Chapter 18

Chapter 18 A rush of desperate energy filled Amy's body, like it had when she'd pulled Dan out of the rail pit. She hadn't come all this way to deal with a conceited jerk like Jonah Wizard. She imagined Grace's voice in her head, speaking with total confidence: You will make me proud, Amy. She raised the vial. "Back off, Jonah, or … or I'll smash it!" He laughed. "You wouldn't." But he sounded nervous. "Awesome footage!" Jonah's dad said. "Keep it rolling, son. Great chemistry." "And put down that camera!" Amy shouted. Dan and Nellie stared at her in amazement, but Amy didn't care. She didn't care how valuable the vial might be, either. She'd had enough of the

一股绝望的能量充满了艾米的身体，就像她把丹从铁轨坑里拉出来时一样。 她大老远跑来可不是为了对付大法师约拿这种自负的混蛋的。 她想象着格蕾丝的声音在她的脑海里充满信心地说：你会让我骄傲的，艾米。 她举起小瓶。“走开，约拿，不然……不然我就砸了它！”他笑了。 “你不会。”但他听起来很紧张。 “可怕的镜头!”约拿的爸爸说。 “继续滚，孩子。伟大的化学。” “把相机放下！”艾米喊道。 丹和内莉惊讶地盯着她，但艾米不在乎。 她也不在乎那瓶药有多贵重。 她已经受够了

Cahill family's backstabbing. She was so angry she did feel like throwing the glass cylinder against the floor. Apparently, Jonah sensed it, too. "All right, cuz. Take it easy. We're all friends here, right?" "The camera!" Amy stepped forward like she was going to charge him. Jonah flinched. "Dad, stop the camera." "But, son—" "Just do it!" Reluctantly, Jonah's dad stopped filming. "Okay, Amy." Jonah put on his dazzling smile. "We're good now, right? You know that's the second clue. If you destroy it, the whole quest ends. Nobody gets anything. That what you want?" "Back up," she ordered, "into the corner. Go stand by Jane." Jonah furrowed his eyebrows. "Who?" "The mural. Go stand by the lady in the yellow—your great-great-great-great-greatgrandmother." Jonah clearly didn't know what she was talking about, but he went along. He and his dad backed

卡荷尔家族在背后捅刀子。 她气得真想把玻璃圆筒往地板上摔。 显然，约拿也感觉到了。 “好吧，兄弟。别紧张。 我们都是朋友，对吧？”“相机!”艾米走上前去，好像要控告他。 约拿退缩。“爸爸，别拍了。” “可是，孩子——”“照做吧！”乔纳的爸爸不情愿地停止了拍摄。 “好吧,艾米。”约拿露出灿烂的笑容。 “我们现在没事了，对吧？”你知道这是第二条线索。 如果你毁了它，整个任务就结束了。 没有人得到任何东西。这就是你想要的吗？”“退后，”她命令道，“到角落里去。 去陪着简吧。”约拿皱起眉头。 “谁?”“这幅壁画。去站在那位穿黄衣服的女士身边——你的曾曾曾曾曾曾祖母。” 约拿显然不知道她在说什么，但他还是跟着去了。 他和他的父亲支持他

into the corner. Dan whistled. "Nice job, sis." "Get up the stairs," she told him. "You too, Nellie. Hurry!" As soon as they were up, Amy followed, but she knew Jonah and his dad wouldn't stay put for long. "That was awesome!" Dan was bouncing up and down with excitement. "Can we seal them down there?" "Dan, listen," she said. "The inscription As thou charge this. I think the stuff in this vial is inert." "What's a nert?" "Inert! Like inactive. It needs energy to catalyze it. Franklin messed around with chemistry. When he says a 'charge' …" Dan grinned. "Of course!" "It's dangerous." "No choice." "What are you guys talking—" Nellie glanced toward the street. "Oh, poop. Look!" A purple ice cream truck was barreling toward them. It swerved to a stop in front of the gates.

躲到角落里去。丹吹口哨。 “干得好，姐姐。”“上楼去，”她对他说。 “你也是，耐莉。快点!”他们一起来，艾米就跟着他们，但她知道乔纳和他爸爸不会在这里呆太久的。 “太棒了!”丹兴奋得上蹿下跳。 “我们能把它们封在下面吗？”“丹，听着，”她说。 “照你所写的字。 我认为这个小瓶子里的东西是惰性的。” “nert是什么？”“惰性!像不活跃。 它需要能量来催化。 富兰克林把化学搞砸了。 当他说‘冲锋’的时候……”丹咧嘴一笑。 “当然!”“这是危险的。” “没有选择。”“你们在说什么——”内利朝街上瞥了一眼。 “哦,粪便。看!”一辆紫色的冰淇淋车疾驰而来。 它在大门前急转弯停了下来。

Eisenhower Holt scowled behind the wheel. "Inside the church!" Amy said. "Quick!" They raced up the path. Amy tugged open the sanctuary doors and crashed straight into a cherry- red suit. "Hello, my dear children." Uncle Alistair smiled down at them. He looked like a raccoon with his two black eyes. Standing next to him was Irina Spasky. Amy's heart crawled into her throat. "You … you and her?" "Now, now," the old man said. "I saved your life in the Catacombs. I told you alliances are important. I'm simply making friends where I can. I suggest you hand over that vial, my dear. I would hate for Cousin Irina to use her persuasive techniques." Irina extended her fingernails. A tiny needle sprouted from each one. Amy turned to run, but her eyes widened. Something was hurtling toward her from the street — a large white cube. "Duck!" she yelled. Nellie, Dan, and she hit the floor as a crate of ice cream sailed over their

艾森豪威尔·霍尔特在方向盘后皱起了眉头。 “在教堂里面！”艾米说。 “快!”他们沿着小路飞奔而上。 艾美拉开了避难所的门，一头撞进了一件樱桃红色的衣服里。 “你好，我亲爱的孩子们。” 阿利斯泰尔叔叔低头朝他们微笑。 他长着两只黑眼睛，看起来像只浣熊。 站在他旁边的是伊琳娜·斯帕斯基。 艾米的心都提到嗓子眼儿了。 “你……你和她？”“好了，好了，”老人说。 “我在地下墓穴救了你的命。 我告诉过你结盟很重要。 我只是在尽可能地交朋友。 我建议你把药瓶交出来，亲爱的。 我讨厌伊琳娜表妹用她的劝说技巧。” 伊琳娜伸出她的指甲。 每根树枝上都长出一根细针。 艾米转身要跑，但她的眼睛睁大了。 有个东西从街上向她冲来——一个白色的大立方体。 “鸭子！”她喊道。内莉，丹，当一箱冰淇淋从他们的

heads. The crate must've been from the back of the freezer, because it crashed into Alistair and Irina like a block of cement and knocked them both flat. "Revenge time!" Eisenhower Holt yelled, pulling more frozen ammunition from the back of his van. Arnold the pit bull barked excitedly. The whole Holt family charged up the sidewalk, each holding a crate of crème glacée. "Amy," Dan said nervously. "Are you …" He didn't finish, but she knew what he was asking. The last time they'd encountered the Holts, Amy had panicked. This time she couldn't afford to. That Cahill mural in the secret room had steeled her willpower. "Nellie, get out of here," she ordered. "They don't want you. Go call the police!" "But–" "That's the best way you can help us. Go!" Amy didn't wait for an answer. She and Dan dashed inside the church, leaping over the groaning forms of Alistair and Irina. They ran toward the back of the sanctuary. Amy didn't have time to admire the church,

正面。板条箱肯定是从冷冻室后面拿出来的，因为它像水泥块一样砸向阿利斯泰尔和艾瑞娜，把他们都砸扁了。 “报仇!”艾森豪威尔·霍尔特喊道，从他的货车后面拿出更多的冷冻弹药。 比特犬阿诺德兴奋地叫着。 霍尔特全家冲上人行道，每个人手里都拿着一箱牛奶。 “艾米，”丹紧张地说。 “你是……”他没说完，但她知道他在问什么。 上次他们遇到霍尔特夫妇时，艾米惊慌失措。 这一次她负担不起了。 密室里的卡希尔的壁画磨练了她的意志力。 “内莉，离开这里，”她命令道。 “他们不需要你。快去叫警察！”“可是——”“这是你能帮助我们的最好办法。 去吧!”艾米没有等他回答。 她和丹冲进教堂，跳过阿利斯泰尔和伊琳娜呻吟的身影。 他们朝圣殿的后面跑去。 艾米没有时间欣赏教堂，

but she felt like she'd plunged into the Middle Ages. Gray stone columns soared up to a vaulted ceiling. Endless rows of wooden pews faced the altar, and stained glass windows glinted in the dim light of prayer candles. Their footsteps echoed on the stone tiles. "There!" Dan yelled. A door stood open on their left — a steep flight of stairs leading up. Amy latched the door behind them, but she knew it wouldn't hold the Holts for long. They scrambled up the stairs. Dan started wheezing. Amy put her arm around him and half carried him. Up, up, up. She hadn't realized the bell tower could be so high. Finally, she found a trapdoor and threw it open. Rain poured down on her face. They climbed into the belfry, which was open to the storm on all sides. A bronze bell the size of a file cabinet sat in one corner. It looked like it hadn't been rung in centuries. "Help me!" Amy cried. She could hardly move the bell, but together, they managed to drag it on top of the trapdoor. "That — should — hold," Dan wheezed.

但她觉得自己又回到了中世纪。 灰色的石柱直插到拱形的天花板上。 一排排的木长凳面对着祭坛，彩色玻璃窗在祈祷蜡烛的微光下闪闪发光。 他们的脚步声在石板上回响。 “有!”丹喊道。他们左边有一扇门开着——一段陡峭的楼梯通向楼上。 艾米在他们身后闩上了门，但她知道这不会让霍尔特一家呆太久。 他们爬上楼梯。 丹开始喘息。艾米用胳膊搂住他，半抱着他。 向上，向上，向上。她没有意识到钟楼可以这么高。 最后，她找到了一个活板门，把它打开了。 雨水倾泻在她的脸上。 他们爬进了四面敞开的钟楼。 一个角落里放着一个文件柜大小的铜钟。 它看起来好像好几个世纪没响过了。 “帮帮我!”艾米哭了。她几乎搬不动铃铛，但他们一起把它拖到了活板门上。 “那——应该——hold住，”丹喘着气说。