“And I joined later, with Hussar,” Jingo went on. “I heard about the community of cats that had made a home for themselves, and it sounded like a good idea.”

“Did Sol act like he was your leader?” Lionblaze asked. The patch-pelted loner had tried to take over ShadowClan; maybe that wasn’t the first time he’d been in control of a group of cats.

“Yes, did he ever tell you to believe anything in particular?” Hollyleaf added.

Jingo looked puzzled. “Not exactly. Only that we could live however we wanted to, because that’s what we deserved. Life was good, he said….”

“Life was not good!” Pod snapped. He sat down and lifted a hind leg to scratch behind his ear. “We had to do whatever Sol told us to, like bring him food and feathers for his nest. And he scared the little cats by telling them that they’d die without him.”

“It wasn’t that bad!” Jingo protested. “You’re just thinking of what happened later.”

“And why wouldn’t I?” Pod stopped scratching to glare at her. “That mouse-brained idiot nearly got us all killed!”

Fritz nodded vigorously, giving his whiskers a nervous twitch, but still didn’t speak.

Lionblaze glanced at Hollyleaf; she looked as shocked as he felt, her eyes glittering and her claws working on the hard Twoleg floor. When Sol had lived in the forest, he never wanted cats to die, Lionblaze thought. Is Hollyleaf wondering if he really could have killed Ashfur?

He was distracted by Speckle’s four kits, who left their mother and scrambled down, one after another, from the soft boulder. Speckle sat up, watching nervously as the biggest of the four, a tom with a flecked brown pelt like his mother, bounced up to Brambleclaw.

“I’m Frisk,” he announced. “What’s your name? Are you coming to live here?”

Brambleclaw shook his head. “We’re just passing through. I’m Brambleclaw,” he added, addressing all the cats. He went on to introduce the rest of the patrol. “Thanks for helping us,” he finished, dipping his head to Jingo. “The dogs would have ripped us to pieces without you.”

“We’d help any cat in danger from those dogs,” Jingo responded. “And you’re welcome to stay as long as you like.”

“Thank you.” Brambleclaw bowed again. “Now, can you tell us what Sol did?”

Jingo settled herself on the soft boulder, tucking her paws underneath her chest. Hussar sprang down lightly from the ledge and padded over to sit beside Pod. For the first time, Lionblaze noticed that he had a long scar along his side, where the fur hadn’t grown back. Glancing around, he noticed that the others had signs of injury, too: One of Fritz’s ears was torn, Pod’s muzzle was scarred, and the tip of Jingo’s tail was missing.

“These cats have been fighting hard,” he muttered to Hollyleaf.

He sat down on the hard Twoleg floor, longing for the grass of the forest or the soft moss of his nest in the warriors’ den. Hollyleaf sat beside him, her claws still flexing restlessly, and their Clanmates gathered around.