50_The Final Journey

" No! ” Julia cried as Heracles disappeared. She leaped forward and grabbed at the temple wall with her fingers. But there was nothing there except solid stone. The rift had disappeared too. She sank onto the floor, hardly believing what had just happened. Heracles was gone. And now Julia and Brody were trapped in ancient Greece . . . forever! Brody looked stunned too. “ I can’t believe that just happened, ” he murmured. Julia saw him staring at the wall behind her. “ Whoa! ” he cried. “ What’s going on?”

"不！”赫拉克勒斯消失时，茱莉亚哭了。她跳上前去，用她的手指抓住庙壁。 但除了坚硬的石头，那里什么都没有。裂痕也消失了。 她倒在地上，几乎不相信刚才发生的事。赫拉克勒斯走了。 现在茱莉亚和布罗迪被困在古希腊…永远！ 布罗迪看起来也惊呆了。“我真不敢相信刚才发生了，”他喃喃地说。 茱莉亚看见他盯着她身后的墙。“哇！”他哭了。“那是什么？”

Julia looked up. A faint spark of light was coming through a tiny crack in the wall. She stood and backed away, not daring to hope. Then a hand pushed through the wall, and another. Julia gasped. “ Heracles! ” she cried. They all stared at the wall in disbelief as the hands struggled to push the wall apart. Julia could hear Heracles grunting with effort. “ He’s doing it! ” Brody shouted. “ He’s opening the rift back up! ” “ Impossible! ” Hera moaned.

茱莉亚抬起头来。墙上的一个小裂缝里透出微弱的火花。 她站着后退，不敢抱有希望。 然后一只手穿过墙壁，另一只手也穿过来了。 茱莉亚倒吸了一口气。“赫拉克勒斯！”她喊道。 他们都不敢相信地盯着墙，双手奋力将墙撕开。茱莉亚能听到赫拉克勒斯费力地咕哝着。 “他在做！”布罗迪喊道。“他正在重新打开裂缝！” “不可能！”赫拉呻吟着。

It did seem impossible. But sure enough, Heracles was prying open the time passage that had just closed behind him! Soon the rift was wide enough for Heracles to wedge his upper body into it. Brody just stood there, staring in amazement. “ Brody, help him! ” Julia cried. “ We have to get him through! ” She grabbed Heracles’ hand and pulled as hard as she could. For a moment nothing happened. Then Brody grabbed the hero’s other hand. Heracles grimaced with pain as his broad shoulders scraped against the wall.

这似乎是不可能的。但果不其然，赫拉克勒斯正在撬开他身后刚刚关闭的时间通道！ 很快，裂缝就足够宽，赫拉克勒斯可以把他的上身楔入其中。 布罗迪只是站在那里，惊讶地凝视着。 “布罗迪，帮帮他！”茱莉亚哭了。“我们必须让他通过！” 她抓住赫拉克勒斯的手，使劲拉。一时间什么都没发生。 然后布罗迪抓住了英雄的另一只手。 赫拉克勒斯宽阔的肩膀贴在墙上，脸上痛得狰狞。

“ Don’t pull me all the way through yet. ” He gasped out the words. “ You have to get through the passage before it closes again! ” Julia realized he was right. “ But how can we fit through while you’re in there too?” she asked. “ Just give me a moment . . . ” Heracles grunted and groaned, flexing the muscles in his powerful legs. He spread his legs apart, pushing the walls farther to the sides. Soon there was enough space—barely—for a person to duck between his legs. “ Come on, Brody! ” Julia cried.

“现在不要把我全拖过去。”他气喘吁吁地说出了这些话。 “你们必须在通道再次关闭之前穿过它！” 茱莉亚意识到他是对的。“但当你也在那里时，我们怎么能穿过呢？”她问。 “给我一点时间……”赫拉克勒斯咕哝着，呻吟着，用他有力的双腿弯曲着肌肉。 他把双腿分开，把墙壁推到一边。很快就有了足够的空间，一个人刚好勉强穿过两腿之间的缝隙。 “来吧，布罗迪！”茱莉亚喊道。

“ Hurry, ” Heracles said through gritted teeth. “ I don’t know . . . how much longer . . . I can hold it open. ” “ Thank you! ” Julia cried, diving for the opening between Heracles’ feet. “ Thank you so much! ” Brody still looked confused, so Julia grabbed his hand. She pulled him after her through Heracles’ legs—and through the rift. Behind them, Julia heard Hera ranting. “ You’ll pay for defying me, Heracles! ” she screamed. “ Trust me, you won’t have an easy day for the rest of your life, mark my . . . ”

“快点，”赫拉克勒斯咬牙切齿地说。“我不知道……我还能撑多久……” “谢谢！”朱莉娅喊道，在赫拉克勒斯的双脚之间穿过洞口。“非常感谢！” 布罗迪看起来仍然很迟疑，于是茱莉亚抓住了他的手。 她拉着他穿过赫拉克勒斯的腿，穿过裂缝。 在他们身后，茱莉亚听到赫拉咆哮。“你会为藐视我付出代价的，赫拉克勒斯！”她尖叫起来。 “相信我，你的余生不会有轻松的一天，记住我的话……”

Snap! Julia tumbled out of the rift onto the sidewalk near the school gym. “ Ow, ” she said as her elbow scraped the pavement. Brody was lying on the ground beside her. He sat up and looked at the brick wall of the school building. Julia looked too. The wall appeared normal, with no sign of the rift. She stood up and gazed around. Actually, everything looked normal. Brody looked at Julia and grinned. “ I guess we’re not in ancient Greece anymore. ”

吧嗒一声！茱莉亚从裂缝中摔出，走到学校体育馆附近的人行道上。 “噢，”她一边说，一边用胳膊肘擦着人行道。 布罗迪躺在她身边的地上。他坐起来，看着学校建筑的砖墙。 茱莉亚也看了看。墙壁看起来很正常，没有裂缝的迹象。 她站起来凝视四周。事实上，一切看起来都很正常。 布罗迪看着茱莉亚，咧嘴笑了。“我想我们已经不在古希腊了。”