The Forgotten Warrior

But Ivypool couldn’t deny what her nose was telling her. Still confused, she scrambled up the tree until she reached the first branch. Crouching there, claws digging into the bark, she stared at the shallow hollow formed where the branch joined the trunk. It was filled with rainwater, and several marigold plants had been placed there, with their roots in the water so that they stayed fresh and alive.

“Jayfeather!” she called excitedly. “I’ve found marigold!”

Jayfeather looked around as if he couldn’t figure out where her voice was coming from, then bounded over to the foot of her tree. “Plants up a tree?” His voice was sharp with annoyance. “If this is a joke, I’ll—”

“It’s not a joke,” Ivypool assured him, describing the scoop of water with the plants carefully arranged there. “I’ll drop them down to you.”

“This is the weirdest thing I’ve ever come across,” Jayfeather went on, as Ivypool picked up the plants one by one and dropped them to the ground. “How in the name of StarClan did they get up there?”

“Maybe the rabbits carried them up to keep them for later?” Ivypool guessed.

“When have you ever seen a rabbit climbing a tree?” Jayfeather asked in a scathing voice, making a bundle of the plants by his front paws. “Squirrels hoard nuts,” he added thoughtfully. “Maybe this is one of their stores.”

When have you ever seen a squirrel eating marigold? Ivypool didn’t dare ask the question aloud. “It’s a mystery,” she meowed, dropping the last plant and scrambling back down the tree.

Jayfeather divided the marigold plants into two bunches so he and Ivypool could carry them back to camp. Then he padded across the clearing and took a final sniff of the ruined patch. “We ought to find a way to protect the plants so that they’ll grow back,” he mumbled around his mouthful.

Ivypool wondered how they could do that. Building a thorn barrier around the patch would be a huge task, and anyway it wouldn’t be much good to keep rabbits out. They hardly stayed away from the wood just because there were bramble thickets in the way.

“Maybe we could bring the scent of fox up here,” she suggested. “That would scare the rabbits away.”

“How?” Jayfeather asked, his tone suggesting it was a mouse-brained idea.

Ivypool thought for a moment. “We could use fox dung… it would be yucky getting it here, but it might work.”

“And how would you get it?” Jayfeather mewed. “Just stroll up to a fox and say, ‘Please make some dirt for me?’ I don’t think so.”

Ivypool rolled her eyes. Jayfeather might be our medicine cat, but he’s such a mouse-brain sometimes. “Old dung,” she responded. “You didn’t think I’d march into a fox’s den to get it fresh, did you?” She said the last part under her breath. It was pointless trying to argue with Jayfeather—somehow he always won.

But Jayfeather was nodding. “You could be right. Sort it out, will you, as soon as we’ve taken these plants back to the hollow?”

Ivypool sighed. Great, she thought as she followed Jayfeather back down the trail. Why can’t I keep my big mouth shut?

Back in the stone hollow, Ivypool went with Jayfeather to the medicine cat’s den to deposit her bundle of marigold.

“You found some!” Briarlight exclaimed, pulling herself across the den to plunge her nose into the aromatic stems. “I’ll sort them out and store them right away.”

“Thanks, Ivypool.” Jayfeather gave her a curt nod. “You can get on with that fox dung now.”

Wrinkling her nose in disgust, Ivypool padded back into the clearing and glanced around. She knew she would have to find another warrior to go with her. Looking for fox dung meant she might encounter a fox, and she knew she would get a talking-to if she took the risk alone. The first cat she spotted was Blossomfall, emerging from the thorn tunnel and bounding across the camp to drop a vole on the fresh-kill pile.

“Hi, Blossomfall,” Ivypool meowed, heading up to her. “Will you come out with me to find some fox dung?”

Blossomfall stared at her as if she had sprouted a second head. And I can’t say I blame her, Ivypool thought wryly. “To scare rabbits away from Jayfeather’s marigold patch,” she explained.

“I… I’m sorry, Ivypool, I can’t,” Blossomfall replied after a moment’s hesitation. “I promised I’d help Purdy and Mousefur with their ticks.” She hurried off toward the elders’ den.

Huh! Ivypool thought. So why aren’t you collecting mouse bile from Jayfeather if you’re going to do ticks?