Path of Stars by Erin Hunter Page A

escape?”
    Gray Wing glanced at the half-moon. It was still rising. How long would the meeting last? Wind Runner had promised to stretch it out as long as she could. Hopefully there was still plenty of time. He glanced back into the shadows anxiously. Was Fern coming? Perhaps they should start searching the scrubland for Star Flower without her.
    Gray Wing had spent the last quarter moon tracking Fern, scouring the pine forest for some sign of her scent as he tried to figure out where she’d gone after she’d left Tall Shadow’s camp. He’d ranged farther and farther, trekking through the oak forest and even beside the river in the hope that he could catch up with her. She was his only link to Slash and his only chance of finding out where Star Flower was being held.
    At last, he’d found her scent, beyond the pines. He’d tracked it, growing wary as it mingled with rogue stench. The scents had thickened as he’d followed her trail, until he could smell nothing else. He had halted, his pelt pricking with fear. He had located the rogues’ camp. It was a dip where the pines thinned onto boggy land, hidden by a thick wall of marsh grass. He’d circled it gingerly, then climbed the slope beyond. Hazel thickets crowded between willow trees, whichstretched toward denser forest. It was a perfect hiding place from which to observe the comings and goings of the rogues. Gray Wing had found a patch of rotting moss and rolled in it to disguise his scent, then crouched at the heart of the most tangled thicket and waited.
    A long day and night passed before he glimpsed Fern. As dawn washed the marshland in watery light, he saw her. She was following a patrol along a trail toward the camp. Gray Wing’s heart had lurched as he wondered how to attract her attention without being spotted by her campmates.
    He was lucky that she had such a keen sense of smell. She’d paused as she padded along the bottom of the slope, her nose twitching. She had pricked her ears. Gray Wing’s heart had quickened as she turned and glanced toward the willows.
    â€œI’ll catch up to you!” she’d called to the patrol.
    As soon as they were out of sight, Fern had hared up the slope, darting between the hazel thickets, her pelt rippling.
    She’d guessed he’d come about Star Flower but swore she didn’t know where the queen was being held. “Slash won’t tell anyone but her guards,” she’d confided. “He’s keeping her away from the camp so no one can find her.”
    â€œBut we have to know where she is,” Gray Wing had pressed.
    Fern had promised to find out where Star Flower was being held. “But you mustn’t come back here,” she had told him. “I’ll find you . It’s safer for both of us.” He’d left her, feeling more anxious than relieved. Was it fair to let Fern put herself at risk? He’d pushed the worry away. Clear Sky’s unborn kits were at greater risk.
    Days had passed, with the meeting at the four trees looming ever closer. At last Fern had come, slinking at dawn from a patch of heather as he passed on hunting patrol, her eyes round with fear. “I know where she’s being held,” she’d breathed. “I can’t show you now. Slash will already be wondering where I am.”
    They’d arranged to convene at the edge of the pine forest on the night of the meeting.
    The night had arrived and Gray Wing glanced at the half-moon again. Where was she? Hadn’t she been able to get away? He shifted his paws, feeling stiff from crouching on the damp earth.
    â€œWhat if Fern doesn’t come?” Lightning Tail glanced at him.
    â€œWe’ll find Star Flower ourselv—” Gray Wing broke off as the brambles rustled behind them.
    He spun, signaling with a twitch of his tail-tip for the others to be silent.
    â€œGray Wing?” Fern’s frightened whisper sounded between the