Night Whispers/Chapter 19

"Jayfeather closed his eyes. The Dark Forest was growing in strength. The cats in StarClan were frightened. And now he didn't trust his Clanmates. The ground seemed to rock beneath his paws."

— The narrator about Jayfeather's uncertainty in Night Whispers, page 222

Night Whispers
Chapter number:	19 (of 25)
Page numbers:	209-222
Point of View:	Jayfeather
Chronology

Below contains in-depth information for chapter nineteen of Night Whispers. If you are looking for a shorter summary of the entire book, please check the main article.

Chapter Number: 19 (of 25)

Page Numbers: 209-222

Chapter description

Jayfeather winces as the elders' den creaks due to the weight of snow. Purdy assures him that the old den would have been flattened by now, and that the new den is strong enough to tolerate much more snow. Mousefur adds that she is not looking forward to the thaw, due to the dripping of water that is bound to leak through the roof. Purdy sassily tells her that when new-leaf comes, she will get wet, like always.

Jayfeather tells Mousefur to hold still, and he smells her breath. He notes that it wasn't sour, and that her nose was cool. He listens to her chest and is unsure whether that she is wheezing, or is just suffering due to old age. He asks her if she's sure she doesn't have a sore throat, and she remarks that she's sure, and only has the usual ache in the joints. Jayfeather is still unconvinced, because she refused to play moss-ball with Molekit earlier that morning. He instructs Purdy to let him know if she begins to cough.

Lionblaze's patrol was said to had brought back enough prey to feed the Clan for days. The Clan had been under a recent dry spell, and Sandstorm's whitecough had begun to spread. Jayfeather had confined Bumblestripe to his nest, and Poppyfrost was mentioned to have sent Blossomfall to the medicine cat's den, saying Cherrykit had gotten a fever. Jayfeather heads to his den, praying that Poppyfrost had just been overreacting.

Upon hearing raspy breathing, Jayfeather asks aloud if it belonged to Mousewhisker. He croaks yes, and he orders the warrior to go to his nest and stay. Upon hearing Poppyfrost greet him, Molekit jumps on his back, then is quickly ordered away by Daisy. He is told to practice his attack pounces elsewhere, and is disappointed when Cherrykit cannot accompany him.

Jayfeather examines Cherrykit, and finds that she is rather warm, but her breathing is clear. He tells Poppyfrost that the kit does not need herbs, and that the best thing to do is to keep her cool. He tells the kit to come visit him if she starts to feel sick.

Jayfeather turns his attention to Sandstorm. He asks how she is doing, and the warrior replies that she has felt better. He finds her very warm to the touch, and quickly begins to collect herbs, and is saddened to find that there is nothing good for coughs. Jayfeather then picks up the scent of yarrow, and is surprised to hear Rosepetal telling him that he had forgotten to bring the herbs in. Jayfeather is caught off-guard, and is confused, asking where she had picked up the yarrow. Rosepetal replies that they were lying outside of camp, and had thought he had dropped them. Jayfeather tells her that he did not leave them there, and Rosepetal suspects it was Leafpool. Jayfeather finds that likely, and says he will thank her later.

Jayfeather finds Leafpool playing with kits outside of the nursery, and cannot find any yarrow scent on her fur. He tells her thanks, but Leafpool is confused, not knowing anything about the mysterious herbs. Jayfeather orders Rosepetal to show him where she found the herbs. He sniffs the ground, but can only smell yarrow and snow. Jayfeather is stumped and decides to let Firestar thank whoever it was at the next Clan meeting.

Thornclaw yowls, catching Jayfeather off-guard. He immediately smells Mothwing, accompanied by Thornclaw and Spiderleg. She sarcastically thanks the warriors for their company, saying she could probably find her own way here. Jayfeather tells her they must talk at the lake, due to his den being full. Mothwing asks how Briarlight is doing, and Jayfeather says she had shaken off the infection, and that her forepaws are stronger than any warrior.

Mothwing begins to tell Jayfeather that she wishes the ice would thaw, as three kits sprained their paws playing on the ice. Jayfeather grows impatient, telling her that he doesn't have all day, and to get to the point. Mothwing purrs, comforted by Jayfeather's bluntness, and tells him that Willowshine was told by StarClan that medicine cat's were forbidden to speak to one another. She wonders if Jayfeather was told the same thing. Jayfeather grunts that he will not share what StarClan shares with him, and Mothwing believes that he was told something similar.

Mothwing says that they have told Jayfeather to stop talking to her, and he has, and goes on to say that if StarClan had told him to jump in the lake, would he follow their orders. Jayfeather tells her it's not the same, but Mothwing retorts asking how many times have another Clan helped us save other Clanmates. She goes on, insisting that StarClan wants cats to die. Jayfeather, reminded by Yellowfang, holds his tongue. He tells Mothwing he cannot explain it to her, and she says she knows when something feels wrong, and wants to hold on to the promise to heal and protect. Jayfeather says to her to protect her Clanmates, but leave his alone.

After a heated discussion, Jayfeather decides not to take it any farther. Yellowfang growls in his ear that Mothwing was born an idiot, and will die an idiot. Upon turning to leave, Mothwing bounds after him, saying she has herbs for whitecough. Jayfeather declines her offer, and walks away. Poppyfrost quickly meets Jayfeather at the entrance of camp, exclaiming that Cherrykit cannot breathe. He orders for the queens to take her inside and let her rest. He instructs to wash her, and keep her damp. When asked if he will fetch herbs for the kit, Jayfeather says that he doesn't have enough to give her now, and will give her herbs if it gets worse.

Sorreltail bounds up to Jayfeather, asking if Cherrykit was sick, followed by questions from Dovepaw and Leafpool. Irritated, Jayfeather dismisses them, but Dovepaw informs that there is greencough in ShadowClan. Jayfeather inquires how bad it is, and Dovepaw says it has just infected Littlecloud thus far. Jayfeather tells Daisy and Sorreltail to fetch Cherrykit a wet moss ball, and dismisses Dovepaw to attend to her newly caught fresh-kill.

Leafpool asks Jayfeather if he was going to help Littlecloud, and Jayfeather says that he could not. He is too busy worrying about sickness in his own Clan to worry about ShadowClan. Before Leafpool can reply, Jayfeather turns and goes to his den. He calls upon Brambleclaw to establish a guard for his precious herb gardens, to prevent theft from ShadowClan. Brambleclaw quickly calls together a few warriors, and they quickly bound into the forest. Jayfeather murmurs to himself to stay strong throughout the chaos.

Characters

Major

• Jayfeather

Minor

• Purdy
• Mousefur
• Blossomfall
• Thornclaw
• Mousewhisker
• Molekit
• Daisy
• Cherrykit
• Sandstorm
• Rosepetal
• Leafpool
• Mothwing
• Spiderleg
• Yellowfang
• Sorreltail
• Dovepaw
• Brambleclaw
• Berrynose

Mentioned

• Lionblaze
• Bumblestripe
• Firestar
• Briarlight
• Willowshine
• Littlecloud
• Ivypaw