Bramblestar squeezed through the gap, with Frankie close behind. On the other side a broad swathe of destruction-broken fencing, stinking mud, scattered branches and other debris, and even a small monster tipped over onto its side-revealed the path of the huge wave. Ignoring their wet paws and drenched fur, the two cats followed the trail, checking each possible hiding place to see if Benny was there.
"Why are you helping me?" Frankie asked after a few moments.
"Because right now you are my Clanmate," Bramblestar replied, drawing his tail-tip along Frankie"s flank. "I would do the same for any of my cats."
The trail led to a narrow opening in the ground. At first Bramblestar thought it was another entrance to the tunnels, but then he realized it was something made by Twolegs. A neat square hole had been built into a raised bank of earth, supported by stones like the ones used to build Twoleg dens.
"That"s a drain," Frankie meowed. "There"s usually a cover on it, but it must have been washed away."
Bramblestar felt his fur start to p.r.i.c.kle as he pictured what might have happened to a struggling cat, his fur heavy with floodwater, swept off his paws by a wall of water. I don"t like this one bit, but some cat has to check it out. Then he took a deep breath and crawled into the drain.
The air was damp and full of a thick, rotting stench. This was nothing like the tunnels, which seemed light and s.p.a.cious compared with this dank hole. Bramblestar"s pelt brushed against the slimy walls on either side. His own body was blocking the light, and ahead of him was only choking darkness. Oh, StarClan, please don"t let me get stuck!
Bramblestar"s heart was pounding hard, and it took a ma.s.sive effort for him to keep putting one paw in front of another. He was wondering how long he ought to go on when he b.u.mped into something soft and furry. A tiny slice of light from a gap overhead revealed a heap of black-and-white fur, cold and solid and a long way from life. Every muscle in Bramblestar"s body stiffened as he realized that he had found Benny.
Gagging at the smell, Bramblestar nosed about until he located one of the dead cat"s legs and fastened his teeth in it. Then he tried to crawl backward, but Benny"s body was stuck against something, and wouldn"t move. Bramblestar reached out one forepaw and felt around for whatever was blocking Benny. His paw touched something hard and chilled, lodged slantwise in the drain and wedging Benny"s body underneath it.
Bramblestar gave it a shove. Maybe it"s the drain cover that Frankie said was missing.
At first nothing Bramblestar could do would shift the obstacle. His legs started to ache as he heaved at it, stretched to his limit to reach past Benny"s unmoving body. He was on the verge of giving up when it gave way with an echoing clang against the side of the drain and slipped to one side.
Bramblestar tried moving Benny again and this time the cat"s body slid easily toward him. Carefully he backed away, dragging Benny with him, until he felt a welcome draft of fresh air on his haunches, and emerged into the daylight. Frankie was waiting beside the drain entrance and helped him to pull Benny the last couple of tail-lengths out into the light.
Bramblestar coughed to clear the stench of the drain from his throat. "Is that your brother?" he meowed hoa.r.s.ely, though he was in no doubt about the answer.
Frankie crouched beside the body, his head bowed. The dead tom looked small and pathetic out here, his black-and-white pelt plastered to his sides, covered in mud and slime.
"Oh, Benny . . ." Frankie touched his nose to his brother"s cold side. His voice began as a whisper, then rose to a grief-stricken wail. "What am I going to do? I can"t leave him here!"
"We"ll bury him," Bramblestar told him. "We"ll give him a warrior"s farewell."
Together he and Frankie managed to hoist Benny onto their backs and carry him up the slope to the top of the hill, where the ground was drier. They laid Benny on the gra.s.s while they scratched a hole. The sun was setting, bathing the hill with scarlet light, as they settled him inside it and covered him with earth. Bramblestar stood beside the small, dark mound of soil and spoke the words that a medicine cat would say over the body of a fallen warrior.
"May StarClan light your path, Benny." His voice rang out over the heap of stones and earth. "May you find good hunting, swift running, and shelter when you sleep."
Frankie looked up to where the warriors of StarClan were beginning to appear, crossing the sky in a glittering pathway of stars. "Do all cats go to StarClan?" he asked. "Even Benny?"
Bramblestar wasn"t sure if a kittypet would be welcomed into StarClan. He guessed that even Jayfeather or Leafpool would have trouble answering that question. But he knew that he had to give Frankie some comfort. "Well . . . there are a lot of stars," he mewed. "More than there have ever been warriors, I"m sure."
Frankie peered more closely at the shimmering swathe of light. "I wonder which one is Benny?" His voice quivered. "Benny, I"ll look up at you every night. If you look down on me, then we"ll still be together."
Bramblestar leaned closer to Frankie, lending him his warmth and feeling him tremble from more than cold.
After a moment Frankie spoke, his gaze still fixed on the stars. "Don"t you need to get back to the Clan?"
Yes, Bramblestar thought, but that"s not important right now. "There"s plenty of time," he murmured. "I"ll stay with you for as long as you need."
CHAPTER 26.
The last of the sun had gone and shadows were gathering fast before Frankie stirred, lowering his gaze from the stars. "What will happen to me now?" he mewed sadly. "My housefolk have left, and my home is still full of water. Everything has gone."
"But the water is going down." Bramblestar tried to sound encouraging. "Your Twolegs will come back."
"But what will I do right now?" Frankie wailed.
"Come back to ThunderClan." The answer was so obvious to Bramblestar that he found it hard to understand why Frankie was asking the question. "We"ll look after you until you can go home."
Frankie let out a sigh. "Thank you."
Bramblestar led the way back to ThunderClan territory, retracing their previous route. Night had fallen by the time they reached the woods above ShadowClan, and Bramblestar felt his pelt rise at the eerie silence. The scents of ShadowClan warriors wreathed around him from every side, as if they had been hunting regularly beyond their border since ThunderClan had dealt with Victor and the other kittypets.
"If we spot a ShadowClan patrol, climb a tree, quick as you can," he murmured to Frankie. "I know we"re not actually trespa.s.sing, but I don"t want them to catch us."
When they reached the forest above ThunderClan, Bramblestar relaxed briefly, only to stiffen again as he picked up a trace of the bitter scent of badger. "Let"s get a move on," he meowed, not telling Frankie anything about his fears. "I can"t wait to get back to my nest."
A quarter moon was shining down on the clearing when Bramblestar and Frankie returned to the makeshift camp. Squirrelflight was stalking up and down in front of the tunnel entrance, her tail-tip flicking and her whiskers quivering.
"Bramblestar!" she exclaimed as the two cats limped out of the undergrowth. "Where have you been?"
At the sound of her voice, Minty, Jessy, and Millie erupted out of the tunnel.
"Are you two mouse-brained?" Millie demanded as she shot across the clearing. "Do you know how worried we"ve been? Do you care?"
"Great StarClan, look at you!" Squirrelflight gasped.
Bramblestar realized how they must appear: thorn-scratched and exhausted, their fur soaked and muddy, stinking of death. "It"s been a long day," he muttered.
Millie"s anger died as she reached Frankie and Bramblestar and saw them more clearly. "What happened?" she hissed. "Are you hurt?"
"Did you fight a badger?" Minty asked, bounding up and giving Frankie"s filthy pelt a shocked sniff.
"Benny"s dead," Frankie responded wearily.
Minty"s eyes stretched wide. "Oh, no! How?"
While Bramblestar gave a brief account of their search and the discovery of Benny"s body inside the drain, more of his Clanmates emerged from the tunnel. Murmurs of sympathy arose from them as they listened.
"We buried him on a little hill overlooking the lake," Bramblestar finished.
"I"m sure StarClan was with him at the end," Leafpool mewed, padding up to Frankie and giving his ear a comforting lick.
"I hope so." Frankie"s voice was bleak. "Because I wasn"t."
"You did all you could," Millie told him. "At least now you know what happened."
"Yes," Jessy added. "You don"t have to worry anymore, and you can grieve for him properly."
Frankie nodded, gazing around at the group of cats who surrounded him with looks of sadness, but he said nothing.
"You should have told us where you were going," Cherryfall meowed. "We could have come with you. I"d have helped you find him."
"Come on." Leafpool gave Frankie a gentle shove. "Into the tunnel, and I"ll take a look at you. You can have some thyme leaves for the shock."
"I"ll bring you some fresh-kill," Minty offered as the medicine cat led Frankie away.
Once Frankie had gone, Jessy padded over to Bramblestar. "Thank you," she mewed. "You didn"t have to do that."
Bramblestar dipped his head toward her. "My cats never have to suffer alone," he told her.
Jessy"s ears flicked up. "Is that true?" she pressed. "That we are your cats?"
"For now," Bramblestar replied, feeling a purr rise in his throat.
Jessy touched her nose to his. "Good."
Bramblestar opened his eyes to see dawn light seeping into the tunnel. For a moment he felt as if he couldn"t move a muscle. Weariness from the long trek the day before, and the struggle to free Benny"s body from the drain, weighed down his limbs. He staggered to his paws and stumbled out of his nest, still half-asleep.
"Hey, that"s my tail!" Jessy"s voice meowed.
Bramblestar turned to see that the brown she-cat had dragged her nest next to to his, and was looking up at him with amus.e.m.e.nt in her golden eyes. "Sorry," he mumbled.
"It"s okay. How do you feel? You had a tough time yesterday."
"I"ll be fine." Bramblestar shook each leg in turn, his muscles protesting, then arched his back in a long stretch. "I need to get moving, that"s all."
Jessy followed him as he headed along the tunnel and into the cool dawn. The sky was a pale, milky blue with small puffs of white cloud. No rain today, Bramblestar thought gratefully.
In the clearing most of his cats were milling around Squirrelflight, who was organizing patrols. "Cloudtail," she was mewing, "you can go and check the border with WindClan. Take-" She broke off as she spotted Bramblestar and Jessy emerge from the tunnel, held Bramblestar"s gaze for a heartbeat, and then turned back to Cloudtail. "Take Mousewhisker, Berrynose, and Birchfall with you," she finished.
As Cloudtail gathered his patrol together, Bramblestar padded up to his deputy. "I want to lead a patrol out beyond the top border," he announced.
"I"ll come!" Jessy offered.
Bramblestar was acutely conscious of his Clanmates exchanging glances. "Sure," he replied.
"Spiderleg and Amberpaw as well?" Squirrelflight suggested.
"Of course," Bramblestar agreed, wanting to be off as soon as possible. "Let"s go."
With Bramblestar in the lead, the four cats headed straight up the ridge and across the border into the woods beyond. The sun rose in front of them, sending shafts of golden warmth between the trees. The last of Bramblestar"s weariness faded away, and he felt ready for anything.
"Are we looking for signs of ShadowClan trespa.s.sing?" Spiderleg asked as they crossed their own scent marks.
"No," Bramblestar replied. "Badgers."
"Badgers?" Amberpaw echoed, her voice rising to a squeak. "Wow!" She slid out her claws and let her shoulder fur bristle up. "Are we going to fight them?"
Spiderleg gave his apprentice a friendly nudge. "You"d be better off running away," he mewed. "You"d hardly make a mouthful for one of those huge beasts."
"I"ll never run away!" Amberpaw exclaimed.
"Don"t tease her," Jessy protested to Spiderleg. Turning to Amberpaw, she added, "Don"t worry. Bramblestar taught me some moves for when a badger attacks. I"ll show you if you like."
"That"s okay," Spiderleg told her. "Amberpaw is my apprentice." His tone was frosty, and Bramblestar could understand why.
A kittypet trying to take over his apprentice"s training! But Jessy learns so fast, she"d make a good mentor one day.
"We"re not going to fight," Bramblestar meowed. "I"ve spotted a few traces, smelled a few scents, and I just want to make sure there isn"t a badger set anywhere we"re hunting right now."
Amberpaw was wide-eyed as the patrol padded onward. She paused beside every tree or clump of bracken to have a good sniff. "I"ve scented one!" she squealed, backing away from a tangle of gnarled oak roots.
Bramblestar padded up to check. "No, that"s fox," he told the bristling apprentice. "And it"s several days old. But well done for spotting it."
Eyes shining, Amberpaw went on sniffing, expecting at any moment to detect an entire den of badgers. But it was Spiderleg who found the first traces, a heap of droppings in the shelter of a bramble thicket.
"They"re pretty stale," he commented, backing away and pa.s.sing his tongue over his lips in disgust.
Bramblestar studied the scent for himself. "Three days old, at a guess," he meowed. "And I think the badger went that way." He angled his ears in the direction of the Twoleg nests where Victor and his friends lived.
"The kittypets are welcome to them," Spiderleg grunted.
"That"s amazing!" Jessy exclaimed. "Bramblestar, can you really tell how old those droppings are, and which way the badger was heading?"
"It"s all part of warrior training," Bramblestar told her. "I think we should follow the scent for a while," he went on. "Just to be sure that there isn"t a set nearby."
With Bramblestar in the lead, the patrol tracked the badger until they drew close to the ShadowClan border. There was no sign of a set. "We may as well turn back," Bramblestar decided. "I don"t want Rowanstar to accuse us of trespa.s.sing again. We-"
He broke off at a harsh squawk and a squeal of terror from Amberpaw. Spinning around, he saw that a rook had flown down and was attacking the small apprentice, stabbing her with its beak. Amberpaw bared her teeth and lashed out with one paw, but the rook was too big and fierce for her, pressing into the attack in a flurry of feathers.
Spiderleg flashed past Bramblestar and flung himself on top of Amberpaw, hiding her from the rook. The bird battered at him with its wings and tried to fasten its claws into his back. Bramblestar let out a defiant yowl and hurled himself at the rook, his claws slashing at it. The rook squawked again and beat its wings to avoid his blows. Before it could gain height, Jessy leaped into the air and grabbed it. She fell back to the ground and rolled over, the rook flapping furiously in an attempt to escape. Its harsh cry was cut off as it went limp. Panting, Jessy rose to her paws and stood over her prey.
"That was outstanding!" Bramblestar meowed. "Great job, Jessy!"
Jessy"s eyes shone with pride.
"We"re on a border patrol," Spiderleg muttered as he scrambled off Amberpaw and smoothed down his ruffled fur. "Not a hunting patrol."
"All fresh-kill is welcome," Bramblestar retorted. "Amberpaw, are you okay?"
The apprentice tottered a little as she regained her paws, and checked herself for injuries. "I"m fine, thanks, Bramblestar."