The Apprentice's Quest by Erin Hunter

crowded in on him. I don’t know if it was a real vision. It could have been just a weird dream, like the one I had before.
    His doubts increased when none of the other cats said anything about what they had seen. I’ll keep my dream to myself for now, he decided. At least until I’m sure what it was.

C HAPTER 7

    Alderpaw was alone in the medicine-cat den, except for Briarlight, who was curled up in her nest, asleep.
    â€œShe had such a restless, painful night,” Leafpool had told him when he arrived in the den to start work. “Try not to wake her.”
    Jayfeather had straightened up from where he was bent over Briarlight, listening to her breathing. “I think she’ll be okay now. We’re going into the forest to collect herbs,” he added to Alderpaw. “You can stay here and organize the store. Throw out anything that looks too withered to be useful.”
    Now that the two medicine cats had gone, Alderpaw was left to get on with the boring job. But for once he didn’t mind. It gave him a chance to think over his dream at the Moonpool the night before.
    I’m sure it was just a dream, he assured himself. It’s not even worth telling Jayfeather and Leafpool about. They’d think I was crazy!
    Instead Alderpaw had decided to make himself useful. In the last few days, he felt he was actually starting to get the hang of being a medicine cat.
    Maybe I’ll be a good medicine cat after all, he told himself. Or at least I’ll be good enough.
    Absorbed in separating the catmint from the tansy, and in picking out the wrinkled juniper berries that had lost their healing juices, Alderpaw was startled to hear the paw steps of another cat approaching the den. He turned to see Cherryfall brush back the bramble screen and limp inside.
    â€œHi,” he mewed, pointing with his tail at Briarlight and signaling to Cherryfall to keep quiet. He was glad to see her, though he didn’t like the pained expression on her face. “Is anything the matter?”
    â€œIt’s my paw,” Cherryfall replied, holding it up. “It hasn’t healed yet, and it’s still painful. Could you take a look at it?”
    â€œSure,” Alderpaw responded. “But it’s early days for it to heal.”
    With a sigh of relief Cherryfall lay on her side in a nest of moss and fern and stretched out her injured paw. Alderpaw examined it, giving it a good sniff and noting that the wound was clean and hadn’t started bleeding again. He was especially careful to look for the signs of infection that Jayfeather had told him about.
    It’s not red, and it’s not hot to the touch.
    â€œIt’s not infected,” he told Cherryfall. “It’s just a deep cut and it’s taking time to heal.” He hesitated, then added, “That’s normal.”
    â€œI’m glad it’s not serious,” Cherryfall meowed, “but is there anything you can give me to help the pain? It isn’t terrible, but it’s distracting me, and I want to get back to warrior duties.”
    Alderpaw padded back to the store and began to look through the herbs, touching each one and trying to remember what they were for. There were a lot of different kinds, but he knew what he wanted to find. He was sure that comfrey root was what Cherryfall needed. He remembered chewing up the root for a poultice when they first brought Cherryfall back to camp, and Jayfeather had told him that comfrey root helped soothe the pain of a wound.
    Soon he spotted the pile of black roots and bit off a piece, remembering the tangy taste from last time as he chewed it into a poultice. When it was mashed up fine, he spat it out and spread it onto Cherryfall’s wound.
    Cherryfall’s pained expression faded and a look of relief spread over her face. Alderpaw watched her carefully, thinking how important it was for a medicine cat to be aware of how other cats were feeling.
    â€œI think