Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 The lettuce trail got much harder to see once they left the barn. The grassy fields leading away from the fair were the same color as the lettuce! Thankfully, Barkley didn't need to see the lettuce to find it. "Good boy," Abbi encouraged him. "Use that nose. Keep going." The three friends followed Barkley as he sniffed out the path. "Since obviously Ms. Margery wasn't involved—" Lydia started. "Probably," Abbi whispered under her breath.

他们一离开谷仓，莴苣的踪迹就更难看了。 远离集市的草地和莴苣是一样的颜色！谢天谢地，巴克利不需要看到生菜就能找到它。 “好孩子。”阿比鼓励他。 “用那个鼻子。继续。” 巴克利嗅出小路时，三个朋友跟着他。 “既然玛杰里小姐显然与此事无关——”莉迪亚开始说。 “可能吧。”阿比低声说。

Lydia didn't hear and continued, "Who do you think did do it?" Abbi thought about it. She wondered what her mom would say. What clues would she have seen that Abbi missed? Who would seem suspicious to her? Where would she find a motive? Abbi wasn't like her mom or her mystery- solving friends from Green Lawn, Connecticut. She liked puzzles, but she wasn't the best at them. She was good with animals. Learning about them. Listening to them. Because animals weren't puzzles to be solved. They were creatures to be known.

莉迪亚没听见，继续问：“你觉得是谁干的？”阿比想了想。 她不知道妈妈会怎么说。 她会发现什么蛛丝马迹是阿比漏掉的？ 谁会对她起疑心？ 她去哪里找动机？ 阿比不像她妈妈，也不像她那些来自康涅狄格州绿草坪的解谜朋友。 她喜欢拼图，但不是最擅长的。 她对动物很好。 了解他们。倾听他们。 因为动物不是待解的谜题。 他们是有待认识的生物。

"I don't know," she finally admitted. "I think we should just focus on finding them first." Lydia tightened her ponytail. "I think it was the protestors." "Really?" Daniel asked. "Wouldn't thieves hate having that much attention on them?" "Come on, you heard how angry they were about the costume contest!" "That's true," Abbi said, "but I still don't think—" The trio stopped short. They had reached the edge of the fairgrounds. Beyond the open back gate were a dirt road and woods. Barkley lay down. There was no more lettuce for him to follow. A dead end. Lydia sighed in frustration. "Well, what now? Where could they have gone?"

“我不知道，”她终于承认。 “我认为我们应该首先集中精力找到他们。” 莉迪亚拉紧了马尾。 “我认为是抗议者。” “真的吗?”丹尼尔问。“小偷不会讨厌这么多人关注他们吗？”“得了吧，你听说他们对服装比赛有多生气了！”“没错，”阿比说，“但我还是不认为——”三人突然停住了。 他们已经到了集市的边缘。 敞开的后门后面是一条土路和树林。 巴克利躺了下来。没有莴苣给他吃了。 一条死胡同。丽迪雅沮丧地叹了口气。 “好吧，现在怎么办？”他们会去哪儿呢？”

"There must have been a truck waiting here to pick up the alpacas," Abbi guessed. "Can't we follow the tire tracks, then, or something?" Lydia asked.

“一定有一辆卡车在这里等着接羊驼，”阿比猜想。 “那我们就不能顺着轮胎印之类的线索查下去吗？”利迪娅问。

Daniel scanned the road. "I doubt it. This road is so full of ruts, I don't think we could tell which tracks were the right ones." Suddenly Barkley jumped up and started barking. Not his guard dog bark. It was his friendly, excited bark. Abbi looked toward where he was barking. It was the German shepherd from earlier! The big dog pulled on his leash, tugging his owner to Barkley.

丹尼尔扫视了一下道路。“我对此表示怀疑。 这条路上满是车辙，我想我们都分不清哪条路是对的。” 突然，巴克利跳了起来，开始吠叫。 不是他的看门狗叫。那是他友好而兴奋的叫声。 阿比朝他叫的地方看了看。 是之前那只德国牧羊犬！那只大狗拉着皮带，把主人拉到巴克利。

"Hi again!" the woman said. "How are you all enjoying the fair?" Abbi and Daniel looked at each other, unsure how to answer. "Um, it's definitely been interesting!" Lydia said. Barkley and his new friend sniffed each other and exchanged a few licks. The bigger dog looked a bit different, though. He was wearing a cape! "That's new," Abbi said, pointing to the bright-red fabric. A giant letter A was stitched in

“又见面了！”女人说。 “你们玩得怎么样？”阿比和丹尼尔面面相觑，不知道该如何回答。 “嗯，这绝对很有趣！”利迪娅说。 巴克利和他的新朋友互相嗅了嗅，互相舔了几下。 不过，大一点的狗看起来有点不同。 他穿着斗篷！“这是新的，”阿比指着鲜红色的布料说。 缝了一个巨大的字母A