“We’re going to find some way to escape,” she mewed.
“Unless you get up, stretch your muscles, and have something to eat and drink, you’re going to be left behind. And I’m not leaving any cat here if I can help it!”
Leafpaw blinked. “Do you know a way out of here?”
“Not yet,” admitted the kittypet. “But you might be able to help me find one if only you’d stop feeling sorry for yourself.”
Leafpaw knew she was right. She wouldn’t solve anything by curling up and waiting to die. Besides, she wasn’t ready to join StarClan. She was an apprentice medicine cat—her Clan needed her here, in the forest. Whatever was left of it.
Pushing away the misery that had sapped her strength, she pulled herself up onto her paws. Her cramped muscles screamed in protest as she uncurled her tail and flexed her legs.
“That’s better,” purred the kittypet. “Now turn around.
There’s more room to stretch if you face the other way.”
Leafpaw obediently wriggled around and reached her paws to the corner of the cage, gripping the web to brace herself. As she stretched, pressing her chest down and flexing her shoulders, she felt her stiff muscles soften. Feeling a little better, she began to wash herself, swiping her tongue over her flank.
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 toward 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 recognizes 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, farther 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 workfolk 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.”