Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18 "We're running short of celandine." Cinderpelt poked her head out of the cleft in the rock. "I've used nearly all of it to soothe Longtail's eyes. Do you think you could go out and get some more?" Leafpaw looked up from the daisy leaves she was chewing into a paste. "Sure," she meowed, spitting out the last scraps. "This is just about ready. Do you want me to take it along to Speckletail?" "No, I'd better check on her myself. Her joints have been aching badly since the weather turned so damp." Cinderpelt came out of her den and let out a purr of approval as she nosed the chewed-up leaves. "That's fine. Off you go—and take a warrior with you. The best celandine grows near Fourtrees, along the RiverClan border, and RiverClan isn't happy that WindClan is still coming down to drink at the river." Leafpaw was surprised. "Still? But there's been so much rain—they must have water of their own by now." Cinderpelt shrugged. "Try telling that to

第十八章 “我们的白屈菜快不够用了。” 炭毛从岩石的裂缝里探出头来。 “我差不多用光了所有白屈菜，来舒缓长尾的眼睛。 你能出去再采一些回来吗？” 叶爪从正在嚼成糊的雏菊叶上抬起头。 “没问题，”她喵呜道，吐出了最后一点碎渣。 “这个刚好做好了。 要我把它带给斑尾吗？” “不用，我还是亲自去看看她。 天气变潮之后，她的关节疼得厉害。” 炭毛走出巢穴，嗅了嗅嚼好的叶子，满足地呼噜了一声。 “做得不错。 出发吧——带一名武士一起去。 最好的白屈菜长在四棵树附近，沿河族边界生长，河族很不高兴风族还来河边喝水。” 叶爪很惊讶。 “还这样？ 可是下了这么多雨——现在他们肯定自己有水了呀。” 炭毛耸了耸肩。 “你去跟

WindClan." Leafpaw put the news out of her mind as she brushed through the fern tunnel into the main clearing. That quarrel had nothing to do with ThunderClan, and most of her thoughts were taken up with anxiety about Squirrelpaw and Brambleclaw. The sun had risen four times since she saw them leave. Her private sense of Squirrelpaw told her that her sister was still alive, but she knew nothing about where they were or what they were doing. She had not eaten that morning, so she padded across to the fresh-kill pile, where Sorreltail was finishing off a vole. "Hi." The young tortoiseshell warrior flicked her tail in greeting as Leafpaw chose a mouse for herself and settled down to eat. Leafpaw returned her greeting. "Sorreltail," she asked, "are you busy this morning?" "No." Sorreltail gulped down the last of her vole and sat up, swiping her tongue appreciatively around her jaws. "Did you want something?" "Cinderpelt has asked me to go up toward

风族说。” 叶爪穿过蕨类隧道走到主空地，把这件事抛在了脑后。 这场争端和雷族没关系，她满脑子都在担心松鼠爪和黑莓掌。 从她目送他们离开，已经过去四天了。 她对松鼠爪的感应告诉她，妹妹还活着，但她完全不知道他们在哪、在做什么。 她那天早上还没吃东西，于是走向新鲜猎物堆，栗尾刚好在那儿吃完一只田鼠。 “嗨。” 叶爪挑了一只老鼠坐下准备吃饭时，年轻的玳瑁武士甩了甩尾巴打招呼。 叶爪回应了她的问候。 “栗尾，”她问道，“你今天早上忙吗？” “不忙。” 栗尾咽下最后一口田鼠，坐直身子，满足地舔了舔嘴巴。 “你找我有事吗？” “炭毛让我去四棵树方向，靠近

Fourtrees, by the RiverClan border, to collect some celandine. She said I should take a warrior with me." "Oh, yes!" Sorreltail sprang to her paws, excitement gleaming in her amber eyes. "In case WindClan accidentally strays into our territory, yes? Just let them try!" Leafpaw laughed and quickly ate the rest of her mouse. "Right, I'm ready. Let's go!" As they approached the end of the gorse tunnel, Firestar appeared, followed by Brackenfur and Rainwhisker. Leafpaw felt a thorn stabbing at her heart when she looked at her father; his head was down and his tail drooping, and even his flame-colored pelt seemed dull. "Nothing?" Sorreltail asked him quietly; Leafpaw realized that she knew exactly what their leader had been doing. Firestar shook his head. "Not a trace of them. No scent, no pawmarks, nothing. They've gone." "They must have left the territory days ago," Brackenfur meowed somberly. "I don't think there's any point in sending out more patrols to look for them."

河族边界的地方采些白屈菜。 她说我得带一名武士一起去。” “哦，我去！” 栗尾一下子跳起身，琥珀色的眼睛里闪着兴奋的光。 “是以防风族不小心闯到我们领地来，对不对？ 让他们试试！” 叶爪笑了，快速吃完了剩下的老鼠。 “好啦，我准备好了。 我们走吧！” 她们走到荆豆隧道尽头，火星走了出来，身后跟着蕨毛和雨须。 叶爪看着父亲，心里像被一根刺扎了一下； 他耷拉着头，尾巴垂着，连火焰色的皮毛都显得黯淡无光。 “还是没消息？” 栗尾轻声问他； 叶爪明白，自己很清楚族长刚才在做什么。 火星摇了摇头。 半点儿踪迹都没有。 没有气味，没有爪印，什么都没有。 他们走了。” “他们肯定几天前就离开领地了，”蕨毛沉声道， “我觉得再派巡逻队去找他们也没用了。”

"You're right, Brackenfur." Firestar let out a heavy sigh. "They're in the paws of StarClan now." Leafpaw pressed her muzzle against his side, and his tail curled around to brush her ears before he padded off across the clearing. Leafpaw saw Sandstorm meet him at the base of the Highrock, and the two cats went off together toward Firestar's den. Guilt swept over her as she remembered how much she was hiding—most of all, the certainty that Squirrelpaw was safe, though far from ThunderClan territory—and every hair on her pelt prickled so much that it seemed impossible that no other cat noticed as she followed Sorreltail out of the camp. As the sun rose higher the morning mists cleared away; the day promised to be hot, although the red-gold leaves on the trees showed that leaf-fall had taken over the forest. Leafpaw and Sorreltail headed toward Fourtrees. The medicine cat apprentice purred with satisfaction as she watched Sorreltail dashing ahead to investigate every bush and hollow that they

“你说得对，蕨毛。” 火星重重地叹了一口气。 “现在他们听凭星族安排了。” 叶爪把鼻子贴在他侧腹，火星弯起尾巴碰了碰她的耳朵，然后迈步穿过空地离开了。 叶爪看见沙风在高岩脚下等他，两只猫一起往火星的巢穴走去。 愧疚感淹没了叶爪，她想起自己藏了太多秘密——最重要的是，她确定松鼠爪还安全，只是远在雷族领地之外——她浑身的毛都绷得发紧，跟着栗尾走出营地的时候，她觉得肯定有猫发现不对劲。 太阳越升越高，晨雾渐渐散去； 今天会是个大热天，不过树上红金色的叶子表明，落叶季已经来到森林了。 叶爪和栗尾朝四棵树出发。 这名巫医学徒满意地呼噜着，看着栗尾冲在前头，去探查每一丛灌木和每一处凹地，她们

passed. There was no sign of the shoulder injury that had kept Sorreltail from her warrior ceremony for so long, and no trace of bitterness that she had waited twice as long as other apprentices to receive her warrior name. Though she was older than Leafpaw, she still had all the joyful energy of a kit. As they drew close to the RiverClan border, Leafpaw heard the soft rush of the river, and caught glimpses of it sparkling through the undergrowth at the edge of the trees. She found huge clumps of celandine where Cinderpelt had suggested, and settled down to bite off as many stems as she could carry. "I can take some too," Sorreltail offered, glancing back as she padded up to the border. "Yuck—RiverClan scent markers! They make my fur curl." She stood gazing out over the slope that led down to the river, while Leafpaw got on with her task. It was almost finished when she heard her friend calling to her. "Come and look at this!" Bounding to Sorreltail's side, Leafpaw looked

都过去了。 曾经让粟尾迟迟没能参加武士仪式的肩伤，如今已找不到半分痕迹；她比其他学徒多等了一倍时间才获得武士名号，心中也没有半点怨恨。 虽然粟尾比叶爪年长，却依然保有幼崽般十足的快乐活力。 她们走近河族边界时，叶耳听见河水柔缓奔涌的声响，还瞥见波光穿过林边灌丛，闪闪发亮。 她在炭毛说过的地方找到了一大丛白屈菜，便蹲下来咬下尽可能多的茎干。 “我也可以帮你带一些，”粟尾小跑向边界，回头招呼道。 “哎呀——河族的气味标记！ 这味道都熏得我毛发打卷啦！” 叶爪忙着采草的时候，粟尾站在那儿眺望通向河边的斜坡。 眼看就要采完了，粟尾忽然听见朋友在喊她。 “快过来看看这个！” 叶爪蹦到粟尾身侧，放眼望去

down the slope to see a large group of WindClan cats gathered beside the water to drink. She recognized Tallstar and Firestar's friend Onewhisker among them. "They are still drinking at the river!" she exclaimed. "And look at that." Sorreltail pointed with her tail to where a RiverClan patrol was crossing the Twoleg bridge. "If you ask me, there's going to be trouble." Mistyfoot was at the head of the patrol; she had brought with her the new warrior Hawkfrost and an older cat Leafpaw did not know, a tom with a black pelt. They padded down the slope and stopped a few fox-lengths away from the WindClan cats. Mistyfoot called out something, but she was too far away for Leafpaw to hear what she said. Sorreltail's tail twitched. "I wish we could get a bit closer!" "I think crossing the border would be a really bad idea," Leafpaw mewed nervously. "Oh, I know that. It looks like it could be interesting, that's all." She sounded resigned, as if

顺着斜坡朝下看，只见一大群风族猫聚在河边喝水。 她认出了人群里的高星，还有火星的朋友一根须。 “他们居然还在这儿喝水！” 她惊叫道。 “你再看那边。” 粟尾甩尾巴指向河族巡逻队正走过两脚兽桥的位置。 “要我说啊，肯定要出事了。” 雾脚走在巡逻队的最前头； 她带了新武士鹰霜，还有叶爪不认识的一只年长公黑猫。 他们走下斜坡，在离风族猫几狐步远的地方停了下来。 雾脚喊了些什么，可她离得太远，叶爪听不清内容。 粟尾的尾巴抖了抖。 “真希望我们能再靠近一点！” “我觉得越界真的不是个好主意，”叶爪紧张地小声说。 “哦，这个我知道。 只不过看起来会很有意思，仅此而已。” 她的语气带着无奈，仿佛