Эрин Хантер - Bramblestar’s Storm

The sun had gone down when Bramblestar led his cats out of the hollow and down toward the lake. The horizon was still streaked with scarlet, and the surface of the water reflected the dying glow. Bramblestar looked up to see the moon, a huge silver circle, hanging above the trees in a clear indigo sky.

Amberpaw let out a yowl of excitement as the lake came into sight. She charged down the slope toward it, with her two littermates hard on her paws. Lilypaw and Seedpaw glanced at each other as if they were far too mature for such overexcited behavior, then squealed, “Wait for us!” and pelted after them.

“Hey, be careful!” Squirrelflight called after them.

Amberpaw and Dewpaw skidded to a halt at the water’s edge in a shower of pebbles. But Snowpaw couldn’t stop in time. He splashed into the lake; his squeal of alarm was cut off as his head went under the surface and he vanished.

“Fox dung!” Bramblestar spat.

With a lash of his tail he raced for the lake, with Cloudtail, Snowpaw’s father, bounding along at his shoulder. As Bramblestar reached the edge of the water, he caught a brief glimpse of Snowpaw resurfacing with his paws flailing. Bramblestar plunged toward him and managed to grab Snowpaw by the scruff before he sank again.

Digging his paws into the pebbly lakebed, Bramblestar carried the apprentice back to the shore. Cloudtail leaned over Snowpaw as Bramblestar set him down on solid ground. The other apprentices gathered around anxiously.

“Are you completely flea-brained?” Cloudtail demanded. “If I were Clan leader, I’d send you straight back to camp!”

Snowpaw coughed up a mouthful of water and struggled to his paws. “I—I’m sorry!” he gasped. “I didn’t mean to fall in. I think the lake is bigger than it used to be.”

Bramblestar looked around. “He’s right,” he commented, noting how far up the shore the water had risen. It’s the end of leaf-bare, and we’ve had a lot of rain .

“Look at the size of the moon,” Brackenfur put in, joining them. “The lake is always fuller when the moon is extra big.”

Bramblestar stepped back to give his pelt a shake without splattering his Clanmates. “I won’t send you home,” he told Snowpaw. “But let’s have no more silliness, okay?”

“Okay,” Snowpaw mewed. “Thank you, Bramblestar.”

“You’d better run around to get dry,” Cloudtail advised. “And remember, I’m keeping an eye on you.”

Snowpaw ducked his head briefly before scampering off with the other apprentices.

“He’s no worse for his wetting,” Bramblestar observed. “I can’t be too hard on him. I remember how excited I was about my first Gathering, back at Fourtrees.”

“You?” Squirrelflight let out a snort of amusement. “You were cool as frost!”

Bramblestar gave her a friendly flick with his tail. “Not like you, then! You couldn’t see a thornbush without getting stuck in it. I remember—”

“We don’t have time for stories,” Squirrelflight interrupted. “Are we going to the Gathering or not?”

The ThunderClan cats followed the shoreline until they reached the stream that marked the border with WindClan. Bramblestar kept an eye on the five apprentices to make sure that they had no problems jumping across the steep-sided brook.

“Wow, we’re on WindClan territory!” Dewpaw exclaimed when he landed.

“What happens if a WindClan patrol spots us?” Amberpaw asked. “Do we fight? I know a great move!”

“No, we don’t fight,” Cinderheart told her. “The ground three fox-lengths from the lake doesn’t belong to any Clan, so we can travel safely as long as we don’t take any prey.”

“But what about the water level?” Dewpaw pointed out. “The safe ground has been swallowed up!”

Bramblestar realized the apprentice was right. Judging from what he recognized on the grassy slope—and it was difficult with so few markers here on the open moor—they were already standing above the three-fox-length boundary.

The five apprentices huddled together, darting scared glances up at the rest of WindClan’s territory. “We can’t go to the Gathering after all,” Seedpaw mewed, her tail drooping with disappointment. “Lilypaw and I missed it last moon, too. It’s not fair!”

“Of course we can go,” Cinderheart reassured her. “We measure the safe ground from wherever the water starts.” Unseen by the apprentices, she glanced questioningly at Bramblestar. He nodded, hoping that WindClan would agree.

There was no sign of other cats until the ThunderClan patrol drew close to the far border. Then the WindClan cats came pouring over the ridge, briefly outlined against the darkening sky. Their leader, Onestar, was a few paw steps ahead of the rest, with his new deputy, Harespring, just behind him.

Bramblestar saw the eyes of the WindClan warriors gleam with thinly veiled hostility when they saw the ThunderClan patrol. He guessed they were remembering the recent skirmish by the stream, and he felt himself bristling in response. He walked forward until he stood face-to-face with Onestar.

“Greetings, Onestar,” he meowed. “A fine night for a Gathering.”

Onestar gave him a curt nod. “Greetings to you, Bramblestar.”

Suddenly aware of pushing and growls of anger behind him, Bramblestar whipped around to see the WindClan cats jostling his Clanmates. Cherryfall slipped on the wet pebbles and almost lost her balance. Bramblestar felt his neck fur rise and knew that truce or no truce, a fight was about to break out. What is WindClan trying to prove?

“Please, Onestar,” he mewed, struggling to keep his voice steady, “take your warriors on ahead. With the water so high, we don’t want any accidents.”

Onestar dipped his head. “Thank you, Bramblestar.” Waving his tail to his warriors, he added, “Follow me.”

Muttered protests rose from the ThunderClan cats as the WindClan cats trotted along the lakeshore.

“If they want trouble, we can give it to them,” Thornclaw snarled.

“Don’t be a mouse-brain!” Squirrelflight hissed at him. “Strike the first blow, and we’d be the Clan who broke the truce. Beside, respect costs nothing, and we are on their territory.”

While he waited for the WindClan cats to draw ahead, Bramblestar spotted two sets of eyes gleaming from farther up the slope, on the other side of the border. He peered through the half light, but he couldn’t make out who the eyes belonged to.

“Daisy!” he called, turning back to his cats.

The cream-furred she-cat slid between her Clanmates and padded up to him. She didn’t often attend Gatherings, and now she looked startled to be called forward.

“Look up there,” Bramblestar murmured, pointing with his tail to where the eyes still shone. “Do you know who that is?”

Daisy took a breath, tasting the air. “Smoky!” she exclaimed, naming the cat who had been her friend when they both lived at the horseplace. Bramblestar couldn’t count the moons since she had last seen him, but she clearly hadn’t forgotten him. “Hey, Smoky, it’s me!” she yowled, raising her voice.

The eyes vanished abruptly.

Daisy’s tail drooped. “I wonder why he didn’t want to talk to me.”

“I wouldn’t let it worry you,” Bramblestar responded, resting his tail on Daisy’s shoulder. “Seeing a whole crowd of us has probably put him off.”

“I guess so,” Daisy agreed.

Since the WindClan cats had vanished into the twilight, Bramblestar led his cats across the marshy ground until they reached the tree-bridge that joined the lakeshore to the island. The water was so high that waves lapped the bottom of the trunk. Cherryfall trotted across first without even looking down at the lake, and the rest of the patrol streamed after her. Bramblestar kept a close eye on the apprentices, but after Snowpaw’s dunking they all took great care in placing their paws in the center of the tree trunk, even though they were quivering with excitement again.