“I’m not going up there again!” Birchfall wailed.

“No, there’s no need,” Brambleclaw assured him. “But one of us can climb a tree soon to check whether we’re going the right way. Let’s get moving.”

Hollyleaf squeezed through the gap in the fence, hard on the Clan deputy’s paws, and found herself on a grass shoulder beside a Thunderpath. They had crossed here the night before, when all was dark and quiet. Now monsters were rushing up and down. Their bright colors dazzled Hollyleaf’s eyes; the air was filled with their growling and their acrid stink.

“I hate this,” she muttered to Lionblaze. “I don’t care how many times we’ve done it, I’m still afraid some cat will get squashed.”

Brambleclaw padded up to the very edge of the Thunderpath until his fur was ruffled by the wind of passing monsters. “When I say run, run as if a whole pack of dogs were behind you.”

Lionblaze sighed. “Well, we’ve had plenty of practice.”

Hollyleaf noticed that Brackenfur had positioned himself next to Purdy, as if he intended to keep an eye on the old cat when the time came to cross. Sol stood on Purdy’s other side, his gaze fixed on the opposite side of the Thunderpath.

A huge monster swept by, the rumbling from its belly louder than a whole Clan of cats growling at once. As it faded into silence, Brambleclaw glanced sharply up and down the Thunderpath. “Now! Run!”

Hollyleaf leaped forward, aware of Lionblaze on one side of her and Birchfall on the other. The surface of the Thunderpath was hard under her flying paws. Then she was across, stumbling thankfully onto the grass on the other side.

Turning, she saw that all the cats had crossed safely, except for Purdy, who was weaving erratically across the middle of the Thunderpath, and Brackenfur, who padded beside him, trying to urge him on.

“Take it easy, youngster,” Purdy meowed. “There ain’t no monsters coming.”

“But—” Brackenfur began desperately.

He broke off at the sound of a monster approaching. As it roared into sight around the corner, he gave Purdy a massive shove from behind. The old tabby stumbled forward with a startled yowl and flopped safely onto the grass as the monster swept past, snarling, barely a mouse-length away. Brackenfur had sprung to safety beside him with a heartbeat to spare.

“Purdy, never scare us like that again!” Brambleclaw hissed in exasperation.

The old cat picked himself up, blinking. “What? There weren’t no problem. And there weren’t no need to go pushin’ me around,” he added to Brackenfur in an injured tone.

Brackenfur sighed. “Sorry.”

“Always panickin’, you young cats,” Purdy muttered.

Hollyleaf rolled her eyes. “This journey is going to be interesting,” she whispered to Lionblaze.

Brambleclaw gathered the patrol together with a wave of his tail and set off along the edge of the Thunderpath. Soon Hollyleaf picked up the sound of many Twoleg kits, their voices shrill in the crisp morning air. “What’s that?” she asked, her paws tingling with suspicion.