Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Dink stared at Lucky. No one moved or spoke. Giggling and eating-lunch noises came from the kitchen. "Seven m-million dollars!" Josh said, finally finding his voice. Lucky nodded. "Gramps was so happy he could hardly talk," he said. "But when I told him the card was gone, I thought he was going to cry." Lucky scooted forward in his chair. "Do you guys think you can find the crook and get my ticket back? I can't leave the house because I have to watch the kids." "What if it's too late?" Ruth Rose asked. "Maybe the thief cashed in the ticket already!"

丁克盯着拉奇。 没有人动，也没有人说话。厨房里传来咯咯的笑声和吃午饭的声音。 “七百万美元!”乔希说，终于开口说话了。 幸运点了点头。“爷爷高兴得几乎说不出话来，”他说。 “但当我告诉他卡片不见了的时候，我以为他会哭。” 幸运仔坐在椅子上向前冲去。 “你们能找到那个骗子，把我的票拿回来吗?” 我不能离开家，因为我要照看孩子。” “要是太迟了怎么办?”露丝·罗斯问。 “也许小偷已经把彩票兑现了!”

Lucky shook his head. "He can't. Today's Sunday, so the lottery place is closed. But he could do it when they open again tomorrow morning." Just then they heard a crash from the kitchen. Whispering followed the crash, then a chorus of giggling. "Guess I better get back in there," Lucky said. "I promised I'd take them sledding after lunch. So do you think you can help?" "Sure we'll help!" Dink said. Lucky grinned. "Great, I—" A three-foot-tall redhead whirled into the room. "Stuart mushed my banana!" the kid wailed. "And I didn't do nothin' to him!" "Don't cry, Freddie. We'll make Stuie clean up that mushy banana," Lucky said. He took Freddie by the hand and headed for the kitchen. "Call me, okay?" he said over his shoulder. The kids let themselves out. Pal was asleep on the front porch, making little snoring sounds. "So how are we supposed to find this crook?" Josh asked. "Where do we even start?" From the porch, Dink looked over the front yard. The snow had been trampled where the O'Leary kids had been playing.

幸运摇了摇头。”他不能。 今天是星期天，所以开奖的地方关门了。 但他可以在明天早上开门的时候做。” 就在这时，他们听到厨房里传来一声撞击声。 撞击声过后是窃窃私语，接着是一阵咯咯的笑声。 “我想我还是回去吧，”Lucky说。 “我答应他们午饭后带他们去滑雪。 所以你觉得你能帮上忙吗?”“我们当然会帮忙的!”丁克说。 幸运的咧嘴一笑。“太好了，我——”一个三英尺高的红发女郎旋即走进房间。 “斯图亚特把我的香蕉弄烂了!”孩子哭着说。 “我什么也没对他做!”“别哭，弗烈特。 我们会让史蒂把香蕉弄干净的。”幸运说。 他拉着弗烈特的手向厨房走去。 “给我打电话，好吗?”他回过头说。 孩子们自己出去了。 帕尔在前廊上睡着了，发出轻微的鼾声。 “那我们怎么才能找到这个骗子呢?”杰克问。 “我们从哪里开始呢?”从门廊上，丁克俯瞰着前院。 奥利里家的孩子们玩耍的地方，积雪被踩坏了。

"If the crook was here last night, maybe he left a trail," Dink said. "Let's check out back." The kids tramped around to the back of the house. The O'Leary kids had played only in the front yard, so the snow in the back was fresh and smooth. The yard was surrounded by tall pine trees. "Look," Josh said. A trail of footprints led to the back door from across the yard. "The guy must've come out of those trees!" Dink said. "And gone back the same way," Ruth Rose said. "These footprints go in both directions." The kids followed the tracks into the trees. The footprints veered off to the right, and the kids went with them. With his nose in the snow, Pal sniffed each footprint. Suddenly, he let out a woof. Josh stooped down and picked something shiny out of the snow. "What is it?" Ruth Rose asked. Josh held out his mitten. He was holding a piece of tinfoil that had been twisted into the shape of a small bow tie.

“如果那个骗子昨晚在这里，也许他留下了线索，”丁克说。 “我们去后面看看。”孩子们绕到房子后面。 奥利里家的孩子们只在前院玩过，所以后院的雪新鲜而光滑。 院子四周都是高大的松树。 “看，”乔希说。一串脚印从院子那头通向后门。 “那家伙一定是从树林里出来的!”丁克说。 “然后又往回走了，”露丝·罗斯说。 “这些脚印是双向的。” 孩子们顺着足迹走进树林。 脚印向右拐去了，孩子们也跟着走了。 帕尔把鼻子伸进雪里，嗅着每一个脚印。 突然，他叫了一声。 乔希弯下腰，从雪地里捡了个闪闪发亮的东西。 “什么事?”露丝·罗斯问。 乔希伸出他的连指手套。他手里拿着一张被拧成小领结形状的锡纸。

"Do you suppose the burglar dropped this?" Josh asked. "Keep it," Dink said. "It's our first clue." A few minutes later, they walked out of the woods onto Bridge Lane. "No more footprints," Josh said, glancing up and down the lane. "The thief could've walked anywhere from here." "Or driven," Ruth Rose said. "Maybe the guy parked a car here, then hiked into the woods."

“你认为这是窃贼掉的吗?”杰克问。 “留着吧，”丁克说。“这是我们的第一条线索。” 几分钟后，他们走出树林，来到桥巷。 “没有脚印了。”乔希说着，朝小巷上下扫了一眼。 “小偷可以从这里走到任何地方。” “或者被驱使着，”露丝·罗斯说。 “也许那家伙把车停在这里，然后徒步进了树林。”

The day was growing colder. A few big snowflakes started to fall. All three kids had pink cheeks and runny noses. "Let's get some hot chocolate at Ellie's," Dink suggested. "Then we can plan what to do next." It was a short hike down Bridge Lane to Ellie's Diner on Main Street. The kids pushed through the door and stomped their snowy boots on Ellie's rubber mat. Pal waddled along at Josh's heels. "Hey, kids. Hey, Pal. What'll it be?" Ellie asked from behind her counter. The kids slid into a booth. "Hot chocolate," Josh said, struggling out of his down jacket. "With about a mile of whipped cream on top!" While they waited, Dink thought about what Lucky had told them. "Guys, anyone watching TV Saturday night would know the winning numbers, right?" he said. "But how did the thief know that the winning ticket was inside Lucky's Christmas card?" Just then Ellie came over. "Hot stuff!" she said, setting three tall mugs on the table. Each was topped with a small mountain of whipped cream and dotted with chocolate sprinkles.

天越来越冷了。 几朵大雪花开始飘落。 三个孩子都是红红的脸颊和流鼻涕。 “我们去艾丽家喝点热巧克力吧，”丁克建议道。 “然后我们可以计划下一步做什么。” 沿着桥巷走一小段路就到了主街上的埃莉餐厅。 孩子们推开门，用雪地靴在艾莉的橡胶垫子上跺了一脚。 帕尔摇摇摆摆地跟在乔希后面。 “嘿,孩子。嘿，伙计，你想要什么?”艾莉在柜台后面问。 孩子们溜进了一个隔间。 “热巧克力，”乔希说，挣扎着脱下羽绒服。 “上面还有一英里厚的鲜奶油!”在他们等待的时候，丁克思考着幸运女神告诉他们的话。 “伙计们，周六晚上看电视的人都知道中奖号码，对吧?”他说。 “但是小偷是怎么知道中奖彩票在幸运仔的圣诞卡里的呢?”就在这时，艾莉走了过来。 “真辣!”她说着，把三个高高的杯子放在桌子上。 每个蛋糕的顶部都有一小堆鲜奶油，并点缀着巧克力屑。

"Don't burn that cute nose, Josh," Ellie added as she turned away. Josh blushed, then licked the top of his whipped cream. Dink blew on his hot chocolate. "Anyone got an idea?" he asked. "Somehow, the thief knew Lucky's grandfather mailed that ticket to Lucky," Josh said. "But how?" asked Ruth Rose. "Maybe the thief knows Lucky's grandfather," said Josh. "Maybe they're friends!" "That's a great idea, Josh!" Ruth Rose said. "Why don't we talk to Lucky's grandfather?" Dink fished in his pocket for a quarter. "Let me out, guys," he said. "I'm gonna call Lucky." Dink climbed over Josh's legs. "Drink fast," he said, "but don't burn that cute nose!"

“别烧了你那可爱的鼻子，乔希。”艾丽转身说。 乔希脸红了，然后舔了舔鲜奶油的顶部。 丁克吹了一口热巧克力。 “有人有主意吗?”他问。 “不知怎么的，小偷知道幸运儿的祖父把那张票寄给了幸运儿，”乔希说。 “但是怎么做呢?”露丝·罗斯问。 “也许小偷认识幸运的爷爷，”乔希说。 “也许他们是朋友!”“这是个好主意，乔希!”露丝·罗斯说。 “我们为什么不跟幸运仔的爷爷谈谈呢?”丁克在口袋里摸出一枚25美分的硬币。 “放我出去，伙计们，”他说。 “我要打电话给幸运仔。”丁克爬到乔希的腿上。 “快喝吧，”他说，“但别把你可爱的鼻子烫伤了!”