“Yes.” Jaypaw’s answer was firm. “We’ve just got a few more leaves to pick and then we’ll go back to camp.”
“Good.” Thornclaw nodded. “We’re heading up to the ridge to see if there’s any sign of WindClan. We may be able to see if they’ve begun their attack on RiverClan from up there.”
Suddenly, Whitewing sniffed the air. “It smells like Lionpaw’s been here.”
“Yes.” Jaypaw plucked another dock leaf from the soggy plant in front of him. “He came to tell us to hurry up.”
“Has he gone back to camp?” Thornclaw asked.
“I suppose so,” Jaypaw replied.
“Don’t be long.” Whitewing padded to the fern where Lionpaw was crouching. He held his breath, praying that his golden fur wouldn’t show through the green leaves.
“Come on!” Thornclaw bounded up the slope toward the ridge. Whitewing turned and pelted after him.
“Why in StarClan did you hide?” Hollypaw demanded as Lionpaw slid out of the ferns.
“They mustn’t know what I’m up to,” Lionpaw whispered.
Jaypaw’s tail was twitching. “What
“What’s this about the kits?” Hollypaw narrowed her eyes.
Lionpaw took a deep breath. “There are tunnels under our territory.”
“Tunnels?” Jaypaw’s fur stood on end.
“Yes. They lead onto the moor, to WindClan territory.
You can travel right through if you want. The kits followed Heatherpaw to the tunnel entrance once. I think that’s where they might be.”
Hollypaw was staring at him in horror. “You’ve been meeting Heatherpaw! You told me you’d stopped seeing her!”
Lionpaw stepped backward. His sister was digging her claws into the earth as though she were trying to stop herself raking his pelt.
“You lied to me and you lied to your Clanmates!” she spat.
“I always thought that you were the most loyal of us. And now you’ve betrayed your Clan!”
“I haven’t betrayed them!” Lionpaw mewed. “I’ve stopped meeting Heatherpaw now. We were just playing, but then I realized that—”
“That an enemy Clan knows a secret way into our territory!” Hollypaw snapped. “Were you ever going to tell anyone, or were you just going to sit and watch while your little friend led her Clanmates to our camp?”
Lionpaw glared at his sister. “I would never let that happen!”
“Calm down.” Jaypaw weaved between them. “It’s done now.” He swung his head toward his sister. “Lionpaw’s not the only cat who’s made mistakes this moon. You’re still in trouble for trying to help Willowpaw.”
“That was different,” Hollypaw growled. But she shifted her paws as she spoke.
“There’s no time to argue,” Jaypaw mewed. “Are you sure
that the kits are in these tunnels, Lionpaw?”
“Not definite, but it seems the most likely place they’d be.”
He glanced anxiously at Hollypaw. “Will you help me find them?”
Hollypaw’s tail quivered. “Okay,” she mewed. “I don’t want WindClan attacking RiverClan. Not when they’re so close to solving their problem.”
Lionpaw blinked. “What do you mean?”
The fur on Hollypaw’s spine rippled. “I promised not to tell.”
“Promised who?” Jaypaw demanded.
“Willowpaw and Leopardstar.”
“But we’re kin,” Jaypaw pressed. “We have to stop keeping secrets from one another. That’s not how it’s meant to be.”
Hollypaw’s eyes glittered with uncertainty. “Okay.” She took a deep breath. “RiverClan’s camp was being threatened by Twoleg kits. They’re making the stream around it deeper and wider to keep the Twolegs away. I saw it myself. They’re so close to making it work. They should be back in their old camp by the next Gathering.” Her paws were trembling. “I promised not to tell, but it doesn’t seem right. Everything’s gone wrong.”
“No, it hasn’t.” Lionpaw lifted his chin. “We’re going to stop the battle.”
“But how?” Hollypaw mewed.
“By finding the kits.”
Jaypaw padded to Lionpaw’s side. “Where are these tunnels? How do we get in?”
“Follow me.” Lionpaw headed into the trees. He broke
into a run, checking over his shoulder that Hollypaw and Jaypaw were keeping up. They weaved after him, skidding to a halt on the slippery leaves beside him as he reached the bottom of the slope where the tunnel opened into the forest.
“Where is it?” Hollypaw squinted over the swath of brambles.
Lionpaw flicked his tail toward the rabbit hole Heatherpaw had first disappeared into. “There.”
“That?” Hollypaw mewed in surprise. “No wonder no one’s ever noticed it before.”
Jaypaw was sniffing the air as though searching for something. His tail was quivering.
Lionpaw frowned. “Have you been here before?”
“I don’t think so.” Jaypaw’s ears twitched.
Why did he seem so afraid? There was no time to worry.
Lionpaw squeezed under the brambles. “Follow me.” He pushed his way through; it was easier now after all his visits, although one or two fresh branches had grown since he was last here, and he ducked as they snatched at his ears. Jaypaw stayed close behind him, his nose brushing Lionpaw’s tail.
“The entrance is here.” Lionpaw scrambled out of the bushes and guided Jaypaw to the hole in the side of the hill.
He stopped beside it and sniffed the familiar scent of musty air flowing from the tunnel.
Hollypaw scrabbled out of the brambles after them and stared doubtfully at the hole. Rain dripped from her fur and each ear was tipped with a quivering drop of water. “We go in here?”
Lionpaw nodded.
“What about the rain?” Jaypaw sounded wary.
“It won’t be raining inside the tunnel.” Lionpaw was puzzled; surely he’d be glad to get out of the downpour?
Jaypaw flattened his ears and sniffed at the entrance.
“Have you been here before in the rain?” he asked suspiciously.
“No.” Lionpaw was getting impatient now. There wasn’t time for this. “We must find the kits before the battle starts.”
He squeezed into the entrance and started to pad quickly along the familiar tunnel.
“Wait!” Hollypaw called from behind. “It’s too dark to see where I’m going.”
Lionpaw waited while Jaypaw and Hollypaw caught up with him. They were both moving cautiously, their paw steps pattering unevenly on the rocky floor. Surely Jaypaw should be able to travel through the tunnels more easily than the rest of them? He was used to darkness. “There’s a cave ahead,” Lionpaw reassured them. “There’s a gap in the roof so it’ll be lighter there.” He moved on, slower this time. He could hear Jaypaw sniffing the air, and Hollypaw’s fur brushing the walls.
“Do these tunnels really lead all the way to WindClan territory?” Hollypaw’s mew echoed eerily in the darkness. “Have you been that far?”
“No, only as far as the cave,” Lionpaw answered. Then he froze. He could smell familiar scents up ahead.
Jaypaw’s breath stirred his ear fur. “You know there are WindClan cats ahead.”
“Yes,” Lionpaw sighed.
“Perhaps we should go back,” Hollypaw whispered. “We don’t want WindClan to realize we know about this place. It would ruin our advantage.”
“They probably know already.” Lionpaw’s heart felt as heavy as stone. Heatherpaw had betrayed their
