Tallstar's Revenge (18 page)

Suddenly claws pierced his flanks. Tallpaw yelped as he was dragged backward. He tried to struggle free but his pelt was caught fast.

“You smell worse than nettles!” Ashpaw hissed in his ear. “You smell of sheep dirt!” She flung him to the ground and plunged her paws into his belly.

Gasping, he tried to roll aside, but Frogpaw had leaped up and was pummeling Tallpaw's muzzle with a flurry of blows. Tallpaw's thoughts spiraled into panic. He flailed desperately, trying to break free, but Ashpaw and Frogpaw had him pinned to the ground.

Gray fur flashed at the corner of his eye. “When you hear the next yowl, get to your paws and start swinging,” came a gruff voice.
Mole!

The rogue grabbed Frogpaw and dragged him backward. Frogpaw screeched with fury. Tallpaw kicked free of Ashpaw and jumped to his paws. While Mole flung Frogpaw onto his back, Tallpaw flew at Ashpaw, claws stretched. Ashpaw's eyes widened with shock as his claws raked her muzzle.

Tallpaw kept swinging. “The only thing you'll be smelling for a while is
blood
!” he screeched. He kicked off with his hind legs and hurled himself at the ShadowClan apprentice. She rolled underneath him and crouched against the grass while he sank his teeth into her shoulder. Screeching with pain, she tore free and raced for the entrance. Newtpaw was ahead of her, her tail bushing as she fled the WindClan camp.

Aspenfall was chasing a tabby tom across the clearing. Redclaw hissed at a white warrior as he fled while Hareflight and Dawnstripe herded a gang of yowling ShadowClan warriors toward the entrance.
We've driven them out!
Tallpaw realized. As he felt a rush of triumph, a screech sounded from the Meeting Hollow. Tallpaw rushed to the edge and looked down.

In the shadow of Tallrock, Heatherstar reared over Stonetooth. She slammed her paws down, sinking her claws deep into his pelt. Blood dripped from above her eye and she blinked it away. “Why did you attack us? Why?” She shook the ShadowClan deputy savagely.

“Why shouldn't we?” Stonetooth hung limp in her claws, his eyes shining with hate. “We could hunt on these moors just as well as you.”

Heatherstar's eyes flashed. “The moors are ours and always will be.” She hauled Stonetooth to his paws and flung him toward the edge of the hollow. “Run after your weasel-hearted Clanmates before I rip you to shreds.”

Stonetooth climbed out of the dip, leaving blood in his wake. “We've seen your weaknesses, you rabbits!” he snarled. “Next time, we'll drive you from your dens for good.” Hissing at the watching WindClan warriors, he limped out of the camp.

Heatherstar turned to her medicine cat. “Check the injured, Hawkheart.” She shook her head, sending scarlet droplets onto the churned-up sand. As Hawkheart moved toward her, she stepped back. “I'm fine,” she meowed. “Start with the others.”

Hawkheart turned and scanned the clearing. “Barkpaw!”

Tallpaw jerked around. Where was Barkpaw? He felt a surge of relief as he saw his friend hurrying out of the elders' den. “No injuries there!” he called to his mentor.

As he spoke, Reedfeather crashed through the entrance. “We've gotten rid of Stonetooth.” The WindClan deputy lashed his tail. “Appledawn and Doespring are chasing him back to his own territory.”

“Hawkheart!” A panicked cry rose from the tunnelers' nests. Redclaw was leaning over Brackenwing. His mate was sprawled in the long grass, unmoving. “She's bleeding!”

“Barkpaw,” Hawkheart ordered, “fetch spiderweb and thyme leaves.” He raced across the camp, clearing the Meeting Hollow in a leap. Crouching beside Brackenwing, he sniffed along her flank. “It's a gut injury.” Gently he rolled the pale ginger she-cat onto her side.

Tallpaw crept closer, wincing as he saw blood flooding from Brackenwing's belly. Brackenwing groaned, her eyes rolling back until only the whites showed.

Redclaw leaned close to her cheek. “It's okay. Hawkheart will fix you.”

Hareflight and Cloudrunner crowded at the edge of the bracken. Palebird nosed past Algie and Bess. “Brackenwing?”

“What's wrong?” Meadowslip was just behind her, her kit-swollen belly swaying.

Lilywhisker and Flailfoot watched, trembling, from the entrance to elders' den. “It looks bad,” Flailfoot whispered.

Tallpaw stumbled aside as his mother pushed past. “Brackenwing!” Palebird's voice cracked as she crouched beside her friend.

Barkpaw raced out of his den with a wad of cobweb and leaves clamped between his jaws. He dropped them at Hawkheart's side and stared at his mother. “Brackenwing?”

The she-cat's eyes were closing. Redclaw looked at Hawkheart, his eyes as round as an owl's. “Can you save her?”

Hawkheart touched the small wad of web with his paw. “It's too late,” he growled softly. “She's lost too much blood.”

“Brackenwing!” Shrewpaw pushed past Aspenfall. “Get up, Brackenwing! We won the battle!” He stared at his mother, then at Barkpaw. “What's wrong with her?”

Barkpaw met his gaze with clouded eyes but didn't answer. Beside him, Brackenwing twitched, then fell still.

“Brackenwing.” With a groan, Redclaw pressed his tawny cheek against his mate's muzzle.

“Brackenwing?” Panic edged Shrewpaw's mew.

Hareflight stepped closer to his apprentice. “She's dead, Shrewpaw,” he murmured.

Tallpaw backed away, shock trembling though every hair.
She can't be dead!
His paws trembled beneath him. A thought hit him like a stone.
Why didn't I tell Stagleap about the scents?
He backed away from his grieving Clanmates, horror twisting his belly.

“This is my fault!” he wailed. “It's all my fault!”

C
HAPTER
16

“No.” Dawnstripe turned to face Tallpaw.
“This was ShadowClan's fault. No one else's.”

Tallpaw hardly heard her. Blood pounded in his ears.
What have I done?
All around him, his Clanmates stared at him as if he'd gone mad.

Heatherstar narrowed her eyes. “What are you talking about, Tallpaw?”

Tallpaw struggled to speak. “I smelled ShadowClan scent on the bramble thicket by Fourtrees. I should have said something but I didn't.”

“Why not?” Heatherstar demanded.

“I thought it was just a ShadowClan patrol on the way to the Moonstone.” Tallpaw blinked at her, aware of his round-eyed Clanmates watching behind.

“You killed her!” Dark brown fur flashed at the edge of his vision. Screeching, Shrewpaw flew at him. Tallpaw gasped as his denmate crashed into his shoulder. Pain seared his nose. Claws battered his muzzle. Tallpaw lifted his forepaws and tried to push Shrewpaw away as vicious blows battered his ears.

“Control yourself!” Hareflight snatched Shrewpaw by the scruff and hauled him away. Tallpaw stumbled to regain his balance as Shrewpaw clawed the air, hissing.

“I'll never forgive you! You killed my mother.” Struggling free of Hareflight, the young tom glared at Tallpaw.

Barkpaw padded from the bracken and touched his nose to his brother's shoulder. Tallpaw desperately tried to catch his friend's eye. “I'm sorry, Barkpaw.”

Barkpaw didn't look at him. Instead he crouched beside Shrewpaw like a wounded rabbit. Tallpaw's heart twisted.
Oh, StarClan!
Forgive me!

“Tallpaw?” Reena's mew sounded behind Heatherstar. She crossed the grass and touched his cheek with her nose. “It wasn't your fault,” she whispered.

“Reena!” Bess called across the clearing. “Come away, dear. This is Clan business.”

“Oh, Tallpaw.” Reena backed away, eyes soft with sympathy.

Heatherstar dipped her head. “You made a mistake, Tallpaw,” she meowed. “But this is not your fault. ShadowClan killed Brackenwing. Not you.”

“But—” Tallpaw tried to argue, but Heatherstar turned away.

“Let's move Brackenwing to the clearing,” the WindClan leader told her Clanmates. “So that we can mourn her properly.”

Tallpaw pressed himself against the wall of the camp, sheltering in the heather fronds while Aspenfall, Cloudrunner, and Hareflight lifted Brackenwing's body and carried it to a grassy hollow between the tussocks. As they laid her down, Hawkheart brought herbs from the medicine den and laid them along Brackenwing's flank. Tallpaw could smell their pungent, green odor as it masked the scent of death. Redclaw and Palebird settled beside her but Shrewpaw kept circling, his eyes dark.

“My dear friend.” Palebird pressed her muzzle into Brackenwing's fur. “You're the only one who saw Finchkit before she died. No one else understood my grief.”

Tallpaw wished there was some way he could comfort his mother. But he had never been able to. His chest tightened.
She won't want me. It's my fault her friend's dead.

As the sun rose into the sky, Hawkheart moved from cat to cat, checking wounds while Barkpaw dashed back and forth to the medicine den fetching herbs to treat them. Aspenfall and Ryestalk collected the shredded gorse around the nursery and began to thread it back into the walls.

Meadowslip peeked out. “Make them thick,” she mewed shakily. “I want my kits to be safe if there's another attack.”

“ShadowClan won't get through this,” Aspenfall promised her, weaving another thorny stem through the branches.

Stagleap helped Whiteberry, Flamepelt, and Flailfoot hook back the torn stems that dangled across the entrance to the elders' den. Lilywhisker sat back and gave directions. “Weave in some heather to soften it,” she croaked. “The gorse thorns scrape my spine every time I go in.”

“Tallpaw?” Hawkheart's mew surprised him.

Tallpaw glanced up at the sky. How long had he sat alone? Sunhigh had passed and the sun was sliding toward the moor-top. “What?” he meowed, feeling hollow inside.

“I need to treat your wounds.” The medicine cat was brisk. “Stand up so I can take a look.”

“Don't bother.” Tallpaw stared at the ground. The scratches Frogpaw and Ashpaw had given him were throbbing. But they felt like gnat bites compared with the stinging wounds Shrewpaw had left on his muzzle. “My wounds don't matter.”

“Don't be rabbit-brained.” Hawkheart crouched beside him.

“But I killed her,” Tallpaw croaked.

“You're a half-trained apprentice. The safety of the Clan doesn't rest in your paws,” Hawkheart told him sharply. “You weren't the only cat on that patrol. Are any of the others blaming themselves?”

Tallpaw glanced across the camp to where Stagleap was sifting through the prey heap. He hadn't detected ShadowClan's scents.
But I did. I should have told him.

Hawkheart sniffed at the scratches around Tallpaw's ears. Tallpaw flinched as his nose touched a tender wound. “Barkpaw!” Hawkheart called across the clearing. “Bring some dock and marigold.”

Barkpaw's gaze flashed toward them. Tallpaw tried to catch his eye, but his friend just nodded and headed for the medicine den. Tallpaw wondered if Barkpaw would ever speak to him again.

 

Once Hawkheart had left and the herbs had begun to soothe the sting of his wounds, Tallpaw tucked his paws tighter under him. Palebird and Redclaw still lay beside Brackenwing's body. Shrewpaw continued to pace in circles, while the rest of the Clan waited at the edge of the clearing for the night vigil to begin. Tallpaw watched the sun dip below the wall of the camp and huddled deeper into the heather, relieved as the shadows swallowed him.

He stiffened as the branches around him trembled. Someone was coming through the entrance. He jerked around as Hickorynose marched into the camp. Sandgorse, Mistmouse, Woollytail, and Plumclaw followed, their eyes stretching wide as they saw the torn gorse and shredded grass littering the clearing, some of it stained ominously red.

Plumclaw's pelt fluffed. “Is that
Brackenwing
?” She charged across the clearing and gazed down at the dead warrior's body. “What happened?”

Aspenfall emerged from the nursery, his fur covered in bits of leaf. “ShadowClan attacked.”

“Can't you smell their stench?” Reedfeather leaped out of the Meeting Hollow. “It seemed as if the entire Clan was here.”

Heatherstar padded from her den, following the rim of the hollow and stopping beside her deputy. “It's a shame you didn't get back earlier,” she mewed quietly to the tunnelers.

Sandgorse twitched an ear. “Palebird?”

Palebird lifted her head from beside Brackenwing. “I'm okay.” Her mew cracked as she spoke.

Shrewpaw lashed his tail. “Brackenwing's dead and it was Tallpaw's fault!”

Sandgorse blinked. “Tallpaw? How?” Nose twitching, he peered into the shadows, stopping when he spotted Tallpaw. His eyes darkened. Heart twisting, Tallpaw looked away.
He hates me even more now.

“Shrewpaw.” Reedfeather stepped forward. “You have to stop blaming Tallpaw for something ShadowClan did. You are Clanmates. Your loyalty is to each other.”

“But—”

Heatherstar didn't let Shrewpaw speak. “This wasn't Tallpaw's fault, Sandgorse. Shrewpaw speaks from grief, that's all.”

Tallpaw swallowed. Was that true? No one had been near him all day except Hawkheart. Was the whole Clan grieving as much as Shrewpaw?

“Meadowslip!” Hickorynose bounded to the nursery.

Meadowslip squeezed out, dropping onto the grass and pressing her cheek to her mate's.

Hickorynose fussed over her. “Are you hurt?”

“I'm fine,” Meadowslip promised. “Bess and Algie defended the den with Reena.” She blinked gratefully across the camp at the rogues as they cleared scraps of heather and gorse from the bloodstained tussocks.

“I wish I'd been here to protect you,” Hickorynose fretted.

Hareflight padded toward Brackenwing's body. “So do we.” Hickorynose stared in surprise at the brown warrior. “The tunnelers are never here when we need them,” Hareflight hissed.

Reedfeather stepped forward. “We can't keep blaming each other for this.”

Woollytail's hackles rose. “This wasn't our fault.”

Cloudrunner lifted his muzzle. “Where were you when we were fighting to defend the Clan?”

“We were digging tunnels so you could eat come leaf-bare!” Plumclaw snapped.

Aspenfall's tail twitched. “What good will your precious tunnels be if ShadowClan drives us from our home?”

Sandgorse narrowed his eyes. “If you'd let us dig the tunnels we need, we could defend our home more effectively!”

“You mean the
gorge
tunnel?” Aspenfall curled his lip. “How would that have helped today?”

“It would have given us an escape route!” Sandgorse snarled.

“To where?” Aspenfall challenged. “RiverClan territory?”

Sandgorse narrowed his eyes. “We could have sheltered in the tunnel. It's big enough for the whole Clan.”

“You want us to leave our camp and
hide
?” Cloudrunner squared up to Sandgorse, pelt bristling. “Are you a warrior, or a rabbit?”

Tallpaw braced himself. The Clan was tearing itself apart!