Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16 Hollypaw turned to stare at her mother. "You know this kittypet?" Squirrelflight's eyes were bright. "We met him on our first journey," she explained. "He helped us find the way to the sun-drown-place." Tawnypelt sprang up from where she had been sleeping in the shelter of the bramble thicket. "Hey, Purdy!" she called, bounding across the grass to touch noses with the old tabby. "How's the prey running?" Stormfur padded up after her. "Greetings, Purdy. I'm glad that StarClan has joined our paths again." "A friend o" mine told me there were strange cats in the woods, an" I reckoned they might be you," the old tom meowed. "But where's the rest of you? Where's that scrawny young apprentice who was always arguin'?" "Here." Crowfeather stalked up to stand with the others. "Are you going to let him talk to you like

第十六章 冬青爪转身盯着自己的母亲。 "你认识这只宠物猫？" 松鼠飞的眼睛闪闪发亮。 "我们第一次出远门时见过他，"她解释道。 "他帮我们找到了去太阳沉没之地的路。" 褐皮原本睡在荆棘丛的遮蔽处，一下子跳了起来。 "嘿，珀迪！" 她大声喊着，蹦过草地，和这只老公虎斑猫碰了碰鼻子。 "最近猎物好抓吗？" 暴毛跟在她身后走了过来。 "你好啊，珀迪。 我很高兴星族让我们再次相遇。" "我的一个朋友告诉我林子里来了陌生猫，我猜说不定就是你们，"老公猫喵喵说道。 "可是你们其他的猫呢？ 那个总爱吵架的瘦巴巴的年轻学徒去哪了？" "在这儿。" 鸦羽大步走过来，站到了大伙身边。 "你就打算让他这么跟你

that?" Breezepaw demanded, gazing at the tabby tom with undisguised hostility. "I could rip his fur off with one paw." Crowfeather's eyes narrowed. "You don't understand, Breezepaw. Purdy was part of our journey. That's important." Breezepaw gave a disdainful sniff. "Crowfeather's a warrior now," Brambleclaw mewed hurriedly. Hollypaw guessed he was trying to distract Purdy from Breezepaw's rudeness. "So am I," Squirrelflight added. "My warrior name is Squirrelflight." "Well I never!" Purdy's amber eyes gleamed. "But there were six of you," he added, glancing from side to side. "Where's the silver cat— Feathersomethin'?" "She died," Crowfeather rasped, before any other cat could speak. "I'm sorry to hear it." Purdy's tail drooped, but after a couple of heartbeats his eyes grew bright again. "I never thought I'd see Clan cats again, an" now here you all are." "We're not all Clan cats," Stormfur pointed out. He waved his tail, beckoning Brook and the

说话？" 微风爪质问道，毫不掩饰地对这只虎斑公猫充满敌意。 "我一只爪子就能把他的毛扒光。" 鸦羽眯起了眼睛。 "你不懂，微风爪。 珀迪和我们一起走过那段旅途。 这是很重要的情谊。" 微风爪轻蔑地哼了一声。 "鸦羽现在已经是武士了，"黑莓掌连忙开口说。 冬青爪猜他是想转移珀迪的注意力，别在意微风爪的无礼。 "我也成为武士了，"松鼠飞补充道。 "我的武士名就是松鼠飞。" "哇，真没想到啊！" 珀迪琥珀色的眼睛亮了起来。 "可是当初你们一共六只猫啊，"他补了一句，来回打量着四周。 "那只银色的猫——叫羽毛什么来着？" "她死了，"还没等别的猫开口，鸦羽就哑着嗓子说道。 "听到这个消息我很难过。" 珀迪的尾巴耷拉了下来，不过没过一会儿，他的眼睛又亮了起来。 "我从没想过还能再见到族群猫，没想到你们真的出现在这里了。" "我们不都是族群猫，"暴毛提醒他说。 他摆了摆尾巴，招呼溪儿和

other Tribe cats to come closer. "This is Brook, and this is Night and Talon. They all come from the mountains." "Wha'?" Purdy's neck fur bristled. "So there really are cats livin" in the mountains?" He inspected the three Tribe cats with narrowed eyes. "I thought you were just a tale queens told their kits to stop "em from strayin'." "No, we're real, all right," Talon mewed. "So I see." Purdy gave his chest fur a couple of licks, casting sidelong glances at the mountain cats as if he expected them to leap on him with claws out and teeth bared. "And these are my kits." Squirrelflight swept her tail around Hollypaw, Lionpaw, and Jaypaw, urging them closer to the old tabby. "Mine and Brambleclaw's." "Kits!" Purdy's whiskers quivered in surprise. "And you hardly more'n kits yourselves. Come here, young "uns, and let me look at you." "This is my son, Breezepaw," Crowfeather added, shoving Breezepaw up with the others. The three littermates padded up to Purdy. As Hollypaw dipped her head politely she caught a

其他部落的猫走近一些。 "这是溪儿，这是夜，还有锐爪。 他们全都来自山地。" "啥？" 珀迪后颈的毛都竖起来了。 "竟然真的有猫住在山里啊？" 他眯起眼睛，仔细打量着这三只部落猫。 "我之前还以为这只是猫妈妈吓唬小猫别乱跑编出来的故事呢。" "才不是，我们真真切切存在呀，"锐爪喵喵说道。 "好像确实是这么回事。" 珀迪舔了两下胸口的毛，斜眼瞟着这些山地猫，好像生怕他们亮出爪子露出牙齿扑过来似的。 "这些都是我的孩子。" 松鼠飞甩尾巴圈住冬青爪、狮爪和松鸦爪，催他们走到珀迪跟前。 "我和黑莓掌的孩子。" "都有孩子啦！" 珀迪的胡须惊讶地抖个不停。 "你自己都还没长大呢，就当妈妈了。 过来吧，小家伙们，让我好好看看你们。" "这是我的儿子，微风爪，"鸦羽说着，把微风爪推到了大伙中间。 三个同窝的小猫轻步走到珀迪面前。 冬青爪礼貌地低下头，她闻到了

whiff of his sour breath and had to make an effort not to flinch away. "He's way old!" Breezepaw muttered into her ear. "Older than any of our elders. Why isn't he dead yet?" "Shut up, stupid furball," Hollypaw whispered. "Kittypets get looked after by their Twolegs. They don't have to catch their own food." Purdy said nothing, but he flicked up one ragged ear, and Hollypaw knew he had heard Breezepaw's comment. "I bet this old mange-pelt couldn't catch a mouse if he tried from now to leaf-bare," Breezepaw scoffed. Purdy looked at him. "You're right, I don't catch prey no more. I get my food from Upwalkers. But I reckon just this once I might try eatin" ill-mannered kits." "I'm not a—" Breezepaw began indignantly, only to clamp his jaws shut as his father lashed out a paw at his ear—a hard blow, though with his claws sheathed. "Don't listen to Breezepaw," Jaypaw mewed to the old tom. "Every cat knows he's mouse

他嘴里一股酸臭味，费了好大劲才没往后缩开。 "他太老啦！" 微风爪凑到她耳边小声说。 "比我们所有长老都老， 他怎么还没死啊？" "闭嘴，你这笨毛球，"冬青爪小声说。 "宠物猫有两脚兽照顾， 他们不需要自己抓猎物吃。" 珀迪什么也没说，可他竖起了那只破耳朵，冬青爪知道他听见了微风爪的话。 "我敢说这只老癞皮猫就算从现在等到落叶季，也抓不到一只老鼠，"微风爪嘲讽道。 珀迪看着他。 "你说得对，我确实不再抓猎物了， 我的食物都是两脚兽给的， 不过我觉得，这一次我说不定会尝尝没礼貌的小猫是什么味道。" "我才不是——"微风爪气冲冲地刚开口，就赶紧闭上了嘴，因为他爸爸一爪子拍在了他耳朵上——虽然没伸爪子，可这一下力气可不小。 "别理微风爪，"松鸦爪对着老公猫喵喵说。 "所有猫都知道他就是个鼠

brained." A purr rumbled in Purdy's chest. "Don't worry, young "un. I've met more nuisancy young cats than you've had rabbits." He lowered his head to inspect the three littermates. Close up, he looked as if he hadn't groomed his pelt in seasons. Hollypaw spotted a tick on the side of his neck and a few fleas hopping among the matted fur and tangled burrs. Yuck, fleas! I don't want any of them hopping onto me, thanks. In a Clan, apprentices would groom the elders" fur and get rid of ticks and fleas. Maybe Purdy wasn't as well looked after as Clan cats after all. "So what are you doin" here?" Purdy asked, when he had given Hollypaw and her littermates a good sniff. "Not off to the sun-drown-place again?" "Not this time," Brambleclaw replied. "We're going to the mountains. The Tribe cats need our help." Purdy's eyes stretched wide with alarm. "That's no place for cats!" he protested. "Are you tellin" me you haven't found a better place than

被砸中脑袋啦。" 珀蒂胸口发出低低的呼噜声。 "别担心，小家伙。 我见过的烦人的小猫，都比你吃过的兔子还多。" 他低下头打量这三只同窝小猫。 凑近一看，他好像好几个季节没梳理过毛发了。 冬青爪看见他脖子侧边有一只蜱虫，还有几只跳蚤在缠结的毛发和挂住的刺果之间跳来跳去。 呀，跳蚤！ 我可不想让它们跳到我身上，多谢了。 在族群里，学徒会帮长老梳理毛发，除掉蜱虫和跳蚤。 说到底，珀蒂也许不像族群猫那样被好好照料。 "那你们来这儿做什么？" 珀蒂好好闻过冬青爪和她同窝伙伴的气味后问道。 "不是又要去太阳沉落的地方吧？" "这次不去了，"黑莓掌回答。 "我们要去山里。 部落猫需要我们帮忙。" 珀蒂警惕地睁大了眼睛。 "那地方根本不是猫该去的！" 他抗议道。 "你是说你们没找到一个比

that to live?" "We've found a great place," Squirrelflight assured him. "It's beside a lake," Tawnypelt added. "There's enough territory for all four Clans and not much trouble from Twolegs." "Then why don't you stay there?" Purdy asked. "We'll be going back, but right now the Tribe cats need us," Brambleclaw meowed. Hollypaw missed Purdy's reply as Lionpaw hissed into her ear, "Why don't we get going? This kittypet is holding us all up." "I guess he's an old friend," Hollypaw meowed, though privately she agreed with Lionpaw. Cats in the mountains could be dying while the rescue party stood here meowing about old times. To her relief, Brambleclaw dipped his head to the old cat. "We'd better be going. It's been great seeing you again, Purdy." "No need to say good-bye just yet," Purdy meowed. "I reckon I'll come with you." Hollypaw saw her own dismay reflected in the faces of the Tribe cats. Night muttered something urgently into Talon's ear.

这儿更好住的地方吗？" "我们已经找到一个很棒的地方了，"松鼠飞向他保证。 "就在湖边，"褐皮补充道。 四个族群都有足够的领地，两脚兽也很少来找麻烦。" "那你们为什么不留在那儿？" 珀蒂问道。 "我们之后会回去的，但现在部落猫需要我们，"黑莓掌喵声道。 冬青爪没听清珀蒂的回答，因为狮爪凑到她耳边嘶声说："我们怎么还不走啊， 这只宠物猫在耽误我们所有人的时间。" "我想他是个老朋友了，"冬青爪喵道，尽管她心里其实同意狮爪的话。 救援队站在这儿聊旧交情的时候，山里的猫说不定都快撑不住了。 让她松了口气的是，黑莓朝向这只老猫点了点头。 "我们最好出发了。 很高兴再次见到你，珀蒂。" "还不用急着说再见，"珀蒂喵道。 我想我跟你们一起去。" 冬青爪看到部落猫的脸上都和她一样满是惊愕。 奈特急切地对着泰伦耳语了几句。