Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Your picture is excellent! Ruth Rose said. "My grandmother likes to paint, too." Byron smiled and blushed. He walked toward his little garden. "Do you like strawberries?" "Sure!" Josh said, and the kids followed Byron. The garden was neatly laid out in rows. A shovel and hoe stood leaning against a small tree. There were tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, and some things Dink didn't recognize. One corner of the garden was filled with strawberry plants. Byron told Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose to help themselves. The kids waded into the patch

第八章你的画太棒了!露丝·罗斯说。 “我奶奶也喜欢画画。” 拜伦笑了，脸红了。他朝他的小花园走去。 “你喜欢草莓吗?”“当然!”乔希说，孩子们跟着拜伦。 花园整齐地排着。 一把铲子和锄头靠在一棵小树上。 有西红柿、生菜、黄瓜，还有一些丁克不认识的东西。 花园的一角种满了草莓。 拜伦让丁克、乔希和露丝·罗斯自己吃吧。 孩子们涉水进入那块地

carefully as they picked the bright red berries. Suddenly they heard a whoosh, and a large owl flew out of the trees. The bird landed on Byron's wrist and plucked a strawberry from his hand. "This is Bill," the man said. "He's awesome!" Josh said. Byron stretched his arm toward Josh. "You can pet him," he said proudly. While Josh was petting Bill, Ruth Rose poked Dink on the arm. When he looked at her, she nodded toward the shovel a few feet away. The edges of the shovel blade were caked with red clay.

他们小心翼翼地摘着鲜红的浆果。 突然，他们听到嗖的一声，一只大猫头鹰从树林里飞了出来。 那只鸟落在拜伦的手腕上，从他手里叼走了一颗草莓。 “这是比尔，”那人说。 “他太棒了!”杰克说。 拜伦向乔希伸出手臂。 “你可以抚摸它，”他自豪地说。 乔希抚摸比尔时，露丝·罗斯戳了戳丁克的胳膊。 当他看着她时，她朝几英尺外的铲子点了点头。 铲刃的边缘结了一层红粘土。

Byron carried Bill over to the soup pot. The kids watched him scoop out something and feed it to the owl. "That red dirt looks the same as the dirt at the graveyard!" Ruth Rose whispered. "So what?" Josh said, plucking another berry from the patch. "Josh, that could mean Byron was digging in the cemetery," she said, keeping her voice low. "The soil here in his garden is black, not red!" Josh's hand stopped halfway to his mouth. His eyes shut, then flew open again. "You mean … that could have been him in the cemetery last night!" "Not so loud!" Dink whispered. "Guys, I'm sure there's red clay in other places around here, not just in the cemetery. I saw the same color clay on the floor of Jack's van yesterday." Josh stole a look at Byron, who was still feeding Bill. "That guy we saw last night had light hair like Byron's," he whispered. "And look at his big feet. He could have made those footprints we saw near the cemetery." "None of that proves anything," Dink said.

拜伦把比尔抱到汤锅边。 孩子们看着他舀出一些东西喂猫头鹰。 “那红土看起来和墓地里的土一模一样!”露丝·罗斯低声说。 “所以什么?”乔希说着，从那块地里摘下了另一颗浆果。 “乔希，这可能意味着拜伦在墓地里挖土。”她压低声音说。 “他花园里的土是黑色的，不是红色的!”乔希的手停在嘴边。 他的眼睛闭上了，然后又睁开了。 “你是说……昨晚在墓地里的人可能就是他!”“别这么大声!”丁克低声说。 “伙计们，我敢肯定这附近的其他地方也有红粘土，不只是在墓地里。 昨天我在杰克的货车地板上看到了同样颜色的粘土。” 乔希偷看了拜伦一眼，拜伦还在喂比尔。 “我们昨晚看到的那个人有一头和拜伦一样的浅色头发，”他低声说。 “看看他的大脚。 我们在墓地附近看到的那些脚印可能是他留下的。” “这些都不能证明什么，”丁克说。

He remembered Jack in the moonlight last night. Jack's blond hair had looked silvery, the same as the hair of the mystery man in the cemetery. "I have some other ideas," Dink added quietly. Just then Byron looked up and smiled at the kids. "Do you want to swing on my tire?" he asked. "N-no, thank you," Ruth Rose said. "We have to be getting back." Byron tossed Bill into the air and the bird disappeared in the trees. Then Byron walked toward the kids and stretched out a huge hand. "It was very nice meeting you," he said. Dink shook Byron's hand. Beneath the skin Dink felt the man's strength. "It was nice meeting you, too," Dink said. The kids walked toward the trail. When Byron and the cabin were out of sight, they began running. Five minutes later, they stopped, panting, in front of Myrna's little hut. Myrna was sitting on her porch talking with a woman dressed in shorts and a T-shirt. "Did you kids have fun?" Myrna asked.

他想起了昨晚月光下的杰克。 杰克的金发看起来像银色，和墓地里那个神秘人的头发一模一样。 “我还有别的想法，”丁克平静地补充道。 就在这时，拜伦抬起头，对孩子们笑了笑。 “你想在我的轮胎上荡秋千吗?”他问。 “不，谢谢，”露丝·罗斯说。 “我们得回去了。” 拜伦把比尔抛向空中，比尔消失在树林里。 然后拜伦走向孩子们，伸出一只大手。 “很高兴见到你，”他说。 丁克握了握拜伦的手。在皮肤下面，丁克感到了这个人的力量。 “我也很高兴见到你，”丁克说。 孩子们朝小路走去。 当拜伦和小屋都看不见的时候，他们开始跑起来。 五分钟后，他们气喘吁吁地停在玛娜的小茅屋前。 玛娜正坐在门廊上和一个穿着短裤和t恤的女人聊天。 “你们孩子玩得开心吗?”默娜问道。

"Yes!" Josh said. "We met a big guy named Byron and his owl." "He showed us his painting," Ruth Rose said. "He sure is a good artist." Myrna nodded. "Byron makes his own paints from nature," she said. "He gathers berries, digs up roots, anything he can find. He grinds the stuff up to create his different colors." Myrna introduced the woman to the kids. "Lucy is a friend of Jack's," she said. "She'll drive you back to your hotel." Lucy smiled at the kids. "Jack's at the hospital with his wife," she said. "Looks like today is the day for the baby to be born." They said good-bye to Myrna and followed Lucy to the trail. They had only gone a short distance when they saw a man approaching them. He was hurrying toward the village. When the man noticed Lucy and the kids, he stopped. His face was red and sweaty. "Am I on the right trail for the village?" he asked.

“是的!”杰克说。“我们遇到了一个叫拜伦的大个子和他的猫头鹰。” “他给我们看了他的画，”露丝·罗斯说。 “他确实是一位优秀的艺术家。” 默娜点了点头。“拜伦自己从大自然中作画，”她说。 “他收集浆果，挖根，他能找到的任何东西。 他把这些东西磨碎，创造出不同的颜色。” 玛娜把那个女人介绍给孩子们。 “露西是杰克的朋友，”她说。 “她会开车送你回旅馆的。” 露西对孩子们笑了笑。“杰克和他妻子在医院，”她说。 “看来今天是宝宝出生的日子。” 他们向玛娜告别，跟着露西向小路走去。 他们刚走了一小段路，就看见一个人向他们走来。 他匆匆向村子走去。 当那人注意到露西和孩子们时，他停了下来。 他满脸通红，汗流浃背。 “我走的路对吗?”他问。

The man was wearing a straw hat, dressy pants, and a striped shirt. His briefcase and shiny black shoes looked out of place in the forest. Even with the hat, Dink recognized the man. He had been sitting near them at the hotel restaurant yesterday. What was he doing in the woods? "Yes, about another five minutes straight ahead," Lucy said. Then she added, "Is anyone expecting you?" "Yes," the man said, then hurried on his way. "That's odd," Lucy said after the man left them. She chuckled. "If he's a salesman, he'll have a

那人戴着草帽，穿着考究的裤子和条纹衬衫。 他的公文包和闪亮的黑鞋在森林里显得很不协调。 尽管戴着帽子，丁克还是认出了这个人。 昨天在旅馆的餐厅里，他一直坐在他们旁边。 他在树林里做什么? “是的，再往前走五分钟左右。”露茜说。 然后她又说:“有人在等你吗?”“是的，”那人说，然后匆匆上路了。 “真奇怪。”那人走后露茜说。 她咯咯地笑了。“如果他是一个推销员，他会有一个