Эрин Хантер - Crowfeather's Trial

Blinking the blood from his eyes, Crowfeather turned his head to see Heathertail peering out from the bottom of a gorse thicket. He stumbled over to her, thrusting himself in among the thorns, clenching his jaws at the pain of the sharp points tearing at his pelt.

At first he thought the stoats would simply follow him into the thicket. Relief surged through him as he realized they were drawing back. He crouched among the thorns, listening to the pattering paw steps and vicious snarling of the stoats outside the thicket, until gradually the sounds died away.

Following Heathertail, Crowfeather wormed his way through the bushes until they emerged on the far side. He was even more relieved to see that his Clanmates had pushed their way through the thorns, too. They all looked battered, with clumps of fur missing and blood trickling from scratches along their sides, but they were alive and on their paws.

“Well,” Heathertail mewed, “I guess we know what’s in the tunnels now. Stoats! I’m glad you brought enough for every cat, Breezepelt.”

“It was horrible!” Breezepelt still looked terribly shaken, hardly able to stand upright. “Nightcloud and I were surrounded by the disgusting things. I thought we’d go to StarClan for sure. And then we found a way out, and just ran. . . .”

A murmur of apprehension greeted his words, but Crowfeather was silent, alarm striking him like lightning from a clear sky. He looked around.

“Wait,” he meowed. “Where is Nightcloud?”

“What happened, exactly?” Onestar asked.

Back on WindClan territory, the battered survivors of the patrol stood in the middle of the camp, surrounded by a crowd of their Clanmates. Crowfeather could hardly bear to meet their anxious gazes or see the urgency in Onestar’s face as he repeated his question.

By now night had fallen, and an icy wind was sweeping over the moor, driving ragged clouds across the moon and probing deep into the cats’ fur. But no cats thought of returning to their den or settling into their nest. They were all too worried about the discovery of the white stoats in the tunnels, and the disappearance of Nightcloud.

Breezepelt stood with his head lowered, staring at his paws, and seemed unable to look up at his Clan leader, much less answer his question. Crowfeather guessed that he was afraid of having to explain the disaster to a Clan that already didn’t trust him.

“Breezepelt?” Onestar prompted him. “You have to tell us what happened. Where is Nightcloud?”

“I don’t know!” Breezepelt flashed back at him, desperation in his voice. “It was more . . . more complicated than we expected. Once we got down the tunnel, there was a fresh scent—it was very strong, and different from anything I’d scented before. Then those . . . those creatures attacked us. It was too dark to see what they were, or even how many of them were there.”

“What did you do?” Gorsetail asked, her blue eyes fixed intently on Breezepelt.

“What could we do?” Breezepelt retorted. “We fought. One of the creatures injured Nightcloud, and I tried to help her and get her out. Finally we managed to escape, but the creatures followed us.”

“Stoats,” Crowfeather put in. “We know now that they are stoats.”

Breezepelt nodded, looking utterly wretched. “Nightcloud told me to run,” he continued, “so I did. I thought she was right behind me. But when I finally got out, she wasn’t there. We looked, but we couldn’t find her.”

“And we couldn’t go back into the tunnels to search for her,” Harespring added, “because the stoats were guarding the entrances.”

Breezepelt lowered his head again, his claws extended, digging into the ground. “Oh, StarClan!” he choked out miserably. “Please don’t let those things have killed her. They were so vicious . . . and she was so brave. . . .”

Watching Breezepelt as he struggled with his grief, Crowfeather felt warm sympathy flow over him, like sunlight striking down through a gap in dark clouds. He hadn’t felt like that toward his son in a long time. Pangs of compassion and anxiety gripped him like two sets of claws.

A dark pit seemed to open up in front of Crowfeather as a chilling thought went through his mind.

Nightcloud is a tough warrior. If she thought the stoats were a threat to Breezepelt, she would have fought to defend him—to her last breath if she had to. And maybe she did.

Crowfeather’s chest felt as if he had swallowed a thorny rose stem. It made sense that Nightcloud would have chosen to give her life to save her son’s, but the idea that she might have died alone in the dark made him ache with grief and regret.

“I don’t like to say this,” Leaftail began, breaking the silence that had followed Breezepelt’s last words, “but, Breezepelt—why didn’t you make certain that Nightcloud was with you when you were fleeing from the stoats?”

Breezepelt didn’t meet the tabby tom’s gaze. “I told you . . . I thought she was with me.”

Leaftail let out a contemptuous snort. “You ‘thought.’ I see . . .”

The rest of the Clan exchanged uncomfortable glances as Leaftail’s voice died away. Crowfeather realized that every cat was wondering whether Breezepelt hadn’t fought for his mother as valiantly as he should have. He felt his shoulder fur bristling in unexpected defense of his son.

Breezepelt and Nightcloud have always had such a strong bond. I know Breezepelt would never have let any other animal hurt her. But a worm of doubt stirred and writhed within Crowfeather’s belly. Or would he . . . ?

Breezepelt’s gaze slowly drifted over his staring Clanmates. Finally he glared at Leaftail. “What are you suggesting?” he asked. “That I would abandon my mother like that?”

No cat answered.

Breezepelt dug his claws into the earth. “I was convinced Nightcloud was behind me when we left the tunnels!” he protested, clearly desperate to be believed. “There was nothing I could have done.”

Leaftail gave his whiskers a dubious twitch but said nothing more.

Crowfeather was opening his jaws to speak up on Breezepelt’s behalf when Onestar forestalled him.

“You needn’t defend yourself, Breezepelt,” the Clan leader meowed. “ I believe you, because you’re an honorable WindClan warrior.” His gaze raked commandingly over the assembled cats. “And I expect every one of you to believe him, too. We must unite, because we are in grave danger. There’s an infestation of stoats in the tunnels, which means they are closer to camp than I’m comfortable with.”

Anxious murmurs broke out among the Clan as their leader spoke. Their attention momentarily shifted away from Breezepelt, who stood silently in their midst, head and tail drooping. It didn’t look as if Onestar’s faith in his loyalty had encouraged him in the slightest.

“Onestar, do you think we should warn ThunderClan?” Harespring asked. “After all, they share the tunnels. The stoats could cause trouble in their territory, too.”

“No,” Onestar responded, every cat’s gaze turning to him at the brusqueness of his tone. “We’ll keep this to ourselves for now. WindClan can solve this problem without involving ThunderClan, or their inexperienced new leader.”

Harespring dipped his head in agreement, though Crowfeather thought that he still looked doubtful. Crowfeather understood his doubts—but he understood Onestar’s hesitation, too. Onestar had always bristled at Firestar’s attempts to involve himself in other Clans’ business. Maybe he was hoping for a new relationship with ThunderClan, now that Bramblestar was leader.

“It’s possible Nightcloud is trapped or being held prisoner by the stoats,” Onestar continued. “If so, we have to concentrate on rescuing her.”