Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12 Leafpaw caught a vole on her way back to the camp, and slipped down the ravine with it clamped in her jaws, hoping that any cat who saw her would think that she had been out on an early hunting expedition. Her mind was still whirling with her sister's departure, and how the prophecies of StarClan seemed to be gathering around Squirrelpaw and Brambleclaw like mist clinging to the branches of a gorse bush. As she emerged into the clearing she heard Mousefur's voice raised loudly. "That Brambleclaw is a lazy lump! It's well past sunrise, and he isn't up yet. I want him for a hunting patrol." "I'll wake him." Brightheart, who was sitting with Mousefur near the nettle patch, got up and went into the warriors" den. Leafpaw felt a cold knot in her belly at the thought of what would happen when the rest of ThunderClan discovered that Brambleclaw and Squirrelpaw had vanished. At that moment, Dustpelt appeared from the nursery and padded

第十二章 叶爪回营地的路上捉到了一只田鼠，她叼着田鼠滑下峡谷，希望看到她的猫都以为她只是出来早猎了。 姐姐离开的事还在她脑子里打转，星族的预言就像缠在金雀花枝头的雾气，全都聚拢到了松鼠爪和黑莓爪身上。 她刚走进营地空地，就听见鼠毛抬高了声音说话。 "那只黑莓爪就是个懒骨头！" 太阳都升老高了，他还没起床。 我还安排他参加狩猎巡逻队呢。" "我去叫他。" 本来和鼠毛一起坐在荨麻丛边的亮心站起身，走进了武士巢穴。 一想到等雷族其他猫发现黑莓爪和松鼠爪不见了会怎么样，叶爪的肚子就揪起一团冰凉。 就在这时，尘皮毛从育婴室走了出来，轻步走向

over to the apprentices" den, where Whitepaw and Shrewpaw were sunning themselves. "Hi," the brown warrior greeted them. "Have you seen Squirrelpaw? She's not ill, is she? She's usually raring to go by now—before I've even had time for a piece of fresh-kill." Whitepaw and Shrewpaw exchanged a glance. "We haven't seen her," Whitepaw mewed. "She didn't sleep in the den last night." Leafpaw saw Dustpelt roll his eyes. "What is she up to now?" Brightheart pushed her way out of the warriors" den and bounded across to Mousefur. Leafpaw trotted across to the fresh-kill pile with her vole so that she could hear what they were saying. "Brambleclaw's not there," Brightheart reported. "What?" Mousefur's tail twitched in surprise. "Where is he, then?" Brightheart shrugged. "He must have gone hunting on his own. Never mind, Mousefur. Cloudtail and I will come with you." "Fine." Mousefur shrugged, and as soon as

学徒巢穴，白爪和鼩爪正在那儿晒太阳。 "嗨，"这只棕色武士和他们打招呼， "你们见过松鼠爪吗？ 她该不会是生病了吧？ 她往常这时候早就迫不及待要动了——都比我吃完一块新鲜猎物还早。" 白爪和鼩爪对视了一眼。 "我们没见到她，"白爪轻声说， "她昨晚没回巢穴睡觉。" 叶爪看见尘皮毛翻了个白眼。 "她这次又在搞什么名堂？" 亮心从武士巢穴挤出来，蹦跳着跑到鼠毛身边。 叶爪叼着她的田鼠快步走到新鲜猎物堆旁，这样就能听清他们说的话了。 "黑莓爪不在里面，"亮心汇报道， "什么？"鼠毛的尾巴惊讶地抽动了一下， "那他去哪儿了？" 亮心耸了耸肩。 "他肯定是自己打猎去了， 别担心，鼠毛， 云尾和我跟你一起去。" "行吧。" 鼠毛耸了耸肩，刚一

Cloudtail emerged from the den, blinking sleep out of his eyes, she roused Spiderpaw and all four cats left the camp. Meanwhile, Dustpelt was heading for the fresh-kill pile, irritably calling on StarClan to tell him how he was supposed to mentor an apprentice if she was never where she was meant to be. "If you see your sister," he growled to Leafpaw, "tell her I'm in the nursery. And she'd better have a good excuse for going off on her own again." He snatched up a starling and headed back to Ferncloud. Leafpaw watched him go before heading for the fern tunnel that led to the medicine cat's den. She was relieved that Dustpelt had not stopped to question her about Squirrelpaw, but she knew that as time went on and the two cats did not return, there would certainly be questions—lots of them. And she had no idea at all how to answer. By midday, gossip was beginning to fly around the camp. On her way through the main clearing to fetch fresh-kill for Cinderpelt, Leafpaw

云尾从巢穴走出来，眨着眼睛驱散睡意，她就叫醒了蜘蛛爪，四只猫一起离开了营地。 与此同时，尘皮毛往新鲜猎物堆走去，他烦躁地祈求星族告诉他，徒弟总不在该在的地方，他该怎么指导她。 "要是你见到你姐姐，"他对着叶爪低吼，"告诉她我在育婴室， 她这次又私自跑开，最好能有个说得过去的理由。" 他叼起一只椋鸟，转身回育婴室找蕨云了。 叶爪看着他走远，才走向通往巫医巢穴的蕨地道。 尘皮毛没停下盘问她松鼠爪的去向，让她松了口气，但她知道，时间越久那两只猫还不回来，肯定会有很多疑问——一大堆。 而她完全不知道该怎么回答。 到了中午，营地里开始传起了流言。 叶爪穿过主营地去给炭毛拿新鲜猎物，

overheard Firestar ordering the patrols to keep an eye open for the two missing cats. "So Brambleclaw is padding after Squirrelpaw, is he?" Cloudtail remarked, his eyes gleaming with amusement. "Well, she's a very attractive young cat; I'll say that for her." "I can't think what they're up to." Firestar sounded more annoyed than worried. "I'll have something to say to both of them when they come back." Leafpaw crouched down, pretending to be choosing the best piece of prey, while the warriors dispersed, leaving her father and mother alone together. "You know," Sandstorm meowed to Firestar, "Graystripe told me what happened last night, when you found them hunting alone. It sounds as if Squirrelpaw and Brambleclaw haven't been back since. From what Graystripe said about the way you spoke to them, I'm not surprised they want to get away for a while." "Surely I didn't upset them that much?" Firestar sounded anxious. "Not enough to leave the camp?"

无意间听见火星命令巡逻队多留意那两只失踪的猫。 "所以黑莓爪跟着松鼠爪跑了，对不对？" 云尾说道，眼睛里闪着玩味的光， "不过话说回来，她确实是只讨人喜欢的小猫咪，这点我得承认。" "我真想不到他们到底要干什么。" 火星的语气里，恼火多过担心， "等他们回来，我非得好好说说他俩不可。" 叶爪蹲下身，假装在挑最好的猎物，等武士们散开后，只剩下她的爸爸妈妈单独待在一起。 "你知道吗，"沙风对火星说，"灰条告诉我昨晚发生的事了，就是你发现他俩单独出去打猎那件事。 这么说松鼠爪和黑莓爪从那之后就没回来过， 从我灰条说的你对他俩说的那番话来看，他们想躲一阵子一点都不奇怪。" "我难道把他们得罪得那么严重吗？" 火星听起来十分不安， "严重到要离开营地吗？"

Sandstorm gave him a direct look from wide green eyes just like Squirrelpaw's. "I've told you over and over again that you don't get anywhere with Squirrelpaw by criticizing her and ordering her around. She'll do the opposite just to be difficult." "I know." Firestar let out a heavy sigh. "It's just this prophecy... fire and tiger together, and trouble for the forest. I thought after we dealt with BloodClan the Clans would be at peace." "We've had many moons of peace." Sandstorm padded up to Firestar and pressed her muzzle against his cheek. "All thanks to you. If there is more trouble to come, it's not your fault. I've been thinking about that omen," she went on, sitting down with a quick glance around to make sure none of the warriors were in earshot. Leafpaw gave a guilty start, wondering if she should creep out of the shadows on the far side of the pile of fresh-kill, but if her mother knew she was there, she paid no attention to her; after all, Leafpaw already knew about the StarClan message. "It mentions fire and tiger, and trouble,"

沙风睁着那双和松鼠飞一模一样的大大的绿眼睛，直直看向他。 “我跟你说了一遍又一遍，靠批评松鼠飞、对她呼来喝去，根本没法和她好好相处。” 她就是故意拧着来，偏要跟你对着干。” “我知道。” 火星重重地叹了一口气。 “只是这个预言……火和虎在一起，会给森林带来灾难。” 我本来以为，我们解决了血族之后，族群就能重归和平了。” “我们已经安安稳稳过了好多个月了。” 沙风走到火星身边，把她的口鼻贴在了火星的脸颊上。 “这一切都多亏了你呀。 如果真的有更多麻烦要来，那也不是你的错。 我一直在想那个预兆，”她接着说，坐下后快速扫了一眼四周，确定没有其他武士能听到这里的对话。 叶爪心头一紧，有些愧疚，她在想自己是不是该从那堆猎物另一边的阴影里悄悄走开，但就算她妈妈知道她在那儿，也没搭理她； 毕竟，叶爪早就知道星族传来的消息了。 “预言里提到了火和虎，还有灾难，”

Sandstorm continued, "but it doesn't say that fire and tiger will cause the trouble, does it?" Leafpaw saw a shiver run right through Firestar's body, rippling his flame-colored fur. "You're right!" he murmured. "The prophecy might mean they'll save us from the trouble." "It might." Firestar straightened up, suddenly looking very young. "Then it's even more important to get them back!" he burst out. "I'll lead a patrol myself." "I'll come with you," mewed Sandstorm. Raising her voice, she added, "Leafpaw, you've had time to sniff every piece of fresh-kill on that pile. Cinderpelt will be waiting—and remember that you've promised not to say anything to any cat about this message from StarClan." "Yes, Sandstorm." Leafpaw grabbed a vole and headed back to the medicine cat's den. She wondered if she ought to confess what her sister had told her about the journey—but she had promised Squirrelpaw to keep silent, too. The weight of the two secret prophecies weighed on her fur like raindrops. She did not know how she

沙风继续说道：“但它没说火和虎会带来灾难呀，对不对？” 叶爪看见火星浑身一颤，火焰般的皮毛都波动起来。 “你说得对！” 他低声喃喃道。 “说不定这个预言的意思是，他们会把我们从灾难里救出来。” “有可能。” 火星直起身子，一下子看起来年轻了好多。 “那把他们找回来就更重要了！” 他激动地喊出声。 “我亲自带队去找。” “我跟你一起去，”沙风喵呜道。 她提高声音接着说：“叶爪，你已经够时间把这堆猎物挨个闻一遍了。 炭皮已经在等你了——记住你答应过的，不能跟任何猫说星族传来的这个消息。” “好的，沙风。” 叶爪抓起一只田鼠，转身往巫医巢穴走去。 她在想自己该不该坦白姐姐告诉她的那次旅程——可是她也答应过松鼠飞，要守口如瓶。 这两个秘密预言像沉甸甸的雨滴，压得她连皮毛都发沉。 她不知道自己该怎样