Long Shadows

“What are you doing, standing here?” she demanded as she gave him a shove back toward the deeper part of the forest.

“You must be worn out and starving after being in the tunnels all that time. You need to rest. And I want Rising Moon to take a look at your pads. They’re bleeding from walking on stone for so long.”

Jaypaw looked down and saw spots of blood smeared on the grass where he had put his paws. Pain suddenly swept over him, and his head spun from the hunger that snarled in his belly. Maybe he really had been in the tunnels for two nights.

He was glad to follow Dove’s Wing into the trees, where the long shadows of early morning striped the grass.

“Are we going to the camp?” he asked.

Dove’s Wing turned back, her blue eyes puzzled. “What do you mean? Are you sure you’re feeling all right?”

Okay, so these cats don’t have a camp, Jaypaw guessed. Think before you ask any more questions, stupid furball!

Looking worried, Dove’s Wing nosed aside some tendrils of ivy hanging from an oak tree, to reveal a cozy scoop among the roots. The bottom was lined with moss and feathers; warm scent clung about it.

This must be a den. Jaypaw bent his head to sniff, and felt every muscle in his body tense. That’s my own scent!

Dove’s Wing nudged him forward. “Lie down. I’m going to fetch Rising Moon.”

Rising Moon must be the medicine cat, Jaypaw thought, remembering how she had comforted Fallen Leaves’s mother. He watched Dove’s Wing as she trotted away, trying to spot more dens among the trees and scant undergrowth. He couldn’t see any, but the intensity of scent in the air suggested they were not far-off.

Worn out, Jaypaw crawled into the den, curled up, and closed his eyes. Anxiety clawed through him. Will I ever get back to ThunderClan? But he was so exhausted that he fell into a shallow, uneasy sleep.

“…these are good juicy dock leaves.” The voice roused Jaypaw from his doze. “Well done for finding that clump.”

Relief flooded through him. He was back in his nest in the medicine cats’ den, with Leafpool talking about herbs close by.

Then he opened his eyes and saw tangled brown roots and soft feathers around his head. He could still see. The voice he could hear wasn’t Leafpool’s, and when the ivy tendrils twitched to one side, Dove’s Wing and Rising Moon looked down at him, their eyes huge with concern. Dove’s Wing had a bunch of dock leaves in her jaws. Jaypaw gave himself a tiny shake. If he wasn’t going to wake up back in his own Clan, in his own time, then he must be here for a reason. Maybe this was another place where he’d find answers to his questions about the prophecy—answers that StarClan couldn’t give him.

“Were you hurt while you were in the tunnels?” Rising Moon asked.

Jaypaw shook his head. “N-no. I’m not injured. My pads are sore, that’s all.”

“Were you scared down there?”

“A bit.” Jaypaw wondered if Rising Moon thought he was losing his mind. Dove’s Wing must have told her about the peculiar things he’d said. “I’m really tired, though,” he added, hoping she would believe that was the reason for his odd behavior. “And hungry. I… I guess that’s made me confused.”

He had to convince these cats that he really was Jay’s Wing.

He wasn’t sure what they would do to him if they discovered he wasn’t. They certainly wouldn’t believe him if he told them the truth.

He had waited for so long to find out about the ancient cats, and now here he was, living among them! No other cat in the Clans or the Tribe of Rushing Water knew as much as this about the cats who once lived beside the lake. Jaypaw had always been conscious of them, felt their pelts brush against his, heard their whispers by the lake, and trodden in their paw steps on his way to the Moonpool.

And now I’m one of them!

Rising Moon blinked thoughtfully. “I guess there’s nothing wrong that food and rest won’t cure. Let’s look at your pads.” She crawled down into the den to crouch beside Jaypaw. “Have you licked them clean?”

“Uh… no.”

Rising Moon waited while Jaypaw’s tongue rasped busily at his pads, scraping off the mud and grit. Dove’s Wing dropped the mouthful of dock leaves down to her.

“Oh, are you using dock?” Jaypaw asked, looking up from his licking. “I always thought horsetail was best to stop bleeding.”

Rising Moon’s eyes widened in surprise. “Horsetail? I’ve never heard of that. I don’t think it grows around here. Where did you hear about it?”

Every hair on Jaypaw’s pelt tingled. He’d done it again!

Think next time before you open your jaws, mouse-brain! “Er… I think one of the elders mentioned it,” he muttered, hoping that these cats had elders.

“I’ll have a word with Running Horse later,” Rising Moon meowed. “He taught me so much about herbs, I’m sure he’ll know about it.”