Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17 "We've got to get out!" The WindClan apprentice abandoned the remains of his mouse and bounded toward the entrance, only to skid to a halt a couple of fox-lengths away. Three skinny black-and-white shapes had appeared in the gap, their jaws hanging open and their eyes shining as they surveyed the cats. "One each." Lionpaw's voice was dry with fear. "Great." Hollypaw looked around. There were no other entrances to the nest and no gaps in the stone walls, except for those where the light came in, too high for a cat to leap. The dogs began to creep forward, their heads lowered and their legs bent, ready to sprint after the cats. Now I know what prey feels like, Hollypaw thought. She and the two toms backed away nervously. "Try to dodge around them," Lionpaw mewed quietly. "If we can get out, we can outrun them." The first dog leaped forward. Hollypaw spun

第十七章 “我们得赶紧出去！” 风族学徒丢下没吃完的老鼠，朝入口冲去，在离洞口几狐身长的地方急刹停住。 三个瘦巴巴的黑白块头堵在了洞口，它们大张着嘴，眼睛发亮，正打量着这几只猫。 “正好一只一个。” 狮爪的声音因为恐惧干巴巴的。 “好极了。” 冬青爪环顾四周。 这个窝没有其他出口，石墙上也没有别的缝隙，只有透光的口子高得猫根本跳不上去。 狗开始慢慢往前挪，它们低着头，弯着腿，准备朝猫扑过来。 我现在终于知道猎物是什么感受了，冬青爪想。 她和两只公猫紧张地往后退。 “试着绕开它们，”狮爪小声说。 “只要能出去，我们就能跑赢它们。” 第一只狗猛地扑了过来。 冬青爪猛地转身

around and fled, imagining she could feel its breath hot on her hind paws. Her muscles flexed as she tried to make her legs move faster, but she was tired from journeying, and her paws slipped on the dusty stone floor. Ahead of her, at the far end of the nest, was an enormous pile of dried grass. Despairingly Hollypaw wondered if they could hide in it, but she knew the dogs would be able to plunge into it and drag them out. Beyond it was the bare wall. Why did we let ourselves get trapped? I can't believe we were so stupid! "StarClan, help us!" she panted, but at the same time she hoped the starry warriors weren't watching and didn't know how disobedient they'd been. "Up here!" The yowl came from above her. Glancing up, she spotted a cat's head and shoulders in one of the narrow slits high in the wall. Her jaws gaped in astonishment. It was Purdy! "Climb the hay!" the old cat urged. "D'you want to stay and be eaten?" Lionpaw flung himself at the pile of dried grass and began to claw his way up it. Hollypaw

转身就跑，她感觉狗的热气都喷到自己的后爪上了。 她绷紧肌肉拼命想跑更快，可赶路已经让她筋疲力尽，爪子在满是尘土的石地上打了滑。 在巢穴尽头、她的前方，有一大堆干草。 冬青爪绝望地盘算能不能躲进去，可她清楚狗会扑进去把他们拖出来。 干草后面就是光秃秃的墙。 我们怎么会把自己困在这里啊？ 真不敢相信我们居然这么蠢！ “星族救救我们！” 她喘着气，心里却又希望这些星族武士没看见，不知道他们有多不听话。 “上来这里！” 叫声从她头顶传来。 她抬头一看，发现高墙的一个窄缝里露出一只猫的脑袋和肩膀。 她惊讶得张大了嘴。 是珀蒂！ “爬干草堆！” 这只老猫催促道。 “你想留在这里被吃掉吗？” 狮爪扑向干草堆，爪子扒着草往上爬。 冬青爪

plunged after him, just as she heard the snap of teeth a mouse-length from her hind paws. Behind her she heard a shriek. Glancing back she saw Breezepaw trying to climb, only to be dragged back by a dog with its teeth fastened in his tail. Hollypaw tensed. She would have to go back and help. She didn't like Breezepaw, but he was a Clan cat, and she couldn't abandon him to be torn apart. But before she could scramble down Breezepaw gave a panic-stricken heave, tore his tail free, and struggled upward, away from the gaping jaws. The dogs tried to follow him, but they were too heavy for the piled grass to bear their weight. They floundered around in it, snuffling and slavering over the trail of Breezepaw's blood. Hollypaw fought her way up again, half buried in the grass. It caught in her pelt; seeds got into her nose and made her sneeze. Just ahead of her, Lionpaw reached the slit where Purdy waited. The old tabby grabbed him by the scruff and pulled him through, then dropped him somewhere out of Hollypaw's sight. He reached for Hollypaw, grabbed her, and

紧跟着也扑上去，这时她听到牙齿咬合的声音就在离后爪一根老鼠远的地方。 她身后传来一声尖叫。 她回头一看，发现风爪想往上爬，却被一只狗咬住尾巴拖了回去。 冬青爪绷紧了身体。 她必须回去帮他。 她不喜欢风爪，但他是族里的猫，不能看着他被撕成碎片。 可她还没来得及爬下去，风爪拼命一挣，挣脱了尾巴，挣扎着往上爬，躲开了狗张大的嘴。 狗想跟着爬上来，可它们太重了，干草堆撑不住它们的重量。 它们在干草里扑腾，嗅着风爪的血迹，口水直流。 冬青爪继续往上爬，半个身子都埋进了干草里。 干草挂在她毛上，草籽钻进鼻子里，害得她直打喷嚏。 就在她前面，狮爪爬到了珀蒂等着的缝隙那里。 这只老花斑猫抓住他的后颈，把他拉了出来，然后放到冬青爪看不到的地方。 他伸手抓住冬青爪，然后

swung her off all four of her paws into the air. In a blur of fear she thought she would fall all the way to the ground. She tensed herself for the impact, only to drop, juddering, onto a sloping red roof a couple of tail-lengths below the slit in the wall. Caught off-balance, she felt herself slipping to the edge, until Lionpaw thrust himself in front of her and brought her to a halt. "Thanks!" she gasped. Looking back, she saw Purdy hauling Breezepaw through the gap. "What about my tail?" the WindClan cat complained as Purdy dropped him to join the others. "It's bleeding!" "Shut up and follow me," Purdy meowed, leaping down beside them with a thump. "Or you'll have more to worry about than your tail. This way," he added, creeping to the edge of the roof. He jumped down onto the edge of a container filled with water, and from there to the ground, gesturing urgently for them to follow. Lionpaw went first, leaping down easily. Hollypaw followed him with more caution, imagining the

把她四脚离地提了起来。 恐惧中她一片慌乱，以为自己会直直摔落到地上。 她绷紧身体准备承受撞击，结果掉下来晃了晃，落在墙缝下方几条尾巴远的斜红屋顶上。 她失去平衡，朝着边缘滑过去，直到狮爪挡在她面前才停了下来。 “谢谢！” 她喘着气说。 她回头一看，看见珀蒂把风爪也拉出了缝隙。 “我的尾巴怎么办啊？” 珀蒂把他放下来和大家待在一起，这只风族猫抱怨道。 “它在流血！” “闭嘴跟我来，”珀蒂说完，咚的一声跳到他们身边。 “不然你要担心的就不止你的尾巴了。 这边走，”他补充道，慢慢爬到屋顶边缘。 他跳到装水容器的边缘，再跳到地上，急切地示意他们跟上。 狮爪第一个走，轻轻松松跳了下去。 冬青爪跟在后面，加倍小心，她已经想到

cold shock of a plunge into the water. Breezepaw landed beside her and immediately flicked his tail forward to examine the ragged and bleeding end. "Stop that," Purdy hissed. "We've got to run!" A flurry of yelping sounded from inside the nest, followed by the thunder of paws breaking out into the open. Purdy took off, running as fast as any warrior, back the way the apprentices had come. The apprentices raced after him. Hollypaw's heart pounded even harder as they approached the fence; would they be able to squeeze through before the dogs caught them? But Purdy led them to a different part of the fence and shoved Lionpaw roughly through a hole. Hollypaw scrambled through after him; it was easier and faster than squeezing underneath. Breezepaw followed, and last of all Purdy, who turned to face the dogs as they came bounding up, barking fit to wake StarClan. "Get back to your Upwalkers," he taunted them. "Ask them to feed you. You won't get no cat today." Hollypaw didn't think the dogs understood him. They flung themselves at the fence, but it

扎进水里的那一下冰冷刺骨。 风爪落在她身旁，立刻甩动尾巴，检查自己裂开流血的尾端。 “别碰了，”珀迪嘶声说。 “我们得快跑！” 窝里传来一阵汪汪乱吠，接着是雷鸣般的爪子脚步声，犬群冲到了空地上。 珀迪拔腿就跑，跑得和武士一样快，顺着学徒们来的路往回赶。 学徒们紧跟着他拼命奔跑。 快靠近围栏时，冬青爪的心跳得更凶了； 他们能在狗追上之前钻过去吗？ 可珀迪带他们走到围栏的另一处，一把将狮爪推过了一个洞。 冬青爪紧跟着爬了过去；这比从围栏底下挤过去轻松多了，也快多了。 风爪跟了过来，最后才是珀迪，他转身扑来的狗群，那叫声大得都能吵醒星族。 “回你们两脚兽那儿去，”他嘲讽道。 “让他们喂你们去。 今天你们别想吃掉任何猫。” 冬青爪可不觉得狗能听懂他的话。 它们猛地扑向围栏，可围栏

didn't give way, and the hole was too small for them to get through. A moment later a Twoleg appeared around the corner of the nearest nest and yowled at them. The dogs" barking changed to whines and they slunk away, casting furious glances back at the cats. "Right, let's go," Purdy meowed. He led them back to the shelter of the hedge, where all three of them collapsed in the long grass. Hollypaw closed her eyes. When she opened them again Purdy had gone. Instead, Brambleclaw and Crowfeather were standing over her. "Are the three of you completely mouse- brained?" Brambleclaw's voice was icy. "You were told there were dogs at the farm. Yet you still go putting yourselves in danger. And for what? A few mice!" "Sorry," Hollypaw muttered, unable to meet her father's gaze. "We weren't thinking," Lionpaw confessed. "Obviously," Brambleclaw retorted. "It's not all our fault, though." Breezepaw looked up from licking his tail. "If you hadn't let

纹丝不动，那个洞对它们来说太小了，根本钻不过来。 没过一会儿，一个两脚兽从最近的屋子拐角走出来，对着狗大吼。 狗的吠叫变成了哀鸣，它们灰溜溜地退走，走的时候还愤怒地回头瞪着这群猫。 “好了，我们走吧，”珀迪说道。 他带着他们回到树篱的遮蔽处，三只猫一下子都瘫在了长草里。 冬青爪闭上了眼睛。 等她再睁开眼时，珀迪已经不见了。 站在她面前的是黑莓掌和鸦羽。 “你们三个是不是完全笨得像老鼠？” 黑莓掌的声音冷冰冰的。 “早就告诉你们农场有狗。 结果你们还要把自己往危险里送。 就为了什么？ 不就是几只老鼠！” “对不起，”冬青爪小声说，不敢直视爸爸的目光。 “我们没动脑子，”狮爪承认道。 “可不是嘛，”黑莓掌反驳道。 “不过这也不全是我们的错。” 风爪舔着尾巴，抬起了头。 “要是你们没让