Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25 Fireheart dropped Speckletail's kit at Whitestorm's paws and turned to face the Clan. "It's shallow enough to wade most of the way," he yowled. "Much shallower than usual. There's a place in the middle where you'll have to swim, but you'll make it." The cats looked at him with horrified eyes. "You have to trust me!" he urged. Whitestorm met Fireheart's gaze for a long heartbeat, then nodded calmly. He picked up Speckletail's kit and waded into the river until he stood up to his belly in the dark water. Then he turned and flicked his tail for the others to follow. Fireheart felt a familiar scent in his nostrils, and a soft ginger pelt brushed against his shoulder. He looked down into Sandstorm's bright green gaze. "You think it's safe?" she murmured, pointing with her nose to the fast-flowing river. "Yes, I promise," Fireheart replied, wishing with all his heart that they were somewhere else, far from this flame-threatened shore. He blinked slowly at the steadfast warrior beside him, trying to comfort her with his gaze when really he

第二十五章火心把小斑点尾巴的装备扔到白风暴的爪子上，转身面对氏族。 “水很浅，可以趟过大部分的路。” “比平常浅得多。 中间有个地方你得游过去，不过你会游过去的。” 猫们惊恐地看着他。 “你必须相信我！”他催促道。 白风暴与火心凝视了许久，然后平静地点点头。 他拿起斑点尾巴的装备，涉水进入河中，直到他在黑暗的水里站了起来。 然后他转过身来，摇了摇尾巴，让其他的人跟着。 火心感到鼻孔里有一种熟悉的气味，柔软的姜皮拂过他的肩膀。 他低头看着沙暴明亮的绿色目光。 “你觉得安全吗？”她低声说，用鼻子指着湍急的河水。 “是的，我保证。”火心回答，他真心希望他们在别的地方，远离这火焰威胁的海岸。 他慢慢地眨着眼睛，看着身边坚定的战士，试图用他的目光安慰她，而实际上他

wanted to bury his muzzle in her fur and hide until this nightmare was over. Sandstorm nodded as if she could read his mind. Then she raced through the shallows and plunged into the deep central channel just as lightning lit up the rippling water. Fireheart's chest tightened as the she-cat lost her footing on the pebbles and disappeared under the surface. He felt his heart stop beating and his ears roar like thunder as he waited for her to reappear. Then Sandstorm bobbed up, coughing and thrashing with her paws, but swimming steadily toward the far shore. She struggled out on the other side, her coat dark with water and clinging to her body, and called to her Clanmates, "Just keep your paws moving and you'll be okay!" Fireheart's chest ached with pride. He stared at the lithe shape, silhouetted against the trees on the other shore, and could hardly stop himself from leaping into the water and swimming to her side. But he had to see the rest of the Clan across first, and he forced himself to watch his Clanmates as they began to plunge headlong into the river.

想把他的嘴埋在她的毛里躲起来，直到噩梦结束。 沙暴点点头，仿佛能读懂他的心思。 然后她冲过浅滩，跳入深深的中央水道，闪电照亮了荡漾的水面。 火心的胸口紧绷着，因为母猫在鹅卵石上失去了立足点，消失在水面下。 他感到自己的心停止了跳动，耳朵像打雷一样咆哮着，等待着她的再次出现。 沙暴跳了起来，咳嗽着，用爪子拍打着，但平稳地向远岸游去。 她挣扎着游到另一边，她的外套被水浸透了，紧贴在身上，她对她的族人喊道：“只要你的爪子动起来，你就会没事的！”火心因骄傲而胸痛。 他凝视着对岸树木映衬下那轻盈的身影，忍不住跳进水里游到她身边。 但他必须先把部落的其他成员送过去，他强迫自己看着他的部落成员开始一头扎进河里。

Dustpelt and Cloudpaw dragged Patchpelt's body to the water's edge. Dustpelt looked down at it, then gazed across the river, his expression bleak at the impossibility of carrying the dead cat to the other side when it would be difficult enough to swim alone. Fireheart padded to the warrior's side. "Leave him here," he murmured, even though the prospect of leaving another cat behind tore at his heart. "We can come back and bury him when the fire has passed." Dustpelt nodded and waded into the river with Cloudpaw. The apprentice was almost unrecognizable under the smoke stains, and Fireheart touched his nose to the young cat's flank as he passed, hoping Cloudpaw could sense how proud his mentor was of his quiet courage. When Fireheart lifted his head he saw Smallear hesitating at the river's edge. On the far side, Sandstorm was standing belly-deep in water, helping the cats as they struggled to the shore. She called encouragingly to the old gray tom, but Smallear backed away as another bolt of lightning lit up the sky. Fireheart dashed toward the

尘埃皮和云爪把补丁皮的尸体拖到水边。 达斯特尔特低头看了看它，然后又望着河对岸，他的表情很凄凉，因为他不可能把死猫抬到对岸去，因为独自游过去已经很困难了。 火心来到战士的身边。 “把它留在这儿吧，”他喃喃地说，尽管一想到又要留下一只猫，他的心就怦怦直跳。 “等火过去了，我们可以回来把他埋了。” 尘土点点头，和云爪一起蹚了河。 徒弟被烟雾熏得几乎认不出来了，火心走过时用鼻子蹭了蹭小猫的腰腹，希望云爪能感觉到他的导师是多么为他安静的勇气感到骄傲。 火心抬起头，看见小鹿在河边犹豫。 在另一边，沙暴站在齐肚子深的水里，帮助那些挣扎着上岸的猫。 她鼓励地叫着那只灰色的老汤姆，但又一道闪电照亮了天空，小矮人后退了。 火心火心冲了过去

trembling elder, grabbed him by the scruff, and plunged into the river. Smallear wailed and floundered as Fireheart struggled to keep his head above the surface. The water felt icy after the heat of the flames, and Fireheart found himself gasping for breath, but he plowed on, trying to remember how easily Graystripe had swum this same channel. Suddenly a swift current dragged him and Smallear off course. Fireheart flailed with his paws, feeling panic rise in his chest as he saw the gently sloping bank slip past and a steep wall of mud loom in its place. How would he climb out here, especially with Smallear? The elderly tom had stopped struggling now, and hung like a deadweight in Fireheart's jaws. Only his rasping breaths in Fireheart's ears showed that he was still alive, and might yet survive the crossing. Fireheart floundered in the water, trying to fight the current and keep Smallear's muzzle above the water. Without warning, a mottled head reached down from the bank and grabbed Smallear from him. It was Leopardfur, the RiverClan deputy! Scrabbling in the mud for a pawhold, she dragged

发抖的长老一把抓住他的颈背，跳进河里。 火心挣扎着把头露出水面，小个子哭喊着，挣扎着。 经过烈焰的炙烤，水变得冰冷，火心发现自己喘不过气来，但他继续前进，努力回忆着灰条是如何轻松地游过这条海峡的。 突然，一股急流把他和斯莫尔拖离了航道。 火心挥舞着爪子，看到缓缓倾斜的河岸滑过，一堵陡峭的泥墙隐约出现在眼前，他感到心中一阵恐慌。 他怎么爬出来，尤其是和斯莫一起？ 老汤姆现在已经停止了挣扎，像个沉重的重物一样吊在火心的嘴里。 只有他刺耳的呼吸声在火心的耳边，表明他还活着，也许还能挺过渡河。 火心在水里挣扎着，试图与水流搏斗，让斯莫勒的嘴巴露出水面。 毫无征兆地，一个斑驳的脑袋从岸上伸了下来，从他手里抓住了斯莫。 是利奥帕福，河族的代表！她在泥里摸索着抓爪子，拖着

Smallear out, dropped him on the ground, and reached down again for Fireheart. He felt her teeth sharp in his scruff as she hauled him up the slippery bank. He felt a wave of relief as his paws sank into dry ground. "Is that everyone?" Leopardfur demanded. Fireheart looked around him. RiverClan cats were weaving among the ThunderClan cats as they crouched, drenched and shocked on the pebbles. Graystripe was one of them. "I—I think so," Fireheart stammered. He could see Bluestar lying under some trailing willow branches. She looked small and frail with her soaked fur flattened against her scrawny flanks. "What about that one?" Leopardfur pointed with her nose to the unmoving black-and-white shape on the far shore. Fireheart turned to look. The ferns on the other side were burning now, sending sparks flying into the river and illuminating the trees with flickering light. "He's dead," Fireheart whispered. Without a word Leopardfur slipped into the river and swam to the other side. With her golden fur flickering in the light from the flames, she

小个子出来了，把他扔在地上，又伸手去抓火心。 当她把他拖上滑溜溜的河岸时，他感到她的牙齿在他的脖颈上锋利地咬着。 当他的爪子落到干燥的地面上时，他感到如释重负。 “这是所有人吗？”Leopardfur问道。 火心环顾四周。 河族的猫在雷电族的猫中间穿梭，它们蜷缩在鹅卵石上，浑身湿透，受到惊吓。 Graystripe就是其中之一。 “我——我想是的。”火心结结巴巴地说。 他看见蓝星躺在一些拖着的柳枝下。 她看起来又小又虚弱，湿漉漉的皮毛贴在她瘦弱的身体两侧。 “那张怎么样？”利奥帕德弗用鼻子指了指远处海岸上那个一动不动的黑白形状。 火心转过身去看。河对岸的蕨类植物正在燃烧，火星飞入河中，闪烁的光芒照亮了树木。 “他死了。”火心低声说。 豹皮一句话也没说就溜进了河里，游到了对岸。 金色的皮毛在火焰的光线下闪烁，她

snatched up Patchpelt's body and paddled strongly back, her front paws churning through the black water. A clap of thunder exploded overhead, making Fireheart flinch, but the RiverClan deputy didn't stop swimming. "Fireheart!" Graystripe raced over to Fireheart and pressed himself against his friend, his flank warm and soft against Fireheart's drenched body. "Are you okay?" Fireheart nodded, dazed, as Leopardfur hauled Patchpelt's body onto the shore. She laid it at Fireheart's paws and meowed, "Come on. We'll bury him back at camp." "The…the RiverClan camp?" "Unless you prefer to return to your own," answered Leopardfur coldly. She turned and led the way up the slope, away from the river and the flames. As the ThunderClan cats heaved themselves to their paws and began to follow, heavy drops of rain began to fall through the canopy above. Fireheart twitched his ear. Had the rain come soon enough for the burning forest? More exhausted than he could ever remember being, he watched Graystripe lift Patchpelt's

她一把抓住Patchpelt的身体，有力地划了回去，前爪在黑色的水中翻腾。 一声霹雳在头顶炸开，吓得火心退缩，但河族代表并没有停止游泳。 “Fireheart !”灰条纹跑到火心身边，紧紧抱住他的朋友，温暖柔软的胁腹贴在火心湿透的身体上。 “你还好吗？”火心点点头，茫然地看着豹皮福把Patchpelt的尸体拖上岸。 她把它放在火心的爪子上，喵喵地叫道：“来吧。 我们会把他埋在营地里。” “河族的营地？”“除非你想回到你自己的地方去。”利奥帕福冷冷地回答。 她转身带路上了斜坡，远离了河流和火焰。 当雷霆家族的猫抬起爪子开始跟着他们时，沉重的雨点开始从上面的树冠上落下。 火心抽动了一下耳朵。 对于燃烧的森林来说，雨来得够快吗？ 他看着“灰条”举起补丁的手，这是他记忆中从未有过的疲惫