Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 Brambleclaw chose a plump starling from the fresh-kill pile, carrying it a few paces away before he began to gulp it down. Sunhigh was just past, and the clearing was full of cats enjoying the warmth. Brambleclaw caught a glimpse of Leafpaw padding over to the elders" den, a wad of herbs in her jaws. He was surprised to see how unhappy she looked; perhaps she was in trouble with her mentor, though he found it hard to imagine that Cinderpelt would drive any cat to look so worried. Closer to the nettle patch, Firestar was eating with Graystripe and Sandstorm. As Brambleclaw bit into his prey he saw his leader raise his head and give him a hard stare, as if he might be in trouble. Brambleclaw couldn't remember anything he had done wrong that his leader knew about, but his fur prickled uneasily; surely Firestar hadn't found out about the dreams? He braced himself for his leader to call him over and tell him what was on his mind, but when he heard a cat speak his name it was

第九章 荆爪从猎物堆里挑了一只肥嘟嘟的椋鸟，叼着走了几步才开始大口吞咽。 太阳刚过头顶，营地里满了享受暖意的猫咪们。 荆爪瞥见叶爪嘴里叼着一大团药草，缓步走向长老巢穴。 看到她一脸闷闷不乐，荆爪很惊讶。 说不定她被导师说过了，不过荆爪实在想不通，炭毛会把哪只猫逼得这么愁眉苦脸。 靠近荨麻丛的地方，火星正和灰条、沙风一起吃东西。 荆爪咬着猎物的时候，看见族长抬起头，狠狠盯着自己，好像他闯了什么祸。 荆爪想不起来自己做过什么让族长知道的错事，可他还是不安得脊背发毛。 难道火星已经发现那些梦的事了？ 他做好准备等着族长叫他过去问清楚，可就在这时，他听见有猫喊了他的名字——

Squirrelpaw. She snatched a mouse from the heap of fresh-kill and bounced across to sit by his side. "Whew!" she exclaimed, dropping the mouse. "I thought I'd never finish feeding the elders. Longtail has the appetite of a starving fox!" She took a bite from her piece of prey and gulped it down. "So what's happening?" she asked. "Have you had any more messages from StarClan?" Brambleclaw swallowed his mouthful of starling. "Ssshhh, not so loud," he hissed. It was the day after his encounter with Crowpaw and his visit to ShadowClan territory, and he had still not decided how much to tell Squirrelpaw about the second dream. If he vanished on the day before the half-moon without confiding in her, he would have broken his part of their bargain, but he did not know what he would say if she demanded to come with them. "Well, have you?" Squirrelpaw persisted, lowering her voice. Brambleclaw chewed slowly, playing for time. He had just decided that he would have to tell

是松鼠爪。 她从猎物堆里抓了一只老鼠，蹦蹦跳跳过来坐在他身边。 “呼！”她扔下老鼠，喘着说。 “我还以为喂长老永远喂不完了呢， 长尾的胃口比饿坏的狐狸还大！” 她咬了一口自己的猎物，一口吞了下去。 “所以怎么样啦？”她问， “你又收到星族的消息了对不对？” 荆爪咽下嘴里的椋鸟肉， “嘘——小声点，”他压低声音说。 昨天他才和鸦爪碰过面，还去了影族领地，到现在他都没想好，第二个梦要告诉松鼠爪多少。 如果他不告诉松鼠爪，在半月前偷偷消失，那就违背了他们的约定，可要是松鼠爪要求跟着一起去，他也不知道该怎么说。 “喂，到底有没有啊？” 松鼠爪追着问，把声音放低了。 荆爪慢慢嚼着，故意拖延时间。 他刚下定决心，要跟这只

the nosy she-cat something, if only to stop all her questions, when he realized that Firestar had padded over from the nettle patch and was standing over them. He stiffened, instinctively unsheathing his claws so that they sank into the breast of the starling. "Squirrelpaw, I want you to go out with Thornclaw," Firestar ordered. "He's going to show Shrewpaw the best hunting places near Fourtrees." Squirrelpaw took another gulp of mouse and swiped her tongue over her whiskers. "Do I have to? I've been up there with Dustpelt loads of times." The tip of Firestar's tail twitched back and forth. "Yes, you do. When your leader gives you an order, you obey it." Squirrelpaw rolled her eyes at Brambleclaw before picking up the last of the mouse and swallowing it. "Now, Squirrelpaw." Firestar's tail twitched again. "Thornclaw's waiting." He nodded toward the tabby warrior, who was padding across the clearing with Shrewpaw.

多嘴的小母猫说点什么，好堵上她的问题，这时候才发现，火星已经从荨麻丛走过来，站在他们跟前了。 他一下子绷紧身子，下意识地伸出爪子，深深扎进了椋鸟的肉里。 “松鼠爪，我要你跟着棘爪一起出去，”火星命令道。 “他要带小鼬去认四棵树附近最好的捕猎地点。” 松鼠爪又咬了一口老鼠，舔了舔嘴边的胡须， “我非得去吗？ 我跟尘斑去过好多次了呀。” 火星的尾巴尖来回晃了晃。 “没错，你必须去。 族长给你下命令，你就得服从。” 松鼠爪对着荆爪翻了个白眼，叼起剩下的老鼠一口咽了下去。 “现在就去，松鼠爪。” 火星的尾巴又动了动， “棘瓜已经在等了。” 他朝那只花斑武士点了点头，棘爪正带着小鼬往营地空地走来。

"You could at least let me finish my mouse in peace," Squirrelpaw argued. "I've been on my paws all morning, chasing after the elders." "And so you should be!" Firestar's voice was sharp. "That's what being an apprentice is all about. I don't want to hear you complaining." "I'm not complaining!" Squirrelpaw leaped to her paws, her fur bristling. "I only said I wanted a bit of peace and quiet to eat. Why are you always nagging at me? You're not my mentor, so stop acting like you are. Or are you just afraid that I'll let you down, and not live up to our great leader's shining example?" Without waiting for a response, she spun around and flounced off to meet Thornclaw and Shrewpaw near the entrance to the camp. Brambleclaw noticed that the tabby warrior looked surprised when Squirrelpaw spoke to him, though he was too far off to hear what she said, and it crossed his mind that Thornclaw hadn't been expecting her to join the patrol at all. Then the warrior nodded, and all three cats vanished into the gorse tunnel. Firestar watched Squirrelpaw go with a grim

“你至少也让我安安稳稳吃完老鼠啊，”松鼠爪不服气地争辩， “我一早上都没歇脚，一直在忙着给长老们喂吃的。” “你本来就该做这些！” 火星的声音变得很严厉， “做学徒就得做这些事， 我不想听你抱怨。” “我才没有抱怨！” 松鼠爪一下子跳起来，浑身的毛都炸起来了， “我就说我想安安静静吃点东西而已， 你为什么老是数落我？ 你又不是我的导师，别管那么宽。 还是说你就怕我让你失望，配不上你伟大族长的光辉形象？” 不等火星回答，她就转身气冲冲地走了，去找营地入口那边的棘爪和小鼬。 荆爪注意到，松鼠爪跟棘爪说话的时候，这位花斑武士一脸惊讶，虽然荆爪离得远听不到内容，可他突然想到，棘爪本来根本没料到松鼠爪会加入这支队伍。 接着棘爪点了点头，三只猫就一起消失在金雀花隧道里了。 火星冷着脸，看着松鼠爪离开，脸色

look. He didn't say a word to Brambleclaw, but turned and padded back to Sandstorm and Graystripe. Brambleclaw heard Sandstorm growl, "You know that's the wrong way to handle her. If you order her about, she'll just get more stubborn." Firestar replied in a low voice that Brambleclaw couldn't catch; then the cats got up and headed toward Firestar's den. What was all that about? Brambleclaw wondered. Firestar was annoyed with Squirrelpaw, so he made up an excuse to get her out of the camp. His blood ran chill. To get her away from me, maybe? If he was right, there could only be one reason. Squirrelpaw must have told her father about the first dream, and the meeting with the other cats at Fourtrees. She might have done it deliberately, or she might have let something slip because she wasn't thinking. Whatever had happened, Brambleclaw knew there would be more trouble to come, but at least it meant he didn't have to tell her about the second dream; she had obviously broken the agreement they had

你看。 他没对棘爪说一个字，转身慢悠悠走回沙风和灰条身边。 棘爪听见沙风低吼："你明明知道这么处理她不对。 你要是对她呼来喝去，她只会变得更固执。" 火星压低声音回答，棘爪听不到他说了什么； 接着几只猫站起身，朝火星的巢穴走去。 这到底是怎么回事呀？ 棘爪暗自纳闷。 火星烦透了松鼠爪，才编了个借口把她调出营地。 他浑身一下子变得冰凉。 该不会是要把她从我身边调开吧？ 如果他猜得没错，原因只有一个。 松鼠爪一定把第一个梦，还有在四棵树和其他族猫见面的事告诉她父亲了。 也许是她故意说的，也许是她一时不小心说漏了嘴。 不管发生了什么，棘爪知道麻烦肯定还在后头，但至少这意味着他不用再跟她说第二个梦了； 她显然已经打破了他俩定下的约定

made at Fourtrees. Trying to put his fears about what Firestar might do next out of his mind, he went back to the fresh-kill pile. If he was going to set off on a long journey in a few days" time, it would be a good idea to eat more and build up his strength. He would also ask Cinderpelt about the traveling herbs that cats ate to give them strength for the journey to Highstones, as long as he could think of a way to do it without arousing the medicine cat's suspicions. He was just reaching down to pick up a juicy- looking vole when he heard a voice behind him. "Hey—what do you think you're doing?" It was Mousefur. Brambleclaw looked around to see the brown she-cat glaring at him from a few fox-lengths away. "I've been watching you," she went on. "You've already eaten. You haven't hunted enough today to take any more prey." Embarrassment flooded over Brambleclaw. "Sorry," he mumbled. "So I should think," Mousefur snapped. Cloudtail, who was standing beside her, let

在四棵树定下的。 他努力抛开对火星接下来会做什么的恐惧，走回了猎物堆旁。 再过几天他就要踏上远途，多吃点积攒力气肯定没错。 他还打算向炭毛打听出行草药——就是去高石峰远行的猫用来补充力气的草药，只要能想到不引这位巫医起疑心的办法就行。 他刚弯下腰准备叼走一只看着鲜嫩多汁的田鼠，身后突然传来一个声音。 "喂——你说说你在干什么？" 说话的是鼠毛。 棘爪转过身，看见这只棕色母猫站在几个狐步开外，正怒视着他。 "我一直在盯着你，"她接着说道。 "你已经吃过东西了。 你今天捕猎的量不够，不能再拿猎物了。" 棘爪顿时臊得满脸发烫。 "对不起，"他咕哝道。 "你本来就该道歉，"鼠毛厉声说道。 站在她身旁的云尾