Sunrise

Let Sol stay here. Hollyleaf wanted to speak the words aloud. We don’t need to take him back. Purdy needs him more than we do. But she knew that was impossible.

“We’ll stay for the night,” Brambleclaw decided. “But we’ll have to leave at dawn.”

“Fine!” Purdy’s ears perked up. “Have some o’ this rabbit,” he invited proudly.

“Thank you,” Brambleclaw replied, his voice gentle, “but we can catch our own to add to your fresh-kill pile.”

“I brought you a mouse,” Hollyleaf added, snatching up her prey and dropping it at Purdy’s paws.

The old tabby’s eyes shone. “That’s right kind of you.” He crouched down and tucked in.

The Clan cats headed for the entrance to the den. Brackenfur glanced back at Sol, who was still standing in the middle of the den.

“Don’t worry,” Sol meowed. “I’ll be here when you get back.”

Brackenfur still looked uncertain; as they padded through the entrance, Brambleclaw shouldered his way toward him and murmured into his ear. “Stay on guard. But keep out of sight.”

Brackenfur gave him a relieved nod and crept underneath the low-growing branches of a nearby bush, where he crouched with his gaze firmly fixed on the den.

Darkness had fallen while the cats were inside. The harsh orange light of the Twolegplace covered the sky, blotting out the stars. Hollyleaf wished she could have seen the spirits of the Clan’s warrior ancestors, to know that they were still watching over her.

Once outside, she headed for the thicket of shiny green leaves where she had caught her mice. Hazeltail padded along beside her.

“I’m so glad we found Sol,” she murmured. “Now we can go home.”

Hollyleaf nodded. “I feel bad about taking Sol away from Purdy,” she confessed.

“But Sol is a murderer!” Hazeltail halted, her eyes wide with shock. “What if he kills Purdy, too?”

“He wouldn’t do that,” Hollyleaf replied.

“How do you know?” Hazeltail persisted. “We need to get him back to the camp fast, before he does any more damage. Firestar will know what to do with him.”

Hollyleaf shook her head helplessly. There was no way to reply to Hazeltail’s questions. Besides, if Sol didn’t come back to ThunderClan with them, what would happen in the hunt for Ashfur’s killer? Would Firestar be forced to look closer to home? Hollyleaf’s belly felt cold at the thought of accusations flying around her Clan.

She plunged into the thicket to hunt, but this time prey didn’t come so easily to her paws. In the end she had to be content with a single shrew; she padded back to Purdy’s den feeling embarrassed, but the rest of the patrol had only found thin pickings, too.

“Prey’s pretty scarce ’round here,” Purdy admitted as they crouched down to eat. “But I can find enough to feed me and Sol through leaf-bare. I ain’t never starved before!”

He must be so lonely if he’s willing to share this much prey with a stranger, Hollyleaf thought sadly, swallowing her morsel of shrew.

Once she had eaten, she settled down to sleep. The stone floor of the den was damp and cold, and wind whistled through the gaps in the walls. Huddling next to Lionblaze for warmth, Hollyleaf wished for the thick moss and bracken of her nest in the camp, and for the sheltering branches of the warriors’ den.

Hollyleaf slept fitfully, and woke to see the cold light of a leaf-bare dawn angling across the floor. Brambleclaw and Brackenfur were already on their paws; Hazeltail and Birchfall were stirring drowsily, while Purdy slept in a rumpled heap in the opposite corner.

Sol was curled up in a sheltered niche where a couple of stones had fallen from one of the inner walls of the den. Brambleclaw padded over and prodded him awake.

“It’s time to leave,” he meowed.

Sol lifted his head, his amber eyes blinking, then rose to his paws. “If you wish.”

“He creeps me out,” a voice whispered in Hollyleaf’s ear.

Hollyleaf started and turned to see Birchfall. “Don’t sneak up on me like that!” she snapped, annoyed with herself because Sol was spooking her, too. “He’s just a cat.”

As she finished speaking, Sol padded past her toward the entrance to the den. “I told you I would come back,” he murmured, quietly enough that she was the only cat to hear.

Struggling to shrug off her feelings of uneasiness, Hollyleaf roused Lionblaze, and the sound of voices woke Purdy, who stumbled sleepily over to the remains of the rabbit. “You got to eat something before you go,” he meowed.

“But you need it more than we do,” Brackenfur protested.

“I can catch another,” Purdy retorted, his neck fur beginning to bristle. “You need to keep your strength up if you’re goin’ on a long journey.”

The ThunderClan cats exchanged glances; clearly Purdy would be insulted if they refused, so they crowded around the last of the prey and forced down a few gristly scraps. Purdy watched them, while Sol just waited in the entrance, his gaze lifted to the sky.