Эрин Хантер - Goosefeather’s Curse

Goosefeather struggled to speak around the lump in his throat. “I don’t want to leave you,” he whispered.

“But I must leave you,” Cloudberry replied. “You are not the only cat who is powerless to change the future.” She lifted her head and gazed at him. “I don’t envy you what you can see, Goosefeather.

You must learn to live with the most terrible knowledge. Put your Clan first in all things, and may

StarClan light your path, always.”

She turned away, leaving Goosefeather chilled with sorrow. Pineheart padded up to him. “Shall we go?” he asked softly. The red-brown tom’s eyes were wet with grief. He glanced at Doestar’s body. “I never thought this would happen so soon,” he murmured. “I don’t know if I will be half the leader she was.”

“Doestar will watch over you from StarClan,” mewed Goosefeather. “You’ll be fine.”

“Really?” There was a flicker of hope in Pineheart’s eyes. “Have you had a vision?”

Distracted by the sight of Cloudberry bending over the dead leader once more, Goosefeather nodded. Then he braced himself. “Come, we have a long journey ahead of us.” He led Pineheart out of the camp, feeling the gazes of his Clanmates burning into his fur. They were the new leader and medicine cat. The future lay on their shoulders.

They reached Mothermouth as night was falling. It had taken longer than usual to reach Highstones because both cats were still weak from the Great Hunger, yet unable to eat because of the ceremony that lay ahead. Pineheart hesitated at the mouth of the tunnel, but Goosefeather plunged into the shadows, the cold stone familiar beneath his paws. After a moment he heard Pineheart following him, his breath loud in the confines of the winding passage.

The Moonstone sparkled faintly when they entered the cavern. Without speaking, Goosefeather and Pineheart lay down with their muzzles touching the base of the crystal. Goosefeather felt eyes watching him from the edges of the cave, heard the whispers just beyond his hearing, but ignored them and concentrated on slipping into the darkness that waited for him.

He found himself standing in a clearing in the forest—not a place that he recognized, exactly, but filled with familiar scents and warmed by sunshine. Pinestar, the new leader of ThunderClan, stood in the middle of the grassy space, surrounded by nine cats with starlit fur and glowing eyes. Among them was Pearnose, who nodded to Goosefeather. One by one, the StarClan cats stepped forward and gave Pinestar a life: for courage, for loyalty, for knowing when to fight and when to pursue peace instead.

Pearnose gave him a life for appreciating the work of a medicine cat and trusting the wisdom of this companion throughout his leadership.

As the ninth cat moved forward, a long-legged gray tom with piercing blue eyes, Goosefeather’s ears started to buzz. The grassy clearing vanished and Goosefeather was standing in a sharply scented, too-colorful enclosure with a red stone Twoleg den looming over him. His heart pounded with fear, and he crouched down, ready to leap over the wooden border behind him and flee into the forest. Then he noticed a cat in front of him: sturdy, thick-furred, with a reddish-brown pelt. Pinestar!

A gap appeared in the side of the den, and a Twoleg stepped out. Pinestar trotted up and arched himself against the creature’s legs, purring and pressing against the hairless pink paw that reached down to stroke him. Goosefeather staggered backward. He tried to call out to his leader, but no sound came out. Pinestar reared up on his hind legs and patted the Twoleg’s knees. Then he followed the Twoleg into the den, still purring, and the gap closed behind him with a snap.

Goosefeather stared after him in horror. The red stone den and the brightly colored flowers around him faded away, and he was back in the clearing. The starlit cats had vanished, and Pinestar stood in front of him, trembling with excitement.

“I received my nine lives!” he whispered.

Goosefeather nodded. Pearnose’s words rang in his ears. It is not your role to change the future.

Goosefeather knew that Pinestar was going to betray his Clanmates, Doestar, and every part of the warrior code by leaving the forest to become a kittypet. Every sunrise from now, Goosefeather would wake wondering if this was the day that his leader would abandon his Clan. He couldn’t tell any cat, not even Pinestar, because that was not his duty. He could only wait, and watch. He was, as always, cursed to keep his knowledge a secret. He had seen the future.

And there was nothing he could do to change it.