Chapter 4

Chapter Four IN WHICH the Grace Children Look for a Friend Jared pressed his face up to the car window and tried to pretend that he wasn't crying. The tears fell, hot against his cheeks. He let them run down the cool glass. He hadn't actually hit Mallory. Simon had grabbed his arms while Mallory kept insisting that she hadn't taken the Guide. All the shouting had brought their mother in. She had dragged them out of there, with lots of apologizing to the nurse and even to Aunt Lucy, who had to be sedated. On the

杰瑞德把脸贴在车窗上，努力装出没有哭的样子。 泪水滚烫地落在他的脸颊上。 他让他们喝下冰凉的杯子。 他并没有打马洛里。 西蒙抓住了他的胳膊，而马洛里坚持说她没有拿《指南》。 喧闹声把他们的母亲叫了进来。 她把他们从那里拖了出来，向护士道歉，甚至向露茜姨妈道歉，她不得不给她打镇静剂。 在

way to the car his mom had told Jared he was lucky the people at the institution didn't lock him up. "Jared," Simon whispered, putting his hand on his twin's back. "What?" Jared mumbled without turning. "Maybe Thimbletack took it?" Jared swiveled around in his seat. His whole body went tense. The moment he heard it, he knew it had to be true. It was Thimbletack's latest prank and his best revenge. His insides felt as though they'd been splashed with ice water. Why couldn't he have figured that out for himself? Sometimes he got so angry that it scared him. It was like his mind went blank and his body took over. When they got home, he slid out of the car and sat down on the back steps instead of going into the house with his mother. Mallory sat down beside him. "I didn't take it," she said. "Remember when we believed you? Now you better believe me."

在走向车的路上，他妈妈告诉杰瑞德，他很幸运，收容所的人没有把他关起来。 “杰瑞德，”西蒙低声说，把手放在他双胞胎的背上。 “什么?”杰瑞德含糊地说，没有回头。 “也许西姆布兰蒂克拿走了？”杰瑞德在座位上转过身来。 他全身紧张起来。 他一听到这个消息，就知道这是真的。 这是西姆布兰蒂克最近的恶作剧，也是他最好的报复。 他的五脏六腑仿佛被泼了一盆冰水。 他为什么不能自己弄明白呢？ 有时他气得把自己吓坏了。 他的大脑一片空白，身体接管了一切。 当他们回到家时，他从车里溜出来，坐在后面的台阶上，没有和他妈妈一起进房子。 马洛里在他身边坐下。 “我没有拿，”她说。 “还记得我们相信你的时候吗？” 现在你最好相信我。”

"I know," Jared replied, looking down. "I think it was Thimbletack. I... I'm sorry." "You think Thimbletack stole the Guide?" she asked. "Simon figured it out," said Jared. "It makes sense. Thimbletack keeps playing pranks on me. This is just the worst one yet." Simon sat down next to Jared on the stairs. "It'll be okay. We'll find it."

“我知道，”贾里德低下头回答。 “我想是西姆布兰蒂克。 我…我很抱歉。”“你认为西姆布兰蒂克偷了《指南》？”她问。 “西蒙发现了，”贾里德说。 “这是有道理的。西姆布兰蒂克一直在捉弄我。 这是迄今为止最糟糕的一次。” 西蒙在楼梯上坐在杰瑞德旁边。 “会没事的。我们会找到的。”

"Look," Mallory said, picking at the hem of her sweater where a thread had unraveled. "It's probably for the best." "No, it's not," Jared said. "Even you should see that. We can't give back what we don't have! The faeries didn't believe Aunt Lucinda when she said she didn't have the book—why would they believe us?" Mallory scowled and didn't answer. "I was thinking," Simon said. "Aunt Lucy said that her dad abandoned them, right? But if the field guide was still hidden in the house, maybe he didn't leave on purpose. She said he would never take off without it." "Then how come the book was still hidden?" Jared asked. "If faeries captured him, he'd have told them where it was." "Maybe he split before any faeries could catch him," Mallory said. "Let Lucy catch all the heat. Maybe he knew about the giant thing." "Arthur wouldn't do that," Jared said. As soon as he said it, however, he wondered if it was true.

“看，”马洛里说，一边揪着毛衣的下摆，那里有一根线松了。 “这可能是最好的结果。” “不，不是，”贾里德说。 “就连你也应该看到。 我们不能把没有的东西还回去！当露辛达姨妈说她没有书的时候，仙子们都不相信，他们为什么要相信我们呢？”马洛里皱起眉头，没有回答。 “我在想，”西蒙说。 “露西姨妈说她爸爸抛弃了他们，对吗？” 但如果野外指南还藏在房子里，也许他不是故意离开的。 她说没有它他是不会起飞的。” “那书怎么还藏着？”杰瑞德问。 “如果仙子们抓住了他，他会告诉他们它在哪里的。” “也许他在精灵抓住他之前就逃走了。”马洛里说。 “让露茜承受所有的热量。 也许他知道那个巨大的东西。” “亚瑟不会那么做的。” 然而，他一说出口，就怀疑这是不是真的。

"Come on," said Simon. "We're never going to figure this out. Let's go visit Byron. He's probably hungry again, and it will get our minds off the Guide." Mallory snorted. "Yeah, visiting a griffin living in our barn will definitely make us forget all about a book of supernatural creatures." Jared smiled vaguely. He couldn't stop thinking about the book, about Aunt Lucy and Arthur, and about himself and Mallory and the anger he didn't know what to do with. Jared looked over at her. "I'm sorry I tried to hit you." Mallory ruffled his hair and stood up. "You hit like a girl anyway." "I do not," Jared said, but he got up and followed her and Simon inside with a grin. An old, yellowed piece of paper was lying on the kitchen table. Jared took a step closer. A poem had been scribbled on it. "Thimbletack," Jared said.

“来吧，”西蒙说。“我们永远不会弄清楚这个问题。 我们去拜访拜伦吧。他可能又饿了，这样我们就不会去想《指南》了。” 马洛里哼了一声。“是的，拜访住在我们谷仓里的狮鹫肯定会让我们忘记一本关于超自然生物的书。” 杰瑞德淡淡地笑了笑。他不停地想着那本书，想着露西姨妈和阿瑟，想着他自己和马洛里，想着他不知如何发泄的怒火。 杰瑞德看着她。“对不起，我想打你。” 马洛里捋了捋头发，站了起来。 “反正你打人也像个女孩。” “我不知道，”贾里德说，但他还是站了起来，笑着跟着她和西蒙走了进去。 厨房的桌子上放着一张发黄的旧纸。 杰瑞德走近了一步。上面潦草地写着一首诗。 “西姆布兰蒂克。”贾里德说。

Rash child who thinks he's smart Wondering about your book? Maybe I'm tearing it apart Or hiding it where you won't look. "Wow, he's really mad," said Simon. Jared was torn between relief and horror. The book was with Thimbletack, but what had he done with it? Had it really been destroyed?

自以为聪明的莽撞小孩想看你的书吗？ 也许我要把它撕碎或者藏在你看不见的地方。 “哇，他真的疯了，”西蒙说。 贾里德感到既宽慰又恐惧。 书在西姆布兰蒂克那里，但他把它怎么了？ 它真的被摧毁了吗？