Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13 "I said, what are you doing here?" Leafpaw felt her pelt bristle as she met Crowfeather's furious glare. "I've come to help!" she hissed. "Morningflower and Darkfoot are ill. I've brought herbs for them." "How do you know what's wrong?" Crowfeather asked suspiciously. "Because we've got the same problem in ThunderClan," Leafpaw retorted. There was no need to tell him about Mothwing and the tainted water. She didn't want to give the prickly WindClan warrior the smallest chance to accuse Mothwing of deliberately poisoning the elders. "Back off, Crowfeather," Whitetail mewed. "I asked Leafpaw to come." The dark gray warrior let out a snort of disgust; he didn't say anything else, but he watched Leafpaw closely as she began to examine Morningflower. She found his presence thoroughly off-putting, but she couldn't tell him to go away, not in his own camp.

第十三章 “我说，你在这里做什么？” 叶爪迎上鸦羽愤怒的目光，浑身的毛都竖了起来。 “我是来帮忙的！” 她嘶声说道。 “晨花和暗脚生病了。 我给他们带药草来了。” “你怎么知道他们得了什么病？” 鸦羽满是怀疑地问道。 “因为雷族也爆发了一模一样的病，”叶针反驳道。 没必要告诉他蛾翅和水源被污染的事。 她不想给这个尖刻的风族武士半分机会，去指责蛾翅故意毒害长老。 “退开吧，鸦羽，”白尾轻声说道。 “是我请叶爪来的。” 这只深灰色武士不满地哼了一声； 他没再多说什么，但叶爪开始给晨花检查时，他一直紧紧盯着她。 他待在这儿让叶爪浑身不自在，但她没法赶他走，这里可是他的营地。

Once she was sure that Morningflower was suffering from the same illness as Mousefur and the others, Leafpaw chewed a few mint leaves into a pulp and used her claws to part Morningflower's jaws. Pushing the pulp into her mouth, she stroked her throat to make her swallow. Whitetail crouched close by. "Will she die?" "I don't know," Leafpaw admitted. Silently she added a prayer to StarClan: Please let her get well. As she waited for the healing herbs to work, she heard Darkfoot stirring; the old tomcat raised his head and looked around with bleary eyes. "Great StarClan, my belly aches," he complained. "Where's Barkface with that juniper?" "He's not back yet," Whitetail meowed. "But Leafpaw's here with some watermint." "Leafpaw?" Darkfoot blinked. "She's a ThunderClan cat." Before Leafpaw could explain, he added, "ThunderClan, WindClan, who cares, so long as she knows what she's doing." He chewed the mint leaves Leafpaw set in front of him, and rested his head on his paws again.

确认晨花得的病和鼠毛他们的一样后，叶爪嚼碎几片薄荷叶做成药浆，用爪子分开晨花的下颌。 把药浆推进她嘴里后，她轻抚晨花的喉咙帮她咽下去。 白尾蹲守在一旁。 “她会死吗？” “我不知道，”叶爪如实说道。 她在心里默默向星族祈祷：请让她好起来吧。 等药草发挥作用的时候，她听见暗脚动了动； 这只老公猫抬起头，睡眼惺忪地环顾四周。 “伟大的星族啊，我肚子好痛，”他抱怨道。 “巴脸带着杜松浆果去哪儿了？” “他还没回来，”白尾轻声说道。 “不过叶爪带了水薄荷过来。” “叶爪？”暗脚眨了眨眼睛。 “她是雷族的猫啊。” 叶爪还没来得及解释，他又说道：“雷族也好，风族也罢，谁在乎呢，只要她懂怎么治病就行。” 他嚼完叶爪放在面前的薄荷叶，又把脑袋搁回爪子上趴下了。

A choking sound from Morningflower drew Leafpaw's attention back to her; the old she-cat was retching feebly, her legs jerking. "What have you done to her?" Crowfeather snarled. "She's getting worse!" He tried to nudge Leafpaw away. She leaped backward, and he bared his teeth at her when she tried to dodge around him and get back to her patient. "Stop!" Spinning around, Leafpaw saw Onewhisker padding into the bushes, with Tornear just behind him. "Crowfeather, what do you think you're doing? Leafpaw has come to help." "She shouldn't be here," Crowfeather growled. "Are you saying she shouldn't do us a favor? She shouldn't try to save the life of one of our cats?" Onewhisker's voice was level, but tense with anger. When Crowfeather didn't reply, he added, "Since you're taking such an interest, you can stay and keep an eye on her. If she needs you to do anything, you do it. Leafpaw, don't be afraid to ask."

晨花发出一声呛咳，把叶爪的注意力拉回了她身上； 这只老母猫虚弱地干呕着，四肢不停抽搐。 “你对她做了什么？” 鸦羽怒吼道。 “她越来越严重了！” 他想把叶爪拱开。 叶爪向后跳开，当她想绕开他回到病人身边时，鸦羽对着她露出了尖牙。 “住手！” 叶爪转过身，看见一根须走进灌木丛，托尼尔跟在他身后。 “鸦羽，你看看你在做什么？ 叶爪是来帮忙的。” “她不该待在这里，”鸦羽低吼道。 “你是说她不该帮我们的忙？ 不该救我们族猫的命吗？” 一根须语气平稳，却满是压抑的怒火。 鸦羽没有答话，他又补充道：“既然你这么上心，你就留在这里盯着她。 要是她需要你做什么，你就去做。 叶爪，别不好意思开口找他帮忙。”

Leafpaw dipped her head. "Thanks, Onewhisker. I think Whitetail and I can manage." "I want Whitetail for a hunting patrol," Onewhisker told her. "But Crowfeather hasn't got anything else to do." He beckoned to Whitetail and padded away. Crowfeather glared at Leafpaw. "Treat me like an apprentice and you're crow-food," he hissed. Much as he had ruffled her fur, Leafpaw couldn't help feeling that Onewhisker had been a bit tough on Crowfeather. "Let's just concentrate on helping Morningflower," she mewed. "We need to get some more watermint down her." She chewed up more of the leaves, and asked Crowfeather to hold Morningflower's jaws open while she pushed the pulp into her mouth, praying that the old cat wouldn't vomit it up again. She flinched as Crowfeather's flank brushed hers, making her fur tingle like the air before a storm. He leaped back too, then stepped forward again without meeting her eyes, as if he were embarrassed. Morningflower had gone limp again, as if she

叶爪低下头。 “谢谢你，一根须。 我觉得我和白尾能应付。” “我要安排白尾去参加狩猎巡逻，”一根须对她说。 “反正鸦羽也没别的事要做。” 他招呼过白尾，就转身走开了。 鸦羽怒视着叶爪。 “你要是敢把我当学徒使唤，你就死定了，”他嘶声说道。 尽管鸦羽一直惹她不快，叶爪也不禁觉得一根须对鸦羽有点太苛刻了。 “我们专心帮晨花就好，”她说道。 “我们得再让她咽点水薄荷下去。” 她又嚼了些叶子，请鸦羽按住晨花张开嘴，把药浆推进去，一边祈祷这只老猫别再把药吐出来。 鸦羽的身侧擦过她的时候，叶爪缩了一下，她的毛发像暴风雨前的空气一样一阵发麻。 他也往后跳开，接着又走上前，不敢看她的眼睛，好像他很尴尬似的。 晨花已经又变得浑身瘫软，仿佛她

were exhausted. Leafpaw sat beside her, stroking her belly gently with her tail. She was acutely conscious of Crowfeather watching her, and wished he would go away. After a while she thought that the old she- cat's breathing was growing stronger. Darkfoot was dozing again, occasionally letting out a rusty purr. "Are they getting better?" Crowfeather whispered. "I think so," Leafpaw replied. "I'm sure Darkfoot will be fine. It's Morningflower I'm worried about." "Leafpaw." A shadow fell across Morningflower's body, and Leafpaw looked up to see Barkface. "It's good to see you." He spoke around a leaf-wrapped bundle; when he set it down the leaves fell back to show a few shriveled juniper berries. "Barkface, I hope you don't mind," Leafpaw began nervously. "I met some of your Clan in the woods, and they said Morningflower was very ill. We've had the same trouble, so—" Barkface interrupted her with a wave of the

大家都累坏了。 叶爪坐在她身边，用尾巴轻轻蹭着她的肚子。 她清楚察觉到鸦羽在看她，巴不得他赶紧走开。 过了一会儿，她发觉这只老猫的呼吸渐渐有力起来。 暗足又打起盹，偶尔发出沙哑的呼噜声。 "它们好点了吗？" 鸦羽小声问。 "我觉得是的，"叶爪回答。 "我肯定暗脚会没事的。 我担心的是 晨光花。" "叶爪。" 一片影子落在晨光花身上，叶爪抬头一看，来者是疤脸。 "很高兴见到你。" 他叼着叶子包的小包说话， 放下包后叶子散开，露出几颗皱巴巴的杜松浆果。 "疤脸，希望你别介意，"叶爪紧张地开口。 "我在树林里遇到你们族的猫，他们说晨光花病得很重。 我们也遇上过同样的疫情，所以——"疤脸挥着他的

tail. "You're very welcome. I've no idea yet where the best herbs grow— I found only one juniper bush, and birds must have taken most of the berries." Sniffing carefully at Morningflower, he added, "She's better than when I left. What are you giving her— watermint? Good thinking, though I'd use juniper myself, if I could find enough." "Can I go, then?" Crowfeather asked loudly. "Oh, yes, yes." Barkface waved him away. "I can take over now." Leafpaw watched him go, wondering why she was feeling disappointed. She hated the idea of falling out with any cat, but it hurt even more when Crowfeather was a friend of Squirrelflight's— though what her sister saw in him, she couldn't begin to guess. "You'd better go too, Leafpaw," Barkface meowed. "You've done good work here, and your own Clan will be needing you." Leaving what was left of the watermint, Leafpaw rose to her paws. "Let me know how Morningflower gets on." "I will. I'll get a message to you somehow,"

尾巴，打断了她的话。 "非常欢迎你过来。 我还没找到好药草的生长地——我只找到一丛杜松，大部分浆果肯定都被鸟叼走了。" 他仔细闻了闻晨光花，补充道："她比我离开的时候好多了。 你给她用了什么——水薄荷吗？ 想得不错，要是能找到足够的杜松，我也会用杜松的。" "那我可以走了吗？" 鸦羽大声问。 "哦，去吧，去吧。" 疤脸挥手让他离开。 "现在我来接手就好。" 叶爪看着他走了，纳闷自己为什么会觉得失望。 她不想和任何猫闹僵，而且鸦羽是松鼠飞的朋友，这让她更难受——可她完全猜不透姐姐看上他哪点。 "你也回去吧，叶爪，"疤脸开口说。 "你在这儿帮了大忙，你自己的族群还等着你回去呢。" 叶爪留下剩下的水薄荷，站起身来。 "记得告诉我晨光花的情况哦。" "我会的。 我会想办法给你带信的，"