Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13 "I'll be glad when newleaf comes," Mothwing remarked, turning over her store of juniper berries with one paw. "We're very short of herbs." "It's just as bad in ThunderClan," Leafpool told her, touching her shoulder sympathetically with the tip of her tail. "This has been a long leaf- bare, and we don't know the best places yet to find supplies. At least your cats are getting well now." "Yes, thanks to you." Mothwing let out a purr, then turned to Willowkit, who was standing just outside the medicine cat's den, shifting from paw to paw. "Give two juniper berries to each cat— except for Minnowkit and Pebblekit. They can have one each. Can you remember what juniper is for?" The small gray kit paused with one paw raised, ready to snag a couple of berries on her claws. "Bellyache," she began, eyes narrowed with the effort of remembering, "but they're getting better, and their bellies aren't aching anymore."

第十三章 “真希望新叶快点来，” 蛾翅一边用爪子翻弄她储存的杜松浆果，一边说道。 “我们的药草快不够用了。” “雷族也一样缺，” 叶池用尾尖轻轻碰了碰蛾翅的肩膀，同情地说道。 “这个秃季太长了，我们还没摸清找药草的最佳地点呢。 至少你的族猫现在都在好起来啦。” “是啊，这都多亏了你。” 蛾翅轻轻咕噜了一声，接着转向站在巫医洞门口、不停换脚晃悠的小柳。 “每只猫给两颗杜松浆果——除了小米诺和小卵石。 他们每人吃一颗就好。 你还记得杜松是治什么的吗？” 这只灰色小崽抬着一只爪子正准备勾浆果，听到问题停了下来。 “治肚子痛呀，” 她皱着眉头努力回想，“不过他们都好多了，肚子也不疼了呀。”

She hesitated, puzzled; then her eyes brightened. "Strength!" she mewed triumphantly. "You're giving them juniper so they'll get strong again." "Very good!" Mothwing purred. She watched the young kit as she tottered away to give the juniper to Dawnflower. "She's been such a help —and so have you, Leafpool. My Clanmates would have died without you." "I don't think so," Leafpool meowed, embarrassed by her friend's praise. "You knew what to treat them with all along." Her third night in the RiverClan camp was drawing to an end. Dew glittered on every leaf and blade of grass in the slanting rays of the sun, and Leafpool was convinced it felt warmer than before. Newleaf could not be far off. No more RiverClan cats had fallen ill. Mistyfoot had organized the fittest warriors to clean up any traces of the silver-green liquid they found in and around the camp, while Hawkfrost had finished the barrier around the Twoleg thing and made sure every cat knew they had to avoid it. Meanwhile, all the remaining cats who had

她顿了顿，有点困惑，接着眼睛一下子亮了起来。 “补力气！” 她得意地喵喵叫着说。 “你给他们吃杜松，是帮他们快点养足力气呀。” “非常棒！” 蛾翅咕噜着说。 她看着小柳摇摇晃晃走开，把杜松送给曙花。 “她帮了我好大的忙——叶池，你也帮了我好多。 没有你，我的族猫肯定活不下来。” “哪有这么严重，” 叶池被朋友夸赞得有点不好意思， “从一开始你就知道该怎么治疗他们呀。” 她在河族营地停留的第三个夜晚快要结束了。 斜斜的阳光里，每片叶子、每根草都沾着亮晶晶的露水，叶池也觉得天气确实比之前暖和了。 新叶已经不远了。 再也没有河族猫染病了。 雾脚安排了最强健的武士清理营地内外找到的银绿色液体残渣，鹰霜则修完了两脚兽那东西周围的围栏，还叮嘱所有族猫都必须躲开那里。 与此同时，所有剩下的

been poisoned by the sticky stuff were recovering. Heavystep had already returned to the elders" den, while Minnowkit and Pebblekit were feeling well enough to get into mischief. They were down by the stream now, dabbing a paw into the water as if they were pretending to fish. "Stay away from the edge!" Mothwing called out. "I don't have time to rescue you if you fall in." The two kits glanced at each other and drew back a couple of pawsteps, then started to chase each other in a circle. "They'll have to go back to the nursery," Mothwing sighed. "Dawnflower isn't really strong enough to look after them yet, but I'll get Mosspelt to help her. They'll only get into trouble if they stay here. I caught Minnowkit sniffing around my herb store yesterday." Leafpool let out a mrrow of amusement. "You'd think they'd had enough bellyache without stuffing themselves with the wrong sort of herbs." She stood up and gave herself a good long

沾了黏糊糊毒药的猫都在慢慢恢复。 重步已经回到长老巢穴了，小米诺和小卵石也好得能四处捣蛋了。 他们这会儿就在小溪边，把爪子伸进水里，假装钓鱼玩。 “离岸边远一点！” 蛾翅大声喊道。 “你们要是掉下去，我可没时间救你们。” 两只小崽对视一眼，往后退了几爪步，接着就转着圈你追我赶玩起来。 “他们得回育儿室去了，” 蛾翅叹着气说。 “曙花现在还没力气照顾他们，我会叫藓毛过来帮忙的。 他们留在这里只会闯祸。 昨天我还抓到小米诺在我的药草堆旁乱闻呢。” 叶池乐得发出阵阵笑声。 “你说他们明明都肚子疼过了，还非要乱吃不对的药草。” 她站起身，好好伸了个

stretch. Along the bank of the stream the sick cats were stirring: Dawnflower had rolled onto her side to wash her belly fur, while Beechpaw was sitting up with his jaws parted in an enormous yawn. No cat looked uncomfortable or in pain. "It's time I was leaving," Leafpool meowed. "You don't need me anymore." Mothwing nodded, although there was a flash of regret in her eyes. "It's been great, having another medicine cat to work with. But I know you have to go home to your Clan." "You're leaving?" Willowkit bounced up to them to collect another dose of juniper berries. "We'll miss you, Leafpool." Hesitantly she added to Mothwing, "Will you still need me to help?" "Of course I will," Mothwing reassured her. Willowkit's tail pointed straight up and her eyes shone. Leafpool padded along the bank to say goodbye to those cats who were awake. When she returned to Mothwing's den she saw that Leopardstar had appeared. "Mothwing tells me you're leaving," the

大懒腰。 小溪岸边，生病的猫都醒过来活动了：曙花侧过身舔净肚毛，比奇爪则坐起身，张开嘴打了个大大的哈欠。 没有哪只猫看起来还难受或是疼痛。 “我该离开了，” 叶池说道。 “你们已经不需要我了。” 蛾翅点了点头，眼里闪过一丝不舍。 “能有另一位巫医和我一起干活，真的太好了。 但我知道你得回你的族群了。” “你要走了吗？” 小柳蹦到他们跟前，准备再拿一些杜松浆果。 “叶池，我们会想你的。” 她犹豫着问蛾翅：“你还需要我帮忙吗？” “当然需要呀，” 蛾翅安抚她说。 小柳的尾巴直直竖了起来，眼睛亮闪闪的。 叶池沿着河岸走去，和那些醒着的猫道别。 她回到蛾翅的巢穴时，看见豹星已经来了。 “蛾翅告诉我你要走了，” 这只

RiverClan leader meowed. "The thanks of all RiverClan go with you, Leafpool." Leafpool bowed her head. "Any medicine cat would have done the same." "We won't forget in a hurry," Leopardstar told her. "Have a safe journey, and give my thanks to Firestar, too." With a last good-bye to Mothwing, Leafpool followed the stream down to the lake, splashing through at a shallow spot and heading along the shore, past the tree-bridge. She hoped Crowfeather hadn't been too angry when she had broken her promise to meet him. She had forgotten about him on the first night in her desperate rush to help the sick cats, and on the next two nights she had been too exhausted. Besides, she hadn't known if he would wait for her again, since she'd let him down the first time. When she reached WindClan territory she kept one eye on the moorland, half-hoping to see his lean, gray-black shape racing toward her, yet half-dreading it too. Maybe it was better to end it this way, letting him think she wasn't interested. But the only WindClan cats she spotted were

河族首领喵呜说道。 “全河族都感激你，叶池。” 叶池低下了头。 “换作任何巫医都会这么做的。” “我们不会轻易忘记这份恩情的，”豹星对她说。 “一路平安，也替我向火星转达我的谢意。” 和蛾翅最后道别后，叶池顺着溪流走到湖边，踩着浅滩溅着水花蹚过去，沿着岸边往前走，走过了树桥。 她希望自己爽约没去见鸦羽，他不会太生气。 第一天晚上她急着救助病猫，完全把他忘了，之后两天又累得筋疲力尽。 再说，第一次已经让他失望了，她也不确定他还会不会再等她。 走到风族领地后，她一直留意着荒原，一半盼着看到他精瘦的灰黑身影朝自己奔来，一半又暗暗害怕见到他。 或许就这样结束更好，就让他觉得自己对他没兴趣吧。 可她只看到了几只风族猫，它们

a patrol high up on the hillside; they were too far away for her to identify them, except to be sure none of them was Crowfeather. She felt as if she would recognize his sleek dark shape from the other side of the lake. As she approached the stone hollow, the warm scent of ThunderClan cats surrounded her. A purr rose in her throat and she pushed her way eagerly through the thorn tunnel, glad to be home. Firestar was talking to Cloudtail close to the nursery entrance. "I can't see Daisy ever becoming a warrior," Leafpool heard him meow as she approached. "But sure, you can teach her some fighting moves. She needs to be able to defend herself and her kits if she's going to live in the wild." Cloudtail's blue eyes gleamed. "She'll be fine," he promised, before vanishing into the brambles to tell her. Firestar shook his head doubtfully, then straightened up as he spotted Leafpool. "Welcome back," he purred, touching her ear with his nose. "How are things in RiverClan?"

在山坡高处巡逻； 他们离得太远，她认不清是谁，只确定里面没有鸦羽。 她觉得哪怕隔着整个湖，她都能认出他那光滑挺拔的深色身影。 快走到石谷的时候，雷族猫熟悉的温暖气息包裹了她。 她喉咙里涌起呼噜声，迫不及待地挤过荆藤隧道，满心欢喜回到了家。 火星正在育婴室门口旁和云尾说话。 “我觉得黛西成不了武士，”叶池走近时听见火星说道。 “不过当然，你可以教她一些格斗招式。 如果她要在野外生活，总得会保护自己和她的幼崽。” 云尾的蓝眼睛亮了起来。 “她肯定没问题的，”他保证道，说完就钻进荆棘丛告诉黛西了。 火星疑惑地摇了摇头，看到叶池后直起了身子。 “欢迎回来，”他呼噜着说，用鼻子碰了碰她的耳朵。 “河族那边情况怎么样？”