Эрин Хантер - The Fourth Apprentice

She gripped Tigerheart by the scruff, relieving Dovepaw of his weight. Dovepaw was able to haul herself a little higher out of the water, where she caught sight of a flat piece of wood being whirled toward them on the current. Floundering through the flood, she managed to grab it and pushed it toward Petalfur.

Together the two she-cats hauled Tigerheart onto the flat wood and crouched beside him, clinging on as the water carried them across the stretch of green grass at the edge of the Twolegplace, and into the woods beyond.

Dovepaw realized that she could see more clearly; the rain-filled sky was growing gray with the first pale light of dawn. The water was calmer now; it still overflowed the stream banks, but the first terrifying wave had died down. Looking around, Dovepaw spotted branches scattered over the surface, and here and there, bobbing up and down, the heads of cats.

“Yes!” she gasped, reaching out her tail to touch Petalfur on the shoulder. “There’s Toadfoot! And Lionblaze! And there’s Whitetail and Sedgewhisker, hanging on to the same branch.”

“Thank StarClan,” Petalfur mewed. “They’re all safe!”

As she spoke, Tigerheart began to thrash and splutter, tilting the piece of wood dangerously so that water surged over them.

“Lie still,” Dovepaw told him. “You’re safe. And we’ll be home soon.”

At last the current slowed enough for the cats to leave the branches they were clinging to and wade through the shallows to solid ground. All seven cats huddled together, panting and watching as the floodwater gradually washed back between the banks of the stream.

Rain was still pouring steadily down, but Dovepaw scarcely noticed it. She was wetter than she had ever been, and she had swallowed so much water she couldn’t imagine ever being thirsty again. Drawing a deep breath, she listened to the water glugging and pooling and splashing through the woods, through ShadowClan territory, and finally down to the lake, where it swelled over the dried mud and stones, rippling into every crack and hollow, spreading silvery twigs across the parched surface.

We did it , she thought. We brought back the lake.

Tigerheart was sprawled on the ground, coughing up mouthfuls of water while Petalfur rubbed his back.

“Will he be okay?” Dovepaw asked anxiously.

“He’ll be fine,” Petalfur assured her. “This is what we do in RiverClan if kits fall into the lake before they can swim. It always seems to work.”

Tigerheart coughed up more water, then turned his head to look blearily up at Dovepaw. “Thanks,” he rasped.

When he had recovered enough to stagger to his paws, all the cats gathered and stood in a circle with their heads bowed.

“StarClan, we thank you,” Whitetail meowed. “You helped us to destroy the dam and protected us in the flood. We ask you to honor Rippletail, the warrior who will never come home.”

Dovepaw lifted her head and caught Lionblaze’s eye. She wondered if he was thinking the same thing.

StarClan didn’t save us. We did.

The daylight grew stronger as the cats headed back through the woods, following the edge of the stream. Branches were strewn everywhere, left behind by the retreating wave; they had to scramble over them or wriggle underneath, until Dovepaw felt as if her paws wouldn’t carry her a step farther.

I wish I was back in my nest. I’d sleep for a moon!

Gradually the rain eased off, and though it didn’t stop, patches of blue sky appeared as the wind tore the gray cloud into strips. In the shelter of the trees, the cats’ fur began to dry in untidy clumps.

“When I get back, I’m going to groom myself like I’ve never groomed before,” Whitetail muttered. “My pelt has never been as filthy as this.”

Suddenly Toadfoot halted with his head raised and his jaws parted to taste the air. “I can smell ShadowClan scent markers!” he announced.

Strength seemed to flow back into Dovepaw’s paws, and all the cats picked up speed. Soon they crossed the border.

“I never thought I’d see the day when I was glad to be in ShadowClan territory,” Lionblaze murmured to Dovepaw.

She nodded. This journey has changed the way we think about the other Clans, forever.

A few heartbeats later, she picked up the scent of approaching ShadowClan cats, and soon they appeared through the trees: a patrol led by Tawnypelt, with her apprentice, Starlingpaw, and the warriors Owlclaw and Redwillow.

“Toadfoot! Tigerheart!” Tawnypelt exclaimed, bounding forward through the rain. She touched noses with Toadfoot, and she pushed her muzzle into Tigerheart’s fur, murmuring, “You’re safe!”

A shiver went through Dovepaw as she imagined what this meeting would have been like if Tawnypelt’s son Tigerheart had not returned.

“This is wonderful!” Tawnypelt went on, drawing back to gaze at the rest of the cats. “You brought the water back! Starlingpaw, run back and let Blackstar know right away.”

Her apprentice took off through the forest, his paws skimming over the pine needles and his tail waving excitedly.

“Come on,” Tawnypelt urged. “You’ve got to come back to our camp and tell us everything.”

Dovepaw exchanged a glance with Lionblaze; she wanted to be home in the stone hollow, but at the same time she was reluctant to say good-bye to the rest of the patrol.

Whitetail and Sedgewhisker whispered together for a heartbeat; then Whitetail nodded. “We’ll be glad to visit with you,” she mewed.

Lionblaze agreed too, and though Petalfur seemed reluctant, she followed the others as they were escorted through the forest by Tawnypelt and the rest of her patrol.

Dovepaw could hear the yowling of excited cats long before they reached the camp. Through the trees she saw the ground slope upward to a line of bushes where Blackstar stood, flanked by his warriors. More cats were emerging from the bushes around them.

“Welcome to our camp!” Blackstar called, beckoning them with his tail. “Rest here and take your pick of the fresh-kill pile.”

“Who are you, and what have you done with Blackstar?” Lionblaze muttered into Dovepaw’s ear as they padded up the slope.

Flametail and Dawnpelt, Tigerheart’s littermates, dashed up to touch noses with him.

“I just went down to the lake!” Dawnpelt announced excitedly. “The water is flowing back.”

“It’ll take a while to fill up,” Flametail added, rubbing his muzzle against his brother’s shoulder. “But the Clans have been saved, and you did it!”

“We all did it together,” Tigerheart meowed.

Dovepaw felt strange to be welcomed like this, especially when the cats of ShadowClan had been so secretive and suspicious in the past. Besides, she didn’t feel as if she deserved this much praise. We lost Rippletail, and we nearly didn’t destroy the dam at all. And we couldn’t do it on our own—we needed kittypets and a loner to help us.

“Come into the camp.” Blackstar repeated his invitation as he padded forward to meet the patrol.

Petalfur dipped her head. “Thank you, Blackstar, but no. I have lost my Clanmate, and I must go back to RiverClan and tell them how he died.”

“We’ll go with you,” Lionblaze offered immediately; Whitetail and Sedgewhisker murmured agreement.

Petalfur held her head high. “Thank you, but I will go alone.” Without waiting for a reply, she dipped her head once more to Blackstar, then to the rest of the patrol, and walked away. Dovepaw watched her until she disappeared among the trees.