Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1 It was very dark. Rusty could sense something was near. The young tomcat's eyes opened wide as he scanned the dense undergrowth. This place was unfamiliar, but the strange scents drew him onward, deeper into the shadows. His stomach growled, reminding him of his hunger. He opened his jaws slightly to let the warm smells of the forest reach the scent glands on the roof of his mouth. Musty odors of leaf mold mingled with the tempting aroma of a small furry creature. Suddenly a flash of gray raced past him. Rusty stopped still, listening. It was hiding in the leaves less than two tail-lengths away. Rusty knew it was a mouse—he could feel the rapid pulsing of a tiny heart deep within his ear fur. He swallowed, stifling his rumbling stomach. Soon his hunger would be satisfied. Slowly he lowered his body into position, crouching for the attack. He was downwind of the mouse. He knew it was not aware of him. With one final check on his prey's position, Rusty pushed back hard on his haunches and sprang, kicking up leaves on the forest floor as he rose.

第一章 天特别黑。 拉斯蒂能感觉到有什么东西就在附近。 这只年轻的公猫睁大了眼睛，扫视着茂密的灌木丛。 这个地方他完全陌生，但奇怪的气味吸引着他继续往阴影深处走。 肚子咕咕叫了，提醒着他早就饿了。 他微微张开嘴，让森林里温暖的气味飘进上颚的嗅腺里。 腐叶的霉味里混着一只毛茸茸小生物诱人的香气。 突然一道灰影从他身边窜了过去。 拉斯蒂立刻停下，侧耳倾听。 那家伙就藏在不到两个尾巴长度远的落叶堆里。 拉斯蒂知道那是一只老鼠——他耳毛深处都能感觉到那颗小心脏在快速跳动。 他咽了咽口水，忍住肚子的咕噜声。 很快他就能填饱肚子了。 他慢慢伏低身子，摆好姿势，蹲伏着准备攻击。 他处在老鼠的下风处。 他知道老鼠还没发现他。 最后确认完猎物的位置，拉斯蒂后爪用力一蹬，猛地扑出，跃起时带起了林地上的落叶。

The mouse dived for cover, heading toward a hole in the ground. But Rusty was already on top of it. He scooped it into the air, hooking the helpless creature with his thorn-sharp claws, flinging it up in a high arc onto the leaf-covered ground. The mouse landed dazed, but alive. It tried to run, but Rusty snatched it up again. He tossed the mouse once more, this time a little farther away. The mouse managed to scramble a few paces before Rusty caught up with it. Suddenly a noise roared nearby. Rusty looked around, and as he did so, the mouse was able to pull away from his claws. When Rusty turned back he saw it dart into the darkness among the tangled roots of a tree. Angry, Rusty gave up the hunt. He spun around, his green eyes glaring, intent on searching out the noise that had cost him his kill. The sound rattled on, becoming more familiar. Rusty blinked open his eyes. The forest had disappeared. He was inside a hot and airless kitchen, curled in his bed. Moonlight filtered through the window, casting shadows on the smooth, hard floor. The noise had

老鼠连忙找地方躲，朝着地上的洞钻过去。 可拉斯蒂已经扑到它身上了。 他把老鼠刨到空中，用荆棘般锋利的爪子勾住这个无助的小家伙，把它高高甩起，弧线落在满是落叶的地上。 老鼠落地的时候晕乎乎的，但还活着。 它想跑，可拉斯蒂又一把抓住了它。 他再一次把老鼠抛出去，这次抛得远了一点。 老鼠刚拼命跑了几步，拉斯蒂就追上来抓住它。 突然附近传来一阵轰隆隆的响声。 拉斯蒂转头去看，就在这时候，老鼠趁机从他爪子里挣脱跑了。 等拉斯蒂转回头，只看见老鼠窜进大树交错的树根间的黑暗里不见了。 拉斯蒂很生气，放弃了这次捕猎。 他转过身，绿眼睛怒瞪着，要找出搅黄他猎物的声音来源。 声音还在响，慢慢变得熟悉起来。 拉斯蒂眨了眨眼，醒了过来。 森林消失了。 原来他正待在闷热不透风的厨房里，蜷在自己的小窝里。 月光透过窗户洒进来，在光滑坚硬的地板上投下阴影。 那声音

been the rattle of hard, dried pellets of food as they were tipped into his dish. Rusty had been dreaming. Lifting his head, he rested his chin on the side of his bed. His collar rubbed uncomfortably around his neck. In his dream he had felt fresh air ruffling the soft fur where the collar usually pinched. Rusty rolled onto his back, savoring the dream for a few more moments. He could still smell mouse. It was the third time since full moon that he'd had the dream, and every time the mouse had escaped his grasp. He licked his lips. From his bed he could smell the bland odor of his food. His owners always refilled his dish before they went to bed. The dusty smell chased away the warm scents of his dream. But the hunger rumbled on in his stomach, so Rusty stretched the sleep out of his limbs and padded across the kitchen floor to his dinner. The food felt dry and tasteless on his tongue. Rusty reluctantly swallowed one more mouthful. Then he turned away from the food dish and pushed his way out through the cat flap, hoping that the smell of the garden would bring

是干猫粮掉进食盆里发出的哗啦声。 原来拉斯蒂刚刚在做梦。 他抬起头，下巴搁在窝边。 脖子上的项圈磨得他很不舒服。 在梦里，新鲜空气拂过平日里被项圈挤着的柔软毛发。 拉斯蒂翻了个身仰躺，又回味了一会儿刚才的梦。 他好像还能闻到老鼠的味道。 这是满月之后第三次做这个梦了，每次老鼠都从他爪下逃走了。 他舔了舔嘴唇。 从窝里就能闻到自己食物淡乎乎的味道。 他的主人总在睡觉前把他的食盆加满。 这种干巴巴的味道赶走了梦里温暖的气息。 可肚子还是饿得咕咕叫，所以拉斯蒂伸个懒腰赶走睡意，踩着步子穿过厨房地板去吃晚饭。 食物落在舌头上干巴巴的，一点味道都没有。 拉斯蒂不情愿地又咽了一口。 然后他转身离开食盆，从猫门挤出去，希望花园的气息能带

back the feelings from his dream. Outside, the moon was bright. It was raining lightly. Rusty stalked down the tidy garden, following the starlit gravel path, feeling the stones cold and sharp beneath his paws. He made his dirt beneath a large bush with glossy green leaves and heavy purple flowers. Their sickly sweet scent cloyed the damp air around him, and he curled his lip to drive the smell out of his nostrils. Afterward, Rusty settled down on top of one of the posts in the fence that marked the limits of his garden. It was a favorite spot of his, as he could see right into the neighboring gardens as well as into the dense green forest on the other side of the garden fence. The rain had stopped. Behind him, the close- cropped lawn was bathed in moonlight, but beyond his fence the woods were full of shadows. Rusty stretched his head forward to take a sniff of the damp air. His skin was warm and dry under his thick coat, but he could feel the weight of the raindrops that sparkled on his ginger fur. He heard his owners giving him one last call from the back door. If he went to them now, they

回他梦里的那种感觉。 外面，月光格外明亮。 下着毛毛雨。 拉斯蒂沿着整洁的花园慢慢走，顺着星光下的碎石路，爪子底下的石头冰凉锋利。 他在一丛长着油亮绿叶和沉甸甸紫花的大灌木下方便。 甜得发腻的气味闷在潮湿的空气里，他皱起鼻子把味道挡在鼻孔外。 之后，拉斯蒂跳坐到花园围栏的一根柱子上，这儿就是他花园的边界。 这是他最喜欢的位置，从这儿能清楚看到邻居的花园，还有围栏另一边茂密的森林。 雨停了。 他身后修剪整齐的草坪浸在月光里，围栏外的树林却藏在重重阴影中。 拉斯蒂伸头向前，吸了一口潮湿的空气。 他厚实皮毛下的皮肤温暖干燥，姜黄色皮毛上沾着亮晶晶的雨滴，带着分量。 他听到主人在后门口喊他回去。 如果他现在回去，他们

would greet him with gentle words and caresses and welcome him onto their bed, where he would curl, purring, warm in the crook of a bent knee. But this time Rusty ignored his owners" voices and turned his gaze back to the forest. The crisp smell of the woods had grown fresher after the rain. Suddenly the fur on his spine prickled. Was something moving out there? Was something watching him? Rusty stared ahead, but it was impossible to see or smell anything in the dark, tree-scented air. He lifted his chin boldly, stood up, and stretched, one paw gripping each corner of the fencepost as he straightened his legs and arched his back. He closed his eyes and breathed in the smell of the woods once more. It seemed to promise him something, tempting him onward into the whispering shadows. Tensing his muscles, he crouched for a moment. Then he leaped lightly down into the rough grass on the other side of the garden fence. As he landed, the bell on his collar rang out through the still night air. "Where are you off to, Rusty?" meowed a familiar voice behind him.

主人总会温柔地招呼他、抚摸他，欢迎他上床，他会蜷成一团呼噜着，暖暖地窝在主人弯起的膝窝里。 可这一次，拉斯特没理会主人们的呼唤，转头望向森林的方向。 雨后森林清冽的气息变得越发清新。 突然，他脊背上的毛发一下子竖了起来。 有东西在那边动吗？ 有东西正盯着他看吗？ 拉斯特紧盯着前方，可混杂着树木气息的黑夜中，什么都看不见，也什么都闻不到。 他大胆扬起下巴，站起身伸了个懒腰，两只爪子分别搭在围栏柱两端，伸直腿，拱起背。 他闭上眼睛，再一次吸了口森林的气息。 这气息仿佛对他许下了邀约，引诱着他走进低语的阴影里。 他绷紧肌肉，蹲伏了一小会儿。 接着他轻轻一跃，跳到花园围栏另一边的杂草丛里。 落地时，他项圈上的铃铛在静谧的夜空中响了起来。 “你要去哪儿呀，拉斯特？”一个熟悉的声音在他身后喵喵响起。

Rusty looked up. A young black-and-white cat was balancing ungracefully on the fence. "Hello, Smudge," Rusty replied. "You're not going to go into the woods, are you?" Smudge's amber eyes were huge. "Just for a look," Rusty promised, shifting uncomfortably. "You wouldn't get me in there. It's dangerous!" Smudge wrinkled his black nose with distaste. "Henry said he went into the woods once." The cat lifted his head and gestured with his nose over the rows of fences toward the garden where Henry lived. "That fat old tabby never went into the woods!" Rusty scoffed. "He's hardly been beyond his own garden since his trip to the vet. All he wants to do is eat and sleep." "No, really. He caught a robin there!" Smudge insisted. "Well, if he did, then it was before the vet. Now he complains about birds because they disturb his dozing." "Well, anyway," Smudge went on, ignoring the scorn in Rusty's mew, "Henry told me there are all

拉斯特抬起了头。 一只年轻的黑白花猫歪歪扭扭地站在围栏上。 “你好呀，斯玛奇。”拉斯特回应道。 “你该不会真的要进森林吧？” 斯玛奇的琥珀色眼睛睁得大大的。 “我就进去看看。”拉斯特说着，不自在地挪了挪身子。 “给我多少钱我都不去。 那里太危险了！” 斯玛奇皱起黑鼻子，满脸都是嫌恶。 “亨利说他曾经进过一次森林。” 这只猫抬起头，用鼻子指向一排排围栏那头亨利住的花园。 “那只胖虎斑才没进过森林呢！” 拉斯特嗤之以鼻。 “自从他去看兽医之后，连自己的花园都很少出。 他成天就知道吃了睡。” “不对，是真的。 他在那儿捉到了一只知更鸟！” 斯玛奇坚持道。 “哼，就算真有这事，那也是看兽医之前的事了， 现在他还抱怨鸟儿吵他睡觉呢。” “哎呀，不管怎么说，”斯玛奇没理会拉斯特话里的轻蔑，继续说道，“亨利说里面全是