Chapter 26

                                    

                                          
Sandstorm tried to hide his misgivings as he led the three Riverclan warriors down the tunnel and into the camp. Clan cats rarely visit each other's territory, and he wondered what was so urgent that it couldn't wait until the next Gathering.
Alerted by Brightpaw, Oakstar was already seated at the foot of the Highrock, and Sandstorm's apprehension increased when he saw Goldenflower was beside her.
"Thank you, Brightpaw." Oakstar dismissed the apprentice as Sandstorm approached with the newcomers. "Take your fresh-kill to the elders."
Brightpaw looked disappointed to be sent away, but he went without protest.
Leopardfur walked up to Oakstar and dipped his head respectfully. "Oakstar, we come to your camp in peace," he began. "There's something we must discuss."
Goldenflower let out a low disbelieving growl, as if he would rather be ripping the fur off the intruding cats, but Oakstar ignored him. "I can guess what brings you here," she meowed. "But what is there to discuss? What's done is done. Any punishment for Silverstream will be handled by his own Clan."
While she spoke to Leopardfur, Sandstorm noticed, her eyes kept straying to Blackclaw and Stonefur. It was the first time Sandstorm had seen his leader with the Riverclan warriors since she had admitted to him that they were her kits. He did not think he was imagining the wistfulness in her amber eyes as she looked at them.
"What you say is true," Leopardfur agreed. "The two young cats were foolish, but Graystripe is dead, and Silverstream's punishment is not for Riverclan to decide. We've come here about the kits."
"What about them?" asked Oakstar.
"They're Riverclan kits," meowed Leopardfur. "We've come to take them home."
"Riverclan kits?" Oakstar's eyes narrowed. "Why do you say that?"
"And how do you know about them?" Goldenflower demanded, glaring in fury as he sprang to his paws. "Have you been spying? Or did some cat tell you?"
He turned on Sandstorm as he spoke, but Sandstorm stood his ground, and Blackclaw kept quiet, not betraying him by so much as a glance. Goldenflower couldn't know for sure that he had told Blackclaw, and Sandstorm refused to regret what he had done. Riverclan had the right to know.
"Sit down, Goldenflower," murmured Oakstar. She flashed a look at Sandstorm, and he realized that his leader guessed what he had done, as surely as if she had seen him cross the river. But she didn't intend to give him away. "Who knows, perhaps a Riverclan patrol saw what happened? Such things can't be hidden for long. But Leopardfur," she went on, turning back to the visiting deputy, "the kits are also half Thunderclan, and one of our queens is taking good care of them. Why should I give them to you?"
"Kits belong with their mother's Clan," Leopardfur explained. "Riverclan would have raised these kits if Graystripe had lived, without knowing who the gather was, and that makes them ours by right."
"Oakstar, you can't send the kits away!" Sandstorm couldn't stop himself from interrupting. "They're all Silverstream has to live for."
A growl rumbled once again in Goldenflower's throat, but it was Oakstar who answered. "Sandstorm, be quiet. This doesn't concern you."
"Yes, it does," Sandstorm dared to meow. "Silverstream's my friend."
"Silence!" hissed Goldenflower. "Does your leader have to tell you twice? Silverstream is a traitor to his Clan. He has no right to the kits, or anything else."
Rage flooded through Sandstorm. Had Goldenflower no respect for Silverstream's terrible grief? He whirled on the deputy, held back from springing at him only because cats of another Clan were looking on. Goldenflower bared his teeth in a snarl.