Are we mouse-brained, to set out on a long journey in leaf-bare?

But in spite of the cold, tension within the patrol ebbed as they headed along the shore on the edge of WindClan territory. Hazeltail dropped back to pad along beside Hol yleaf, her eyes shining.

"Isn't this great?" She gave a little bounce, like an excited kit. "We're going somewhere no cats have been before."

"Actual y they have," Hol yleaf pointed out, not wanting to listen to Hazeltail's chatter. "Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight went to the sun-drown-place with the other cats chosen by StarClan."

"That must have been so exciting!" Hazeltail sighed. "Your mother and father have traveled farther than any cats, ever. They're so adventurous!"

No, they're just liars, Hol yleaf thought bitterly.

There was no sign of any WindClan cats as they skirted the territory, but as they approached the horseplace Hol yleaf began to pick up a strong WindClan scent. Brambleclaw halted, raising his tail to tel his patrol to do the same. He stood with head raised, his jaws parted to taste the air.

Aware of the pelts bristling around her, Hol yleaf Aware of the pelts bristling around her, Hol yleaf realized how jumpy they al were. They weren't doing anything to break the warrior code by keeping close to the edge of the lake, but a single whiff of WindClan scent had them al unsheathing their claws. Ashfur's death has done this to us.

"Why should there be any trouble?" Hazeltail asked, puzzled. "We're al owed to walk beside the lake, aren't we?"

Before Hol yleaf could respond, a gray she-cat appeared at the top of the bank and padded down toward the patrol.

"Ashfoot!" Brambleclaw relaxed. "Greetings."

"Greetings, Brambleclaw." The WindClan deputy dipped her head as she reached the group of ThunderClan cats. "I wondered if you would go looking for Sol. That is why you're here, isn't it?"

Brambleclaw nodded. "Whether or not he kil ed Ashfur, he has questions to answer."

"Then I've something to show you," Ashfoot meowed. "Fol ow me."

She led the way along the edge of the lake until they reached the Twoleg fence around the horseplace; the mesh shone like a huge cobweb in the strengthening daylight.

"There." Ashfur flicked her ears toward a rough place on the mesh where a long, silky strand of reddish fur was caught.

Brambleclaw padded up to it and sniffed it, then turned to the patrol with his amber eyes wide. "Sol."

Hol yleaf's heart pounded harder in her chest. The evidence of Sol's presence brought his memory back to her more strongly than ever. He had seemed to know so much, had prophesied so much...and yet he had turned out to be a traitor.

"Then he went this way!" Brackenfur exclaimed, his eyes gleaming. "We're on the right track."

"The scent's stale," Brambleclaw warned, "but not that old. Sol certainly passed this place not many sunrises ago."

Ashfoot took a pace back, toward her own territory. "Good-bye, then, and good luck."

"Thanks, Ashfoot," Brambleclaw responded.

"You've helped us a lot-what made you do it?"

Ashfoot twitched her ears. "I want my own Clan to be safe. Sol must be dealt with before he causes more trouble." Without waiting for a reply, she padded back up the bank and disappeared over the shoulder of the hil .

"Or else she wants us to stop blaming WindClan,"

Birchfal muttered as soon as she was out of earshot.

"That may be," Brambleclaw mewed. "But we don't need to bother about that now. Al of you, get a good sniff of this fur, and fix the scent in your minds.

Then we can be on our way."

Sliding under the Twoleg fence, he led the way across the field. The ground was hard as stone, and the grass crunched underneath their paws. Their route led them close to the wooden horse nests.

Hol yleaf felt her neck fur begin to bristle as she caught the scents of Twoleg and dog, but nothing moved and there was no sound.

She expected Brambleclaw to pass by quickly, but instead he halted at the entrance to the horse nest. "Why are we stopping?" she asked.

"We won't stay long," Brambleclaw replied, "but there are some cats here I want Hazeltail to meet.

Hel o!" he cal ed softly through the opening.

Hazeltail looked up, puzzled, but before she could speak, two cats appeared from the shadows. In the lead was a muscular gray-and-white tom, with a smal er, paler she-cat just behind him.

"Brambleclaw!" The tom sounded surprised but welcoming. "What are you doing here-and al these others? I hope there's no trouble in your Clan."

"Nothing that need worry you," Brambleclaw replied.

"Who are they?"

Hol yleaf whispered in Lionblaze's ear.

Lionblaze shrugged. "No idea."

"Smoky, Floss," Brambleclaw went on, "this is Hazeltail, Daisy's daughter." He twitched his ears to draw Hazeltail to his side, in front of the stable cats.

"Hazeltail, this is Smoky...your father."

Hazeltail's eyes widened in astonishment. "Daisy brought us here when we were kits. Father!"

She rushed forward and rubbed her muzzle against Smoky's chin. Purring loudly, Smoky bent his head and gave her a lick around the ears. "I've missed you al ," he murmured.

With the touch of his tail on her shoulder, he urged the smal she-cat forward. "Do you remember Floss?" he prompted Hazeltail. "She helped Daisy look after you, when you were first born."

Hazeltail looked uncertain. "I don't remember Hazeltail looked uncertain. "I don't remember that," she mewed, dipping her head to Floss. "But I do remember seeing you here when Daisy brought us back."

"How is Daisy?" Smoky asked Brambleclaw. "And the other kits...Berry and Mouse?"

"They're al fine," Hazeltail assured him, her eyes sparkling. "They're Berrynose and Mousewhisker now. We're al warriors of ThunderClan. Berrynose lost half his tail in a fox trap-"

Floss interrupted with a gasp. "Was he badly hurt?"

"Not too badly," Hazeltail replied. "Leafpool- she's our medicine cat-looked after him. He's a strong warrior now, and so is Mousewhisker."

"And Daisy?" There was a shadow of sadness in Smoky's eyes as he looked to Brambleclaw for an answer. "Is she happy in the Clan? She was so scared, that time she brought our kits back here after the badger attack."

Brambleclaw nodded. "She has found her place.

She wil never be a warrior, but she is a true cat of ThunderClan."

"She has two more kits!" Hazeltail broke in.

"Rosekit and Toadkit. They're so cute!"

"I can see she has moved on," Smoky murmured.

Then he gave his pelt a shake, as if dismissing memories. "So you're a warrior now," he meowed to his daughter. "Show me what you've learned."

"Okay." Hazeltail dropped into the hunter's crouch and began to glide forward. "Now I'm stalking a mouse," she explained. "You have to set your paws down light as clouds, because the mouse wil feel the vibrations through the earth. Then when you're ready -" She paused, waggling her rump. "You pounce!"

She leaped into the air and landed with her front paws gripping the tip of Birchfal 's tail.

Birchfal jumped a tail-length off the ground. "Hey!

That hurt!"

Hazeltail's eyes gleamed. "Attack me, then!"

Hol yleaf watched as Birchfal sprang for Hazeltail; she dodged to one side and fetched him a blow across the shoulder with her claws sheathed.

Birchfal whipped around and leaped on top of her with a screech; the two young cats wrestled together on the ground.

We were like that once, Hol yleaf thought. Not a care in the world. Seeing the pride in Smoky's eyes, she felt a wave of jealousy sweep over her. Would my father be proud of me? she wondered. Does he even know I exist?

"I'm impressed," Smoky meowed, as Hazeltail and Birchfal broke apart and sat up, shaking scraps of earth and debris out of their fur. "ThunderClan certainly teaches cats to look after themselves."

Floss stepped forward, looking shy but friendly.

"Would you like to stay with us for the rest of the day?"

"Good idea." Smoky stepped back and waved his tail toward the inside of the horse nest. "It's warm in here, and there are plenty of mice if you're hungry."

"Thanks, but no," Brambleclaw replied. "We have to keep going."

"We're on the trail of a kil er!" Hazeltail added.

Floss and Smoky exchanged an alarmed glance, their neck fur beginning to fluff up. "What-who did they kil ?" Floss asked nervously.

"It's a long story." Brackenfur padded up, giving Smoky a calming touch on the shoulder with the tip of his tail. "And you don't have to be frightened about anything. We just need to speak to a cat who may have seen what happened."

Smoky relaxed, the fur on his neck and shoulders beginning to lie flat again. "What cat is this?" he asked.

"A white-and-brown tabby tom," Brambleclaw replied, "with very long fur and pale yel ow eyes."

Floss caught her breath. "I saw a cat just like that!

He was heading across the field, very early, a couple of sunrises ago."

"Then we're hard on his paws," Brambleclaw purred. "Let's go."

Hazeltail padded up to her father and touched noses with him. "Good-bye," she mewed. "I'l come to see you on the way back."

"Come any time," Smoky told her. Hol yleaf could see how sad he was to let his daughter go so soon.

"I wil !" Hazeltail promised.

As they headed across the field, fol owing in Sol's paw steps, Birchfal veered to pad beside Hol yleaf.

"It must be weird to be halfClan," he murmured, too quietly for Hazeltail to hear him. "Imagine never seeing your kin."

Hol yleaf didn't reply. It's better than what I am, she thought bleakly. I'm nothing Clan!

CHAPTER 5.

As the patrol crossed the next field, snow began to fal in soft feathery flakes that melted as soon as they touched the ground. Lionblaze sneezed as one landed upon his nose.

At the opposite side of the field they came to a wide stretch of whitish stone, with huge red nests at one side. The snow was heavier by now, and a wind had risen, whipping the flakes across the open expanse as they ventured onto the hard surface.

Lionblaze padded along beside Hol yleaf, trying to protect her from the worst of the wind.

Suddenly a loud snorting sound came from one of the nests. Terror gripped Lionblaze's limbs and he leaped forward, racing across the stone with the snow brushing his bel y fur. Hol yleaf hurtled beside him, with Hazeltail on his other side.

The sound came again, fol owed by a yowl from Brackenfur. "It's okay! It's only horses!"

Only horses! Lionblaze's flying paws propel ed him onward as he imagined the gigantic creatures with their heavy feet that could break a cat's spine with one blow. A Twoleg gate loomed up out of the swirling snow; he wriggled underneath it and bunched his muscles to leap forward again. Hol yleaf and Hazeltail were just behind him.

"No!"

Brambleclaw screeched.

"Stop!

Thunderpath!"

Lionblaze slammed to a halt as yel ow beams sliced through the flurries of snow. A monster with glaring eyes swept past, buffeting Lionblaze's fur and soaking his paws with a wave of dirty snowmelt.

He and his Clanmates shrank back; Lionblaze's heart was pounding with fear as he waited for Birchfal , Brackenfur, and Brambleclaw to join them.