“Hey!” he yelped.
“Watch where you’re putting your tail,” the white warrior snapped, pushing his way out into the open.
Lionblaze rose to his paws. It’s too crowded in here, he thought. We’re all tripping over one another.
Skirting carefully past Squirrelflight, who was just beginning to stir, Lionblaze headed into the clearing. Brambleclaw stood in the middle of the camp with warriors gathering around him as he sorted out the morning’s patrols. Firestar stood a little to one side, looking on.
“Sandstorm, will you lead a patrol along the WindClan border?” Brambleclaw was meowing as Lionblaze padded up. “Take Thornclaw and Ivypool. Cloudtail, you and Brightheart can do the WindClan border as well, but start from the other end. Take Blossomfall with you. Make sure the scent markers are fresh and strong.”
“And make sure there’s no WindClan scent on our side of the stream,” Firestar added. “Report back right away if you find any.”
“Hunting patrols,” Brambleclaw continued, glancing around at his Clanmates, “stay away from the WindClan border. We don’t want to give WindClan any reason to complain about us.”
“What?” Spiderleg’s neck fur bristled. “Are you telling me we can’t hunt on our own territory because of those flea-ridden rabbit-eaters?”
“Yeah,” Thornclaw added, the tip of his tail twitching. “Why should we have to creep around like mice when we’ve done nothing wrong?”
Brambleclaw avoided the question, just continued dividing up the hunting patrols. Lionblaze guessed that Firestar had warned his deputy about Sol’s plot with WindClan, though he had said nothing to the rest of the Clan.
“What’s Firestar thinking?” Dovewing whispered, padding up to Lionblaze’s side. Her blue eyes were puzzled. “Shouldn’t he tell the Clan that there’s a threat?”
Lionblaze shrugged. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I guess there’s no point starting a panic when we don’t know what will happen, or when.”
“I notice Sol hasn’t come back to camp,” Dovewing observed with a twitch of her whiskers.
Lionblaze snorted, feeling his neck fur begin to fluff up. “Are you surprised? He must know that he was seen last night, so he’s staying away.” Guilt weighed down his belly like a stone as he remembered how he had helped Sol escape from the camp all those moons ago. After I helped him, Sol has betrayed us! And I can never tell any cat what I did.
As the cats milled around, splitting up into their patrols, Lionblaze noticed that Millie was looking around with a confused air. “I don’t see Sol,” she mewed to Dustpelt. “Where do you think he can be?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care,” Dustpelt growled. “Good riddance is what I say.”
“And so do I,” Thornclaw agreed. “But I’d like to know where the mange-pelt is, all the same.”
“Sol hasn’t done any harm,” Berrynose argued.
A chorus of arguments broke out, and Brambleclaw had to raise his voice to a yowl to be heard above it. “That’s enough! Can I have a bit of quiet around here?”
Lionblaze felt the tension in the deputy’s voice, and watched his slowly lashing tail. I don’t blame him for getting frustrated, he thought with a stab of sympathy.
“Millie,” Brambleclaw went on more quietly as the querulous voices died down. “You’re leading a hunting patrol with Toadstep, Mousewhisker, and Hollyleaf.”
Lionblaze heard several gasps of shock as Brambleclaw announced the names, a protest rippling like a cold wind through the Clan. Toadstep muttered something to Foxleap.
“What was that, Toadstep?” Brambleclaw’s voice was icy.
Toadstep hesitated for a moment, then raised his head defiantly. “I don’t want to be on a patrol with Hollyleaf,” he meowed. “I don’t know her! Patrols are supposed to trust one another with their lives, but we have no idea what Hollyleaf has been doing since she vanished.”
Lionblaze stared at the young warrior in dismay. Did he really say that? As more murmurings broke out around him he realized that Toadstep wasn’t the only cat who was suspicious about Hollyleaf.
“She could have been anywhere,” Icecloud whispered.
“Yeah, how do we know she wasn’t with one of the other Clans?” Hazeltail responded.
“No offense, Hollyleaf.” Mousewhisker stepped forward and confronted the black she-cat. “I know we were friends before, but you’ve hardly said anything about where you’ve been. And now you’ve come back just when Sol reappears—is there a connection?”
Hollyleaf looked startled.
“There’s no need for this,” Brambleclaw meowed, before any other cat could say anything. “The past is the past. You’re making a fuss about nothing.”
“Really, Brambleclaw? Nothing?” Birchfall padded up to the deputy, his amber eyes serious. “Why won’t Hollyleaf tell us where she’s been? And why did she leave in the first place?”
Lionblaze took a breath for an indignant protest, but left it unspoken. Perhaps these questions would have to be answered before Hollyleaf could stay in the Clan.
“Yes, why did you leave?” Thornclaw sounded much more belligerent than his Clanmates.
Brightheart let her tail rest lightly on the tabby warrior’s shoulder. “No need to ruffle your fur, Thornclaw,” she mewed. To Hollyleaf she added gently, “If you tell us, we’ll understand, whatever it is. Did some cat do something to hurt you? We need to know.”
Hollyleaf was still silent.
Thornclaw shook off Brightheart’s tail. “You left not long after Ashfur was killed.” He spoke slowly, as if he was thinking about every word. “Hollyleaf, did it have something to do with that?”
Lionblaze thought that his heart had stopped beating. A thick silence hung in the clearing, as though every cat had been turned to ice.
Then Poppyfrost called out, “No, of course it doesn’t! If Hollyleaf had seen who had killed Ashfur, she would have told us back then.”
Thornclaw blinked. “I’m not asking if she witnessed another cat killing him.”
This time Lionblaze thought that the silence would last forever. Berrynose turned to Thornclaw. His whisper sounded throughout the clearing like the shriek of trapped prey. “You think Hollyleaf was the killer?”
Poppyfrost’s eyes stretched wide. “She can’t be!”
“I won’t believe it,” Cinderheart declared.
“Nor will I,” Leafpool agreed. “Oh, Hollyleaf . . .” Her voice faded into silence.
Birchfall’s gaze was fixed on Hollyleaf. “I don’t want to believe it,” he rasped. “But it makes sense.”
More voices rose around Hollyleaf where she stood, hunched and small, in the middle of the clearing. Lionblaze stared desperately at his Clanmates, wondering what in the name of StarClan he could say; he felt as if a piece of fresh-kill was lodged in his throat, choking him. He glanced at Firestar for help, but the Clan leader was standing in silence, his eyes slightly narrowed and his gaze fixed on Hollyleaf. There was nothing to tell Lionblaze what he was thinking.
“Hollyleaf, you have to speak for yourself,” Graystripe called out.
“Yes, let’s hear what happened,” Thornclaw demanded, sliding out his claws with a menacing look at Hollyleaf.
Lionblaze stepped forward, putting himself between his sister and the tabby warrior. “Stop!” he snarled. “This is ridiculous. There’s no way that Hollyleaf knows anything about Ashfur’s death.”
Hollyleaf took a pace toward Lionblaze until they were so close that their pelts brushed. Her green eyes were full of misery, and she was gaunt from the hardship of her life as a loner, but Lionblaze could read determination in every hair on her pelt.
“No, Lionblaze,” she whispered. “I know you’re only trying to help, but you must let me speak. I think it’s time for the truth to come out.”
Lionblaze heard a whimper from somewhere at the back of the crowd. Without turning to look, he knew that it had come from Squirrelflight. The rest of the Clan was silent, pres
sing around Hollyleaf in a circle, a barrier of eyes.
Hollyleaf raised her head and spoke clearly to her Clan. “Thornclaw is right. I was there when Ashfur died. And his death was my fault.”
Her confession was greeted with a horrified gasp from the cats. As if at a word of command, they shrank back, widening the circle. Lionblaze spotted Foxleap swiftly thrusting Cherrypaw behind him. Sorreltail, who had brought Lilykit and Seedkit into the clearing for the first time, gathered them close to her with a sweep of her tail.
Hollyleaf looked terrified, her glance darting around the clearing as if she expected some cat to leap on her and rip her throat out. Lionblaze suddenly wished that she had never come back, that she had gone away to the mountains if that would have kept her safe. Dovewing and Ivypool would have found their own way out of the tunnels, he thought, his belly shaking from the force of his fear and anger. She didn’t have to help them!
“I was there . . .” Hollyleaf’s faltering voice began again. “I saw Ashfur, beside the stream. He had threatened to kill me and my littermates. Most of you know how much Ashfur wanted Squirrelflight to be his mate. He hated us all because he thought we were Squirrelflight’s kits with Brambleclaw. Even when he knew he was wrong, he still hated us. So . . .”
Lionblaze stared at his sister in horror, wanting to hold back the words he knew she was about to speak. She can’t confess to killing Ashfur! She mustn’t!
But while Hollyleaf was gathering herself to go on, Brambleclaw pushed his way to the front of the crowd and stood beside her.
“I was there, too, that day, beside the stream,” he announced. He glanced at Hollyleaf as she opened her jaws to protest, and added, “You didn’t see me there, but I saw you, and Ashfur.” He paused for a moment, letting his glance rake across the Clan. “When Ashfur saw Hollyleaf alone by the stream,” he continued, “he sprang at her. He was determined to hurt one of the three cats Squirrelflight loved most, to punish her for not loving him. Hollyleaf fought bravely, but before I could help her, Ashfur slipped on the edge of the stream and fell in. He was still alive when he hit the water. There was nothing Hollyleaf could do to save him. She was only defending herself.”
The clearing exploded as the tabby warrior finished speaking.
“Why didn’t you tell us that at the time?” Thornclaw demanded.
“Yes, we spent moons suspecting one another,” Berrynose growled. “Firestar, they should both be punished for not telling the truth back then.”
“No!” Leafpool protested, her amber eyes full of pain.
Lionblaze stepped forward and glared at Berrynose. “You might want to know that it was Hollyleaf who saved your kits, not Sol,” he snarled. “Think about that before you start meowing about punishment.”
Berrynose stared at him in disbelief. “It was Hollyleaf?”
“Then we have to let her back into the Clan!” Poppyfrost mewed. “She risked her life for my kits!”
“Besides, Ashfur only got what he deserved,” Dustpelt declared. “He tried to kill four cats—his own Clanmates! If you ask me, Hollyleaf did us a favor.”
Firestar padded into the middle of the crowd, raising his tail for silence. His fur was bristling and his tail twitched. “What happened was a tragic accident,” the Clan leader began as soon as he could make himself heard. “I agree that Hollyleaf should have spoken up at the time.” His green gaze rested sternly on Hollyleaf. “She should have trusted us to believe her, and deal with her fairly. But she has been punished enough by living away from her Clan for so many moons.” Firestar transferred his gaze to his Clan. “She will not be punished again, and nor will Brambleclaw for not speaking out before. Their silence has been a burden for both of them, and that has eased now.” With a drawn-out sigh he added, “What’s done is done. Let Ashfur be judged by our ancestors.”
Lionblaze puffed out a breath of relief, but he could see that not all the cats were satisfied. And Hollyleaf still looked as if she wished the ground would open up and swallow her.
Firestar beckoned her with his tail. “You should have told the truth back then,” he meowed quietly; Lionblaze strained to overhear. “It’s going to be hard for you now, do you understand that?”
Hollyleaf nodded, her eyes bleak. “I shouldn’t have tried to come back—”
“Never say that,” Firestar interrupted. “You are back, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The Clan will settle down now that the truth is out.” He paused, but Hollyleaf had nothing to add. “I won’t include you on any patrols today,” Firestar went on more briskly. “Go to the elders’ den and see what you can do for them.”
“They’ll know, won’t they?” Hollyleaf asked, glancing around at the rapidly dispersing Clan.
Firestar nodded. “News travels fast around here, you know it does. But you are strong enough to deal with this. Put it behind you, Hollyleaf. Your Clan still needs you.”
Hollyleaf bowed her head. “Thank you,” she whispered.
As Lionblaze watched his sister padding away toward the elders’ den, he was aware of Cinderheart coming up beside him. “Poor Hollyleaf!” she murmured, her eyes wide with shock and excitement. “Who would have expected that?”
She doesn’t know I knew, Lionblaze thought.
“I feel so sorry for her,” Cinderheart went on. “She must have felt so terrible, all the time she was away. And I never realized Ashfur felt that way about Squirrelflight.”
“It happened before we were born,” Lionblaze replied shortly. He didn’t want to talk about any of it, and to his relief Cinderheart seemed to understand that.
“Brambleclaw wants you to lead a hunting patrol,” she meowed. “Foxleap and Rosepetal are coming, with their apprentices.”
“Good,” Lionblaze grunted. It would feel good to work off some of his tension with his claws in prey. Turning toward the thorn tunnel, he saw that the rest of the patrol was already waiting. Cherrypaw and Molepaw were bouncing up and down in front of their mentors.
“How did it happen?” Molepaw was asking, his eyes wide with excitement. “What did you do when you found out that Ashfur was dead?”
“Hollyleaf’s a killer!” Cherrypaw breathed out.
Rosepetal stood over her with her lips drawn back in a snarl. “If I ever hear either of you say that again, you’ll see nothing but Mousefur’s hindquarters and ticks for a moon! Firestar said that the past is to be left behind. I don’t want any gossiping from you, I don’t want any more bouncing about, and I definitely don’t want to hear any more accusations. Have I made myself clear?”
Subdued, the two apprentices nodded. “Sorry, Rosepetal,” Cherrypaw muttered.
Lionblaze was grateful for Rosepetal’s loyalty, but he could see how shocked the she-cat had been by Hollyleaf’s confession.
“They’ll calm down soon, you’ll see,” Cinderheart whispered into his ear.
Lionblaze nodded, though he wasn’t sure that Cinderheart was right. Will my Clanmates ever get used to Hollyleaf being back in the hollow?
Chapter 16
Dovewing stood motionless in the clearing while around her the cats split up into their patrols. Her mind was whirling.
No wonder Hollyleaf wasn’t part of the prophecy, she thought. She killed a cat!
Ivypool came over, her fur fluffed up with excitement and her blue eyes showing the same confusion that Dovewing felt. “I can’t believe this!” she murmured.
“Ivypool,” Dovewing mewed hesitantly, “have you ever seen Ashfur in the Dark Forest?” Her belly clenched as she waited for her sister’s reply; she knew how defensive Ivypool could be if any cat questioned her about her visits to the Place of No Stars.
But Ivypool merely looked thoughtful. “I wouldn’t know him if I saw him,” she admitted. “But I don’t think I have. At least, no cat has ever pointed him out to me.”
“He was horrible to Squirrelflight before he died,” Dove-wing reflected. “But maybe he got to go to StarClan because he died so terribly.”
Be
fore she got the last words out she was aware of Brambleclaw looming over her, his amber eyes gleaming with annoyance.
“Stop gossiping,” he ordered. “Ivypool, I thought I told you to join Sandstorm’s border patrol. Dovewing, you’re in a training session with me, but Firestar wants to see you first. You’ll find him in his den.”
Ivypool scuttled off, and Dovewing turned toward the Highledge. Climbing the tumbled rocks, she wondered briefly why Firestar wanted her. The answer wasn’t difficult to guess. WindClan!
Dovewing reached the Highledge and approached the entrance to the den. “Firestar?” she called, looking in.
Firestar was sitting in the shadows at the back of his den, on his nest of moss and bracken. His green eyes gleamed in the dim light. He beckoned Dovewing with his tail. “Come in.”
When Dovewing was sitting beside him, Firestar went on. “I asked you to come because of your special senses,” he began. “I expect you can guess why.”
Dovewing dipped her head. “You want me to tell you what’s going on in WindClan.”
“That’s right,” Firestar meowed with a nod. “If you can.”
Pride surged through Dovewing as she sent out her senses and settled down to listen, tucking her forepaws under her chest. This isn’t sneaking around, she thought. I’m truly using my powers to protect my Clan. She let her senses range across the border stream and over the moor until they were focused on the WindClan camp. Onestar was standing in the middle of the shallow scoop in the ground, with some of his senior warriors clustered around him.
“I can see their camp. Onestar is there with Crowfeather and Sedgewhisker,” she reported to Firestar. “Ashfoot just joined them. And there are a couple of cats I don’t know.”
“Is Onestar speaking?” Firestar asked. “Can you hear anything?”
Dovewing nodded, concentrating hard as the WindClan leader’s words faded in, as if he were approaching from a long distance.
“. . . trouble with ThunderClan,” Onestar meowed. “Border patrols need to keep a special lookout. If you pick up their scent on our side of the stream, I want to know about it.”