Dawn

Stormfur flashed her a look of despair. “I don’t know,” he said. He gazed back at the Great Rock, dragged from its ancient seat. “Perhaps StarClan has no power here anymore.”

Squirrelpaw stared at him in horror. Could that be true?

Firestar watched the RiverClan cats leave. “I cannot persuade them.” He sighed.

“Then we two must go alone,” Tallstar wheezed. He sat down to catch his breath. “Firestar,” he croaked, “I must find new territory for my Clan before the next full moon. We are starving.” Squirrelpaw felt her heart twist with pity as he went on. “But we are too weak to make the journey alone.

Travel with us, Firestar. Help us like you did when you brought WindClan back from exile, after Brokenstar drove us out.”

Firestar miserably twitched his ears. “We can’t leave without the other two Clans. There have always been four Clans in the forest, and wherever we end up, four Clans must be there as well. How else can we be sure the fifth Clan will come with us?”

The fifth Clan? Squirrelpaw wondered what her father meant. She glanced at Brambleclaw, but he looked as puzzled as she felt.

“StarClan will be with us always,” Tallstar argued, and Squirrelpaw understood: StarClan were the fifth Clan.

She saw a glimmer of anger enter the WindClan leader’s tired eyes. “You are too proud, Firestar,” he warned. “I can tell ThunderClan is on the brink of starvation just like WindClan.

If you insist on staying in the forest while you wait for the other two to make up their minds, your Clanmates will die.”

Firestar looked away. “I’m sorry, Tallstar,” he meowed. “I want to help you, but my heart tells me that ThunderClan cannot leave until all the other Clans agree to leave as well.

We will have to keep trying to persuade them.”

Tallstar thrashed his tail. “Very well,” he hissed. “We cannot travel without you, and so we will wait. I don’t blame you for the hunger we suffer, but I’m disappointed you will not help us now.” He padded away with Barkface close beside him, ready to support him if the WindClan leader stumbled on paws that hardly seemed strong enough to carry him to the edge of the clearing, let alone all the way back to the moor.

Squirrelpaw turned to Brambleclaw. “Why wasn’t there a sign?” she protested.

Brambleclaw gazed at her. “Do you think Midnight was wrong?” His wide eyes reflected the moon. “After all, did she really tell us anything we can’t see from what is happening around us?” He gestured with his tail to the ravaged clearing, to the swaths of fallen trees around them. “Every cat knows the forest is being destroyed by Twolegs. Perhaps Blackstar is right, and each Clan should just try to save itself, without waiting for any more signs.”

Squirrelpaw fought to control the panic that fluttered in her chest. “You can’t mean that! We have to believe that Midnight was right!” she argued. “StarClan sent us to speak with her, and that must mean StarClan wants us to save the Clans.”

“But what if we can’t?” Brambleclaw murmured.

Squirrelpaw stared at him in dismay, her mind suddenly filled with an image of falling trees, roaring monsters, and blood spilling down Sunningrocks into the river. “Don’t give up, Brambleclaw!” she whispered. “We didn’t make that journey and lose Feathertail for nothing. We have to save the Clans!”

Chapter 7

Squirrelpaw curled up beside Shrewpaw and tried not to think about the warm, moss-lined den where the apprentices had slept before. At least the small gully they were lying in gave some shelter from the chilly night breeze. It felt strange to be sleeping apart from Brambleclaw after their long journey together, but at least Shrewpaw seemed happy to have her back. Her paws ached with tiredness, and she closed her eyes, folding her tail over her muzzle for comfort. At first she couldn’t stop thinking about the disastrous meeting at Fourtrees, but gradually dreams wove into her waking thoughts and drew her into sleep.

She was alone among the trees, and she could smell prey-scent. A cold wind breathed through the forest. Squirrelpaw lifted her nose and tasted the air. A fat mouse was snuffling among the leaves. It was the plumpest piece of prey she had found since returning to the forest, and she swiped her tongue hungrily over her lips. Brambleclaw would be pleased to have a share of this fresh-kill.

Crouching, Squirrelpaw crept silently toward the unsuspecting creature. It had its head half-buried under an oak leaf and hadn’t noticed her. This was going to be an easy catch.

Suddenly, rapid pawsteps sounded behind her. Terrified, the mouse darted out from under the oak leaf and scuttled away beneath the roots of a tree. Squirrelpaw spun around, bristling with fury.

A tortoiseshell cat with gentle amber eyes was standing behind her. “Hello, Squirrelpaw,” she mewed. “I have something to show you.”

“You’ve just ruined the best catch I’m likely to get all day!”