At that moment Curlypaw dashed up. Her eyes were sparkling with triumph and the limp body of a mouse dangled from her jaws. “Look!” she exclaimed, dropping her prey at Hawkwing’s paws. “I caught one!”
“Your very first! Well done,” Hawkwing praised her, almost as pleased as Curlypaw herself. “Now you can take it to Clovertail. Warriors take care of Clan elders. And after that you can walk with Fidgetpaw for a while. I’m sure you want to hear all about his medicine cat training.”
Curlypaw padded off importantly with her prey, her tail straight up in the air.
While they rested, Pebbleshine had sat down to groom herself and talk to Plumwillow, whose belly was swelling with her unborn kits. Hawkwing knew that all the Clan shared his compassion for the pregnant she-cat. It must be so hard, expecting kits when she has no idea what happened to her mate.
Now, as the Clan turned away from the river, Pebbleshine bounded up to Hawkwing to walk alongside him. There was a gleam of excitement in her eyes, and a spring in her step that Hawkwing hadn’t noticed before.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Nothing.” Pebbleshine turned toward him, blinking innocently. “Nothing at all.”
And hedgehogs fly, Hawkwing thought. Pebbleshine was hiding something, he was sure. Well, she’ll tell me about it in her own good time.
“How is Plumwillow doing?” Blossomheart asked.
At once Pebbleshine looked more serious. “She’s coping well,” she replied, “but she misses Sandynose a lot. It must be so hard to lose her mate,” she added with a sigh. “Especially when she’s expecting their kits.”
Hawkwing exchanged a glance with her, and saw all the love she felt for him shining in her eyes. “I can’t imagine losing you,” he murmured.
“Well, excuse me!” Blossomheart snorted, half amused, half exasperated. “I’m going to walk with Tinycloud.” She bounded off and joined the small white warrior.
As the cats continued, the grassland became broken up by lines of bushes or Twoleg fences made of shiny tendrils, reminding Hawkwing of the terrain he had crossed with Darktail and Rain on the second quest. His pelt prickled with uneasiness, though he told himself that he had no reason to suspect danger here.
“This is so weird!” Pebbleshine exclaimed as they slipped along the edge of one of the fences. “Look at those huge white animals! I’ve never seen anything so big.”
“Those are cows,” Hawkwing told her.
“They look like they could swallow a cat with one gulp,” Curlypaw meowed, keeping close to Hawkwing as they padded past.
“No, they’re not dangerous,” Hawkwing reassured her, watching the cows rhythmically champing the grass beyond the fence. “They don’t have any claws, and as far as I know they only eat plants. Besides, they can’t move as fast as we can.”
They had not left the cows far behind when Hawkwing heard a screech of triumph from the front of the Clan, where Rileypool and Bellaleaf were walking with Leafstar.
“That’s it!” Bellaleaf exclaimed. “That’s our kin Barley’s barn!”
Every cat clustered around to look where Bellaleaf’s tail was pointing. Hawkwing spotted a huddle of Twoleg dens in the distance, and another, larger den a little way away from them.
Bellaleaf and Rileypool were purring with excitement. “I knew we’d find it!” Rileypool mewed, though Hawkwing thought he could detect relief in his Clanmates’ faces, as if they hadn’t been quite sure they could find the barn until they actually set eyes on it.
Hawkwing’s optimism was rising as he and his Clanmates veered toward the barn. He could see from their bright eyes and brisk paw steps that the others felt the same, now that the first stage of their journey was coming to an end. Maybe we’re not far from finding ThunderClan and our new home by the water.
As they drew closer to the barn, they could hear the distant barking of a dog, which sounded like it was coming from the cluster of Twoleg dens. Hawkwing’s pelt began to bristle, and Leafstar called for a halt.
“Stay closer together,” she ordered. “Stronger warriors on the outside. Cherrytail, Clovertail, Plumwillow, keep in the middle of the group. And every cat, stay alert!”
Bunched together more tightly, the cats moved off again, using bushes for cover. The barking continued, but grew no nearer, and there had been no sign of the dog by the time they approached the barn.
Rileypool and Bellaleaf broke away from the rest of the Clan and bounded up to the barn door. “Barley! Barley!” they yowled excitedly.
Hawkwing spotted a flicker of movement at the bottom of the door, and recognized the broad, black-and-white face of the old farm cat peering out through a gap.
“Rileypaw? Bellapaw?” Barley sounded astonished. “What are you doing here?”
“We’re Rileypool and Bellaleaf now,” Rileypool told the farm cat proudly.
“Congratulations!” Barley meowed. He squeezed his plump body out through the gap and only realized as he straightened up how many cats were standing in front of him. His eyes widened. “What are you all doing here?”
Leafstar stepped forward and dipped her head to the farm cat. “It’s a long story,” she meowed. “May we come in?”
“Of course.”
Barley stood aside and Leafstar led the remains of her Clan through the gap and into the barn.
Hawkwing was one of the last cats to enter, and stood motionless for a few heartbeats as he took in his surroundings. Dim light filtered in through holes in the roof. Dried grasses were heaped up everywhere in huge piles, and the air was filled with their sweet scent. There was another scent too: Hawkwing’s mouth watered as he picked up the unmistakable traces of mice and heard the rustle of their tiny bodies.
While most of the cats settled down comfortably in the dried grass, Leafstar told Barley the story of how Darktail’s rogues had driven SkyClan out of the gorge. Echosong added the prophecy StarClan had sent to her, and how they were sure that “the spark that remains” must refer to Firestar’s kin.
“I’m so sorry to hear what happened to you,” Barley meowed when they had finished. “And sorry too that your vision must mean that Firestar is dead. I can point you in the direction Ravenpaw told me the Clans went, but I don’t know anything beyond that.” He sighed. “The days when Ravenpaw and I lived alongside the Clans seem such a long time ago now.”
For a moment the old cat remained lost in thought, his eyes seeming fixed on something in the distance; Hawkwing realized he must still be grieving for his friend.
Then Barley gave his pelt a shake. “You’re all welcome here,” he mewed. “Feel free to hunt; there’s plenty for every cat.”
His words made Hawkwing aware of the yawning emptiness in his belly. What he had told Curlypaw earlier was true: It was harder to find prey when the Clan was on the move. Along with every other cat, Hawkwing had become used to feeling hungry.
“Let’s go,” he meowed to Curlypaw. “You can show me your hunting technique.”
His apprentice sprang up, bright-eyed, and began prowling among the heaps of grass. Tiny sounds of scuttling and squeaking came from all directions.
Hawkwing watched his apprentice with approval, noticing how she remembered to set her paws down lightly. When she had pinpointed her prey her hunter’s crouch was perfect; waggling her hindquarters, she sprang into a vigorous pounce. Hawkwing heard a shrill squeal cut off in the middle, and Curlypaw stood up with a mouse dangling from her jaws by its tail.
“Great catch!” Hawkwing purred. “You’ve got a real talent for pouncing.”
Curlypaw’s eyes shone at his praise, and she carried her prey over to where Cherrytail, Plumwillow, and Clovertail lay stretched out in the dried grass; Echosong was checking Cherrytail’s wound.
Hawkwing caught a couple more mice for the exhausted she-cats, marveling at how easy it was. It’s no wonder Barley looks so plump!
“Thank you,” Cherrytail murmured, giving her mouse a sniff. “This is a good place. I’m so glad we c
ame here.”
“Yes, it’s great,” Hawkwing responded, wondering with a prickle of concern if his mother really thought this was the end of their journey. “And Barley should be able to help us find the other Clans.”
Cherrytail gave him a puzzled look, her eyes clouded by weariness. “Oh, yes, of course,” she mewed at last.
Hawkwing still wasn’t sure that Cherrytail was fully aware of what was going on. She’ll be better after a good night’s sleep, he reassured himself.
Finally Hawkwing and Curlypaw were able to hunt for themselves. As Hawkwing was stalking a mouse, he came close to where Leafstar and Waspwhisker were talking to Barley.
“I don’t know how you’re going to find ThunderClan,” he heard the old tom meow. “It’s a big world out there, and you don’t know where you’re going.”
“StarClan will guide us,” Leafstar told him. “They’ll send Echosong a vision.”
Barley let out a grunt, as if he wasn’t convinced, and Hawkwing found that he shared the farm cat’s doubts. I hope that Leafstar is right, and StarClan is watching over us, he thought. But Barley is right, too. It’s a big world out there, and full of dangers. Besides, there aren’t so many of us now. How many more fights do we have left in us?
Clouds were building up, covering the sun, as the SkyClan cats ventured out of the barn on the following morning. Hawkwing fluffed out his pelt against the damp air, guessing that it would rain before long. Cold seeped into his pads from the dew that still remained on the grass.
“That’s the way you need to go,” Barley meowed, pointing with his tail to the hill Rileypool and Bellaleaf had spotted from the riverbank. “After that, I can’t help you.”
“It’s a start,” Leafstar responded. “We’re all grateful to you, Barley.”
“It’s been good to see you again,” Waspwhisker added.
Leafstar gestured with her tail to gather her Clan around her, but before they could move off, Cherrytail spoke up.
“There’s something I have to say,” she began hesitantly, looking down at her paws. “I’ve been talking to Barley, and I’ve decided to stay here in his barn until I’ve recovered from my injury.”
Surprised exclamations rose from every cat. “You can’t!” Hawkwing exclaimed.
Cherrytail raised her head, gazing at him with eyes filled with love and sorrow. “I have to,” she insisted. “I haven’t felt right since we left the gorge. It’s not just this infected wound. It’s leaving the place where Sharpclaw was killed.” Her voice shook as she continued. “He was my mentor when Firestar first restored SkyClan. All my life in the gorge was with him. Now I feel as though I’m leaving him behind.”
“But we need you!” Blossomheart protested, staring at her mother with consternation.
Cherrytail’s gaze traveled over Hawkwing, Blossomheart, and Cloudmist; she blinked rapidly as she struggled to control her emotion. “I love you all dearly,” she whispered. “But I’m not sure I’m up for this journey. My body is too weak, and my heart is tugging me home.”
“But it’s not our home anymore,” Cloudmist pointed out. “You can’t go back to the gorge, not when Darktail and his rogues are there.”
“I don’t know where I’ll go,” Cherrytail mewed. “But for now, I want to stay here.”
Hawkwing shook his head, desperate to find some way of making his mother change her mind. “We’ve just lost our father,” he meowed. “Now you say you’re going to leave us too?”
Cherrytail glanced from Hawkwing to Pebbleshine and back again. “Your future lies ahead of you, where the Clans are. I’m not sure where my future lies, and I need time to work it out. Oh, my dear kits, you are all so brave and loyal. I shall miss you dreadfully, but I can’t follow you into a future I know is not the right one for me.”
“Then I’m staying with you.” Cloudmist took a pace forward to stand at her mother’s side. “I can’t lose you, so soon after losing Sharpclaw.”
Cherrytail turned to look at her daughter, all the love she felt shining in her eyes. “I can’t ask you to do that,” she whispered. “You belong with your Clan.”
“And so do you,” Cloudmist responded determinedly. “And we’ll both find our Clan again one day. I know it.”
She brushed her pelt against Cherrytail’s, and her mother didn’t protest again.
Hawkwing stared at them both, unable to believe that this was happening. He couldn’t share Cloudmist’s certainty. My family is breaking up like ice in newleaf! Shock almost overwhelmed him; his legs felt weak and his head as light as if it would drift away like a cloud. His heart clenched in dread that he would have to go on without his mother and sister and never see them again. A dark mist swirled before his eyes.
Then Pebbleshine drew close to him, nuzzling his flank, and Hawkwing felt the darkness retreat.
“Then, good-bye,” he murmured, dipping his head to his mother and sister in acceptance. “I hope we’ll meet again one day.” But I’m not sure we will, and I can hardly bear it.
“That’s in the paws of StarClan,” Cherrytail responded. “But I hope so, too. I’m so proud of you, Hawkwing. I know you will go on to achieve great things.”
Hawkwing touched his nose to hers and stepped back, while Blossomheart said good-bye too. Is this really the last time we’ll see our mother? Hawkwing asked himself, his legs shaking with renewed shock.
Then Leafstar turned away, and the whole Clan began to move off. Hawkwing followed, with Pebbleshine by his side, but before they lost sight of the barn he looked back, to see his mother and sister, tiny at that distance, sitting with Barley outside the barn door.
“May StarClan light your path,” he murmured.
SkyClan had begun the day with full bellies, for they had hunted in Barley’s barn before they set out. But as the day wore on, Hawkwing began to feel hungry again.
“Are we going to hunt soon?” Curlypaw asked. “I feel like I haven’t eaten for moons!”
“Soon,” Hawkwing promised. “You can show off the moves I’ve been teaching you, and maybe you’ll catch a nice shrew!”
Glancing around, he realized that all the cats were looking thinner than when they left the gorge, especially the two young apprentices. Thinking back to the conversation he had overheard between Barley and Leafstar, Hawkwing wondered what would happen if StarClan didn’t guide them to their new territory before Plumwillow’s kits were born.
I’d better sharpen my own hunting skills, he reflected. I’m going to need them!
Skirting the foot of the hill Barley had pointed out, the cats came upon a stretch of woodland where a stream ran through banks of fern and bramble. Leafstar announced that they would stop to rest.
“See if you can find any mice or shrews in the undergrowth,” Hawkwing suggested to Curlypaw.
Though Curlypaw’s tail had been drooping in weariness, she straightened up as soon as Hawkwing spoke, a determined look on her face. Hawkwing watched as she padded off, proud of her willingness to help her Clan. She’s going to be a great warrior.
When his apprentice had vanished into the bracken, Hawkwing gazed up into the trees and spotted a squirrel leaping from branch to branch.
That looks good and fat, he thought. One or two of those would fill our bellies nicely.
When he spotted a second squirrel higher in the branches, Hawkwing couldn’t resist the temptation any longer. I’m a SkyClan cat; I can handle trees.
Without thinking, Hawkwing sprang into the nearest tree, swarming up the trunk and out onto a branch near where he had seen the squirrel. Pausing to taste the air, he spotted Fidgetpaw staring up at him, and Curlypaw, emerging from the undergrowth with a mouse in her jaws, dropped her prey, and let out a yowl of excitement.
Pebbleshine had spotted him too. “Be careful!” she called out.
Hawkwing didn’t understand why his mate sounded so nervous. She’s not usually like that, he thought. It’s like she’s never seen me climb a tree before.
Determined to prove
that Pebbleshine had no reason to fuss over him, Hawkwing leaped farther and faster, showing off his strength and skill. The squirrel was just ahead of him, its bushy tail streaming out behind it as it jumped from branch to branch, farther up the tree.
Hawkwing ignored the way the branches at this height were much thinner, hardly able to bear his weight. He was stretching out his forepaws to grab the squirrel with his claws when he felt his hind paws slipping. He let out a yelp of alarm as he tried to regain his balance, but the branch sagged under him and a moment later he was falling. Legs and tail flailing, he bounced from branch to branch, twigs raking through his fur, until he landed hard on his paws, staggered, and collapsed on one side.
At once his Clanmates clustered around him.
“Hawkwing, you stupid furball!” Blossomheart exclaimed.
“Are you all right?” Pebbleshine asked anxiously, the question echoed by almost every cat.
“That was amazing!” Fidgetpaw sounded awestruck, gazing at Hawkwing with his eyes stretched wide. “But scary,” he added.
“And quite unnecessary,” Echosong mewed sharply, padding up to Hawkwing and beginning to prod him all over. “Does that hurt?” she asked with each prod.
Hawkwing took a deep breath, ready to snap at her, then calmed down as Pebbleshine crouched beside him and gently licked his cheek.
“I’m bruised and scraped from hitting the branches on the way down,” he complained.
“And you’re lucky you did,” Sparrowpelt told him crisply. “At least they broke your fall.”
Hawkwing nodded. “I suppose . . . I don’t think I’m badly hurt,” he added to Echosong.
But as soon as he tried to rise to his paws, Hawkwing felt a sharp pain shooting up one of his hind legs; gasping, he almost fell down again.
“You’ve sprained it,” Echosong told him, giving the injured leg a good sniff. “Fidgetpaw, go dip some moss in the stream to wrap around it. I wish I had my herb stores with me,” she continued. “I can’t do much without them.” She looked up at Leafstar, who had stood by to watch without commenting. “We’d better stay here for a few days,” she mewed.