Midnight

Chapter 16

Squirrelpaw hissed as she raced behind Tawnypelt toward the ruckus. Every one of her instincts yelled at her to dash into the fight, to defend her new companions. When they reached the garden just beside the fight, Squirrelpaw's jaw dropped in astonishment. Near the Twoleg nest, two of the largest kittypets she'd ever seen had cornered Stormfur and Crowpaw. The WindClan apprentice was crouched close to the ground, his ears flattened and his lips drawn back in a snarl. Stormfur had one paw stretched out in front of him, threatening the kittypets with unsheathed claws. Squirrelpaw knew there was no way out of there without claws meeting fur.

"Those have to be some of the largest kittypets I've ever seen," Tawnypelt gasped.

"Who cares?" Squirrelpaw hissed. "We need to help them."

Without another word she raced down the fence and leaped across the garden. She was vaguely aware of Swiftpaw racing after her and a familiar voice yelling for her to stop, but she didn't hesitate. Leaping into the air, Squirrelpaw threw herself at the closest kittypet, clawing his pelt furiously. The kittypet yowled in pain and whirled around, trying to shake her off. His friend tried to claw at her only for Swiftpaw to intercept him with a hard hit to the head.

"Stormfur, Crowpaw! Over here!" Squirrelpaw heard Brambletuft yowl.

Crowpaw charged away toward the voice, but Stormfur stayed rooted where he was, snarling threateningly at the kittypets as Squirrelpaw and Swiftpaw joined at his sides. At the same moment, Tawnypelt leaped down to join them as well.

"Back off, fox dung!" Squirrelpaw spat as the kittypets closed in.

The one she clawed up lashed at her with one paw, missing her by a whisker. Then the door to the Twoleg nest was flung open and a female Twoleg appeared, shouting and waving her arms. The kittypets fled around the side of the nest, while the remaining Clan cats dashed for the refuge of the hedge Crowpaw had dived under. The Twoleg glared after them for a moment and then retreated into her nest, banging the door behind her.

"Squirrelpaw!" Brambletuft hissed as she skidded to a halt beside Stormfur. "What were you thinking of out there? Those two could have clawed your fur off."

Squirrelpaw shrugged, not really caring as she drew a paw over her ear. "No, they couldn't. All kittypets are soft," she meowed. "Anyway, Stormfur and Crowpaw were there."

"Brambletuft, don't scold her." Stormfur's amber eyes glowed as he gazed down at Squirrelpaw. "That was the bravest thing I've ever seen."

Feathertail murmured her agreement, and even Tawnypelt gave her an approving nod. Only Crowpaw looked grumpy, perhaps because he was the only one who obeyed Brambletuft.

"I never said she wasn't brave," Brambletuft defended himself hotly. "Just that she needs to think first. We've still got a long way to go, and if any of us is injured it's going to hold us back."

"And I'm acting medicine cat, so I can deal with it. I'm also big enough to carry her if it's needed," Swiftpaw retorted.

"Well, we're all here now," Tawnypelt pointed out, flicking Swiftpaw gently on the shoulder. "So let's get going."

Brambletuft and Feathertail led them to a patch of rough ground, where Feathertail explained this was where she and Brambletuft had waited for them before they heard the ruckus. By now the sun had gone, but red streaks stained the sky, showing them the path they must follow.

"We could spend the night here," Feathertail suggested. "There's shelter, and prey."

"It's too close to the Twoleg nests," Stormfur argued. "If we cross the Thunderpath into those fields, we'll be able to find a safer place."

No cat disagreed with him. StarClan gave them an easy crossing of the second Thunderpath, and as twilight gathered they began the trek across the fields. The surface was rough, with boggy patches and heaps of stone, as if there had once been Twoleg nests here that had been allowed to fall into ruin.

It was almost dark when they came to a stretch of broken-down wall. Ferns and grasses had rooted in the cracks, giving some shelter, and moss covered the fallen stones.

"This doesn't look too bad," Stormfur meowed. "We could stop here."

"Oh, yes, please!" Squirrelpaw readily agreed. "I'm so tired I think my paws will drop off!"

"Well, I think we should go on a bit farther," Crowpaw objected stubbornly. "There's no prey-scent here."

"Actually, Crowpaw is right," Swiftpaw meowed after lifting his nose to taste the air. "We'll need our strength and if there's no prey, it might be better to move elsewhere."

"We've traveled enough today," Brambletuft hissed. "If we go any farther we could run into more trouble, or have to spend the night in the open. Let's look around first, though, and make sure there aren't any nasty surprises. No badgers or foxes holed up nearby."

The rest of the group agreed, all except Crowpaw and Swiftpaw, who hissed crossly and curled up beside Squirrelpaw while Crowpaw grunted disagreeably. Squirrelpaw padded off around the other side of the wall, carefully sniffing around before she found a large puddle of fresh water. Taking a big gulp, she bounced back around the line of stones.

"This is a great place!" she announced, shaking droplets from her whiskers. "There's a puddle on the other side, with plenty of water."

"Water? Lead me to it," Tawnypelt mewed, trotting in the direction Squirrelpaw had indicated. "My mouth's as dry as last season's leaves."

A moment later she came back, and stalked threateningly toward Squirrelpaw with her tail bristling. "That was a dirty trick," she growled.

"Trick?" Squirrelpaw echoed, wondering what she was going on about. "I don't know what you mean."

Tawnypelt spat. "The water tastes disgusting. Full of salt or something."

"No, it doesn't!" Squirrelpaw protested. "I had a good long drink, and it was as fresh as anything."

Tawnypelt turned away and snatched angrily at some juicy stalks of grass. Stormfur shot Squirrelpaw a worried glance. "Wait here," he ordered. A moment later he reappeared with drops gleaming on his whiskers. "No, it's fine," he reported.

"Then why did I get a mouthful of salt?" Tawnypelt mewed.

Squirrelpaw brightened up. "Maybe it's like my dream! Except I was drowning in mine, but all the water tasted like salt, like you just had," she meowed.

"Does that mean we're doing the right thing?" Feathertail asked. "That would mean StarClan is watching us even now."

"So why haven't we all had a sign?" Crowpaw asked challengingly. "Why just the two of you?"

"Perhaps we'll have one later," Feathertail suggested, brushing her tail against Crowpaw's flank. "Maybe they're spread out to let us know we're staying on the right path."

"Perhaps." Crowpaw shrugged angrily and went off to curl up by Swiftpaw at the end of the wall.

Feathertail and Brambletuft went off to have a drink of their own as the rest of the party settled down. Squirrelpaw longed for the mice in Ravenpaw's barn; there was no prey-scent here, and they'd all be sleeping hungry. The next day they'd spend more time trying to find food than actually traveling. Maybe Swiftpaw and Crowpaw were right and they should've kept going.

The first stars of Silverpelt were glimmering overhead. Why can't you be more clear in your messages? Squirrelpaw thought crossly. All you had to say was travel to wherever and find something, not send these dreams that could mean anything.

The stars glittered brighter, but still no answers came.