Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 "Hey, Squirrelflight!" Squirrelflight looked up from the mouse she was eating beside the fresh-kill pile. Her fur was ruffled uncomfortably by a cold wind. The weather had been gray and blustery for several days and the promise of early newleaf had vanished. "Want to go for a hunt?" Cloudtail asked, strolling up to her. "Brackenfur and Spiderleg are coming." "Great!" Squirrelflight replied. Brackenfur was talking to Ashfur and the two apprentices near the thorn tunnel. He seemed to be giving them an order, waving his tail for emphasis. Then Ashfur led the two apprentices toward the elders" den, while Brackenfur strode over to join Squirrelflight and Cloudtail. "Ashfur is going to supervise Whitepaw and Birchpaw while they do their duties for the elders," he explained. "They keep asking to work together." Squirrelflight could understand why.

第九章 "嘿，松鼠飞！" 松鼠飞正在猎食堆旁吃老鼠，闻声抬起了头 冷风吹得她的毛发乱糟糟，很不舒服 连着好几天都是大风阴天，早来新叶的希望已经落了空 "要不要一起去打猎呀？" 云尾一边问，一边慢悠悠走到她身旁 "蕨毛和蜘蛛腿也一起去。" "太棒啦！" 松鼠飞回答道 蕨毛正在荆棘隧道旁和灰毛还有两名学徒说话 他晃着尾巴强调，看起来正给他们下达指令 接着灰毛带着两名学徒往长老巢穴走去，蕨毛则迈步过来和松鼠飞、云尾会合 "灰毛要去监督白爪和桦爪完成给长老的任务，"他解释道 "他们一直要求一起干活。" 松鼠飞明白他们为什么想要这样

Whitepaw had been the only apprentice since Spiderleg had been made a warrior more than a moon ago, while Birchpaw had been alone in the nursery since the Clan came to their new territory. Squirrelflight remembered how much fun it had been to train with others when she had been an apprentice. Her best friend then had been Shrewpaw, who had died on their journey to the lake; she would have liked to train with Leafpool, but right from a tiny kit her sister had seemed to know that her path led to the medicine cat's den. Swallowing the last gulp of mouse, Squirrelflight sprang to her paws. "Where are we going?" she asked, licking a paw and swiping it over her jaws to remove the traces of fresh-kill. "I thought we might try the stream close to the lake," Brackenfur replied. "There's good cover there, plenty of places for prey to hide. Where's Spiderleg?" he added. Before Cloudtail could answer, the long- legged black warrior pushed his way out through the branches of the warriors" den and bounded across the clearing. "What are we waiting for?" he

一个多月前蜘蛛腿升为武士后，白爪就成了族里唯一的学徒；而自从族群来到新领地，桦爪就一直独自待在育婴室 松鼠飞还记得自己当学徒的时候，和同伴一起训练有多开心 那时候她最好的朋友是锐爪，锐爪在前往湖区的路上去世了； 她原本也想和叶池一起训练，但她妹妹还是小幼崽的时候，就清楚自己注定要去巫医巢穴 咽下最后一口老鼠肉，松鼠飞一下子站起身 "我们要去哪儿？" 她问道，舔了舔爪子，再用爪子抹过嘴巴，擦去猎物残渣 "我们可以去湖边附近的溪流试试，"蕨毛回答 那里掩护好，有很多适合猎物躲藏的地方 蜘蛛腿在哪儿？"他又问道 云尾还没来得及回答，这只长腿黑武士就钻出武士巢穴的树枝，蹦跳着穿过了营地空地 "我们还在等什么？" 他

demanded. "You." Cloudtail flicked his tail over Spiderleg's ear. "Let's go." Wind thrashed the branches above their heads and almost flattened the ferns as the four cats headed toward the stream. Squirrelflight shivered as it tugged her fur the wrong way, but there was something exhilarating about it too, as if it would make her senses keener and her paws run faster. Gradually she quickened her pace until she was racing through the woods with her tail streaming out behind her. "Wait for us!" Brackenfur called. Cloudtail was running alongside her, his white pelt almost brushing hers, and Brackenfur caught up on her other side. With a yowl of triumph Spiderleg flashed past all three of them, his long legs eating up the ground. "Don't go too far ahead!" Cloudtail panted. "You'll scare all the prey." Squirrelflight slowed down; the run had stretched her muscles and made her feel she had enough energy for anything. They caught up with Spiderleg near the top of the bank that led down

问道 "就等你呢。" 云尾的尾巴轻轻扫过蜘蛛腿的耳朵 "我们走吧。" 四只猫朝溪流走去，狂风抽打头顶的树枝，几乎把蕨草都吹趴下了 狂风逆着吹乱松鼠飞的毛发，她打了个哆嗦，但也觉得这风让人心头发奋，仿佛能让感官更敏锐、爪子跑得更快 她渐渐加快了脚步，最后在林间狂奔起来，尾巴在身后直直飘着 "等等我们！" 蕨毛喊道 云尾跑在她身边，白色皮毛几乎蹭到她，蕨毛也从她另一侧赶了上来 蜘蛛腿发出一声胜利的嚎叫，从三只猫身边一闪而过，大长腿迈得飞快，把大家甩在身后 "别跑太靠前！" 云尾喘着气说 "你会把所有猎物都吓跑的。" 松鼠飞放慢了脚步； 这一路奔跑拉伸了她的肌肉，让她觉得自己浑身充满力气，什么都难不倒她 他们在向下延伸的堤岸顶端附近追上了蜘蛛腿

to the stream; he twitched his tail, warning them to keep silent, and Squirrelflight saw that he had spotted a starling. He dropped into the hunter's crouch, waggling his hindquarters as he crept up on the bird. He was ready to pounce when suddenly the wind changed, parting the grasses that had concealed Spiderleg from his prey. The starling let out a loud alarm call. Spiderleg leapt, but the bird fluttered away from his outstretched forepaws and vanished into a tree. Spiderleg turned back to his Clanmates with his tail drooping. "Sorry." "Nothing to be sorry for," Brackenfur meowed to the younger warrior. "It was just bad luck, the wind changing like that." Squirrelflight stood on the bank, listening to the clatter of the branches and the stream bubbling below. Downstream, between the trees, she could see the surface of the lake, gray and ridged as the wind swept over it. For a moment she thought she heard another sound, the faint cry of a cat in distress, but it wasn't repeated, and Squirrelflight thought she must have imagined it. Cloudtail came to stand beside her. "Can you

通向溪流； 他动动尾巴提醒大家别出声，松鼠飞这才看到，他盯上了一只椋鸟 他摆出捕猎的蹲伏姿势，晃着后臀，悄悄向鸟儿靠近 就在他准备扑上去的时候，风向忽然变了，吹开了挡住蜘蛛腿的草 椋鸟发出一声响亮的警报叫 蜘蛛腿猛地扑出，可鸟儿扑腾着躲开了他伸出去的前爪，飞到树上不见了 蜘蛛腿垂着尾巴走回族猫身边 "抱歉。" "没什么好抱歉的，"蕨毛对这只年轻武士说 "只是运气不好，风偏偏这时候变了向。" 松鼠飞站在堤岸上，听着树枝哗哗作响，身下溪流汩汩流动 下游的树林之间，她能看见湖面，风吹过湖面，灰蒙蒙的水面泛起层层波纹 有一瞬间她好像听到另一个声音，是遇险的猫发出的微弱叫声，可声音没再出现，松鼠飞觉得肯定是自己听错了 云尾走过来站在她身边 "你能

scent anything?" Squirrelflight shook her head. The white warrior opened his jaws and tasted the air. Squirrelflight saw his ears prick up, and he exclaimed, "Intruders!" "WindClan?" Brackenfur joined them and peered down at the stream that formed the border. Even now, at the end of leaf-bare, the slope was covered with grass and fern, where invaders could hide as easily as prey. "No, not WindClan." Cloudtail drew in the scent again. "I don't know who it is." Squirrelflight tasted the air. Cloudtail was right. There was definitely the scent of a cat— maybe more than one—but it wasn't from any of the Clans. It was a pungent scent, with a hint of grass, and it was coming from close by. "Rogues, do you think?" Spiderleg began to creep down the bank. "Stay where you are!" Cloudtail snapped. "Would you go sticking your nose into a bee's nest? We need to know what we're dealing with." He took a pace forward and called out, "Who's there? Show yourself!"

闻到什么了吗？" 松鼠飞摇了摇头。 那只白色武士张开嘴，辨别空气中的气味。 松鼠飞看见他猛地竖起耳朵，大喊道："入侵者！" "风Clan？" 蕨毛走了过来，盯着构成边界的小溪望去。 即使到了秃叶季末，山坡上仍长满青草和蕨类，入侵者能像猎物一样轻易藏在这里。 "不，不是风Clan。" 云尾又嗅了嗅那气味。 "我不知道这是谁的气味。" 松鼠飞也辨别了空气中的气味。 云尾是对的。 这里确实有猫的气味——也许不止一只——但不属于任何一个族群。 这气味很刺鼻，带着一丝青草味，来自很近的地方。 "你觉得是泼皮猫吗？" 蜘蛛爪开始悄悄往河岸下走。 "待在原地别动！" 云尾厉声喝道。 "你难道想把鼻子伸进马蜂窝里吗？ 我们得先弄清楚要面对的是什么。" 他向前踏出一步，大声喊道："谁在那里？ 出来！"

Squirrelflight scanned the ground that led down to the stream, muscles tensed for the first sign of danger. "If they're looking for trouble, they can have it," she muttered. "We know you're there!" Cloudtail called again. "Come out!" A tussock of long grass at the edge of the stream parted. To Squirrelflight's astonishment a she-cat with long, cream-colored fur padded out. "It's Daisy from the horseplace!" Squirrelflight exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Are you lost?" Privately, she couldn't believe that even a kittypet could get lost here, when all she had to do was follow the lakeshore back to her home. The she-cat cowered in the shelter of a bush and pressed herself to the ground as she looked up at the warriors. "Please don't hurt me," she mewed. "I'll chase her out," Spiderleg offered, crouching down as if preparing to pounce on prey. Cloudtail swished his tail. "Stand up, mouse- brain," he snapped. "Let's find out what's going on first."

松鼠飞扫视着通往小溪的地面，肌肉紧绷，随时准备应对危险的信号。 "要是他们来找麻烦，我们奉陪到底。"她低声咕哝道。 "我们知道你在那里！" 云尾又喊了一声。 "出来！" 溪边一丛长草向两边分开了。 让松鼠飞大吃一惊的是，一只长着奶油色长毛的母猫慢慢走了出来。 "这是马场的黛西呀！" 松鼠飞惊呼道。 "你在这里做什么？ 你迷路了吗？" 她暗自心想，就算是宠物猫也不可能在这里迷路，只要沿着湖岸走就能回家了。 这只母猫缩在灌木丛后，紧紧贴住地面，抬头看着这群武士。 "请不要伤害我。"她轻声说道。 "我来把她赶走。"蜘蛛爪主动请缨，俯下身就像要扑向猎物一样。 云尾甩了甩尾巴。 "站起来，笨脑子。"他厉声呵斥道。 "我们先弄清楚是怎么回事再说。"