3. The Nephew

Chapter 3 The Nephew A tall teenager wearing jeans, a ski jacket, and a baseball cap walked into Ellie's Diner. He came over to their table. "Is one of you Brian?" the kid asked. "I am," Brian said. "Are you Leonard Wong?"

一个穿着牛仔裤、滑雪夹克、头戴棒球帽的高个少年走进了埃莉餐厅。 他走到他们的桌子旁。 “你们中有一个是布莱恩吗？”孩子问。 “是的，”布莱恩说。“你是Leonard Wong吗？”

"Yup." The kid sat down and pulled off his cap. It was wet with snowflakes. Leonard looked down at the puppy and Pal, both lying on the floor. "You found this pup outside Aunt Mary's shop?" he asked. He scooped up the puppy and held it in the air. "Cute little guy. It's a boy, by the way." "He was in a snowbank outside your aunt's store," Brian said. "Our dog found him. We were wondering if your aunt gave him to someone. He has a tag, but it just says TO and FROM, with no names."

“是的。”那孩子坐下来，摘下帽子。 天被雪花弄湿了。 莱纳德低头看着躺在地板上的小狗和帕尔。 “你在玛丽阿姨的店外发现了这只小狗？”他问。 他把小狗抱起来举在空中。 “可爱的小家伙。顺便说一下，是个男孩。” “他在你姨妈店外的雪堆里，”布莱恩说。 “我们的狗发现了他。我们想知道你阿姨是不是把他给别人了。 他有一个标签，但上面只写着TO和FROM，没有名字。”

Leonard examined the tag. "Aunt Mary has a picture of the puppies she had," he said. "This guy looks exactly like one of them." "Awesome!" Bradley said. "So if your aunt had this dog, she must remember who adopted it!" "And that person might have written the tag!" Nate said. Leonard pulled a cell phone from his pocket. He pushed a couple of buttons. "Here, ask her," he

伦纳德检查了标签。“玛丽阿姨有一张她养的小狗的照片，”他说。 “这家伙看起来和他们一模一样。” “棒极了!”布拉德利说。“所以，如果你姑妈养过这只狗，她一定记得是谁收养的！”“这个标签可能就是那个人写的！”内特说。 莱纳德从口袋里掏出一部手机。 他按了几个按钮。 “来，问她吧。

said. "She's in Florida, scuba diving." He handed the phone to Bradley. Bradley heard the other phone ringing. Then the ringing stopped. He heard a crackling noise. Bradley could hear static but no voices. He said, "Mrs. Wong? This is Bradley Pinto. Can you hear me?" He heard more strange noises, and then the phone went silent. Bradley handed the cell phone back to Leonard. "I couldn't hear anything," he said. "I don't even know if she heard me." Leonard smiled. "Knowing Aunt Mary, she's underwater," he said. "She's probably taking pictures of fish. Try her again later." Leonard wrote his aunt's cell phone number on a napkin and handed it to Brian. "So what should we do with the puppy?" Brian asked. "Don't know, bro," Leonard said, rising from his seat. "But I have to go feed the animals in my aunt's store." He made a face. "And clean all the cages." Leonard loped out of the diner.

说。“她在佛罗里达潜水呢。” 他把电话递给布拉德利。 布拉德利听到另一个电话响了。 然后铃声停了。他听到噼啪声。 布拉德利能听到静电，但听不到说话声。 他说：“黄太太？我是布拉德利·平托。 你能听到我说话吗？”他听到了更多奇怪的声音，然后电话就安静了。 布拉德利把手机还给了莱纳德。 “我什么也听不见，”他说。 “我甚至不知道她是否听到了我的话。” 伦纳德笑了。“我了解玛丽阿姨，她在水里。”他说。 “她可能在给鱼拍照。 过会儿再打给她。”莱纳德把姨妈的手机号码写在一张餐巾纸上，递给了布莱恩。 “那我们该怎么处理这只小狗呢？”布莱恩问。 “不知道，兄弟，”伦纳德从座位上站起来说。 “但是我得去喂我阿姨店里的动物。” 他做了个鬼脸。“把所有的笼子都打扫干净。” 莱纳德快步走出餐厅。

"Let's take the puppy home," Bradley said. "Wait!" Ellie said. She came over and handed Lucy a bag. The top was tied with a red ribbon. "Merry Christmas!" The kids thanked Ellie again and headed outside. They stood in front of her diner windows. The snow had almost stopped. Just a few flakes fell from the dark clouds. The kids saw their footprints, and Pal's, in the new snow on the sidewalk. Pal kept staring at the lump under Bradley's jacket and the bag in Lucy's hands. People hurried past, carrying bags. Everyone had pink noses. Christmas was in the air! "What do you think Ellie gave us?" Nate asked. "Whatever it is, Pal smells it right through the bag," Lucy said. "Hounds can smell anything a mile away!" Brian said. "Hey, that gives me an idea," Bradley said. He walked next door to Furry Feet. "Bring Pal over here, Brian." Bradley aimed Pal's nose toward the spot where the puppy had been lying. Then he opened his

“我们把小狗带回家吧，”布拉德利说。 “等等!”艾莉说。她走过来，递给露西一个袋子。 上衣用一条红丝带系着。 “圣诞快乐!”孩子们又谢了埃莉，然后走了出去。 他们站在她餐厅的窗户前。 雪几乎停了。 只有几片雪花从乌云中飘落下来。 孩子们看到了人行道上新下的雪中他们和朋友的脚印。 帕尔一直盯着布拉德利外套下的肿块和露西手里的包。 人们提着包匆匆走过。 每个人都有粉红色的鼻子。圣诞节就在空气中！“你觉得艾莉给了我们什么？”内特问道。 “不管它是什么，伙计都能从袋子里闻出来。”露西说。 “猎犬一英里外就能闻到任何东西！”布莱恩说。 “嘿，这给了我一个主意，”布拉德利说。 他走到隔壁的毛脚。 “把帕尔带过来，布莱恩。” 布拉德利把帕尔的鼻子对准小狗躺过的地方。 然后他打开了他的

jacket so Pal could sniff the puppy's golden fur. Pal sniffed, then gave the puppy a lick. "Pal, follow tracks!" Bradley said. "Follow!" "What are you doing?" Brian asked. "The puppy must have walked here," Bradley said, zipping his jacket. "Maybe Pal can follow his scent back to wherever he came from!" "Cool idea!" Nate said. Pal stuck his nose in the snow and sniffed. Then he pulled Brian back toward Ellie's. There was an alley between Ellie's Diner and Furry Feet. Pal headed down the alley. The kids followed. At the end of the alley, they passed the Acorn Apartments. Pal kept going, now and then letting out a little bark. He kept his nose on the ground.

这样帕尔就可以闻闻小狗的金色皮毛了。 帕尔嗅了嗅，然后舔了舔小狗。 “伙计，跟着足迹走！”布拉德利说。 “跟着!”“你在干什么？”布莱恩问。 “这只小狗一定是走到这里来的，”布拉德利边说边拉上夹克的拉链。 “也许伙计能循着气味找到他来的地方！”“酷的想法!”内特说。 帕尔把鼻子伸进雪里嗅了嗅。 然后他把布莱恩拉回艾莉家。 在艾丽餐厅和毛脚餐厅之间有条小巷。 朋友跑到小巷里去了。 孩子们跟在后面。在小巷的尽头，他们经过了橡实公寓。 伙计继续往前走，时不时地叫一声。 他总是埋头苦干。