Free The Apprentice's Quest by Erin Hunter Page B

den.
    â€œCan’t you get a move on?” Jayfeather asked him irritably. “Cherryfall could be bleeding to death!”
    â€œI’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.
    â€œHow did Cherryfall hurt herself?” Jayfeather asked as they emerged onto the lakeshore where the going was easier.
    â€œWell, 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.”
    â€œCherryfall thought it was worth a try,” Sparkpaw mewed defensively.
    â€œBesides, 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 ThunderClanterritory. Stupid furballs!”
    â€œIt 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.
    â€œWe 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.
    â€œIt’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.
    â€œThank 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. Hedabbed at it experimentally and felt the sharp edge.
    â€œCareful!” Sorrelstripe warned him. “That’s what hurt Cherryfall.”
    â€œWhy can’t the Twolegs take their stuff back to their own dens instead of leaving it here to injure cats?” Sparkpaw asked angrily.
    â€œAlderpaw!” 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.
    â€œOver 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