瓊·克雷格黑德·喬治/文 吳文安/譯

Mike went outside and was shoveling the walk when suddenly he wondered if Rachet and the other cats in his basement had enough food. He wasnt worried about water. They would eat the snow. Hurried to finish the walk， then plowed through the snow to the rear of the house. The snow was four feet deep above the stone foundation. No cat could get out to eat snow， much less catch mice. He shoveled furiously， found Rachets foundation passageway， and dug a path between it and the porch. The cats could jump to it and probably find a mouse among the old shutters and screens there.

Worried that the mice on the porch might not be enough， he dug a path from the porch to the plowed street. He dared not put down cat food for fear Mrs. Dibber would see it and ask questions. With a way to the road cleared， he was satisfied that Rachet and that other cat could get to the station. He hoped the sidewalks around the housing project were cleared so that the Bent Lady could get to the station with her cans of cat food. He did not know about Queenellas window well with the broken window—so he did not dig it out.

Down in the basement Rachet sat on her heating duct， dozing and waiting patiently for the world to change and the snow to disappear like the rain. She was hungry and thirsty， but she had been hungry and thirsty before. From her past experience she knew that if she moved as little as possible she saved her body fluids and energy. But Queenella had not learned that lesson， and when Mike opened Rachets passageway Queenella sped with all her cat vigor to claim it.

Seeing her property threatened， Rachet suddenly felt ownership fury. Queenella was on her territory. Despite the fact that Queenella was top cat， Rachet gracefully jumped down from the heating duct. Crouching behind a bucket of dried paint， her haunches high， she got in springing position. This was her domain—her territory. She would defend it. She growled deep in her throat. Queenella heard， stopped， and looked away. Rachet growled again and looked away from Queenella when she looked back.

Rachet tilted her head. Queenella tilted her head， the movement to protect their throats in a fight. Queenella turned her eyes away from Rachet， very aware of her whether she looked at her or not. After long minutes of pretending to ignore each other， they flattened their ears back and down aggressively.

Queenella hissed. She pulled back her lips and uncovered her sharp white canine teeth， a statement to Rachet to take warning. Queenella had made this gesture of battle with her before and won. She was sure the young cat， Rachet， would not challenge her， but to make certain， she growled.

邁克走到屋外，鏟除步道上的雪。他突然想起，不知道住在地下室的拉齊特和別的貓咪有沒(méi)有足夠的食物。他不擔(dān)心水的問(wèn)題。他們可以吃雪解渴。邁克匆忙地打掃完步道，然后一路掃雪到了房子后邊。石頭地基之上，積雪有四英尺深。貓咪們不可能出來(lái)吃雪，更不能抓老鼠。邁克拼命鏟雪，找到了拉齊特穿過(guò)地基的通道，就在通道和門廊之間挖了一條路。貓咪們可以跳到路上，也許還可以在門廊的舊百葉窗和紗門那里找到老鼠。

邁克擔(dān)心門廊的老鼠不夠吃，就又挖了一條路，從門廊通到鏟過(guò)雪的大街上。他不敢在家里放貓食，怕迪波夫人看到后問(wèn)他。邁克清理好了通往大路的通道，感到心滿意足，這樣拉齊特和另外那只貓咪就可以去火車站了。邁克希望住宅區(qū)周邊的人行道有人打掃，這樣駝背夫人就可以帶著她的貓食罐頭去火車站。邁克不知道女王艾拉常走那個(gè)帶破窗戶的窗戶井，所以他沒(méi)有為那個(gè)出口挖一條路。

地下室里，拉齊特坐在自己的暖氣管上，一邊瞌睡一邊耐心地等待世界發(fā)生變化，等待大雪跟大雨一樣消失無(wú)蹤。她又餓又渴，不過(guò)她以前也曾經(jīng)又餓又渴過(guò)。拉齊特根據(jù)以前的經(jīng)驗(yàn)知道，盡量少動(dòng)，可以節(jié)省體液和能量?？墒桥醢欢@個(gè)道理，邁克一打開(kāi)拉齊特的通道，女王艾拉就用盡全力飛快占據(jù)了這個(gè)通道。

拉齊特看到自己的領(lǐng)地被威脅，突然因?yàn)橹鳈?quán)受到侵犯而感到憤怒。女王艾拉是在拉齊特的地盤(pán)上。盡管女王艾拉確屬貓老大，拉齊特還是優(yōu)雅地從暖氣管上跳了下來(lái)。拉齊特蹲伏在一個(gè)干漆桶的后面，背部高高拱起，擺好了彈跳的姿勢(shì)。這是她的領(lǐng)地——她的地盤(pán)。她會(huì)守衛(wèi)這個(gè)地盤(pán)。她從喉嚨深處發(fā)出低吼。女王艾拉聽(tīng)見(jiàn)了，停下來(lái)，看往別處。拉齊特再一次低吼，女王艾拉回看的時(shí)候，拉齊特看往別處。

拉齊特歪一下腦袋。女王艾拉歪一下腦袋。這個(gè)動(dòng)作是用來(lái)在打斗中保護(hù)喉嚨的。女王艾拉把目光從拉齊特那里移開(kāi)，不管看不看拉齊特，都能清楚地覺(jué)察到她。有長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的幾分鐘，她們彼此裝作視而不見(jiàn)，之后，全都?xì)鈩?shì)洶洶地把耳朵朝后折下去。

女王艾拉嘶嘶叫著。她咧開(kāi)嘴，露出白白尖尖的犬牙，這是警告拉齊特小心點(diǎn)兒。女王艾拉以前曾經(jīng)向拉齊特?cái)[過(guò)這個(gè)戰(zhàn)斗姿態(tài)，而且取勝了。她確信拉齊特這只小貓不會(huì)挑戰(zhàn)她，但為保險(xiǎn)起見(jiàn)，她發(fā)出了低吼。