Jayfeather padded over to his brother, while Leafpool explained to Dustpelt what she had done.

“Good idea,” the brown tabby warrior grunted. “I’ll put it behind the barrier near the hole.”

“Be careful,” Leafpool warned him.

“I’ll be fine,” Dustpelt meowed, sounding unusually gentle as he reassured the medicine cat. “Look, I’m picking it up by the tail.” Jayfeather heard him leap across the barrier and a moment later leap back. “There,” he meowed. “All done. Right, what are you waiting for?” he added, swinging around to face his helpers. “Let’s get this barrier finished.”

Back in their den, Jayfeather and Leafpool wrapped the rest of the deathberries in the leaf. “We’d better store them in case the mouse doesn’t work the first time,” Leafpool explained. “I don’t like it, but—”

A loud wail interrupted her. “Leafpool! Leafpool!”

“What now?” Jayfeather groaned.

He picked up Birchfall’s scent as the young warrior crashed past the bramble screen. “Leafpool, you’ve got to come at once!” he panted. “Whitewing has pains in her belly.”

“All right, don’t panic.” Leafpool rose to her paws. “I’m sure it’s nothing serious. Maybe her kits are coming. Jayfeather, put that leaf wrap away,” she instructed as she brushed past him. “Right at the back of the store where no cat will pick it up by mistake.”

Gingerly Jayfeather pushed the leaf wrap in front of him and crept all the way to the back of the store, among a litter of old folded leaves and piles of shriveled herbs. “We need to clear this lot out,” he muttered as he pushed the deathberries into the farthest corner.

Crawling back into the den, he twitched his whiskers with disgust. His pelt was covered with herb dust and clinging stems. He had just begun to groom one shoulder when Leafpool returned.

“Whitewing’s fine,” she reported. “It’s just a bellyache. I’ll take her a couple of juniper berries.” She ducked quickly into the store and out again with the berries in a leaf wrap. “I’ve just remembered,” she mumbled around her mouthful. “With all this trouble, I forgot to check on Purdy’s sore pads. Can you go and do it now?”

“Sure,” Jayfeather sighed, resigning himself to putting up with a messy pelt for a bit longer. He fetched the ointment of yarrow from the store and padded over to the elders’ den.

As he crawled under the outer branches of the hazel bush, he heard Purdy’s voice. “What I don’t understan’ is why you’re all against Sol. Those other leaders who came here today, they want Firestar to get rid of him!” The old tabby sounded flustered. “Why won’t any of you listen when I tell you he’s a good cat?”

“Purdy, you’re not listening when other cats tell you what Sol did here.” Mousefur sounded as if her patience was wearing thin.

And there was never that much of it anyway, Jayfeather thought as he paused at the edge of the den.

Purdy snorted. “Some nonsense about tellin’ other cats what to believe in. They didn’ have to listen if they didn’ want to.”