landed, she turned to Fireheart and murmured, âBluestar seems to be feeling well again.â
âYes,â Fireheart agreed guardedly, concentrating on threading his body between some prickly bramble stalks.
Sandstorm went on, keeping her voice low so it didnât carry to the other cats. âBut she seems distant. She doesnât seem to be asâ¦â She hesitated, and Fireheart didnât try to fill the silence that followed. His worst fears were being confirmed. The other ThunderClan cats were beginning to notice Bluestar was not herself.
âSheâs changed,â Sandstorm finished.
Fireheart didnât look at the ginger she-cat. Instead he veered away to avoid a thick clump of nettles while Sandstorm leaped over them, springing up and through the stinging leaves to land on the forest floor beyond.
Fireheart ran faster to catch up. âBluestarâs still shaken,â he said, panting. âTigerclawâs treachery was a huge shock.â
âI donât understand why she never suspected him.â
âDid you ever suspect Tigerclaw?â countered Fireheart.
âNo,â Sandstorm admitted. âNo cat did. But the rest of theClan has recovered from the shock. Bluestar still seemsâ¦â Again she seemed lost for words.
âSheâs leading us to the Gathering,â Fireheart pointed out.
âYes, thatâs true,â answered Sandstorm, brightening.
âSheâs still the same Bluestar,â Fireheart assured her. âYouâll see.â
The two warriors quickened their pace. They leaped over a stream that had been too swollen to cross during the newleaf floods. Now it trickled along a stony bed, so dry that it was almost impossible to imagine the water had ever flowed higher.
The rest of the group was only just ahead of them by the time they neared Fourtrees. Fireheart led Sandstorm along their trail, the undergrowth still trembling where the cats had passed, as if the leaves shared the Clanâs anticipation of the Gathering.
Bluestar had stopped at the head of the slope and was staring down into the valley. Fireheart could see lithe feline shapes slipping through the shadows, greeting each other with muted purrs. From the scents on the still air, he could tell that ThunderClan was the last to arrive. Fireheart watched Bluestar gaze at the Great Rock in the center of the clearing and saw a shudder ripple along her spine. She seemed to take a deep breath before plunging down the slope.
Fireheart raced after her with his Clanmates. He slowed as he reached the clearing and scanned the other cats for a glimpse of Graystripe. The RiverClan deputy, Leopardfur, was talking with a ShadowClan warrior Fireheart didnâtrecognize. Crookedstar, the RiverClan leader, sat with Stonefur, looking silently around the clearing. Fireheart scented another RiverClan cat close by, but when he turned, he saw it was an apprentice moving to greet Brightpaw. There was no sign or scent of Graystripe. Fireheart wasnât surprised, but his tail still drooped with disappointment.
A gray ShadowClan apprentice joined Brightpaw as well. With one ear Fireheart listened idly to their conversation.
âHas your Clan seen any more of the rogues? Nightstarâs worried that theyâre still roaming the forest.â
Fireheart froze when he heard the ShadowClan catâs question. All of the Clans had been worried about the group of rogue cats that had been scented in their territories. What the other Clans didnât know was that ThunderClanâs deputy, Tigerclaw, had befriended these rogues and used them to attack his own camp. Fireheart gave Brightpaw a cautionary glance, warning her to keep silent, but there was no need. The white-and-ginger she-cat replied coolly, âWeâve not scented them in our territory for nearly a moon.â
Fireheart felt a jolt of relief as the RiverClan cat added, âNor ours. They must have left the