Chapter 2

Chapter Two IN WHICH Many People Are Mad It's very sweet of you kids to want to visit your great-aunt," Mom said, smiling into the rearview mirror at Jared and Simon. "I know she's going to love the cookies you made." Outside the car window the trees streamed by, patches of yellow and red leaves between bare branches. "They didn't make them," Mallory said. "All they did was arrange frozen dough on a pan." Jared kicked the back of her seat, hard.

“孩子们，你们真贴心，想去看你们的姨婆。”妈妈对着后视镜笑着对贾里德和西蒙说。 “我知道她会喜欢你做的饼干的。” 车窗外树木潺潺流过，光秃秃的树枝间点缀着片片红黄的树叶。 “他们没有做，”马洛里说。 “他们所做的就是把冷冻的面团放在平底锅上。” 杰瑞德狠狠地踢了她的椅背。

"Hey," Mallory said, turning around and trying to grab her brothers. Jared and Simon snickered. She couldn't quite get them with her seat belt on. "Well, that's more than you did," their mother said. "You are still grounded, young lady. All three of you have a week left." "I was at fencing practice," Mallory said, slumping in her seat and rolling her eyes. Jared wasn't sure, but it seemed like there was something odd about the way her ears got pink when she said it. Jared absently touched his backpack, feeling the outline of the field guide within, safe and sound, wrapped in a towel. So long as he kept it with him, there was no way that Mallory could get rid of it and no way the faeries could take it. Besides, maybe Aunt Lucinda knew about the Guide. Maybe she was the one who'd locked it up in the false bottom of the chest for him to find. If so, maybe she could convince his brother and sister that it was important enough to keep.

“嘿，”马洛里说，转身想抓住她的兄弟们。 贾里德和西蒙窃笑起来。 她系上安全带，看不清。 “嗯，这比你做得多，”他们的母亲说。 “你还是被禁足了，小姐。 你们三个都只剩一个星期了。” “我在练习击剑，”马洛里说，她瘫坐在座位上，翻白眼。 杰瑞德不确定，但她说这话的时候耳朵变成粉红色的样子似乎有点奇怪。 杰瑞德心不在焉地摸了摸他的背包，摸着里面那本野外指南的轮廓，用毛巾包着，安然无恙。 只要他把它带在身边，马洛里就不可能除掉它，仙子们也不可能拿走它。 再说，也许露辛达姨妈知道《指南》的事。 也许是她把它锁在箱子的假底，让他找到的。 如果是这样，也许她可以说服他的哥哥和妹妹，让他们相信它很重要，值得留下。

The hospital where their great-aunt lived was huge. It looked more like a manor than an asylum, with massive, redbrick walls, dozens of windows, and a neatly mown lawn. A wide, white stone path edged in rust-and-gold mums led to an entranceway cut from stone. At least ten chimneys rose from the black roof. "Wow, this place looks older than our house," Simon said.

他们的姑婆住的医院很大。 它看起来不像疯人院，倒更像一个庄园，有高大的红砖墙，几十扇窗户，还有修剪得整整齐齐的草坪。 一条宽阔的白色石路，边上镶着铁锈和金色的镶边，通向一条用石头凿成的入口。 黑色的屋顶上至少升起了十个烟囱。 “哇，这地方看起来比我们的房子还老，”西蒙说。

"Older," said Mallory, "but not nearly as crappy." "Mallory!" their mother cautioned. Gravel crunched under their tires as they pulled into the parking lot. Their mother chose a spot next to a battered, green car and turned off the engine. "Does Aunt Lucy know we're coming?" Simon asked. "I called ahead," said Mrs. Grace, opening the car door and reaching for her purse. "I don't know how much they tell her, though, so don't be disappointed if she's not expecting us."

“老了，”马洛里说，“但没那么烂。” “马洛里！” 他们把车开进停车场时，轮胎下的碎石发出嘎吱嘎吱的声音。 他们的母亲在一辆破旧的绿色汽车旁找了个地方，关掉了引擎。 “露茜姨妈知道我们要来吗？”西蒙问。 “我提前叫过了，”格蕾丝太太说着打开车门，伸手去拿钱包。 “我不知道他们告诉了她多少，所以如果她不期待我们，不要失望。”

"I bet we're the first visitors she's had in a long time," Jared said. His mother gave him a look. "First of all, that is not a nice thing to say, and second, why are you wearing your shirt inside out?" Jared looked down and shrugged. "Grandma visits, doesn't she?" Mallory asked. Their mother nodded. "She comes, but it's hard for her. Lucy was more like a sister than a cousin.

“我敢打赌，我们是很长时间以来她的第一批访客，”贾里德说。 他妈妈看了他一眼。 “首先，这么说不太好，其次，你为什么把衬衫穿反了？”杰瑞德低下头，耸了耸肩。 “奶奶来看你，是吗？”马洛里问道。 他们的母亲点点头。“她来了，但这对她来说很难。 露西与其说是表姐，不如说是妹妹。

And then when she started to... deteriorate... Grandma was the one who had to take care of things." Jared wanted to ask what that meant, but something made him hesitate. They walked through the wide, walnut doors of the institution. There was a desk in the vestibule, where a uniformed man was sitting, reading a newspaper. He looked up at them and reached for a tan phone. "Sign in, please." He nodded toward an open binder. "Who're you here to see?" "Lucinda Spiderwick." Their mother bent over the table and wrote their names. At the sound of the name the man scowled. Jared decided right then that he didn't like this guy at all. In a few minutes a nurse in a pink shirt with polka dots appeared. She led them through a maze of off-white hallways filled with stale air and the faint odor of iodine. They passed an empty room where a television flickered, and from somewhere

然后当她开始… 恶化……奶奶是那个必须照顾事情的人。” 贾里德想问这是什么意思，但有些事情让他犹豫了。 他们穿过学校宽敞的胡桃木大门。 门厅里有一张桌子，一个穿制服的人正坐在那里看报纸。 他抬头看着他们，伸手拿起一个棕褐色的电话。 “请签到。”他朝打开的活页夹点了点头。 “你是来见谁的？”“露辛达13岁。” 他们的母亲俯身在桌子上写下他们的名字。 听到这个名字，那人皱起了眉头。 杰瑞德当时就决定他根本不喜欢这个人。 几分钟后，一位身穿粉红圆点衬衫的护士出现了。 她领着他们穿过迷宫般的灰白色走廊，走廊里充满了污浊的空气和淡淡的碘味。 他们经过一间空屋子，电视机在某处闪烁着