Veil Of Shadows

A chill like the tapping of icy claws ran down Bristlefrost’s back as she met the hard amber gaze of the impostor. Who is this cat? she asked herself. What does he really want? The codebreakers Shadowsight had named were gone from the Clan. That had seemed to be the false Bramblestar’s goal, but now that he had achieved it, his success clearly wasn’t making him happy. So why is he doing it? Who is this?

Bristlefrost could find no answer to her questions.

The night sky was blotched with clouds as Bristlefrost padded beside Bramblestar and Berrynose on their way to the emergency Gathering. Fitful gleams of moon and starlight struggled to break through the covering, and the forest lay in deep darkness as the ThunderClan warriors brushed through the undergrowth.

Every step was an effort, and Bristlefrost would have much preferred to curl up in her nest and forget her troubles for a while in sleep. Her kin and most of her friends were still keeping their distance from her; clearly they assumed that she supported Bramblestar and his harsh punishments.

From the looks they’re giving me, you’d think I’d rolled in dog dung!

Before they had left the stone hollow more than a few fox-lengths behind, Bristlefrost realized that Bramblestar was paying keen attention to the forest around them, his eyes wide and his ears pricked alertly. He was completely different from the listless cat of earlier that day.

Now what does he think he’s doing?

Soon Bramblestar halted and plunged his nose into a thick growth of moss on the root of an oak tree, sniffing deeply. Turning to Bristlefrost, he asked her, “Is that Squirrelflight’s scent? Has she been here?”

Bristlefrost wasn’t sure how to react. She knew very well that far too many days had passed since Squirrelflight’s banishment for her scent to have survived on ThunderClan territory. But why was Bramblestar asking? Was he looking for reassurance that the exiled deputy was gone?

Hoping to please him, she took a sniff of the moss. It smells like . . . moss. “I’m not sure,” she replied to Bramblestar. “It could be.”

Bramblestar gave her a curt nod and continued toward the lake, but he was still watchful, and a few paces farther on he stopped to sniff at the debris beneath a holly bush and asked Bristlefrost the same question. There was a strange, wistful look in his eyes. Bristlefrost tried to keep her answers vague. She knew that Squirrelflight was living on ShadowClan territory, but she dared not give the interloper the least hint of that.

Even when Bramblestar and the rest of the cats reached the lakeshore and crossed into WindClan territory, the impostor still kept up his search for Squirrelflight.

Why? Bristlefrost wondered. Does he feel threatened by her? Does he think she might come back and try to take leadership of the Clan? Then she saw how Bramblestar’s tail began to droop with disappointment when he couldn’t find any definite traces of the former deputy. Bristlefrost realized there must be something more behind his search. He misses her.

But then why had he sent Squirrelflight away in the first place?

As soon as she pushed her way through the bushes into the clearing around the Great Oak, Bristlefrost was aware of tension in the air. Cats were glaring at one another, their shoulder fur twitching and their tail-tips flicking back and forth. She realized that one wrong word could break the Gathering truce and lead to all-out fighting.

We couldn’t be more jumpy if we were gathering in a badger’s den!

Because Bramblestar had paused so often in his search for Squirrelflight, the ThunderClan cats were the last to arrive. Tigerstar was scraping his claws impatiently on the bark of the Great Oak as Bramblestar hauled his way up the trunk and settled himself in a fork between two branches.

“You took your time,” Tigerstar snapped. “Why did you call this Gathering just to keep us all waiting?”

Bramblestar ignored the question, and after a couple of heartbeats the ShadowClan leader rose to his paws and addressed the Gathering.

“Shadowsight is still missing,” he announced. “If any cat has seen or scented him, for StarClan’s sake tell me now.”

A sympathetic murmur arose from the cats in the clearing. Bristlefrost, who was sitting close to the oak roots with Stemleaf and Spotfur, wished that she could tell Tigerstar something that would help, but she knew that there had been no trace of Shadowsight on ThunderClan territory since the night he disappeared.