Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 "If it hadn't been for you kids, Flip would have gotten away with it," Officer Fallon said later that evening. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose were sitting on the lawn at Panda Park. Inside the fence, Ping and Winnie were playing tug-of-war with a stalk of

“如果不是你们这些孩子，Flip可能会逃脱惩罚，”当晚晚些时候，法伦警官说。 丁克、乔希和露丝·罗斯坐在熊猫公园的草坪上。 在篱笆里，平和温妮正在用一根茎玩拔河

bamboo. Winnie's fur was once again black-andwhite. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose were clean, too. A few hours ago, they had surprised their families by showing up completely covered with coal dust. "He'd have picked up the money at midnight, then let you kids out of the coal cellar," Officer Fallon continued. "So no one could have proved that he took Winnie or locked us in, right?" Dink asked. Officer Fallon nodded. "That's right," he said. "No one saw him take Winnie or lock that trapdoor. He'd have hidden the money somewhere. In a year or so, he might have begun spending it." "Were you really going to leave a million bucks in that hollow tree?" asked Josh. Officer Fallon nodded. "Flip knew we had no choice," he said. Just then, Ping yawned, rolled over on her back, and went to sleep. Winnie cuddled next to her and

竹子。温妮的皮毛又变成了黑白相间。 丁克，乔什和露丝·罗斯也是清白的。 几个小时前，他们满身煤灰的出现让家人大吃一惊。 “他会在半夜拿钱，然后让你们这些孩子离开煤窖，”法伦警官继续说。 “所以没人能证明他带走了温妮或者把我们锁在里面，对吗?”丁克问道。 法伦警官点点头。“没错，”他说。 “没人看见他带走温妮，也没人看见他锁活板门。 他肯定把钱藏在什么地方了。 再过一年左右，他可能就会开始花钱了。” “你真的打算在那棵空树里留下一百万美元吗?”乔希问。 法伦警官点点头。“Flip知道我们别无选择，”他说。 就在这时，萍打了个哈欠，翻了个身，睡着了。 温妮依偎在她身边

chewed the bamboo stalk. "Too bad Win Frances isn't here to see this," Dink said. "Did she leave Flip any money?" Ruth Rose asked. "Some," Officer Fallon said. "But I guess Flip thought he was entitled to all of it." "Did he confess?" Josh asked. Officer Fallon nodded. "You should have seen his face when I walked into that gym with Ruth Rose." "He thought I was still in the coal cellar," Ruth Rose said. "I must have looked like a ghost!" "What will happen to him?" Dink asked. "He'll probably go to jail for attempting to extort money," Officer Fallon said. "Plus, he stole Winnie and trapped you kids in the coal cellar." Everyone was quiet for a moment. "Sometimes a judge will give a young person a second chance," Officer Fallon went on, "especially if it's his first crime. Flip seems very sorry for what he did. The judge might ask him to do community service in place of some of his jail time."

嚼着竹竿“很遗憾，温·弗朗西丝没能在这里看到这一切，”丁克说。 “她给Flip留钱了吗?”露丝·罗斯问。 “有一些，”法伦说。 “但我猜Flip认为他有资格得到这一切。” “他认罪了吗?”杰克问。 法伦警官点点头。“你真该看看我和露丝·罗斯走进体育馆时他的表情。” “他以为我还在煤窖里，”露丝·罗斯说。 “我看上去一定像个鬼!”“他会怎么样?”丁克问道。 “他可能会因为试图勒索钱财而入狱，”法伦说。 “另外，他还偷走了温妮，把你们困在煤窖里。” 大家都安静了一会儿。 “有时候法官会给一个年轻人第二次机会，”法伦警官接着说，“特别是如果这是他第一次犯罪。 Flip似乎对自己的所作所为感到非常抱歉。 法官可能会要求他做社区服务来代替他的一些监禁时间。”

"What's community service?" Dink asked. "That means that Flip would do work for Green Lawn as part of his sentence." "What kind of work?" Josh asked. Officer Fallon smiled. "Got any good ideas?" "I do," Dink said. "He could give free gymnastics lessons to kids." "And he could help out in the senior center," Josh said. "He could do exercises with the old people." "I'm sure Flip would be willing. He'd be good at it, too," Officer Fallon said. "And his grandmother would be proud of him, right?" Ruth Rose asked. "I knew Win Frances for many years," Officer Fallon said. "She'd be sad about what Flip tried to do. But she was a woman who always gave people the benefit of the doubt. Win would give her grandson a second chance, too." "So is this what they mean by a Win-Win situation?" Josh asked.

“什么是社区服务?”丁克问道。 “这意味着Flip将为‘绿草坪’工作，作为他刑期的一部分。” “什么样的工作?”杰克问。 法伦警官笑了。“有什么好主意吗?”“是的，”丁克说。 “他可以给孩子们免费上体操课。” “他可以在老年中心帮忙，”乔希说。 “他可以和老人一起做运动。” “我相信Flip会愿意的。 他也会做得很好，”法伦说。 “他的祖母会为他感到骄傲的，对吧?”露丝·罗斯问。 “我认识温·弗朗西丝很多年了，”法伦说。 “她会为菲普试图做的事感到难过。 但她是一个总是相信别人是无辜的人。 温也会给她的孙子第二次机会。” “所以这就是他们所说的双赢局面吗?”杰克问。

"Exactly," Officer Fallon said. "Now how about I treat us to ice cream cones at Ellie's?" "That's a Josh-Josh situation," Dink said, smiling at his friends.

“没错，”法伦说。 “我请你去艾丽家吃甜筒冰淇淋怎么样?”“这是Josh-Josh的情况，”丁克微笑着对他的朋友们说。