Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18 Squirrelflight was on the dawn patrol with Ashfur and Thornclaw, checking the ShadowClan border. Everything was quiet. The ShadowClan scent markings at the foot of the dead tree were strong and fresh. "Have you scented either of those kittypets?" she asked Ashfur as he came up to join her. "Not a thing." Ashfur's blue eyes gleamed with satisfaction. "You must have scared them off for good." Squirrelflight twitched her ears. "I hope so. If I never see them again, it'll be too soon." Ashfur waved his tail to summon Rainwhisker, who had been renewing the ThunderClan scent markers farther up the border, and the patrol set off back to camp. The sun was rising as they emerged from the thorn tunnel. Golden rays slanted down into the stone hollow and the ground was dappled with shadows of fresh leaves. Stopping just inside the entrance, Squirrelflight arched her back in a long stretch and let the warmth soak into her pelt.

第十八章 松鼠飞和灰毛、荆爪一同参加黎明巡逻队，巡查影族边界。 四周万籁俱寂。 死树根旁的影族气味标记浓烈又新鲜。 “你闻到那两只宠物猫的气味了吗？” 灰毛走到她身边时，她开口问道。 “一点味道都没闻到。” 灰毛的蓝眼睛里闪着满意的光。 “肯定是你把他们彻底吓跑啦。” 松鼠飞抖了抖耳朵。 “我也希望如此。 我就算再也见不到他们，都嫌不够快。” 灰毛甩尾巴叫来了在边界上游刷新雷族气味标记的雨须，巡逻队动身返回营地。 他们走出荆棘隧道时，太阳正缓缓升起。 金色阳光斜斜照进石山谷，新鲜树叶在地面投下斑斑阴影。 松鼠飞在入口处停下，弓起背长长伸了个懒腰，让暖意浸透自己的皮毛。

"Squirrelflight!" Cinderpelt called to her from across the camp; the medicine cat was limping rapidly toward her. "Have you seen Leafpool this morning?" Alarm flared in Squirrelflight's belly. "No," she replied. "We were over by the ShadowClan border." She almost added, and Leafpool only ever goes toward WindClan, but stopped herself in time. Cinderpelt nodded, and Squirrelflight realized the medicine cat already knew what she had not put into words. "I saw her last night—" Cinderpelt broke off, twitching her ears. Squirrelflight stared at her. What was the medicine cat not telling her? "When I woke up, her nest was cold," Cinderpelt went on, "and her scent was stale. She hasn't been here all night." "But she always comes back before dawn!" Squirrelflight blurted out. Cinderpelt's eyes narrowed and Squirrelflight flinched. Would the medicine cat be angry that Squirrelflight had known her sister's secret all along? "I'm sorry, Cinderpelt," she began.

“松鼠飞！” 炭皮从营地对面喊她，这名巫医一瘸一拐快步朝她走来。 “你今早见过叶池吗？” 不安瞬间窜上松鼠飞的心头。 “没有，”她回答， “我们刚才一直在影族边界那边。” 她差点补上“叶池只会去风族方向”，不过及时收住了嘴。 炭皮点了点头，松鼠飞意识到，这名巫医早就懂了她没说出口的话。 “我昨晚还见到她——”炭皮顿住话头，抖了抖耳朵。 松鼠飞盯着她。 巫医到底有什么事瞒着自己？ “我醒过来的时候，她的窝都凉透了，”炭皮继续说道，“而且她的气味都散了。 她一整晚都没在这里。” “可她从来都是天亮前就回来的！” 松鼠飞脱口而出。 炭皮眯起眼睛，松鼠飞下意识缩了缩身子。 巫医会不会生气？毕竟自己早就知道妹妹的秘密了。 “对不起，炭皮，”她开口说道。

Cinderpelt stopped her with a dismissive flick of her tail. "It's all right. I know she's been visiting Crowfeather." "Crowfeather?" Squirrelflight felt every hair on her pelt bristle. All she had known was that Leafpool had had some reason to sneak out of the camp at night. "That can't be true! Crowfeather is in love with Feathertail." "Feathertail is dead. And it's possible to love more than one cat in a lifetime. Squirrelflight, have you never noticed how they look at each other at Gatherings? Where did you think she was going all these nights?" Squirrelflight stared at her, speechless with shock. Leafpool was a medicine cat! Then she remembered sensing her sister's chaotic feelings of guilt and excitement, and she knew Cinderpelt must be right. Guilt flooded over her; she had been so distracted by her new friendship with Ashfur that she hadn't tried hard enough to find out what was troubling her sister. "Do you think she's gone to WindClan to be with Crowfeather?" she asked, her voice hoarse. Cinderpelt's whiskers twitched. "Perhaps."

炭皮不耐烦地甩了下尾巴，打断了她的话。 “没关系的。 我知道她一直去找鸦羽。” “鸦羽？” 松鼠飞感觉身上每根毛都竖了起来。 她之前只知道叶池夜里偷偷出营一定有缘由。 “这不可能是真的！ 鸦羽爱的是羽尾啊。” “羽尾已经不在了。 猫这一辈子，本来就有可能爱上不止一只猫。 松鼠飞，你开集会的时候从来没注意过他们看彼此的眼神吗？ 你觉得这么多夜晚她都去哪里了？” 松鼠飞盯着她，震惊得说不出话。 叶池可是巫医啊！ 接着她想起自己早就感受到妹妹内心满是愧疚又兴奋的纷乱情绪，她知道炭皮一定是对的。 愧疚淹没了她； 她一直忙着和灰毛发展新友谊，根本没好好去弄清妹妹到底在为什么烦恼。 “你觉得她去风族找鸦羽了吗？” 她问道，声音沙哑无比。 炭皮的胡须轻轻动了动。 “有可能。”

"Would WindClan accept her?" "What do you think?" The medicine cat's tone was dry. "Leafpool is a valuable cat for any Clan. But we can't be sure," she added. "Last night, when Leafpool left the camp, I followed her. She saw me, and we quarreled. We both said things that should have been left unsaid. Perhaps she's somewhere in ThunderClan territory, waiting until her temper has cooled before she comes back to camp." Cinderpelt spoke briskly, without betraying much feeling. Squirrelflight wondered if her coldness came from anger and disappointment at Leafpool's betrayal. But as Cinderpelt turned away, Squirrelflight heard her mutter, "StarClan be with her, and bring her back safe!" The anguish in her voice revealed how much she had been torn apart by Leafpool's disappearance. The camp was stirring around them. Daisy appeared at the entrance to the nursery, blinked lazily in the sunlight, then called her kits out. The three little scraps tumbled happily on the ground in front of her, squealing and batting each other with soft paws. On the other side of the

“那风族会接受她吗？” “你觉得呢？” 巫医的语气干巴巴的。 “叶池对任何族群来说都是优秀的猫。 不过我们也不确定，”她补充道。 “昨晚叶池离开营地的时候，我追了出去。 她看见了我，我们吵了一架。 我们都说了些不该说的话。 说不定她还待在雷族领地里，等消气了就回营地了。” 炭皮说得干脆利落，听不出太多情绪。 松鼠飞忍不住猜测，她的冷淡是不是来自对叶池背叛的愤怒和失望。 可就在炭皮转身走开时，松鼠飞听见她低声念叨：“星族保佑她，保佑她平安回来！” 她声音里的痛苦暴露了，叶池失踪早就把她折磨得痛苦不堪。 营地渐渐热闹了起来。 黛西出现在育婴室门口，懒洋洋地在阳光下眨了眨眼，接着喊她的幼崽出来。 三个小毛团在她面前的地上开心地滚来滚去，尖叫着用软肉垫互相打闹。 在另一边的

clearing, Sandstorm slid out of the warriors" den, calling to Cloudtail and Dustpelt for a hunting patrol; the three cats loped across the clearing and out through the tunnel, waving their tails at Squirrelflight and Cinderpelt as they passed. A few moments later Whitepaw and Birchpaw emerged from the apprentices" den, arguing about whose turn it was to fetch mouse bile for the elders" ticks. Squirrelflight knew it wouldn't be long before some cat noticed Leafpool's absence and started asking questions. "I'm going to tell Firestar." Suddenly Cinderpelt sounded exhausted. Squirrelflight ran after her. "No, don't tell him or any other cat just yet. I'll go out and look for Leafpool. Maybe I can bring her home before any cat notices she's gone." Cinderpelt hesitated. Then her eyes seemed to focus again and she nodded. "Thank you, Squirrelflight. It's very important to find her. She'll lose so much—her Clan, her kin, her life as a medicine cat—if she doesn't come back." She looked away and added more quietly, "I don't

空地上，沙风走出武士巢穴，招呼云尾和尘毛一起出猎巡逻； 三只猫轻快跑过空地，钻出隧道，经过松鼠飞和炭毛时，还朝她们摇了摇尾巴。 没过一会儿，白爪和桦爪从学徒巢穴走出来，正吵着今天该谁去拿鼠胆汁给长老治蜱虫。 松鼠飞知道，用不了多久就会有猫发现叶池不在，开始问东问西。 “我要去告诉火星。” 炭毛的声音突然听起来疲惫不堪。 松鼠飞连忙追了上去。 “别，先别告诉他，也别告诉其他猫。 我出去找叶池。 说不定我能在别的猫发现她不见之前，把她带回来。” 炭毛犹豫了。 接着她重新定了定神，点了点头。 “谢谢你，松鼠飞。 找到她太重要了。 如果她不回来，她会失去一切——她的族群、亲人，还有她巫医的身份。” 她移开目光，轻声补充道：“我不

think she understands how much her Clan needs her." "I'm on my way." Squirrelflight whipped around and plunged back into the thorn tunnel. She headed straight for the WindClan border. In spite of what Cinderpelt had said, she didn't believe Leafpool was sulking somewhere in ThunderClan territory. Leafpool never sulked... but maybe Squirrelflight didn't know her sister as well as she thought. She paused to taste the air, searching for a trace of Leafpool's scent. "If I don't find her on the border, I'll have to go into WindClan territory," she decided out loud. "Go to WindClan? Why?" Squirrelflight jumped. "Brambleclaw! You nearly frightened me out of my fur," she gulped, spinning around to see the tabby warrior stepping out from the shelter of a hazel thicket. "What were you saying about WindClan?" Brambleclaw persisted. "We don't want to stir up trouble with them. Onestar's prickly enough as it is." "I'm not looking for trouble!" Squirrelflight

觉得她清楚，她的族群有多需要她。” “我这就出发。” 松鼠飞猛地转身，冲进荆棘隧道里。 她径直朝风族边境赶去。 不管炭毛怎么说，松鼠飞都不相信叶池会躲在雷族领地里闹脾气。 叶池从来不会闹脾气…… 可说不定，松鼠飞并没有自己以为的那么了解自己的妹妹。 她停下脚步嗅了嗅空气，寻找叶池留下的气味痕迹。 “如果我在边境找不到她，我就只能进风族领地了。”她大声说出自己的决定。 “去风族？ 为什么？” 松鼠飞吓了一跳。 “黑莓掌！ 你差点把我吓得毛都炸起来了。”她倒吸一口凉气，转身看见这只斑纹武士正从榛树丛的阴影里走出来。 “你刚才说风族是什么意思？” 黑莓掌追问道。 “我们可不想和他们挑起事端。 一星本来就已经够难缠的了。” “我不是来找麻烦的！” 松鼠飞