“Sasha!” Mistyfoot called again. “Is thatyou?”
There was no reply.
Leafpaw pressed her muzzle1 against the web and peered out. She had heard of Sasha many times, and was curious to see the rogue2 she-cat who had taken Tigerstar as her mate and given birth to Mothwing and Hawkfrost while staying with RiverClan. But in the half-light of the wooden nest, she could only just make out Sasha’s tawny4 pelt5 huddled6 at the back of the cage the Twoleg had just brought in.
“Sasha, are you okay?” Mistyfoot called more urgently.
“Give her time to recover,” Cody advised. “The new ones are always quiet.”
“I don’t need time to recover,” came a furious hiss7. “How dare they put me in here? If I could get out, I’d rip that Twoleg to shreds8!”
“What were you doing in the forest?” Mistyfoot asked.
“I wanted to see my kits10,” Sasha replied. “I had heard about the Twolegs destroying the forest, and I wanted to make sure they were safe.”
“I saw Mothwing not long ago!” Leafpaw mewed. “She was fine. She’s going to be a medicine cat.”
“Who’s that speaking?” Sasha called.
“I’m Leafpaw, ThunderClan’s apprentice11 medicine cat,” Leafpaw told her. “I’m friends with Mothwing.”
“Do you know Hawkfrost too?” Sasha demanded. “Is he safe?”
Leafpaw did not answer. Her paws prickled as she pictured Sasha’s other kit9. He had an icy-blue gaze like the sky in leaf-bare, and his shoulders were as broad and powerful as those of a warrior12 of twice his age and experience. Last time Leafpaw had met him, he had threatened to drag Sorreltail back to the RiverClan camp because she had strayed across the border by mistake. Luckily, Mothwing had persuaded him to let Sorreltail go.
Mistyfoot called from her cage, “Hawkfrost was fine when I saw him last.”
“Thank goodness,” Sasha breathed.
The relief in her voice surprised Leafpaw. “She sounds as worried as a Clan3 queen would be!” she whispered to Cody through the web that separated them.
“Of course.” Cody had been listening quietly to the exchange. “She’s talking about her kits—she’s a she-cat just like any other, after all.”
“But she gave them away to be raised in RiverClan!” Leafpaw exclaimed, almost forgetting to keep her voice low.
“Why didn’t she let her own Clan raise them?” Cody sounded puzzled.
“Sasha’s not a Clan cat,” Leafpaw explained. “She’s a rogue.”
“That’s right, call me names just because I choose not to live among the rest of you,” Sasha growled13, overhearing. “Not that I care, as long as my kits are safe.”
“I’m sorry,” Cody apologized. “This is such a small nest it’s hard not to get involved.” She glanced sideways at the cage next to hers where a tattered14 black rogue crouched15 without giving any sign that he had heard their conversation. “With some cats, at least,” she added pointedly16. Leafpaw knew that Cody had been trying to befriend the black tom but had not managed to get any answer from him except his name—Coal.
“You’re a kittypet, aren’t you?” Sasha asked Cody bluntly. “You sound too polite for a rogue, and you look too fat to be a Clan cat.”
Leafpaw saw Cody bristle17. “Cody’s a friend!” she mewed, leaping to her defense18.
“I didn’t say she wasn’t,” Sasha meowed. “I’m just trying to work out who’s who in this place.”
Mistyfoot explained: “They’re mostly rogues19, but there are a few other forest cats here.” Gorsetail, Brightheart, and Cloudtail meowed greetings as Mistyfoot went on, “Cody’s the only kittypet, as far as we know.”
“Have any of you worked out a way to escape from this foxhole20?” Sasha asked.
“Not yet,” Mistyfoot admitted.
“Even StarClan hasn’t given us a clue,” Leafpaw added.
“StarClan!” In the shadows, she saw Sasha curl her lip. “Do you Clan cats still believe in that nonsense after what’s happened to the forest?”
“Of course we do!” Leafpaw hissed21.
“Well, say a prayer for me, little one,” Sasha sighed unexpectedly. “I think we’re all going to need as much help as we can get.”
Sunhigh passed, and the tepid22 warmth of the afternoon sun began to fade.
“Here comes the Twoleg again,” Cody called to the other cats.
Over the distant grumbling23 of the Twoleg monsters, Leafpaw heard footsteps outside and instinctively24 crouched at the back of her cage. The nest door opened and the Twoleg came in carrying the food pellets.
“There’s no way you’ll persuade that Twoleg to let us out of here by purring at it,” Leafpaw whispered to Cody as the Twoleg began opening the cages and putting in more food.
“I guess not,” Cody shrugged25. “But it won’t hurt to make him trust me.”
As she spoke26 a hiss exploded from the cage next to her. The Twoleg leaped backward from Coal’s open door. Blood trickled27 down its forepaw as it stamped around the nest, spitting in rage. Leafpaw strained to see Coal through Cody’s cage. She could just make out his shadowy outline as he flattened28 himself against the floor. The blood pulsed in her ears as she glanced over her shoulder at the Twoleg. It had stopped screeching29 and was staring menacingly at Coal. Suddenly, with a vicious cry, it thrust its paw back into the cage, and Leafpaw heard the tom screech30 in pain. Muttering, the Twoleg slammed the door shut.
Leafpaw shuddered31. What had the Twoleg done?
When the Twoleg opened Cody’s door and tipped pellets into her pot, the kittypet shied away. She was not purring at it now.
As soon as the Twoleg had gone, Leafpaw yowled, “Are you okay, Coal?”
A muffled33 groan34 came from the cage beyond Cody’s. “That stinking35 Twoleg!”
Leafpaw sniffed36 the air and smelled the warm tang of blood.
“It looks bad,” Cody whispered to Leafpaw. “There’s blood on the floor of his cage.”
“Where are you hurt?” Leafpaw asked Coal.
“I’ve cut my leg,” replied the rogue. “That badger-pawed Twoleg shoved me against something sharp.”
Leafpaw thought quickly. What did Cinderpelt use to stop bleeding? “Can any cat reach a cobweb?” she called. “Come on; we have to help him!”
“There’s one near me,” answered Gorsetail. “I think I can reach it. Hang on.”
Peering down, Leafpaw saw Gorsetail’s tawny paw reach out from a cage below her. A large cobweb stretched from the floor of the nest to the top of his cage. He reached toward it, squeezing his foreleg through the hole in the side of his cage. Finally he managed to plunge37 his paw into the thick tangle38 and drag it down. Twisting his foreleg around, Gorsetail held the cobweb as far up toward Leafpaw as he could.
Leafpaw flattened herself against the cage and pushed her paw through the shiny floor. It scraped against her fur but she clenched39 her teeth and forced her leg through a little more until she could take the wad of sticky cobweb from Gorsetail. She pulled it quickly into her cage and then began passing it to Cody. “Give him this!” she urged, squeezing the last pieces of cobweb through with her paws.
Cody nodded, unable to talk because she was holding a wad of cobweb in her mouth. As she dragged it into her cage, some of it stuck to the sides of the hole, wasting a few of the precious threads.
“Be careful!” Leafpaw gasped41.
The voice of a rogue beneath them called anxiously up. “There’s blood dripping through the top of my cage! That cat’s badly hurt.”
Leafpaw’s heart beat faster. “Coal! Are you okay?”
“It won’t stop bleeding,” Coal replied, his voice trembling.
“Take the cobweb from Cody!” Leafpaw ordered. “Press it against the wound for as long as you can.”
She heard Cody breathing hard as the kittypet passed the cobweb through to the next cage, followed by the sound of Coal’s paws scrabbling on the blood-soaked floor.
“Don’t panic, Coal!” she mewed. “Just press the cobweb onto the wound.”
“It’s already soaked with blood!” Coal panted.
“That’s okay,” Leafpaw reassured42 him. “It’ll still stop any more blood coming. Just hold it in place!”
She waited. Silence gripped the nest. Leafpaw’s head began to spin, and she forced herself to take slow, deep breaths.
“Is he okay?” Brightheart called after a while.
“The blood’s stopped dripping on me!” reported the rogue from underneath43 Coal’s cage.
“Coal?” Leafpaw called. “How is it?”
A ragged40 sigh came from Coal’s cage. “That’s better,” he murmured. “It didn’t even sting.”
Leafpaw felt a rush of relief. “Keep the cobweb there for a bit longer,” she told him. “Then you can give the cut a gentle lick to clean it. Not too fierce—you don’t want it to start bleeding again.”
“Well done, Leafpaw,” Cody whispered from her cage.
Leafpaw blinked. For the first time since she had been captured, she didn’t feel entirely44 helpless. Closing her eyes, she sent a prayer of thanks to StarClan. She had never helped a rogue before, but she knew her warrior ancestors would approve. Loyalty45 to one Clan alone was no longer the way to survive
She realized her belly46 was growling47 with hunger. She might as well follow Cody’s advice and keep her strength up. Trying not to breathe in the horrible stench, she nibbled48 at a few of the foul49 pellets the Twoleg had left. I suppose I should be
grateful for the easy meal, she thought as she forced herself to crunch50 the dry morsels51
“These are disgusting,” she muttered.
“Not the best I’ve tasted,” agreed Cody. “My housefolk tried to give me something similar once, but I soon let them know what I thought, and they never gave them to me again.”
Leafpaw nearly choked with surprise. “You can make your Twolegs do what you want?”
“They’re not so hard to train,” Cody mewed. She sat up and began washing her paws.
Sasha called across the nest, “Can you train the mongrel that hurt Coal to be gentler?”
“I doubt it,” Cody answered. “These workfolk are nothing like my housefolk.”
Leafpaw saw Brightheart’s face appear behind the mesh52 of her cage. The ginger53 patches on her white fur looked almost black in the dim light, and it was impossible to see that one side of her face had been terribly scarred by a dog attack many moons ago. “What do you think they’re going to do with us?” she whispered.
“Perhaps they’re going to turn us into kittypets?” Leafpaw suggested. Much as she disliked the idea, at least that might give them a chance to escape and return to the Clan.
There was a snort from Sasha’s cage. “I don’t think so,” she rasped. “We’re hardly the sort of fluffy54, pampered55 cats that Twolegs go for.”
Leafpaw glanced at Cody, hoping she wouldn’t take offense56, but to her surprise the kittypet was nodding.
“Sasha’s right,” she agreed. “These folk don’t care about cats—Clan, rogue, or kittypet. Trust me, I know the sort of—what do you call them? Twolegs?—that make good housefolk. These just want to get rid of us.”
Leafpaw tried to swallow, but her mouth had suddenly become too dry, and the pellets she had eaten seemed to be lodged57 halfway58 down her throat. Trying not to bring them up again, she lapped a few mouthfuls of slimy water. She fought the urge to curl up in the back of her cage and lose herself in dreams. She could not rely on StarClan to get her out of this place. She had faith that her warrior ancestors were watching the destruction of the forest, but her instincts told her they were powerless against Twoleg cruelty; it was her own wits she would have to rely on now. She had to find a way to escape. She couldn’t let Cody or her Clanmates down.
She remembered Gorsetail stretching his paw out of his cage to reach the cobweb. “Cody,” she mewed. “You told me you tried reaching the catch that keeps the cage locked.”
“Yes, but I couldn’t get a grip on it,” Cody confirmed.
“What about the rest of you?” Leafpaw called out to the other cats. “Can anyone undo59 his catch?”
“Mine’s too stiff,” replied Gorsetail.
“My web is ripped,” Cloudtail reported. “I can almost get two paws out, but I can’t reach the catch.”
“You’re all wasting your time,” Sasha growled. “Face it, there’s no way out of here.”
Outside, the noise of the Twoleg monsters rumbled60 on, making the nest shudder32. Leafpaw couldn’t believe there was no way out of the nest, whatever Sasha thought. If she gave up, there would be no hope left at all. As she listened to the Twolegs calling gruffly to one another in the growing dusk outside, she reached through the web at the front of her cage and began to claw at the catch that held it closed.
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1
muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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tawny
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| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
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pelt
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| v.投掷，剥皮，抨击，开火 | |
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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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hiss
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| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
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shreds
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| v.撕碎，切碎( shred的第三人称单数 )；用撕毁机撕毁（文件） | |
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9
kit
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| n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物 | |
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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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apprentice
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| n.学徒，徒弟 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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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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14
tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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15
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pointedly
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| adv.尖地，明显地 | |
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bristle
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| v.（毛发）直立，气势汹汹，发怒；n.硬毛发 | |
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18
defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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19
rogues
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| n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽 | |
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20
foxhole
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| n.（军）散兵坑 | |
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21
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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22
tepid
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| adj.微温的，温热的，不太热心的 | |
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23
grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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25
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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26
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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27
trickled
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| v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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28
flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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29
screeching
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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30
screech
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| n./v.尖叫；(发出)刺耳的声音 | |
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31
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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32
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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33
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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34
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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35
stinking
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| adj.臭的，烂醉的，讨厌的v.散发出恶臭( stink的现在分词 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透 | |
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36
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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37
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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38
tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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39
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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40
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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41
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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42
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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43
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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44
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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45
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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46
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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47
growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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48
nibbled
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| v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的过去式和过去分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬 | |
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49
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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50
crunch
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| n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声 | |
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51
morsels
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| n.一口( morsel的名词复数 )；（尤指食物）小块，碎屑 | |
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52
mesh
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| n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络 | |
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53
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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54
fluffy
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| adj.有绒毛的，空洞的 | |
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55
pampered
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| adj.饮食过量的，饮食奢侈的v.纵容，宠，娇养( pamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56
offense
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| n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪 | |
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57
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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58
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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59
undo
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| vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销 | |
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60
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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