Erin Hunter - Twilight

Daisy circled her kits with her body, drawing them close to her with her tail. “Please help us,” she begged.

“Don’t worry, we won’t hurt any of you,” Brackenfur reassured her.

“What are you doing here?” Squirrelflight asked. “Surely your kits are too young to travel all this way?”

Daisy bent down and licked the cream-colored kit. “When Floss had her kits, the Nofurs took them away.”

Nofurs must be Twolegs, Squirrelflight thought. “Why would they do that?”

Daisy shook her head. “No cat knows. They were so young their eyes weren’t even open.”

Cloudtail let out a hiss of anger. “Fox dung! If I’d been there I’d have clawed their stupid faces.”

“What good would that do?” Daisy asked, her eyes brimming with sorrow. “The kits would still be gone. Floss will never see them again. So when I had mine,” she went on, lifting her head defiantly, “I decided to leave before the Nofurs found them. I saw lots of cats going past our fence in this direction, and I thought some of you would be friendly.” She turned her huge, trusting blue eyes on Cloudtail.

The warrior bent his head to sniff the three little scraps of fur. The kits shrank away, shivering, and their mews grew shrill with panic.

“You will help us, won’t you?” Daisy went on. “Back there”—she pointed with her tail toward WindClan territory—“some cats drove us off.”

“That would be WindClan,” Brackenfur meowed. “Don’t worry, you’re in ThunderClan territory now.”

Daisy nodded. “That must be why they left us alone once we crossed the stream. But I don’t think my kits can go any farther, and I won’t take them back. The Nofurs will steal them if I do.”

“We’ll help you,” Cloudtail promised. “You can bring your kits to our camp.”

Daisy blinked warmly at him. “Oh, thank you! You’re so kind!”

Brackenfur shot Cloudtail a look of surprise. “ Four kittypets?” he murmured. “What’s Firestar going to think about that?”

“Firestar will understand,” Cloudtail replied. “He was a kittypet once, and so was I. Do you have a problem with that, Brackenfur?”

Brackenfur twitched his ears. “Of course not. But I wonder if this is the right time to take in more cats, when we haven’t finished exploring our territory.”

“Well, it’s now or never for these kits,” Squirrelflight pointed out. “We’re not going to send them along the lake into ShadowClan. Come on !”

“Okay, let’s get going,” Cloudtail meowed. “Spiderleg!” he called to the younger warrior who had remained on watch at the top of the bank. “We need some help down here! You three can each carry a kit,” he explained, “and I’ll help Daisy.”

Squirrelflight picked up one of the gray and white kits by the scruff; it let out a wail of terror and started wriggling.

“Shut up. I’m helping you,” she muttered through a mouthful of fur.

Brackenfur and Spiderleg each took one of the other kits, and Cloudtail let Daisy lean on his shoulder as they struggled up the bank and made their way slowly back to camp.

When Squirrelflight pushed her way through the thorn tunnel the clearing was deserted, but as she headed toward the nursery Birchpaw bounded up to her, carrying a ball of dirty moss from the elders’ den.

“What have you got there?” he asked, dropping the moss and peering curiously at the tiny bundle dangling from her mouth. “Oh, wow! Whitepaw, come and look at this!”

The older apprentice followed him out of the elders’ den with more moss. “Kits!” she exclaimed. “Where did you get them?”

Squirrelflight couldn’t explain with a mouthful of kit, so she padded on to the nursery, while the excited apprentices called the rest of the Clan to come and look. Ferncloud appeared from the warriors’ den and stretched her eyes wide when she saw what Squirrelflight and the others were carrying.

“Poor little scraps!” she gasped. “Bring them into the nursery. Whitepaw, go and fetch Cinderpelt. And Birchpaw, let Firestar know. Are you their mother?” she meowed to Daisy, who had stumbled up with Cloudtail pressed close to her flank. “Don’t worry. We’ll look after all of you.”

Ferncloud ducked into the nursery ahead of Squirrelflight and began pulling moss and bracken together to make a warm, thick nest. Squirrelflight gently set her kit down in the middle of the nest; it had stopped wriggling long ago and lay very still, scarcely breathing. Brackenfur and Spiderleg set down the kits they carried and Daisy lay down beside them, nudging them anxiously.

“Whitepaw says there are kits here. Can I see?” Sorreltail stuck her head into the nursery. When she saw Daisy and her litter she pushed her way through the branches to crouch beside the nest. “Oh, they’re beautiful!” she purred. “Here, let me help you.” She began licking the nearest kit, rubbing its fur the wrong way to warm it up.

Squirrelflight was surprised to see how interested Sorreltail was in the kits, until she noticed how plump the tortoiseshell was looking, and how her scent had changed. She must be expecting Brackenfur’s kits , she thought. That’s great!

ThunderClan needs new kits .

With Daisy, Sorreltail, and Ferncloud all busily licking, the kits soon started to stir, letting out faint, whimpering cries.

But Daisy didn’t look up until all three revived enough to nuzzle into her belly and start suckling.

“You saved their lives,” she murmured. “I thought they were all going to die.”

The nursery entrance rustled again as Cinderpelt padded in, followed by Leafpool with a mouthful of herbs.

Squirrelflight slid across to her sister’s side and whispered, “Do you think Sorreltail is expecting kits?”

Leafpool placed the herbs close to where Daisy was lying.

“Of course she’s expecting kits!” she snapped. “Any cat can see it. Where have you been for the last half moon?”

Squirrelflight twitched her ears. Leafpool wasn’t usually so short-tempered. She felt strong emotion coming off her sister’s fur in waves, but Squirrelflight couldn’t make out what it was.

Cinderpelt edged past Spiderleg to reach Daisy and the kits. “What’s this, a Gathering? Any cat who hasn’t something to do here, out! Give us all room to breathe.”

With a last glance at the new arrivals, Squirrelflight left, along with Spiderleg and Brackenfur. As they emerged into the clearing, Squirrelflight heard Cinderpelt meow, “Daisy, I’ve brought you some herbs to strengthen you and the kits.

Don’t worry. You’re all going to be fine.”

In the clearing, the apprentices were chattering excitedly, the soiled moss abandoned on the ground. Just outside the nursery, Cloudtail was reporting to Firestar, while several other cats crowded around to listen. Squirrelflight spotted Brambleclaw among them; the tabby tom looked disapproving—but then Brambleclaw always looked disapproving these days.

He wasn’t the only cat to seem troubled by Daisy’s arrival.

“How long are you going to let them stay?” Dustpelt asked the Clan leader.

Firestar twitched the tip of his tail. “That depends on a lot of things. How long do they want to stay?”

“I don’t think Daisy ever wants to go back to the horse place,” Cloudtail meowed. “The Twolegs took Floss’s kits away, so when her own kits were born she decided to leave in order to keep them safe.”

“That’s a good reason,” Firestar commented.

“Does that mean you’d let them join the Clan? Permanently?” Brambleclaw’s tone was clearly challenging.

“Four kittypets?”

Squirrelflight felt a growl rising from the back of her throat. Had Brambleclaw forgotten that Firestar had been a kittypet, and she shared his kittypet blood?