I started,” she mewed ominously.

Moonlight flicked her tail. “Make sure your friend stays in her den,” she told Squirrelflight. “I don’t want any more disturbances tonight.” She turned back to her own den.

Squirrelflight followed Leafstar inside to find her lapping her hind paw. “Let me look at your wound.” Squirrelflight nosed her muzzle out of the way and inspected the ragged fur. Blood oozed from a deep scratch on her leg. Her heart sank. It would be harder to escape now that Leafstar was injured. “Make sure it’s clean,” Squirrelflight told her.

“What do you think I was doing?” Leafstar began licking it again.

Squirrelflight looked around the den, relieved to see cobwebs crowding between the branches above her head. She reached up and grabbed a pawful. “Dress it with these when you’ve finished cleaning it.”

“Thanks.” Leafstar took the cobwebs from her.

“Tomorrow we’ll see if we can get herbs to treat it.” Anxiety fluttered in Squirrelflight’s belly. Why hadn’t Leafstar waited, as they’d planned? “Were you planning to leave without me?”

“I was trying to see if there was an easy way out of the camp,” Leafstar told her. “If I’d found one, I would have come back for you.”

“Okay.” Squirrelflight believed her. Leafstar wouldn’t abandon another warrior. She sat down. Slipping away was going to be harder than she’d thought. Were they going to have to fight their way out of here? She forced her fur to remain flat. Fighting these cats would be dangerous. The Sisters seemed peaceful, but they were clearly willing to be aggressive if they needed to. “Next time you come up with an escape plan, tell me first.”

“I don’t know if there will be a next time.” Leafstar began wrapping cobweb around her paw. “I think we’ll have to wait for our Clanmates to rescue us.”

Squirrelflight met her gaze darkly. She didn’t want ThunderClan cats to get hurt because she’d made the mistake of coming here. Guilt wormed in her belly. She should never have gone behind Bramblestar’s back. “They might not watch us so closely tomorrow,” she mewed hopefully. “We might get away.”

Leafstar eyed her doubtfully. “These cats won’t let us go easily.”

Squirrelflight shifted her paws anxiously. Leafstar was right. Escaping was going to be hard. And even if they managed, she wondered what kind of reception would await her in the ThunderClan camp.