Chapter 3

Chapter 3 The next morning, Dink rang Ruth Rose's doorbell. She came to the door wearing a green jogging suit. Even her sneakers and headband were green. "You look like a bush," Dink said. Ruth Rose grinned and yelled into the house, "MOM, I'M LEAVING!" She and Dink headed up Woody Street to pick up Josh. They were going back to the falcons' nest

第三章第二天早上，丁克按了露丝·罗斯家的门铃。 她穿着一件绿色的运动服来到门口。 甚至她的运动鞋和发带都是绿色的。 “你看起来像一丛灌木，”丁克说。 露丝·罗斯咧嘴一笑，对着屋子里的人喊道:“妈妈，我要走了!”她和丁克去伍迪街接乔希。 他们要回猎鹰的巢去

to look for clues. Josh lived at the end of Farm Lane, in a big yellow house. Behind the house stood a white barn. Josh was shooting baskets at a hoop nailed to the barn door. He was dressed in a camouflage shirt and pants. "Geez," Dink said, "why didn't you guys tell me you were going disguised as trees!" The three kids hurried down River Road, then took a bike path into the woods. Just before they reached the clearing, Josh stopped. A man wearing jeans and a flannel shirt was standing under the falcons' tree, looking up into the branches. The kids looked at each other, then stepped into the clearing. The man turned around. He had wavy black hair, a tanned face, and blue eyes. "Hi there," the man said. "What are you kids up to?" "We were just hiking," Josh said cautiously. The man smiled. "Wait a minute. Your voice is awfully familiar. Are you the guy who called my office yesterday about the missing falcons?" Josh grinned. "Yeah, that was me," he said. Josh introduced himself. "And these are my friends,

寻找线索。乔希住在农场巷尽头的一所黄色大房子里。 房子后面有一个白色的谷仓。 乔希正对着钉在谷仓门上的铁箍投篮。 他穿着迷彩衬衫和裤子。 “天哪，”丁克说，“你们为什么不告诉我你们要化装成树去呢!”三个孩子匆匆沿着河路走，然后沿着自行车道进入树林。 就在他们到达那块空地之前，乔希停了下来。 一个穿着牛仔裤和法兰绒衬衫的男人站在猎鹰的树下，抬头望着树枝。 孩子们面面相觑，然后走进空地。 那人转过身来。他有一头乌黑的卷发，晒得黝黑的脸和一双蓝眼睛。 “你好，”那人说。“你们这些孩子在干什么?”“我们只是在徒步旅行。”乔希小心翼翼地说。 那人笑了。“等一下。 你的声音太熟悉了。 你是昨天打电话给我办公室说失踪的猎鹰的那个人吗?”杰克笑了。 “是的，那就是我，”他说。 乔希做了自我介绍。“这些是我的朋友，

Dink and Ruth Rose." "Very nice to meet you," the man said. "My name's Curt. Look, guys, I know you want to help, but the best thing you can do is to stay away from here. The adult falcons won't come back if they see or smell you kids." "But we came back to look for clues," Josh said. "I thought a person might have taken the falcons." Curt looked surprised. "A person? Well, it's possible, I suppose. But I doubt it. I've been over

丁克和露丝·罗斯。”“很高兴见到你，”那人说。 “我叫柯特。听着，伙计们，我知道你们想帮忙，但你们最好离这里远点。 成年猎鹰如果看到或闻到你们这些孩子的气味，就不会回来了。” “但我们回来是为了寻找线索，”乔希说。 “我还以为有人把猎鹰带走了呢。” 柯特显得很惊讶。“一个人? 嗯，我想这是可能的。 但我对此表示怀疑。我已经结束了

this whole area, and I didn't find a single clue, human or otherwise." The kids followed Curt as he walked away from the tree. "The DEP appreciates your phone call," Curt said, "but leave the rest to us. I have a feeling we'll wrap this up soon." At the trail, Curt turned right. "Thanks again!" he said. He waved and began jogging down the path. The kids headed down the trail in the other direction. Suddenly Josh stopped. "Listen!" he said. "What?" Ruth Rose said. "I heard something." Josh knelt next to a patch of tangled weeds. Slowly he parted the stalks with his fingers. A brown bird was hunched in the weeds. It had a sharp beak and shiny black eyes. "It's a young peregrine falcon!" Josh said. "He must be from the nest!" The bird was trembling. It opened its beak and made cack-cack-cack noises at Josh. Its shiny eyes never left Josh's face. "The poor thing looks scared," Ruth Rose said.

在整个地区，我没有找到任何线索，无论是人类还是其他动物。” 当柯特离开树时，孩子们跟着他。 “副警长很感谢你的电话，”柯特说，“但剩下的交给我们吧。” 我有一种感觉，我们很快就会结束的。” 在小路上，科特向右拐。 “再次感谢!”他说。他挥了挥手，开始沿着小路慢跑。 孩子们沿着小路朝另一个方向走去。 突然，乔希停了下来。“听着!”他说。 “什么?”露丝·罗斯说。“我听到了一些声音。” 乔希跪在一片纠结的杂草旁。 他慢慢地用手指把茎秆分开。 一只棕色的鸟在草丛中弯着腰。 它有一个锋利的喙和闪亮的黑眼睛。 “是一只小游隼!”杰克说。 “他一定是从巢里来的!”那只鸟在颤抖。 它张开嘴，对着乔希发出嘎嘎嘎嘎的声音。 它闪亮的眼睛从未离开过乔希的脸。 “这可怜的东西看起来很害怕，”露丝·罗斯说。

Josh took off his T-shirt and carefully draped it over the bird. "He won't be so scared if he can't see us," Josh explained. He held the bundle against his chest. "What should we do with it?" Dink asked. "We can't leave him here," Josh said. "Something will eat him." "Let's take him to Mrs. Wong!" Ruth Rose said.

乔希脱下t恤，小心翼翼地盖在小鸟身上。 “如果他看不见我们，他就不会这么害怕了。” 他把包裹抱在胸前。 “我们该怎么办呢?”丁克问道。 “我们不能把他留在这里，”乔希说。 “会有东西吃掉他的。”“我们带他去见黄太太吧!”露丝·罗斯说。

The kids hurried down the path. Josh smoothed the bird's feathers and spoke to it in a soothing voice. "Hey what's this?" Josh said. He gently stretched out one of the falcon's legs. Wrapped around the leg was a narrow metal band.

孩子们沿着小路匆匆而去。 乔希抚平鸟儿的羽毛，用安慰的声音对它说。 “嘿，这是什么?”杰克说。 他轻轻地伸出猎鹰的一条腿。 腿上缠着一条狭窄的金属带。