Legacy: Timeless (Book 2)

Chapter 10: Looking Away

Chapter 10: Looking Away

Scorch plodded with her head down toward where they'd made their makeshift den. She couldn't get the image of the Clan cats out of her minds. They'd acted happy, fairly care-free, but it was all an act, an attempt to make things seem normal for them. It felt so wrong to just leave.

But there's nothing I can do, even my mirages are telling me that! She frowned; feeling helpless was not something she was used to. But I'm not helpless! I need to hurry and help Mira! Focusing herself on that, she picked up the pace.

By the time she reached the den, she could hear Mira's moans along with Painted and Jump's voices arguing. "You don't let a kit go out on her own like that! If you hadn't forgotten, it was because of that mistake earlier that Mira got hurt! And the entire reason we came with Scorch in the first place!" Painted was growling.

"But I couldn't leave Mira alone!" Jump defended himself.

"Then you should have made her wait until I got back! If Scorch ends up dead you're in trouble," Painted growled again.

"Well, I'm not dead, so that's great," Scorch interrupted them, mumbling her words around the leaf packet.

"Scorch!" Jump's exclamation almost drowned out Painted's heavy sigh of relief.

"Where were you?" Painted demanded, eyeing Jump sharply.

Scorch caught her breath, wondering what excuse Jump had used. "I went to find more herbs to help Mira," she mumbled, hoping it was close enough to not rouse Painted's suspicion. Both Jump and she would be in huge trouble if Painted found out where she'd really been.

Painted eyed her closely for a moment, unable to decide to believe her or not, before sighing and shaking her head. "Well, did you find anything?" the dotted cat asked instead.

"Yep!" Scorch answered happily. "I've got poppy seeds to help dull the pain and let her sleep better, and feverfew to make her fever go down," Scorch mewed, striding past them to the den.

"That sounds useful, but how do you know it'll help?" Painted asked.

"My mother told me about herbs, remember?" Scorch muttered, feeling uncomfortable with lying so much.

"You never mentioned them before," Painted continued suspiciously.

"Because I've never actually seen the plants they come from before, so I didn't know if I'd be able to find them," Scorch kept lying; she'd rather just tell Painted the truth and face her anger. But Jump's warning face kept her tongue tied.

"Well, if it helps Mira I guess it doesn't really matter," Painted sighed, turning away while Scorch opened the herb packet, carefully grabbing the black seeds and separating them from the feverfew leaves.

"Okay, Mira, if you eat this it'll make you feel better," she cooed, gently prying Mira's mouth open and putting the herbs into her mouth. She wasn't sure how she knew, but she stroked Mira's throat until she'd swallowed the feverfew leaves and poppy seeds.

"How come you know so much about herbs? How much did your mother really teach you?" Jump asked, eyeing her movements critically.

"She actually only showed me on the afternoon before I was swept away. But it just stuck in my mind, I have a hard time forgetting anything, really," Scorch explained, rubbing Mira's quivering side with a small paw, her eyes watching for the effects of the herbs.

It worked quickly, Mira's fever-ridden doze turned into a peaceful slumber, the she-cat falling into the depths of dreams and her fever lightening. Scorch sighed in relief, and then looked at Mira's broken leg again, she hated to disturb Mira once she finally got to sleep, but this needed to be taken care of.