Veil Of Shadows

Once he was certain that the ThunderClan leader had left, Rootspring crept a little closer to the border, scanning the territory for any sign of Bristlefrost. Eventually he spotted her, winding her way through a clump of elder bushes, with Molewhisker and Hollytuft following her. They were clearly a hunting patrol; Rootspring’s jaws began to water at the scent of the prey they carried.

When she was only a couple of fox-lengths from the border, Bristlefrost halted and dropped the vole she was carrying. All three cats looked uncomfortable; Rootspring was too far away to hear what Bristlefrost was saying, but she seemed to be giving the two older warriors instructions.

Since the other warriors had their backs to Rootspring, he risked rising to his paws and padding a bit closer, bushing out his fur to make himself as big as possible.

Come on, Bristlefrost—look at me!

Finally, Bristlefrost’s gaze fell on him, and her eyes widened slightly. Rootspring gestured with his tail for Bristlefrost to meet him up a nearby tree, but the pale gray she-cat looked back toward the ThunderClan warriors. To Rootspring’s relief, she didn’t give him away.

Now that he had moved within earshot, Rootspring could make out what Bristlefrost and the others were saying.

“We’ve hunted well,” Bristlefrost meowed. “You can take the prey back to camp.”

“Aren’t you coming with us?” Hollytuft asked. Her voice sounded a little cold.

Bristlefrost shook her head. “I just remembered that Flipclaw asked me to bring back a few sprigs of chervil, if I could find any.”

“Okay,” Molewhisker responded, exchanging a glance with Hollytuft. “We’ll see you back at camp.”

He and Hollytuft collected their prey, including Bristlefrost’s vole, and headed off in the direction of the ThunderClan camp. Bristlefrost stood looking after them until they disappeared into the undergrowth.

Meanwhile, Rootspring crept toward the tree, setting his paws down as quietly as he could, and leaped up onto the lowest branch, hiding himself among the leaves while he waited nervously to see if Bristlefrost would join him.

Finally he heard her clawing her way up the trunk, and then he spotted her clambering onto the branch beside him, struggling to get her balance as the branch dipped under their combined weight.

“Have you got bees in your brain, showing up like this?” she asked him. “If Bramblestar had seen you when he was out on his walk . . .”

“Yeah, about that,” Rootspring mewed. “Where was he going?”

“I have no idea.” Bristlefrost twitched her whiskers irritably. “Or what he’s doing. I—”

“Never mind him, then,” Rootspring interrupted. “It’s you I’m concerned about. Every cat, except maybe Squirrelflight, seems to think you’re a traitor.” He hesitated for a heartbeat before asking the question that had been buzzing in his brain ever since the meeting. Even though I’m dreading what her answer will be. “Did you betray us to that fake leader?”

Bristlefrost let out a hiss of indignation. “No, I did not!” she retorted. “Honestly, Rootspring, I promised Squirrelflight I would protect Bramblestar’s body. That why I didn’t help attack him. I’m still on your side. I’m just trying to help from inside ThunderClan. I never wanted him to name me deputy, but I figure at least it’ll be easier to defeat the mange-pelt if there’s a cat who’s close but working against him.”

Rootspring found that he believed every word, even though he guessed that many cats wouldn’t. They might think that if she would betray Bramblestar, she would betray the rebels, too. He wasn’t sure what to say; at last he broke a long and awkward silence by shifting his paws to pull himself a little closer to her. “So you’re not a traitor to the Clans?”

“Of course I’m not!” Bristlefrost snapped. “And it really hurts that you of all cats could think that of me. It wasn’t too hard to fool the fake Bramblestar, but I would have thought you knew me better than that. I would never have thought so badly of you. . . .”

Rootspring felt as though his belly were falling all the way to the ground, but at the same time his spirits were soaring. She’s on our side after all!

“I’m sorry for doubting you,” he meowed. “But I didn’t know what to think. If I didn’t like you so much, I wouldn’t have felt so angry when it looked like you had turned on me and the others.”

Bristlefrost’s eyes widened. “You like me? Even after . . .” Her voice died away.

Rootspring felt as if his pelt were on fire from embarrassment, but he managed to meet Bristlefrost’s suddenly softened gaze. “I can’t help it,” he muttered.