Chapter 11

Chapter 11 "WHAT?" Ruth Rose yelled. "That's crazy!" Dink shrugged. "I found one of the feathers in his Jeep and another on his boat." Josh nodded slowly. "And when we had our picnic here yesterday Wallis said Walker had been in the cave. Maybe he found the trapdoor in the playhouse." "The footprints on the rug were big enough to be his," Dink said. Ruth Rose stood up and wiped sand off her wet jeans. "I don't believe you guys. Walker wouldn't

第十一章“什么?”露丝·罗斯喊道。 “这太疯狂了!”丁克耸耸肩。 “我在他的吉普车里发现了一根羽毛，在他的船上发现了另一根羽毛。” 乔希慢慢地点了点头。“昨天我们在这里野餐的时候，沃利斯说沃克在山洞里。 也许他发现了游戏室里的活板门。” 丁克说:“地毯上的脚印很大，可能是他的。” 露丝·罗斯站起来，擦去湿牛仔裤上的沙子。 “我不相信你们。 沃克不会

break the law! And he sure wouldn't use his sister's house!" "I hope not," Dink said. "Anyway let's get the parrots up to the castle." Dink and Josh tugged on their damp jeans and grabbed the cages. A few minutes later they burst into Wallis's kitchen. She was writing at the table. "We found out what's making those noises!" Dink blurted out. The kids told Wallis about the tunnel to the cave and the parrots. "A trapdoor in the playhouse!" Wallis exclaimed with wide eyes. "And a tunnel? How incredible!" "It's like a secret passageway," Josh said. "Maybe pirates hid gold down there!" "Well, I don't know about pirates," Wallis said. "But now I know how Emory Scott got all that marble and stuff up here!" "What should we do with the parrots?" asked Ruth Rose. "Show me," Wallis said. They all trooped into the mud room. When the door opened, the parrots began flapping around in

犯法!而且他肯定不会用他姐姐的房子!”“我希望不会，”丁克说。 “不管怎样，让我们把鹦鹉带到城堡里去吧。” 丁克和乔希拽了拽他们潮湿的牛仔裤，抓起笼子。 几分钟后，他们冲进沃利斯的厨房。 她在桌旁写字。 “我们发现是什么发出这些声音了!”丁克脱口而出。 孩子们告诉沃利斯通往山洞的隧道和鹦鹉的事。 “游戏室里有个活板门!”沃利斯睁大眼睛叫道。 “还有隧道?”多么不可思议啊!”“这就像一条秘密通道，”乔希说。 “也许海盗在那里藏了金子!”“嗯，我不了解海盗，”沃利斯说。 “但现在我知道埃默里·斯科特是怎么把大理石之类的东西弄到这里来的了!”“我们该拿鹦鹉怎么办?”露丝·罗斯问。 “给我看看，”沃利斯说。他们成群结队地走进泥屋。 门开了，鹦鹉开始扑扇着翅膀进来

the cages. Their shrieks filled the room. "Poor things," Wallis said. "Should we feed them? What do parrots eat?" "Got any fruit?" Josh said. "That's what they'd eat in the rain forests." Wallis went to the kitchen. "I wonder where these guys came from," said Ruth Rose. Josh studied the parrots. "Probably Africa or South America," he said. "How would the poachers get them all the way to Maine?" Dink asked. "By boat," Josh said. "Then a smaller boat would bring them into the cave." "A boat like Walk—" Dink stopped talking as Wallis came back with two peeled bananas and a bunch of grapes. They dropped the fruit into the cages. The parrots grabbed the food in their beaks. "They were starving!" Wallis said. She placed a bowl of water in each cage. "I'm kind of hungry too," Josh said. "We missed lunch." "Well, we can't have that!" Wallis said. "Come into the kitchen."

笼子里。他们的尖叫声充满了整个房间。 “真可怜，”沃利斯说。 “我们应该喂他们吗?”鹦鹉吃什么?”“有水果吗?”杰克说。 “这就是他们在雨林里吃的东西。” 沃利斯去了厨房。 “我想知道这些家伙是从哪里来的，”露丝·罗斯说。 乔希研究鹦鹉。“可能是非洲或南美，”他说。 “偷猎者怎么能把它们运到缅因州呢?”丁克问道。 “坐船。”乔希说。“然后再用一艘小船把他们带进洞里。” “像Walk这样的船——”丁克停止了说话，沃利斯拿着两根剥了皮的香蕉和一串葡萄回来了。 他们把水果扔进笼子里。 鹦鹉用嘴抓食物。 “他们饿死了!”沃利斯说。 她在每个笼子里放了一碗水。 “我也有点饿了，”乔希说。 “我们错过了午餐。”“好吧，我们不能那样做!”沃利斯说。 “到厨房来。”

While she made sandwiches, Dink explained about the light he'd seen in the woods the night before. "I bet there were more cages. They must take them out through the playhouse at night." "We should hide down there and see who it is!" Ruth Rose said. Wallis shook her head. "Absolutely not. Those people could be dangerous!" She brought out plates and napkins. "Today is Sunday, but tomorrow morning I'm going to call the state capitol. They must have someone who deals with poachers." Wallis looked at the kids. "Promise me you'll stay out of that tunnel and cave." Dink kicked Ruth Rose and Josh under the table. "We promise," he said. After lunch, the kids went back to the playhouse. They cleaned the dishes and swept the rug. "I wish we could get these poacher guys," Dink said.

当她做三明治的时候，丁克解释了他前一天晚上在树林里看到的光。 “我敢打赌有更多的笼子。 他们必须在晚上从游戏室带他们出去。” “我们应该躲到下面看看是谁!”露丝·罗斯说。 沃利斯摇了摇头。“绝对不会。 那些人可能很危险!”她拿出盘子和餐巾纸。 “今天是星期天，但是明天早上我要给州议会打电话。 他们肯定有专门对付偷猎者的人。” 沃利斯看着孩子们。 “答应我，你不会再去那个隧道和山洞了。” 丁克在桌子底下踢露丝·罗斯和乔希。 “我们保证，”他说。午饭后，孩子们回到了游戏室。 他们洗了盘子，扫了地毯。 “我希望我们能抓住这些偷猎者，”丁克说。

"I think we should sleep in the playhouse," Josh said. "Then if anyone comes, we'll grab them!" "Josh, they'd grab us and stick us in a cage," Ruth Rose said. "Besides, Wallis would never let us stay down here," Dink said. "But I have another idea!" At one-thirty in the morning, the kids were crouched by the window in Dink and Josh's dark room. They were fully dressed. Josh yawned. "Maybe no one is coming tonight." "Maybe they know we found the cages," Dink said. "Walker could've seen us from his boat." "I still don't think it's Walker," Ruth Rose said. "But whoever it is will have to come to feed the parrots, right?" "Right," Dink said. "Let's take turns watching. I'll go first. You guys can snooze." "Wake me up if you see any bad guys!" Josh said, flopping on his bed. "Well, I'm not tired," Ruth Rose said. "I hope they go to jail for a hundred years!"

“我想我们应该睡在游戏室，”乔希说。 “如果有人来，我们就抓住他们!”“乔什，他们会抓住我们，把我们关在笼子里，”露丝·罗斯说。 “再说，沃利斯也不会让我们待在这儿的，”丁克说。 “但我有另一个主意!”凌晨一点半，孩子们蹲在丁克和乔希那间黑屋子的窗边。 他们穿戴整齐。杰克打了个哈欠。 “也许今晚没人来。” “也许他们知道我们找到了笼子，”丁克说。 “沃克可能从他的船上看到了我们。” “我还是不认为是沃克，”露丝·罗斯说。 “但不管是谁，都得来喂鹦鹉，对吧?”“好的，”丁克说。 “让我们轮流看。 我先来。你们可以小睡一会儿。” “如果你看到坏人就叫醒我!”乔希说，扑通一声躺在床上。 “嗯，我不累，”露丝·罗斯说。 “我希望他们在监狱里呆上一百年!”

She and Dink stared out into the darkness. The alarm clock counted away the minutes. Josh began snoring. "Look," Ruth Rose whispered a while later. "A firefly." Dink saw a light moving slowly through the darkness. "Wake Josh," he told her. "That's no lightning bug!" The kids tiptoed past Wallis's room, then hurried down the steps and out through the mud room door. Creeping silently, they approached the playhouse. Moonlight fell on the clearing. A few yards from the playhouse, a dark car stood in the shadows. Dink grabbed Josh and Ruth Rose and pointed. It was Walker's Jeep! "I guess you were right," Ruth Rose whispered sadly. The kids inched forward. Suddenly Dink saw a light coming from the playhouse. A man was bent over, pulling open the trapdoor! A glowing flashlight lay on the floor next to his feet.

她和丁克凝视着外面的黑暗。 闹钟一分一秒地报时。 乔希开始打鼾。“看，”露丝·罗斯过了一会儿低声说。 “萤火虫”。丁克看见一道光在黑暗中慢慢移动。 “叫醒乔希。”他告诉她。“那不是闪电虫!”孩子们蹑手蹑脚地走过沃利斯的房间，然后匆匆走下台阶，穿过泥屋的门。 他们蹑手蹑脚地向游戏室走去。 月光洒在空地上。 在离游戏室几码远的地方，一辆黑色的汽车停在阴影里。 丁克抓住乔什和露丝·罗斯，指着他们。 那是沃克的吉普车!“我想你是对的，”露丝·罗斯悲伤地低声说。 孩子们慢慢地向前走。突然，丁克看到从游戏室里射来一道光。 一个男人弯着腰，拉开了活板门!他脚边的地板上放着一只发光的手电筒。