“He just passed on trivial bits of news about prey,” Hollyleaf went on in a furious whisper. “And he thanked our warrior ancestors for watching over us. And that was all.”
“Well… maybe he didn’t want ThunderClan to sound weak,” Lionblaze suggested.
“We’re not weak because one cat dies!” Hollyleaf spat.
Lionblaze couldn’t work out why she was so angry. “Every Clan leader reports stuff like that. It’s part of what Gatherings are for.”
“And none of the other cats noticed that something was wrong?”
Hollyleaf shook her head. “Obviously Squirrelflight isn’t the only cat who’s good at lying.”
“I don’t think it’s as bad as you’re making out. Firestar must have had his reasons. And clouds didn’t cover the moon, so StarClan can’t have been angry with him.”
Hollyleaf’s only reply was a disgusted snort.
Lionblaze pressed his muzzle against hers. “Come on. Let’s sit vigil with Ashfur for a bit.”
His sister’s eyes stretched wide. “Sit vigil for that mange-ridden excuse for a cat? I can’t believe you want to do that!
Ashfur would have destroyed the whole Clan if he’d lived for one more night.”
Without waiting for a reply, she whirled around and stalked toward the warriors’ den. Lionblaze watched her go, hoping she would sleep off whatever was troubling her so much, then padded back to Ashfur’s body and settled down beside it.
Chapter 28
Jayfeather followed Leafpool back into the camp. A dawn breeze whispered across the clearing, and he could hear the beginnings of birdsong in the trees above the hollow. A hush lay over the camp; Jayfeather could detect mingled feelings of grief and bewilderment as the cats tried to adjust to the fact that Ashfur was dead.
He followed Leafpool as she padded into the center of the clearing where Ashfur’s body lay. Jayfeather picked up the chill, watery scent that still clung to his fur, and the scents of Lionblaze, Birchfall, Whitewing, and Thornclaw, who still kept vigil beside him.
“He feels so cold and wet,” Leafpool murmured, crouching beside Ashfur. “This isn’t how we should send him to his warrior ancestors.”
Jayfeather heard the rasp of her tongue as she began to lick the dead warrior’s fur. Feelings of sorrow surged out of her in waves, almost like a mother grieving for her kit. She wasn’t in love with Ashfur, was she? Jayfeather wondered. She’s a medicine cat!
Gradually the cats around Ashfur’s body began to withdraw and creep back to their den. Lionblaze was the last to go, touching Jayfeather’s shoulder briefly with his tail before he left. Not knowing what else to do, Jayfeather settled down opposite Leafpool and began to help her lick the dead warrior’s fur. Sleep began to drift over him as he lapped with long, rhythmic strokes.
A gasp from Leafpool jolted him awake. Horror swirled around her like a stream in flood. “What’s the matter?” he meowed.
For a heartbeat he heard her tongue working busily. Then she hissed, “Come look at this.”
Jayfeather bit back the sarcastic reply that he couldn’t look at anything. He worked his way around Ashfur’s body until he was crouching next to his mentor. All Leafpool’s muscles were stiff and her neck fur was standing on end.
Jayfeather sniffed, picking up the scent of blood and raw flesh. Investigating with one paw, he felt the edges of a gash in Ashfur’s throat, the kind of mark he would expect to see on a cleanly killed piece of prey.
The kind of mark a cat didn’t get from falling into a stream and drowning, but was made deliberately. With a slash of claws.
“He didn’t drown,” Leafpool whispered hoarsely. “He was murdered!”
Jayfeather’s mind whirled. If it wasn’t for Leafpool’s care over the dead warrior’s body, no cat would ever have known how he had died. What would happen now?
“I’m going to tell Firestar,” Leafpool meowed.
Jayfeather heard her racing across the clearing toward the tumbled rocks. A few moments later two sets of paw steps returned and Firestar crouched beside him to examine the body.
“Who would do this?” Firestar sounded completely bewildered.
“WindClan?” Leafpool suggested, her voice sharp with suspicion. “We found him on the WindClan border.”
“You know very well there was no WindClan scent on him,” Firestar reminded her. Jayfeather could feel strong sensations of doubt coming from his Clan leader. “I know the water could have washed it away, but…” His voice grew softer, as if he was arguing with himself. “Why would WindClan kill just one warrior? Were they trying to warn us? But we’re not a threat to WindClan.”
“And Ashfur was Clanborn,” Jayfeather put in. “WindClan has no reason to quarrel with him personally.”
“True,” Firestar murmured. Jayfeather could hear his claws scoring the earth. “But if it wasn’t WindClan… then a ThunderClan cat must have killed Ashfur.”
“No!” Leafpool’s horrified whisper cut through Jayfeather like an eagle’s talon. “No ThunderClan cat would do such a thing. It must have been WindClan.” To Jayfeather it sounded as if she was trying to convince herself as much as Firestar.
“What should we do?” she asked tensely.
The Clan leader hesitated. “This is no reason not to give honor to his body,” he decided at last. “We’ll let the elders go ahead and bury him. Then I’ll speak to the Clan.”
“I’ll fetch Mousefur and Longtail,” Leafpool meowed.
Jayfeather waited while the elders appeared from their den and the rest of the Clan gathered around to say farewell to Ashfur. Leafpool must have licked his fur back over the gash in his neck, because none of them seemed to notice it.
When Mousefur and Longtail had left the clearing with the gray warrior’s body dragging between them, Brambleclaw padded up to Firestar. “I’ll take the dawn patrol along the WindClan border,” he announced. “There might be some traces there to tell us what happened.”
“Good idea,” Firestar replied. “But don’t go just yet. There’s something I need to say to the whole Clan.”
Jayfeather picked up the deputy’s puzzlement, then jumped when Lionblaze muttered into his ear: “What’s going on?”
Part of Jayfeather wanted to tell Lionblaze exactly what he had found. But he couldn’t find the words. The discovery was too huge, with too many consequences that he couldn’t begin to imagine. “You’ll know soon enough,” he replied.
He stood beside his brother, his claws working in the earth, while he waited for the elders to return. Hollyleaf came to join them, anxiety boiling out of her like bees buzzing out of a tree. “Something terrible is going to happen,” she whispered.
“I can feel it.”
Eventually Mousefur and Longtail pushed their way through the thorns, back into the clearing. Firestar climbed up to the Highledge; Jayfeather heard his voice raised to carry to every corner of the camp.
“Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting.”
Most of the Clan were already out in the open, though Jayfeather heard movement by the nursery as Daisy and Millie emerged with their kits. Foxpaw and Icepaw scampered into the middle of the clearing, excited rather than worried by the unexpected summons. Jayfeather caught the scent of Squirrelflight standing not far away.
“We’ve discovered more about Ashfur’s death,” Firestar began as soon as all the cats were assembled. “It wasn’t an accident. There was a gash in his throat, and that means he was deliberately killed.”
Yowls of dismay rose up from every part of the clearing.