Dawn

“No,” Leafpaw answered as Sandstorm enthusiastically began to lick away the stench of the Twoleg nest from her daughter’s pelt. “I’m fine, honestly.”

“How did you escape?” Firestar demanded.

“Squirrelpaw rescued us.” Leafpaw delightedly fought to keep her balance against her mother’s eager grooming.

“I had a dream last night.” Squirrelpaw stepped forward.

“Spottedleaf told me where Leafpaw was trapped.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Firestar stared in amazement at his daughter.

“You were away on patrol,” Squirrelpaw explained. “It couldn’t wait. So Sorreltail and I found Leafpaw by ourselves—”

“And there wasn’t time to come all the way back to camp for help,” Sorreltail broke in. “The Twolegs were already starting to take all the cats they’d caught away from the forest.”

“We couldn’t rescue them by ourselves,” Squirrelpaw chipped in. “But we found Graystripe and Brambleclaw near Snakerocks.”

“And Thornclaw and Rainwhisker,” added Brambleclaw.

“But it was Graystripe who led the rescue. He assessed the danger and decided it was worth trying to save all the cats the Twolegs had trapped.”

“Graystripe,” Firestar murmured. “I might have known he’d try something foolish.” He looked around for his old friend. “Where is he?”

Leafpaw felt the rock sway under her paws. Sandstorm stopped washing her, as though she sensed something was wrong.

Firestar looked at her with his head to one side. “Why didn’t he come back with you?”

Leafpaw saw him read her expression. His face suddenly seemed to be cast in shadow. “The Twolegs caught him,” she forced herself to say, the words dropping like stones in the cold air.

“They trapped him inside a monster and took him away,” Squirrelpaw explained hoarsely.

“Graystripe’s gone?” Firestar whispered. He sat down, drawing his tail around him. Leafpaw’s legs trembled. Her father had never seemed so far away, so far beyond her reach to comfort him.

“W-we should have gotten a bigger patrol together before we attacked,” Brambleclaw stammered, staring grief-stricken at his leader. “I should have stopped him. I’m sorry.”

Firestar stared at the dark brown tom in front of him. A fire seemed to burn in his eyes, and, for a moment, Leafpaw was afraid that her father was going to take out his pain on the young warrior. Beside her, Squirrelpaw unsheathed her claws— would she really defend Brambleclaw against their father?

Leafpaw wondered—but Brambleclaw met his leader’s gaze without flinching.

“You have brought back my daughter, and Cloudtail and Brightheart.” Firestar almost seemed to be persuading himself that he could not blame Brambleclaw for what had happened.

“Graystripe will find his way back to us.”

“But they trapped him in a monster,” Rainwhisker murmured.

Firestar stared at the gray warrior, hollow-eyed. “He will return,” he repeated. “I have to believe that or everything will be lost.”

Sandstorm moved closer to Firestar and pressed her cheek against his shoulder. But Firestar just turned away and walked slowly toward the shadowy overhang. Suddenly he looked old beyond his years.

Sandstorm padded after him. “We have both our daughters back.” Her voice drifted over the rock. “That is a miracle we never thought would happen.”

Firestar gazed at her. “Graystripe would have sacrificed himself for them in an instant,” he admitted.

“That is why he will always be a good friend,” Sandstorm murmured. She sat beside Firestar and curled her tail around him.

“Leafpaw!” Cody hissed from the shadow of the trees. “Is everything okay?”

Leafpaw could not answer. She was still staring at her father with a pang of sorrow so great she could hardly breathe. She felt her sister’s tail sweep gently down her flank.

“Don’t worry,” Squirrelpaw murmured. “Firestar will be all right, so long as he believes Graystripe will return.”

“But they trapped him in a monster,” Rainwhisker repeated, as if he would never get the image out of his head.

Mousefur looked grim. “Firestar will have to choose another deputy before moonhigh,” she meowed.

Squirrelpaw’s eyes flashed with rage, and she rounded on Mousefur, making Leafpaw jump. “You’re acting like Graystripe is dead!” she cried. “He’s not dead! You heard what Firestar said. He will come back. We must not give up hope.”

Chapter 9

A mournful yowl echoed around the rocky cleft, jolting Leafpaw awake. For a moment she thought she was back in the cage, and that her terrifying escape had been nothing but a dream.

Then she smelled the scent of the forest and the river on the icy breeze, and remembered she was at Sunningrocks, in the new ThunderClan camp. She blinked open her eyes and looked over the edge of the hollow, her breath billowing like smoke in the freezing air.

“What is it?” Cody whispered. The kittypet had slept beside her in the apprentices’ gully last night. Leafpaw felt her soft fur bristling against her flank.

“It sounded like Ferncloud,” she mewed. “But I can only see Dustpelt from here.”