Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 "So, you brought these cute little guys back home with you from the Dead Sea?" Sadie asked. The three had managed to smuggle the squirrels from the laundry room past Michael's mom, Jane, and Mr. Nemesis. The squirrels, Merle and Pearl, sat on the bed looking disoriented and frightened as Michael, Justin, and Sadie stood huddled around them. "Yeah, but they were... dead," Justin said. "These are definitely not dead squirrels," Sadie responded. Merle nodded slightly, but he got a quick elbow jab and a "shush" look from Pearl. "They were... crusty," Michael said. "I don't get it. I set them up like squirrel-jerky action figures." He posed just like he had posed Merle. "What do you mean, 'crusty'?" Sadie asked.

第六章“所以，你把这些可爱的小家伙从死海带回来了？”赛迪问道。 三个人设法把松鼠从洗衣房偷偷带了出来，经过了迈克尔的妈妈、简和克星先生。 莫尔和珀尔这两只松鼠坐在床上，一脸茫然和害怕，迈克尔、贾斯汀和赛迪围在他们周围。 “是的，但是他们……死了，”贾斯汀说。 “这些绝对不是死松鼠，”赛迪回答说。 莫尔微微点了点头，但他的胳膊肘迅速挨了一下，珠儿又“嘘”了他一眼。 “他们……硬壳，”迈克尔说。 “我不明白。我把它们做成了松鼠干的人偶。” 他摆出了和莫尔一样的姿势。 “你说‘硬皮囊’是什么意思？”赛迪问道。

"Crusty, like crusty," Michael answered. "They were stiff as boards, and their fur was covered in salt." He walked over to his dresser. "I put them right here, all dead and stiff, and now this. I don't get it!" "They didn't move at all when you found them in the cave?" Justin asked. At the word cave, Merle brightened as his memory of getting lost in the cave came back to him. He looked to Pearl, who nodded slightly at him. She remembered too. "Nope. Not an inch. Not in the cave, not in my backpack, not on the plane," Michael said. "That's so weird," Sadie said. "Yep. I never saw them move either." Justin frowned at the squirrels. Merle, who was not much for staying quiet, said, "Maybe it was the rain?" The three kids turned their heads slowly toward Merle, who shrugged. "AHHHHH!" they screamed. "Merle!" Pearl whisper-yelled. "I told you to keep quiet!" "AHHHHH!" the kids screamed again.

“硬皮，像硬皮一样。”迈克尔回答。 “它们像木板一样僵硬，皮毛上沾满了盐。” 他走到梳妆台前。 “我把他们放在这儿，全都是死的，僵的，现在又来了这个。 我不明白！”“你在洞里发现它们的时候，它们一点儿也没动吗？”贾斯汀问。 听到“洞穴”这个词，梅尔的心情变得愉快起来，因为他又想起了在洞穴里迷路的情景。 他望向珠儿，珠儿对他微微点了点头。 她也记得。“不。 一点也不。不是在山洞里，不是在背包里，也不是在飞机上，”迈克尔说。 “这太奇怪了，”赛迪说。 “是的。我也没见他们动过。” 贾斯汀对松鼠们皱起了眉头。 梅尔不太喜欢安静，他说：“也许是下雨了？”三个孩子慢慢地把头转向莫尔，莫尔耸了耸肩。 “啊啊啊啊！”“默尔!”珍珠whisper-yelled。 “我叫你保持安静！”“啊啊啊！”孩子们又尖叫起来。