Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18 "Disappeared?" Firestar echoed in alarm. "What happened?" "We're not sure." Whitestorm was calmer than Brackenfur, but his eyes gave away his concern. "It was Bramblepaw who first said he couldn't find her. I thought he was making a fuss about nothing, but we searched the camp. She isn't here, and no cat saw her leave." "It's my fault!" Brackenfur broke in. "I'm her mentor." "It's not your fault," Whitestorm assured him. "I sent you on hunting patrol. No cat expects you to be in two places at once." Brackenfur shook his head despairingly. "Fetch Bramblepaw," Firestar ordered; Thornclaw bounded off at once to the apprentices' den. While he waited, Firestar sent Ravenpaw and the three RiverClan cats to see Cinderpelt; Graystripe went with them to explain what had happened, and to assure himself that his kits would be all right. Though the gray warrior was cold and drenched from the icy river, all his

第十八章“失踪？”火星发出了警报。 “发生什么事了?”“我们不确定。” 怀特斯托姆比布莱肯弗平静，但他的眼神流露出担忧。 “是蓝爪先说他找不到她的。 我以为他是在无理取闹，但我们搜查了营地。 她不在这儿，也没有猫看见她离开。” “是我的错！”布莱肯弗闯了进来。 “我是她的导师。”“这不是你的错，”怀特斯托姆向他保证。 “我派你去狩猎巡逻。 没有猫会希望你同时出现在两个地方。” 布莱肯弗绝望地摇了摇头。 “把荆棘爪叫来。”桑克劳立刻向学徒的窝里跑去。 在他等待的时候，火星派乌鸦爪和河族的三只猫去看灰姑娘。格雷stripe和他们一起去解释发生了什么事，并保证他的工具包不会有事。 虽然灰衣战士被冰冷的河水淋得又冷又湿，但他所有的

concern was for his kits, and as they crossed the clearing he stuck close to their side like a bulky shadow. "I don't know what to think," meowed Whitestorm when they had gone. "Maybe Tawnypaw got some idea into her head and went off by herself. She could be trapped or injured somewhere—" "Or she could be in ShadowClan," Brackenfur interrupted, his fur bristling. "Tigerstar could have stolen her!" "But Tigerstar was over in RiverClan territory," Firestar told them quietly. "So were Blackfoot and Darkstripe." He saw Whitestorm's ears twitch in surprise, and he knew he would have to explain every thing to his deputy as soon as possible. "He could have sent some other cat to do his dirty work," Cloudtail put in. "Have you scented ShadowClan cats around the camp?" Firestar asked Whitestorm. "Or RiverClan?" The white warrior shook his head. "No cats but our own, Firestar." "Then it sounds as if she left willingly," Firestar

他担心的是他的孩子们，当他们穿过空地时，他像一个庞大的影子一样紧紧地贴在他们身边。 “我不知道该怎么想。”他们走后，怀特风暴叫道。 “也许唐婆脑子里有了什么念头，自己走了。 她可能在什么地方被困住了，或者受了伤——”“也可能在影族里。”布莱肯弗打断了他的话，他的毛竖了起来。 “虎星可能把她偷走了！”“但是虎星已经在河族的地盘上了。” “黑脚和黑条纹也是。” 他看到怀特斯托姆的耳朵惊讶地抽搐着，他知道他必须尽快向副手解释这一切。 “他可以派别的猫去干他的脏活。”云尾巴插嘴说。 “你在营地周围嗅到影子家族猫的气味了吗？”火星问白风暴。 “还是RiverClan ?”白衣武士摇了摇头。 “除了我们自己的猫，没有别的猫，火星。” “听起来她是自愿离开的，”火星

meowed. "Perhaps she just felt like hunting by herself for a change." But he couldn't help remembering the incident before he left the camp, when Tawnypaw had been furious with Smallear for comparing her with her father. Firestar wondered if he had misjudged how hurt she had felt. He broke off his thoughts as Bramblepaw came up. "Tell me what Tawnypaw did before she disappeared," Firestar ordered. "Just the usual apprentice chores." Bramblepaw sounded anxious; his amber eyes were wide and confused. "We changed the elders' bedding and brought them fresh-kill, and I went to get some mouse bile from Cinderpelt to put on a tick in Smallear's fur. When I came back Tawnypaw had gone, and I haven't seen her since." "Where have you looked so far?" "I went back to where we got the moss for the bedding, but she wasn't there," his apprentice replied. "And I checked the training hollow." Firestar nodded. "Did you ask the elders if she said anything to them?"

呜呜呜。“也许她只是想改变一下自己打猎的习惯。” 但他还是忍不住想起了离开营地前的那件事，当时唐婆对斯莫勒拿她和她父亲作比较而大发雷霆。 火星怀疑他是否误判了她的受伤程度。 当蓝爪走过来时，他停止了沉思。 “告诉我唐婆失踪前做了什么，”火星命令道。 “就是平常的学徒杂务。” 荆棘爪听起来很焦虑。他琥珀色的眼睛睁得大大的，充满了困惑。 “我们给长辈们换了被褥，给他们带来了新鲜的猎物，我从灰姑娘身上取了一些老鼠胆汁，在斯莫勒的皮毛上放了一只虱子。 当我回来的时候，汤爷爷已经走了，从那以后我就没见过她。” “到目前为止，你都在哪里找？”他的徒弟回答说：“我回到了我们用来做铺垫的苔藓的地方，但她不在那里。” “我还检查了训练场地。” Firestar点点头。“你有没有问过长老，她对他们说了什么？”

"I did," replied Whitestorm, "but they couldn't remember anything out of the ordinary." "And what about Goldenflower?" Firestar went on. "Did Tawnypaw say anything to her?" Whitestorm shook his head. "She was frantic. I sent her with Mousefur to search toward Tallpines. They aren't back yet." "Did you try to track Tawnypaw?" Firestar asked. "Yes, of course," Brackenfur replied. "We tracked her to the top of the ravine, but after that we lost the scent." Firestar hesitated. More than anything he wanted to believe that there was an easy explanation for Tawnypaw's absence. StarClan forbid he should wish a young cat to be lying injured somewhere, but even that would be preferable to his worst fears, that Tawnypaw had gone willingly to join her father. "I'll try again," he decided. "It's probably too late, but—" "I'll come with you," Cloudtail offered. Firestar gave him a nod of gratitude; Cloudtail was one of the best trackers in the Clan. "Okay,"

“我记得，”怀特斯托姆回答说，“但他们记不起任何不寻常的事情。” “那金花呢？”火星继续说。 “外公跟她说什么了吗？”怀特斯托姆摇了摇头。 她发疯了。我派她和慕斯弗去Tallpines搜索。 他们还没有回来。”“你有没有试着去找外公？”Firestar问道。 “是的，当然。”布莱肯弗回答。 “我们跟踪她到了峡谷的顶部，但之后我们就失去了气味。” Firestar犹豫了。他最想相信的是，唐柏的缺席有一个简单的解释。 星族不允许他希望一只小猫受伤躺在某处，但即使这样，也比他最担心的事情要好，那就是唐柏自愿去找她父亲。 “我再试一次，”他决定。 “也许太晚了，不过——”“我跟你一起去。”云尾巴说。 火星向他点头表示感谢；云尾巴是氏族中最好的追踪者之一。 “好吧,”

he meowed. "Sandstorm, Thornclaw, you come too." Firestar led the way out of the camp again. Exhaustion dragged at his paws; the night was half-over, and so far he had not slept. He would have liked nothing better than to settle down in his den with a piece of fresh-kill, but he guessed it would be a long time before he could do that. It was not difficult to pick up Tawnypaw's scent in the ravine, even though it was fading by now, but toward the top he lost it, as Brackenfur had done. Firestar began to suspect that the young cat had leaped from rock to rock, where her scent would not linger, so as to confuse any cats who might try to follow her. Firestar's worst fears flooded back; had Tawnypaw really been so unhappy in ThunderClan that she felt she had to leave? His thoughts were interrupted by a yowl from Cloudtail among the bushes at the top of the ravine. "Over here! She went this way!" When Firestar bounded up to join him, he too could distinguish the faintest trace of Tawnypaw's scent. He and Cloudtail followed it into the trees,

他呜呜呜。“沙暴，桑克劳，你也来。” 火星又带路走出了营地。 他疲惫不堪；夜已经过去了一半，他还没有睡。 他真希望能在自己的窝里安安稳稳地吃上一块新鲜的猎物，但他猜他还需要很长时间才能这么做。 在峡谷里闻到汤帕的气味并不难，尽管现在气味已经渐渐消失了，但在接近山顶的时候，他就像布莱肯弗一样失去了气味。 火星开始怀疑这只小猫从一块岩石跳到另一块岩石，她的气味不会在那里停留，这样就会迷惑任何想要跟踪她的猫。 火星最担心的事情又涌了回来；难道唐婆在雷霆家族真的很不开心，觉得自己必须离开吗？ 他的思绪被峡谷顶部灌木丛中云尾巴的嚎叫打断了。 “在这里!她往这边走了！”当火星跳起来加入他的时候，他也能分辨出汤柏身上最微弱的气味。 他和云尾巴跟着它进了树林，

noses to the ground as they focused on the traces of cat among all the stronger, distracting scents of prey. No other cat's scent joined Tawnypaw's. This far, at least, she had been alone. Then, at the edge of a clearing, they lost the scent trail again, and not even Cloudtail's sharp nose could pick it up. A cold wind had sprung up, driving clouds across the moon and ruffling the cats' fur, and as Firestar cast back and forth across the clearing in a last effort to find the scent again, a thin, icy rain began to fall. "Mouse dung!" Cloudtail spat. "That just about finishes us." Reluctantly Firestar agreed. Calling Sandstorm and Thornclaw back from their own searches, he meowed, "Let's get back. We can't do any more." Sandstorm stood still for a moment, gazing in the direction that the scent trail had seemed to lead. "It looks as if she was heading for Fourtrees." That made sense, Firestar reflected. Fourtrees was the obvious place to go if Tawnypaw wanted to meet with a cat from another Clan, or to cross into another Clan's territory. Every hair on his

他们把鼻子贴在地上，在所有强烈的、分散注意力的猎物气味中寻找猫的踪迹。 没有别的猫的气味和汤爷爷的气味一样。 至少到目前为止，她是独自一人。 然后，在一片空地的边缘，他们又失去了气味的踪迹，就连云尾巴的尖鼻子也找不到。 一阵冷风刮起，把月亮上的云刮得簌簌作响，猫的皮毛也被弄皱了。当“火星”在空地上来回穿梭，试图再次寻找气味时，一场薄薄的、冰冷的雨开始下起来了。 “老鼠粪便!”Cloudtail口角。 “那就快结束了。” 火星勉强同意了。 他把沙暴和索恩克劳叫了回来，叫道：“我们回去吧。 我们不能再做更多了。”沙暴停了一会儿，凝视着气味似乎指向的方向。 “看起来她是往四树树去了。” Firestar反思道，这是有道理的。 如果汤爷爷想要见到另一个部落的猫，或者想要进入另一个部落的领地，四树树显然是一个好去处。 他的每一根头发