Dovewing’s Silence

But the leaders were jumping down from the tree—or in Blackstar’s case, lowering himself gently to the ground—and the cats in the clearing were already standing up, eager to leave. There would be no lingering tonight, no sharing of tongues and gossip after the serious business was done. Onestar led his warriors away first, swiftly followed by Mistystar. Bramblestar summoned ThunderClan with a flick of his tail and Dovewing found herself pressed among her Clanmates as they trotted over the tree-bridge and jumped down onto the marshy shore.

“That was weird,” Lionblaze commented when they were crunching along the pebbles below the moor. “Any cat would think the most exciting thing that happened in the last moon was RiverClan losing some fish to a pike!”

Beside him, Cinderheart looked thoughtful. “Perhaps that’s the best way to recover, to return to the way things were before as quickly as we can. We won the Great Battle, so nothing needs to change.”

Bumblestripe twitched his ears. “Really? Do you honestly think the Great Battle didn’t change anything? Sometimes I think it has changed everything.”

Dovewing agreed with him. She watched him look sadly at his sister, walking a little way ahead with Thornclaw. Would ThunderClan be divided forever because of the Dark Forest?

The sound of coughing drifted through the trees as they climbed the slope to the hollow. Jayfeather trotted ahead, as sure-footed over the moss as if he could see. “Hazeltail, why are you still out here? You should have asked someone else to stand guard.” He sniffed her closely and placed his paw on her side to check her heartbeat.

The gray she-cat looked exhausted and hunched. “I’m okay,” she wheezed. “It’s just a cough.”

“And it’s not being helped by this cold air,” Jayfeather snorted. “Come on, you’re spending the night in the medicine den.” He started to usher her through the thorns. “Bramblestar, you’ll have to put someone else on guard,” he called over his shoulder.

Millie stepped forward. “I’ll do it,” she offered. “I don’t feel tired, and there’s no point waking another warrior for what’s left of the night.”

“Thanks, Millie.” Bramblestar dipped his head toward her. He looked closely at the rest of the cats. “Is anyone else feeling ill? Better to start getting treated now rather than wait until you’re really sick.”

“Toadstep hasn’t eaten much today,” Poppyfrost meowed, shooting a worried glance at the black-and-white tom.

“I wasn’t hungry, that’s all,” he muttered.

Bramblestar narrowed his eyes. “If you don’t feel hungry tomorrow, see Jayfeather, please. Now, let’s get to our nests. Patrols as usual first thing.”

Dovewing waited her turn to wriggle through the barrier. She heard Brightheart hiss to Cloudtail, “Why didn’t you tell Bramblestar you’ve got a sore throat?”

“I’ll see Jayfeather if it gets worse, I promise,” Cloudtail mewed as he ducked into the gap.

Dovewing felt a tremor of worry. First the Dark Forest seemed to have left divisions that would never heal, and now the whole Clan was getting sick! Oh StarClan, help us!

Blinking sleep from her eyes, Dovewing stumbled out of the warriors’ den at sunrise to see Jayfeather leaping confidently down the rocks that led to Highledge. Her heart lurched.

“Is Bramblestar sick?” she called.

Jayfeather stopped beside her and shook his head. “No, he’s fine. I was just letting him know that Hazeltail will be off duties for a while.” As he spoke, Bramblestar emerged from his den and trotted down to the clearing, where he arched his back in a long stretch.

The sound of coughing came from the cave at the foot of the cliffs. Jayfeather looked grim. “I think Hazeltail has greencough. She has a fever, and I don’t like the way her heart is racing.”

There was a gasp behind Dovewing. She turned to see Millie trotting from the entrance, having finished her post on guard. “What about Briarlight? She can’t stay in your den if there’s a cat with greencough in there!” She ran over to the cave. “Briarlight! Come out at once!”

There was a pause, then Briarlight’s dark brown face poked through the brambles. “What’s the matter?” she asked sleepily.

“I don’t want you in there if Hazeltail has greencough!” Millie ordered. “We’ll have to find you somewhere else to sleep.”

Briarlight dragged herself out of the den with her strong front legs. As always, Dovewing felt a spasm of sadness as she saw the she-cat’s haunches trailing uselessly behind her. “I wouldn’t mind being somewhere a bit quieter,” Briarlight admitted as she crawled into the clearing. “Poor Hazeltail hasn’t stopped coughing since she arrived!” She stopped to twist and bite an itchy spot on her spine. “Besides, I don’t need to stay in the medicine den now, surely? I’m not ill!”

Leafpool emerged from the cave with a bundle of soiled moss in her jaws. She put it down and looked at Jayfeather. “Briarlight’s right, you know,” she meowed. “We don’t need to watch over her at night anymore.”