Dawn

Would there be time to escort her home first? Or had she become such a part of the Clan that she’d go with them?

“Where will we go?” Tornear was the first to ask, but his question echoed around the gathering.

Firestar looked expectantly at Brambleclaw. The tabby warrior looked down at his paws. Squirrelpaw, standing beside him, pressed her flank against his. Leafpaw tipped her head to one side, puzzled. They looked like a pair of unprepared apprentices who had just been asked the best way to catch water voles.

“As you know, Midnight’s sign never came,” Brambleclaw began, dragging the words out as if they stuck in his throat like thorns. “So we don’t know exactly where we should go.

But we could head toward the sun-drown-place.”

“If there’s been no sign before we get there, we could find Midnight again and ask her,” Squirrelpaw put in.

“How do we get to this sun-drown-place?” Blackstar called.

“We traveled two different routes—” Brambleclaw broke off and looked uncertainly at Squirrelpaw.

“And you don’t know which one to take?” Firestar suggested.

“We…” Brambleclaw faltered. “We should head for Highstones first,” he meowed at last. “Away from the Twolegs.”

“Very well,” Firestar agreed. “We shall meet at the edge of WindClan’s territory at dawn.”

Mistyfoot and Tallstar nodded.

“Then it’s decided.” Firestar turned to Blackstar. “It would be easier for us all if ShadowClan would sleep at Sunningrocks tonight,” he meowed, choosing his words carefully. “We could make an earlier start if you were to rest here.”

Blackstar seemed to appreciate Firestar’s diplomacy. “Then we will stay,” he meowed.

“As if they’ve got any other place to go!” Sorreltail muttered in Leafpaw’s ear.

“But we will sleep apart from ThunderClan, and a guard will be posted,” Blackstar warned.

“These cats have just saved your Clan!” Mistyfoot exclaimed. “Do you think ThunderClan brought you here only to attack you?”

“Let’s hear whether Leopardstar agrees with your plan to leave the forest before you start making judgments on my decisions,” Blackstar retorted.

Leafpaw winced. She glanced at her sister, but Squirrelpaw was no longer listening. She was staring into the forest, her face filled with anxiety.

Leafpaw padded quietly to her side. “Are you okay?”

“I just hope StarClan sends us a sign soon,” Squirrelpaw mewed.

“I’m sure they will do what they can.”

Squirrelpaw stared earnestly into her eyes. “You’re right.

Even without a sign, I know StarClan will be protecting us and guiding us wherever we go.”

Leafpaw blinked. She wished she were that certain. There had been no sign of StarClan when ShadowClan had needed them most. It was only luck—and the other Clans’ courage—that had gotten those cats out alive. More and more, it looked as if StarClan was powerless to help, and the cats would have to rely on one another, nothing else, to survive.

Chapter 16

Clouds obscured the night sky as Leafpaw padded down the hard stone slope. A mild breeze promised that there would be no frost tonight, and she could smell rain. Most of the Clan was sleeping; ShadowClan was huddled near the edge of Sunningrocks, as far from the ThunderClan cats as they could be.

Exhaustion dragged at Leafpaw’s limbs, but her mind teemed with thoughts, memories of the day’s horrors mingled with uncertainties about the journey to come. Knowing she would not be able to sleep, she headed for the forest. Even in leaf-bare, its musty odor and the feeling of the earth beneath her paws soothed her.

As she neared the trees she heard Cody’s voice calling to her. “Leafpaw!” The kittypet was sheltering among some brittle fronds of bracken.

“Cody? What are you doing out here?”

“There’s something I need to tell you.” Cody scraped at the ground with her paw.

Leafpaw stared at her. “What?”

“I’m leaving,” Cody mewed simply. “I’m going home.”

Leafpaw fought back the urge to cry, No! Please stay! She stepped forward and touched her nose to Cody’s ear-tip.

“This is no life for me, all this death and blood and uncertainty,” Cody went on. “I am happy with my housefolk, and they’ll be missing me. I never meant to stay this long, but Birchkit needed me and I began to—”

“You began to enjoy the freedom,” Leafpaw interrupted, suddenly desperate to remind her new friend what she would be giving up if she went back to her Twolegs.

“I guess I did,” Cody admitted. “But today I saw just how fragile your freedom is. You have to fight for everything—for your food, even somewhere to shelter.” She shook her head apologetically. “I like to know where I will be sleeping every night, and that there will always be food when my belly grows empty. And I like my housefolk. Not all Twolegs are as bad as the ones destroying your home.”

“Would you like me to show you the way through the forest?” Leafpaw offered. “Firestar promised you an escort.”

Cody shook her head. “The woods seem quiet enough,” she mewed. “There won’t be any monsters about at night.