Chapter 9
Jayfeather shivered as a cold wind probed his fur with icy claws. He stood at the crest1 of a hil ; around him a copse of pine trees bent2 their tops into the gale3, their branches rattling4 together. Above the trees, the sky heaved with gray clouds.
“I’ve had enough of this,” Jayfeather muttered, gazing out across the bleak5 landscape. “I’m leaving.” But before he could wake from his dream he heard the puffing6 breath of a cat climbing the hil , and spotted7 a skinny gray shape struggling through the thorny8 undergrowth.
“Yel owfang,” he sighed as the cat emerged into the open. “Did we real y have to meet here? This wind is blowing my fur off.”
Yel owfang halted in front of him and stared at him from narrowed amber9 eyes. Jayfeather thought that she looked even scruffier10 than usual. Her pelt11 was ruffled12 by the wind, her breath stank13, and her eyes were gummy, as if she hadn’t groomed15 herself for moons.
“I chose this place because I can’t risk any cat overhearing us,” Yel owfang informed him, wheezing16.
“There’s stil a bad feeling in StarClan, then?” Jayfeather asked.
Jayfeather dug his claws into the cold ground. He felt chil ed to the bone, and wanted nothing more than to wake into his warm den20. “What do you want?” he mewed impatiently.
“To tel you what you must do,” Yel owfang replied.
“You need to recruit another medicine cat. I don’t mean an apprentice21. I mean the other ful y trained cat that lives in ThunderClan.”
Jayfeather’s pelt prickled with surprise. “But Leafpool isn’t a medicine cat anymore,” he pointed22 out. “That’s beyond my control—or yours.” Regret clouded the old gray cat’s eyes. “I know,” she mewed sadly. “I don’t mean Leafpool. What she did was so wrong when judged against the medicine cat code, it’s as if her training had never existed.
Don’t underestimate the depth of her punishment, Jayfeather. She hasn’t only given up her place as medicine cat. She’s forbidden to use her knowledge, even though she worked so hard to achieve it.” Jayfeather felt a flash of frustration23. Like you didn’t have a kit24 of your own, even if your Clan17 never knew the truth. “That’s like punishing the whole Clan for one cat’s mistake!” he hissed.
“Then what do you mean about another medicine cat?” Jayfeather prompted. “Not Briarlight or Brightheart, surely? They know more than the others, but they haven’t had any real training. Brightheart hasn’t even been to the Moonpool.” Yel owfang lashed26 her scraggy tail. “You should know who I mean, mouse-brain,” she rasped.
“ThunderClan has a third medicine cat—
Cinderheart. Perhaps it’s time to tel her who she real y is.”
“She wil if you walk in her dreams,” Yel owfang meowed. “Take her back to the life she had before.
Al the knowledge is there; she just needs to reach out for it.”
Disconcerted by the burning intensity28 in Yel owfang’s amber eyes, Jayfeather took a step back. “Wait. Cinderpelt was your apprentice; she doesn’t have to be mine. How can I train a new medicine cat with everything else that’s going on?” Yel owfang rol ed her eyes. “You won’t need to train her!” she spat29. “She already knows more than you do. She just needs to remember who she is.” Jayfeather bristled30. “I’l think about it,” he snapped.
“Make sure you do,” Yel owfang mewed. “Or I might walk in her dreams myself.”
That would scare Cinderheart out of her fur, Jayfeather thought, unable to imagine anything more unsettling for the young warrior31.
Yel owfang turned to leave, then glanced back over her shoulder. “You have to be ready for the worst battle the Clans33 have ever known,” she reminded him. “One medicine cat wil not be enough!”
Jayfeather woke to darkness. He was curled comfortably in the moss34 and fern of his nest in the medicine cat’s den; the air around him was warm, and ful of the fresh scents35 of early greenleaf. But although his body was at ease, his mind was troubled, and he felt as if he had scarcely rested at al .
Outside in the clearing, cats were moving around; Jayfeather could hear Brambleclaw’s voice as the deputy organized the patrols. Paws scampered37 closer to his den, and Cherrypaw’s voice rose above the background murmur38.
“Sol—come and watch us training, please!”
“Yeah,” Molepaw added. “I’ve learned this real y cool battle move I want to show you.” Jayfeather raised his head out of his nest and tasted the air. He could pick up the apprentice’s scent36, along with Sol’s, just outside the bramble screen. Rosepetal and Cloudtail, who was stil mentoring39 Cherrypaw, stood a couple of tail-lengths farther away.
“That’s real y not a good idea,” Rosepetal meowed. “Sol has better things to do than watch a couple of apprentices40.”
“And we want you to concentrate on your training session,” Cloudtail added, his voice cool with dislike of Sol. “Not showing off for a visitor.”
“It’s kind of you to ask me,” Sol mewed to the two young cats. “But I have other duties right now. I’l want to hear a ful report of what you’ve learned when I get back.”
Jayfeather heard a suppressed hiss19 from Cloudtail, and sensed a wave of annoyance41 rol ing off him. He could understand what the white warrior felt. Sol is talking as if he’s our Clan leader!
“Jayfeather?”
Focused on what was happening outside the den, Jayfeather hadn’t noticed Brightheart dragging herself up to him.
“Jayfeather, can I go and speak to Sol?” she asked.
The eagerness in her tone irritated Jayfeather.
“He’s not going to mend your back, if that’s what you’re thinking,” he snapped.
“I wasn’t hoping for that,” Briarlight huffed. “I’m curious about him, that’s al .”
“Wel , don’t be,” Jayfeather retorted. “He’s nothing special.”
“He saved the apprentices from the fox,” Briarlight reminded him.
Jayfeather snorted. “Maybe.”
I can’t believe Lionblaze and I got it so wrong, he thought. Sol was the last cat we were expecting to turn up.
Sol loitered for a few more moments outside the den, then he, too, retreated in the direction of the entrance. Jayfeather hauled himself out of his nest and began to groom14 the scraps43 of moss and bracken from his fur.
“Jayfeather!” Daisy’s voice came from the other side of the bramble screen. “Can you come and have a look at Sorreltail?”
Daisy was waiting for him a tail-length away.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
“I’m not sure,” Daisy admitted, fal ing in beside him as he padded toward the warriors’ den. “You’re the medicine cat. But I’ve seen a lot of cats near to giving birth, and I’m not sure I like the look of Sorreltail.”
Jayfeather replied with a grunt45. As he slid between the outer branches of the warriors’ den, his nose twitched46 at the musty scent of dried moss and fern.
Most of the cats were already out on patrol; he located Sorreltail lying in a nest near the edge of the den, and picked his way through the bedding to her side.
“Hi, Jayfeather,” the tortoiseshel warrior meowed.
“You didn’t need to come. I’m fine.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Jayfeather muttered.
Sorreltail’s voice sounded tired, and as Jayfeather sniffed47 at her he picked up her feelings of anxiety and exhaustion48. “You’re trying to do too much,” he told her. “You’re less than half a moon from giving birth, and keeping up with your warrior duties is wearing you out.”
“But last time—” Sorreltail began.
“Like it or not, you’re older than the last time you had kits49,” Jayfeather pointed out. “You need to slow down to give yourself a chance to stay in good health. Birth is a very difficult time.” Sorreltail sighed. “I know.”
As both cats fel silent, Jayfeather felt her flank shudder50 beneath his forepaw, and he was plunged51 into a terrible whirlpool of memory. He felt Sorreltail’s agony as she gave birth; he shared her horror as the badger52 forced its way into the nursery. He saw Cinderpelt leap bravely to protect Sorreltail and heard her shriek53 cut off abruptly54 as the huge creature clamped its jaws55 on her neck and shook her. In the same heartbeat he heard the thin wail56 of a tiny gray kit, born as the medicine cat gave up her life.
Jayfeather shivered. That was when Cinderpelt became Cinderheart. And now Yellowfang says that I need to bring her back, for the sake of the Clan.
He started, jerked out of the memory, as he realized that Sorreltail was speaking again, her voice low and weary.
“I know you’re right,” she mewed. “These kits need to have the best possible start. And if that means sitting around for this last half-moon . . . wel , so be it!”
“Thank you, Sorreltail,” Jayfeather replied. “You’ve made the right decision.” And made my job a lot easier, he added to himself.
“Come on, then, Sorreltail,” Daisy mewed, bustling57 forward and nudging the tortoiseshel warrior to her paws. “Ferncloud and I have made you a real y comfortable nest in the nursery.”
Jayfeather’s anxieties faded as he edged his way out of the warriors’ den. It’s obvious Sorreltail is going to be thoroughly58 mothered before these kits arrive!
Back in the clearing, Jayfeather listened for Cinderheart’s pawsteps, wondering whether this was the right time to speak to her. What in the name of StarClan am I going to say?
His ears twitched as he heard paw steps padding toward him, but the scent that he picked up was Birchfal ’s. “Are you busy right now?” he asked.
“No,” the tabby tom replied. “Do you want something?”
“Yes—Cinderheart,” Jayfeather replied. “If you see her, would you tel her I want a word with her?”
“Sure.” Birchfal padded off.
Jayfeather headed for the warriors’ den, but when he paused to taste the air there was no trace of Cinderheart among the mingled59 scents. He stood lashing60 his tail with frustration. She must be out on patrol.
“Yes, but I need to speak to you first.” Jayfeather hesitated, unwil ing to discuss Cinderheart—or anything else—with his mother. But he could sense Leafpool’s determination, and knew he wouldn’t be able to put her off. “Okay,” he sighed.
“Go ahead.”
“Not here,” Leafpool meowed. “Let’s go into the forest. I don’t think that what I have to say should be overheard.”
Suppressing a sigh, Jayfeather fol owed her out of the forest and into the camp. As he padded beside her, he felt the usual sense of disbelief that Leafpool was his mother. Sometimes she felt more like a stranger to him than a cat from another Clan.
Leafpool halted beneath a broad tree with noisy, rustling64 leaves; Jayfeather could hear the trickle65 of water close by. “So?” he demanded.
“I had a dream last night,” Leafpool murmured; Jayfeather had to lean close to hear her.
“Spottedleaf came to me, and told me that Yel owfang wants to tel Cinderheart about . . . about who she was before. Is that right?”
“Yes,” Jayfeather replied.
“Cinderheart has been given the chance to live a different life, as a warrior and as a mother. If you tel her about her previous life, you wil rob her of that chance.”
Jayfeather could hear Leafpool tearing at the grass with her claws. He tried to interrupt her, but she ignored him.
“I was Cinderpelt’s apprentice,” Leafpool went on.
“I knew her wel . I knew she had longed to be a warrior, a mate, and a mother, but al that was taken away from her when she had the accident on the Thunderpath. In spite of that, she was a good medicine cat, one of the best that ThunderClan wil ever have. I won’t let her life be taken away from her again!”
“But the Clan has to come first,” Jayfeather argued. “More medicine cats are needed.” Leafpool was silent for a moment. Both of them knew that she was a ful y trained medicine cat quite capable of caring for her Clan, if only she hadn’t broken the medicine cat code, as wel as the warrior code, by taking a cat from another Clan as her mate.
But neither she nor Jayfeather mentioned that. The silence stretched out until it tingled67 between them as if a storm were about to break.
“Individual cats are important, too,” Leafpool went on at last. “You could take an apprentice. Briarlight is already doing a great job.”
“Oh, sure!” Jayfeather lashed his tail. “Wouldn’t that just be great? One medicine cat who can’t see, and another who can’t walk. ThunderClan would be invincible68!”
“I know you see much more than the rest of us,” Leafpool stated calmly. “You can’t use that as an excuse. But I’m tel ing you, Cinderheart deserves a different life this time. That’s why StarClan gave her a second chance. Spottedleaf said so, in my dream.
I won’t let you spoil everything for her again.” Without giving Jayfeather a chance to respond, she rose and walked away
Jayfeather stayed beneath the tree, thoughts swirling69 in his head. He had to admit that Leafpool had a point: If StarClan had interfered70 enough to let Cinderheart have another life, he knew there must be a very good reason for it. And Yellowfang isn’t thinking straight at the moment, he reminded himself. She’s too closely caught up in the rivalries71 inside StarClan, and her fear of the Dark Forest.
Jayfeather returned slowly to the camp, stil unsure about what he should do. Before he had even reached his den, he picked up Cinderheart’s scent and heard her paw steps approaching.
“Birchfal said you were looking for me,” she meowed. Her voice was cheerful. “Do you need me to do something?”
As clearly as if he could see, Jayfeather was aware of Leafpool’s gaze fixed72 on him. He took a deep breath. “Nothing important,” he told Cinderheart. “It can wait until another day.”
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1
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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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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gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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bleak
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| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
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puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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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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thorny
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| adj.多刺的，棘手的 | |
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amber
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| n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的 | |
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scruffier
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| adj.肮脏的，不整洁的( scruffy的比较级 ) | |
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pelt
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| v.投掷，剥皮，抨击，开火 | |
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ruffled
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| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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stank
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| n. (英)坝，堰，池塘 动词stink的过去式 | |
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groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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groomed
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| v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的过去式和过去分词 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗 | |
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wheezing
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| v.喘息，发出呼哧呼哧的喘息声( wheeze的现在分词 )；哮鸣 | |
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clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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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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hiss
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| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
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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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apprentice
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| n.学徒，徒弟 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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frustration
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| n.挫折，失败，失效，落空 | |
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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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somber
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| adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的 | |
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lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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flinched
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| v.（因危险和痛苦）退缩，畏惧( flinch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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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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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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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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moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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scents
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| n.香水( scent的名词复数 )；气味；（动物的）臭迹；（尤指狗的）嗅觉 | |
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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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scampered
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| v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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mentoring
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| n.mentoring是一种工作关系。mentor通常是处在比mentee更高工作职位上的有影响力的人。他/她有比‘mentee’更丰富的工作经验和知识，并用心支持mentee的职业（发展）。v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的现在分词 ) | |
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apprentices
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| 学徒，徒弟( apprentice的名词复数 ) | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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mentors
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| n.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的名词复数 )v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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grooming
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| n. 修饰, 美容，（动物）梳理毛发 | |
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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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46
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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47
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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48
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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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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50
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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51
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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52
badger
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| v.一再烦扰，一再要求，纠缠 | |
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shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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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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bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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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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61
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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62
stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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warily
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| adv.留心地 | |
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64
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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65
trickle
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| vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散 | |
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66
winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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67
tingled
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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68
invincible
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| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
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69
swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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70
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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71
rivalries
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| n.敌对，竞争，对抗( rivalry的名词复数 ) | |
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72
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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