Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18 Fiske paced while Mr. McIntyre talked on the phone. "Amy and Dan know where they need to go," Mr. McIntyre reported, his hand cupped over the phone. "They're in a hurry. They want to rent a helicopter." "But we haven't heard from our man at the church about how things went there?" Fiske asked. Mr. McIntyre shook his head and went back to talking on the phone. "Do you feel that you and the other teams have reached a proper, ah, rapprochement?" he asked. "You believe that your actions in Stratford— and from this point forward— will lead to the achievement of all our goals?" Fiske could always tell when Mr. McIntyre was nervous. He started sounding more and more like a lawyer.

麦金太尔先生讲电话时，菲斯克踱着步。 “艾米和丹知道他们该去哪里，”麦金太尔先生说，他的手握着电话。 “他们很着急。他们想租一架直升机。” “但是我们在教堂的人还没有告诉我们那边的情况吗？”菲斯克问道。 麦金太尔先生摇摇头，又继续讲起电话来。 “你觉得你和其他球队已经达成了适当的和解吗？”他问道。 “你相信你在斯特拉特福德的行动——从现在起——会导致我们所有目标的实现？”菲斯克总能看出麦金太尔先生什么时候紧张。 他听起来越来越像个律师了。

"Yes," Mr. McIntyre continued. "I am talking about the reunification of the Cahill family, and the end of five hundred years of hostility, enmity, and outright war." Fiske passed close enough in his pacing that he could hear Amy's voice coming through the cell phone. "Mr. McIntyre, we're doing the best we can," she said. "Dan kind of has a plan." Grace had told Fiske once that Amy reminded her of him. Because of that, Fiske had spent the entire Clue hunt trying to imagine himself in Dan's and Amy's shoes. They're braver than I am, he'd thought, again and again. They're always so sure of themselves. But now, hearing the worry and fear in Amy's voice, he knew that wasn't true. Amy was terrified. She had no certainty of success. But she and Dan had always tried their hardest, done their best, from the very beginning. Could Fiske say the same about himself? He would have to do his best now. Fiske grabbed the phone from Mr. Mclntyre's

“是的，”麦金太尔先生接着说。 “我说的是卡希尔家族的统一，以及五百年的敌意、敌意和彻底的战争的结束。” 菲斯克走得很近，他可以听到艾米的声音从手机里传来。 “麦金太尔先生，我们已经尽力了，”她说。 “丹有个计划。”格蕾丝曾经告诉菲斯克，艾米让她想起了他。 正因为如此，菲斯克在整个寻找线索的过程中都在努力想象自己站在丹和艾米的立场上。 他们比我勇敢，他一次又一次地想。 他们总是那么自信。 但现在，听到艾米声音里的担心和恐惧，他知道那不是真的。 艾米吓坏了。她没有成功的把握。 但她和丹从一开始就尽了最大的努力，尽了最大的努力。 菲斯克能对自己说同样的话吗？ 他现在必须尽力了。 菲斯克从麦克太尔先生那里拿了手机

hand. "We trust you, Amy," he said hoarsely into it. "You won't be able to contact us once you get there, but— we'll trust your judgment. It's all up to you." Mr. McIntyre was staring daggers at him. McIntyre was a cautious man. He didn't like having to trust people— especially not children who were too young and erratic to be predictable. "Don't worry about the expense," Fiske found himself saying into the phone. "Don't worry that you'll tip off the others that you're connected to us. This is the final stop. It's almost time for everything to be revealed." On the other end of the phone, Amy gasped. Fiske wanted to keep talking. This was strange— he wasn't used to wanting to explain, to comfort, to encourage. But he couldn't think of anything comforting or encouraging to say. All he could think of were warnings. Hastily, he shut off the phone and dropped it onto the table. Mr. McIntyre watched him. "We'll need to make our own travel

的手。“我们相信你，艾美。”他嘶哑着嗓子说。 “你到了那里就联系不上我们了，但是——我们相信你的判断。 一切都取决于你。”麦金太尔先生恶狠狠地盯着他。 麦金太尔是个谨慎的人。 他不喜欢不得不相信别人——尤其是那些太年轻、太不稳定、难以预测的孩子。 “别担心费用，”菲斯克发现自己对着电话说。 “不要担心你会让别人知道你和我们有联系。 这是最后一站。差不多是时候揭示一切了。” 电话那头的艾米倒吸了一口气。 菲斯克想继续说下去。 这很奇怪——他不习惯想要解释、安慰、鼓励。 但他想不出什么安慰或鼓励的话来。 他能想到的只有警告。 他急忙关掉电话，把它扔在桌子上。 麦金太尔先生看着他。“我们得自己走了

arrangements," Mr. McIntyre said. Fiske just stood there, staring out at the darkness that had enveloped the river Avon. The phone rang again, rattling against the table. Mr. McIntyre answered it. He was silent for a few moments, then he cried, "What happened? Who stole the lead?" The phone slipped from his hand and fell to the floor. Fiske reached for it. "This is too dangerous!" he said. "We have to stop—" "We can't stop anything," Mr. McIntyre said. Now he was the one staring out into darkness. "It's out of our control."

麦金太尔说。 菲斯克只是站在那里，凝视着笼罩在埃文河上的黑暗。 电话铃又响了，碰在桌子上发出咔哒声。 麦金太尔先生接了电话。他沉默了一会儿，然后喊道：“发生什么事了？ 谁抢了先机？”电话从他手中滑落，掉到了地板上。 菲斯克伸手去拿。“这太危险了！” “我们必须停止——”“我们什么都阻止不了，”麦金太尔先生说。 现在他成了那个凝视着外面黑暗的人。 “这是我们无法控制的。”