Эрин Хантер - The Fourth Apprentice

“It wasn’t your fault!” Indignation surged through Dovepaw. “He was being horrible.”

“Dovepaw’s right,” Cinderheart mewed. “He had no need to come dashing over here like that. Now, pick up your moss, and we’ll go collect the water. I want to get back to the hollow and find out what Firestar does when he hears about this.”

Lionblaze halted in the center of the clearing and let Rainstorm sink to the ground, where he sprawled on his side with his legs folded untidily beneath him. The RiverClan warrior looked like a mess: With mud plastering his fur to his sides, it was obvious how scrawny he was, as if he hadn’t had a good meal in a moon. Lionblaze couldn’t help feeling sorry for him.

RiverClan must be in big trouble if they get that angry about a dead fish.

Thornclaw had bounded away up the tumbled rocks to find Firestar in his den. Lionblaze was left to wait with Rainstorm and Jayfeather, who had joined them when they reached the shore and accompanied them back to camp. Lionblaze’s shoulders ached from supporting Rainstorm on the long trek from the lake, and his mouth was parched with thirst. It was nearly sunhigh, and the air in the hollow was quivering with heat. The mud on Rainstorm’s pelt was already baked dry.

If we hadn’t run into all this trouble, we’d have been back with the water long ago , Lionblaze thought. We should be resting when it’s this hot .

More of the ThunderClan cats were appearing from their dens, gazing curiously at the RiverClan warrior.

“What’s he doing here?” Blossompaw emerged from the elders’ den with a huge ball of bedding, dropped it, and bounced across the clearing to get a closer look. “Is he a prisoner?”

“No, he had an accident,” Lionblaze explained. “He’ll go back to RiverClan once he’s rested.”

“I don’t see why he has to rest here.” Mousefur had followed the apprentice out, guiding Longtail with her tail on his shoulder, and Purdy just behind. She gave Rainstorm a suspicious sniff. “Ugh! He smells like a rotting fish!”

“And where’s our water?” Purdy added.

“Is Rainstorm hurt?” Brightheart asked more sympathetically. “Jayfeather, do you need me to get some herbs?”

“No, he’s just exhausted,” Jayfeather replied.

Lionblaze began to explain what had happened beside the lake. He left out the fact that Rainstorm had charged at Ivypaw; he hoped that the RiverClan warrior wouldn’t really have hurt such a young apprentice, and there was no point in arousing more hostility.

“Some cat will need to keep an eye on him,” Brambleclaw meowed when Lionblaze had finished telling the story. “We can’t have him wandering around the camp.”

“He doesn’t look as if he’ll be wandering anywhere for a while,” Sandstorm pointed out with a flick of her ears.

The comments died away as Firestar appeared with Thornclaw and shouldered his way through the gathering crowd of cats until he stood in front of the RiverClan warrior. Rainstorm struggled to sit up and face him, though Lionblaze could tell how much effort it took.

Firestar dipped his head to the RiverClan tom with cool politeness. “Greetings, Rainstorm,” he meowed. “Thornclaw told me what happened.”

“Yes, I…” Rainstorm hesitated as if the words were choking him, then added, “I’m grateful to your warriors for helping me.”

“We would help any cat in trouble,” Firestar replied. “You’d better stay here until sunset, and then go home when it’s cooler. Lionblaze will show you a quiet spot where you can sleep.”

“I’ll keep guard over him,” Brambleclaw added.

“Good idea,” Firestar meowed, while several of the other ThunderClan cats murmured agreement.

“Can he have some fresh-kill?” Ferncloud asked, her gentle gaze fixed sympathetically on Rainstorm.

“We don’t have enough for ourselves,” Thornclaw snapped, without waiting for the Clan leader to respond. “Firestar, I had an idea while we were bringing him back here. We saved his miserable life; why shouldn’t ThunderClan get something out of it?”

Firestar turned to look at him, a puzzled expression on his face. “What do you mean?”

“Well, we’ve got one of RiverClan’s warriors here. Why not send a message to Leopardstar that she can only have him back if she lets us have some fish?”

“What?” Rainstorm protested. “You can’t do that!”

“We can do what we like, mange-pelt,” Thornclaw retorted, unsheathing his claws. “Don’t you think we deserve a reward for helping you?”

“That’s right!” some cat exclaimed from the back of the crowd.

“Are you mouse-brained?” Jayfeather growled, whipping his head around to face the speaker. “What do we want with RiverClan’s fish? It smells disgusting.”

Glancing around, Lionblaze could see that several of the cats looked as if they agreed with Thornclaw, in spite of what Jayfeather had said. Why not? he thought. We’re hungry enough . But the thought of keeping a Clan warrior prisoner made his pelt prickle with uneasiness.

“What do you think, Firestar?” Sandstorm prompted quietly.

Firestar was silent for a moment, while Rainstorm’s gaze flickered from one cat to the next as if he could read his fate in their eyes.

“I think Thornclaw’s right.” Spiderleg, dried mud still clinging to his pelt, pushed his way to the front of the crowd. “Maybe it would teach RiverClan to stay away from our side of the lake.”

“And to stop telling other Clans what they can do,” Cloudtail added. “Leopardstar’s getting way too big for her fur.”

“No, they’re just desperate,” Brackenfur argued. “This heat—”

“It’s hot over here, too,” Mousefur snapped.

“Firestar?” Brambleclaw raised his tail to silence the arguing cats. “What do you want us to do?”

Finally Firestar shook his head. “I’m sorry, Thornclaw. I know you want what’s best for the Clan, and I admit that I don’t like turning down the chance of some extra food. But there’s nothing in the warrior code that allows us to use a cat from another Clan to bargain with.”

“That’s right,” Squirrelflight added, padding up to her father’s side. “We would just be making things worse.”

Thornclaw opened his jaws as if he was going to argue, then closed them again, shrugging. “Whatever you say, Firestar,” he muttered.

“Brambleclaw, show Rainstorm where he can rest,” Firestar instructed. “Later, when it’s cooler, you can lead a patrol to escort him back to RiverClan.”

Lionblaze crept into the shadow of a rock and managed to snatch some sleep. His dreams were dark and confused, and when he woke he felt almost as tired as when he had first curled up.

Long shadows stretched across the clearing as he padded to the pitifully small fresh-kill pile, and the sky above the trees was streaked with scarlet. The scorching heat of sunhigh had faded, but the air was still heavy and stale.

Maybe I can get some cats together for a hunting patrol .

“Hey, Lionblaze!”

Lionblaze swung around at the sound of Brambleclaw’s voice. The Clan deputy was bounding toward him; Rainstorm followed more slowly. The RiverClan warrior’s paw steps were firmer now, though he still looked exhausted.

“I’m leading a patrol to take Rainstorm home,” Brambleclaw explained as he came up to Lionblaze. “I’d like you to come.”

“Sure. Can I bring Dovepaw? It would be good experience for her.”