Jayfeather shifted uncomfortably on the bareearth. How was any cat supposed to sleep without a proper nest? But Leafpool had kept him so busy the day before that there had been no time to search for fresh moss1. “It’ll do the den2 good to be aired out,” Leafpool had said. Huh!Jayfeather wriggled3 again, feeling a cold dawn wind ruffle4 his pelt5.
The sound of a cat brushing past the bramble screen brought him properly awake. He picked up Leafpool’s scent6, and the smell of the moss she carried in her jaw7. At last! But why didn’t she ask me to help?Jayfeather’s paws itched8 with irritation9 that Leafpool seemed determined10 to do even the most basic tasks without him. Does she think I’m too incompetent11 even to carry moss?
But there was no point in protesting. Jayfeather stumbled out of the scoop12 where his nest should have been and helped Leafpool arrange the moss near the trickle13 of water, where sick cats slept.
“Do you want me to fetch more?” he offered.
His mentor14’s only reply was a grunt15 that could have meant anything. Jayfeather wanted to ask her what was biting her, but he knew she wouldn’t tell him anything. She’d probably claw my ears off just for asking,he muttered to himself. The only way I’ll get any answers—about my own past and what’s going on with Leafpool—is if I look for them myself.
While he pushed the moss tidily into place, Jayfeather cast his mind back to his earliest memories. His littermates’ absence stabbed him like a claw. We might find out a lot more if we could share what we remember!
He recalled a long, cold journey, stumbling through snow that reached up to his belly16 fur, following his mother’s scent.
No—Squirrelflight’s scent!Pausing with a pawful of moss, he tried to think himself back into that snowbound forest. He strove to distinguish each individual scent: his own, Lionblaze’s, Hollyleaf’s, Squirrelflight’s…and there was another! Another adult cat, a warm and bulky shape. He’d never remembered this detail before, but another cat was definitely there, just ahead of Squirrelflight, forcing a way through the snow….
Who was that?Jayfeather wondered. Didtwo cats bring us back to the hollow?
He needed to ask another cat, one who had been in ThunderClan when Squirrelflight brought her kits19 to the hollow. But it had to be a cat who wouldn’t get suspicious about his questions or tell the rest of the Clan17 what he had been asking.
Well, there’s one cat who doesn’t gossip….
“I’ll go get more moss,” he meowed, rapidly shoving the last pawful into place.
Without giving Leafpool a chance to protest, he brushed past the bramble screen and into the clearing. But instead of heading for the thorn tunnel, he darted20 across to the elders’ den under the hazel bush.
“Mousefur!” he called, ducking under a trailing strand21 of honeysuckle.
The skinny brown elder was curled up near the trunk of the hazel. “I hope your tail’s on fire or foxes are invading the camp,” she rasped, stifling22 a yawn. “Or that you’ve got another really good excuse for waking me up.”
“Sorry,” Jayfeather mumbled23. Mouse dung! That’s a great way to start….
“Don’t worry,” Longtail mewed peaceably. The blind elder was sitting by Mousefur’s side; Jayfeather heard the rasp of his tongue as he gave himself a thorough wash. “Mousefur has been asleep for ages. It’s time she woke up.”
Mousefur let out an annoyed hiss24. “Well, what do you want?”
“I’ve come to check you for fleas26,” Jayfeather explained, thinking fast. “One of the apprentices28 brought some back from patrol.” He hoped neither of the elders would think to mention his lie to any other cat.
“I haven’t been scratching,” Mousefur meowed. “But you can check my pelt anyway.” She settled herself comfortably with her paws tucked underneath29 her. “Be careful you don’t miss any,” she added as Jayfeather began probing her thick, ungroomed fur. “You’ve been Leafpool’s apprentice27 for long enough.”
Jayfeather bit back an irritated retort as he realized this could be the opening to the conversation he wanted. “That’s true,” he mewed. “It was the middle of last leaf-bare when I was born, wasn’t it?”
“The coldest leaf-bare I remember,” Longtail agreed. “I remember how thick the snow was. The whole Clan was stunned30 when Squirrelflight came back to the hollow with three kits! She said they’d been born earlier than she expected, which is why she didn’t have a chance to get back to the nursery, but even still, what queen plans to have kits in the dead of leaf-bare?”
“Thank StarClan she had Leafpool with her,” Mousefur added, twitching31 her ears as Jayfeather parted the fur on her head. “She’d have been in big trouble otherwise.”
Leafpool!Jayfeather stopped running his claws through Mousefur’s pelt. So Leafpool was the second cat he hadn’t been able to identify. She’d never said anything to him about being with Squirrelflight when he was born….
Locating a bit of twig32 on the ground, he snatched it up behind Mousefur’s back and cracked it in his teeth. “That’s one flea25 you don’t need to worry about,” he meowed. Trying to sound as if the answer didn’t matter very much, he added, “Do you remember anything else about Squirrelflight bringing us home?”
“Not a lot,” the elder replied. “It was so cold and snowy, we spent most of our time asleep that leaf-bare. I do remember how surprised every cat was that Squirrelflight hadn’t realized how close she was to having her kits when she went away. But then, she was always scatterbrained, right from when she was a kit18.”
“Did you notice anything…odd about that time?” Jayfeather asked, cracking the twig again. He hoped Mousefur wouldn’t think she was infested33 with fleas.
“Odd?” Mousefur snorted. “Most of what the Clan does these days seems odd to me.”
“I remember,” Longtail put in. “It was around then that Leafpool fed you that funny-tasting herb.”
Jayfeather’s ears pricked34. “What funny herb?”
“Oh, how should I know?” Mousefur muttered. “Leafpool brought me some tansy, as usual. I think she expects me to live on the stuff every leaf-bare. And this weird35-tasting stuff was mixed in with it.”
A tingle36 in Jayfeather’s paws told him that the strange herb was important. “Did Leafpool tell you what it was?”
Mousefur stretched, shaking her pelt. “No. I never asked her. When I complained about the taste, she just took away what was left. She said it hadn’t been meant for me anyway.”
“What was it like?” Jayfeather pressed, moving across to Longtail to check his pelt.
“Odd, but not unpleasant,” Mousefur mewed. “I’d have clawed Leafpool’s ears off if she fed me something disgusting! It tasted cold, like frost on fur, and fresh like grass, even though it was dry and dusty—from right at the back of Leafpool’s store, I’d guess.”
“How weird.” Jayfeather gave the twig another crack. “It’s not like Leafpool to get herbs muddled37 up.”
Mousefur snorted. “She was all over the place, trying to help Squirrelflight care for you kits! The fuss she made, any cat would think Squirrelflight was the first queen ever to give birth!”
“Really…” Jayfeather murmured.
Quickly finishing his examination of Longtail’s fur—and finding a real flea, which he crunched38 between his teeth—he said good-bye to the elders and headed into the forest to gather moss. As he tugged39 mouthfuls of it from between the roots of a tree, he wondered what Mousefur’s mystery herb could have been. It was strange that Leafpool hadn’t told Mousefur what the herb was or who it had been meant for. And stranger still that Leafpool, who was always so careful, had made a mistake.
I need to find out what the herb was,Jayfeather thought, gathering40 up his moss to carry it back to the camp.
When he returned to the medicine cats’ den, he found that Leafpool had already gathered more bedding while he was talking to the elders. “Did you go to RiverClan to find that moss?” she demanded. “Or have you been mooning about in the forest again?”
“Uh…no.” Jayfeather dropped his bundle and started to arrange it in his own nest. “I thought I’d check on the elders first.” When Leafpool didn’t respond, he added, “Mousefur told me a weird story. She said you gave her a funny-tasting herb once, mixed up with her tansy.”
A pulse of alarm came from Leafpool, but she mewed, “I don’t remember that. When was this?”
“Oh, a long time ago.” Something told Jayfeather not to be too specific. He didn’t want his mentor to know that he had been asking questions about his birth. “Do you know what it was?”
Leafpool let out an annoyed hiss. “How am I supposed to know that? For StarClan’s sake, do you think I don’t have more important things to worry about?”
“I was just—”
“If you’re so bored that you have to start asking about something that happened last leaf-bare, I can soon find you something to do. We’re still short of moss in here, so you can get on with that.”
“Okay.” Jayfeather was glad to leave. But I never mentioned last leaf-bare,he thought as he padded across the clearing. He had sensed his mentor’s fear, too. Leafpool was lying. She knows what the herb was, and she knows it’s important. I must be getting close to the truth—and Leafpool doesn’t want me to find it.
收听单词发音 |
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moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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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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wriggled
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等） | |
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ruffle
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| v.弄皱，弄乱；激怒，扰乱；n.褶裥饰边 | |
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pelt
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| v.投掷，剥皮，抨击，开火 | |
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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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jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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itched
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| v.发痒( itch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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incompetent
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| adj.无能力的，不能胜任的 | |
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scoop
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| n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出 | |
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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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mentor
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| n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导 | |
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grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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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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clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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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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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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strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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flea
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| n.跳蚤 | |
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fleas
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| n.跳蚤( flea的名词复数 )；爱财如命；没好气地（拒绝某人的要求） | |
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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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underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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twitching
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| n.颤搐 | |
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twig
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| n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解 | |
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infested
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| adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于 | |
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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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weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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tingle
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| vi.感到刺痛，感到激动；n.刺痛，激动 | |
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muddled
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| adj.混乱的；糊涂的；头脑昏昏然的v.弄乱，弄糟( muddle的过去式)；使糊涂；对付，混日子 | |
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crunched
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| v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的过去式和过去分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄 | |
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tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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