Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18 All night the Clan had kept vigil for Dappletail, and now, in the pale dawn light, the elders were bearing her body out of the camp to be buried. The clearing was wreathed in mist and the leafless branches of the trees dripped rain from a sharp shower during the night. Leafpaw watched in silence. The old cat had been part of her life, and with her passing it seemed as if everything else she had known would slip away too. As the elders departed through the gorse tunnel, the other cats gathered together in little groups, mewing urgently and casting anxious glances at one another. Leafpaw could not hear what they were saying, but she didn't need to. She knew they would be discussing the disappearance of Cloudtail and Brightheart. That made four cats that were missing from ThunderClan, but Leafpaw could not believe that StarClan had summoned Cloudtail and Brightheart away too—unless the others had already failed on their quest, and would never return. If you can't help us, StarClan, she

第十八章 族群整整一夜都在为斑尾守夜，此刻，在淡青色的晨光里，长老们正抬着她的遗体走出营地安葬。 营地空地笼罩在薄雾中，夜里下过一场急雨，树木光秃秃的枝桠正滴着雨水。 叶爪静静看着这一切。 这只老猫早已融入了她的生活，她走了之后，叶爪觉得好像自己熟悉的一切也都要随之溜走了。 长老们穿过金雀花通道离开后，其他猫三三两两聚在一起，急切地叫着，不安地互相打量着。 叶爪听不到他们在说什么，但她也不需要听。 她知道他们在讨论云尾和亮心失踪的事。 现在雷族已经少了四只猫，可叶爪不敢相信星族竟然也召走了云尾和亮心——除非之前出去的猫已经任务失败，永远都回不来了。 星族啊，如果你都帮不了我们，她

thought desperately, why are you taking our cats away? Cinderpelt broke into her thoughts, pushing her nose into Leafpaw's fur in wordless comfort, then limped forward a pace or two to meet Firestar and Graystripe. Leafpaw spotted Mousefur loping across the clearing after them with Thornclaw and Ashfur just behind her. "I'm taking out the dawn patrol," Mousefur announced as she came up. "Do you still want us to look for Cloudtail and Brightheart?" "Not that there's much point, if they left on purpose," Ashfur added darkly. Leafpaw's heart sank even further as she remembered the Clan's efforts the day before to find the two cats. Patrols had covered the entire territory, picking up a scent trail leading toward the place where the Twolegs had destroyed the forest. It had broken off abruptly near one of the huge tree-cutting monsters, and after that there was nothing. "Keep your eyes open," Firestar replied. "That's all you can do." "I wouldn't put it past Cloudtail to have gone

绝望地想，你为什么还要带走我们的猫？ 炭毛打断了她的思绪，她把鼻子贴进叶爪的皮毛，无言地安慰着她，接着一瘸一拐往前走了几步，去见火星和灰条。 叶爪看见鼠毛小跑着穿过空地跟在他们身后，荆爪和阿什毛紧随在她身后。 “我带队出晨巡，”鼠毛走上前说道。 “你还需要我们去找云尾和亮心吗？” “如果他们是故意离开的，找也没多大意义，”阿什毛阴沉沉地补充道。 想起昨天族群搜寻两只猫的经过，叶爪的心沉得更厉害了。 巡逻队搜遍了整片领地，找到一道气味踪迹，一直延伸到两脚兽摧毁森林的那片地方。 踪迹在一台巨大的伐木怪兽附近突然中断，之后就再也没有线索了。 “留心盯着点，”火星回答。 “这就是你们能做的全部了。” “我看云尾说不定已经去了

back to the Twolegs," Mousefur growled. "With so little prey in the forest, even Twoleg food must look tempting." "And he ate it often enough when he was an apprentice," Ashfur put in. "Yes, don't forget the time he left us," Mousefur mewed. "Cats were put at risk, rescuing him from the Twolegs." "That's enough!" Graystripe hissed. "No, she's right." Leafpaw couldn't believe how tired her father sounded. "Cloudtail has always had a paw in the Twoleg world. But I thought he was loyal to his Clan now." "Of course he is. You're not being fair to him." Cinderpelt's voice was sharp. "It's been a long time since Cloudtail ate kittypet food. He was young and stupid then." "Besides, Brightheart would never do that." Graystripe supported his missing Clanmates with a flash of his amber eyes. "And Cloudtail wouldn't go off without her. We have to figure out why they're both missing." "And why they left Whitepaw behind," Thornclaw meowed. "She's their only kit."

回两脚兽那里去，”鼠毛低吼道。 “现在森林里猎物这么少，就算两脚兽的食物也肯定看着很诱人。” “而且他当学徒的时候就经常吃两脚兽的东西，”阿什毛插嘴说。 “没错，别忘了他当初离开过我们一次，”鼠毛说道。 “当初为了把他从两脚兽手里救回来，多少猫都陷入了危险。” “够了！” 灰条嘶声喝道。 “不，她说得对。” 叶爪没想到父亲的声音听起来这么疲惫。 “云尾本来就一直和两脚兽的世界扯不清关系。 但我以为他现在已经对族群忠心了。” “他当然是忠心的。 你这样对他太不公平了。” 炭毛的声音十分严厉。 “云尾吃宠物粮已经是很久以前的事了， 那时候他还年轻不懂事。” “再说了，亮心绝对不会做这种事。” 灰条琥珀色的眼睛亮了一下，力挺这两位失踪的族猫。 “而且云尾不可能丢下亮心自己走掉。 我们得搞清楚他俩为什么会失踪。” “还有他们为什么要留下白爪一个，”荆爪说道。 “白爪是他们唯一的幼崽。”

Mousefur grunted. "True. I wonder if they went over to RiverClan?" she suggested. "Stealing fish?" "Now I wouldn't put that past Cloudtail," Cinderpelt agreed, but there was no hostility in her voice. Graystripe thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No. If RiverClan caught them they'd just chase them off. There'd be trouble at the next Gathering, but our cats wouldn't just disappear." Unless they fell in the river, Leafpaw thought, not daring to put words to the idea. She couldn't forget the surge of floodwater when she nearly fell off the stepping-stones, on her way to help Reedpaw. "Their scent trail didn't lead toward RiverClan," Firestar pointed out. "I can't help thinking it's strange that it ended so close to the Twoleg monsters. Suppose..." He let his voice die away, but Leafpaw saw the anxiety in his eyes, and she could guess what his thoughts were. She had seen how the first Twoleg monster turned from the Thunderpath

鼠毛哼了一声。 “说得对。 我在想他们会不会去了河族？” 她提议道。 “去偷鱼？” “要我说云尾还真做得出来这种事，”炭毛附和道，可她语气里没有敌意。 灰条想了一会儿，摇了摇头。 “不对。 就算河族抓到他们，也只会把他们赶走而已。 下次森林大会肯定会有纠纷，但我们的猫不会平白无故就消失的。” 除非他们掉进河里了，叶爪想，她不敢把这个想法说出来。 她忘不了那次去帮芦苇爪的路上，自己差点从垫脚石掉下去，那汹涌的洪水至今难忘。 “他们的气味踪迹没往河族方向去，”火星指出。 “我总觉得踪迹断在两脚兽怪兽这么近的地方，太奇怪了。 说不定……” 他没再说下去，可叶爪看到了他眼里的焦虑，也猜得到他在想什么。 她亲眼见过第一只两脚兽的怪兽从雷鬼路转出来

and began to tear up the forest. If a cat got in its way it could be crunched in those powerful jaws without the monster even realizing it. She shivered, and her gaze met her father's. They were both fond of their wayward kin Cloudtail, and Leafpaw loved Brightheart fiercely for her courage in coping with the terrible injuries from the dog pack. The two cats would be a great loss to their Clan. "Just carry on as usual, Mousefur," Firestar decided. "And report if you see anything odd." "I always do." Mousefur hurried off with the two younger warriors behind her. Firestar shook himself as if he was pushing useless thoughts away. "Cinderpelt, has StarClan shown you anything at all about Cloudtail and Brightheart?" "No," Cinderpelt replied. "Nothing at all." "Or any signs about more warriors going missing in the forest? It's... it's not all that long since Brambleclaw and Squirrelpaw disappeared." He choked the words out like half-eaten bones. Again Cinderpelt shook her head. "StarClan is silent. I'm sorry."

随后开始大肆破坏森林。 如果有猫挡路，会被它强有力的大嘴咬碎，怪物甚至都察觉不到。 她浑身发抖，目光和父亲对上了。 他们都疼惜任性的同族云尾，叶爪也深深敬佩亮心，敬佩她靠着勇气熬过大狗群留下的重伤。 失去这两只猫对族群来说是巨大的损失。 "照常活动就好，鼠毛。"火星决定道。 "看到任何异常都回来报告。" "我一向都这么做。" 鼠毛匆匆离去，两个年轻武士跟在她身后。 火星抖了抖身子，像是要把没用的杂念甩开。 "炭毛，星族有没有给你看过任何关于云尾和亮心的消息？" "没有，"炭毛回答。 "什么消息都没有。" 有没有其他武士在森林里失踪的征兆？ 这…… 黑莓掌和松鼠爪失踪也没过多久啊。" 他说出这些话，就像咽下半啃的骨头那样艰难。 炭毛再一次摇了摇头。 "星族一片寂静， 我很抱歉。"

Yet again, Leafpaw struggled with the urge to tell her father and mentor what she knew, that Brambleclaw and Squirrelpaw had been summoned away by StarClan to discover something that would help the forest. But she hardly knew what to say anymore. Whenever she tried to reach Squirrelpaw she had nothing but confused, terrifying impressions of rushing water, darkness, and raking claws—blood, rock, and water churned together. She couldn't reassure Firestar that Squirrel-paw was all right, nor give Graystripe hopeful news of his missing children from RiverClan. "Perhaps I ought to make a trip to Highstones," Firestar meowed. "StarClan might speak to me, if—" He broke off as Brackenfur came up, his apprentice, Whitepaw, just behind him. Leafpaw's heart went out to her. The young cat's head was bowed, and her tail trailed in the dust. She was obviously grieving for the loss of her parents. "Firestar, I think you ought to have a word with Whitepaw," Brackenfur mewed worriedly.

叶爪又一次按捺住冲动，没把自己知道的事告诉父亲和导师：黑莓掌和松鼠爪是被星族召走，去寻找能帮助森林的东西。 可她现在几乎不知道该说什么才好。 每次她试着联系松鼠爪，得到的只有混乱又可怕的印象：奔涌的流水、黑暗、刨抓的利爪，血、岩石和水全都搅在了一起。 她没法让火星安心，说松鼠爪没事，也没法给灰条带来他那两个来自河族的失踪孩子的好消息。 "也许我该去一趟高石。"火星轻声说。 "星族说不定会对我开口，如果——"他话没说完，蕨毛走了过来，他的学徒白爪跟在身后。 叶爪打从心底心疼白爪。 这只年轻小猫垂着脑袋，尾巴拖在尘土里。 她显然正为失去双亲悲痛不已。 "火星，我觉得你该和白爪谈谈。"蕨毛担忧地说道。