Эрин Хантер - Thunder Аnd Shadow

Alderpaw looked away. “The patrol wasn’t looking for her ,” he mumbled.

“What?” Twigpaw could hardly believe her ears. What was he talking about? “Squirrelflight led a patrol to search for m y mother. That’s what Ivy pool told m e.”

Alderpaw shook his head. “That wasn’t who they were searching for.”

“Not m y mother ? Then why does Ivy pool think that?” Twigpaw stared at him, anger surging in her chest as he looked back at her, not reply ing. “Did they ever look for her?”

Alderpaw stared at the ground guiltily. “No.” His mew was barely a whisper.

“Never?” Heat seared her pelt as she watched Alderpaw struggling for words.

“They were looking for som ething else,” he mumbled at last.

“Why does Ivy pool think they were looking for m y mother?”

“The whole Clan believed they were looking for y our mother.” Alderpaw was still avoiding her gaze. “They still do.”

“What were they searching for?” Twigpaw tried to think of som ething more im portant than her mother.

Alderpaw looked at her hopelessly. “I can’t tell y ou.”

“Why not?” I thought you told me everything! I trusted you! She curled her claws into the ground.

“It’s Clan business.”

Twigpaw’s pelt spiked. “So I’m not to know because I’m not part of the Clan!”

“Of course you are!” Alderpaw’s gaze rounded guiltily. “That’s not what I meant. Only a few cats know where the patrol went. It’s a secret I can’t share with y ou.”

Twigpaw hesitated, unsure whether to be hurt that he was keeping secrets from her or com forted that she wasn’t alone in being lied to. Irritation sparked through her pelt. “Why didn’t Bramblestar send out a patrol to look for m y mother?”

Sadness darkened Alderpaw’s gaze. “He didn’t think there was any point.”

“Didn’t he care what had happened to her?” Twigpaw’s heart twisted.

“I’m sure he did. But… A mother doesn’t abandon kits who are too young to take care of them selves unless…” Alderpaw’s mew trailed away.

“Unless… unless she’s dead ?” Twigpaw lashed her tail. “That’s what you were going to say, isn’t it?” She tried to push the thought away, but it nagged at her. It would explain why she’d left them. But we can’t be sure. Until they checked, there was still the tiniest, sweetest chance she was still alive. She glared defiantly at Alderpaw. “May be som ething happened to stop her coming back. She might have returned and found us gone. She might be wondering where we went. She might still be looking for us!” She thrust her m uzzle close to Alderpaw’s. “If you hadn’t taken us, Violetkit and I might still be with her!”

Before Alderpaw could answer, Twigpaw pushed her way from the ferns and strode out of camp. She wouldn’t be in this dum b Clan if it weren’t for Alderpaw. She’d be with her sister. And her sister wouldn’t be with a gang of rogues. Burning with rage, she followed the trail that headed toward the ShadowClan border. She hadn’t seen Violetkit since Needlepaw had taken her from ShadowClan. But she was going to see her now. She was going to find her and tell her what she’d discovered.

Twigpaw had heard the Clan gossip, and words swirled in her thoughts as she pushed past the undergrowth. The rogues live beyond ShadowClan territory, near the border with ThunderClan. She headed that way now. I must speak with Violetkit. She had to tell her that the Clan cats had lied to her. What if our mother came back for us?

Birds called to one another overhead, warning and serenading, preparing their nests. The sun, glittering through the budding branches, dappled Twigpaw’s back with gentle warmth. She hardly felt it. She veered from the track as she neared the border and shadowed the scent line deeper into the forest, where the ground began to rise. She had never been this far before—even on her first day as an apprentice, when Ivy pool had shown her ThunderClan’s territory. She’d felt so proud that day, knowing that this was her land and that one day she’d be patrolling it, keeping it safe for kits and elders.

Who’s keeping my mother safe? She lifted her chin defiantly and pressed on. The ground grew softer beneath her paws, turning to m ud as the trees thinned. She reached the ThunderClan scent line and crossed it, her heart quickening as she set paw outside Clan territory.

The rogues must be near. She could sm ell strange scents. Tensing, she scanned the undergrowth. Darktail’s gang seem ed more like ghosts than real cats. They never came to Gatherings, and they lived on the outskirts of the territory, occasionally glim psed in the shadows by patrols. The Clan whispered about them in hushed mews, as though speaking of Dark Forest cats.

Her pelt pricked with unease as she headed away from the sun, trekking closer to the edge of ShadowClan’s land. Opening her m outh, she tasted the air for scents, sm elling the newleaf tang of fresh leaves and m ud. The ground turned to grass beneath her paws, sloping steeper. Beech and alder grew here. Rowan bushes crowded between the trunks. She slowed, aware that she could already be on rogue territory, and ducked closer to the bushes.

A pelt m oved ahead, and she stopped, her heart lurching. A tom was carry ing prey upslope.

Twigpaw froze and watched as he padded between two rows of ferns and disappeared from view.

“Spy ing?”

A mew behind her m ade her spin. Her heart in her throat, she blinked at the young she-cat who was staring at her accusingly. She sniffed and sm elled the unfam iliar scent of rogue.

“What are you doing here?” the she-cat dem anded. The black splotches on her white pelt rippled as her hackles lifted.

“Violetkit?” Relief surged through Twigpaw. Violetkit looked well. The rogues clearly hadn’t harm ed her. Twigpaw stared, hardly able to believe that this sleek young cat was her sister.

Muscle showed beneath her pelt. Her paws had grown wide, sharp claw-tips showing beneath the fur. Twigpaw hesitated as Violetkit stared back. Was that suspicion in her gaze? “It’s m e, Twigpaw.”

Violetkit narrowed her eyes. “I’m Violet paw now.”

Twigkit blinked at her. Isn’t she pleased to see me? “I cam e to find y ou.”

“Why now?” Violetpaw’s gaze didn’t betray any thing.

“I found som ething out. All the other cats in ThunderClan were told that they sent out a patrol to look for our mother, but they didn’t. It was a lie. They never checked to see if she cam e back for us.” The words tum bled from Twigpaw, leaving her breathless.

Violetpaw shrugged. “Are you really surprised?”

“But they should have!” Shock pulsed through Twigpaw. What had happened to her littermate?

Had her time with the rogues m ade her cruel? “Alderpaw lied to m e. I thought he was m y friend.

Every one believed that Bramblestar sent a search party to look for our mother. But he didn’t.

Alderpaw said the patrol was looking for som ething else.” Twigpaw guessed she wasn’t m aking sense, but she needed her sister to understand how she felt. No one in the Clan did. Violetpaw was the only one who might.

Violetpaw blinked at her, still showing no sign of em otion.

Twigkit’s eyes widened. “Don’t you care either?”

“I always thought our mother was dead.” Violetpaw frowned. Twigpaw could see that she was thinking. “Why else would she leave us?”

“What if she cam e back after Alderpaw took us?”

Violetpaw tipped her head. “She’d have found we were gone.”

“But she might be looking for us!” Twigpaw willed her sister to feel what she was feeling.