“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 recognises 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, further 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 work-folk 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.”
She paused, her fur prickling. If Cloudtail, Brightheart, and Mistyfoot had been trapped by the Twolegs, they could be here now! She stared frantically around the nest, brighter now as the morning light strengthened. Finally she saw a shape she had hoped to find, the tortoiseshell-splashed fur familiar even in the gloom.
“Brightheart!” Leafpaw tried to call her Clanmate’s name, but a new noise silenced her cry. The nest door opened and light streamed in. Leafpaw quickly scanned the cages for more familiar shapes as a Twoleg marched into the nest.
The Twoleg began opening each cage and tossing something inside. When it reached hers, Leafpaw jumped back. She watched, trembling in fear, as the Twoleg dropped fresh pellets into the pot near the front and slopped stinking water into the holder beside it. But when the Twoleg opened Cody’s cage, the kittypet brushed against its giant paw, purring as the Twoleg stroked her soft fur.
The Twoleg shut Cody’s door and left the nest. The cages were plunged once more into shadow.
“How could you let it touch you?” Leafpaw hissed.
“The workfolk might be our best way out of here,” Cody pointed out. “If I can persuade it that I’m nothing but a poor lost kittypet, it might let me go. You should try it too.”
Leafpaw shuddered at the idea of any Twoleg touching her, and she knew her Clanmates would feel the same. She tried to find the cage where she had recognised Brightheart’s soft pelt.
“Brightheart!” she called, her tail twitching anxiously.
“Yes,” came the wary reply. “Who’s that?”
Leafpaw pressed herself against the front of her cage, feeling the web hard and cold through her fur. “It’s Leafpaw!”
“Leafpaw!” The voice came from somewhere else in the nest, and Leafpaw let out a muffled purr as she recognised Cloudtail’s familiar mew. She searched the cages until she saw his thick white pelt.
“You’re both still alive!” Leafpaw exclaimed.
“Are those the cats you were looking for?” Cody asked.
Leafpaw nodded.
“Leafpaw?” Another voice came from the gloom. “It’s me, Mistyfoot.”
“Mistyfoot!” Leafpaw echoed. “I thought I found your scent before I was trapped! What were you doing so far from the RiverClan
