Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 "Whirlaway could have gotten that when he was rolling in the mud," Dink said. "He probably rolled over a rock or piece of wood." "Yeah, probably," Josh said. He wiped his soapy sponge over the strange sign and it disappeared. Dink trained the hose on Whirlaway again to rinse off the soap. Ruth Rose found some towels hanging on the wall, and they rubbed Whirlaway's coat. When he was dry and shining, Ruth Rose unhooked Whirlaway's lead from the post to put him in his stall. "Come on, boy," she said.

“旋风可能是在泥里打滚的时候弄到的，”丁克说。 “他可能是在一块石头或一块木头上滚了一跤。” “是啊，可能吧，”乔希说。 他用肥皂海绵在那个奇怪的牌子上擦了擦，牌子就不见了。 丁克又把水管对准旋风冲洗肥皂。 露丝·罗斯发现墙上挂着几条毛巾，擦了擦韦拉韦的外套。 当它全身干爽、光彩照人的时候，露丝·罗斯从柱子上解开了惠拉韦的铅条，把它放到了马厩里。 “来吧，孩子，”她说。

Whirlaway rolled his eyes at Ruth Rose. He stiffened his legs and refused to walk. "Good job, kids!" Forest said as he walked into the barn. "He looks like a new horse!" "He won't go in his stall," Ruth Rose said. "Let me try," Forest said. He took the lead from Ruth Rose and began stroking Whirlaway's neck. He spoke softly in the horse's ear. After a minute, Whirlaway walked into his stall. He stuck his nose into the oats bucket and began eating. Forest closed the stall door behind Whirlaway. "He was probably a little spooked from being out during the storm and coming home to all these strangers," he said. Just then Sunny rode through the barn's rear doors on a mountain bike. She hopped off, leaned the bike against a wall, and strode over in tall, muddy boots. "There's the bad boy," she said, reaching over the stall door to pet his nose. Whirlaway rolled his eyes, threw his head up, and backed into a corner.

韦拉韦对露丝·罗斯翻了个白眼。 他双腿僵硬，拒绝走路。 “干得好，孩子们!”福雷斯特边说边走进谷仓。 “他看起来像一匹新马!”“他不肯进他的隔间，”露丝·罗斯说。 “让我试试，”福雷斯特说。 他从露丝·罗斯身边抢过头头，开始抚摸旋风的脖子。 他轻轻地对着马的耳朵说。 过了一会儿，韦斯莱走进了他的隔间。 他把鼻子伸进燕麦桶里，开始吃起来。 弗瑞斯特在旋风身后关上了马厩的门。 他说:“他可能有点害怕，因为他在暴风雨中外出，回到家里看到这么多陌生人。” 就在这时，桑妮骑着一辆山地车穿过谷仓的后门。 她跳下车，把自行车靠在墙上，穿着沾满泥巴的长靴大步走过去。 “那个坏孩子来了，”她说着，把手伸过隔间门，摸了摸他的鼻子。 惠勒韦转了转眼珠，抬起头，退到一个角落里。

"Easy, boy," Sunny murmured. She looked at Forest. "He seems scared of me." "He did the same thing with me," Ruth Rose said. The five humans watched the horse, who was also watching them. "Maybe he doesn't feel good," Dink suggested. "Could he have eaten something bad while he was gone?" Josh asked. "It's possible," Forest said. "But he looks fine. And he just ate some oats." Sunny studied the horse. "I hope he runs okay tomorrow."

“放轻松，孩子，”桑妮低声说。 她看着弗瑞斯特。“他好像很怕我。” “他对我做了同样的事，”露丝·罗斯说。 五个人看着马，马也在看着他们。 “也许他感觉不舒服，”丁克说。 “他走的时候是不是吃了什么不好的东西?”杰克问。 “这是可能的，”福里斯特说。 “但是他看起来很好。他只是吃了一些燕麦。” 桑妮端详着那匹马。“我希望他明天能跑得很好。”

"How far away is Saratoga?" Dink asked. "A few hours. It's near Albany," Sunny told him. She looked at Forest. "I'll come over at six and load Whirlaway into the trailer. I'll be there in plenty of time for him to relax before his race." "Good," Forest said. "Now let's go see what Warren bought for our supper." Forest looked at his horse. "No more disappearing tricks, fella," he said. Sunny pulled the stall's top door shut and checked that the latch was in place. "See you tomorrow in Saratoga," she said. The kids watched her straddle her mountain bike and ride out the door. She looked funny pedaling a bike in muddy rubber boots. Uncle Warren was back with groceries. Soon they were all eating a hearty meal. After supper, they finished the Scrabble game. At nine o'clock Forest stood up and yawned. "Long day tomorrow," he said. "I'm ready to turn in." "Sounds good to me, too," said Uncle Warren. "See you all in the morning." He patted Dink on the head and left the room.

“萨拉托加有多远?”丁克问道。 “几个小时。它在奥尔巴尼附近，”桑妮告诉他。 她看着弗瑞斯特。“我六点钟过来，把旋风搬到拖车上。 我会有足够的时间让他在比赛前放松一下。” “很好，”福雷斯特说。“现在我们去看看沃伦为我们的晚餐买了什么。” 福里斯特看着他的马。 “别再玩消失的把戏了，伙计，”他说。 桑妮关上了货摊顶门，检查了一下门闩是否到位。 “明天萨拉托加见，”她说。 孩子们看着她跨骑山地车，骑出门去了。 她穿着沾满泥巴的胶靴蹬着自行车，看上去很滑稽。 沃伦叔叔带着杂货回来了。 很快他们都吃了一顿丰盛的饭。 晚饭后，他们完成了拼字游戏。 九点钟的时候，弗瑞斯特站起来打了个哈欠。 “明天是漫长的一天，”他说。 “我准备睡觉了。”“我也觉得不错，”沃伦叔叔说。 “大家早上见。” 他拍了拍丁克的头，离开了房间。

The kids padded down the hall to their rooms. As Dink and Josh were crawling into their beds, they heard a knock. Ruth Rose opened the door. "Nice Daffy Duck jammies, Josh," she said, marching into the room with her book. "Quack-quack," Josh said. Ruth Rose sat on the end of Dink's bed with the book on her lap. "I want to read you guys something," she said. "Oh, goody," Josh said. "Can we have milk and cookies, too?" Ruth Rose held up her book. "This is really about learning to ride your own horse," she said. "But there's a chapter about jockeys." She opened the book and began reading: "Jockeys must earn the horse's trust. A good jockey does this by feeding and grooming the horse regularly Most horses learn to like their jockeys and become friends." Ruth Rose looked up from the page. "Does anything strike you about that?" she asked.

孩子们蹑手蹑脚地穿过大厅回到自己的房间。 当丁克和乔希爬上床时，他们听到了敲门声。 露丝·罗斯打开了门。 “不错的达菲鸭睡衣，乔希。”她说着，拿着书走进房间。 “呱——呱，”乔希说。露丝·罗斯坐在丁克的床尾，膝上放着书。 “我想给你们读点东西，”她说。 “哦，太好了，”乔希说。“我们也可以喝牛奶和饼干吗?”露丝·罗斯举起她的书。 “这真的是关于学会驾驭自己的马，”她说。 “但是书中有一章是关于骑师的。” 她打开书开始读:“骑师必须赢得马的信任。 一个好的骑师通过定期给马喂食和梳理来做到这一点。大多数马会逐渐喜欢上他们的骑师，并成为朋友。” 露丝·罗斯从书本上抬起头来。 “你对这有什么印象吗?”她问。

"Like what?" said Josh. "Well, did you notice how Whirl-away acted around Sunny?" Ruth Rose said. "He sure didn't seem very friendly to her," said Dink. "Yeah, he backed away as soon as she came in," said Josh. "Exactly," Ruth Rose said. "I think Whirlaway's afraid of Sunny!"

“比如说?”乔希说。“嗯，你注意到旋风在桑尼身边的动作了吗?”露丝·罗斯说。 “他似乎对她不太友好，”丁克说。 “是啊，她一进来，他就往后退了，”乔希说。 “没错，”露丝·罗斯说。 “我想旋风是害怕桑妮的!”