Twilight

Chapter 7

Squirrelflight paused beside a clump of bracken, drawing in the scent of the fresh green fronds. Sunlit dew sparkled on every blade of grass, and the whole forest seemed to be waking up after the long sleep of leaf-bare.

Another deep breath brought the scent of cat. Not ThunderClan, and not ShadowClan either, though she was near their border. Squirrelflight froze, glancing from side to side. A bracken frond waved, and she caught a glimpse of a strange tabby cat creeping along with its belly fur brushing the ground.

Squirrelflight thought at first that a rogue had wandered into their territory; a heartbeat later she realized it must be one of the kittypet she and Brambletuft had fought with when they first explored the land around the lake. Their Twoleg nest was in ShadowClan's territory, but this crow-food- eating tabby wouldn't give a mouse tail for Clan boundaries.

Dropping into the hunter's crouch, Squirrelflight started to creep up on it, but she hadn't taken more than a couple of pawsteps when she heard the rest of her patrol approaching: Thornclaw, Ashfur, and Sootfur. Mouse-brains! she thought. Clumping around like horses!

She warned them to keep back with a flick of her tail, but the tabby had already heard them. Squirrelflight saw the brown shape streak out of the middle of the bracken, and she sprang out in pursuit. Behind her, she heard Ashfur yowl, "Hey, Squirrelflight, stop!" but she ignored him.

She dashed after the intruder, determined to give it a well-clawed ear to teach it not to come back, but the kittypet had too good a start. "Mouse dung!" she spat when she lost it in a patch of thick undergrowth. She turned back to join the rest of the patrol. To her surprise they were standing bunched together, staring at her with worried looks on their faces.

"Squirrelflight, you mouse-brain!" Sootfur called out.

Before she reached the others, Brambletuft shouldered his way through the undergrowth with Longtail just behind him.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" he demanded.

"I spotted one of those kittypet from ShadowClan territory." Squirrelflight was puzzled and angry at how hostile he sounded. What was he accusing her of now? "We're supposed to chase trespassers on a border patrol, right?"

"Right," meowed Brambletuft. "What you're not supposed to do is cross the border into another Clan's territory. Suppose a ShadowClan patrol had seen you?"

"But I didn't. . ." Squirrelflight's voice trailed off. Suddenly she spotted the dead tree that was one of the boundary markers. She must have chased the kittypet straight past it. "I didn't notice any scent marks," she argued, padding forward until she was on the right side of the border again.

"The markings are really faint." Ashfur had been over to sniff at the roots of the dead tree. "Calm down, Brambletuft. Any cat could have made the same mistake."

Longtail gave Ashfur a look from a narrowed blue eye. "Squirrelflight can answer for herself," he mewed. "She's not usually lost for words."

Squirrelflight blinked gratefully at Ashfur. She didn't need him or any cat to spring to her defense, but it was good of him to support her. "I'm sorry. I really didn't notice."

"The markings are faint," Thornclaw agreed. "I don't think ShadowClan have renewed them for days."

"What's the matter with them?" Longtail wondered. "ShadowClan are usually the first to make sure that no cat crosses their borders."

Squirrelflight shrugged. "If they can't be bothered to set their markers, they can't object if some cat crosses the boundary by mistake."

"I suppose you're right." Brambletuft sighed. "But for StarClan's sake, be a bit more careful next time."