Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16 "Daisy! Daisy, where are you?" Squirrelflight stopped and looked around when she heard the furious yowl that came from the medicine cats" den. A moment later Brightheart appeared, carrying one of Daisy's kits by the scruff. The tiny creature was wailing miserably, his paws thrashing the air. His littermates crept out after them, heads down and tails drooping, and huddled together beside the brambles that shielded the den. The horseplace cat had been in camp long enough for her kits to grow stronger and more confident, and to begin exploring the camp. And that was likely to mean trouble; Squirrelflight's whiskers twitched as she remembered some of the things she and Leafpool had got up to before they were apprenticed. Brightheart dropped the kit she was carrying —it was Mousekit, Squirrelflight realized, taking a closer look. The ginger and white she-cat's good eye was blazing with anger. "Daisy! Come here!" There was no response from the nursery, but

第十六章 “黛西！” “黛西，你在哪儿？” 松鼠飞听到巫医巢穴传来愤怒的吼叫，连忙停下脚步环顾四周。 没过一会儿亮心走了出来，叼着黛西一只幼崽的后颈。 这小家伙凄惨地哀嚎着，小爪子在空中乱蹬。 他的兄弟姐妹垂着脑袋耷拉尾巴，悄悄跟出来，挤在挡着巢穴的荆棘丛边。 这只马场来的猫待在营地够久了，她的幼崽也长得更强壮大胆，开始探索营地了。 而这多半意味着麻烦； 松鼠飞想起自己和叶池还没当学徒时干过的捣蛋事，胡须不由得轻轻抖了抖。 亮心放下叼着的幼崽——松鼠飞凑近一看，认出这是小老鼠。 这只姜黄白相间的母猫，那只好眼睛里燃着熊熊怒火。 “黛西！过来！” 育婴室没有传来回应，但

a heartbeat later Daisy appeared from the thorn tunnel and raced across the camp to confront Brightheart. Cloudtail followed her more slowly. "What's the matter? What are you doing to my kits?" Daisy demanded. "Ask your kits what they've been doing in Cinderpelt's den," Brightheart retorted. "And stop making that noise," she added to the kit she had dropped, who was still wailing, his tiny pink jaws gaping wide. "I haven't hurt you." "What happened?" Daisy's blue eyes were just as furious, and her long, creamy fur couldn't hide the tension in her muscles. For a moment Squirrelflight thought she might fly at Brightheart with one of the fighting moves Cloudtail had been teaching her. Squirrelflight knew Brightheart could look after herself, but Daisy might not get away unscratched. She padded over in case some cat was needed to stop the fur flying. "Your kits came into Cinderpelt's den and started messing with the herbs," Brightheart explained. "Did you eat anything?" she hissed, rounding on Berrykit and Hazelkit. "Any of you?"

眨眼功夫黛西就从荆棘通道走出来，冲过营地找亮心对质。 云尾慢悠悠跟在她身后。 “出什么事了？ 你对我的幼崽做了什么？” 黛西质问道。 “你自己问你的幼崽，他们跑到炭毛巢穴里干了什么，”亮心反驳道。 “别嚎了，”她对掉在地上还在张嘴哭嚎的幼崽补充道。 “我又没伤到你。” “到底出什么事了？” 黛西的蓝眼睛同样满是怒火，乳白的长毛也藏不住她紧绷的肌肉。 那一刻松鼠飞都以为黛西要扑上去，用云尾教她的格斗招式跟亮开打了。 松鼠飞知道亮心能照顾好自己，但黛西也说不定会挂彩。 她轻轻走过去，万一需要劝架呢。 “你的幼崽闯进炭毛的巢穴，乱碰药草，”亮心解释道。 “你们有没有吃什么？” 她嘶声问，转向小莓和小榛。 “你们谁吃了？”

Mute with terror, the kits shook their heads. Squirrelflight knew that part of Brightheart's anger was fueled by fear that the kits might have eaten something dangerous. Cinderpelt wouldn't keep anything like deathberries among her supplies, but there were plenty of remedies that could give a cat a nasty bellyache if they ate too much. Brightheart's fur began to lie flat again, but annoyance still crackled off her like lightning in greenleaf. "Just go and look at the mess they've made," she meowed to Daisy. "Why weren't you keeping an eye on them?" "She was with me," Cloudtail meowed. "And that makes it okay for her kits to spoil Cinderpelt's supplies?" Brightheart challenged him. "They didn't know any better." "Then they should!" Brightheart snarled back at her mate. "Do you think we have nothing better to do than clean up after them? I spent all day yesterday collecting berries." "Look, I'm sorry," Daisy mewed, glancing uneasily from Cloudtail to Brightheart and back

幼崽们吓得说不出话，只是一个劲摇头。 松鼠飞明白，亮心的怒火里藏着担忧，怕幼崽误吃了危险的东西。 炭毛不会把死亡浆果这种危险品放在药堆里，但不少药物吃多了，都会让猫咪闹严重的肚子痛。 亮心的皮毛慢慢平顺下来，但恼意还是像叶季的闪电一样噼啪作响。 “你自己去看看他们弄的烂摊子，”她对黛西说。 “你怎么没看好他们？” “她刚才和我在一起，”云尾说。 “那就能任由她的幼崽糟蹋炭毛的药草了？” 亮心质问他。 “他们还小，不懂事。” “那也该教他们懂规矩！” 亮心对着自己的伴侣吼道。 “你觉得我们除了跟在他们后面收拾烂摊子，就没别的事做了吗？ 我昨天摘了一整天的浆果。” “听着，我很抱歉，”黛西轻声说，不安地来回看着云尾和亮心

again. She nudged Mousekit to his paws and collected the others with a sweep of her tail. "I'll make sure it doesn't happen again." "You do that," Brightheart snapped. The horseplace cat headed back to the nursery, herding her kits in front of her. Squirrelflight heard Mousekit complain, "That ugly cat frightened me!" "Then you shouldn't get into trouble," Daisy replied. Squirrelflight saw Brightheart flinch at what Mousekit said. She and Cloudtail were nose to nose, their tail-tips twitching back and forth. "I'll help clean up," Squirrelflight offered, backing around the brambles. She didn't want to get involved in a quarrel between Brightheart and her mate. When she turned around she saw why Brightheart had been so angry. Berries were scattered all over the ground at the mouth of the den, and herbs lay in untidy clumps. Some of the leaves had been torn off their stems and were covered in dirt; they would probably have to be thrown out.

又看了回去。 她碰了碰小老鼠让他站起来，甩尾巴把其他幼崽都叫到身边。 “我保证这种事不会再发生了。” “最好是这样，”亮心厉声说。 这只马场来的猫赶着幼崽，动身返回育婴室。 松鼠飞听到小老鼠抱怨：“那只丑猫吓到我了！” “那你就不该调皮闯祸呀，”黛西回答。 松鼠飞看到亮心听到这话，身子猛地缩了一下。 她和云尾鼻尖对着鼻尖，尾尖来回抽动着。 “我来帮忙收拾，”松鼠飞一边说，一边绕到荆棘丛旁。 她不想掺和亮心和她伴侣之间的争吵。 她转过身，终于明白亮心为什么这么生气了。 巢穴口的地上撒满了浆果，药草乱糟糟堆得到处都是。 有些叶子被从茎上扯下来，沾满了泥土； 这些估计都只能扔掉了。

Squirrelflight began to roll the berries that could be salvaged into a pile. She wondered where Leafpool and Cinderpelt had gone. After a few moments she heard another cat padding up behind her. "There you are!" meowed Ashfur, touching his nose to her shoulder. "I thought we were going hunting. Why are Cloudtail and Brightheart glaring at each other like a couple of badgers?" Squirrelflight went on sorting berries as she explained. "Clanborn kits would know not to do this sort of thing," Ashfur commented. "Maybe these kittypets will never settle here properly." "What did you say?" Squirrelflight spun around to face him. "Have you forgotten that my father was a kittypet?" Ashfur blinked. "I'm sorry. But Firestar's pretty special. Most kittypets couldn't live our sort of life. They need their Twolegs to look after them." Squirrelflight let out a furious hiss, and her claws slid out; it took a massive effort to shield

松鼠飞开始把还能保留的浆果滚成一堆。 她好奇叶池和炭毛去哪里了。 没过一会儿，她听见另一只猫轻轻跟在她身后走来。 “原来你在这儿！” 蜡毛喵了一声，用鼻子碰了碰她的肩膀。 “我还以为我们要一起去打猎呢。 为什么云尾和亮心像两只獾一样怒瞪着彼此呀？” 松鼠飞一边继续整理浆果，一边解释。 “族群出生的幼崽才不会干这种事，”蜡毛评论道。 “搞不好这些宠物猫永远没法好好在这里安定下来。” “你说什么？” 松鼠飞猛地转身面对他。 “你忘了我父亲就是宠物猫吗？” 蜡毛眨了眨眼睛。 “对不起。 但是火星确实很特别。 大多数宠物猫过不了我们这种生活。 他们需要两脚兽照顾呀。” 松鼠飞愤怒地嘶叫一声，伸出了爪子；她费了好大力气才藏起

them again and go on sorting berries. How dare Ashfur make judgments based on a cat's birth? she fumed. Did that mean he thought less of her because she was half kittypet? Couldn't he see that she and Leafpool, Cloudtail, and his kit Whitepaw were as important to the Clan as any warrior who was forestborn through and through? Before Ashfur could say anything else, the bramble screen shook as Leafpool and Cinderpelt brushed past. Both medicine cats carried large bunches of chickweed. "What's going on here?" Cinderpelt asked, dropping her mouthful. Squirrelflight explained what had happened for the second time, while Leafpool began examining the scattered leaves and piling up the ones that would have to be thrown out. "Kits!" Cinderpelt grunted, nosing a muddy and crumpled stack of yarrow leaves. "Still, if they didn't eat anything there's no real harm done." "A lot of extra work, though," Ashfur pointed out.

爪子，继续整理浆果。 蜡毛怎么敢凭着一只猫的出身妄下评判？ 她忿忿地想。 难道他就因为我是半个宠物猫，就看不起我吗？ 难道他看不出，她、叶池、云尾还有他的幼崽白爪，和那些彻头彻尾出生在森林的武士一样，对族群同样重要吗？ 蜡毛还没来得及多说什么，叶池和炭毛擦身走过，荆丛屏障晃了起来。 两位巫医都捧着一大把繁缕。 “这里出什么事了？” 炭毛放下嘴里的东西，问道。 松鼠飞把事情又说了一遍，与此同时叶池开始检查散落的叶子，把必须扔掉的堆起来。 “这帮幼崽！” 炭毛哼了一声，用鼻子拱了拱一堆沾满泥、被踩皱的蓍草。 “不过，他们没吃掉什么，其实也没造成真正的伤害。” “不过可是多了一大堆额外的工作呀，”蜡毛指出。