Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21 "Don't trust them." Amy's last words still echoed in Dan's ears. Everything had happened so fast: Hamilton and Eisenhower jumping down from the cliff, Hamilton grabbing Dan, Eisenhower waving his ax at the others and proclaiming, "We're taking Dan with us to get the prize. Everyone else— stay back." Amy had run to Dan's side, crying, "Let me kiss my brother good-bye!" —ewww—and Dan had known she was going to whisper something in his ear. He expected one last attempt to cram Shakespeare info into his head or something about being careful climbing the mountain. But, "Don't trust them"? Hamilton's carrying me up the side of a cliff. We're thousands and thousands of feet up in the air. If he lets go, I'm dead meat. And I'm not supposed to trust him?

第21章“不要相信他们。” 艾米最后的话还在丹耳边回响。 一切都发生得太快了：汉密尔顿和艾森豪威尔从悬崖上跳下来，汉密尔顿抓住丹，艾森豪威尔向其他人挥舞着斧头，宣布：“我们要带丹一起去领奖。” 其他人——退后。” 艾米跑到丹身边，哭着说：“让我吻别我的弟弟吧！”丹早就知道她要在他耳边悄悄说些什么。 他期待着最后一次尝试，把莎士比亚的知识塞进脑子里，或者是关于爬山要小心的东西。 但是，“不要相信他们”？汉密尔顿把我抬上了悬崖。 我们在成千上万英尺的高空。 如果他放手，我就死定了。 我不应该相信他吗？

Dan did trust Hamilton— when he wasn't around his father. But Eisenhower was just a few feet away, ascending the cliff right beside his son. Eisenhower could easily reach over and slash a knife through the ropes that held Dan on Hamilton's back. Or Eisenhower could easily tell Hamilton to cut those ropes himself. Dan shivered. "Do you mind not moving?" Hamilton asked. "It throws me off a little." Below them, chunks of stone plunged down the cliff. Dan's shiver had made Hamilton lose his footing and kick away the stones. Hamilton was hanging on to the cliff by only two fingers. Dan held his breath while Hamilton found toeholds for both his feet. "Don't you dare do that again!" Eisenhower barked at Dan. "Don't you endanger my son!" Dan took a very small breath. He imagined what it would be like to have a father protecting him that way. Now was not a good time to think about stuff like that, though. Because he might slip and say

丹确实信任汉密尔顿——当他不在他父亲身边的时候。 但是艾森豪威尔就在几英尺远的地方，就在他儿子旁边爬上悬崖。 艾森豪威尔可以很容易地伸出手，用刀割断把丹绑在汉密尔顿背上的绳子。 或者艾森豪威尔可以很容易地告诉汉密尔顿自己切断那些绳子。 丹颤抖。“你不要动好吗？”汉密尔顿问道。 “这让我有点不知所措。” 在他们下面，大块的石头从悬崖上倾泻而下。 丹打了个寒颤，汉米尔顿顿时站不住脚，一脚踢开了石头。 汉密尔顿仅用两根手指抓住悬崖。 丹屏住呼吸，汉密尔顿为他的双脚找到了支撑点。 “你敢再那样做！”艾森豪威尔冲丹吼道。 “你不要危及我的儿子！”丹深深地吸了一口气。 他想象着有一个父亲那样保护他会是什么样子。 不过，现在不是考虑这类事情的好时机。 因为他可能会说

something to Eisenhower like, "You know, I could be climbing this cliff with my own father right now—if you hadn't helped kill him." Eisenhower glared harder, and for a moment Dan feared he had spoken aloud. No, he's just straining to reach the next handhold, Dan told himself. Chill. You're safe until you get to the top of the cliff. Dan figured the two Holts had come back for him because they really did think they'd need him to solve whatever puzzle waited at the top of the cliff. But what would happen after that? What would Eisenhower do to him then? It was a long, slow climb. After going halfway up, down, and then up again with Dan on his back, Hamilton had entered the zone where he could think about nothing but rock. Rock above him, rock below him, rock smashed against his face as he inched higher and higher. Then came a moment when he reached up and

对艾森豪威尔说，“你知道吗，要不是你帮忙杀了我父亲，我现在可能正和他一起爬上悬崖呢。” 艾森豪威尔瞪得更紧了，有那么一会儿，丹担心他说得太大声了。 不，他只是在努力到达下一个支点，丹告诉自己。 严寒。在你到达悬崖顶端之前，你是安全的。 丹猜想这两个霍尔特人是回来找他的，因为他们真的认为他们需要他来解开悬崖顶上的谜题。 但那之后会发生什么呢？ 艾森豪威尔会对他做什么？ 这是一次漫长而缓慢的攀登。 汉密尔顿背着丹，上了半山腰，下了半山腰，然后又上了半山腰，他进入了一个除了摇滚什么都不想的状态。 上面有岩石，下面有岩石，他越爬越高，岩石砸在他的脸上。 然后有一刻，他伸出手来

touched only air. He brought his hand down flat, spreading his fingers freely for once. They were at the top. Now what? The three of us will solve a puzzle, Hamilton told himself. We'll win the prize. And— we Holts will share it with Dan and Amy. Dad promised. He and Eisenhower crept carefully onto the narrow rock ledge that lay before the door. They began pulling up ropes, unclipping carabiners. As soon as he was free of his own ropes, Dan scrambled toward the door and the keypad. "G-guess I'd better start solving this thing," he said in a thin, reedy voice. His mouth must have gotten really dry on the climb. "Th-then I bet there are a lot more puzzles you'll need me to solve, after the door. You'll probably need Amy and Nellie's help, too." Dan wobbled a little as he walked— like he had climbers' legs, even though he hadn't been doing the climbing. Then he tripped.

只触及空气。他把手放平了，这一次他自由地张开了手指。 他们在顶端。现在怎么办呢? 我们三个将解开一个谜题，汉密尔顿对自己说。 我们会得奖的。我们霍尔特会和丹和艾米分享。 爸爸承诺。他和艾森豪威尔小心翼翼地爬上门前狭窄的岩壁。 他们开始拉起绳子，解开钩环。 丹一挣脱自己的绳子，就朝门和键盘爬去。 “我想我最好开始解决这个问题了。”他用一种尖细、尖锐的声音说。 他爬的时候嘴巴一定很干。 “那么，我敢打赌，进门之后，你还需要我解决更多的谜题。 你可能还需要艾米和内莉的帮助。” 丹走路的时候有点摇晃，就像他有登山者的腿一样，尽管他并没有攀岩。 然后他绊倒了。

Dan fell straight toward the door and the keypad, his hands outstretched. The palm of his left hand slammed directly against the keypad, smashing it in. The door slid open. "Whaddya know," Hamilton grunted, looking up from his ropes. "Guess there wasn't any special trick to that. No puzzle or math skills required." Dan jerked back from the keypad as if it'd been electrified. He whirled around, his eyes wide and terrified. He glanced once at Eisenhower, then he darted toward Hamilton. "No!" he screamed. "You'll need me later! You still need my help!" He grabbed Hamilton's arm and cowered behind his bulk. Hamilton would have been fine if he hadn't been so surprised. Or if he hadn't just climbed up an entire cliff. Or if Dan hadn't been so off-kilter. But Dan's yank was just a little too hard. Hamilton had to jerk back in the opposite direction to keep from crashing down onto the narrow rock ledge. He over-corrected. Both he

丹直挺挺地朝门和键盘走去，双手伸开。 他的左手手掌直接撞在键盘上，把它砸了进去。 门滑开了。“你知道什么？”汉密尔顿嘟囔着，从绳索上抬起头来。 “我猜这并没有什么特别的诀窍。 不需要猜谜或数学技能。” 丹猛地从键盘前退了回来，好像键盘被电了似的。 他转过身来，眼睛睁得大大的，充满了恐惧。 他瞥了艾森豪威尔一眼，然后冲向汉密尔顿。 “不！”他尖叫道。“你以后会需要我的！”你还需要我的帮助！”他抓住汉密尔顿的胳膊，缩在他的大块头后面。 如果汉密尔顿没有那么惊讶的话，他会没事的。 或者如果他没有爬上整个悬崖。 或者如果丹不是这么不正常的话。 但是丹的猛拉有点太猛了。 汉密尔顿不得不朝相反的方向向后一跳，以免撞到狭窄的岩壁上。 他矫枉过正一样。他

and Dan lost their balance. They fell— and kept falling. Right off the edge of the cliff.

和丹失去了平衡。 他们倒下了——而且一直在倒下。 就在悬崖边上。