A Dangerous Path

Chapter 10

The stars of Silverpelt blazed from a clear sky, and the full moon rode high. Skyfall crouched at the top of the hollow leading down to Fourtrees. Beneath the four great oaks, the ground was carpeted with fallen leaves, glittering in the first frost of leaf-fall. Black shapes of cats moved to and fro against the pale shimmer.

This time Bluestar had insisted on leading her Clan to the Gathering. Skyfall couldn't decide if this was a good thing or not. True, now she didn't have to invent excuses for her, but she was also worried about what she might say. As ThunderClan's problems piled up, it was becoming more and more of a problem to present a strong face to their rival Clans, and her apprehension bit deeper when she admitted to herself that she could no longer trust her leader's judgment.

She edges closer, out of earshot of Thunderpaw and Mousefur, who were beside her. "Bluestar," she murmured. "What will you—"

As if she hadn't heard her, Bluestar signaled with her tail and the ThunderClan cats sprang to their paws and raced down through the bushes into the hollow. Skyfall had no option but to follow. Before they left the camp, Bluestar had refused to talk about the coming Gathering, and now her last chance to discuss it with her had gone.

Down in the hollow there were fewer cats than Skyfall had expected, and she realized they were all from WindClan and ShadowClan. She spotted Tallstar and Tigerstar seated side by side at the base of the Great Rock. Bluestar walked straight past them, her tail as still as if she were advancing on an enemy. Without acknowledging them with so much as the flick of a whisker, she leaped up to the Great Rock and sat there, her blue-gray pelt glowing in the moonlight.

Skyfall took a deep breath and tried to calm the fears that welled inside her. Bluestar had already convinced herself that Tallstar was her enemy; to see the WindClan leader talking privately with Tigerstar, the traitor Bluestar feared most, would make her surer that she was right.

As she watched, she saw Tallstar lean over to Tigerstar and meow something; Tigerstar flicked his tail dismissively. Skyfall wondered if she should creep closer to listen to what they were saying, but before she could move she felt a friendly nudge at her shoulder and looked around to see Onewhisker, a warrior of WindClan.

"Hi, there," Onewhisker meowed. "Do you remember who this is?"

He pushed a young cat forward, a tabby with bright eyes and ears pricked with excitement. "This is Morningflower's kit," Onewhisker explained. "He's my apprentice now—Gorsepaw. Isn't he big now?"

"Morningflower's kit, of course! I saw you at the last Gathering." Skyfall still found it hard to believe that this well-muscled apprentice was the same scrap of fur whom she had carried across the Thunderpath when she and her Clan mates brought WindClan home.

"Mother told me about you, Skyfall," Gorsepaw mewed shyly. "How you carried me, and everything."

"Well, I'm glad I don't have to carry you now," Skyfall replied. "If you grow much more, you'll be able to join LionClan!"

Gorsepaw purred happily. Skyfall was sharply aware of the warm friendship that she felt for these cats, which had survived all the skirmishing and disagreements since that long-ago journey.

"We should be starting the meeting," Onewhisker went on. "But there's no sign of RiverClan."

The words were hardly out of his mouth when there was a stir among the bushes at the other side of the clearing. A group of RiverClan cats appeared, padding close together into the open. Stalking proudly at their head was Leopardfur.

"Where's Crookedstar?" Onewhisker wondered out loud.

"I heard he's ill," Skyfall meowed, realizing that she wasn't surprised to see Leopardfur taking their leader's place. From what Graystripe had told her by the river half a moon ago, she hadn't expected the RiverClan leader to be well enough to attend a Gathering.