Enter the Clans by Erin Hunter

Author:Erin Hunter
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: HarperCollins

Pelting rain made the sides of the ravine slippery, and the cats picked their way carefully down with their catch gripped in their mouths. Longtail had been lucky with the squirrel; prey had been much harder to find after that, and all they brought were two mice and an old, tough-looking blackbird. Neither cat looked each other in the eye as they dragged their fresh-kill over the muddy ground to the gorse tunnel. Darkstripe hung back, forcing Longtail to go first. The thorns seemed sharper against his pelt than before, and a feather from the blackbird had worked its way into his throat, making him choke and splutter through his mouthful. He pushed his way into the clearing and looked around, expecting to see a row of hungry cats waiting by the fresh-kill pile.

The clearing was empty, the ground shiny and bouncing with raindrops. Darkstripe joined Longtail and they stood side by side with their catch by their front paws. Before either of them could speak, a wail rose from the ferns around Spottedleaf’s den.

“Poppydawn! No! Don’t leave me!”

It was Rosetail, her daughter.

“It is her time to join StarClan. Our warrior ancestors are waiting for her.” That was Spottedleaf, her voice muffled by grief.

Longtail looked at Darkstripe, feeling a wave of panic rise inside him. “We’re too late! Poppydawn is dead! Spottedleaf said she needed to eat in order to fight the sickness, but we didn’t come back in time! We should never have eaten that squirrel!”

“Shut up!” Darkstripe hissed. “What’s the matter with you? Poppydawn was going to die anyway. We should let the old, useless cats go if it means the warriors survive. The Clan depends on us now, not them.”

“We killed her....”

“We did not! Greencough killed her. She was old and weak. We are the important cats; we should eat first. Do you want to do what’s best for your Clan?”

“Of course … ”

“Then you’ll keep your mouth shut and let your Clanmates be grateful for what we brought back. There’s one fewer mouth to feed now. Why spoil everything by trying to blame yourself for Poppydawn?”

But Poppydawn might still be alive if we had come back earlier—if we had come back with the squirrel.

Darkstripe was peering at Longstripe as if he could read his thoughts. “You’ll keep quiet, won’t you?” he hissed, and this time there was a hint of menace behind his eyes. “After all, I saw you eat that squirrel. I’ll tell them what you did, how you insisted on stealing prey from the elders, how you refused to let me bring it back to the camp.”

A hard, cold lump froze inside Longtail. “There’s nothing to tell,” he growled back. “We were sent to hunt for prey, and that’s what we’ve done. No other warrior could have done better.”

As he bent his head to pick up the blackbird and carry it to the fresh-kill pile, a waft of warm air ruffled his fur and a familiar scent brushed over him. Longtail lifted his head in horror.

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