Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14 Over the next few days, the streams in ThunderClan territory dwindled until the only freshwater to be found was near the RiverClan border, on the far side of Sunningrocks. "There's never been a summer like it," grumbled One-Eye. "The forest is as dry as a kit's bedding." Fireheart was searching the sky for clouds, sending a silent prayer to StarClan that rain would come soon. The drought was forcing the ThunderClan cats to fetch water nearer and nearer to the place where Cinderpelt had sheltered the sick ShadowClan cats, and he didn't want to risk any of the patrols coming into contact with lingering traces of disease. At the same time, he was almost grateful for the distraction of worrying about water, which left him less time to dwell on what had happened to Cloudpaw, and where his apprentice might be now. The sunhigh patrol had just returned, and Frostfur was organizing a party of elders and queens to go to the river to drink. They gathered in the narrow shadows at the edge of the clearing.

第十四章在接下来的几天里，雷族领地内的溪流越来越少，最后唯一能找到的淡水出现在河族边界附近，在太阳岩的另一边。 “从来没有一个夏天像现在这样。”独眼咕哝道。 “这片森林干得要命。” 火心在天空中寻找云彩，默默地向星族祈祷雨会很快降临。 干旱迫使雷霆族的猫越来越靠近灰姑娘庇护生病的影子族猫的地方取水，他不想冒险让任何巡逻队接触到残留的疾病痕迹。 与此同时，他几乎很感激自己因为担心水而分心，这样他就没有那么多时间去想云爪发生了什么事，他的徒弟现在可能在哪里。 太阳巡逻队刚刚回来，弗罗斯特弗正在组织一群长老和女王去河边喝酒。 他们聚集在空地边缘狭窄的阴影里。

"Why would StarClan send such a drought now?" Smallear complained. Out of the corner of his eye Fireheart saw the old gray tom glance in his direction, and he remembered with a shiver the elder's warning about the broken rituals. "It's not the dryness that bothers me," rasped One-Eye. "It's all the Twolegs out in the forest. I've never heard so many crashing around, scaring off the prey and ruining our scent markers with their stench. A bit of rain might drive them away." "Well, I'm worried about Willowpelt," meowed Speckletail. "It's quite a journey to the stream and back, and she doesn't like to leave her kits for so long. But if she doesn't drink, her milk'll dry up and her kits will starve." "Goldenflower too," Patchpelt put in. "Perhaps if we each carried back moss soaked in water, they could lick the moisture from that?" he suggested. "That's a great idea," Fireheart meowed. He wondered why he hadn't thought of that himself. Perhaps he had been trying to put the nursery— and one kit in particular—out of his mind. "Can you bring some back today?"

“为什么《星际战队》现在会出现如此干旱的情况？”Smallear抱怨道。 火心从眼角看到灰老头朝他的方向瞥了一眼，他不禁打了个寒颤，想起了长者关于破坏仪式的警告。 “让我烦恼的不是干燥，”独眼粗声说。 “森林里全是特立格人。 我从来没听过这么多的人跑来跑去，吓跑猎物，用恶臭破坏我们的气味标记。 一点雨就可能把它们赶走。” “嗯，我很担心威洛佩特。”斑点尾巴喵喵地说。 “往返小溪是一段相当长的旅程，她不喜欢离开她的孩子这么长时间。 但如果她不喝水，她的奶就会干涸，她的孩子就会饿死。” “还有金花。”补丁补了一句。 “也许如果我们每个人都把浸泡在水里的苔藓带回来，它们就能从中吸取水分了？”他建议道。 “好主意。”火心叫道。 他不明白自己为什么没有想到这一点。 也许他一直想把育儿室——尤其是其中一件——抛在脑后。 “你今天能带一些回来吗？”

The old black-and-white tom nodded. "We'll all bring some," offered Speckletail. "Thank you." Fireheart blinked gratefully at her. He couldn't help thinking with a pang of regret how eagerly Cloudpaw would have volunteered to help the elders. He'd always been particularly close to them, listening to their stories at night and sometimes even sharing their meals. It stung Fireheart, if he let himself think about it for too long, that the elders hardly seemed to notice Cloudpaw's absence. Was Fireheart the only cat in ThunderClan who thought Cloudpaw could have adjusted to life in the forest? He shook his ears irritably. Perhaps Bluestar was right, and the young cat had made the right decision to leave. But it didn't stop Fireheart from missing him with an unexpected intensity. He called to Sandstorm and Brackenfur, who were resting in the shade of the nettle patch after the sunhigh patrol. They leaped up at once and trotted over to him. "Would you escort Smallear and the others?" Fireheart meowed. "I don't know how close to the river they'll have to go, and they'll need some

黑白相间的老汤姆点点头。 “我们都带一些来。”斑点尾巴说。 “谢谢你。”火心感激地朝她眨了眨眼睛。 他不禁想到，如果云爪主动提出帮助长老们，他会多么急切地感到遗憾。 他一直和他们特别亲近，晚上听他们讲故事，有时甚至和他们一起吃饭。 如果火心想得太久，他会觉得很难受，因为长老们似乎根本没有注意到云爪不在。 火心是雷电氏族中唯一认为云爪能够适应森林生活的猫吗？ 他烦躁地摇着耳朵。 也许蓝星是对的，这只年轻的猫做出了离开的正确决定。 但这并没有阻止火心以一种意想不到的强烈思念他。 他叫了叫沙暴和布拉肯弗，他们在太阳照耀下巡逻后，正在荨麻树丛的树荫下休息。 他们立刻跳起来，小跑着向他走来。 “你愿意护送斯马尔和其他人吗？”Fireheart呜呜呜。 “我不知道他们要走到离河多近的地方，他们需要一些

backup if they bump into a RiverClan patrol." He paused. "I know you're tired, but the other cats are out training, and I need to stay with Whitestorm to guard the camp." "No problem," meowed Brackenfur easily. "I'm not tired, Fireheart," insisted Sandstorm, fixing him with her leaf-green gaze. Fireheart's paws tingled as he remembered what Cinderpelt had told him a few nights ago. "Er, great," he meowed, a little too loudly. He began washing his chest self-consciously, his licks becoming brisker as he noticed that Brackenfur's whiskers were twitching with amusement. He was relieved when the group padded out of the gorse tunnel leaving him in the deserted clearing. Whitestorm was with Bluestar, in her den. Willowpelt and Goldenflower were in the nursery with their kits. Fireheart had noticed Tigerclaw's kit padding around the camp on unsteady legs these past few days, encouraged by Goldenflower. He'd found himself avoiding its eyes, and had looked on warily as, little by little, it joined in with Clan life. Now, as he listened to it mewling with the

如果他们碰上河族巡逻队，就支援他们。” 他停顿了一下。“我知道你累了，但其他猫都出去训练了，我得留在白风暴守住营地。” “没问题。”布拉肯弗轻松地喵喵叫道。 “我不累，火心。”沙暴坚持道，用绿叶般的目光盯着他。 火心想起几天前灰姑娘对他说过的话，爪子发麻。 “嗯，太好了。”他喵喵地叫道，声音有点太大了。 他开始不自觉地洗自己的胸膛，当他注意到布莱肯弗的胡须在开心地抽动时，他的舔得更轻快了。 当这群人走出金雀花隧道，把他留在空旷的空地上时，他松了一口气。 白风暴和蓝星在她的窝里。 柳树皮和金花带着它们的幼崽在苗圃里。 这几天火心注意到，在金花的鼓励下，虎爪的装备摇摇晃晃地在营地里走来走去。 他发现自己躲着它的眼睛，小心翼翼地看着它一点一点地融入氏族的生活。 现在，当他听着它呜咽着的时候

other kits, Fireheart's main thought was how hungry it would be if its mother didn't get water soon. He hoped that the cats wouldn't have to travel all the way to the river, and he pictured the band of queens and elders moving slowly through the undergrowth with Sandstorm beside them, her orange fur glowing among the green fronds. With a jolt, he remembered the sick ShadowClan cats. What if Cinderpelt hadn't really sent them away and they were still hiding there? Fireheart shuddered. He hurried toward Yellowfang's clearing and nearly bumped into Cinderpelt limping out of the tunnel entrance. "What's the matter with you?" she mewed cheerily, and then she looked at the frown on Fireheart's face and her expression changed. "Did you tell Littlecloud and Whitethroat they must leave?" Fireheart whispered urgently. "We've been through all this already." Cinderpelt sighed impatiently. "Are you sure they've gone?" "They promised to leave that night." Her blue eyes challenged Fireheart to argue with her. "And there's no stench of sickness left?" he

在其他小鹰中，火心的主要想法是，如果它的妈妈不尽快得到水，它会有多饿。 他希望猫们不用大老远跑到河边，他想象着一群女王和长老们在灌木丛中慢慢移动，沙暴在他们身边，橙色的皮毛在绿色的叶子中闪闪发光。 他突然想起了阴影家族那些生病的猫。 如果灰姑娘没有真的把他们赶走，他们还躲在那里呢？ Fireheart战栗。他急忙向黄牙的空地走去，差点撞到蹒跚从隧道入口出来的灰姑娘。 “你怎么啦？”她高兴地叫道，然后看着火心皱着眉头的脸，她的表情变了。 “你告诉小云和白喉他们必须离开了吗？”火心急切地小声说。 “我们已经经历了这一切。” 灰姑娘不耐烦地叹了口气。 “你确定他们走了吗？”“他们答应当晚离开。” 她的蓝眼睛向火心挑战，要他跟她争辩。 “现在没有臭气了吧？

persisted, his fur pricking with worry. "Look!" she snapped. "I told them to leave and they said they would. I don't have time for this. There are berries to be collected, and the birds will get them if I don't. If you don't believe me about the ShadowClan cats, why don't you check for yourself?" A low yowl came from the medicine cat's den. "I don't know who you're mewing at out there, but stop it now and go and fetch those berries!" "Sorry, Yellowfang," Cinderpelt called over her shoulder. "I'm just talking to Fireheart." Her eyes flashed accusingly at him as Yellowfang's voice sounded again. "Well, tell him to stop wasting your time, or he'll have me to answer to!" Cinderpelt's shoulders relaxed and her whiskers twitched with amusement. Fireheart felt a pang of guilt. "I'm sorry to keep going on about it, Cinderpelt. It's not that I don't trust you. It's just that I—" "You're just a fretful old badger," she told him, nudging him affectionately on his shoulder. "Go and check out the root cave for yourself, if you

他坚持着，担心得浑身刺痛。 “看！”她厉声说。“我让他们离开，他们说会的。 我没时间说这个。 有浆果要采集，如果我不这样做，鸟儿就会把它们吃掉。 如果你不相信我说的影子家族的猫，你为什么不自己去看看呢？”从药猫的窝里传来一声低沉的嚎叫。 “我不知道你在对谁喵喵叫，现在就别叫了，去把那些浆果拿回来！”“对不起，黄牙。”灰姑娘回头喊道。 “我只是在跟火心说话。” 当黄牙的声音再次响起时，她的眼睛里闪烁着指责的目光。 “好吧，告诉他不要再浪费你的时间了，否则他要对我负责！”灰姑娘的肩膀放松了下来，她的胡须因好玩而抽搐。 火心感到一阵内疚。 “很抱歉我一直在说这件事，灰姑娘。 不是我不相信你。 只是我——”“你只是一只讨厌的老獾，"她对他说，亲切地用胳膊肘轻轻地碰了碰他的肩膀。 “如果你愿意的话，自己去看看树根洞吧。