Forest of Secrets

by Erin Hunter

  “Thank you, Yellowfang,” Brackenpaw meowed, and limped off.

  Fireheart followed, but before he entered the gorse tunnel he looked back. Yellowfang had climbed back onto the rock and was sitting with her flank pressed close against Brokentail, gently licking his fur. Fireheart could just hear her rasping the soft noises that a queen would make to her kits.

  But Brokentail was as unresponsive as ever. He would not even turn to the she-cat and share tongues with her.

  Sadly, Fireheart padded into the tunnel. There were few bonds stronger than the one between a mother and her kits. Yellowfang clearly still felt that bond, even after all the grief that Brokentail had caused—killing his father, destroying his own Clan with his bloodthirsty leadership, attacking ThunderClan with a band of rogue cats. But in one part of Yellowfang’s mind, he was still her kit.

  So how, Fireheart wondered, had Mistyfoot and Stonefur been separated from their mother? Why had Oakheart brought them to RiverClan? And most of all, why had no ThunderClan cats tried to find them?

  CHAPTER 9

  In Yellowfang’s den, Fireheart explained what had happened while Cinderpaw inspected the gash on Brackenpaw’s leg and brought him a poultice to put on it.

  “You’d better rest here tonight,” the gray she-cat told the apprentice. “But I’m pretty sure your leg will be good as new in a day or two.” She spoke cheerfully, without any bitterness that her own leg would never recover so well. Turning to Fireheart, she added, “I just had Cloudkit in here. He told me he had to go over the elders’ coats for ticks, so I gave him some mouse bile.”

  “What’s that for?” asked Brackenpaw.

  “If you put some on the ticks, they soon drop off,” Cinderpaw told him. Her blue eyes glimmered with amusement. “But don’t lick your paws afterward. It’s foul stuff.”

  “I’m sure Cloudkit will enjoy doing that.” Fireheart grimaced. “It’s a pity that Tigerclaw had to punish him, though, because I don’t think it was his fault that the badger attacked him.”

  Cinderpaw shrugged. “There’s no arguing with Tigerclaw.”

  “That’s true,” Fireheart agreed. “Anyway, I think I’ll go and make sure that Cloudkit’s okay.”

  As soon as he set paw in the elders’ den, his nose wrinkled against the reek of the mouse bile. Smallear was lying on one side while Cloudkit searched his gray fur for ticks. The elder twitched as Cloudkit dabbed some of the bile inside his hind leg. “Watch it, young kit! Keep your claws sheathed.”

  “They are sheathed,” muttered Cloudkit, his face screwed up with disgust. “There, that’s got it. You’re done, Smallear.”

  Dappletail, who had been watching intently, glanced around at Fireheart. “Your kin is very efficient, Fireheart,” she rasped. “No, Cloudkit,” she added as the kit started toward her, carrying the bile-soaked moss. “I’m sure I’ve no ticks. And I wouldn’t wake One-eye if I were you.” She nodded to where the old cat was sleeping, curled up beside the trunk of the fallen tree. “She won’t thank you for disturbing her.”

  Cloudkit looked around hopefully. None of the other elders was there. “Can I go then?” he asked.

  “You can see to One-eye later,” Fireheart meowed. “Meanwhile, you’d better get the dirty bedding out of here. Come on; I’ll help you.”

  “And make sure the new lot’s dry!” growled Smallear.

  Together Fireheart and Cloudkit raked out the old moss and heather and made several trips to carry it out of the camp. Fireheart showed Cloudkit how to clean the mouse bile from his paws by rubbing them in the snow. “Now we’ll go and fetch some fresh moss,” he meowed. “Come on. I know a good place.”

  “I’m tired,” Cloudkit complained as he trailed after Fireheart. “I don’t want to do this.”

  “Well, too bad, you have to,” Fireheart retorted. “Cheer up; it could be worse. Did I tell you that when I was an apprentice I had to look after Yellowfang all on my own?”

  “Yellowfang!” Cloudkit’s eyes widened. “Phew, I bet she was a grump! Did she claw you?”

  “Only with her tongue,” Fireheart replied. “And that’s sharp enough!”

  Cloudkit let out a short purr of laughter. To Fireheart’s relief, he stopped complaining, and when they came to the patch of deep moss he did his share of digging it out of the snow, and copied Fireheart as he showed him how to shake the worst of the moisture off.

  They were returning to the camp, their jaws laden with moss, when Fireheart saw a cat slip out of the gorse tunnel and bound up the side of the ravine. The massive body and striped pelt were unmistakable. It was Tigerclaw.

  Fireheart narrowed his eyes. The deputy had looked almost furtive, peering around before he left the tunnel and disappearing over the lip of the ravine as fast as possible. Fireheart felt uneasy. Something wasn’t quite right.

  “Cloudkit,” he meowed, dropping his wad of moss on the ground, “take your load of bedding in to the elders, and then come back for mine. There’s something I’ve got to do.”

  Cloudkit mewed in agreement through his mouthful of moss and carried on toward the tunnel. Fireheart turned and raced back up the slope to the place where Tigerclaw had disappeared.

  The Clan deputy was out of sight, but between his scent trail and the massive pawprints in the snow, Fireheart had no difficulty following him. He took care not to catch up, in case Tigerclaw saw or smelled him.

  The trail led unwaveringly through Tallpines, past Treecutplace. Fireheart realized with a jolt that Tigerclaw had to be heading for Twolegplace. His heart lurched with fear. Was the deputy on his way to find Princess, Fireheart’s sister? Maybe he was so angry with Cloudkit that he wanted to hurt the kit’s mother. Fireheart had never told the Clan exactly where Princess lived, but it wouldn’t be impossible for Tigerclaw to pick up her scent from his knowledge of Cloudkit’s. He kept low, careful to move silently. As the trail wound through a clump of gorse, movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. It was a mouse, scuffling under one of the bushes.

  Fireheart did not want to stop and hunt, but this mouse was practically begging to be caught. Instinctively his body dropped into a hunting crouch as he crept up on the prey. His pounce landed him squarely on top of it, and he took a moment longer to bury it in the snow before he began to follow Tigerclaw again. Fireheart moved more quickly now, afraid of what the deputy might have done in the time he had delayed.

  As he rounded the stump of a fallen tree, he practically collided with Tigerclaw himself, loping along in the opposite direction.

  The deputy reared back in surprise. “Mouse-brain!” he hissed. “What are you doing here?”

  Fireheart’s first reaction was one of relief. Tigerclaw hadn’t possibly had time to reach Twolegplace and harm Princess already. Then he realized that the deputy was glaring at him with a look of deep suspicion in his amber eyes. He mustn’t know I was following him, Fireheart thought desperately.

  “I…I came out to show Cloudkit a good place to find bedding,” he stammered. “And then I thought I might as well hunt for a bit.”

  “I don’t see any prey,” growled Tigerclaw.

  “It’s buried just back there.” Fireheart jerked his head in the direction he had come.

  The warrior narrowed his eyes. “Show me.”

  Furious that Tigerclaw didn’t believe him, but also deeply relieved at the luck that had led him to catch prey, Fireheart led the way back along the trail and scraped the snow away from the mouse he had just buried. “Satisfied?”

  The Clan deputy frowned at him. Fireheart could almost read his thoughts; he was dying to blame Fireheart for something, but couldn’t manage it this time.

  At last he grunted, “Get on with it, then.” He dipped his head to pick up Fireheart’s mouse and marched off in the direction of the camp.

  Fireheart watched him go, and then started running along the trail again, toward Twolegplace. He could at least find out where Tigerclaw had been. He swiveled his ears backward from time to time; he wo
uldn’t put it past Tigerclaw to turn back and follow him, but he heard nothing, and gradually he began to relax.

  Tigerclaw’s scent trail came to an end near the fences that enclosed the Twoleg territory. Fireheart walked back and forth under the trees, studying the ground. The snow was churned up by the marks of many paws—too many for him to read. There were many strange scents, too. Several cats had been here, and recently.

  Fireheart wrinkled his nose in disgust. The cat scents were muddled up with those of long-dead prey and the stink of Twoleg rubbish. Except for Tigerclaw’s own scent, it was impossible to identify any of them. Thinking deeply, Fireheart sat washing his paws. There was no way of telling whether Tigerclaw had met these unknown cats, or whether he had just crossed their trail. He was about to set off for camp again when he heard a meow from behind him.

  “Fireheart! Fireheart!”

  Springing to his paws, he whirled around. Sitting on the fence at the end of her Twoleg garden was his sister, Princess. Instantly Fireheart raced across to the fence and leaped up beside her.

  Princess broke into a deep, throaty purr and rubbed the side of her face against his. “Fireheart, you’re so thin!” she exclaimed, pulling away from him. “Are you getting enough to eat?”

  “No, nor is any cat in the Clan,” Fireheart admitted. “Prey is scarce in this weather.”

  “Are you hungry now?” his sister asked. “There’s a bowl of food in my Twolegs’ nest. You can have it if you like.”

  For a couple of heartbeats Fireheart was tempted. His mouth watered at the thought of filling his belly with food he hadn’t had to catch first. But common sense won. He couldn’t possibly return to camp with Twoleg scents all over him, and the warrior code forbade him to eat before feeding the rest of the Clan. “Thanks, Princess, but I can’t,” he meowed.

  “I hope you’re feeding Cloudkit,” Princess mewed anxiously. “I’ve been watching for you for days, so you can tell me how he is.”

  “He’s doing well,” Fireheart replied. “He’ll be made an apprentice soon.”

  Princess’s eyes shone with pride, and Fireheart felt a prickle of uncertainty in his fur. He knew how much it meant to his sister to have given her firstborn to the Clan. There was no way he could let her have any doubts about how the kit was settling into Clan life. “Cloudkit’s strong and brave,” he told her. “And intelligent.” And nosey, spoiled, disrespectful, he added to himself. But surely Cloudkit would learn soon enough, when he grew used to Clan ways. “I’m sure he’ll make a fine warrior,” he meowed.

  Princess purred. “Of course he will, with you to teach him.”

  Fireheart’s ears twitched with embarrassment. Princess thought he found it easy being a warrior. She didn’t know the problems he had inside the Clan, or how difficult it was to decide what was the right thing to do when he discovered things that affected the Clan.

  “I’d better go,” he mewed. “I’ll come to visit you again soon. And when newleaf comes, I’ll bring Cloudkit with me.” He gave Princess an affectionate lick in farewell and left her purring even harder at the thought of seeing her beloved kit again.

  Fireheart padded back along Tigerclaw’s scent trail, keeping a lookout for prey as he went. After telling Tigerclaw he was hunting, he knew he had better return to camp with a respectable catch. Gradually he became aware of an unfamiliar sound. He had to pause and think before he realized what it was. Somewhere, water was dripping. Glancing around, he saw a silver globule bulging at the end of a thorn twig. The droplet swelled and glittered in the sunlight before falling to melt a tiny hole in the snow.

  Fireheart raised his head. The patter of water was all around him now, and a warm breeze ruffled his fur. With a surge of joy he realized that the harsh season of leaf-bare was drawing to an end. Soon newleaf would come, and prey would be plentiful again. The thaw had begun!

  CHAPTER 10

  Back in the camp, Fireheart spotted Bluestar leaving the nursery. Quickly he dropped his catch on the pile of fresh-kill and padded over to her.

  “Yes, Fireheart, what is it?” the leader asked. Her voice was calm, but with a sinking feeling, Fireheart knew that the lack of warmth meant she had not forgiven him for asking about the missing ThunderClan kits.

  He lowered his head respectfully. “Bluestar, I was hunting near Twolegplace, and—”

  “Why there?” Bluestar interrupted. “Sometimes I think you spend too much time near Twolegplace, Fireheart.”

  “I—I just thought there might be prey there,” Fireheart stammered. “Anyway, while I was there, I smelled some strange cats.”

  At once Bluestar was alert; her ears flicked up and she fixed her eyes intently on Fireheart. “How many cats? What Clan were they from?”

  “I’m not sure how many,” Fireheart admitted. “Five or six at least. But they didn’t have the scent of any Clan.” He wrinkled his nose as he remembered. “They smelled of crowfood, which made me sure they weren’t kittypets.”

  Bluestar looked thoughtful, and to Fireheart’s relief her hostility toward him seemed to ebb away. “How recent was the scent?” she asked.

  “Quite recent. But I didn’t see any cats there.” Except Tigerclaw, he added silently. But Fireheart decided not to tell Bluestar that part of the story. The leader was in no mood to listen to any more accusations against her deputy, and he had no evidence anyway that Tigerclaw had had anything to do with the unknown cats.

  “Rogues from the Twolegplace, perhaps?” Bluestar guessed. “Thank you, Fireheart. I’ll tell the patrols to keep a lookout when they go that way. I don’t suppose they’re any threat to ThunderClan, but we can’t be too careful.”

  Fireheart padded toward the camp with a vole clamped firmly in his jaws. The sun shone from a brilliantly blue sky, and already, two days after his meeting with Princess, most of the snow was gone. Buds were swelling and a mist of tiny green leaves was beginning to cover the trees. More important, prey was reappearing in the forest. Already it was easier to replenish the pile of fresh-kill, and for the first time in moons the Clan was full-fed.

  Fireheart arrived in the clearing to find the queens raking old bedding out of the nursery. When he had dropped his prey on the pile of fresh-kill, he went across to give them a hand, pleased to see that Cloudkit was helping too.

  “I’m going to show the other kits the good moss place!” the kit mewed proudly as he staggered past with a load of bedding.

  “Good idea,” Fireheart agreed. He’d noticed that even after Tigerclaw relieved him of his duties with the elders, Cloudkit had gone on helping. Maybe at last the kit was feeling some spark of loyalty toward his adopted Clan. “Watch out for badgers, though!”

  Just then he saw Goldenflower emerge from the nursery, pushing a ball of soiled moss in front of her. Her belly was round with the weight of the kits she was carrying.

  “Hello, Fireheart,” she meowed. “Isn’t it great to see the sun again?”

  Fireheart gave the queen’s shoulder a friendly lick. “Soon it’ll be newleaf,” he mewed. “Just in time for your kits. If you—” He broke off and spun around as he heard Tigerclaw’s voice behind him, speaking his name.

  “Fireheart, if you’ve nothing better to do than stand gossiping with the queens, I have a job for you.”

  Fireheart bit back an angry response. He’d been hunting all morning, and paused for only a few moments to talk to Goldenflower.

  “I want you to take a patrol along the border of RiverClan,” the deputy went on. “No cat has been that way for a few days, and now the snow has gone we need to renew the scent markings. And make sure no RiverClan cats are hunting in our territory. If they are, you know what to do!”

  “Yes, Tigerclaw,” Fireheart mewed. Hedgehogs must be growing wings, he thought, if Tigerclaw had chosen him to lead a patrol! Then he realized that Tigerclaw was too clever to behave hostilely toward him in public. The deputy would be careful to treat him just the same as any other Clan warrior, in case Bluestar noticed.

&
nbsp; But I still don’t trust you! Fireheart thought. Aloud he meowed, “Whom shall I take with me?”

  “Any cat you like. Or do you need me to hold your paw?” Tigerclaw added with a sneer.

  “No, Tigerclaw.” By now Fireheart could barely keep his tongue curbed; he would have loved to swipe a claw over the deputy’s scarred muzzle. He mewed a hasty good-bye to Goldenflower, and headed for the warriors’ den. Sandstorm was there, lying on her side and energetically washing, while Graystripe and Runningwind shared tongues nearby.

  “Who’s up for a patrol?” Fireheart called. “Tigerclaw wants us to check the RiverClan border.”

  Graystripe scrambled to his paws right away at the mention of RiverClan, while Runningwind got up more slowly. Sandstorm paused in her washing and looked up at Fireheart. “Just when I was hoping for a bit of peace,” she complained. “I’ve been hunting since dawn.” But her tone was good-humored, not remotely as unfriendly as she was when he had first arrived in the Clan, Fireheart thought, and almost at once she got up and shook herself. “All right,” she mewed. “Lead on.”

  “What about Brackenpaw?” Fireheart asked Graystripe. “Do you want to bring him along?”

  “Whitestorm and Mousefur took the apprentices out,” Runningwind explained. “All of the apprentices—more fool them! They’re hunting fresh-kill for the elders.”

  Fireheart led the way out of the camp, feeling a tingle in his paws as he leaped up the side of the ravine. It felt like moons since he’d had a good run without snow to freeze his paws off, and he wanted to stretch his muscles. “We’ll head for the Sunningrocks,” he meowed, “and then follow the border up to Fourtrees.”

  He set a brisk pace through the trees, but not so fast that he failed to notice the brilliant green fronds of new bracken beginning to unfurl, or the first pale buds of primroses pushing out of their green coverings. Birdsong filled the air, and the fresh scent of growing things.