“You lot stay here,” Purdy orderedin an undertone. “Let me deal with this.”
Stormfur stared in dismay as the old tom shuffled1 forward toward the foxes, his rumpled2 fur on end, his tail lashing3 back and forth4. Frozen by shock, the others might have let Purdy attack and be torn to pieces if Stormfur had not stepped forward at the last moment and pushed him aside.
“Wha’?” Purdy protested. “Let me get at ’em. I’ve chased off more foxes than you’ve had mice, young fellow.”
“Then give the rest of us a chance,” Stormfur retorted grimly.
The two foxes were creeping slowly up the bank, their eyes flicking5 from one cat to the next. Too late Stormfur realized that he and his friends had been wrong to assume the woods held no danger for them.
He saw that Crowpaw had stepped forward to shield Feathertail, while Brambleclaw tried to do the same for Squirrelpaw. But the ThunderClan apprentice7 slipped out from the shelter of his flank and stood beside him with her ears flattened8 and one paw extended threateningly.
“What are you doing, treading on my tail?” she growled9. “I can take care of myself!”
“You did say you could eat a fox,” Tawnypelt pointed11 out wryly12. “Now’s your chance.”
The foxes crept nearer. Stormfur braced13 himself, his gaze fixed14 on their narrow snouts and coldly glittering eyes, trying to guess where they would attack first. Back home, foxes weren’t much of a threat to cats who kept alert. They could be avoided, but these were obviously young and spoiling for a fight, eager to defend their territory. Stormfur was sure that the six of them could drive the creatures off eventually, but not without serious injuries. And what would that mean for their journey? StarClan help us!he prayed desperately15.
Crowpaw, who was nearest to the foxes, crouched16 to spring. There was barely a tail-length between him and the first of them when Stormfur heard a strange sound behind him, half growling18 and half barking. The leading fox abruptly19 lifted its head and stood very still.
Stormfur flicked20 a glance over his shoulder. Midnight had lumbered21 forward, thrusting her way between Purdy and Feathertail until she stood in front of the foxes. She said something else in the same mixture of barks and growls22. Although Stormfur could not understand what she was saying, there was no mistaking the threat in the way her shoulders hunched23, or the hostility24 in her black eyes.
Then his ears pricked25 in shock as the first fox barked what was obviously a reply. “I’d forgotten Midnight told us she could speak fox,” he muttered, glancing at Brambleclaw. The ThunderClan warrior26 nodded without taking his eyes off the foxes.
“They say this is their place,” Midnight reported. “To come here is to be their prey27.”
“Fox dung to that!” Crowpaw burst out. “Tell them if they try anything, we’ll rip their fur off.”
Midnight shook her head. “No, small warrior. Cat fur be ripped also. Wait.”
Crowpaw backed off a pace or two, still looking furious, and Feathertail pressed her nose against his flank.
Midnight said something else to the foxes. “I tell them you only pass through,” she explained to the cats when she had finished. “I tell them much prey is here in woods, easier prey that does not rip fur.”
The leading fox was looking confused now, perhaps out of surprise at hearing a badger28 speak fox, perhaps because it was taking her arguments seriously. But the second—a lean dog fox with a scarred muzzle—was still glaring past Midnight at the group of cats, his teeth bared. He snarled29 out something that was a threat in any language.
Midnight barked a single word. Taking a step forward, she raised a paw, her massive body poised30 to strike. Every hair on Stormfur’s pelt10 prickled as he braced himself for a fight. Then the dog fox started to back away, growling a last curse at Midnight before turning and vanishing into the bracken. Midnight’s gaze swiveled to his companion, but the other fox paused only to bark out something rapidly before following.
“And don’t come back, if you know what’s good for you!” Crowpaw yowled after them.
Stormfur relaxed, feeling his fur lie flat again. Squirrelpaw flopped31 down on the ground with a noisy sigh. All the cats, even Purdy, were looking at the badger with new respect.
Brambleclaw padded over to her and dipped his head. “Thanks, Midnight,” he meowed. “That could have been nasty.”
“They might have killed us,” Feathertail added.
“I suppose it’s a bad time for a fight,” Crowpaw admitted. Stormfur sighed at the aggressive note in the apprentice’s voice as he went on, “All the same, I’d like to know why you didn’t warn us about the foxes. You said you can read everything in the stars, so why didn’t you tell us they’d be here?”
Even though he would never have asked the question, Stormfur waited tensely for Midnight’s reply. She had told them so much already about the threat to the forest and how they must go home and lead the Clans32 to safety. If they did not trust her, they and all their Clanmates would be helpless in the face of destruction. Could she have warned them about the foxes?
For a moment the badger loomed33 over the WindClan apprentice, her black eyes furious. Crowpaw could not hide a flash of alarm in his eyes, though to his credit he did not back down. Then Midnight relaxed. “I not say everything. Everything indeed StarClan not want me to say. Much, yes, how Twolegs tear up forest, leave no place for cats to stay. But many answers lie within ourselves. This you have already learned, no?”
“I suppose,” Crowpaw muttered.
Midnight turned away from him. “Foxes say you must go now,” she told the cats. “If you still here at sunset, they attack. That dog fox, he says he tasted cat once, liked it fine.”
“Well, he’s not going to taste it again!” snapped Tawnypelt.
“We have to leave anyway,” Brambleclaw pointed out. “And we’re not looking for trouble from foxes. Let’s go.”
They paused for a few moments to gulp34 down the rest of the prey. Then Midnight took the lead, and brought them after a short time to the edge of the forest. The sun was dipping below the trees, and where they stood was already in shadow. In front of them, Stormfur saw yet more open moorland, with a range of mountains in the distance; over to one side were the hard reddish shapes of the Twolegplace they had traveled through on the outward journey.
“Which way now?” he asked.
Midnight raised one paw to point straight ahead. “That quickest way, path where sun rises.”
“It’s not the way we came,” Brambleclaw mewed uneasily. “We came through Twolegplace.”
“And I’m not going back there!” Crowpaw put in. “I’ll climb as many mountains as you like before I face all those Twolegs again.”
“I’m not sure,” Feathertail meowed. “At least we know the way through Twolegplace, and we’ve got Purdy to help us.”
Crowpaw replied only with a contemptuous snort. Stormfur half agreed with him; they had spent many frightening, hungry days wandering in Twolegplace, and Purdy had seemed as lost as any of them. But the mountains were unfamiliar36 too; even from here, Stormfur could see that their upper slopes were bare gray rock, with a streak37 of white here and there that must be the first snow of the approaching leaf-bare. They were far higher than Highstones, and he wondered how much shelter or prey they would find there.
“I agree with Feathertail,” he meowed at last. “We made it through Twolegplace once, so we can do it again.”
Brambleclaw glanced from one to another, undecided. “What do you think, Tawnypelt?”
His sister shrugged38. “Whatever you like. There’ll be problems whichever way we go; we all know that.”
True enough, Stormfur thought grimly.
“Well, Ithink—” Squirrelpaw began, and broke off with a gasp39. Her green eyes had widened with an expression of horror; they seemed to be fixed on something in the distance that no other cat could see.
“Squirrelpaw? What’s the matter?” Brambleclaw meowed urgently.
“I . . . I don’t know.” Squirrelpaw gave herself a shake. “Just make your mind up, Brambleclaw, and let’s be off. I want to go that way if it’s the quickest route—” She flicked her tail toward the distant mountains. “We’ll waste days and days going through Twolegplace again.”
Stormfur’s whiskers began to tingle40. Squirrelpaw was right. They already knew that the route among the Twoleg nests was confusing and difficult. What dangers could there be in the mountains that could be worse than the rats and monsters they knew they would meet in Twolegplace? All that mattered was to get back to the forest without delay.
“I think she’s got a point,” he meowed. “I’ve changed my mind. I vote we should go through the mountains.”
Squirrelpaw’s dark ginger41 tail twitched42 to and fro, and she flexed43 her claws into the grass. “Well?” she spat44 at Brambleclaw. “Are you going to make up your mind or not?”
Brambleclaw took a deep breath. “Okay, the mountains it is.”
“Eh? Wha’?” Purdy had been scratching one ear with his hind17 paw. But when Brambleclaw made his decision he looked up in alarm, blinking his wide amber45 eyes. “You can’t go that way. It’s dangerous. What about the—”
“Danger is all around,” Midnight broke in, silencing Purdy with a fierce glare. “Your friends great courage will need. The path has been laid out for them in the stars.”
Stormfur shot a sharp look at the old tabby. What had Purdy been trying to say when Midnight interrupted him? Did he know of some particular danger in the mountains? And if so, why had Midnight stopped him from telling the rest of them? He thought that he could see wisdom in her face, and something like regret. Just what did she mean by “the path has been laid out”?
“Choice is hard, young warrior.” The badger spoke46 in a low tone to Brambleclaw. Stormfur edged a pace closer so that he could hear. “Your path before you lies, and many challenges you will have to return safe home.”
Brambleclaw gazed into the badger’s eyes for a long moment before padding forward a few paces across the moorland. Whatever these challenges might be, he seemed ready to face them, and Stormfur couldn’t help admiring his resolve, even though he came from a rival Clan6. When Purdy scrambled47 to his feet to follow, Midnight put out a paw to hold him back.
The old tom bristled48, his amber eyes glaring. “Get out o’ my way,” he rasped.
Midnight did not move. “With them you cannot go,” she rumbled49. “The way is theirs alone.” Her black eyes gleamed in the dusk. “Young and rash they are, and tests will be many. Their own courage they need, my friend, not yours. Too much on you they would rely.”
Purdy blinked. “Well, if you put it like that . . .”
Feathertail darted50 up to him and gave his ears a quick lick. “We’ll never forget you, Purdy, or everything you’ve done for us.”
Just behind her, Crowpaw opened his mouth with his eyes narrowed, as if he was about to say something cutting. Stormfur froze him with a glare. He doubted they would see the old cat again, and although Purdy had made mistakes, he had stood by them and brought them safely to Midnight in the end.
“Good-bye, Purdy. And thank you. We could never have found Midnight without you.” Brambleclaw echoed Stormfur’s thoughts. “And thank you, too, Midnight.”
The badger inclined her head. “Farewell, my friends. May StarClan light your path.”
The rest of the cats said their own good-byes, and began to follow Brambleclaw out onto the moor35. Stormfur brought up the rear. Glancing back, he saw Midnight and Purdy sitting side by side under the outlying trees, watching them go. It was impossible to read their expressions in the gathering51 dusk. Stormfur waved his tail in a last farewell, and turned his face toward the mountains.
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1
shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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rumpled
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| v.弄皱，使凌乱( rumple的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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lashing
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| n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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flicking
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的现在分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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apprentice
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| n.学徒，徒弟 | |
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flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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pelt
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| v.投掷，剥皮，抨击，开火 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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wryly
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| adv. 挖苦地，嘲弄地 | |
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braced
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| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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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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desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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flicked
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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lumbered
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| 砍伐（lumber的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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growls
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的第三人称单数 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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23
hunched
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| （常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的 | |
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hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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25
pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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badger
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| v.一再烦扰，一再要求，纠缠 | |
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29
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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30
poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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31
flopped
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| v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅 | |
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32
clans
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| 宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派 | |
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33
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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34
gulp
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| vt.吞咽，大口地吸（气）；vi.哽住；n.吞咽 | |
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35
moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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36
unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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37
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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38
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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39
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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40
tingle
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| vi.感到刺痛，感到激动；n.刺痛，激动 | |
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41
ginger
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| n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气 | |
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42
twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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43
flexed
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| adj.[医]曲折的，屈曲v.屈曲( flex的过去式和过去分词 )；弯曲；（为准备大干而）显示实力；摩拳擦掌 | |
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44
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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45
amber
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| n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的 | |
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46
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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47
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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48
bristled
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| adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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49
rumbled
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| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
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50
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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51
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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