Chapter 4

Chapter 4. Dan felt a dizzy rush, like the time he ate twenty packs of Skittles. He couldn't believe how much money they'd just thrown away. Ever since he was little, he'd dreamed about doing something that would make his parents proud. He knew they were dead, of course. He barely remembered them. Still … he thought if he could just accomplish something amazing — even cooler than making the ultimate baseball card collection or becoming a ninja lord — his parents would somehow know. And they'd be proud. This competition to become the greatest Cahill sounded like the perfect chance. Plus he liked treasure. And it was a real bonus that Aunt Beatrice's face turned completely purple as she stormed out of the room, slamming

第四章。丹感到一阵眩晕，就像他吃了20包彩虹糖一样。 他简直不敢相信他们刚刚浪费了这么多钱。 从很小的时候起，他就梦想着做一些能让父母骄傲的事情。 他当然知道他们已经死了。 他几乎不记得了。 尽管如此，他还是认为，如果他能完成一些惊人的事情——甚至比收集终极棒球卡或成为忍者领主更酷——他的父母会知道的。 他们会为你感到骄傲。这场成为最伟大的卡希尔的比赛听起来像是一个完美的机会。 而且他喜欢宝藏。比阿特丽斯姑妈的脸完全变紫了，她怒气冲冲地走出房间，砰地一声，这真是个意外的惊喜

the door behind her. Now the Great Hall was empty except for the seven teams and Mr. McIntyre. After a tense silence, the old lawyer said, "You may open your envelopes." RIP, RIP, RIP. The clue was written in black calligraphy on crème paper. It read: RESOLUTIN. The fine print to guess. Seek out Richard S____. "That's it?" Mary-Todd Holt screeched. "That's all we get?" "Ten words," Eisenhower Holt muttered. "That's—" He started counting on his fingers. "Roughly $500,000 per word," Alistair Oh supplied, "since your family gave up five million dollars. I got a bargain. Each word only cost me

她身后的门。现在礼堂里空荡荡的，只有七支球队和麦金太尔先生。 一阵紧张的沉默之后，老律师说：“你们可以打开信封了。” 撕，撕，撕。线索是用黑色书法写在cr<e:1>纸上的。 上面写着：决心。要猜的小字。 寻找Richard S____。“就这样?”玛丽·托德·霍尔特尖叫道。 “这就是我们得到的全部？”“十个字，”艾森豪威尔·霍尔特低声说。 “那是——”他开始用手指数着。 “大概每个单词有10万美元，”阿利斯泰尔·吴说，“因为你的家人放弃了500万美元。 我买到了便宜货。每个字只会让我付出代价

$100,000." "That's stupid!" Madison Holt said. "We need more clue!" "Richard S—," Ian mused. "Now who could that be?" He looked at his sister, and they both smiled like they were sharing a private joke. Dan wanted to kick them. "Wait a minute." Jonah Wizard's dad scowled. "Did everyone get the same clue? Because my son insists on exclusive material. It's in his standard contract." "The thirty-nine clues," Mr. McIntyre said, "are the major stepping stones to the final goal. They are the same for each team. The first one, which you have received, is the only one that will be so simple." "Simple?" Alistair Oh raised his eyebrows. "I'd hate to see the difficult ones." "However," Mr. McIntyre continued, "there are many paths to each clue. Hints and secrets have been buried for you to find — clues to the clues, if you will." "I'm getting a headache," Sinead Starling said. "How you proceed is entirely up to you," Mr.

00000年。”“那是愚蠢的!”麦迪逊·霍尔特说。 “我们需要更多的线索！”“理查德·S——”伊恩若有所思地说。 “那是谁呢？”他看着他的妹妹，他们都笑了，就像在分享一个私人笑话。 丹想踢他们。“等一下。” 巫师乔纳的爸爸皱起了眉头。 “每个人都得到了同样的线索吗？” 因为我儿子坚持要独家材料。 这是他的标准合同。” “这39条线索，”麦金太尔说，“是通往最终目标的主要垫脚石。 每个队都是一样的。 你收到的第一份礼物是唯一一份如此简单的礼物。” “简单?”阿利斯泰尔·吴扬起了眉毛。 “我讨厌看到那些困难的。” “然而，”麦金太尔接着说，“每条线索都有很多途径。 暗示和秘密已经埋在那里等着你去寻找——如果你愿意的话，线索的线索。” “我有点头疼，”西尼德·斯塔林说。 “你怎么做完全取决于你自己。”

McIntyre said. "But remember: You all seek the same end, and only one team will succeed. Speed is of the essence." Irina Spasky folded her clue, stuck it in her purse, and walked out the door. Alistair Oh frowned. "It seems Cousin Irina has an idea." The Starling triplets put their heads together. Then, as if they'd gotten a collective brain flash, they stood up so fast they knocked over their chairs and ran outside. Jonah Wizard's dad pulled him into the corner. They had a heated discussion and his dad typed some stuff into his BlackBerry. "Gotta jet," Jonah said. "Later, losers." And off they went. That made three teams already out the door, and Dan still had no idea what the clue meant. "Well." Ian Kabra stretched lazily, like he had all the time in the world. "Are you ready, dear sister?" "To make fools of our American cousins?" Natalie smiled. "Anytime." Dan tried to trip them as they walked past, but

麦金太尔说。“但请记住：你们追求的是同一个目标，只有一个团队会成功。 速度是最重要的。”伊琳娜·斯帕斯基把她的线索折叠起来，塞进钱包，走出了门。 阿利斯泰尔皱眉。“看来伊琳娜表姐有主意了。” 星城三胞胎把头凑在一起。 然后，就好像他们集体灵光一闪，他们迅速站起来，撞翻了椅子，跑到外面。 巫师乔纳的爸爸把他拉到角落里。 他们进行了激烈的讨论，他爸爸在他的黑莓手机上输入了一些东西。 “我得走了，”乔纳说。“后来,输家。” 他们走了。这意味着已经有三支队伍出了门，而丹仍然不知道这个线索是什么意思。 “好吧。”伊恩·卡布拉懒洋洋地伸伸懒腰，好像他有充裕的时间。 “你准备好了吗，亲爱的妹妹？”“为了愚弄我们的美国表兄弟？”娜塔莉笑了。 “随时”。丹想在他们走过的时候绊倒他们，但是

they nimbly stepped over his leg and kept going. "All right!" Mr. Holt announced. "Team, form up!" The Holt clan shot to their feet. Their buff little pit bull, Arnold, barked and leaped around them like he was trying to bite their noses. "Where we going, Dad?" Hamilton asked. "I don't know. But everybody else is leaving! Follow them!" They marched double-time out of the Great Hall, which left only Amy, Dan, Alistair Oh, and William McIntyre. "Dear me," Alistair sighed. With his black suit and silk cravat, he reminded Dan of a butler. A butler with a secret. His eyes seemed to be smiling, even when he wasn't. "I think I'll have a stroll around the grounds and think about this." Dan was thankful to see him leave. Alistair seemed like the nicest of their competition, but he was still competition. Dan stared at the clue again, more frustrated than ever. "Resolution. Fine print. Richard S —. I don't get it." "I can offer you no help with the clue." Mr.

他们敏捷地跨过他的腿，继续往前走。 “好吧!”霍尔特先生宣布。 “队员们，列队！”霍尔特家族一跃而起。 他们那只健壮的小比特犬阿诺德在他们周围吠叫着跳来跳去，好像要咬他们的鼻子。 “我们去哪儿，爸爸？”汉密尔顿问道。 “我不知道。但是其他人都走了！跟随他们!”他们快步走出礼堂，只剩下艾米、丹、阿利斯泰尔和威廉·麦金太尔。 “天哪，”阿利斯泰尔叹了口气。 他身穿黑色西装，系着丝绸领带，使丹想起了一个管家。 一个有秘密的管家。他的眼睛似乎在微笑，即使他没有。 “我想我应该在院子里走走，想想这个问题。” 看到他离开，丹很感激。 阿利斯泰尔看起来是他们的竞争对手中最好的，但他仍然是竞争对手。 丹又盯着线索看，比以前更沮丧了。 ”决议。小字。理查德·S。 我不明白。”“我没法帮你找到线索。” 先生。

McIntyre managed a faint smile. "But your grandmother would be pleased you accepted the challenge." Amy shook her head. "We don't stand a chance, do we? The Kabras and the Starlings are rich. Jonah Wizard's famous. The Holts are like steroid monsters. Alistair and Irina seem so — I don't know—worldly. And Dan and I —" "Have other talents," Mr. McIntyre finished. "As I'm sure you'll find out." Dan reread the clue. He thought about baseball cards, and letters, and autographs. "We're supposed to find this guy Richard," he decided. "But why is his last name just S—?" Amy's eyes widened. "Wait a minute. I remember reading that back in the 1700s, people used to do that. They would use only one letter if they wanted to disguise their names." "Huh," Dan said. "So, like, I could say A — has a face like a baboon butt, and you wouldn't know who I'm talking about?" Amy boxed him on the ear. "Ow!" "Children," Mr. McIntyre interrupted. "You

麦金太尔勉强挤出一丝微笑。 “但你祖母会很高兴你接受了挑战。” 艾米摇了摇头。“我们没有机会了，是吗？” 卡布拉和八哥都很有钱。 巫师约拿很有名。霍尔特一家就像类固醇怪物。 阿利斯泰尔和伊琳娜看起来，我不懂世故。 丹和我——”“还有别的才能，”麦金太尔先生说完。 “我相信你会发现的。” 丹又读了一遍线索。他想到了棒球卡、信件和签名。 “我们应该找到理查德这个家伙，”他下定决心。 “可是他的姓为什么只是S——呢？”艾米睁大了眼睛。 “等一下。我记得在18世纪的时候读到过，人们常常这样做。 如果他们想掩饰自己的名字，他们只会用一个字母。” “嗯，”丹说。“所以，比如，我可以说A -有一张像狒狒屁股一样的脸，你不知道我在说谁？”艾米打了他一耳光。 “噢!”“孩子们，”麦金太尔先生打断了他。 “你