“Quite true.” Sol’s voice was a deep-throated purr. “They might get the idea that ThunderClan cats are scared.”
“ThunderClan cats aren’t scared of anything!” Mousewhisker leaped to his paws, his neck fur fluffing out. “We have to strike first!”
“That’s an excellent idea, Mousewhisker.”
But it wasn’t Mousewhisker’s idea at all. Dovewing’s forepaws kneaded the ground in her fury. It was yours! You’re putting words into his mouth.
“We’ll prove we’re not afraid of a battle,” Hazeltail agreed, her tail lashing. “We’ll rip their treacherous fur off!”
“Don’t you think we should discuss this with Firestar first?” Rosepetal suggested.
“Would he agree?” Sol asked.
“No, of course he wouldn’t,” Mousewhisker retorted. “He’s the Clan leader. He can’t show that he’s hostile to another Clan without good reason.”
“We have good reason,” Blossomfall meowed. “We know that WindClan is plotting an attack. Firestar might not be able to order his Clan into battle, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be angry with us when we’ve sorted out those rabbit-chasers once and for all!”
“Yes!” Mousewhisker’s eyes shone. “Let’s do it!”
All Dovewing’s instincts were pushing her to leap into the open and tell them all how mouse-brained they were being. But she knew that it wasn’t her Clanmates who were making this disastrous decision. It’s Sol’s fault.
As quietly as she could, she slid backward until she was well away from the bramble thicket. Then she spun around and sped off, sending out her senses to locate Ivypool. She found her sister beside the old Thunderpath with a vole in her jaws. There was no sign of Millie or the rest of the patrol.
“Come quick!” Dovewing hissed when she reached Ivypool. “Sol is planning an attack on WindClan!”
Chapter 13
Ivypool stared at her littermate in astonishment. She dropped her vole and hastily scraped earth over it. “He can’t do that!” she exclaimed.
“He can,” Dovewing replied grimly. “Enough of our cats will follow him. Come with me—and hurry!”
Together the warriors raced back to the top of the stone hollow. But while they were still scrambling up the path, they met Hazeltail, closely followed by Mousewhisker, Rosepetal, and Blossomfall.
“What are you doing?” Dovewing gasped.
“What does it look like?” Hazeltail’s voice was curt. “We’re a hunting patrol, mouse-brain.”
“Yeah, thanks for scaring all the prey away,” Mousewhisker added. “Trampling through the bushes like a herd of badgers!”
Ivypool exchanged a frustrated glance with her sister. “Have you seen Sol?” she asked.
“No.” It was Blossomfall who replied. “Did you want him?”
Dovewing twitched her whiskers at Ivypool, a tiny gesture warning her to hide the fact they’d been eavesdropping. She could see her own anger glittering in her sister’s eyes. They’re supposed to be our Clanmates—and they’re lying to us! “No, we just hadn’t seen him for a while,” she responded. “We wondered if he was still around.”
Mousewhisker shrugged. “I haven’t heard that he’s left.”
Dovewing and Ivypool had to step back and let their Clanmates go on their way. Ivypool was tempted to tell them that if they wanted to pretend to be a hunting patrol, they should at least catch something before they returned to camp. Once they were out of sight, Dovewing waved her tail at Ivypool for silence, then stood alert; Ivypool guessed she must be sending out her senses.
After a few heartbeats, Dovewing shook her head. “I can’t pick up any signs of Sol,” she mewed. “That’s really weird. He was there with the others.”
“Should we go and search?” Ivypool suggested.
“No, we can’t do any more now,” Dovewing replied. “We have to get back to the hunt.”
Ivypool nodded, though every hair on her pelt was prickling with anxiety. “What if they’re going to attack right now?”
“They won’t do that,” Dovewing reassured her. “Four cats aren’t enough to launch an attack on WindClan. They’ll have to convince a few more of our Clanmates to join them.”
“I can’t believe ThunderClan cats would do this,” Ivypool meowed. “Dovewing, are you sure about what you heard? I mean, your hearing hasn’t been great since—”
“My hearing is fine now,” Dovewing snapped. “And I know what I heard. Except…” Her voice trailed off.
“Well?”
“I didn’t hear Sol say very much,” Dovewing confessed. “I thought he was putting ideas into our Clanmates’ heads, but maybe… maybe it was just the usual sort of warrior boasting.”
“Maybe.” Ivypool ducked under a low hazel branch. “But we can’t be sure of that.”
“There’s no scent of Sol around here,” Dovewing went on, “so he didn’t come this way. I wish I knew where he was now.” She shook her head. “Let’s get back to our patrol.”
“Are we going to tell Firestar?” Ivypool asked, her paws tingling with apprehension.
Dovewing thought for a heartbeat, then shook her head. “I don’t want to get our Clanmates into trouble when I can’t be sure exactly what was going on. And it’s all Sol’s fault, anyway. You can bet that I’ll keep a close watch on him from now on,” she added more forcefully as she bounded away.
Ivypool followed, her belly still churning. Even if Dove-wing doubted what she had overheard, Ivypool was convinced that her sister’s first instincts had been right.
Something’s going on, and Sol is at the bottom of it.
Ivypool woke with a start. Dovewing was curled up close beside her, while at the opposite side of the den Molepaw was snoring softly and Cherrypaw’s tail was twitching as if she were deep inside a dream.
I wish the warriors’ den weren’t so crowded, Ivypool thought. We’re warriors; we shouldn’t be stuck in here with the apprentices!
But there was no time to worry about that now. Somehow in her sleep an idea had come to her, and she knew she had to check it out right away. She gave Dovewing a gentle prod.
“Wake up,” she breathed into her sister’s ear. “And keep quiet. We don’t want to wake the apprentices.”
Dovewing sat straight up, instantly alert. “Is something happening in the Dark Forest?”
Ivypool shook her head, relieved that her dreams hadn’t taken her there that night. “No, this is about Sol,” she replied in a whisper. “I think I know where he vanished to today.”
The visiting cat hadn’t returned to the camp before dark, and no cat had seemed to know where he was. Ivypool had heard Dustpelt muttering, “Good riddance. I never trusted him anyway.”
Cloudtail had agreed with a lash of his tail. “That cat is trouble wherever he goes.”
Now Ivypool leaned even closer to murmur into Dove-wing’s ear. “Come with me. We have to go right away, or it might be too late.”
Side by side, the two she-cats slipped out of their den. Clouds drifted across the moon; its light was faint and uneven. Here and there a warrior of StarClan glittered frostily. Graystripe was on watch; they waited until his head was turned the other way, then raced across the camp and plunged into the dirtplace tunnel. Heartbeats later they were once more climbing the path that led to the top of the hollow.
“Take me to the place where you heard Sol,” Ivypool meowed.
She followed Dovewing until they reached a bramble thicket near the edge of the cliff. Jaws parted to pick up Sol’s scent, Ivypool began to search, poking among the bramble tendrils, crouching low so that she could see underneath them.