Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24 "Ow! Ooh! No—don't step on my hand!" Dan screamed in the darkness. "Dan—Dan! Are you there?" Amy yelled behind him. "Yeah," Dan mumbled. He managed to pull his hand out from under somebody's shoe. And then he was able to mostly stand up, even though his face was smashed against the elevator door. "I'm here." The grumbling around him had mostly turned into whispers, but somehow that was even scarier: "Madrigals. Dan and Amy are Madrigals…." "Dad! Dad! Are you there?" Hamilton called. No answer. "Reagan? Madison? Mom?" he tried again, even though he'd watched all of them step out of the elevator. Still no answer.

第二十四章“哎呀！噢!不——别踩我的手！”丹在黑暗中尖叫。 “丹!你在吗？”艾米在他身后喊道。 “是啊，”丹咕哝着。他设法把手从某人的鞋底下抽出来。 然后他基本上可以站起来了，尽管他的脸撞在了电梯门上。 “我在这里。”他周围的抱怨大多变成了窃窃私语，但不知怎的，这更可怕：“牧歌。 丹和艾米是牧歌....” “爸爸!爸爸!你在吗？”汉密尔顿。 不回答。“里根?麦迪逊呢? 妈妈？”他又问了一遍，尽管他已经看着他们所有人走出了电梯。 还是没有回答。

I'm alone, Hamilton thought. I've lost my family. I've lost my team. Except for Dan and Amy. And did they still count if they were Madrigals? "Natalie?" Ian called into the darkness. He knew she was behind him. He expected to hear her complaining: about how the crowding in the elevator was wrinkling her designer dress, about how the sea air was terrible for her hair, about how their time was running out. Instead, his sister reached out and held his hand. Children, Alistair thought. It's down to just me and a bunch of children. He'd begun to think that he really wasn't very good around kids. Especially after all three of the Starling triplets had vanished from Stratford without even saying good-bye. And Amy and Dan— could they really be Madrigals? Was it possible? What else might be possible? Chill, Jonah told himself. Be cool.

我是一个人，汉密尔顿想。 我失去了我的家人。我失去了我的团队。 除了丹和艾米。如果它们是牧歌，它们还算数吗？ “娜塔莉?”伊恩在黑暗中喊道。 他知道她在他身后。 他原以为会听到她抱怨：电梯里的拥挤把她的名牌衣服弄皱了，海上的空气对她的头发有多糟糕，他们的时间不多了。 相反，他的妹妹伸出手握着他的手。 孩子们，阿利斯泰尔想。 只剩下我和一群孩子了。 他开始觉得自己真的不太擅长和孩子相处。 尤其是在斯特拉特福德的三个斯特林三胞胎连再见都没说就消失了之后。 还有艾米和丹，他们真的会是牧歌吗？ 这可能吗？还有什么可能呢？ 冷静，约拿对自己说。 很酷。

He tightened his grip on the backpack he'd brought, stuffed with his Clues. He knew he couldn't panic now. Not if he was going to show Mom he could win on his own. Just think of the others as an audience, he told himself. But audiences were all about love. All he could feel in this elevator was hate. The elevator stopped. The door opened. They were back at the top of the cliff.

他紧紧抓住他带来的背包，里面塞满了他的线索。 他知道他现在不能惊慌了。 如果他想让妈妈知道他能靠自己赢就不行。 他告诉自己，只要把其他人当成观众就行了。 但观众都是爱。 他在电梯里感受到的只有仇恨。 电梯停了下来。门开了。 他们回到了悬崖顶上。