Chapter 8

Chapter 8 "I wonder who took it," Dink said. Ruth Rose climbed the steps and knocked on the door. "Anyone in there?" she called out. The trailer remained silent. Pal sniffed the ground near the chair, then began whimpering. He sat facing the trailer and wagged his tail. "Pal smells someone," Josh said. "Should we wait around?" Dink asked. "I can't think of anything else to do," Ruth Rose said, sitting on an aluminum step. "The

“我不知道是谁拿的，”丁克说。 露丝·罗斯爬上台阶，敲了敲门。 “里面有人吗?”她喊道。 拖车里一片寂静。 帕尔嗅了嗅椅子附近的地面，然后开始呜咽起来。 它面向拖车坐着，摇着尾巴。 “伙计闻到了什么味道，”乔希说。 “我们应该等着吗?”丁克问道。 “我想不出还能做什么，”露丝·罗斯坐在铝制台阶上说。 “

game is canceled, Mr. Pocket's baseballs are missing, and Pete's in jail." Suddenly the trailer door burst open. A boy appeared with a wild look in his eyes. He resembled Pete Unkenholz, only a lot younger. His blond hair was messed up and he was wearing the flannel shirt. "What do you mean, 'Pete's in jail'?" the kid demanded. Pal let out a low bark. "Hush, Pal," Josh said. Ruth Rose was so startled she jumped off the steps. "Who … who are you?" she stammered. The boy shook his head. "You first. Who are you guys?" Dink took a step toward the boy. "I'm Dink and these are my friends Josh and Ruth Rose," he said. The boy studied the group. "I saw you at the game," he said, raking a hand through his hair. "I'm Buddy, Pete's brother. Is he really in jail? Why?" "He stole … I mean, the cops think he stole some valuable baseballs," Josh said. Buddy just stared with his mouth open. "The baseballs in that glass case," he said. "Pete showed them to me before the game started. But

比赛取消了，口袋先生的棒球不见了，皮特进了监狱。” 突然，拖车的门被撞开了。 一个男孩出现了，眼里带着狂野的神情。 他很像皮特·昂肯霍尔兹，只是年轻得多。 他的金发乱蓬蓬的，穿着法兰绒衬衫。 “你说‘皮特在监狱里’是什么意思?”孩子质问道。 帕尔低声叫了一声。“嘘，伙计，”乔希说。 露丝·罗斯吓得从台阶上跳下来。 “你……你是谁?”她结结巴巴地说。 男孩摇了摇头。“你先说。 你们是谁?”丁克向男孩走了一步。 “我是丁克，这是我的朋友乔希和露丝·罗斯，”他说。 男孩仔细研究了这群人。 “我在比赛时看到你了，”他说着，用手拨弄着头发。 “我是巴迪，皮特的弟弟。 他真的在监狱里吗?为什么?”“他偷了……我的意思是，警察认为他偷了一些有价值的棒球，”乔希说。 巴迪只是张着嘴盯着看。 “那个玻璃盒子里的棒球，”他说。 “皮特在比赛开始前给我看了。 但

he didn't take 'em. My brother wouldn't steal a penny." "But he confessed," Dink said. Buddy came through the door and flung himself down on the top step. "He must be lying for me so the cops won't think I stole the balls." Dink stared at Buddy. He looked around fourteen years old. His eyes were red, as if he'd been crying. "Did you take them?" Dink asked. Buddy shook his head. "Heck, no," he muttered. He swallowed and took a deep breath. "But Pete must think I did." "Why would he think that?" Ruth Rose asked. "Because I was teasing him before the game," Buddy said. "We were both looking at the balls, and I said something stupid like 'I'll bet we could get a lot of money for these.'"

他没有拿，我哥哥一分钱也不会偷。” “但他承认了，”丁克说。 巴迪从门里走了进来，扑通一声坐在最上面的台阶上。 “他一定是在替我撒谎，这样警察就不会认为我偷了蛋蛋。” 丁克盯着巴迪。他看上去大约十四岁。 他的眼睛红红的，好像哭过似的。 “是你拿的吗?”丁克问道。 巴迪摇了摇头。“见鬼，不，”他喃喃地说。 他咽了口气，深吸了一口气。 “但皮特一定认为是我干的。” “他为什么会这么想?”露丝·罗斯问。 巴迪说:“因为赛前我在逗他。” “我们俩都看着这些球，我说了一些愚蠢的话，比如‘我敢打赌，我们可以用这些球赚很多钱。’”

Buddy looked up. "It was just a joke. Pete's fun to tease," he said. "Anyway, I saw Pete leave the game to go after his medicine. When he didn't come back, I went inside to see if he was okay. But Pete wasn't there. The glass case was busted and the balls were missing. I figured Pete must

巴迪抬起头来。“这只是一个玩笑。 皮特很有趣，”他说。 “不管怎样，我看见皮特离开赛场去吃药了。 他没有回来，我就进去看看他是否还好。 但是皮特不在那里。玻璃盒子破裂了，球不见了。 我想皮特一定

have thought I stole 'em and came to the trailer looking for me. So I ran back, but Pete wasn't here." "Officer Fallon picked up Pete in his truck," Dink said. "That's when your brother said he took the balls." "Yeah, to keep me out of trouble," Buddy muttered. "Just like he did before we left Maine." "What happened in Maine?" Ruth Rose asked Buddy. "Something really dumb," Buddy said. He stared into the trees that surrounded the clearing. "Pete and I live together because our folks died in a car crash a few years ago," Buddy said. "Ever since then, I keep messing up and Pete keeps trying to get me out of trouble." Buddy scooted down the steps and reached out to pet Pal. The dog licked Buddy's hand and rolled over on the ground. "Last winter I was hanging out with my friend Fizzo," Buddy said. "Pete doesn't like Fizzo. Says he's a bad influence on me. Anyway, it was cold, and we saw this delivery van in the alley next to Sugar's Bakery. The engine was running, and Fizzo says, 'Let's sit in it to get out of the cold.'

他们以为是我偷的，所以来拖车找我。 所以我跑回去，但皮特不在这里。” “法伦警官用他的卡车接走了皮特，”丁克说。 “那就是你哥哥说他拿走蛋蛋的时候。” “是啊，免得我惹上麻烦。”巴迪喃喃地说。 “就像我们离开缅因州之前那样。” “缅因州发生了什么事?”露丝·罗斯问巴迪。 “一些非常愚蠢的东西，”巴迪说。 他凝视着空地周围的树木。 “皮特和我住在一起，因为我们的父母几年前在一场车祸中去世了，”巴迪说。 “从那以后，我总是搞砸事情，皮特总是想帮我摆脱麻烦。” 巴迪快步走下台阶，向宠物帕尔伸出手。 狗舔了舔巴迪的手，在地上打滚。 “去年冬天，我和我的朋友菲佐一起出去玩，”巴迪说。 “皮特不喜欢菲佐。说他对我有不好的影响。 总之，天气很冷，我们在糖饼店旁边的巷子里看到了一辆送货车。 引擎还在运转，菲佐说:“我们坐进去御寒吧。”

We sat there for a few minutes, smelling the warm bread. Next thing you know, Fizzo's driving the van." Buddy looked up at Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose. "It was just supposed to be a joke on Mr. Sugar," he said. "Fizzo wanted to park the van around the corner, for laughs. Only the road was icy, and the van slid into a snowbank. Fizzo got out to try to shove us free. I slipped behind the wheel to put the van in reverse. That's when the police came, and we got busted." "So … Pete didn't take the van?" asked Ruth Rose. "No way!" Buddy shouted. "I told you, my big brother's the most honest guy in the world." Buddy stroked Pal's silky ears. "Anyway, Fizzo and I are at the police station, scared to death," he continued. "I called Pete and told him what happened. Five minutes later, he came flying into the police station." Buddy shook his head. "I still can't believe what happened next. Pete lied, probably for the first time in his life. He told the police officers he was the one who drove the van into the snowbank.

我们在那里坐了几分钟，闻着热面包的味道。 接下来，菲佐就开着货车了。” 巴迪抬头看着丁克、乔希和露丝·罗斯。 他说:“这本来只是开休格先生的玩笑。” 菲佐想把车停在拐角处，好让大家笑一笑。 只是路上结了冰，货车滑进了雪堆里。 菲佐出来想把我们救出来。 我滑到方向盘后面，把货车倒车。 这时警察来了，我们被抓了。” “那么……皮特没有开走那辆货车?”露丝·罗斯问。 “不可能!”伙计喊道。“我告诉过你，我哥哥是世界上最诚实的人。” 巴迪抚摸着帕尔柔滑的耳朵。 “不管怎么说，菲佐和我都在警察局，吓得要死，”他继续说。 “我打电话给皮特，告诉他发生了什么。 五分钟后，他飞进了警察局。” 巴迪摇了摇头。“我仍然不敢相信接下来发生的事情。 皮特撒了谎，这可能是他有生以来第一次。 他告诉警察是他把货车开进雪堆的。