“Sol?” Firestar’s green eyes stretched wide. “I thought he had left the lake.”
“No—or at least, he was here a few days ago.”
“Then why didn’t Onestar tell me about him?” Firestar’s shock was giving way to anger.
Ashfoot shrugged, looking uncomfortable. Lionblaze knew that she was a fair-minded cat; she couldn’t be happy about the tensions between her own Clan and ThunderClan. But her loyalty to Onestar wouldn’t let her speak openly.
“Ashfur’s death is your problem, not ours,” she pointed out. “You can’t expect Onestar to be happy when you come barging into his camp accusing his cats of murder.”
“We didn’t—” Brambleclaw began indignantly, his amber eyes blazing.
Firestar raised his tail for silence. “Let’s end this misunderstanding now,” he meowed to Ashfoot. “We are not accusing WindClan of anything. We just want to find out anything we can about Ashfur’s death. Now tell us what you know about Sol. Where did you see him? When?”
“It was about a quarter moon ago,” Ashfoot replied. “He was near the lake, in the woods on your side of the stream. I don’t think he saw us; he was too busy eating some fresh-kill.”
“Prey-stealing!” Sorreltail hissed.
“That’s not the day Ashfur died,” Brackenfur murmured thoughtfully. “But it’s close to the place where we found his body.”
“Very close,” Firestar agreed. “Thank you, Ashfoot. That’s the most useful thing we’ve learned so far.”
Ashfoot dipped her head. “I’m glad to be of help. I wish you and your Clan well, Firestar.”
Lionblaze could see the sympathy in her eyes. She can tell we’re in trouble, he realized. If only she knew how much!
Sunhigh was past and long black shadows were beginning to creep across the hollow when Firestar’s patrol returned. The queens and Birchfall were drowsily sharing tongues outside the nursery, while Cloudtail, Brightheart, and Hazeltail were crouched beside the fresh-kill pile. Foxpaw and Icepaw were practicing fighting moves outside their den. Lionblaze heard Icepaw screech, “WindClan murderer! I’ll rip your pelt off!”
Firestar sighed. “We’d better put a stop to that. I’ll call another meeting right away.”
Brambleclaw’s whiskers twitched in surprise. “Shouldn’t we discuss it with the senior warriors first?”
Firestar shook his head. “No. The whole Clan is involved in this. I want them to know about Sol right now, before some of these hotheads manage to sneak off and attack WindClan.”
He bounded across the clearing toward the tumbled rocks, but before he reached them Hazeltail spotted the returning warriors and leaped to her paws. “Hey!” she yowled. “Firestar’s back!”
Heads popped out from between the branches of the warriors’ den. The queens sat up and pricked up their ears, while all five kits tumbled out of the nursery, tripping over one another’s paws. Jayfeather poked his head out from behind the bramble screen, a bundle of herbs in his jaws. By the time Firestar reached the Highledge, there was no need for him to summon the Clan; every cat in the camp had gathered to hear what WindClan had to say. Lionblaze, with Brambleclaw and the rest of the patrol, padded over to sit at the back of the crowd.
“What did you find out?” Thornclaw called from where he sat at the foot of the tumbled rocks. “When do we attack?”
“We don’t,” Firestar replied. “WindClan did not murder Ashfur.”
An uneasy muttering spread among the cats, but Firestar didn’t wait for an argument to break out. Quickly he went on: “Onestar and his warriors knew nothing about Ashfur’s death until I told them. And Ashfoot gave me one very useful piece of information: She saw Sol a few sunrises ago, by the stream near the lake.”
Spiderleg shot upright, his tail waving. “That’s where Ashfur’s body was found!”
Yowls of shock and anger broke out; several cats leaped up, eyes blazing and fur bristling, as if they wanted to attack the rogue cat right away.
“Sol killed Ashfur!”
“Filthy murderer!”
“We should find him and teach him what happens when rogues attack a warrior!”
Firestar raised his tail for silence. “We still have no proof,” he went on when he could make himself heard. “But—”
“What proof do we need?” Mousefur rasped. “Look at what he did to ShadowClan!”
“He didn’t kill any ShadowClan cats,” Dustpelt reminded her. “What reason would he have for killing Ashfur?”
Mousefur let out a disgusted hiss. “I wouldn’t put anything past that mangy piece of crow-food.”
“But he must have had a reason,” Brackenfur meowed, backing up Dustpelt. “Not many cats kill just for fun.”
Lionblaze recalled the stories he had heard about Scourge, the leader of BloodClan who had tried to take over in the old forest. He sounded like a cat who had enjoyed killing. But Lionblaze didn’t think Sol was like that.
“Maybe Ashfur caught Sol on our territory,” Brightheart suggested. “They could have fought—”
“But Ashfur hadn’t been fighting,” Sandstorm interrupted. “There were no wounds on him except for the marks on his throat. Isn’t that right, Leafpool?”
Heads turned to look at the medicine cat, who was sitting outside her den, away from the crowd around the Highledge. She replied to Sandstorm with a curt nod, but said nothing.
“Well, then,” Cloudtail meowed, “maybe Sol caught Ashfur unawares, and took the chance to stir up trouble between ThunderClan and WindClan.”
“That sounds like Sol,” Squirrelflight agreed with a flick of her tail. “Set cat against cat, and then step in to seize power for himself.”
“I think we need to know more,” Graystripe mewed quietly. “It’s useful to know that Ashfoot spotted Sol, but that doesn’t set Sol’s teeth in Ashfur’s neck.”
“You’re right.” Firestar nodded toward his former deputy. “Can any cat tell us more about Sol?”
To Lionblaze’s surprise, Hollyleaf tentatively raised her tail. “I…I saw him, Firestar. By the lake, not long after he was driven out of ShadowClan.”
She never told me about that! Uneasiness stirred in Lionblaze’s belly. But he and Jayfeather hadn’t told their sister about the catmint they had fetched from WindClan, either. When did we start keeping secrets from one another?
“Tell us what happened,” Firestar prompted.
“Nothing much,” Hollyleaf replied. “He said the Clans needed him, and he promised he’d be back.”
Cloudtail lashed his tail. “That’s a threat, if ever I heard one!”
“Why didn’t you report this?” Firestar asked Hollyleaf.
Hollyleaf ducked her head. “I didn’t think it mattered,” she told him. “I thought it was just talk because he was angry about losing control of ShadowClan. And he was heading along the lakeshore toward WindClan territory. I thought he was leaving.”
“You still should have mentioned it,” Firestar told her, though his voice was mild. “I could have told the patrols to keep a lookout for him.”
Hollyleaf studied her paws. “I’m sorry, Firestar.”
“Is there anything else we ought to know?” the Clan leader asked.
“I—I’m not sure,” Hollyleaf meowed hesitantly. “Sol mentioned that he had met Midnight the badger, but I can’t see what that has to do with killing Ashfur.”
“It might tell us how to find him,” Brambleclaw pointed out. “If Sol knows Midnight, he might have come from the sun-drown-place!” The Clan deputy’s eyes were glowing; Lionblaze could tell that he was remembering his heroic journey from the old forest to find the badger who would tell the Clans where they would live from now on.
“So what are we going to do?” Dustpelt asked Firestar.