Erin Hunter - Dawn

“Twolegs!” panted Brightheart, pulling away from Cloudtail.

Squirrelpaw’s heart jumped into her throat. “What do you mean?”

“One of them grabbed him!”

Squirrelpaw peered out from the undergrowth. A Twoleg was closing the belly of the monster. Hissing and spitting at the other Twolegs, who were staring wildly around the clearing, it climbed into the front. The monster roared into life and, spraying mud from beneath each of its fat black paws, began to pull away. Then Squirrelpaw saw something that made her stomach flip over. A lone face peered from inside the monster, a face she had known since she was a kit. It gazed desperately at the trees as the monster picked up speed and raced away.

“Graystripe!” Squirrelpaw gasped.

Leafpaw watched the monster pull away and opened her mouth to howl, but no sound came out. The forest spun around her and she blinked, fighting the urge to lie down and never get up again.

Twolegs began to run toward the trees, shouting and waving their paws.

They were not safe yet.

Brambleclaw exploded from the undergrowth behind them. “Quick! Run!” He raced to Squirrelpaw’s side and gave her a shove.

Squirrelpaw dragged her horrified gaze from the clearing and stared at Brambleclaw. “What about Graystripe?”

“There’s nothing we can do for him right now,” he hissed.

“Hurry! We have to get out of here!”

“Which way?” Cody yowled, staring into the trees.

“Follow me,” Brambleclaw ordered.

Leafpaw hadn’t seen Brambleclaw since he left the forest with Squirrelpaw. This was a very different cat that had returned—an experienced, confident warrior, calmly issuing commands in spite of the huge danger they were all in. This wasn’t the time to find out exactly where they had been for the last moon. Pulling her paws free from the mud, she scrabbled through the undergrowth behind Squirrelpaw and Cody. Cloudtail passed her, with Brightheart so close to him that their fur touched.

Relief flooded through Leafpaw when she saw the familiar pelts of Sorreltail and Rainwhisker flash through the trees up ahead. Mistyfoot was with them. All the trapped cats had been freed—but they had lost Graystripe.

She heard the Twolegs crashing through the forest behind them. Glancing over her shoulder, she watched them blunder through the bushes, swerving clumsily around the trees and stumbling over trailing brambles. Leafpaw knew they would not catch her now. This was her domain; she could race through it as fast as any creature, her lithe body perfectly suited to slipping through the undergrowth like the wind.

The cats scrambled down Snakerocks. The Twolegs were far behind now, and Leafpaw slowed her pace. Cody fell in beside her as they padded breathlessly into the leaf-strewn glade beside the Great Sycamore. The other cats were sprawled on the ground, exhausted. Cloudtail was licking Brightheart’s ears as if he would never get them clean. Mistyfoot watched them, her pale gray flanks heaving.

Cody looked nervously around the clearing. “Is it safe here?”

“The Twolegs won’t catch us now,” Leafpaw assured her.

“But what about foxes and badgers?” Cody’s eyes were huge. “Aren’t the woods full of all kinds of dreadful things?”

“Like wildcats?” Leafpaw joked weakly. She collapsed onto the soft leaves next to the other ThunderClan cats.

Rainwhisker struggled to sit up. His dark gray fur stood on end, and there was blood oozing between the claws on one of his front paws. “Are you sure they got Graystripe?”

Squirrelpaw flattened her ears. “The monster carried him away. I saw him!”

“But he was fighting like a TigerClan cat!” Thornclaw protested. “They couldn’t have caught him!”

“There were too many Twolegs,” Squirrelpaw explained.

Mistyfoot dipped her head toward Squirrelpaw. “I owe him my life,” she murmured. “I thought we would never escape.” She stared intently at her. “You saved us.”

Squirrelpaw sat up. “It wasn’t just me,” she insisted. “We all risked our lives. Graystripe led the way.”

Leafpaw narrowed her eyes and studied her sister. That was the reply of a warrior, not an apprentice. She noticed how much leaner and stronger Squirrelpaw had become—much fitter than the scrawny ThunderClan warriors. Leafpaw bent her head to lick her own patchy, unkempt fur. For the first time, she felt awkward around her sister, unsure what to say when so much had happened since they had last seen each other.

“What will the Twolegs do to him?” Sorreltail wailed, grief-stricken.

Leafpaw wished she could offer comfort, but she didn’t know what to say. If it hadn’t been for her brave Clanmates, she would be making that journey instead of Graystripe.

“May StarClan help him,” murmured Thornclaw.

“StarClan is helpless against the Twolegs,” Squirrelpaw spat.

“StarClan was with us today,” Leafpaw reminded her. “They gave you the strength to face the Twolegs. They will look after Graystripe.”

Sorreltail hauled herself to her paws and touched Leafpaw’s muzzle with hers. “Thank StarClan the Twolegs didn’t take you as well,” she murmured. “Squirrelpaw saw you in a dream, trapped in that place. She insisted we rescue you.”

“It wasn’t just me you saved,” Leafpaw meowed, looking gratefully at her Clanmates.

“You saved all of us,” Cody agreed, padding over to Leafpaw’s side.

Sorreltail pulled away from Leafpaw and looked sharply at the kittypet. “Who are you?” she demanded. “You’re not a forest cat, but you don’t look like a rogue, either.”

“This is Cody,” Leafpaw meowed. “She stopped me from feeling sorry for myself, and made me believe we might be able to escape.”

Sorreltail sniffed. “You’re a kittypet?”

Rainwhisker sat up and stared at the tabby she-cat.

Thornclaw flattened his ears.

“Yes, I’m a kittypet,” Cody confirmed.

Brambleclaw got to his paws and padded over to Cody.

Leafpaw saw her friend try not to flinch away from the broad-shouldered warrior, whose coat was streaked with mud and blood. “Do you want us to show you the way back to Twolegplace?” he offered.

“It’s not safe enough to go that way yet,” Leafpaw warned.

“The Twolegs might be searching the woods.”

Brightheart sat up and stared nervously around the glade.

“It’s okay,” Cloudtail reassured her. “We can outrun them from here.”

“We’ll be even safer back at the camp,” mewed Squirrelpaw.

“Why doesn’t Cody come with us for now?”

The kittypet stared uncertainly at the cats. For all her courage when they were trapped, she was obviously feeling daunted by being around so many of the wildcats she had heard about in bloodthirsty stories.

“You’ll be made welcome,” Leafpaw meowed. She looked at Brambleclaw and Rainwhisker, hoping she was right.

“Firestar won’t turn away a cat who’s in trouble,” Brambleclaw agreed.

“Won’t your Twolegs be missing you?” Sorreltail asked pointedly, and Leafpaw glanced at her in surprise.

“Yes, of course.” Cody kneaded the ground with her paws.

Some of the fire returned to her blue eyes. “But it sounds as if it wouldn’t be safe for me to travel through that part of the forest alone, and I don’t want to put any more of you in danger.”

“We’ll get you home as soon as it’s safe,” Leafpaw promised.

“I suppose we should be going then.” Sorreltail sighed. She looked at Brambleclaw. “What are we going to tell Firestar about Graystripe?”