Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12 Jayfeather shifted uncomfortably on the bare earth. How was any cat supposed to sleep without a proper nest? But Leafpool had kept him so busy the day before that there had been no time to search for fresh moss. "It'll do the den good to be aired out," Leafpool had said. Huh! Jayfeather wriggled again, feeling a cold dawn wind ruffle his pelt. The sound of a cat brushing past the bramble screen brought him properly awake. He picked up Leafpool's scent, and the smell of the moss she carried in her jaw. At last! But why didn't she ask me to help? Jayfeather's paws itched with irritation that Leafpool seemed determined to do even the most basic tasks without him. Does she think I'm too incompetent even to carry moss? But there was no point in protesting. Jayfeather stumbled out of the scoop where his nest should have been and helped Leafpool arrange the moss near the trickle of water, where sick cats slept.

第十二章 松鸦羽在光秃秃的地上不安地挪了挪身子。 没有舒服的窝，哪只猫睡得着啊？ 可是叶池昨天忙得他团团转，根本没时间找新苔藓。 "正好把巢穴通通风，挺好的。"叶池之前这么说。 哼！ 松鸦羽又扭了扭身子，黎明的冷风吹得他毛发发颤。 有猫擦过荆棘门的声音把他彻底弄醒了。 他闻出是叶池的气味，还有她叼在嘴里的苔藓的味道。 总算来了！ 可是她为什么不叫我帮忙？ 松鸦羽满肚子火气——叶池连最基础的活都非要自己做，不肯叫他插手。 她真觉得我连叼个苔藓都干不好吗？ 不过抗议也没用。 松鸦羽从本该是他窝的凹坑里跌跌撞撞走出来，帮叶池把苔藓铺在细流边，那是病猫睡觉的地方。

"Do you want me to fetch more?" he offered. His mentor's only reply was a grunt that could have meant anything. Jayfeather wanted to ask her what was biting her, but he knew she wouldn't tell him anything. She'd probably claw my ears off just for asking, he muttered to himself. The only way I'll get any answers—about my own past and what's going on with Leafpool—is if I look for them myself. While he pushed the moss tidily into place, Jayfeather cast his mind back to his earliest memories. His littermates" absence stabbed him like a claw. We might find out a lot more if we could share what we remember! He recalled a long, cold journey, stumbling through snow that reached up to his belly fur, following his mother's scent. No—Squirrelflight's scent! Pausing with a pawful of moss, he tried to think himself back into that snowbound forest. He strove to distinguish each individual scent: his own, Lionblaze's, Hollyleaf's, Squirrelflight's... and there was another! Another adult cat, a warm and bulky shape. He'd never remembered this detail before, but another cat was definitely there,

"要不要我再去多拿点？"他主动问。 他的导师只哼了一声，谁也猜不透是什么意思。 松鸦羽想问她到底哪里不痛快，可他知道她什么都不会说。 我就问问，搞不好她还要挠掉我的耳朵呢，他暗自嘀咕。 想要得到答案——不管是关于我的身世，还是叶池到底怎么了，都得我自己去找。 松鸦羽一边把苔藓铺得整整齐齐，一边回想起自己最早的记忆。 手足们不在身边，像爪子一样扎得他心疼。 要是我们能分享各自记得的事，肯定能弄明白更多！ 他想起那段漫长又寒冷的旅程，他踩着没到肚子的积雪跌跌撞撞走，跟着妈妈的气味。 不对——是松鼠飞的气味！ 他叼着一爪子苔藓停下脚步，努力回想那个被大雪封住的森林。 他努力分辨每一缕气味：他自己的，狮焰的，冬青叶的，松鼠飞的…… 还有另外一股！ 是另一只成年猫，身形暖暖的，大大的。 他之前从来没记起这个细节，但那绝对还有另一只猫，

just ahead of Squirrelflight, forcing a way through the snow.... Who was that? Jayfeather wondered. Did two cats bring us back to the hollow? He needed to ask another cat, one who had been in ThunderClan when Squirrelflight brought her kits to the hollow. But it had to be a cat who wouldn't get suspicious about his questions or tell the rest of the Clan what he had been asking. Well, there's one cat who doesn't gossip.... "I'll go get more moss," he meowed, rapidly shoving the last pawful into place. Without giving Leafpool a chance to protest, he brushed past the bramble screen and into the clearing. But instead of heading for the thorn tunnel, he darted across to the elders" den under the hazel bush. "Mousefur!" he called, ducking under a trailing strand of honeysuckle. The skinny brown elder was curled up near the trunk of the hazel. "I hope your tail's on fire or foxes are invading the camp," she rasped, stifling a yawn. "Or that you've got another really good excuse for waking me up."

就在松鼠飞前面，开路踩着雪往前走…… 那是谁？ 松鸦羽纳闷着。 是两只猫把我们带回峡谷的吗？ 他得去问问别的猫，就是松鼠飞带幼崽回峡谷时已经在雷族的猫。 但这猫不能对他的问题起疑心，也不能把他问问题的事告诉族里其他猫。 对了，有一只猫从来不八卦…… "我再去多拿点苔藓，"他说完，赶紧把最后一撮苔藓铺好。 没等叶池开口反对，他就擦过荆棘门，走进营地空地了。 但他没去刺藤通道，反而飞快跑向榛树下的长老巢穴。 "鼠毛！" 他喊着，低头钻过悬垂的忍冬藤。 瘦瘦的棕色长老正蜷在榛树树干旁边。 "我希望要么是你尾巴着火了，要么是狐狸攻营地了，"她哑着嗓子说，憋回了一个哈欠。 "要么你就得有别的够好的理由把我叫醒。"

"Sorry," Jayfeather mumbled. Mouse dung! That's a great way to start.... "Don't worry," Longtail mewed peaceably. The blind elder was sitting by Mousefur's side; Jayfeather heard the rasp of his tongue as he gave himself a thorough wash. "Mousefur has been asleep for ages. It's time she woke up." Mousefur let out an annoyed hiss. "Well, what do you want?" "I've come to check you for fleas," Jayfeather explained, thinking fast. "One of the apprentices brought some back from patrol." He hoped neither of the elders would think to mention his lie to any other cat. "I haven't been scratching," Mousefur meowed. "But you can check my pelt anyway." She settled herself comfortably with her paws tucked underneath her. "Be careful you don't miss any," she added as Jayfeather began probing her thick, ungroomed fur. "You've been Leafpool's apprentice for long enough." Jayfeather bit back an irritated retort as he realized this could be the opening to the conversation he wanted. "That's true," he mewed.

"对不起，"松鸦羽嘟囔着。 呸！ 这开场白可太糟糕了…… "别担心，"长尾平和地说。 这位盲长老坐在鼠毛旁边； 松鸦羽听见他舔毛的声音，正把自己全身上下舔干净。 "鼠毛都睡了好久了，" 也该醒醒了。" 鼠毛恼怒地嘶了一声。 "行了，你想要什么？" "我来帮你检查有没有跳蚤，"松鸦羽脑子转得快，赶紧解释。 "有个学徒巡逻带回来了几只。" 他希望这两个长老都不会把他的谎话告诉别的猫。 "我没挠痒痒啊，"鼠毛说。 "不过你也可以检查我的毛。" 她舒舒服服趴好，爪子收在肚子底下。 "仔细点别漏了，"松鸦羽开始探进她厚厚的、没梳理过的毛，她又补充了一句。 "你跟着叶池当学徒也够久了。" 松鸦羽把到嘴边的气恼话咽了回去，他发现这刚好能开启他想要的话题。 "没错，"他说。

"It was the middle of last leaf-bare when I was born, wasn't it?" "The coldest leaf-bare I remember," Longtail agreed. "I remember how thick the snow was. The whole Clan was stunned when Squirrelflight came back to the hollow with three kits! She said they'd been born earlier than she expected, which is why she didn't have a chance to get back to the nursery, but even still, what queen plans to have kits in the dead of leaf-bare?" "Thank StarClan she had Leafpool with her," Mousefur added, twitching her ears as Jayfeather parted the fur on her head. "She'd have been in big trouble otherwise." Leafpool! Jayfeather stopped running his claws through Mousefur's pelt. So Leafpool was the second cat he hadn't been able to identify. She'd never said anything to him about being with Squirrelflight when he was born.... Locating a bit of twig on the ground, he snatched it up behind Mousefur's back and cracked it in his teeth. "That's one flea you don't need to worry about," he meowed. Trying to sound as if the answer didn't matter very much,

“我出生在去年秃叶季过半的时候，对不对？” “那是我记忆里最冷的一个秃叶季，”长尾附和道。 “我还记得当时雪积得有多厚。 松鼠飞带着三只幼崽回到山谷的时候，全族都惊呆了！ 她说幼崽比预产期早产了，所以她没来得及赶回育儿室，可就算这样，哪有猫后会打算在深冬秃叶季生幼崽呀？” “幸好有叶池陪着她，”鼠毛补充道，松鸦羽拨开她头顶毛发的时候，她抖了抖耳朵。 “要不然她可就惹大麻烦了。” 叶池！ 松鸦羽停下了给鼠毛梳毛的动作。 这么说，叶池就是他没能认出来的那第二只猫。 她从来没跟他提过，他出生的时候她陪在松鼠飞身边…… 他在地上找到一小截树枝，悄悄绕到鼠毛身后叼起来，咬碎在齿间。 “这下你又少一只跳蚤不用担心啦，”他喵声说道。 他努力装出这答案根本不重要的样子，

he added, "Do you remember anything else about Squirrelflight bringing us home?" "Not a lot," the elder replied. "It was so cold and snowy, we spent most of our time asleep that leaf-bare. I do remember how surprised every cat was that Squirrelflight hadn't realized how close she was to having her kits when she went away. But then, she was always scatterbrained, right from when she was a kit." "Did you notice anything... odd about that time?" Jayfeather asked, cracking the twig again. He hoped Mousefur wouldn't think she was infested with fleas. "Odd?" Mousefur snorted. "Most of what the Clan does these days seems odd to me." "I remember," Longtail put in. "It was around then that Leafpool fed you that funny-tasting herb." Jayfeather's ears pricked. "What funny herb?" "Oh, how should I know?" Mousefur muttered. "Leafpool brought me some tansy, as usual. I think she expects me to live on the stuff every leaf-bare. And this weird-tasting stuff was mixed in with it."

他又追问道：“你还记得松鼠飞带我们回来还有别的什么事吗？” “记不太清了，”长老回答道。 “那时候太冷雪又大，那个秃叶季我们大多数时间都在睡觉。 我就记得所有猫都特别惊讶，松鼠飞出门的时候居然没发现自己马上就要生幼崽了。 不过话说回来，她一直就毛毛躁躁的，从她还是幼崽的时候就这样。” “那你有没有发现……那段时间有什么不对劲吗？” 松鸦羽一边问，一边又咬了一下树枝。 他还怕鼠毛真的以为自己身上长满跳蚤呢。 “不对劲？” 鼠毛哼了一声。 “现在部族做的大部分事，我都觉得不对劲。” “我记得，”长尾开口插话。 “大概就是那段时间，叶池给你吃了一种味道很怪的药草。” 松鸦羽一下子竖起了耳朵。 “什么奇怪的药草？” “哦，我哪知道？” 鼠毛嘟囔着。 “叶池跟往常一样给我拿了艾菊， 我看她指望我每个秃叶季都靠这东西活呢。 那种味道怪怪的东西就混在艾菊里。”