Midnight

Chapter 2

The sun was hardly over the horizon when Squirrelpaw padded out of the camp. Briefly, she knew she should wait for Dustpelt, but her paws were itching to move and she caught sight of Thornclaw, Brightheart's brother, leading his patrol out of the camp.

Dustpelt will have to be proud when I track this patrol without being discovered, Squirrelpaw told herself.

She had only just made it around a huge clump of ferns when she didn't hear any more movement. Dropping immediately, she hoped the patrol had taken off running, as all three warriors had much longer legs than she did. A heavy sigh met her ears as she moved through the undergrowth.

"Come out, Squirrelpaw," she heard Brambletuft call out.

Squirrelpaw quietly hissed to herself. How much noise had she made trying to follow them? Pushing through a clump of bracken, she padded out to glare at the dark tabby.

"What's going on?" Thornclaw padded around Brambletuft, followed closely by Ashfur.

Brambletuft flicked his tail toward Squirrelpaw. "I heard something behind us," he explained. "She must have tried following us."

"Don't talk about me as if I weren't here!" Squirrelpaw hissed.

"You shouldn't be here!" Brambletuft retorted; just the sound of his voice made Squirrelpaw want to rake her claws over his ears.

"Stop bickering, the pair of you," Thornclaw growled. "You're not kits anymore. Squirrelpaw, tell us what you're doing. Did some cat send you with a message?"

"She wouldn't have been skulking in the bracken if they had," Brambletuft put in, earning a snarl from Squirrelpaw.

"No, they didn't," Squirrelpaw meowed, casting a resentful glance at Brambletuft. "I wanted to hunt and make Dustpelt admit that I'm a good tracker by following you guys for a while before going back."

"So he doesn't know you're out here?" Thornclaw pressed.

"No, he promised to do some training last night, but he never wants to train," Squirrelpaw grumbled, lowering her ears. "He always sends me off alone."

"That's just how Dustpelt is," Ashfur meowed gently. "He was my mentor, too. I know all too well how he trains."

"You'd better get back to the camp," Thornclaw decided.

Anger flared through Squirrelpaw and she padded up to Thornclaw. "You're not my mentor!" she hissed, standing nose-to-nose with the warrior. Realizing her mistake, she stepped back and dipped her head apologetically. "I'm sorry, Thornclaw. It's just. . . I want to go on patrols like Swiftpaw and Cloudpaw do. Dustpelt hasn't let me go on a single one yet."

Thornclaw's nostrils flared, but he eventually let out a patient sigh. He exchanged a knowing look with Ashfur. "All right," he mewed. "But don't blame me when Dustpelt has your tail."

Squirrelpaw hopped in excitement. "Thank you, Thornclaw! Where are we going? Are we looking for anything special? Is there going to be trouble?"

Thornclaw swished his tail in front of her mouth to silence her. "Skystar wants us to check Snakerocks," he explained. "Hopefully we won't come across any trouble."

"Watch out for adders, though," Brambletuft added.

Squirrelpaw whipped around, feeling anger flare through her again. "I know that!"

"And we'll do it quietly," Thornclaw ordered. "I don't want to hear a single squeak out of you unless it's something important."

Biting her tongue to hold in a retort, Squirrelpaw fell in step with Ashfur behind Thornclaw, Brambletuft bringing up the rear.