DAWN

The kittypet huddled closer to the mesh and watched her with bright blue eyes. “I’m Cody,” she meowed. “What are you called?”

“Leafpaw.”

“Leafpaw?” echoed Cody. “What an odd name.” She shrugged and carried on. “Well, bad luck on getting caught, Leafpaw. Did you lose your collar too? I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t pulled mine off—the wretched thing! I thought I was so clever managing to wriggle out of it, but if I’d still been wearing it, the workfolk would have taken me home instead of bringing me here.” She tucked in her chin and licked an unkempt clump of fur on her chest. “My housefolk are going to be mad with worry. If I’m not in by midnight they start rushing around the garden shaking the pellet pot and calling for me. It’s nice that they care, but I can look after myself.”

Leafpaw couldn’t help letting out a purr of amusement. “A kittypet, look after itself? If it weren’t for the food the Twolegs give you, you’d starve!”

“Twolegs?”

“Sorry.” Leafpaw corrected herself for the kittypet’s benefit. “Housefolk.”

“Well, where do you get your food from?” asked Cody.

“I hunt for it.”

“I caught a mouse once . . .” Cody meowed defensively.

“I catch all my food,” Leafpaw retorted. For a moment, she forgot she was trapped in a stifling cage, and saw only the green forest rustling with the tiny sounds of prey. “And I catch enough for the elders, too.”

Cody narrowed her blue eyes. “Are you one of those woodland cats that Smudge talks about?”

“I’m a Clan cat,” Leafpaw told her.

Cody’s gaze clouded with confusion. “A Clan cat?”

“There are four Clans in the forest,” Leafpaw explained. “We each have our own territory and customs, but we all live together under StarClan.” She saw Cody’s eyes stretch wide, and she went on. “StarClan are our warrior ancestors. They live in Silverpelt.” She flicked her tail towards the roof, indicating the sky. “All Clan cats will join StarClan one day.”

“Smudge never mentioned any Clans,” murmured Cody.

“Who’s Smudge?”

“A cat from another garden. He had a friend a long time ago, a kittypet who went off to join the woodland cats . . . I mean Clans.”

“My father was born a kittypet,” meowed Leafpaw. “He left his Twolegs to join ThunderClan.”

Cody pressed herself against the shiny web that separated them. “What’s your father called?”

Leafpaw stared back at her. “Do you think he might be that cat your friend used to know?”

Cody nodded. “Maybe! What is his name?”

“Firestar.”

Cody shook her head. “Smudge’s friend was called Rusty.” She sighed. “Not Firestar.”

“But he wasn’t always Firestar,” Leafpaw mewed. “That’s his Clan name. It’s a leader’s name. He had to earn it, just as he had to earn his warrior name.”

Cody glanced at her thoughtfully. “Names are important to the Clans, then?”

“Very. I mean, each kit is given a name that means something, that recognises the way it is different from all its Clanmates.” She paused. “I guess you could say that we are given the name we deserve.”

“What did your father do to deserve the name Firestar?”

“His pelt is as orange as flame,” Leafpaw told her. “So when he came to ThunderClan, the leader named him Fire—” She broke off. Cody was staring at her in astonishment.

“It must be Smudge’s friend!” she gasped. “Smudge always said Rusty had the brightest orange pelt he’d ever seen. And now he’s the leader of your Clan! Wow, I can’t wait to tell Smudge!”

A pang of sorrow gripped Leafpaw’s heart as she wondered if Cody would have another chance to speak to Smudge, or if she herself would ever see her father again. Oh, StarClan, help us!

Cody glanced down at the floor as if she had followed Leafpaw’s terrified thoughts. “Your ears look like another wash wouldn’t do any harm,” she mewed, changing the subject.

Leafpaw licked her paw and drew it over one ear as Cody continued. “Your father must be wondering where you’ve gone. I bet he’s as worried about you as my housefolk are about me.”

“Yes,” Leafpaw agreed, though privately she doubted that Twolegs had the same connection with their cats as she did with her kin. She reminded herself that Cody seemed devoted to her housefolk—she sounded as concerned about them as Leafpaw was about her Clanmates. “We must find a way out of here.” Her voice hardened with determination. Firestar was already worried enough about Squirrelpaw without another daughter going missing.

She stared at the hole high up in the nest wall where the sunshine filtered in, and wondered if it was big enough for a cat to squeeze through. She might just manage it, even if she left some fur behind. But how could she escape from her cage? She studied the catch that held the door shut.

“It’s no use,” Cody mewed, following her gaze. “I’ve tried reaching my paw through, but I can’t get a grip on the catch.”

“Do you know why the Twolegs are trapping us like this?” Leafpaw asked, dragging her eyes away from the door.

Cody shrugged. “I suppose they think we get in the way of what they’re doing in the forest,” she mewed. “They caught me after I chased a squirrel into the woods, further than I usually go. One of the monsters came roaring through the trees, and I panicked. I was so startled I didn’t see the work-folk all around. One of them scooped me up and shoved me in here. Even without my collar, he must have been as stupid as a pup to mistake me for a forest cat!” She bristled indignantly, then let her fur lie flat as she caught Leafpaw’s eye. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. I mean, you’re much nicer than I thought you’d be,” she finished awkwardly.

Leafpaw shrugged. Forest cat or kittypet, they were equally trapped. “I don’t usually come to this part of the woods either,” she meowed. “I was looking for Cloudtail and Brightheart, two of my Clanmates.”

Cody tipped her head to one side.

“They went missing not long ago,” Leafpaw explained. “Some of the Clan thought they’d just run away, but I know they’d never leave their kit.”

“So you decided the Twolegs must have caught them and came looking for them,” Cody guessed.

“I didn’t even know the Twolegs were trapping cats,” Leafpaw mewed. “I just followed a clue, and I came across the scent of a RiverClan cat who’d gone missing too.”

She paused, her fur prickling. If Cloudtail, Brightheart, and Mistyfoot had been trapped by the Twolegs, they could be here now! She stared frantically around the nest, brighter now as the morning light strengthened. Finally she saw a shape she had hoped to find, the tortoiseshell-splashed fur familiar even in the gloom.

“Brightheart!” Leafpaw tried to call her Clanmate’s name, but a new noise silenced her cry. The nest door opened and light streamed in. Leafpaw quickly scanned the cages for more familiar shapes as a Twoleg marched into the nest.

The Twoleg began opening each cage and tossing something inside. When it reached hers, Leafpaw jumped back. She watched, trembling in fear, as the Twoleg dropped fresh pellets into the pot near the front and slopped stinking water into the holder beside it. But when the Twoleg opened Cody’s cage, the kittypet brushed against its giant paw, purring as the Twoleg stroked her soft fur.

The Twoleg shut Cody’s door and left the nest. The cages were plunged once more into shadow.

“How could you let it touch you?” Leafpaw hissed.

“The workfolk might be our best way out of here,” Cody pointed out. “If I can persuade it that I’m nothing but a poor lost kittypet, it might let me go. You should try it too.”

Leafpaw shuddered at the idea of any Twoleg touching her, and she knew her Clanmates would feel the same. She tried to find the cage where she had recognised Brightheart’s soft pelt.

“Brightheart!” she called, her tail twitching anxiously.

“Yes,” came the wary reply. “Who’s that?”

Leafpaw pressed herself against the front of her cage, feeling the web hard and cold through her fur. “It’s Leafpaw!”

“Leafpaw!” The voice came from somewhere else in the nest, and Leafpaw let out a muffled purr as she recognised Cloudtail’s familiar mew. She searched the cages until she saw his thick white pelt.

“You’re both still alive!” Leafpaw exclaimed.

“Are those the cats you were looking for?” Cody asked.

Leafpaw nodded.

“Leafpaw?” Another voice came from the gloom. “It’s me, Mistyfoot.”

“Mistyfoot!” Leafpaw echoed. “I thought I found your scent before I was trapped! What were you doing so far from the RiverClan border?”

“I wouldn’t have been caught in that fox-hearted Twoleg trap if I hadn’t been chasing a thieving WindClan warrior off my territory,” growled the she-cat.

A trembling meow sounded from below. “I didn’t know it was a trap when I hid in it.”

“Who’s that?” Leafpaw asked, peering down.

“Gorsetail of WindClan,” came the reply.

“Are there any other Clan cats here?” Leafpaw called, only half hoping for a reply. However relieved she was to find that her Clanmates and friends were still alive, she’d far rather no forest cats had been caught at all—herself included. But she heard only the steady crunching of pellets as the other trapped cats ate their food.

“There’s about the same amount of rogues here as Clan cats,” Mistyfoot hissed.

“What are rogues?” Cody whispered in alarm.

“They’re cats who choose not to belong to a Clan,” Leafpaw explained. “Or to Twolegs, either.”

“They care only about themselves,” Mistyfoot added.

“Yeah, well, look where caring about your Clanmates got you,” muttered a reproachful voice near the floor of the nest.

Leafpaw strained her eyes and saw a scraggly old tom with ripped ears crouching in a cage on the floor.

“Ignore him,” spat Cody. “He’ll be no help.”

“Do you know him?” Leafpaw asked in surprise.

“He used to steal from my housefolks’ garbage,” Cody explained. “He may call himself a rogue, or whatever, but he’s no better than a rat, if you ask me.”

“Do you live in Twolegplace?” Cloudtail called to Cody. “Do you know a cat called Princess?”

“A tabby with white paws?”

“Yes.” Cloudtail’s eyes shone in the gloom. “She’s my mother! How is she?”

“She’s great,” Cody answered. “A dog came to live in the next house—a yappy thing—but Princess soon let him know it was her territory. She sat on the fence and hissed at him till he went running for cover!”

“Look,” Mistyfoot snapped. “This is all very heartwarming, but can we figure out a way to escape?”

“Does any cat know what the Twolegs are planning to do with us?” Brightheart’s voice was hoarse with terror.

“What do you think they’re going to do with us?” muttered the rogue tom. “They didn’t catch us and lock us up in this stinking hut because they’re fond of cats.”

“At least they’re feeding us,” Cody mewed quickly. “Even if it’s not quite as tasty as I’m used to.”

Leafpaw glanced at her. “Let’s concentrate on finding a way out of here, like Mistyfoot suggested,” she mewed.

“Why don’t you all just shut up?” hissed the rogue. “You’ll bring the Twoleg back with all your mewling.”

As he spoke the noise of heavy footsteps sounded outside, and Leafpaw froze. She pressed herself to the back of her cage as the Twoleg came in with another cage. Leafpaw could tell by the fear-scent that a she-cat crouched inside, but she didn’t recognise its smell. With a guilty pang of relief, she knew that the latest victim of the Twoleg traps was definitely not a Clan cat.

Another rogue, she decided as the Twoleg placed the cage on top of Cloudtail’s. And judging by the other rogues in here, she won’t be much help with planning a way to get out.

But as soon as the Twoleg left the nest she heard Mistyfoot exclaim in astonishment, “Sasha!”

CHAPTER 3

Squirrelpaw raced ahead of Brambleclaw and Stormfur towards the ravine where the ThunderClan camp lay. The stench of Twoleg monsters hung in the air, and her heart grew as heavy as a stone when she heard a rumbling roar up ahead.

“They’re here already!” she whispered. There was an unfamiliar slash of brightness where a gap had appeared in the trees that bordered the ravine. Before, the forest had crowded right up to the edge of the steep slope that led down into the camp.

Squirrelpaw felt Brambleclaw’s pelt brush hers as he crept alongside and peered out from the trees. “Go carefully,” he murmured without looking at her.

A broad trail had been gouged through the forest. The ground, once hidden by ferns and smoothed by many moons’ pawsteps, was lumpy and muddy, churned up like the moorland. Their way to the ravine was blocked by monsters, roaring and growling as they chewed through more trees. Squirrelpaw shrank back under the bracken, flattening her ears.

“Midnight warned us it would be bad,” Brambleclaw reminded her. His voice was oddly calm, and Squirrelpaw pressed herself close to him, seeking comfort from the warmth of his fur. “We can’t cross here,” he went on. “It’s too dangerous. We’ll have to go around and approach the camp from the other side.”

“You lead the way,” Stormfur suggested. “You know the forest here better than I do.” He glanced at Squirrelpaw. “Are you OK?”

Squirrelpaw lifted her chin. “I’m fine. All I want to do is get back to the Clan.”

“Come on then,” mewed Brambleclaw, and he set off at a fast trot, away from the Twoleg devastation.

They turned away from the monsters and sped through the trees. As she raced towards the sandy clearing where she had trained with the other apprentices, Squirrelpaw wondered grimly how the Clan could have survived with the Twolegs and monsters so close. The sun was high in the sky, and the training hollow was crisscrossed with shafts of cold sunlight. She dug her paws into the soft ground and pushed on ahead of Brambleclaw and Stormfur, her chest tightening with fear as she tore along the trail that led to the gorse tunnel. Without hesitating, she ducked her head and raced into the thorns.

“Firestar!” she yowled as she exploded into the clearing.

It was completely empty. The whole camp was silent. No cat stirred, and the scent of the Clan was stale.

On trembling legs, Squirrelpaw padded to her father’s den underneath the tall grey rock where he normally stood to address the Clan. For one wild moment, she thought Firestar might still be there in spite of the danger that roared at the brink of the ravine. But his mossy bedding was damp and musty, unused for several days. Squirrelpaw slipped out of the cleft in the rock and found her way into the nursery. Kits and elders were always the last to leave the camp, and there was nowhere safer than in the heart of the bramble thicket that had protected many generations of ThunderClan cats.

There was nothing inside except the stench of a fox, almost hiding the faint scent of helpless kits and their mothers. Blind panic rose in her chest. There was a rustle of branches, and Brambleclaw appeared at her side.

“F-fox!” she stammered.

“It’s OK,” Brambleclaw reassured her. “The scent is stale. The fox must have been trying his luck, hoping the Clan had left unguarded kits behind. There’s no sign of bl—of a fight,” he amended hastily.

“But where has the Clan gone?” Squirrelpaw wailed. She knew Brambleclaw had been about to say blood. It seemed impossible that the whole Clan could have vanished without some blood being spilled. Oh, StarClan, what happened here?

Brambleclaw’s eyes glittered with fear. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “But we’ll find them.”

Stormfur joined them. “Are we too late?” he whispered hoarsely.

“We should have come home quicker,” Squirrelpaw protested.

Stormfur shook his broad grey head as he looked around the abandoned nursery. “We should never have left in the first place,” he growled. “We should have stayed and helped our Clans!”

“We had to go!” Brambleclaw hissed, unsheathing his claws and sinking them into the moss. “It was StarClan’s will.”

“But where have our Clanmates gone?” Squirrelpaw cried. She pushed past the other cats back into the clearing. She heard them follow more slowly, Stormfur cursing under his breath as a bramble scraped against his flank.

The RiverClan warrior padded over to stand beside Squirrelpaw. He looked around the camp for a long moment, ignoring the scratch on his hind leg. “There’s no blood anywhere, no trace of a struggle,” he murmured.

Squirrelpaw followed his gaze and realised Stormfur was right. Even out here, the camp showed no signs that the Clan had been attacked. Surely that meant the Clan had been unharmed when they left? “They must have moved somewhere safer,” she meowed hopefully.

Brambleclaw nodded.

“We should keep looking for scents,” Stormfur suggested. “They might give us a clue to where the Clan has gone.”

“I’ll check Cinderpelt’s den,” Squirrelpaw offered. She charged down the fern tunnel that led to the medicine cat’s clearing, but the hollow amid the sheltering ferns was as empty and silent as the rest of the camp.

She skirted the edge, poking her nose into the bracken. Cinderpelt sometimes flattened out small nests here for sick cats, but there were no fresh scents now. She turned away and padded toward the split rock that formed one end of the clearing. This was where Cinderpelt made her own nest and kept her supplies of herbs safe and dry.

In the shadows, the pungent smell of roots and herbs was as strong as ever, but there was only the faintest trace of Cinderpelt’s scent, as stale as Firestar’s had been in his den.

Disappointed, Squirrelpaw backed out of the cleft and stared desperately around the clearing. A sudden, terrible realisation clutched at her belly: Cinderpelt’s scent was faint, but her sister’s scent was even fainter. Wherever ThunderClan had gone, Leafpaw had left before them.

A screeching warrior’s cry sounded from above, jerking her out of her thoughts. Squirrelpaw glimpsed a flurry of dark fur; then her legs buckled as a cat landed heavily on her back. Fury made her hair stand on end, and her paws scrabbled as she thrashed wildly. The journey to sun-drown-place had made her strong and lean, and she heard the cat gasp with the effort of clinging onto her pelt. Instinctively, Squirrelpaw rolled onto her side. She felt claws rake her flank as her assailant thudded to the ground.

Hissing with anger, Squirrelpaw spun to face her attacker, her hackles raised and her lips drawn back.

The other cat had scrambled up as well and was glaring at her with her tail fluffed up. “Trying to steal my supplies, were you?” she spat.

“Cinderpelt!” Squirrelpaw gasped.

The medicine cat’s eyes stretched wide with surprise. “Squirrelpaw! Y-you’ve come home!” she stammered. She rushed forward, pushing her muzzle along Squirrelpaw’s cheek. “Where have you been? Is Brambleclaw with you?”

“Where is everyone?” Squirrelpaw demanded, too worried about her Clanmates to answer Cinderpelt’s flurry of questions.

The sound of paws pounding along the fern tunnel interrupted her, and Brambleclaw and Stormfur burst into the clearing.

“We heard fighting,” panted Brambleclaw. He blinked in surprise as he spotted Cinderpelt. “Are you both OK?”

“Brambleclaw! I’m so pleased to see you!” Cinderpelt looked at Stormfur and confusion clouded her gaze for a moment. “What are you doing here?”

“He’s with us,” Brambleclaw explained shortly. “Who attacked you?” He stared around, his hackles raised. “Did you chase them off?”

“Actually, it was me,” Cinderpelt confessed. “I didn’t recognise Squirrelpaw from the top of the rock. I thought she was trying to steal my herbs. I’d come back to fetch some supplies—”

“Come back?” Brambleclaw echoed. “Where is everyone?”

“We had to leave,” Cinderpelt explained, her eyes glistening with distress. “The monsters were getting nearer and nearer. Firestar ordered us to abandon the camp.”

“When?” Brambleclaw’s eyes were round with astonishment.

“Two moonrises ago.”

“Where did you go?” demanded Squirrelpaw.

“Sunningrocks.” Cinderpelt looked distractedly around the clearing. “I only came back to get some supplies. Now that I don’t have Leafpaw to help me collect fresh herbs, I’m always running low. . . .”

Squirrelpaw’s heart lurched. “What happened to her?”

Cinderpelt glanced at her, and the pity in her eyes made Squirrelpaw want to turn tail and flee from what she was about to hear. “The Twolegs have been setting traps for us,” she said. “Leafpaw was caught in one the day before we abandoned the camp. Sorreltail saw everything but was powerless to help.”

Squirrelpaw’s legs seemed to lose their strength altogether, and she swayed. With a sickening flash of horror, she understood all her dreams of fear and darkness and being trapped in a small space.

“Where did the Twolegs take her?” Brambleclaw’s voice sounded as if he were a long way away. Squirrelpaw shuddered, trying to fight the shock that dragged at her body like rushing water.

“We don’t know.”

“Has Firestar sent out a search patrol?”

“He sent a rescue patrol as soon as Sorreltail returned. But the place where the Twolegs had trapped her was overrun with monsters tearing up the trees, and there was no sign of Leafpaw.” Cinderpelt stepped forwards and pressed her cheek against Squirrelpaw’s. “It wasn’t safe to look for her after that,” she murmured. Squirrelpaw pulled away, but Cinderpelt stared intently into her eyes, and she felt as if the medicine cat were willing her to understand.

“Your father had to think of the whole Clan,” she meowed. “He couldn’t risk putting more cats in danger to search for Leafpaw.” She looked away, and Squirrelpaw heard bitter regret in her voice as she went on. “I wanted to go out looking myself, but I knew I’d be no use.” She glanced furiously at her hind leg, weakened by an old injury on the Thunderpath. Cinderpelt knew only too well the damage that Twoleg monsters could do to cats’ fragile bodies.

For the first time Squirrelpaw noticed how the medicine cat’s pelt seemed to hang from her, showing the sharpness of bone beneath.

Brambleclaw must have noticed too. “How is the Clan managing?” he asked.

“Not well,” Cinderpelt admitted. “Larchkit died—Ferncloud couldn’t make enough milk to feed her. Prey has been so scarce, we’ve all gone hungry.” Grief made her voice tremble. “Dappletail’s dead too. She ate a rabbit that Twolegs had poisoned to get rid of WindClan.” A look of alarm flashed in her eyes. “You haven’t eaten any rabbits, have you?”

“We haven’t seen any rabbits,” Stormfur replied. “Not even in WindClan territory.”

Cinderpelt lashed her tail. “The Twolegs have ruined everything! Brightheart and Cloudtail are missing as well—we think they were captured by Twoleg traps, like Leafpaw was.”

Brambleclaw dropped his gaze to the cold, muddy ground. “I didn’t think it could be this bad!” he murmured. “Midnight warned us, but . . .” Squirrelpaw wished she could comfort him. But there was nothing she could do or say to make him feel better.

Cinderpelt was staring at Brambleclaw in confusion. “Midnight warned you?” she echoed. “What do you mean?”

“Midnight is a badger,” Squirrelpaw explained. “That’s who we went to see.”

“You went to see a badger?” Cinderpelt glanced around as if she expected to see a ferocious black-and-white-striped face appear through the undergrowth behind them.

Squirrelpaw could understand her reaction. Badgers had never been trusted by cats; they were notoriously bad-tempered, unpredictable creatures. Squirrelpaw and her travelling companions had taken a while to get over the shock when they discovered exactly who they had been sent to meet.

“At sun-drown-place,” Squirrelpaw went on.

“I don’t understand,” murmured Cinderpelt.

“StarClan sent us there,” put in Stormfur. “One cat from each Clan.”