Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22 Squirrelflight shook her head to clear the numbing horror that had gripped her. Her first task was to help her Clanmates before she thought about going to join the fight at the entrance to the hollow. Flicking her tail, she led them on again, the noise of the battle battering her ears. To her relief the brambles that shielded the escape route had not been trampled down, leaving just enough space for them to hide. The cats huddled together in the thorn-circled gap and gazed uncertainly at the wall that loomed above them. "It's not that difficult to climb," Squirrelflight promised. "I'll show you. Here, Brambleclaw, give me that kit. If a badger spots us, keep it busy." A pang shot through her as she realized how absolutely she trusted the tabby warrior to guard them while they retreated. Brambleclaw flicked her ear gently with his tail and set down Berrykit so she could grip its scruff between her teeth. The tiny scrap had

第22章 松鼠飞晃了晃脑袋，想驱散攫住她的刺骨恐惧 她得先帮族猫们安顿好，再去山谷入口参战 她抖了抖尾巴，带领大家继续前进，战斗的喧闹声不断冲击着她的耳朵 让她松了口气的是，掩护逃生路线的荆棘没被踩倒，刚好留出足够空间供他们躲藏 猫儿们挤在荆棘围出的缺口里，不安地望着头顶高耸的岩壁 “爬上去不难的，”松鼠飞向大家保证 “我爬给你们看 来，黑莓掌，把那只幼崽给我 要是獾发现我们，你帮我拖住它。” 她心头一热，意识到自己全然信任这只虎斑武士，相信撤退时他会保护好大家 黑莓掌用尾巴轻轻碰了碰她的耳朵，放下贝瑞崽，好让松鼠飞叼住他的后颈 这团小小的毛球

stopped complaining; now it looked stunned with terror. Squirrelflight clenched her jaw and launched herself upward, scrabbling out of the brambles and digging her claws into a bush rooted a couple of tail-lengths up the wall. Berrykit let out a squeak as she accidentally let him bang against the rock. "Sorry," she mumbled. Pushing madly with her hind legs, she reached a ledge where rock had fallen away, and from there she could scramble up with tussocks of grass for pawholds until she stood on the edge of the hollow. She dived into the clump of ferns she had used to hide when she followed Leafpool and set Berrykit down, giving him a swift, rough lick. "There, little one, you're safe now." She lifted her head cautiously above the ferns. The roar of battle in the clearing was muted up here, and the scent of badgers much fainter. She didn't think any of the hostile creatures were in this part of the forest. Keeping so low that her belly fur brushed the grass, she left the shelter of

已经停止哭闹，此刻它完全吓呆了 松鼠飞咬紧下颌向上一跃，扒开荆棘，爪子深深扣进岩壁上方几尾远的一丛灌木 她不小心让贝瑞崽撞到岩石，小家伙发出一声尖叫 “对不起，”她小声咕哝 她用后腿拼命蹬踏，爬到一块岩壁塌出的平台，接着踩着草丛向上攀爬，终于站在了山谷边缘 她钻进之前跟踪叶池时躲身的蕨丛，放下贝瑞崽，飞快舔了他两下 “好了，小家伙，你现在安全了。” 她小心地从蕨丛上方探出头 空地上战斗的咆哮声到这里已经变弱，獾的气味也淡了很多 她觉得这些不速之客不会来到森林的这片区域 她把身子压得极低，肚子的毛都蹭到了草，接着离开藏身的

the ferns and peered over the edge of the hollow. "It's okay up here!" she called. "You can come up." Cloudtail was already climbing with Hazelkit in his jaws, dragging himself up without putting too much pressure on his injured foreleg. Squirrelflight showed him where to put the kit next to her brother and he let her drop into the soft ferns with a sigh of relief. Brightheart was right behind him with Mousekit. "You stay here," Cloudtail told her. "Daisy and the kits will need some cat with them, in case the badgers come." "You stay, then." Brightheart glared at him. "I'm going back to fight. You're injured." "For StarClan's sake, this isn't the time to have an argument," Squirrelflight snapped. "We're all going back. Daisy will have to cope on her own. ThunderClan needs all its warriors down there." Brightheart swung around and vanished over the edge. Cloudtail muttered, "She-cats!" and followed her. Squirrelflight checked the kits once more, saw them safe in a squirming heap among

蕨丛后，探身望向山谷下方 “上面很安全！” 她喊道 “你们快上来！” 云尾已经叼着榛崽往上爬，他拖着身子攀登，不让受伤的前腿承受太多重量 松鼠飞给他指了位置，让他把幼崽放在它哥哥身旁，云尾把幼崽放进柔软的蕨丛后，松了口气 亮心叼着鼠崽，紧跟在他身后 “你留在这儿，”云尾对她说 “万一獾过来，黛西和幼崽们需要有只猫照看。” “那你留下。” 亮心瞪着他 “我要回去战斗， 你受伤了。” “看在星族的分上，现在不是吵架的时候，”松鼠飞厉声说 “我们全都回去， 黛西只能自己应付， 雷族需要所有武士回去参战。” 亮心转身，消失在岩壁下方 云尾嘟囔了一句“女猫！”，便跟着她下去了 松鼠飞再次检查了幼崽们，看到他们安全地挤作一团待在

the ferns, and turned back to the hollow in time to see Daisy pull herself up and stand panting on the edge. "Where are my kits?" she gasped. Squirrelflight pointed with her tail, and the horseplace cat rushed over to the ferns. "Thank you," she meowed, glancing back before she pushed her way among the stalks. "And good luck." "We'll need it," Squirrelflight replied grimly as she gathered herself to scramble back down the cliff into the clearing. Down on the ground Brambleclaw was still keeping guard. Ferncloud and Birchpaw were with him. The young apprentice had survived the badger attack, but part of the fur on his haunches had been ripped off and one eye was almost closed. His mother was bleeding from claw marks along her side. "Look, Ferncloud, you can climb out here," Brambleclaw meowed as Squirrelflight leapt the last couple of tail-lengths and landed neatly beside him. "Take Birchpaw with you." Birchpaw looked too dazed to figure out the

蕨丛中，她转身返回崖边，正好看到黛西爬上来，站在崖边大口喘气 “我的幼崽们在哪儿？”她喘着气问 松鼠飞用尾巴指了方向，这只来自马场的猫儿立刻冲向蕨丛 “谢谢你，”她轻声说，钻进蕨丛前回头望了一眼 “也祝你们好运。” “我们肯定需要好运，”松鼠飞神色凝重地回答，说完便准备爬下悬崖返回空地 崖下空地上，黑莓掌还在放哨守卫 蕨云和桦爪都和他在一起 这位年轻学徒从獾的袭击中活了下来，但臀部的一块皮毛被扯掉，一只眼睛也几乎睁不开 他的母亲侧腹被爪痕划伤，正在流血 “你看，蕨云，你可以从这里爬上去，”松鼠飞跃下最后几尾长度，稳稳落在黑莓掌身边时，黑莓掌开口说道 “把桦爪也带上。” 桦爪看起来头昏眼花，还没弄明白

escape route, but Ferncloud nudged him gently over to the rock wall. "Stay close to him," Squirrelflight warned. "Daisy and her kits are up there already. They'll be glad to have a warrior to protect them." Ferncloud gave her a grateful nod and followed Birchpaw as the apprentice began scrabbling upward through the thorns. Brambleclaw was peering out from behind the screen of brambles. "I'm going to help Firestar defend the entrance," he mewed. Squirrelflight drew her breath in painfully. "Is Firestar still alive?" "I spotted him a few moments ago," Brambleclaw reassured her. "The battle isn't over yet. I'll see you later." He sped off with a twitch of his tail. Squirrelflight's heart lurched suddenly as she saw him vanish into the thickest of the fighting. Would they really see each other again? Or was it too late to put right everything that had gone wrong between them? Unable to bear the thought of losing Brambleclaw now, Squirrelflight was about to

这是逃生路线，蕨云轻轻把他推到岩壁边。 "跟紧他，"松鼠飞警告道。 "黛西和她的幼崽已经在上面了。 她们会很高兴有位武士保护她们的。" 蕨云感激地点点头，跟着桦爪走，这名学徒正抓着荆棘往上爬。 黑莓掌正从荆棘屏障后往外探看。 "我要去帮火星守住入口，"他说道。 松鼠飞痛苦地倒吸一口凉气。 "火星还活着吗？" "我刚刚还看到他了，"黑莓掌让她放心。 "战斗还没结束。 我们回头见。" 他甩了甩尾巴，飞快跑走了。 看着他消失在战况最激烈的地方，松鼠飞的心猛地一沉。 他们真的还能再见面吗？ 他们之间的种种误会，还来得及挽回吗？ 一想到可能会失去黑莓掌，松鼠飞再也按捺不住，正要

follow him when she heard a cat wailing somewhere close by. Staring around the hollow, she caught a glimpse of Sootfur, his gray pelt barely visible in the shadows. She could tell he was badly wounded, because he was dragging himself along the ground as if he couldn't use his back legs. "Sootfur, over here!" she called. The gray warrior raised his head, too confused by pain to know where the cry had come from. Squirrelflight darted out to him and managed to nudge him to his paws, letting him lean on her shoulder as she guided him back to the screen of brambles. "You can get out this way," she meowed, gesturing with her tail to the route up the wall. Sootfur blinked drops of blood out of his eyes. "Can't... can't climb..." he gasped. "You've got to!" Squirrelflight pushed him over to the wall. Sootfur clawed desperately, but both his back legs were broken and he couldn't use them to thrust himself upward. He managed to haul himself a few tail-lengths from the ground, then

跟上去，这时她听到附近有只猫在哀嚎。 她环顾山谷，瞥见了烟毛，他灰色的皮毛在阴影里几乎看不清。 她看出烟毛伤得很重，因为他只能在地上拖行，好像后腿没法动弹了。 "烟毛，到这儿来！" 她喊道。 这只灰色武士抬起头，疼得昏头转向，找不到声音从哪儿来。 松鼠飞冲过去，扶他站起来，让他靠在自己肩上，带他回到荆棘屏障边。 "你可以从这条路逃出去，"她说着，用尾巴指了指往岩壁上去的路。 烟毛眨掉眼睛里的血珠。 "爬……爬不动……"他喘着气说。 "你一定可以的！" 松鼠飞把他推到岩壁边。 烟毛拼命用爪子抓着岩壁，但他两条后腿都断了，根本没法借力往上爬。 他好不容易把身子撑起，离地面有几个尾巴长，接着就