Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 Not far from Ruben and the squirrels, another call was taking place. "Justin! Where's Sadie?!" Michael asked urgently over video call from his hotel room. "Uhh, Michael...?" Justin began, a worried expression on his face. "Get her on the phone. I've got tons to tell you guys." "Umm... She's not..." Suddenly, Justin's voice and face zipped off and were replaced by those of Michael's fifth-grade homeroom teacher, Ms. McKay.

第二章离鲁本和松鼠们不远的地方，又响起了另一种叫声。 “贾斯汀!赛迪在哪里? !”迈克尔在酒店房间里通过视频电话急切地问道。 “嗯,迈克尔……?”贾斯汀开口了，脸上带着担忧的表情。 “给她打电话。我有很多话要告诉你们。” “嗯…她不是……”突然，贾斯汀的声音和表情消失了，取而代之的是迈克尔五年级的班主任。 麦凯。

"Hello, Michael!" her chipper voice rang out. "Class, say hello to Michael— in Israel!" Ms. McKay held the phone out to reveal a dozen less-than-excited-looking small faces. "Hello, Michael," they droned. Michael face-palmed in embarrassment. "What time is it there?" Ms. McKay asked. "About 7:30 p.m.," Michael groaned. Ms. McKay proceeded to teach a short lesson in time zones: how it could be 11:28 a.m. in Tennessee and 7:28 p.m. in

“你好，迈克尔！”她爽朗的声音响起。 “同学们，跟以色列的迈克尔打个招呼吧！”Ms。 麦凯把手机拿出来，露出了一打看起来不太兴奋的小脸。 “你好，迈克尔。”他们嗡嗡地说。 迈克尔尴尬地捂着脸。 “那里几点了？”Ms。 麦凯问道。“大约晚上七点半。”迈克尔呻吟道。 麦凯接着就时区问题上了一堂简短的课：现在怎么可能是上午11点28分。 在田纳西州和晚上7:28。 在

Nazareth. A lesson Michael knew, but had failed to do the proper math for. He'd thought he was calling Justin during lunch. "So, are you having fun and learning a lot?" Ms. McKay asked. Dr. Gomez, being a college professor, had arranged to have his son excused from class for an educational trip. "Yes, ma'am," Michael responded. "Give us a quick fact or observation." She held the phone out again toward the sea of disinterested faces. "Um..." Michael pondered for a few seconds. "They've got KFC here." A ripple of "wows" and "cools" spread across the classroom. "Lovely," Ms. McKay responded. It clearly wasn't quite the cultural factoid she'd been looking for. Michael was spared any further torture by the ringing of the lunch bell. As the kids spilled into the hallway toward the cafeteria, Justin was able to find Sadie. They huddled up in a doorway for an update from Michael, who told them he'd almost rescued Merle and Pearl thanks to Sadie's message, but he and his dad had been double-crossed. Michael suspected his dad's colleague Dr. Simon, who ran the Antiquities Museum in Jerusalem. Dr. Gomez couldn't believe his old friend would deceive them, but he was the only other person who had known Merle and Pearl were hiding out at the Basilica of the Annunciation. He must have tipped off Ruben (the man in the suit and sunglasses).

拿撒勒。这是迈克尔知道的教训，但他没有好好计算过。 他以为他是在午饭时间给贾斯汀打电话。 “那么，你玩得开心吗？学到了很多东西吗？”Ms。 麦凯问道。戈麦斯医生是一名大学教授，他为儿子安排了一次教育旅行。 “是的，夫人，”迈克尔回答。 “给我们一个快速的事实或观察。” 她又把电话拿出来，对着一片冷漠的面孔。 “嗯……”迈克尔沉思了几秒钟。 “他们这里有肯德基。”一阵“哇”和“冷”的声音传遍了整个教室。 “很好，”麦凯回答。 这显然不是她一直在寻找的文化因素。 午饭铃一响，迈克尔就不再受折磨了。 当孩子们涌向走廊走向自助餐厅时，贾斯汀找到了赛迪。 他们在门口挤成一团，等待迈克尔的最新消息。迈克尔告诉他们，多亏了赛迪的消息，他差点就救出了默尔和珀尔，但他和他的父亲被出卖了。 迈克尔怀疑他父亲的同事。 西蒙，他在耶路撒冷经营古物博物馆。 戈麦斯医生不相信他的老朋友会欺骗他们，但他是唯一知道梅尔和珀尔藏在报喜大教堂的人。 他一定是向鲁本（穿西装戴墨镜的那个人）通风报信了。

"That's terrible!" Sadie gasped. "What are you going to do now?" "I have no idea. Just keep looking, I guess." Michael yawned, ready for bed after a long day. "I'll keep you guys posted. They can't have gotten too far." If he'd only known that Merle and Pearl were settling in to sleep in their duct-taped pet carrier at the hotel just across the street!

“太可怕了!”赛迪气喘吁吁地说。 “你现在打算怎么办？”“我不知道。 我想只要继续找就行了。” 迈克尔打了个哈欠，在漫长的一天后准备上床睡觉。 “我会和你们保持联系。 他们不可能走得太远。” 要是他知道莫尔和珀尔在街对面的旅馆里准备睡在用胶带粘起来的宠物笼里就好了！