"IS SHE DEAD?"

"No, she's breathing."

"Owlheart's dead!"

Spottedsong awoke with a start. Nearly half of the Clan-she wouldn't be surprised if it was the whole Clan, seeing how small FrostClan was now-was surrounding her. They backed away to give her space to breathe when she looked around frantically. "Where's Gorseberry? Where's Owlheart?"

"Owlheart's dead," Cloudsky murmured.

"I know!" Realization shot through her. "I saw it happen," she half-lied immediately, trying to sound as natural as possible. She looked down at her paws. They were damp with water, not blood. The blood had washed away. Did Gorseberry clean them so she wouldn't be suspected? Why would he do that?

"Who did it?" Frozenfang asked, her voice trembling.

You could blame Sparrowfeather for it. Or Frozenfang. "It was Sparrowfeather," she replied. She looked around for him, but she couldn't see him.

"None of us have seen him all morning," Rosefeather explained.

"He was off murdering Owlheart, then," Spottedsong countered.

Rosefeather's jaw fell open and she glanced over her shoulder. "He promised he wouldn't-"

"Honeykit, Snowykit, and Leopardkit are missing!" Mousetail cried from the nursery. The rest of the Clan turned to look at her. Violetkit was huddled close to her mother's leg, shaking with apprehension and worry for her littermates. Skystorm glanced up, fear sparking in his gaze, then hurried over to his mate and kit.

"Hollyfern's gone, too," Icetail observed.

"What?" Lynxstar came forward. Her blue eyes were blazing with anger and confusion, but grief glistened in her gaze, too. "First Owlheart's dead, then Mousetail's kits are missing, and now Hollyfern's gone?"

Spottedsong cringed. I'm not the only one breaking the rules. Maybe I do have a chance.

"I'm right here." Hollyfern padded forward. "What's all this about?"

"Where have you been?" Rosefeather demanded, a hint of anger in her voice.

"Calm down, everyone!" Lynxstar raised her voice above the clambering. "We will get this figured out. First-Spottedsong, what exactly did you see when you saw Owlheart get killed?"

Spottedsong caught Gorseberry's-he had just come up-eye before she began. "I was just leaving the den to get a drink of water, and then I saw Sparrowfeather and Owlheart go behind the medicine den, so I followed them. When I saw what was happening, I saw Sparrowfeather attacking him. First his chest, then his head, then his throat. Then Owlheart was dead. Sparrowfeather ran off."

"What?" Now it was Rosefeather's turn to be surprised. "Could he have kidnapped Mousetail's kits, too?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," Flycrest muttered.

Gorseberry gave Spottedsong a final glance, then hurried to Lynxstar. The Clan leader looked at him with what looked like confusion. Gorseberry had his claws unsheathed, and he was making a motion like he was fighting an imaginary cat. Then he flicked his tail to Spottedsong. He looked at Lynxstar hopefully.

That dungheart! He's trying to give me away! Spottedsong thought, biting back a growl of frustration. She would give herself away by accident if she didn't.

"Spottedsong . . . was attacked . . . ?" Lynxstar asked, tipping her head to one side.

Gorseberry gave Spottedsong an angry look, and then he tried to make Lynxstar understand with the same motions, but this time exaggerated. Lynxstar still looked confused, and now a couple other cats were paying close attention to try and puzzle out what he was trying to say. Spottedsong held her breath.

"I don't get it," Cloudsky said suddenly. "No offense, Gorseberry," he added quickly. The cats around him murmured agreement.

Gorseberry dipped his head and sat back on his haunches, looking fairly frustrated. He looked at Spottedsong as if to say, You win this time.

Thank StarClan. That was close.

"Where have you been, Hollyfern?" Rosefeather demanded suddenly. "Where have you been sneaking off to?"

Spottedsong looked at Hollyfern as well. The first thing she noticed that was unusual about her was that Hollyfern's flanks were bulging just a bit. Eating too much fresh-kill than she should? she guessed, amusement bubbling up inside her. Wait-that's not right . . .

"I-uh-" Hollyfern seemed to be having trouble getting the words out. Then she sighed. "Fine. I was away from camp for a while."

"And . . . ?"

"And just taking a walk. This isn't even important. What's important is finding Mousetail's kits and the murderer of Owlheart. Which reminds me-Lynxstar, when will you be choosing a new deputy?" There was a hint of confidence in her mew.

"Soon," Lynxstar replied. "We have to get this sorted out, though."

"Right. Okay. Well, I can see that none of you have seen Sparrowfeather, but I have. He was with Honeykit, Leopardkit, and Snowykit. He doesn't know that I saw him."

"So you did see him!" Rosefeather exclaimed. "Where?"

"Near the MoonClan border. I mean, they don't have a border, but you know what I mean." Hollyfern looked hopefully at Lynxstar.

"Okay, then. Flycrest, Rosefeather, and Skystorm, go find Sparrowfeather and the kits. I'll be organizing the hunting patrols now. I'll figure out what to do with Sparrowfeather when he returns."

The three cats came together and left the camp. Lynxstar carried on organizing the rest of the patrols. Apprehension wormed inside of Spottedsong as she got to her paws and padded to the medicine den. Badgertooth said that he wanted to see if she had injured herself the day before.

"There you are!" Badgertooth exclaimed when she came in. "I hear you saw the murder unfold?"

"I did." The lie was being used so much; the answer was nearly automatic now.

"Is it true that you were attacked when you were watching?"

"Sort of. He didn't harm me," Spottedsong replied. "Sorry I left without your permission. You were asleep, and I didn't want to wake you."

"I'm a medicine cat. You can wake me whenever you want. As long as it's important," Badgertooth added with a glimmer in his eyes. "But it's fine. I'm just glad you're okay. Now, shall I check you like I said I would last night?"

"Oh, sure." Spottedsong crawled into the nest in the middle of the den, and Badgertooth began to do his thing. "I'm sure I'm fine. I just passed out."

"Twice."

"Okay, fine." Spottedsong looked at Badgertooth with a confused look when she noticed that he was looking at her with a tense, concerned look. "What is it?"

Badgertooth touched her shoulder gently with a paw. She automatically flinched away. "Have you been under some sort of stress lately?" Badgertooth asked.

"N-no, why?" Spottedsong asked.

"Trust me, I've seen enough stressed cats to know what it looks like. Some of my patients in the past have been thought to have something wrong with them, but they were just stressed," Badgertooth explained. "You can be honest with me."

"I haven't been stressed at all," Spottedsong lied, loosening her tense muscles. She couldn't let Badgertooth figure it out.

"All right. Well then, you're good to go. But if anything comes up, come straight here." Badgertooth's voice was more serious than usual. Spottedsong couldn't help but think that he was getting on to her as she left her nest and headed out of the den.

"Thanks," she called over her shoulder.

***

The rest of the morning sped by. Soon enough, it was evening. Gorseberry didn't do so much as look at her. The patrol that went out to look for Sparrowfeather and the kits hadn't returned since they left. Spottedsong felt like she couldn't interact with any cat or they would begin to suspect she was behind the murder like she feared. I'm so terrible at this. Most cats who kill another are so good at pretending nothing happened.

"Hey, Spottedsong." Cloudsky came over to sit beside Spottedsong. "You've been quiet all day. Are you okay?"

Spottedsong barely heard him; she was stuck in the whirlwind that was her thoughts. Will I have to carry this secret my whole life? Will Gorseberry even want to be my mate anymore? What if Lynxstar doesn't pick me-

"Spottedsong?"

"What-oh, sorry. I'm okay. Just tired."

Cloudsky narrowed his eyes. "No, you look distracted. You didn't even notice when I came over here, and you've barely interacted with any of your Clanmates today, not even Gorseberry. Come on, is everything actually okay?"

Spottedsong didn't respond. She just looked at her paws, feeling confused and trapped.

"It's okay if you don't want to say. But I have to do something to help. Is there anything you need?"

She shook her head.

"Spottedsong. I'm your littermate. It's my job to worry about you. I won't walk away knowing you're not okay." Spottedsong met her brother's gaze and found that it was full of sincerity, concern, and brotherly affection.

Spottedsong took a deep breath, looked up at the darkening sky, and then at Cloudsky. "Can you keep a secret? For me?"

"Of course," Cloudsky mewed, his eyes glittering.

"Can we talk somewhere private?"

Cloudsky sounded a bit less eager, and more reluctant now. "Sure." He followed Spottedsong as she led him away from the camp and to a thicket beside it. "So, what is it?"

"Well, you know how Gorseberry was trying to tell Lynxstar something, but no cat could decipher it?" Spottedsong asked, her heart beginning to race. She was taking a big risk, but she had faith in Cloudsky. He was a loyal cat.

"Yeah . . . ," Cloudsky answered.

"Well, what he was really trying to say was that I killed Owlheart." The moment the words 'I killed Owlheart' slipped from her mouth, she thought her heart would burst from her chest. Please don't be mad at me. Please don't be mad at me.

Instead of totally lashing out, Cloudsky just stared at her in utter shock. "You killed him? I mean, that's what I thought Gorseberry was getting at, but I didn't want to say it because it sounded ridiculous to me."

"But why would he lie? He's my mate!"

"I thought maybe he saw things wrong."

"That's absolutely mouse-brained!"

"Okay, then tell me why you killed him. You have to have a good reason, right?" Cloudsky's gaze was firm and serious, as was his voice.

"Well . . . okay, so you see this scar on my pad?" Spottedsong asked, turning her paw over so Cloudsky could see. "When I was-you know-tricked by MoonClan, they made me take this oath so I could 'prove I was loyal to MoonClan'. Obviously, I'm not, but I took the oath because they forced me to. And just yesterday, I saw Cypressstar, and he told me that if I killed Owlheart, I could be the deputy of FrostClan."

"It's not like he can make you deputy, though," Cloudsky murmured, obviously confused.

"Yeah, well he's convinced that Lynxstar will pick me. Am I even a suitable deputy? And what about when I take Lynxstar's place? I'll be a terrible leader!" Spottedsong cried.

"I think you'd be a great leader," Cloudsky pointed out. "Besides, I doubt you're her only choice. I mean, I believe you're already one of her suspects for the murder. She probably won't even pick you."

"Wow, thanks, that made me feel so much better," Spottedsong muttered sarcastically. "That's not the point. The point is, I didn't want to kill Owlheart! You understand, right?"

"Not really." Cloudsky narrowed his eyes. "I see you as the kind of cat who goes through with what you want, not what other cats want you to do."

"Well, it wasn't what I wanted, and I was scared into doing it!" Spottedsong said, her tone rising instinctively. "Just please promise me you won't tell anyone before I do."

"You plan on telling more cats?" Cloudsky asked. "That's really risky."

"I'm just telling you to not tell anyone. Maybe I will tell someone else, but you have to promise not to tell anyone, all right?" Spottedsong asked, lowering her voice now.

"Fine. Let's just go back to camp now. I think I heard Lynxstar call a Clan meeting." Cloudsky turned around and left, Spottedsong following close behind.

"Thanks," Spottedsong meowed, pressing against Cloudsky as they entered the camp. "I was really scared to tell you that."

Cloudsky nodded. "Of course. Anything for my littermates."

Sure enough, Lynxstar had called a Clan meeting. Nervousness churned inside Spottedsong as she realized it was probably to choose the next deputy. Would it be her? Or would all of this have been for nothing? She looked at Cloudsky, who looked back at her with an unreadable expression. Even though Spottedsong hadn't had an apprentice before, it had become a tradition-or something like that-over the seasons that the new deputy didn't have to have had an apprentice before, but it was preferred.

"But she started the meeting early. I mean, if she plans on appointing a new deputy," Spottedsong whispered.

"I've heard she was appointed deputy early, and a couple other leaders and deputies before her. It's probably safer that way anyway," Cloudsky decided. "You know, if the leader is too late to perform the ceremony, it's bad luck, so it's easier to be early than late."

"Sure."

Lynxstar started immediately after all her Clanmates were quiet. "The time has come for me to appoint a new deputy. Owlheart was a brave and loyal cat, and we shall always remember his legacy until the very end." She paused, closing her eyes momentarily, then she looked up at the midday sky. Though the stars were not visible, every cat in the Clan knew that StarClan was watching.

"I say these words before StarClan, so that the spirit of Owlheart"-Lynxstar's voice sounded tight and emotional for a heartbeat at the mention of the former deputy's name-"may hear and approve of my choice. The new deputy of FrostClan is Spottedsong."

Spottedsong's jaw fell open instinctively. She noticed that most of the Clan turned to look at her with surprised expressions on their faces, but she ignored them and looked straight at Lynxstar, dipping her head. "I know I could never be as outstanding as Owlheart was, but I promise I will do my best to serve my Clan."

"I know you will."