Chapter 3

Chapter 3 The kids thanked Mr. Paskey and left his shop. "I wonder who left that twenty-dollar bill on Mr. Paskey's counter," Ruth Rose said. "I bet it was that guy! I know he went in there!" Josh griped. "People don't just vanish."

孩子们谢过帕斯基先生，离开了他的店。 “我想知道是谁把那张20美元的钞票留在帕斯基先生的柜台上的，”露丝·罗斯说。 “我打赌是那个家伙!”我知道他进去了!”杰克抱怨。 “人不会凭空消失。”

"But maybe vampires vanish," Ruth Rose said, grinning at Josh. Dink laughed. He pretended to read a newspaper headline: "VACATIONING VAMPIRE VANISHES." "Laugh, you guys," Josh said. "But I think that guy is definitely weird. And did you notice how Mr. Paskey didn't even think it was strange that some guy disappeared inside his shop?" Dink thought for a minute. "Mr. Paskey's not the only one who's not acting like himself. When we saw that guy through the window in Ellie's Diner, Ellie looked afraid of something," he said. "She was probably afraid Josh would choke because he was gobbling his ice cream so fast," Ruth Rose said. "Now can we go home? We can have lunch at my house." A few minutes later, they reached Ruth Rose's house. They walked to the backyard with the wagon. Ruth Rose's brother, Nate, was sit-ting at the picnic table. In front of him were a box of

“但也许吸血鬼会消失，”露丝·罗斯笑着对乔什说。 丁克笑了。他假装在看报纸的标题:“放假的吸血鬼消失了。” “笑吧，伙计们，”乔希说。 “但我觉得那家伙绝对很奇怪。 你有没有注意到帕斯基先生根本不觉得有人在他的店里消失是件奇怪的事?”丁克想了一会儿。 帕斯基先生并不是唯一一个表现不像自己的人。 当我们从埃莉餐厅的窗户看到那个人时，埃莉看起来很害怕，”他说。 露丝·罗斯说:“她可能担心乔希会噎着，因为他吃冰淇淋的速度太快了。” “现在我们可以回家了吗?”我们可以在我家吃午饭。” 几分钟后，他们到了露丝·罗斯的家。 他们推着马车走到后院。 露丝·罗斯的弟弟内特正坐在野餐桌旁。 在他面前放着一盒

plastic action figures, some crayons, and drawing paper. "Hey, Nate, what're you doing?" Dink asked. "Drawing my guys," Nate said, holding up a picture. It showed Spider-Man and Superman fighting a purple monster. "Where's Mommy?" Ruth Rose asked her brother. "Here I am!" her mother said, pop-ping up from the open cellar hatchway. "Thanks for taking those newspapers away," she said. "There are plenty more down here when you feel like working. I left sandwiches and lemonade in the fridge for you." "Thanks, Mom," Ruth Rose said. "We'll take more papers later." The kids brought their lunch to the picnic table, and Ruth Rose cleared a space. As they ate, they watched Nate trying to write words on his picture. "Can I help?" Ruth Rose asked her brother. "Write 'I give up,' said the monster,"

塑料人偶，一些蜡笔和画纸。 “嘿，内特，你在干什么?”丁克问道。 “画我的人，”内特举起一幅画说。 它展示了蜘蛛侠和超人对抗一个紫色的怪物。 “妈妈在哪儿?”露丝·罗斯问她哥哥。 “我来了!”她母亲从敞开的地窖舱口跳了出来，说道。 “谢谢你把那些报纸拿走了，”她说。 “如果你想工作的话，下面还有很多。 我在冰箱里给你留了三明治和柠檬水。” “谢谢妈妈，”露丝·罗斯说。 “我们一会儿再拿更多的文件。” 孩子们把午餐端到野餐桌上，露丝·罗斯腾出了一块地方。 他们一边吃，一边看着内特试着在他的画上写字。 “我能帮忙吗?”露丝·罗斯问她哥哥。 “写‘我放弃’，怪物说，”

Nate told Ruth Rose. He handed her a purple crayon. "That's a neat color," Dink said. "It's Party Purple," Nate told him. "And guess what? It smells like jelly- beans!"

内特告诉露丝·罗斯。他递给她一支紫色的蜡笔。 丁克说:“这颜色很干净。” “这是紫色派对，”内特告诉他。 “你猜怎么着?闻起来像果冻豆!”

Ruth Rose printed the words, then pointed to each one in turn as she read them aloud for her brother. "Thanks, Ruth Rose!" said Nate. He grabbed the picture and ran to show his mother. "I wonder if that guy we saw sleeps hanging upside down," Josh said. "I hate to spoil your fun," Dink said. "Bats sleep that way, not people." "And vampires aren't real," Ruth Rose said. "Dracula was a real person," Josh said. "I read about him." "But Dracula wasn't really a vam-pire," said Ruth Rose. "And he died a long time ago." Josh wiggled his eyebrows. "How do we know he's really dead?" Ruth Rose laughed. She reached into Nate's box and pulled out a miniature plastic Count Dracula. "Here he is!" she said. "See," Josh said. "He looks just like our guy. All dressed in black."

露丝·罗斯把字印出来，然后依次指着每一个字大声念给哥哥听。 “谢谢，露丝·罗斯!”内特说。 他抓起照片跑去给妈妈看。 “我想知道我们看到的那个家伙是不是倒挂着睡觉，”乔希说。 “我不想扫你的兴，”丁克说。 “蝙蝠是那样睡觉的，人不是。” “而且吸血鬼也不是真的，”露丝·罗斯说。 “德古拉是真实存在的，”乔希说。 “我读过关于他的报道。”“但德古拉并不是真正的吸血鬼，”露丝·罗斯说。 “他很久以前就死了。” 乔希摇了摇眉毛。 “我们怎么知道他真的死了?”露丝·罗斯笑了。 她把手伸进内特的盒子，拿出一个微型的塑料德古拉伯爵。 “他来了!”她说。“看，”乔希说。 “他看起来就像我们要找的人。 全都穿黑衣服。”

"Except this one has long fangs," Ruth Rose said, standing the vampire on his plastic feet. Painted-on "blood" dripped from the fangs. "The guy we're following might have fangs," Josh said. "We didn't see his teeth." Suddenly Dink remembered something. "Guys, did you notice that Mr. Paskey was wearing a Band-Aid on his neck?" he asked. "I did," Ruth Rose said. "A little round one, right here." She put a finger on the side of her own neck.

“除了这只长着长长的尖牙，”露丝·罗斯一边说，一边让吸血鬼站在塑料脚上。 画着的“血”从毒牙上滴下来。 “我们跟踪的那个人可能长着獠牙，”乔希说。 “我们没有看到他的牙齿。” 突然丁克想起了一件事。 “伙计们，你们注意到帕斯基先生脖子上贴着创可贴了吗?” “是的，”露丝·罗斯说。“一个小圆的，就在这儿。” 她把一根手指放在自己的脖子上。