The Silent Thaw

Chapter 20

Bristlefrost nosed a sparrow from the top of the fresh-kill pile and sniffed unenthusiastically at the prey underneath. She wasn’t hungry, but her Clanmates were eating after a busy day patrolling. All she wanted was to settle into the soft grass beneath the Highledge and think. Last night’s Gathering had unnerved her. There had been no challenge to Bramblestar. Squirrelflight had returned from her self-imposed exile, admitting that she hadn’t managed to speak to the other leaders. She’d made it to the SkyClan camp, but Leafstar had warned her that WindClan, RiverClan, and ShadowClan might not be so welcoming. Squirrelflight had decided to visit them anyway, but when Harestar had seemed unconvinced by her report, she had returned to ThunderClan.

Bristlefrost pressed back a shiver and grabbed a shrew from the pile. She carried it to the shelter of the Highledge. No cat had stood up for Tigerstar. The Clans were clearly prepared to allow Bramblestar to decide who should lead another Clan. Didn’t they realize how dangerous that was? And how wrong? Without StarClan, the Clans seemed to be falling apart.

She dropped the shrew and circled on the grass beside it, smoothing a place to sit. As she settled down, an angry hiss sounded from the Highledge. She looked up, heart pounding. Squirrelflight was up there with Bramblestar. The ThunderClan leader had summoned her to his den when she’d returned from patrol.

Then came a muffled snarl. Bristlefrost glanced at her Clanmates. Had they heard it? Sparkpelt was sharing a thrush with Stormcloud outside the warriors’ den. Bumblestripe and Berrynose lay near the nursery, picking over the bones of a pigeon. Lilyheart, Stemleaf, and Spotfur were watching as Finleap demonstrated a hunting move. Thornclaw and Birchfall were eating with the elders, listening as Graystripe and Brackenfur told tales of when they were apprentices in ThunderClan’s old home beyond the mountains. None of them seemed to notice the noise from their leader’s den. Perhaps they were pretending not to hear. If Bramblestar and his mate were arguing, maybe they thought it was polite to ignore it.

Bristlefrost’s belly fluttered anxiously. She picked up her shrew. If she took it to Bramblestar’s den, she could ask if he or Squirrelflight was hungry and check that Squirrelflight was okay.

Scrambling up the rock tumble, she hopped onto the ledge and padded warily to Bramblestar’s den. Through the leaves covering the entrance she heard Bramblestar’s growl.

“Where did you go?” Anger hardened his mew.

“I told you,” Squirrelflight sounded indignantly. “I went to the horseplace and traveled over the meadows from there.”

“What did you eat?”

“Whatever I could catch.”

“And what did you do when you weren’t hunting?”

Squirrelflight’s mew was smooth. “I sat quietly and thought about the warrior code and how I could be a better deputy.”

Bristlefrost’s pelt pricked. She knew Squirrelflight was lying, and she still sounded convincing. Perhaps everything would be okay after all.

“So you’ll be sure to follow it from now on?” Bramblestar sounded unsatisfied.

“Yes,” Squirrelflight mewed. “I understand why you’re determined to follow it so closely now.”

“And why’s that?” Bramblestar demanded acidly.

“The Clans have fallen away from the code. But it’s all that stands between warriors and rogues. We must honor StarClan by following it exactly.” Squirrelflight sounded sincere, but Bristlefrost guessed she was only acting to put Bramblestar at ease.

Bristlefrost glanced down at her Clanmates. They were busy talking and eating and didn’t seem interested in why she was standing outside Bramblestar’s den. She leaned closer to the entrance, pricking her ears, her heart pounding as she listened.

“Why did you break the code in the first place?” Bramblestar’s mew grew harder.

“What do you mean?” For the first time, Squirrelflight sounded shaken.

“Why did you pretend Leafpool’s kits were yours?”

“That was moons ago.” Squirrelflight’s mew was taut. Bramblestar had clearly touched a nerve.

“Your sister was a liar, and she made a liar out of you!” Bramblestar’s hiss caught Bristlefrost by surprise.

“My sister was brave.” Squirrelflight’s mew cracked.

“She was a codebreaker!”

“I know.” Squirrelflight hesitated as though trying to regain her composure. “I should have helped her tell the truth. But she was scared and I was weak.”

“You were weak.” Bramblestar’s snarl made Bristlefrost freeze. “You still are.” He sounded dangerous. “Did you think about your weakness while you were at the horseplace?” Squirrelflight gave a yelp. Bristlefrost’s heart seemed to stop. Was Bramblestar hurting her? “Did you atone for it?” he hissed.

“I atoned for everything!” Squirrelflight’s mew was taut with pain.

Bristlefrost’s pelt spiked as Bramblestar snarled again. “I gave you one last chance to tell the truth and you didn’t!” Her eyes widened. Whose voice was that? It didn’t seem to belong to Bramblestar. Was another cat in the den with them? Bristlefrost held her breath, straining to recognize the mew. It didn’t sound like any cat she’d ever heard before.

She heard paws scuff the floor of the den and she scrambled away, leaping down the rock tumble as the leaves shivered at the entrance and Bramblestar backed out. In the clearing, she stared up at the Highledge, her breath catching as she saw Bramblestar drag Squirrelflight from his den with his teeth in her scruff. He hauled her roughly down the rock tumble, letting go as she fought her way to her paws at the bottom.

She leaped away from him, hissing viciously.

Around the camp, the ThunderClan cats leaped to their paws, their backs arching as Squirrelflight faced Bramblestar, her lips drawn back into a snarl.

Bramblestar’s gaze swept over them, anger glittering in his eyes. “There’s a codebreaker among us!” he hissed. “And it pains me to punish her—but if we ever hope to hear from StarClan again, I must.” He turned on Squirrelflight once more. “You,” he snarled. “My own deputy. My mate! You don’t belong in ThunderClan anymore. You don’t deserve a place here.”

Squirrelflight stared at him, fear showing in her eyes as Alderheart and Jayfeather padded from the medicine den, their ears twitching.

Bristlefrost stared in panic at the ThunderClan deputy. Had Bramblestar discovered that she’d lied? How? She hadn’t noticed him leaving camp much lately. How could he know where Squirrelflight had gone?

Graystripe stared at Bramblestar. “She’s Firestar’s daughter,” he mewed in disbelief. “You can’t exile her.”

Thornclaw padded forwarded. Shock showed in his pale blue eyes. “What has she done?”

“She’s a liar.” Bramblestar rounded on the two warriors, his eyes blazing. “She pretended to atone, but she wasn’t trying to make her peace with StarClan. She was breaking the code again!”

Thornclaw blinked questioningly at Squirrelflight.

Bramblestar padded closer to his deputy, hissing. “Where did you go when you left ThunderClan?”

“I told you!” Squirrelflight lifted her chin. “I went to the horseplace.”

“You’re lying!” Bramblestar thrust his muzzle closer to hers. “I know because I sent a Clanmate to follow you.”

Bristlefrost felt the gazes of her Clanmates flit toward her. She stiffened, feeling sick. It wasn’t me.

Bramblestar nodded toward Bumblestripe. “I sent a loyal warrior to see where you went,” the ThunderClan leader growled.

Fear spread beneath Bristlefrost’s pelt, as cold as ice, as Bumblestripe padded forward, puffing out his chest.

“Squirrelflight didn’t go to the horseplace,” he mewed. “She went to SkyClan.”

“SkyClan?” Thornclaw looked confused. “Why did she go there?”

Bumblestripe curled his lip. “She went to persuade SkyClan to rise up against ThunderClan.”

Sparkpelt and Stormcloud stared at Squirrelflight in disbelief.

Berrynose curled his lip. “Traitor!”

The word rang around the camp. Lilyheart and Hollytuft echoed it. Bristlefrost stared at them. They didn’t believe Squirrelflight would want to harm them, surely? Didn’t they realize she wouldn’t turn to another Clan unless there was a good reason?

Squirrelflight eyed Bramblestar, her tail flicking dangerously over the ground.

Blood roared in Bristlefrost’s ears. What else did Bumblestripe know? Was he about to turn on her? Did he know about the secret meetings? That she was a traitor too? She wanted to look at Stemleaf and Spotfur for reassurance, but she didn’t dare. What if looking at them gave her away?

Sparkpelt padded forward and stared at her mother. Her green eyes were wide with disbelief. “Is it true?”

Squirrelflight’s tail fell still. She stared back at her daughter, but she didn’t speak. Her eyes grew dull as though a fire had been extinguished. Slowly, she straightened and looked around at her Clanmates. “I’ll leave,” she mewed softly. “But there’s something you must know. My mate would never behave like this. You must know in your hearts that this cat”—she stared scornfully at Bramblestar—“has none of the courage, honor, and honesty of the real Bramblestar. This Bramblestar is an impostor.”

Bristlefrost searched the gazes of her Clanmates. Did they believe her? She watched them stare at Squirrelflight. Was that pity in their eyes? They don’t understand! Her Clanmates seemed to hear Squirrelflight’s words as no more than spite from a cat whose mate had rejected her. The truth was clearly too far-fetched to believe.

This time she couldn’t stop herself from looking at Stemleaf, pleading with her eyes. We have to do something! As though reading her thoughts, he shook his head, too subtly for their Clanmates to notice.

“Bristlefrost!” Bramblestar’s growl made her jump.

She stared at him, guilt searing her pelt. Was he about to accuse her?

His gaze was hard. “I want you, Twigbranch, and Lionblaze to escort Squirrelflight off our land.”

Bristlefrost straightened. Was he sending her a message? Was escorting Squirrelflight off ThunderClan territory meant to warn her that she could be next?

Bramblestar nodded to Stormcloud and Birchfall. “Go with them.”

Bristlefrost eyed the toms warily. Were they spies too? She tried not to tremble as she padded toward Squirrelflight. The ThunderClan deputy was already heading toward the entrance.

Bramblestar didn’t even look at his mate. Instead he looked calmly around at the Clan. “ThunderClan needs a new deputy.”

Bristlefrost paused at the edge of the clearing. Was he going to choose one now? After everything that just happened?

Bumblestripe quickly stepped forward. “I want to defend the warrior code as much as you do. I’d be honored if you’d consider me for deputy.”

Berrynose brushed past him. “You know I’d do my best to be a loyal and brave deputy to ThunderClan,” he told Bramblestar. “You were my mentor.” He cast a sly glance at Bumblestripe. “So you know you can trust me.”

Bristlefrost shuddered. She hurried to catch up to Squirrelflight, relieved to be heading out of camp. She didn’t want to see her Clanmates behaving like fox-hearts. She followed Birchfall and Stormcloud through the entrance tunnel. As the two toms fanned out around Squirrelflight, Bristlefrost trailed behind with Lionblaze and Twigbranch. She glanced at them nervously.

Twigbranch looked shaken. “He can’t banish her,” the gray she-cat whispered as soon as they were clear of the camp. “Why’s he doing this?”

Lionblaze padded closer, his ears twitching. “Isn’t it obvious?” he growled darkly. “If his deputy and mate isn’t safe, then no cat is. He wants to make that clear.”

Dread dropped like a stone in Bristlefrost’s belly. How could they stand up to Bramblestar now? He clearly had plenty of allies in ThunderClan, as well as the support of warriors in every other Clan. There could be no more secret meetings. Any cat could be spying on them. She glanced back at the camp. Were Berrynose and Bumblestripe still competing to see who could be ThunderClan’s new deputy? She felt sick. Whoever was posing as Bramblestar was far more clever and ruthless than she’d ever imagined.