Starlight

Chapter 3

Clouds covered the sun the next morning as the patrol set off to find their way back to the lake. Heading in what they thought was the right direction, Brambletuft stopped short when he smelled scent markers, and spotted the walls of the Twoleg nest through the trees.

"Yuck!" Squirrelflight's lip curled. "That's worse than fox dung. Those kittypets must have marked their territory."

The patrol skirted the markers warily; to Brambletuft's relief there was no sign of the hostile kittypets. With the nest in view, he could remember which way they had approached it the night before, and it was not long before they crossed their earlier scent trail.

"This way!" Brambletuft meowed.

A chill wind shook the tops of the pines, and as they reached the shore they cats felt the full force of it. Brambletuft turned to face it, the cold blast flattening his fur against his sides. He guessed they had traveled about halfway around the lake. Looking back the way they had come, he could see the dark smudge of the island against a background of pale green hills. The surface of the lake was gray and choppy, under clouds that bulged with rain.

"Just what we need!" Tawnypelt grumbled, tucking her nose into her chest.

Waving his tail for the rest to follow him, Brambletuft retraced his steps into the trees. "I think we should stay under cover," he suggested. "It's more sheltered here."

"Just as long as we don't get lost again," Hawkfrost warned. "Let's stay where we can see the lake."

The others were all happy to get out of the icy wind. They moved off, keeping the lake in sight through the outlying trees but not venturing onto the open shore.

They had not gone far before Crowfeather let out a muffled grunt and streaked off with his tail streaming behind him. Staring after him, Brambletuft scented a squirrel before he spotted the gray-furred creature nibbling a pinecone at the foot of one of the trees. Its ears flicked up in alarm as Crowfeather raced toward it. Dropping the pinecone, it sprang for the safety of the tree. But Crowfeather was faster. With a mighty leap he grabbed the squirrel's tail and pulled it back to the ground. He padded back with the limp body dangling from his jaws.

"Good catch!" Squirrelflight purred.

Crowfeather nodded as he dropped the fresh-kill in front of them. "Come on; let's eat."

Crouching beside the others to eat his share, Brambletuft itched with impatience to get moving again. The leaders expected them home by nightfall to report what they had discovered, and they still had a lot of territory to explore—and two Clans still needed homes.

"Let's go," he meowed as soon as they had finished. To his relief, no one protested and kept pace with him as he set off through the trees at a steady trot.

Brambletuft's paws tingled with excitement. This could be the day when they found ThunderClan's new home! RiverClan and ShadowClan had already found good places, and he guessed that the ridge of hills across the lake would suit WindClan. But deep down, finding somewhere for his Clanmates to live and hunt safely was what he wanted most of all. Their home in the forest had suited them so well, in spite of being close to the Thunderpath and Twolegplace. Would they find anywhere nearly as good here?

As if she could read his thoughts, Tawnypelt padded up beside him and touched her muzzle briefly to his side. "Worried about something?" she mewed.

"I'm okay," he told her, trying hard to convince himself. "I'll just be happier when we've found some territory for ThunderClan."

"There's a long way to go yet," Tawnypelt mewed encouragingly.

Soon they came to a wide path winding through the trees. The pine-needle cover gave way to short grass; regular dents in it had filled with water to form small pools.