The Apprentice's Quest (9 page)

“Oh, come on, Jayfeather,” Leafpool meowed, looking up from massaging Briarlight's hindquarters. “The sun isn't up yet.”

Jayfeather bared his teeth in the beginning of a snarl. “I'll say what I like,” he retorted. “I'm not your apprentice now. Did you sleep well?” he asked Alderpaw.

“Yes, thanks,” Alderpaw responded, taken aback by the sudden change in Jayfeather's tone from irritable to intense.

Jayfeather turned to face him. “Do you have strange dreams sometimes?”

Alderpaw felt awkward under Jayfeather's blind gaze. It seemed almost rude to stare at him when he knew Jayfeather couldn't see. He glanced aside, only to meet Leafpool's gaze, also fixed intently on him.

Alderpaw's skin crawled as if a whole nest of ants was living in his fur. “I—I guess I do, sometimes,” he stammered. “Doesn't every cat?”

“I do!” Briarlight interrupted, hauling herself up onto her forepaws. “I dreamed just the other night that I remembered I could fly, and I went soaring off over Clan territory. It was great!”

Alderpaw was thoroughly relieved to have the attention taken away from him.

Jayfeather and Leafpool exchanged a glance; then Jayfeather shrugged and turned back to the stored herbs. “Come over here,” he meowed to Alderpaw. “It's time you started to learn about herbs.”

Alderpaw joined him and peered at the herbs piled up in
little heaps. They looked like so many dead leaves to him, but he had the good sense not to say so.

“This is goldenrod,” Jayfeather began, sniffing at a plant with bright yellow flowers. “We use it for cleaning wounds. And this is tansy, which is good for coughs—not as good as catmint, which is this plant here.”

“But useful all the same,” Leafpool put in. She had finished giving Briarlight her massage and was helping her exercise by tossing a ball of moss for Briarlight to catch. “And it helps with back pain, too.”

“This is watermint,” Jayfeather went on, angling his ears toward a plant with hairy stems and spikes of purple flowers. “We give that for bellyache.”

“Let him have a sniff,” Leafpool suggested. “So much of what we do depends on scent,” she added to Alderpaw.

Jayfeather edged backward so that Alderpaw could reach the cleft and sniff at the various herbs.
They all smell alike to me,
Alderpaw thought.
Sort of . . . herby.

“And this one is yarrow,” Jayfeather continued. “It makes a cat vomit if they've swallowed poison, and we also make an ointment of it to heal cracked pads. Got that?” he asked, turning swiftly back to Alderpaw.

“Uh . . . I think so,” Alderpaw mewed. In fact his brain was whirling, and he thought he would never manage to remember all the different herbs and their uses.
And this is only a small part of them!

Jayfeather continued to point out different herbs and let Alderpaw sniff them, until Alderpaw felt he had been
concentrating for moons. His shoulders ached and his eyes stung in the scent-laden air.

The sun was well up when the bramble screen was pushed aside again and Sparkpaw padded into the den.

“What do you want?” Jayfeather asked. “We're busy here, so it had better be good.”

“Cherryfall sent me,” Sparkpaw replied, sounding not at all bothered by Jayfeather's unfriendly tone. “Purdy has a bellyache, and I've come to get herbs for it.”

“Oh, poor Purdy!” Leafpool exclaimed. “I'll come to the elders' den and check on him.”

Jayfeather swung around on Alderpaw. “Well? What herb should Leafpool take with her? What's good for bellyache?”

“Uh . . . that would be . . .” Alderpaw knew that Jayfeather had told him. But his head was stuffed with quickly recited herb names, and he couldn't pull out the one he wanted. Panicking, he glanced wildly around and spotted Briarlight mouthing
watermint
at him.

“Watermint,” Alderpaw meowed, with a grateful look at Briarlight.

He felt warmed to notice that Sparkpaw looked impressed.
It's nice to show her what
I
can do, for a change.

“Okay,” Jayfeather mewed briskly. “Now find it in the stores.”

Alderpaw stared at the piles of herbs. He had no idea which one was watermint. Aware of Jayfeather twitching impatiently beside him, he pulled out a stem with bright yellow flowers.

Jayfeather sighed. “No, that's goldenrod. Purdy had better
not eat that; we put it on wounds. This is watermint.”

He snagged the purple-flowered plant in his claws and gave it to Leafpool, who headed out of the den with Sparkpaw following.

“You need to pay close attention,” Jayfeather told Alderpaw sharply. “Cats' lives depend on us getting things right.”

“I know . . . ,” Alderpaw sighed.

How will I ever learn all this?

Alderpaw paused in front of the
herb store for a moment, then confidently drew out a few leaves of tansy. “Here you are, Dovewing,” he mewed. “These should help your sore throat.”

The pale gray she-cat dipped her head. “Thanks, Alderpaw.” She licked up the leaves and began chewing them as she left. “It feels better already,” she mumbled around the mouthful.

“Good job,” Jayfeather mewed briskly to Alderpaw.

Alderpaw felt a small burst of warmth in his chest.
That's the first time Jayfeather has sounded approving!
He had been a medicine-cat apprentice for several sunrises now, and his new life didn't feel quite as impossible as it had in the beginning. Even so, he still found it hard to think of himself ever becoming a full medicine cat.

As he began to tidy up the remaining tansy leaves, Squirrelflight pushed past the bramble screen and entered the den. “Is Leafpool back yet?” she asked Jayfeather.

“No, she isn't,” Jayfeather grumbled. “And why she has to trek across to ShadowClan because Littlecloud isn't feeling well, I do not know.”

“She only wants to help him,” Squirrelflight meowed.

Jayfeather snorted. “Now
there's
a cat who could use an apprentice. ShadowClan is overflowing with them; you would think they could find one for Littlecloud. But no, they have to borrow a ThunderClan medicine cat.”

“You know as well as I do,” Squirrelflight responded mildly, “that a medicine-cat apprentice has to be just the right cat.”

She shot an affectionate glance at Alderpaw, who warmed at her words.

“Bramblestar and I want to talk to you in his den,” Squirrelflight told Jayfeather. “Are you busy right now?”

“Nothing that won't wait,” Jayfeather replied. “Alderpaw, you can help Briarlight with her exercises. I'll be back soon.”

When he was gone, Alderpaw rolled up a ball of moss and began tossing it to Briarlight to help her stretch her forelegs and chest. He was amazed by how agile she was, catching the ball when he was sure he had thrown it out of her reach.

“You're
good
at this!” he exclaimed.

“I've had a lot of practice,” Briarlight mewed. “It really helps with my breathing. How's your training going?” she asked after a moment.

Alderpaw shook his head. “I feel like I'm doing a little bit better now, but I'm not sure I can ever be a full medicine cat.”

“You'll be fine,” Briarlight reassured him. “Think how much you've learned, and you've been apprenticed for less than a half-moon.”

Alderpaw hoped that she was right. He felt guilty about being anxious, when Briarlight had so many obstacles and was
often in pain.
She never gives up, and she hardly ever seems to feel sorry for herself.

“Jayfeather! Jayfeather!”

Alderpaw stiffened as he heard his sister's frantic yowling in the camp outside. A heartbeat later she came tearing into the den, wild-eyed and panting. “Where's Jayfeather?” she demanded. “I was out in the woods with Cherryfall and Sorrelstripe, and Cherryfall is hurt—she cut her leg. She needs help right away!”

Alderpaw froze for a moment, on the edge of panic.
This is the first time I've had an emergency, and I'm here on my own! What do I do?

“Jayfeather is in Bramblestar's den,” Briarlight meowed steadily. “Sparkpaw, go and get him.”

Sparkpaw dashed out immediately. While he waited, Alderpaw wondered what he should do.
Should I get some herbs out of the stores? What's the right herb for a cut leg?

He was relieved a few moments later when he heard Sparkpaw calling to him from outside. He slid out of the den to find her waiting there with Jayfeather.

“Come on!” Jayfeather ordered. “Sparkpaw, show us where you left Cherryfall.”

Sparkpaw led the way out of the camp and headed toward the ShadowClan border. Alderpaw followed with Jayfeather, guiding the blind medicine cat around tree stumps and bramble thickets. Even though he was worried about Cherryfall, he was relieved to be out in the forest again instead of being cooped up all day in the medicine cats' den.

“Can't you get a move on?” Jayfeather asked him irritably. “Cherryfall could be bleeding to death!”

“I'm doing the best I can,” Alderpaw responded. He felt a spurt of annoyance, because he could have gone a lot faster if he hadn't been guiding a blind cat. But he knew that Jayfeather was only bad-tempered because he hated needing help, so Alderpaw kept calm and looked ahead to work out the easiest route.

“How did Cherryfall hurt herself?” Jayfeather asked as they emerged onto the lakeshore where the going was easier.

“Well, we were talking about the prophecy,” Sparkpaw began, “and Cherryfall wondered if ‘what you find in the shadows' could mean the kittypets who stayed with ThunderClan during the Great Storm. We were going to go try and find the ones who left after, and see if they wanted to come back.”

Alderpaw wasn't surprised. Since the Gathering he had been too busy to think much about the prophecy, but the rest of his Clanmates seemed to talk of nothing else.

Jayfeather let out a snort. “That was a mouse-brained idea! Kittypets have nothing to do with StarClan. They are no use to Clan cats.”

“Cherryfall thought it was worth a try,” Sparkpaw mewed defensively.

“Besides, you would have to cross ShadowClan to get to the Twolegplace,” Jayfeather growled, letting out a hiss of annoyance as he stumbled over a fallen branch. “You should have asked permission before just wandering out of ThunderClan
territory. Stupid furballs!”

“It was only an idea.” Sparkpaw's neck fur bristled at Jayfeather's dismissive tone. “Anyway, we didn't get near ShadowClan territory. Cherryfall slipped and cut herself on some Twoleg rubbish before we came in sight of the border.”

Jayfeather made no response, though he still looked angry.

“We just thought if we made it to the Twolegplace, maybe we'd find some kittypets who knew the cats we wanted to talk to,” Sparkpaw added.

Jayfeather rolled his eyes. “StarClan help us! Mouse-brains!”

Sparkpaw clamped her jaws together as if she was biting back a furious retort. Alderpaw felt sorry for her, though he couldn't help thinking that Jayfeather was right.
Surely kittypets couldn't be part of a prophecy from StarClan.

“It's this way,” Sparkpaw meowed after a moment. She veered away from the shore, through a stand of hazel saplings, and into a grassy hollow shaded by a spreading beech tree. Cherryfall was lying at the foot of the tree with one leg stretched out, while Sorrelstripe paced up and down anxiously beside her.

“Thank StarClan you're here!” Sorrelstripe exclaimed as Sparkpaw led the way down into the hollow.

Alderpaw followed and stood beside Jayfeather as the medicine cat examined Cherryfall's paw. There was a deep cut across her pads, and blood was oozing out of it. Clots of blood had soaked the grass beside her, and Alderpaw spotted some scraps of hard, clear Twoleg stuff close beside her. He
dabbed at it experimentally and felt the sharp edge.

“Careful!” Sorrelstripe warned him. “That's what hurt Cherryfall.”

“Why can't the Twolegs take their stuff back to their own dens instead of leaving it here to injure cats?” Sparkpaw asked angrily.

“Alderpaw!” Jayfeather beckoned with his tail. “We need some cobweb to stop the bleeding. Go and find some.”

Alderpaw froze, glancing around wildly.
Cobweb? Where?
The sight and reek of the blood, and Cherryfall's face screwed up with pain, worried him so much that his paws felt stuck to the ground.

“Over there!” Sparkpaw pointed to an oak tree at the far side of the hollow. “There's a cleft in that tree—there should be cobwebs inside it.”

Before Alderpaw could move, his littermate darted off, closely followed by Sorrelstripe.
Now Sparkpaw is better than me at being a medicine cat!
Alderpaw thought, furious with himself. He was even angrier when she turned out to be right, and she and Sorrelstripe returned across the hollow with pawfuls of cobweb.

“Oh, for StarClan's sake, Alderpaw!” Jayfeather hissed in exasperation. “Come here. Put your paw there.” He pointed with his tail to a spot on Cherryfall's leg. “Press down hard—no, harder than that. Don't worry about hurting her. We've got to stop this bleeding.”

“It's okay, Alderpaw,” Cherryfall gasped.

Alderpaw put all his strength into pressing down where
Jayfeather had shown him, and to his relief the flow of blood from Cherryfall's paw slowed and then dwindled away completely.

“Good,” Jayfeather grunted. “Now the cobweb.”

Alderpaw couldn't believe how deft Jayfeather's paws were in wrapping Cherryfall's wound, especially considering he was blind.

“Now release the pressure,” Jayfeather instructed Alderpaw when all the cobweb was wound around the injured paw. “And—please, StarClan—let's hope the bleeding doesn't start again.”

Alderpaw lifted his paw and stared at the cobweb covering, afraid that he would see a red blotch spreading on the gray webs. “There's no more blood,” he mewed after a few heartbeats.

“Right.” Jayfeather sounded satisfied. “Cherryfall, let's get you back to camp. And don't even think about putting that paw to the ground. Sparkpaw and Sorrelstripe, support her.”

Back in the camp, Jayfeather had the other cats take Cherryfall to the medicine cats' den. Alderpaw arranged a nest for her beside Briarlight, and she sank into it with a sigh of relief.

“Thanks, Jayfeather,” she mewed. “And you, Alderpaw. I'm sorry to be such a nuisance.”

“Just remember that the next time you want to do something mouse-brained,” Jayfeather muttered. “Now, Alderpaw, unwrap the cobwebs. I want to get a better idea of the wound.”

“What if the bleeding starts again?” Alderpaw asked nervously.

“Then we put more cobweb on, bee-brain!”

As carefully as he could, snagging his claws delicately into the cobweb wrapping, Alderpaw laid the wound bare. He hardly dared to breathe as he tore away the last of the cobwebs, but to his relief there was no more bleeding.

Meanwhile Jayfeather had gone to the herb store, and he came back carrying a piece of comfrey root. “We'll put a poultice of this on the wound,” he meowed, dropping it at Alderpaw's paws. “You can chew it up, and Cherryfall, give that wound a good lick.”

Alderpaw began chewing the root, blinking at its tangy taste. When he thought it was fine enough, he spat it out again. Jayfeather bent his head to sniff at it.

“It'll do,” he commented. “Now spread it on Cherryfall's paw.”

Alderpaw noticed how Cherryfall began to relax as he patted the poultice into place and the comfrey juices sank into her wound. “That feels so good . . . ,” she murmured.

“You should get some sleep,” Jayfeather told her when the poultice was in place. Turning to Alderpaw, he added, “And you're done for the day. Go and get something to eat.”

“Thanks, Jayfeather.”

Alderpaw slipped out of the den, his legs shaky with exhaustion. Spotting his sister over by the fresh-kill pile, he padded across to join her.

“Come and share this vole,” Sparkpaw invited him as he drew near. “I caught it when I went hunting with Cherryfall earlier today. Doesn't it look good?”

Alderpaw felt his jaws watering as he looked at the plump piece of prey, and he realized that his belly was bawling with hunger. At the same time a hot wave of embarrassment flooded through his pelt.

“I really freaked out when I saw Cherryfall's wound,” he confessed. “I couldn't do a simple thing like finding cobwebs.” He let out a long sigh. “How am I going to be a good medicine cat if I freeze up at the sight of blood?”

“Oh, mouse dung!” Sparkpaw mewed cheerfully. “I don't know why any cat would
want
to be a medicine cat, but I was really impressed with the way you stopped Cherryfall's wound bleeding. You just need to trust yourself,” she went on, brushing her tail against Alderpaw's side. “The way I do when I'm hunting. It's when you stop to worry that you miss your prey, and it was the same thing with the cobweb. But then you did the right thing. So I think in the end you'll be a pretty good medicine cat.”