“I’ll come,” Leafpool offered immediately. “And I’ll bring some herbs with me.” She paused, gazing around the clearing, her eyes shimmering in thought. “And may StarClan light our path,” she added. “Now and always.”

As the cats settled down and the last of the hostility faded, Twigpaw spotted her sister sitting close beside Tree. Violetshine’s eyes were wide with admiration as she gazed at the yellow tom.

Oh, Twigpaw thought. So it’s like that, is it?

Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

Carefully Alderheart peeled the poultice off Velvet’s burn, then gave the wound a good sniff. “That’s healing really well,” he mewed. “I think we’ll leave it uncovered, to let the fresh air get at it.”

“It hardly hurts at all now,” Velvet purred. “You’re a great medicine cat, Alderheart.”

Alderheart wasn’t sure that was true. Embarrassed, he tried to think of a way to change the subject, but in the end it was Velvet who spoke first.

“Every cat was so surprised when Ivypool had her kits on the night of the Gathering. None of us thought she was due.”

Alderheart nodded, remembering how he had returned to camp to discover Jayfeather cleaning himself up after delivering the kits.

“Of course it had to happen tonight,” the blind medicine cat had grumbled. “I had to do it, and I’m not over the sickness yet.”

Alderheart knew that Jayfeather wasn’t thinking about himself, but whether he might have passed on the sickness to Ivypool or, even worse, to the new kits. Or Daisy, or Briarlight . . . , he thought. Cinderheart had taken her litter to spend the night in the elders’ den, but the other two she-cats had insisted on staying to help.

So far, every cat seems to be healthy, Alderheart thought. But I’ll have to keep an eye on them all.

He started out of his memories as he realized that Velvet was speaking again.

“Clan life is really different from how I imagined it,” she mewed. “Fuzzball made me think it was all fighting and hunting, but you do so much more! You heal cats, and you make sure every cat is cared for, especially the kits and elders. . . .”

“That’s the warrior code,” Alderheart responded.

Velvet’s words made him realize that she was fitting into ThunderClan much better than any cat had expected. We have so much in common, he thought. Wouldn’t it be great if she decided to stay, and then we could spend more time together?

Alarm jolted through Alderheart. What am I thinking? He knew seeing more of Velvet would be a really bad idea. He could already feel his heart being pulled toward her, and for a medicine cat, that was forbidden.

And we already have Jayfeather hanging over us all the time.