Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 Jaypaw turned away from counting poppy heads when he heard Leafpool brushing past the bramble screen into the den. Briarkit's scent mingled with hers, and he heard a feeble cough from the young kit dangling from the medicine cat's jaws. "Briarkit's worse?" he asked anxiously. Leafpool set the kit down in a nest of bracken; Jaypaw heard the stems rustling as Briarkit tried to make herself comfortable. "It's what I was afraid of," Leafpool meowed. "Briarkit has caught Millie's cough. And Millie's no better. I'd like to move her in here, too, but I don't think Daisy could cope with feeding Bumblekit and Blossomkit as well as her own. And we've no room for all of them in here." Jaypaw felt steady waves of anxiety coming from his mentor like the surge of waves on the lakeshore. "Why are you so worried? It's only whitecough." Leafpool sighed. "It could easily turn into greencough, especially with the cold weather

第四章 松鸦爪正在数罂粟苞，听到叶池擦过荆棘帘子走进巢穴，便转过了身。 荆爪的气味混在叶池的气味里，他听到这只被巫医叼在嘴里的幼崽发出了一声微弱的咳嗽。 “荆爪的情况更糟了吗？”他焦急地问。 叶池把幼崽放进蕨类铺的窝里； 松鸦爪听到荆爪挪动身体找舒服位置时，茎干发出沙沙声。 “这正是我一直担心的，”叶池喵声道。 “荆爪被米莉传染咳嗽了。 米莉的情况也没有好转。 我也想把米莉移到这里来，但我觉得黛西没法同时喂饱蜂爪、花爪还有米莉。 而且这里也挤不下她们三个。” 松鸦爪感受到导师身上传来一阵又一阵的焦虑，就像湖岸不断涌来的浪涛。 “你为什么这么担心？ 只不过是白咳症而已。” 叶池叹了口气。 “它很容易转成绿咳症，尤其是天气变冷的时候

coming." Lowering her voice in case Briarkit was listening, she went on, "There are several kits in the Clan, and Mousefur is very frail. We could end up losing cats." She slid beside Jaypaw into the storage cave. "We're almost out of catmint," she murmured. "There's enough for Briarkit now, and another dose for Millie, and that's all." "I'll go and fetch some more," Jaypaw offered instantly. "That would be a big help," Leafpool mewed. "Take another cat with you—no, not because I think you can't manage on your own," she added as if she knew he would start bristling. "Two of you can carry twice as many stems." "Okay. Shall I take the other catmint to Millie first?" "No, I'll do that. The sooner you go, the sooner you'll be back with fresh supplies." When Jaypaw emerged into the clearing, the first cat he located was Poppyfrost, crouched by the fresh-kill pile. He hurried over to her. "Are you busy?" Poppyfrost gulped down a mouthful of vole.

了。” 她怕荆爪听见，压低声音继续说：“族里还有好几只幼崽，而且鼠毛身体非常虚弱。 我们说不定会失去一些猫的。” 她溜到松鸦爪身边，走进了储藏洞穴。 “我们的猫薄荷快用完了，”她低声说。 “现在剩下的只够给荆爪用一次，再给米莉用一次，就没了。” “我去多采一些回来，”松鸦爪立刻主动请缨。 “那可帮了我大忙了，”叶池喵呜道。 “再找一只猫跟你一起去——不，不是因为我觉得你一个人应付不来，”她好像早就料到松鸦爪会恼羞成怒，连忙补充道。 “你们两个一起去就能搬回两倍的猫薄荷。” “好的。 我要先把剩下的猫薄荷给米莉送过去吗？” “不用了，我去送。 你越早出发，就能越早带着新的猫薄荷回来。” 松鸦爪走到空地的时候，第一眼就看到了罂粟霜，她正蹲在猎物堆旁边。 他连忙朝她走过去。 “你现在忙吗？” 罂粟霜吞下一口田鼠肉。

"Not very," she replied. "Brightheart suggested I might help clear the bedding out of the warriors" den—there's so much of it now, and it's a hard job when there are only two apprentices. But to be honest, I wouldn't mind an excuse not to do it." She swallowed the last of the prey and rose to her paws. "What do you want me to do?" Jaypaw explained about Briarkit and the need to fetch more catmint. "Poor little scrap," Poppyfrost mewed sympathetically. "Of course I'll help. Let's go!" She bounded across the clearing to the tunnel, leaving Jaypaw to follow. Once through the tunnel he caught up to her, and they headed for the abandoned Twoleg nest. Jaypaw felt his paws prickle at the memory of the battle; though the scents of blood and fear had faded, the screeches of fighting cats still echoed in his head. He steered Poppyfrost away from the tunnel where the WindClan cats had invaded ThunderClan territory; he didn't want to think about what it meant if there was another entrance into the underground caves where he had first met Rock. He began sniffing for catmint as they

“不算太忙，”她回答道。 “亮心让我帮忙清理武士巢穴的垫草——现在垫草太多了，只有两个学徒实在做不完这么多活。 不过说实话，我正好想找个借口不用干这个活呢。” 她吞下最后一口猎物，站起身来。 “你想让我做什么？” 松鸦爪跟她解释了荆爪的情况，说需要多采一些猫薄荷。 “可怜的小宝贝，”罂粟霜同情地喵道。 “我当然愿意帮忙。 我们走吧！” 她蹦跳着穿过空地跑进隧道，让松鸦爪跟在后面。 一出隧道松鸦爪就追上了她，然后他们一起朝废弃的两脚兽巢穴走去。 想起那场战斗，松鸦爪的爪子不由得一阵发麻； 虽然血腥味和恐惧的气味早就散去了，但战斗的嘶吼声还在他脑海里回响。 他带着罂粟霜绕开了风族猫入侵雷族领地时走的那条隧道； 他不想去想，如果他第一次遇见岩石的那个地下洞穴还有另一个入口，到底意味着什么。 他开始嗅找猫薄荷，就在他们

approached the Twoleg nest, but instead of the sharp, clean scent of the herb all he could pick up was a musty smell. "Oh, no!" Poppyfrost halted abruptly. "What's the matter?" "The catmint. Oh, Jaypaw, it's almost all gone!" "Gone? It can't be!" Poppyfrost bounded forward and Jaypaw followed. He felt soft, thick grass under his paws, then a strip of churned soil where the Twolegs had once grown plants. The musty smell was all around him now, mingled with the occasional hint of fresh leaves. "What can you see?" he demanded. "It's all squashed," Poppyfrost replied, her voice filled with distress. "The stems are broken down, all black and rotten." Jaypaw felt a dark space of fear open up inside him. "That won't help the sick cats." "I know. It must have happened in the battle." Jaypaw lashed his tail. "I bet WindClan and RiverClan did this deliberately." "Surely no cat would be that cruel?"

靠近两脚兽巢穴，但他没有闻到猫薄荷那种清新浓烈的气味，只闻到一股发霉的味道。 “哦，糟了！” 罂粟霜猛地停住了脚步。 “出什么事了？” “猫薄荷。 哦松鸦爪，几乎全都没了！” “没了？ 这不可能啊！’ 罂粟霜一下子冲上前，松鸦爪跟在后面。 他爪子下先是碰到柔软茂密的草，接着走到一块被翻过的土地上，那就是以前两脚兽种猫薄荷的地方。 现在发霉的气味裹住了他，偶尔还夹杂着一点新鲜叶子的气息。 “你看到什么了？”他急切地问。 “全都被踩坏了，”罂粟霜回答，声音里满是慌乱。 “茎都断了，全都发黑腐烂了。” 松鸦爪只觉得内心一阵恐惧，像打开了一个黑洞。 “这样生病的猫就得不到帮助了。” “我知道。 肯定是战斗的时候被破坏的。” 松鸦爪猛地甩了甩尾巴。 “我敢肯定这是风族和河族故意干的。” “哪有猫会这么残忍啊？”

Poppyfrost meowed. Jaypaw worked his claws furiously into the earth and felt torn stems beneath his claws. "We'll have to tell Firestar. They can't get away with this!" "No—wait." Jaypaw had been ready to dash back to camp, but Poppyfrost stopped him with her tail across his chest. "Cats were fighting all around here. The catmint probably just got trampled." Jaypaw grunted; she might be right, but that didn't stop him from being suspicious. Still, it was more important to see if he could find any fresh catmint for Briarkit and Millie. Reporting to Firestar could wait. Tasting the air carefully, he managed to identify a few new shoots of catmint poking through the ground, but they were very small, and there weren't many of them. He began to bite carefully through each stem. Poppyfrost was moving around close by, rustling among the leaves. "I'm pulling all the broken stems away," she explained. "That way the new ones will have room to grow."

罂粟霜喵了一声。 松鸦爪把爪子狠狠抠进泥土里，摸到爪下全是被扯断的茎秆。 “我们得告诉火星。 绝对不能就这么算了！” “不对——等一下。” 松鸦爪本来都准备冲回营地了，罂粟霜用尾巴拦住了他的胸口。 “这附近之前打过架， 猫薄荷大概只是被踩坏了而已。” 松鸦爪咕哝了一声，她说的也许没错，但还是没法消除他的疑心。 不过，找到新鲜猫薄荷给藓毛和米莉才更要紧， 给火星报告可以先等等。 他仔细辨闻空气，找出了几株破土而出的猫薄荷新芽，可它们特别小，数量也不多。 他开始小心地咬断每一根新芽的茎。 罂粟霜在附近走动，把叶子碰得沙沙响。 “我在把断掉的茎全都清走，”她解释道。 “这样新芽才有生长的空间呀。”

"Good idea," Jaypaw meowed. "I'll help you. Pick any of the new stems you come across, and put them with mine." He began clawing away the dying stems and the fallen leaves that clogged up the new growth. He imagined the sun warming the battered plants, encouraging them to shoot up again. But soon it would be leaf-bare, when nothing grew. Could they wait until newleaf for fresh catmint? At last there was nothing more they could do. Jaypaw and Poppyfrost divided their gleanings between them, though one cat could easily have carried all they had managed to find. Then they headed back to camp. "What happened?" Leafpool's voice, sharp with worry, greeted Jaypaw as soon as he rounded the bramble screen. "What took so long? Why haven't you brought back more than that?" Jaypaw dropped the herbs at her paws. "This is all there is." "What?" Poppyfrost padded up beside him and added her stems to the pile. Quietly she explained what they had found near the Twoleg nest.

“好主意，”松鸦爪说。 “我来帮你。 你找到的新茎都摘下来，和我的放在一起。” 他开始扒开枯茎和盖住新芽的落叶。 他想象着阳光晒暖这些受伤的植物，催着它们重新长高。 可很快就要到秃叶季了，那时候什么都长不出来。 他们能等到新叶季再拿到新鲜猫薄荷吗？ 到最后，他们能做的事都做完了。 松鸦爪和罂粟霜把找到的猫薄荷分开拿，其实就算一只猫也能轻松带走他们找到的这点东西。 之后他们就动身返回营地了。 “出什么事了？” 松鸦爪刚绕过营地的荆棘障，叶池满是焦虑的尖利声音就传了过来。 “怎么去了这么久？ 怎么就带回来这么一点？” 松鸦爪把草药放到叶池爪边。 “就找到这么多。” “你说什么？” 罂粟霜走到松鸦爪身边，把自己摘的茎也放到草堆上。 她轻声说明了他们在两脚兽巢穴附近发现的情况。