Chapter 3
A few days after her mate’s death,Frostfur pelted from the nursery,Brindleface swiftly following her,her fur bristling in horror.”My kits!Someone has taken my kits!”
Brackenkit,Brightkit,Thornkit and Cinderkit were nowhere to be found in the nursery.Every hair on her body was pulsing with fear.
Tigerclaw rushed over to her,”Quick,search the camp!Whitestorm,stay where you are.Warriors,patrol the camp boundary.Apprentices,search every den!”
Frostfur glimpsed Firepaw bounding into the warriors den;she wasn’t focused on the ex-kittypet.Yellowfang,the former ShadowClan warrior,who had recently joined ThunderClan, thrusting her way through the foliage.Fear dropped like a stone in Frostfur’s belly.Had Yellowfang taken her kits?Could any Clan cat really be so wicked?
“Yellowfang is gone!”
Suddenly,Bluestar pelted from the medicine den,”Spottedleaf has been killed.She…-”The Clan leader’s voice quavered,”-was killed by a warrior’s blow.”
Gasps erupted from the watching cats.
Frostfur turned her gaze to the medicine den,and glimpsed a bundle of unmoving tortoiseshell fur,Firepaw was bent over the dead medicine cat,grief clear in his hanging head and hunched shoulders.
Frostfur shrieked,”Yellowfang has killed Spottedleaf and taken my kits!”
Speckletail,Goldenflower and Brindleface dashed to her side,trying to console her;Frostfur thrusted them away and let out a wordless yowl,lifting head to Silverpelt.Lionheart,Lionheart,our kits!How can I lose them as well as you?
Dark brown tabby fur bushed,Tigerclaw spat,”I always knew she was a traitor.Now we know how she managed to fight Blackfoot.It was a set-up to worm her way into the heart of our Clan.”
CRACKLE!
Lightning fizzled overhead.
Gathering storm clouds added even more tension and spectacle to the deputy’s words.
Darkstripe turned his head to his Clan leader,”What you say?”
Frostfur watched her former mentor as her gaze began to move around the clearing and ultimately fell on her dead medicine cat’s body.
Slowly,she lifted her head,her voice frostily calm,”If Yellowfang has killed Spottedleaf and stolen Frostfur’s kits,she will be hunted down without mercy.”
“But we must wait,a storm is coming.I am not ready to risk more lives.If ShadowClan possesses our kits,they will come to no immediate harm.My guess is Brokenstar wants them as recruits for his own Clan,or prisoners.He might want them in exchange for permission to hunt in our territory.We will send a patrol to follow Yellowfang,and bring back our kits.”
Tigerclaw let out a meow of protest,”We can’t waste time.The scent will be lost in the rain!”
Bluestar shook her head,“If we send a patrol now,our efforts will be wasted.We will wait until after the storm;we stand a better chance of success.”
Mutters of agreement arose among the gathered ThunderClan cats as their leader led their deputy away into her den to talk privately.
Frostfur stood frozen for a moment,fear spreading in her body until it touched every fibre of her being.A sudden determination surged through her.She was being stupid;this wasn’t helping her kits.
Getting to her paws,she headed towards the camp entrance.
A mew from Brindleface halted her,”Frostfur!Where are you going?It’s not safe.”
“I have to go look for them.Don’t you understand?”
Brindleface thrusted herself in front of her sister,”You can’t!It’s not safe.You mustn’t risk your life.How will that help the kits?”
“Well,sitting here won’t help them either,”Frostfur hissed,desperation edging her words.
“Listen to me.The storm will clear soon.Look,the sky is lighter already.The patrol will find them.”
“ShadowClan won’t wait for them.Lionheart wouldn’t-”
A new voice interrupted her,”Lionheart wouldn’t want his mate and his kits’ lives in danger.”
Frostfur turned to see Whitestorm.The majestic white tom had been good friends with her lost mate.She stared at him,breathless as he continued speaking,”We’re sending out a patrol now,I’m leading it.”
“I should be the one leading it.”
“Stay here,in case they return.They’ll need you to comfort and reassure them.”
“But I-”
“Trust me,we won’t return without them.I promise,”Whitestorm urged her.
Frostfur stared at her foster brother,”Swear on your life,”she demanded.
“On my life.I promise,”Whitestorm blinked at her.His wide yellow gaze hadn’t changed since they were kits.
Frostfur held his stare,”I’ll keep a lookout at camp.”
“Thank you.”
Frostfur watched as Whitestorm,Mousefur,Darkstripe headed out of camp,hope and anguish clashing in her mind.She headed into the nursery to check on the remaining kits.Lynxkit and Swiftkit lay in Goldenflower’s nest beside their mother.Brindleface’s three tiny newborn kits’ eyes were still open.A twinge of relief rushed through her.At least every other kit was safe.
Suddenly,something Tigerclaw had previously said to Brindleface replayed in her mind:”I heard Ravenpaw told ShadowClan we were left without our strongest warrior and Bluestar in camp.”
But surely not…The young black and white tom had never had enough audacity to speak out in a Clan meeting,let alone conspire with an enemy Clan.And yet…He had seemed even more jumpy recently,something told her the apprentice was hiding something.Suspicion and fury began to crawl through her pelt.
Abruptly,as if he could read her mind though,the skinny young tom poked his head through the entrance.
Baring her teeth,Frostfur spat,”You won’t harm our kits!”
Trembling with confusion and fear,Ravenpaw flattened his ear,”I…I was only going to-”
“You stay clear of the nursery.”
Even though a trickle of doubt ran down her spine,Frostfur couldn’t take the chance of letting a potential traitor,albeit her younger brother, harm ThunderClan’s kits.She watched as Ravenpaw scurried away,his pelt slick with rain.
Brindleface watched her,shocked.
“What was that for?”
“You heard what Tigerclaw was saying early.He might be a traitor.”
“He’s our brother.”
“That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t betray the Clan.Look how slippery he’s been acting lately.”
“He saw Redtail die.”
“He might be the reason Redtail died.”
Brindleface stared in disbelief at her littermate,”he’s our kin.What do you think Robinwing would say?”
“I…”
Guilt surged over her as Brindleface added.“ShadowClan stealing your kits isn’t an excuse to spit at our brother like that.”
“You’re right.I’ll say sorry.”
She made her way out of the nursery,to apologize to her brother.
Brindleface is right.That was an awful thing to say to him.
Making her way across camp,she saw Firepaw,Graypaw,and Ravenpaw heading out of the camp.She was about to follow them before Bluestar intercepted her,”Where are you going,Frostfur?It’s not safe for anyone to go out alone.”
“I wanted to talk to Ravenpaw,Bluestar.”
“Leave him.He’s accompanying two young toms to find herbs for Brindleface’s sick kit,”Bluestar’s ice-blue gaze softened,”We’ll find your kits,Frostfur.ShadowClan wouldn’t kill them.”
“Look how they drove out WindClan.”
“They were obeying their leaders’ orders.Brokenstar is the real threat right now.”
“I hope you’re right,Bluestar.”
Frostfur met her Clan leader’s gaze,thinking how little she had changed from the solemn,kind mentor she had known as an apprentice.
The blue-grey she-cat had grown,gained a scar,a torn ear and a silver muzzle,but her gentle wisdom and patience hadn’t diminished.
Dipping her head,she walked swiftly to the camp entrance and sat down,anticipating the arrival of her kits.A chill ran through her as she pictured the limp bodies of Thornkit,Brightkit,Brackenkit and Cinderkit.
The sound of paw steps brought her back to the present.Her father,Patchpelt,padded towards her and sat down beside his daughter,his black tail raised in greeting.
Frostfur touched her nose to her father’s,grateful for his presence.
The black-and-white elder blinked at her reassuringly.
There was a long silence before Patchpelt murmured darkly,”The Clans are changing.The ShadowClan of old never would have stolen kits.Brokenstar has changed it,for the worse.”
Abruptly,a plethora of thundering paws sounded near the gorse tunnel.
Whitestorm appeared,accompanied by the rest of the patrol,Firepaw,Graypaw and Yellowfang.Following swiftly,four tiny kits.