Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26 The first thing Hamilton saw was more rock. The back of the elevator led into a huge cave. All right! he thought, staring at another sheer rock wall. Holt skills rule here, too! Get out the climbing gear! But then, in the dim light filtering in from outside, Hamilton saw that there were also stairs leading down in a spiral along the wall. Hamilton considered running ahead of everyone else. He was stronger, he was faster—surely he could beat everyone else to the prize. But how would Hamilton get the prize back out past the others without his family's help? With Amy and Dan? Hamilton wondered. With Madrigals? He glanced at the two siblings, who were already pulling out flashlights and moving toward the stairs. Dan had a streak of dirt across his

第二十六章汉密尔顿首先看到的是更多的岩石。 电梯的后部通向一个巨大的洞穴。 好吧!他想，眼睛盯着另一堵陡峭的岩壁。 霍尔特技能在这里也很重要！拿出攀岩装备！但就在这时，在外面透进来的昏暗光线中，汉密尔顿看到还有楼梯沿着墙呈螺旋形向下延伸。 汉密尔顿考虑过跑在其他人前面。 他更强壮，他更快——他肯定能打败其他所有人获得奖品。 但如果没有家人的帮助，汉密尔顿怎么能超过其他人把奖品拿回来呢？ 艾米和丹？汉密尔顿很好奇。 牧歌的吗?他瞥了一眼兄妹俩，他们已经拿出手电筒朝楼梯走去。 丹的眼睛上有一道污迹

cheek, and his right eye looked a little swollen where Hamilton's own father had hit him. Amy was nervously twisting a lock of hair around her finger. They didn't look like evil Madrigals. They looked as innocent as Bambi. As the Easter Bunny. As— Hamilton's childhood hadn't exposed him to many stories about cute, cuddly, innocent creatures, so he couldn't think of the right example. But it didn't matter. Even if Amy and Dan weren't evil, they also weren't strong enough to fend off all the others if there was a fight for the prize. For that, Hamilton needed someone with muscles. Hamilton needed his family. "Coming, Ham?" Dan asked hopefully, as if trying to find out, Are we still on the same team? He and Amy were at the top of the stairs, right behind Jonah, Ian, and Natalie. "Um," Hamilton said. "Just a minute." He glanced over his shoulder, back toward the outdoors. "Why don't you go out and see if your family's

他的右眼看上去有点肿，那是汉密尔顿自己的父亲打过他的地方。 艾米紧张地把一绺头发缠在手指上。 他们看起来不像邪恶的牧歌。 他们看起来像小鹿斑比一样无辜。 作为复活节兔子。由于汉密尔顿的童年没有让他接触到很多关于可爱、可爱、天真的动物的故事，所以他想不出合适的例子。 但这并不重要。即使艾米和丹不邪恶，他们也没有足够的力量抵挡所有其他的人，如果有争夺奖品的战斗。 为此，汉密尔顿需要一个有肌肉的人。 汉密尔顿需要他的家人。 “来了,火腿?”丹满怀希望地问道，好像想弄清楚，我们还在同一个团队吗？ 他和艾米站在楼梯顶上，就在乔纳、伊恩和娜塔莉后面。 “嗯，”汉密尔顿说。“等一下。” 他回头看了看外面。 “你为什么不出去看看你的家人。

getting close, climbing up the cliff on the other side of the elevator?" Alistair suggested, right at Hamilton's elbow. "If I do that, you'll find some way to close the door on me!" Hamilton protested. "No, no, I would never do anything that underhanded," Alistair said, flashing Hamilton a completely untrustworthy smile. Hamilton saw that Alistair already had his hand over something on the wall beside the elevator— another button? He's playing mind games with me, Hamilton thought. If he can't lock me outside, he wants to get me mad enough that I run ahead. And then, when I'm not watching, he'll shut the door and lock out my family. Even in sports, Hamilton hated mind games. But he kept his mouth shut and waited for Alistair to give up on his plan and start walking down the stairs. Alistair didn't move. Hamilton didn't move. Alistair didn't move.

靠近了，爬上电梯另一边的悬崖？”阿利斯泰尔建议，就在汉密尔顿的手肘旁。 “如果我那样做了，你就会想办法把我关在门外！”汉密尔顿提出抗议。 “不，不，我永远不会做那种卑鄙的事情，”阿利斯泰尔说，向汉密尔顿露出一个完全不值得信任的微笑。 汉密尔顿看到阿利斯泰尔的手已经摸到了电梯旁边墙上的什么东西——另一个按钮？ 他在跟我玩心理战，汉密尔顿想。 如果他不能把我锁在外面，他就想把我气疯，让我跑到前面去。 然后，在我不注意的时候，他会关上门，把我的家人锁在外面。 即使在体育运动中，汉密尔顿也讨厌心理游戏。 但他守口如瓶，等着阿利斯泰尔放弃他的计划，走下楼梯。 阿利斯泰尔没有动。汉密尔顿没有动。 阿利斯泰尔没有动。

Now Ian, Natalie, Amy, Dan, and Jonah were all far ahead of them on the stairs. For all Hamilton knew, they might already be claiming the prize. Think! Hamilton told himself. You can't always just out-muscle everyone! And then Hamilton got an idea. He dropped down low, muttering about needing to brush mud off his shoes. It was dim down near the floor. While he was crouched over, he strung together a couple of carabiner clips from his climbing kit and jammed them in the doorway of the elevator. So even if the door closed, it wouldn't close all the way. Then— and Hamilton thought this was the brilliant part—he stood up and waited a few more minutes. "Okay, guess I'll catch up with the others," Hamilton said nonchalantly. He strapped on his climbing kit and began descending the stairs, into the darkness. Once he was out of Alistair's sight, he stopped to switch on a flashlight and double-check to make sure his

现在，伊恩、娜塔莉、艾米、丹和乔纳在楼梯上远远领先他们。 据汉密尔顿所知，他们可能已经在领奖了。 的想法!汉密尔顿对自己说。 你不可能总是比所有人都强壮！然后汉密尔顿有了一个主意。 他倒在地上，嘟囔着要把鞋上的泥擦掉。 靠近地板的地方光线昏暗。 当他蹲下来的时候，他从登山包里拿了几个钩环夹在一起，把它们卡在电梯门口。 所以即使门关上了，它也不会完全关上。 然后——汉密尔顿认为这是最精彩的部分——他站起来又等了几分钟。 “好吧，我想我会赶上其他人的，”汉密尔顿若无其事地说。 他系好登山装备，开始下楼梯，消失在黑暗中。 离开阿利斯泰尔的视线后，他停下来打开手电筒，再次确认他的

jacket pockets still contained eleven small silver tubes— samples of each of the Clues the Holts had found. We'll need them if this really is the end of the clue hunt, Hamilton thought. Won't we? He was still thinking "we," not "I." They'll come! He assured himself. My family will be here soon! He listened hard as he began moving forward again. He'd only taken a few steps when he heard a whirring and then a click behind him. And then Alistair's uneven footsteps sounded on the stairs. The click has to mean the carabiner clips worked, Hamilton thought. He let Alistair pass him. He kept listening for another whirring sound that would mean his family had gotten in. There! Was that it? Hamilton wondered. Or— that? It was so hard keeping an eye on the others while also hanging back, listening for some proof that his family was right behind him.

夹克口袋里仍然装着11个小银管——这是霍尔特夫妇发现的每一种线索的样本。 汉密尔顿想，如果这真的是线索搜寻的终点，我们将需要它们。 不会吗?他还在想“我们”，而不是“我”。 他们会来!他安慰自己。 我的家人很快就要来了！他认真地听着，又开始往前走。 他刚走几步，就听到身后一阵呼呼声和咔哒声。 接着，楼梯上传来了阿利斯泰尔不均匀的脚步声。 汉密尔顿想，“咔哒”一声一定意味着锁扣夹起作用了。 他让阿利斯泰尔超过了他。他继续听着，等待着另一声呼呼的声音，那意味着他的家人已经进来了。 在那里!是这样吗？汉密尔顿很好奇。 或者——这?一边盯着其他人，一边又往后退缩，倾听家人就在他身后的证据，这太难了。

Was that a soft footstep? Hamilton wondered. Someone tiptoeing? The Holt family wasn't known for tiptoeing or taking soft footsteps, but the Clue hunt had driven them to do lots of unlikely things. Hamilton tried to think of some way to signal the rest of his family. What would they know that no one else would recognize? Hamilton wondered. Oh, yeah… Hamilton began tapping out the rhythm of the University of Wisconsin fight song on the rock railing that lined the stairs. Jonah shot him a suspicious glance from a few steps below. "You? Trying to make music?" he asked. His eyes narrowed and he gazed around. Just then the first stone hit the back of Hamilton's neck.

那是柔和的脚步声吗？汉密尔顿很好奇。 有人小心翼翼地吗?霍尔特一家并不以踮起脚尖或蹑手蹑脚而闻名，但寻找线索迫使他们做了许多不太可能的事情。 汉密尔顿试图想办法向他的家人发出信号。 他们知道什么别人不会知道的东西？ 汉密尔顿很好奇。汉密尔顿开始在楼梯上的岩石栏杆上敲出威斯康星大学战斗歌曲的节奏。 约拿从下面几步远的地方怀疑地瞥了他一眼。 “你?想做音乐吗？”他问。 他眯起眼睛环顾四周。 就在这时，第一块石头击中了汉密尔顿的后颈。