Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 "You're a genius!" Ruth Rose said. "I know," Josh said. Dink glanced around the empty barn. "Now all we have to do is wait for Sunny." Ruth Rose stuffed the pictures back into the packet. "Well, I, for one, am not waiting around," she said. "Come on, let's go check out Mr. Bunks's place again." "What are we gonna do when we get there?" Josh asked as they hurried up Forest's driveway. "Look for Whirlaway," Ruth Rose said. "Do you still have those sugar cubes?"

第十章“你真是个天才!”露丝·罗斯说。 “我知道，”乔希说。丁克环视了一下空荡荡的谷仓。 “现在我们要做的就是等桑尼。” 露丝·罗斯把照片塞回包里。 “好吧，就我而言，我不会坐以待毙，”她说。 “来吧，我们再去看看班克斯先生的房子。” “我们到那里后要做什么?”他们匆匆走上福雷斯特的车道时，乔希问。 “去找旋风，”露丝·罗斯说。 “你还有那些方糖吗?”

Josh patted his pocket. "Yep." The kids cut behind Forest's barn and headed for the logging road. A few minutes later, they reached Mr. Bunks's house and barn. "I don't see that dog anywhere," Josh whispered. "And I don't see Mr. Bunks's truck," Dink said. "Let's check out the barn," Ruth Rose said. The kids slipped into the barn. It was quiet and dim, with a little light coming through the dusty windows. "Biscuit's gone!" Dink said, stopping in front of her empty stall. "Where is she?" As if in answer, they heard a horse whinny. "Come on," Dink said, heading outside. Behind the barn was an open field with a path leading through the tall weeds. The kids followed the trail and entered a stand of trees. As they reached the far side of the trees, the kids stopped and stared. They were in a clearing in front of a

乔希拍了拍他的口袋。“是的。” 孩子们从福里斯特的谷仓后面抄近路，向伐木路走去。 几分钟后，他们来到了班克斯先生的房子和谷仓。 “我哪儿都没看见那条狗。”乔希小声说。 “我也没看见班克斯先生的卡车，”丁克说。 “我们去看看谷仓吧，”露丝·罗斯说。 孩子们溜进了谷仓。 房间里很安静，很昏暗，只有一点光线从满是灰尘的窗户射进来。 “饼干不见了!”丁克说着，停在她的空摊位前。 “她在哪儿?”好像是回答，他们听到一匹马嘶鸣。 “来吧。”丁克说着，朝外面走去。 谷仓后面是一片开阔的田野，有一条小路穿过高高的杂草。 孩子们顺着小径走进了一片树林。 当他们走到树林的另一边时，孩子们停下来凝视着。 他们在一处空地上

long shed. A horse trailer was partially hidden behind the low building. The kids pulled open the wide shed door and peeked inside. Dink wrinkled his nose at the sharp manure smell. Half of the shed was fenced off with boards. Behind the fence was Biscuit, staring at the newcomers. In a separate stall next to Biscuit's was another horse, wearing a halter. The dark horse looked just like Whirlaway, except that there was no white diamond on this horse's shiny forehead. "It's the horse who won," Josh breathed. "Is it Whirlaway?" Dink whispered. Josh unwrapped a sugar cube, walked over to the fence, and held out his hand. The dark horse stepped closer for a sniff. Then he snorted and shook his head. "He won't take it!" Josh exclaimed. He reached out and carefully touched the horse's forehead. When he brought his hand away, his fingers were smeared with something black.

长棚。一辆拖车部分隐藏在低矮的建筑物后面。 孩子们拉开宽大的棚门，往里面偷看。 丁克闻到刺鼻的粪便味，皱起了鼻子。 小屋的一半用木板围起来了。 篱笆后面是饼干，盯着新来的人。 在饼干饼干旁边的另一个马厩里，还有一匹马戴着笼头。 这匹黑马看起来就像旋风一样，只是这匹马闪亮的额头上没有白色钻石。 “是那匹马赢了。”乔希轻声说。 “是旋风吗?”丁克低声说。 乔希打开一块方糖，走到栅栏前，伸出手。 黑马走近来嗅了嗅。 然后他哼了一声，摇了摇头。 “他不会接受的!”杰克喊道。 他伸出手，小心地摸了摸马的前额。 当他把手拿开时，手指上沾满了黑色的东西。

Dink took a towel from a nail on the wall. Holding the horse's halter with one hand, he wiped his forehead. More black came off, revealing part of a white diamond shape. Dink felt goose bumps crawl up his back. "Sunny did switch horses!" he said. "This is Whirlaway," Ruth Rose said. She opened her envelope of pictures. She found the one of Sunny and the horse in barn E and held it up next to the real Whirlaway. "The horse back at Forest's place is his double!" she said. "We have to tell Forest!" Josh said. "Tell him what?" a voice said. The kids whirled around. In the shed doorway stood Mr. Bunks and Buster. Mr. Bunks was still wearing the clothes he'd worn in the winner's circle, including the silver belt buckle. "Sit, dog," Mr. Bunks said to Buster. The dog sat at his master's side. A low growl came from deep in his throat. "So you figured it out," Mr. Bunks said. He nodded at the towel in Dink's hand. "Even my boot polish trick."

丁克从墙上的钉子上取下一条毛巾。 他一手抓着马的笼头，擦了擦额头。 更多的黑色脱落，露出白色钻石形状的一部分。 丁克感到背上起了鸡皮疙瘩。 “桑尼真的换了马!”他说。 “这是旋风，”露丝·罗斯说。 她打开装照片的信封。 她找到了E谷仓里桑尼和马的照片，把它放在真正的旋风旁边。 “福里斯特家的那匹马是他的替身!”她说。 “我们必须告诉福雷斯特!”杰克说。 “告诉他什么?”一个声音说。 孩子们转过身来。班克斯先生和巴斯特站在棚屋门口。 班克斯先生仍然穿着他在获胜者的圈子里穿过的衣服，包括银色的皮带扣。 “坐下，狗狗，”班克斯先生对巴斯特说。 狗坐在主人身边。 一声低沉的咆哮从他的喉咙深处发出。 “所以你想明白了，”邦克斯说。 他朝丁克手里的毛巾点了点头。 “甚至我的擦鞋油技巧。”

His boot polish trick? Dink thought. Suddenly Dink realized the truth. Sunny had not been the one to put the boot polish on Whirlaway! It was Mr. Bunks! And it had been Bunks's belt buckle that made the mark in the mud on the horse they washed! It wasn't Sunny who had stolen Whirlaway. She thought she was riding Whirlaway in the race. Mr. Bunks had done it alone!

他擦鞋油的把戏?丁克的想法。 丁克突然明白了真相。 Sunny并不是那个给Whirlaway擦鞋油的人!是班克斯先生!而且在他们给马洗的泥巴上留下印记的，正是班克斯的皮带扣!偷走旋风威的不是桑妮。 她以为自己在比赛中骑的是旋风。 班克斯先生一个人干的!

Dink glanced around the dim shed, looking for another way out. The windows were closed and too high up. "Now, if you'll just pass me those pictures," Mr. Bunks said, holding out a hand. The man smiled,

丁克环视了一下昏暗的棚子，寻找另一条出路。 窗户关得太高了。 “现在，请你把那些照片递给我，”邦克斯先生伸出一只手说。 男人笑了，