A squeal made him freeze. A kit was in pain. Pricking his ears, he recognized Toadkit’s wailing mew. He turned and dashed toward the den entrance just as Daisy raced in. He smelled fear on her pelt and felt the lash of a flailing paw as she hurried past him. She must be carrying Toadkit by the scruff.

“Put him by the pool,” he ordered.

“He was chasing a bee and jumped straight into the nettle patch,” Daisy panted after setting down Toadkit.

“Dumb bee!” Toadkit yowled.

Jaypaw felt a wave of relief. Nettle stings! From the fuss he was making Jaypaw thought Toadkit had been savaged by a fox.

“Firestar should get those nettles pulled up,” Daisy complained. “I knew they’d be trouble one day.”

“Nettles aren’t deadly.” Jaypaw began sniffing Toadkit. A small paw swiped him across the muzzle. The young kit was twisting and fidgeting, trying to lick at his stings at the same time as he rubbed his nose with his paw. “Sit still!”

“But it hurts!” Toadkit complained.

His kit-soft pelt would have been no defense against the nettles’ stinging barbs, and Jaypaw could feel heat pulsing from Toadkit’s nose and ears, where the exposed skin had already swollen.

“I’ll fetch some dock leaves,” Jaypaw told him.

Daisy was anxiously circling her kit, and, as he dashed toward the medicine store, Jaypaw tripped over her tail. He stumbled to a clumsy halt at the store entrance and reached into the crack in the rock. Grabbing a pawful of dock leaves from where he knew they were stored beside the mallow, he gave them a quick sniff to make sure he had the right herb before chewing them into a pulp. The dock juice would work quickly on Toadkit’s injuries as long as it got a chance to sink into his fur.

Still chewing, he returned to the wriggling kit and spat the ointment onto his paw, ready to rub it onto the kit’s ears.

Instinctively, Toadkit shied away. “Don’t touch me!” He swiped at the pulp, sending it flying into the pool. Jaypaw heard it drop into the water with a plop. Seething with frustration, he turned back to the pile of dock leaves. “The quicker I treat it, the sooner it’ll stop hurting.” He collided with Daisy, still pacing around her kit. For StarClan’s sake! “Go check on Rosekit!” he snapped. “You don’t want her ending up in the nettles too. I’ll take care of Toadkit.” He flicked his tail. “If he can sit still!”

“Are you sure he’ll be okay?” Daisy fretted.

Jaypaw took a deep breath. Staying calm is good for you and better for the patient. Leafpool’s words rang in his ears. “No cat has died of nettle stings yet,” he mewed through gritted teeth.