CHAPTER19
Lionblaze woke to the sound ofcoughing. For a moment he burrowed1 deeper into the moss2, trying to remember the last time he’d had a good night’s sleep. His dreams were filled with Tigerstar, taunting3 him about his power, sneering5 at him for being revolted by the sight of Heatherpaw’s blood-soaked body. And when he wasn’t asleep, the warriors’ den7 was filled with choking, spluttering cats battling greencough. Then he stiffened8. The sick cats had all gone to the Twoleg nest with Firestar! There shouldn’t be any coughing now.
Raising his head, Lionblaze saw Spiderleg in his nest a couple of tail-lengths away, his body shaken by another fit of coughing.
Oh, no! Firestar’s idea hasn’t worked
“Spiderleg,” he meowed, “you’d better get along to Leafpool. She’ll give you something for the cough, and then you can join the others in the Twoleg nest.”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” the older warrior6 snapped. “I’ve just got a bit of moss in my throat, that’s all.”
Even in the dim light of the warriors’ den, Lionblaze could see that Spiderleg’s eyes were glazed9 with fever. “I don’t think so.”
At the same moment Brambleclaw raised his head from his nest nearer the center of the den. “Spiderleg, you’re ill. You know how fast the sickness spreads. Go and see Leafpool now. Lionblaze, go with him.”
“Sure.” Lionblaze hauled himself out of his nest and gave his pelt10 a quick grooming11.
Spiderleg rose to his paws with an exaggerated sigh that ended in another bout4 of coughing. He pushed his way into the clearing, and Lionblaze followed, padding a few paw steps behind him as they headed for the medicine cats’ den. The chill of dawn still lay over the camp, and shadows crowded thickly around the sides of the hollow. A moisture-laden breeze held the promise of rain later.
Before they reached the den, Daisy came bounding over from the nursery. “Spiderleg, what’s the matter?” she fretted12. “Are you ill?”
“I’m fine. I just wish—” More coughing interrupted Spiderleg. “I just wish every cat would stop fussing,” he finished when he could speak again.
Daisy’s eyes grew wide with dismay. “You areill!”
“Don’t worry, Daisy.” Lionblaze brushed his muzzle13 against the cream-colored she-cat’s shoulder. “I’m taking him to Leafpool now.”
He and Spiderleg headed off again, leaving Daisy to watch them after them, her eyes filled with anxiety.
Inside the den, Leafpool and Jaypaw were already awake. “This is the last of the tansy,” Leafpool was mewing. “You’d better see if you can find more, and take it straight to the Twoleg nest. Remember to put it on the flat stone outside the entrance.”
“Okay.” Jaypaw turned to go, then halted as he realized that Spiderleg and Lionblaze were there. “What now?” he asked.
Spiderleg answered with another fit of coughing.
“No!” For a heartbeat Lionblaze saw fear flicker14 in Leafpool’s eyes. Then she was the quietly efficient medicine cat again. “Spiderleg, eat this tansy. It’ll soothe15 your throat. Jaypaw, bring some more back here as well.”
Jaypaw gave her a brief nod, whisked past the bramble screen, and vanished.
While Spiderleg was chewing up the tansy, grumbling16 under his breath, Daisy poked17 her head into the den. “Can I come in?” she asked Leafpool, her words muffled18 by the plump vole she was carrying.
Leafpool looked uncertain; the fewer cats around Spiderleg the better. Then she nodded. “Of course, Daisy. What is it?”
Daisy dropped the vole at Spiderleg’s paws. “I brought you this. I thought you could do with a good meal before you go to the Twoleg nest.”
“Well, you needn’t have bothered,” Spiderleg meowed ungraciously. “I’m not hungry.”
Daisy took a step back, her neck fur bristling19. “I chose it specially20!”
Spiderleg didn’t reply, just swiped his tongue round his jaws21 for the last of the tansy juices.
“Our kits23 are worried about you, too,” Daisy went on. Her voice grew sharper. “It’s a wonder they remember you, because you never come to visit them.”
Spiderleg shrugged24. “It’s not that I’m not interested…. I just know that you’ll do a great job of raising them without me.”
“Why?” Daisy challenged him. “Because I’ve raised kits on my own before? But that wasn’t my choice, Spiderleg, as you know very well.”
Lionblaze exchanged an embarrassed glance with Leafpool; he wished he could leave the den, but the two quarreling cats were blocking the entrance. Leafpool was listening with a strange look in her eyes that Lionblaze couldn’t interpret.
“Every kit22 is different,” Daisy went on. “And every kit deserves to know its father. You’re missing out, Spiderleg, and if you’re not careful it will be too late, and your own kits won’t know who you are!”
Not waiting for a reply, she spun25 around and stalked out of the den.
“She-cats!” Spiderleg exclaimed.
He turned to leave, but Leafpool slipped past him and blocked his way out. “Kits are a precious gift, Spiderleg,” she mewed quietly. “You should take every chance you can to be a good father. It’s even better than being a mentor26.”
“How would you know?” Spiderleg demanded.
Leafpool just gazed at him, her amber27 eyes clear and calm.
“Sorry,” Spiderleg muttered after a heartbeat. “It’s just…I never planned to have kits with Daisy. I feel useless and clumsy around them. And I feel every cat is judging me because I’m not closer to Daisy. It didn’t work out, that’s all.”
“That’s not the point,” Leafpool replied. “Your kits still have a mother and a father, even if you and Daisy aren’t mates anymore. You’re punishing the kits by not being a better father. They won’t judge you because they don’t know any different. But in the end, they’re the only things that matter.”
“I don’t know what to do!” Spiderleg protested. “I can’t—” Another outbreak of coughing cut off what he was about to say.
“Then learn!” Leafpool’s amber eyes blazed. “You’ve seen Brambleclaw and Graystripe and Dustpelt around their kits. I can’t believe you don’t see how important this is! You should cherish your kits with every breath you take.”
As she spoke28, Lionblaze felt a surge of warmth toward Brambleclaw. He was a great father, always ready to listen or to help if his kits had a problem. He’d spent a lot of time with the three kits, because Squirrelflight went back to being a warrior so quickly. Lionblaze trusted him completely; he couldn’t imagine a better father. If Spiderleg’s not careful, he thought, he and the kits are going to end up like Crowfeather and Breezepelt.They don’t even like each other!
“Lionblaze.” Leafpool had obviously realized that he was there, listening to every word she and Spiderleg were saying. “You can go now. Thanks for helping29.”
Lionblaze dipped his head, and slipped past Spiderleg into the clearing. As he left, he heard Leafpool meow, “Before you go to the Twoleg nest, you willeat that vole. You need to keep your strength up if you’re going to get better.”
As he left Leafpool’s den, Lionblaze spotted30 Brambleclaw choosing a squirrel from the fresh-kill pile. Squirrelflight padded up, and her mate dropped the fresh-kill at her paws.
“This is for you,” he meowed. “I know how much you love young squirrel.”
“So do you,” Squirrelflight purred, touching31 her nose to his ear. “Let’s share it.”
Brambleclaw hesitated. “Okay, but you have as much as you want. The whole Clan32 wants you to get strong again.”
The two cats settled down side by side to share the squirrel.
A surge of warmth spread through Lionblaze as he watched themThank StarClan our parents are so close.
“Hey, Lionblaze!” Brambleclaw lifted his head from the squirrel. “Now that you’ve dealt with Spiderleg, what about a hunting patrol? Ashfur is waiting for you. The mice aren’t going to line up and come running into camp, you know.”
“Sure!” Lionblaze waved his tail and bounded across the clearing toward Ashfur. Yes, he loved his father, even if he was a bossy33 old furball!
Lionblaze padded along the old Twoleg path with a squirrel and two mice dangling34 from his jaws. It was his turn to take fresh-kill to the tree trunk outside the Twoleg nest. A thin drizzle35 was falling, misting on his pelt and turning the path to mud.
Two sunrises before, when Spiderleg had started coughing, the hopes of every cat in the Clan had plummeted36, afraid that Firestar’s plan would come to nothing after all. But since then, no other cat had fallen ill. Lionblaze had begun to wonder if they had started to win the battle after all. He didn’t know much about the sick cats in the Twoleg nest except that all of them, even Millie, were still alive.
Everything was quiet as the walls of the Twoleg nest appeared through the trees. Lionblaze brushed through the wet grass to leave his prey37 in the hollow trunk. The trunk wasn’t empty as he had expected. A few pieces of fresh-kill, turning soggy from the rain, still lay at the bottom. The scent38 of cats around the tree stump39 was stale and faint.
Icy water, far colder than the rain, seemed to trickle40 down Lionblaze’s spine41. Why aren’t the sick cats eating? Are they all too weak to fetch the prey?
With one paw he scraped the old prey—rapidly turning to crow-food—out of the tree trunk, and replaced it with the fresh, pushing his catch farther back into the hollow to keep it dry. Then he hesitated, looking around. He was meant to continue hunting, but he couldn’t leave until he found out why the cats in the Twoleg nest hadn’t collected all their fresh-kill.
Slowly he padded toward the entrance to the den. Leafpool and Firestar had both forbidden the hunters to go any closer than the tree trunk, but Lionblaze told himself that this was an emergency, and both would want him to break the rules. As he approached an eerie42 wailing44 rose from the Twoleg nest, the cry of a cat in deep distress45.
Lionblaze stopped dead. “What’s happening?” he called out, hating the way his voice shook. Courage, he told himself fiercely.
For a heartbeat there was no response. Then Lionblaze leaped back as Cloudtail’s face loomed46 in front of him in the entrance, his white fur startling in the gloom.
“Firestar is dying,” the warrior rasped.
Lionblaze clenched47 his teeth on a wail43 of despair. Forgetting to be wary48 of the sickness, he brushed past Cloudtail and entered the nest.
Firestar was lying in a den on the far side. Most of the sick cats were sitting around him in a ragged49 circle; Brightheart and Honeyfern were bending over him, holding scraps50 of soaked moss to his lips. Lionblaze pushed through the line of cats and looked down at his Clan leader. Firestar’s breath was coming in hoarse51 gasps52, his sides heaving with the effort of sucking in air. A stench of something more than sickness hung in the air.
As Lionblaze gazed at him, horrified53, Brightheart looked up. “Firestar is losing a life,” she mewed gently.
Taking a step back, Lionblaze stood alongside the other sick cats and watched in silence as their leader struggled to breathe. Gradually the heaving of Firestar’s flanks slowed down; his breathing grew shallower, then stopped. His eyes closed and he lay still.
Lionblaze saw the faintest outline of a flame-colored cat rise from Firestar’s body and pad away, to be lost in the shadows in one corner of the den.
Is that what it’s like to lose a life?he wondered. How many does Firestar have left? What if that was his last one?
It seemed as if he stood beside his leader’s body for countless54 moons, or perhaps it was no more than a heartbeat. Then he saw Firestar’s sides give a convulsive heave. Bright green eyes blinked open, struggling to focus.
“Firestar.” Brightheart’s tone was soft as she bent55 over him again. “You’re back with us.”
Lionblaze felt his mouth drop open. Firestar really had died and come back!
Cloudtail padded up with a fresh bundle of soaked moss, which he gave to his mate. Brightheart held the moss to Firestar’s lips. “Drink this,” she murmured. “And then get some rest.”
“Go and fetch him some fresh-kill,” Cloudtail ordered Lionblaze. “He needs to keep his strength up.”
Lionblaze ran outside again, and came back with one of the freshly killed mice. By the time he returned, Firestar was sitting up, a confused look in his eyes that gradually died away.
“Thanks,” he murmured as Lionblaze dropped the mouse beside him. “But you shouldn’t be in here. You could catch the sickness.”
Lionblaze’s pelt stood on end. Firestar had come back, but he needed to leave the nest right away. If he stayed, how long would it be before the dreadful sickness killed him again?
Firestar took a bite of the mouse, glancing around while he chewed and swallowed it. “It’s okay,” he meowed, meeting the worried gazes of his Clanmates. “Everything’s fine now.”
“No, it’s not,” Brightheart mewed sharply. “You’re still weak, even if you haven’t got greencough anymore. What if you lose another life? You should go back to the camp and let Leafpool look after you.”
Firestar shook his head. “There’s nothing that Leafpool can do for me there that she can’t do while I’m here. I’ll stay with you all.”
A murmur56 of respect rose from the cats around him. Rosekit padded forward to the edge of Firestar’s nest. “Are you going to keep dying and coming back again?” she asked curiously57.
“I hope not,” Firestar replied, while Honeyfern shooed Rosekit back into the nursery area.
“I knew you’d insist on staying,” Brightheart murmured, touching her nose to Firestar’s ear.
Firestar blinked at her. “I am not the cat with the most to lose,” he replied, his green gaze drifting toward the nest where Millie lay.
Lionblaze turned to look at the gray she-cat. She looked even thinner and more pitiful than when she had left the camp three sunrises before. She was lying sprawled58 on one side, her sides barely rising and falling with each faint breath.
Briarkit nuzzled into her belly59, trying to feed and letting out pitiful mewling noises when she couldn’t find any milk. Honeyfern bent over her, gently nudging her away with one paw. “Come on,” she comforted the tiny kit. “I’ll find you a mouse to eat. They’re very tasty.”
“Don’t want mouse.” Briarkit’s voice was hoarse. “I want milk.” Her voice rose to a feeble wail. “I want my mother!”
Lionblaze turned away, unable to watch. Around him, the sick cats were stumbling back to their own nests, heads and tails drooping60 in defeat.
How long before they’re all dead like Firestar? And none of them have nine lives.
Guilt61 swamped him. He knew that he had the power to help his Clanmates—the power to do anything, he reminded himself—but he had refused to use it.
“I’m going,” he told Cloudtail roughly, desperate to get out of the nest and as far from the sickness as possible. “I’ll tell Brambleclaw about Firestar losing a life, and I’ll be back soon with more fresh-kill.”
“It’s not fresh-kill we need,” Cloudtail pointed62 out. “It’s catmint.”
“And the will of StarClan that we survive,” Brightheart added.
Their words echoed in Lionblaze’s ears as he ran back to the hollow, hardly feeling the stone path under his paws. StarClan did want the sick cats to survive. Otherwise they wouldn’t have sent Jaypaw the dream where he found the catmint.
“Even if it wasn’t StarClan who sent him the dream,” Lionblaze argued with himself, “the three of us have been given our powers for a reason. Perhaps this is it. Perhaps this is the start of the prophecy.”
When he pushed through the tunnel into the camp, he couldn’t see Brambleclaw. Checking the warriors’ den, he found it empty, but as he emerged he spotted the Clan deputy coming out of the tunnel with his jaws full of fresh-kill. Sandstorm and Berrynose followed him; Lionblaze met them by the fresh-kill pile where they dropped their prey.
“There’s news,” he meowed abruptly63. “Firestar has lost a life.”
“No!” Sandstorm’s green eyes widened. She spun around as if she was going to dash out of the camp, but Brambleclaw laid his tail gently over her shoulders.
“You can’t help him,” he murmured.
Sandstorm sat down, her head bowed. “I know.” Her voice was so low Lionblaze could scarcely hear it. “But it’s hard.”
“Did you see Firestar die?” Berrynose meowed, his eyes wide. “What was it like?”
Lionblaze glared at him, and didn’t bother to answer. As he padded away, he heard Brambleclaw’s voice raised scathingly. “I might expect a question like that from a kit, Berrynose, but not from a warrior, especially one that Imentored.”
Forgetting the annoying cream-colored warrior, Lionblaze brushed past the brambles into the medicine cats’ den. To his relief, Leafpool wasn’t there, only Jaypaw, pawing through a pitiful collection of thin, shriveled herbs.
Jaypaw whipped around. “What do youwant?”
Lionblaze bowed his head. “I’m sorry,” he meowed. “I will go to WindClan.”
收听单词发音 |
1
burrowed
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| v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的过去式和过去分词 )；翻寻 | |
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moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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taunting
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| 嘲讽( taunt的现在分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落 | |
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bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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sneering
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| 嘲笑的，轻蔑的 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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pelt
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| v.投掷，剥皮，抨击，开火 | |
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grooming
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| n. 修饰, 美容，（动物）梳理毛发 | |
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fretted
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| 焦躁的，附有弦马的，腐蚀的 | |
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muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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soothe
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| v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承 | |
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grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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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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bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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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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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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mentor
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| n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导 | |
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amber
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| n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的 | |
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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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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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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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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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bossy
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| adj.爱发号施令的，作威作福的 | |
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dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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drizzle
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| v.下毛毛雨；n.毛毛雨，蒙蒙细雨 | |
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plummeted
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| v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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trickle
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| vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散 | |
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spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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eerie
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| adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的 | |
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wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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44
wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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45
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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46
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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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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wary
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| adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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51
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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52
gasps
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| v.喘气( gasp的第三人称单数 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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53
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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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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56
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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57
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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58
sprawled
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| v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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59
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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60
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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61
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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62
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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63
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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