“Adder!” gasped Frecklewish. There was a blur of movement, then Frecklewish staggered backward, screeching. “It bit me! Help!”
“Like you helped my kits?” Mapleshade growled. “Never! I hope you die in agony!”
Frecklewish yowled again, a wordless shriek of pain. Almost at once paw steps thrummed toward them through the trees.
“Frecklewish, is that you?” called Bloomheart.
Mapleshade slipped into a clump of bracken at the far side of the clearing. She knew she should flee before the patrol arrived but she wanted to watch Frecklewish die. With a crackling of undergrowth, Bloomheart and two other ThunderClan warriors, Seedpelt and Thrushtalon, burst into the clearing.
“Keep watch for snakes!” Bloomheart ordered. His Clanmates spun around and scanned the rocks. Bloomheart bent over Frecklewish, who was curled on the ground with her paws over her eyes. “It’s all right, Frecklewish, we’re here now.”
“My eyes!” wailed Frecklewish. “I can’t see!”
Bloomheart lifted his head. “Oh StarClan, if ever we needed Ravenwing, it is now! Why did you take him from us?” Then he shook himself and faced his Clanmates. “Seedwhisker, we need soaked moss, as fast as you can. We have to wash the venom out of her eyes. Thrushtalon, fetch every scrap of fennel you can find in the medicine stores. We have to try to save Frecklewish’s eyesight.”
The two warriors darted away. Bloomheart placed his paw on Frecklewish’s flank. “Lie still,” he meowed. “We’re doing everything we can.”
“But ThunderClan doesn’t have a medicine cat!” Frecklewish whimpered. “Am I going to die?”
“Not on my watch,” Bloomheart vowed.
Mapleshade felt bile rise in her throat as her former mentor soothed the cat who had watched her kits drown. Frecklewish’s eyes were a seeping, clouded mess. Even if she survived, she would never watch anything again. Mapleshade knew she had to leave before the rest of ThunderClan rushed to help Frecklewish. She crept through the undergrowth to the thickest part of the forest, then raced back to the Twoleg fence. Cries of alarm filtered through the trees as more warriors arrived at Snakerocks. The sounds faded as Mapleshade scrambled over the fence and crouched on the bare brown earth, panting.
Only one voice echoed in her ears now: Patchkit, her tiniest, most defenseless kit. “Help me, Mama!”
Her daughter, Petalkit, had found peace with the attack on Frecklewish. Like Larchkit, her desperate cries had been silenced. For a moment Mapleshade’s breath was crushed beneath a wave of grief for the son and daughter she might never see again. Then she clenched her jaw and pictured the final cat who had to suffer for the death of her kits.
“Not long now, Patchkit,” she vowed. “Soon you will be free!”
CHAPTER 8
As dusk fell, bringing with it a cold, damp wind, Mapleshade jumped down from the fence into the forest and followed the boundary along the edge of Twolegplace. Raindrops pattered around her as she reached the pine trees, whose spindly trunks and whispering needles gave little shelter. Mapleshade padded softly over the forest floor, staying well outside the ThunderClan border as she skirted the Treecutplace—silent and dark now—and plunged back into dense undergrowth. Brambles scraped her pelt and blocked her way, but Mapleshade kept pushing through, ears pricked for the first sounds of the river.
By now the rain was falling more heavily, rattling the leaves and stalks around Mapleshade’s ears. She gasped when she suddenly emerged from a clump of stiff grasses to find herself at the top of a steep bank with the river sliding past, thick and black and deadly, just a tail-length below. She scrambled backward with a hiss. For a moment she thought she saw three small shapes twisting and tumbling in the water, but it was only a reflection of starlight.
Mapleshade stared at the reeds growing on the far shore. Somewhere in there was the RiverClan camp, perched like a bird’s nest above the sodden ground. If she strained her ears past the sound of the rain, she could almost hear the murmurings of cats as they settled down for the night. Mapleshade pictured Appledusk lying in his den with Reedshine curled beside him, her orange pelt merging with his soft brown fur. The hair rose on Mapleshade’s neck and she bared her teeth. Appledusk will regret the day he met me! All those times he said he loved me, all the promises he made—they were nothing but lies! He never wanted my kits, so he let them drown. He could have saved them, I know he could have!
Behind her, the sky was lightening above the trees. Dawn was a while off, but Mapleshade felt more comfortable traveling in darkness, so instead of giving in to the urge to sleep, she picked her way downstream along the bank. There was a ridge of little stones stretching across the river down here—she had used them to cross to meet Appledusk on the other side once. There was no way Mapleshade was going to swim across the river, but she could wade if she had to.
She reached the stones, invisible in the dark but recognizable by the way the noise of the river changed as it flowed over them. Shuddering, Mapleshade jumped down the bank and waded in. Her belly fur was instantly soaked and she gasped at the cold. She forced her legs through the current, feeling the water tug against her and splash her flanks. The river was much slower and shallower than when she had tried to cross with her kits, but she still hated every paw step, and she hissed with relief when she hauled herself onto the far bank. She lay there for a while, panting, as the water trickled from her fur. It had stopped raining but the sky was thick with clouds and the wind was growing stronger, scented with more rain to come.
Mapleshade forced herself to stand and keep going. Plunging into the reeds, stiff and springy so that they flicked her face and tripped her tired paws, she pushed forward until she detected RiverClan border marks, then retraced her steps so that she was following the edge of the territory safely out of scent-range. Dense reeds gave way to softer undergrowth dotted with low, slender-branched willow trees. Her belly rumbled but she didn’t dare hunt in case it alerted the RiverClan cats. Sounds carried too easily on this side of the river.
Gradually the ground became firmer and drier beneath her paws, and the air filled with green, leafy scents rather than the taint of fish. Mapleshade reached a dense stand of trees, leafier and sturdier than the other willows. The territory border was just close enough that she could look down from the branches and watch for passing cats. With a sigh as she recalled just how much time she had spent up a tree recently, Mapleshade clawed her way up the nearest trunk and eased her way onto one of the lower boughs. Without knowing the habits of RiverClan warriors, she hadn’t been able to think of a plan to trap Appledusk alone. She would just have to learn what she could from watching.
Mapleshade fluffed up her fur against the cold and waited. She was rewarded quite soon by a cluster of paw steps crackling nearer: an early hunting patrol, chattering and crashing through the undergrowth as if they wanted to alert all the prey to their approach. Mapleshade curled her lip, thinking of ThunderClan’s stealth. The patrol passed right under her branch without noticing her.
Before their noise had faded, more cats approached. The breeze carried a scent that made Mapleshade’s nostrils flare. A heartbeat later, the bracken parted to reveal a pale brown cat, broad-shouldered beneath his thick, glossy fur. Appledusk! Once again, StarClan had brought Mapleshade’s prey right to her paws.
But then the stalks rustled and a plump gray apprentice bundled out. He crouched down and leaped forward, stubby front legs outstretched. Appledusk shook his head. “You need more height than that, Perchpaw,” he chided. “You must be prepared to fight full-grown warriors when you go into battle.”
The young cat’s blue eyes stretched wide. “I will get taller, won’t I?”
Appledusk purred. “Of course you will, but you still need to learn how to jump.”
“Why don’t I spring at you to show him how it’s done?” asked a voice. An orange she-cat slipped into the clearing. Mapleshade’s hackles bristled. Can’t Reedshine let Appledusk do anything on his own?
Appledu
sk went to meet his Clanmate and rubbed his cheek against hers. “I’m not letting you do anything,” he mewed. “Think of our kits!”
Reedshine glanced at her belly, barely swollen beneath her pelt. “I’m not sick!” she protested.
“I know you’re not,” meowed Appledusk. “But our kits are too precious to risk Perchpaw injuring you by mistake!”
Mapleshade gripped the branch so tightly that two of her claws snapped off. She barely noticed the jolt of pain. How could Reedshine be expecting kits already? How many lies had Appledusk told? She bunched her quarters beneath her, ready to leap down the moment Reedshine and Perchpaw left Appledusk alone, but the three cats moved off together with Perchpaw earnestly discussing battle tactics.
Mapleshade crouched in the tree and seethed with rage. A cold wet figure pressed against her flank, screeching for help. Mapleshade tried to curl her tail around her last remaining kit, but there was nothing but empty air beside her. She was dimly aware of being hungry and thirsty, and exhausted after her trek through the night, but nothing mattered now except taking revenge on the cat who had destroyed her world. She would wait here for as long as she had to—for the rest of her life, if it meant she could finally silence Patchkit’s wails.
She must have dozed, because she woke with a start much later when the air was filled with misty rain and the ferns were filling up with shadows. Something was approaching through the undergrowth. Mapleshade stiffened, wondering if StarClan would bring Appledusk to her twice in one day. Then a bundle of fur blundered into the clearing and skidded to a halt at the foot of the tree.
“Take that, ThunderClan mouse-dung!” Perchpaw squealed, slapping his paw down onto a twig. As the twig snapped, he spun around, ears flattened. “Creep up on me, would you? You’re as fox-hearted as your Clanmate!” He lurched forward and crushed a large clump of moss. Then he straightened up and looked down at his enemy. “Oops. I could have taken that back to the elders’ den. I’ll look for some more.”
He trotted toward Mapleshade’s tree, peering at the roots. Mapleshade let go of the branch and plummeted straight down onto the apprentice’s back, knocking him to the ground with an oof. Before Perchpaw could figure out what was happening, Mapleshade grabbed his scruff in her teeth and hauled him past the tree, across the border. Her eyes bulged with the effort; the fat apprentice weighed more than a badger!
Perchpaw yowled and thrashed but Mapleshade sank her teeth farther into his pelt until he stopped struggling. “Who are you? What do you want?” he growled.
Mapleshade placed one paw heavily on his shoulders and snarled, “Keep still or I’ll rip your throat out.”
Perchpaw blinked. “I’m a RiverClan warrior! Let me go!”
“No you’re not,” Mapleshade hissed. “You’re a stupid apprentice. It’s all right, I’m not interested in killing you. I only want you as bait.”
When Perchpaw tried to speak, she forced his face into the ground, muffling his protests. Then she squatted down, resting most of her bulk on his haunches, and waited.
“Perchpaw! Perchpaw, where are you?”
Mapleshade almost purred. A moment later, Appledusk trotted into the clearing, his eyes troubled. “Why can’t you do what you’re told for once?” he complained, looking around. “If I find out you’ve been practicing battle moves instead of collecting moss, you’re going to be in big trouble, Perchpaw!”
Mapleshade gripped Perchpaw’s neck fur in her teeth and dragged him out from behind the tree. She let the apprentice fall to the ground. “Is this what you’re looking for, Appledusk?”
The warrior stared at her in horror. “You were told to leave our territory!”
Mapleshade twitched the tip of her tail. “And you thought I would? You’re more mouse-brained than I thought. You killed our kits, and now you must pay.”
Appledusk bared his teeth. “What are you talking about? You killed our kits, making them cross the river. Let Perchpaw go and get out of here before I call for a patrol.”
Mapleshade jumped over Perchpaw and stood in front of the brown warrior, pelt bristling, paws planted firmly. “You can have that useless lump of fur back,” she snarled. “But you’ll have to fight me first.”
CHAPTER 9
Appledusk took a step back. His eyes clouded and he suddenly looked weary. “Mapleshade, I don’t want to fight you,” he meowed.
“I’m not giving you a choice!” Mapleshade hissed. She bunched her hindquarters beneath her and lunged at him.
Appledusk dodged away. “Just leave!” he gasped.
There was a crackle of stalks behind him and Reedshine appeared. “What’s going on?” Her gaze fell on Mapleshade. “What’s she doing here?”
Half-blind with fury, Mapleshade hurled herself at the orange she-cat. “You and your kits must die!” she screeched. “Appledusk is mine!” She unsheathed her claws, aiming for Reedshine’s face.
There was a thud of paws, then silence, and a solid brown shape flashed in front of Mapleshade. Her claws struck home, piercing fur and flesh, and a spurt of blood leaped out at her. With a grunt, Appledusk dropped at her feet, blood pouring from his throat.
In the same moment, a heavy weight struck Mapleshade from behind. Perchpaw gripped her with his paws and bit down hard on her neck. Mapleshade staggered forward and almost fell. Perchpaw slid off her back. Mapleshade could feel him trembling against her flank; then she realized that she was the one shaking. Why? I’m not frightened.
“He’s dead!” Reedshine shrieked, crouching beside Appledusk. She stared up at Mapleshade, her horrified eyes ringed with white. “You killed him!”
Mapleshade tried to take a step forward but her legs felt strangely heavy and her vision was blurred. Is it raining? she wondered. Something hot and wet spilled down her front legs, and there was a dull ache behind her ears. She shook her head and bright red droplets spattered the ground like tiny fallen leaves.
Something small and ginger and white stirred beside Appledusk’s unmoving body. “You killed him, Mama!” shrilled Patchkit. His little tail was held high with triumph. “We are all free now!” He started to fade against his father’s light brown fur.
Mapleshade stumbled toward her son. “Wait!” she gasped. “Don’t leave me!”
Reedshine rose up from behind Appledusk and hissed at Mapleshade. “Don’t come any closer! What you have done here is more terrible than anything a Clan cat has done before. But you have not won, Mapleshade. Appledusk will live on in his kits, and in their kits, and their kits in turn. His spirit will not die. He will be part of RiverClan forever!”
Mapleshade swayed, feeling the soil sticky beneath her paws. “Then I will watch over all your kin and punish each one for what you did to me,” she rasped. “My vengeance is not finished yet. It will never be finished!”
She lurched toward the bushes behind the willow tree. She dimly heard Perchpaw start to follow her, but Reedshine called him back. “She has done enough harm,” Mapleshade heard her mew. “Let her crawl away to die alone.”
Mapleshade forced her way through the undergrowth. She felt no pain, just a strange numbness that seemed to be spreading through her body. She reached the edge of the bushes, and the walls of the Twoleg den where she had slept on the first night of her exile loomed up in front of her, but Mapleshade was too weak to go any farther. She slumped to the ground, feeling dirt and tiny stones grind into her blood-soaked fur. She closed her eyes, waiting for the faces of her kits to appear and thank her for everything she had done.
But there was nothing behind her eyes except swirling darkness, battered by an icy wind and unbroken by even a glimmer of stars. Mapleshade felt the first stirrings of fear. “StarClan, where are you?” she wailed into the endless night. “Where are my kits?”
A small furry face appeared blurrily in front of her eyes. “Patchkit?” Mapleshade gasped. She tried to reach out with one paw.
“It’s you!” exclaimed the cat. “Do you remember me? I’m Myler. We met once before.” Maples
hade felt his nose press along her flank. “You’re badly hurt,” mewed the little cat. “You poor thing. Come on, let’s get you inside.”
With surprising strength, he boosted Mapleshade to her feet with his shoulder and guided her into the Twoleg den. Mapleshade collapsed onto a pile of hay. I have lost everything, she thought. What do I have left to live for?
There was a bustle of movement beside her and the black-and-white cat started dabbing at her fur with a piece of wet moss. Mapleshade was too weary to push him away. She half opened one eye and saw blood flowing freely down her shoulder, pooling beneath her.
“There’s too much, too much,” fretted Myler. He dabbed more frantically. “Did a Clan cat do this to you?”
Mapleshade closed her eye again and nodded.
The little cat sighed. “Ah, there is no end to their wildness and thirst for blood,” he muttered. “You should have left while you had the chance.”
Leave? How could I ever leave? I swore to avenge the deaths of my kits, and that’s what I have done. And yet that vengeance is not over, because Appledusk will live on in Reedshine’s kits. I will never be finished.
Myler curled up beside her, hardly flinching as his fur pressed against her bloody body. “I’ll stay with you,” he promised. “You’re safe now.”
Mapleshade unsheathed her scarlet, broken claws. “Leave me alone,” she rasped, forcing herself to lift her head and glare at her companion. “I don’t need anyone.”
The black-and-white cat stood up and looked down at her with sadness in his eyes. “I think you are wrong,” he whispered. But he turned and padded into the hay-scented darkness.
For a moment Mapleshade longed to call him back, but sleep was dragging at her, heavier than stones, stronger than the river. She closed her eyes and watched her mind fill with churning shadows, pierced by shrieks of terror that made her jump. She realized that she could feel ground beneath her paws, cold and sodden and stinking like the river. Somehow she could walk again, strength flowing back into her limbs and her vision clearing.