“Quick—the stepping-stones!” Firestar hissed1.
Alone, the ThunderClan cats could have raced easily out of danger, but none of them would abandon the prisoners. Graystripe fell back to join Ravenpaw as rearguard, while Firestar tried to urge on the RiverClan cats.
“You’ll have to leave us!” Mistyfoot gasped3. “There’s no sense in all of us being captured.”
“Never!” snarled4 Graystripe. “We’re all in this together.”
By now they were bounding alongside the river, the RiverClan cats stumbling in their efforts to keep up. Firestar could already see the ripples5 in the water where the current was broken by the stepping-stones. But the yowling behind them grew louder, and when he turned his head to draw in a rapid gulp7 of air he could taste the scent8 of ShadowClan.
“Great StarClan!” he whispered. “They’re catching9 up.”
None of the pursuing cats had appeared yet by the time they reached the stepping-stones. Firestar leaped onto the first stone, then the second, and gestured with his tail for Mistyfoot to follow.
“Hurry!” he urged.
Mistyfoot bent10 her hind6 legs and leaped, staggering as her paws hit the slippery surface, but managing to keep her balance. The two apprentices12 came next. Firestar stopped when he was halfway13 across and waited, the river water lapping his paws, while the other cats leaped out behind him.
Because the RiverClan cats were so weak they were agonizingly slow, bracing14 themselves for each leap. Mistyfoot reached him first, and Firestar edged to the side of the stone to let her go past. The two apprentices were still some way behind. Firestar’s claws scraped the rough stone in his impatience16, though he tried to stay calm. When the first dark shapes of pursuing cats slipped out of the reeds he forced himself to say nothing. Stormpaw was just nerving himself to leap; Firestar locked his gaze with the younger cat’s. “Come on,” he mewed steadily17. “You’re doing fine.”
But as her brother gathered himself, Featherpaw, a couple of stones behind him, spotted18 the ShadowClan warriors20 racing15 along the riverbank. “They’re coming!” she yowled.
Caught off balance, Stormpaw misjudged the distance and fell short. His forepaws landed on the stone, but his hindquarters splashed into the river. The current bubbled around him, dragging at his thick fur as he scrabbled to pull himself to safety.
“I’m slipping!” He gasped. “I can’t hold on!”
Firestar jumped back onto the previous stone, barely managing to balance in the space left by Stormpaw’s clawing forepaws. He fastened his teeth in the apprentice11’s scruff just as the younger cat lost his grip and slid backward into the river. For a few heartbeats Firestar felt his own paws sliding on the smooth rock under Stormpaw’s weight and the force of the current.
Then he spotted Graystripe swimming up behind his son, paws thrusting strongly through the icy water. The gray warrior19 shoved his shoulder underneath21 Stormpaw and heaved him upward. Firestar managed to haul the apprentice out to crouch22 shivering on the rock.
Glancing toward the RiverClan shore, Firestar saw Ravenpaw urging Featherpaw onto the next stone, getting his own paws wet to leave her space to stand on the driest part.
Behind them, the pursuing cats had reached the first stone. Blackfoot was in the lead, flanked by Jaggedtooth and three or four others—too many to fight, Firestar realized.
“Come on!” he yowled. “Hurry!” He nudged the shivering Stormpaw. “Keep going—follow Mistyfoot!”
Blackfoot crouched23, ready to spring, his eyes fixed24 on the stepping-stone where Ravenpaw had put himself between Featherpaw and the ShadowClan warrior. Firestar’s belly25 clenched26. The loner was brave, but his training days were far behind him and he would be no match for a seasoned warrior like Tigerstar’s deputy.
Graystripe began swimming back toward Ravenpaw. A wild screech27 split the air as the rest of the ShadowClan warriors spread along the bank in a menacing line.
“Keep going!” Firestar gasped to Mistyfoot. “Take Stormpaw with you. I’m going back.”
But before he could move, a fierce battle yowl went up from the forest on the ThunderClan side of the river. Firestar saw three shapes streaking28 out of the undergrowth: Cloudtail, with Sandstorm and Thornclaw just behind him.
“Thank StarClan—” he began, breaking off as Cloudtail leaped toward the river, eyes blazing and claws extended. He was heading straight for Mistyfoot, who was just jumping from the last stone onto the bank.
Firestar raced across the remaining stones to intercept29 the white warrior, barrelling into his side and knocking him off his paws. “Mouse-brain!” he snapped. “The enemy is back there.”
He jerked his head toward the middle of the river, where Ravenpaw and Graystripe were tussling with Blackfoot on the central stone. Stormpaw was nerving himself for the last leap onto the bank, while Featherpaw huddled30 two or three stones farther back. Sandstorm and Thornclaw launched themselves across the stones to face the ShadowClan warriors, the two apprentices cowering31 at the edge of their stones to let them pass.
Muttering “Sorry” to Mistyfoot, Cloudtail sprang after them. Firestar bunched his muscles to follow, but before he leaped he saw Blackfoot slip off the stone to be swept away in the current. He ducked briefly32 below the surface of the water, then reappeared swimming clumsily back toward the RiverClan side, his ears flat against his head. The three ThunderClan warriors stood crowded together on one stone, digging in their claws and growling33 fiercely at the remaining pursuers.
“You’ll come no farther if you want to stay alive,” snarled Sandstorm.
The ShadowClan warriors milled about uncertainly on the first two or three stones. Unused to the river, they were unsteady on their paws and clearly unwilling34 to join battle with the furious ThunderClan cats.
“Get back!” Blackfoot yowled as he clambered onto the bank, his fur streaming. “Let them escape; they’re only half-Clan2 crowfood.”
His warriors seemed happy to obey, and within moments all the ShadowClan cats had vanished into the reeds.
Firestar concentrated on helping35 the two apprentices finish crossing. Graystripe and Ravenpaw followed closely behind. Checking his cats for wounds, Firestar saw that Graystripe had lost a clump36 of fur from one shoulder, and Ravenpaw’s left ear was bleeding, but otherwise they seemed unhurt.
“Well done, all of you,” he meowed, turning to the other ThunderClan warriors. “I was never so glad to see any cats as when you three came out of the forest. What brought you her e?”
“You did,” Cloudtail panted. “You ordered extra patrols to watch the border. Lucky for you that we came along w h en we did.”
Firestar felt his legs go weak with relief. StarClan had sent the patrol at just the right moment. “Okay,” he meowed, “we’d better get back to camp. These three cats need to rest. Ravenpaw, you’d better come too and let Cinderpelt look at that ear.”
Firestar stayed at the rear in case the ShadowClan warriors decided37 to cross the river after all, but behind them every thing was quiet. After a few moments, Sandstorm dropped back to join him.
“What happened?” she asked. “What are these RiverClan cats doing here?”
Firestar paused to give her ear a quick lick. “They were prisoners,” he explained. “If we’d left them there, Tigerstar would have killed them.”
Sandstorm turned her green gaze on him, horrified38. “Why?”
“Because their parents came from different Clans,” Firestar explained. “Tigerstar says half-Clan cats aren’t fit to live in any Clan.”
“But his own kits39 are half-Clan!” Sandstorm protested.
Firestar shook his head. “No, because Tigerstar was a ThunderClan cat when they were born. At least, that would be his excuse. You don’t think that the great Tigerstar would father anything but pure-blooded kits, do you?”
The shock and disgust in Sandstorm’s eyes deepened, then turned to sympathy as she looked at the RiverClan cats. “Poor things,” she murmured. “Will you let them stay in ThunderClan?”
Firestar nodded. “What else can we do?”
The moon was high and bathing the ravine in a silvery light by the time that Firestar and the others reached the camp. Firestar could hardly believe that everything could be so peaceful here, only a short distance from the bloodstained clearing of the Bonehill and all the violence unleashed40 by Tigerstar’s ambition.
But as he emerged from the gorse tunnel into the camp, the illusion of peace was shattered. Whitestorm came hurrying toward him with Brackenfur at his heels. The younger warrior looked distraught.
“Thank StarClan you’re back, Firestar!” he exclaimed. “It’s Tawnypaw—she’s disappeared!”
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收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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4
snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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5
ripples
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| 逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 ) | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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gulp
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| vt.吞咽，大口地吸（气）；vi.哽住；n.吞咽 | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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apprentice
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| n.学徒，徒弟 | |
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apprentices
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| 学徒，徒弟( apprentice的名词复数 ) | |
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13
halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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14
bracing
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| adj.令人振奋的 | |
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racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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17
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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21
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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crouch
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| v.蹲伏，蜷缩，低头弯腰；n.蹲伏 | |
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23
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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25
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27
screech
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| n./v.尖叫；(发出)刺耳的声音 | |
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28
streaking
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| n.裸奔（指在公共场所裸体飞跑）v.快速移动( streak的现在分词 )；使布满条纹 | |
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29
intercept
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| vt.拦截，截住，截击 | |
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30
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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31
cowering
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的现在分词 ) | |
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32
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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33
growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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34
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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35
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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36
clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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37
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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38
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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39
kits
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| 衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 )； 成套用品； 配套元件 | |
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40
unleashed
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| v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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