Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14 Dan went white to the ears. He turned to his sister and mouthed, "Jonah!" Amy dragged him behind the Mozart family's harpsichord. There they cowered, barely daring to breathe. "It is impressive," agreed another voice, this one with an Italian accent. "Clearly, the Janus name made a greater contribution to the arts than any family in human history." "We got it going on," Jonah drawled. "Here's a piece that will be of special interest to an American," the man told Jonah. "Perhaps the most widely copied picture of all time — the portrait of your first president, George Washington, printed on every US dollar bill for more than a century. Painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1796. His great-grandmother was born Gertrude

第十四章丹的脸都白了。 他转身对他妹妹说：“约拿！”艾米把他拉到莫扎特家的羽管键琴后面。 他们蜷缩在那里，几乎不敢呼吸。 “令人印象深刻，”另一个声音附和道，这个声音带有意大利口音。 “很明显，雅努斯家族对艺术的贡献比人类历史上任何家族都要大。” “我们已经开始了，”乔纳慢吞吞地说。 “这里有一件美国人会特别感兴趣的东西，”那人告诉约拿。 “也许是有史以来被复制最多的照片——美国第一任总统乔治·华盛顿的肖像，一个多世纪以来，它一直印在每一张美元钞票上。 由吉尔伯特·斯图尔特于1796年绘制。 他的曾祖母原名格特鲁德

Cahill." "Tight," said Jonah. "But I thought that picture was in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston." The host's voice radiated deep distaste. "That is just the rough draft. Most of the canvas is left blank. This piece is — what do you Americans call it?" "The real deal?" Jonah suggested. "Esattamente. Most Janus artists reserve their very best for us. Remind me to show you Van Gogh's finished 'Starry Night.' The lunar eclipse is spectacular. Now if you'll follow me …" Amy peeked around the side of the harpsichord. She could see Jonah and his father escorted by a tall, thin man with jet-black hair tied in a ponytail. They stopped at the glass case with the missing diary pages. "This is, I believe, what you came for," Ponytail announced. "From the journal of Maria Anna Mozart." Amy and Dan exchanged a stricken look. Had they come so far only to watch Jonah Wizard snatch their prize from right under their noses?

卡希尔。”“紧，”约拿说。 “但我以为那幅画在波士顿的美术博物馆里。” 主人的声音流露出深深的厌恶。 “这只是个草稿。 画布的大部分是空白的。 这幅画是——你们美国人怎么称呼它？”“真的吗？”约拿。 “Esattamente。大多数Janus艺术家为我们保留了他们最好的东西。 提醒我给你看梵高完成的《星空》。这次月食很壮观。 现在请跟我来……”艾米从拨弦键琴的侧面偷看了一眼。 她看见约拿和他的父亲被一个又高又瘦、乌黑的头发扎成马尾的男人护送着。 他们在装着丢失的日记页的玻璃柜前停了下来。 “我相信这就是你来找我的原因。”马尾辫宣布。 “出自玛丽亚·安娜·莫扎特的日记” 艾米和丹交换了一个痛苦的眼神。 难道他们跑了这么远，就是为了看着巫师约拿从他们眼皮底下抢走他们的战利品吗？

Jonah regarded the retinal scanner. "Serious security. These papers must be all that." The host was apologetic. "In truth, we are not certain why these particular pages are so valuable. But over the centuries, they have been the object of much warring between the branches. It was only prudent to take precautions." Jonah's father spoke up. "Jonah doesn't do retinal scans. His eyes are insured with Lloyd's of London for eleven million dollars." He tapped his BlackBerry in annoyance. "No signal down here." "Chill, Pops. One time won't hurt." Jonah placed his chin in the holder and stared into the light. There was a beep, and a computerized voice announced, "Confirmation complete — Wizard, Jonah; mother: Cora Wizard, member, Janus high council; father: Broderick T. Wizard, non-Cahill, limited Janus authorization." Mr. Wizard scowled. He was obviously not pleased to be a second-class citizen in Janus-land. Ponytail put on latex gloves and handed a pair to Jonah. Then he slid open a door in the bulletproof glass, removed the Nannerl pages, and

乔纳注视着视网膜扫描仪。 “严重的安全。这些文件一定就是一切。” 主持人很抱歉。“事实上，我们不确定为什么这些特定的页面如此有价值。 但几个世纪以来，它们一直是两个分支之间多次交战的对象。 只有采取预防措施才是明智的。” 约拿的父亲大声说：“乔纳不做视网膜扫描。 他的眼睛在伦敦劳埃德保险公司投保了一千一百万美元。” 他恼怒地轻敲自己的黑莓手机。 “这里没有信号。”“寒意,持久性有机污染物。 一次也无妨。”约拿把下巴放在架子上，盯着灯光。 哔的一声，一个电脑化的声音宣布：“确认完成——巫师，约拿；母亲：科拉巫师，雅努斯高级委员会成员；父亲：布罗德里克？ 巫师，非卡希尔人，有限的雅努斯授权。” 巫师先生皱起了眉头。他显然不愿意在两面神的土地上做二等公民。 马尾辫戴上乳胶手套，递给乔纳一副。 然后他打开了防弹玻璃上的一扇门，拿走了那几页纸，然后

presented them to the young celebrity. "You'll review them in our office, of course. Naturally, we can't allow them to leave the stronghold." "I'm sure my wife will be interested to know how you run this place like an armed camp," Mr. Wizard grumbled, "even for her own son." "Your wife," the guide sniffed haughtily, "designed our security protocols personally." "It's fine, Dad," Jonah soothed. "Mom's down with it, and so am I." The trio left the Mozart room. Amy leaped up to follow, but Dan put an iron grip on her arm. "What are you going to do?" he hissed. "Mug Jonah Wizard in the middle of Janus headquarters?" "We can't let him go!" she retorted. "We might as well just hand him the whole contest!" "Getting yourself caught isn't going to change that!" her brother insisted. "This is his turf! We'd have to fight a gang of crazy artists who'd rip our heads off for those three pages because they love these dumb museum pieces more than life itself!" She looked startled and then determined.

把它们送给年轻的名人。 “当然，你会在我们的办公室里复习。 当然，我们不能让他们离开要塞。” “我敢肯定，我妻子会有兴趣知道你是如何把这个地方管理得像个武装营地一样的，”巫师先生抱怨道，“即使是为了她自己的儿子。” “你的妻子，”导游傲慢地嗤之以鼻，“亲自设计了我们的安全协议。” “没事的，爸爸，”乔纳安慰道。 “妈妈很失望，我也一样。” 三人组离开了莫扎特的房间。 艾米跳起来跟在后面，但丹紧紧抓住她的胳膊。 “你打算怎么办？”他嘶嘶地说。 “傻瓜约拿巫师出现在雅努斯总部的中央？”“我们不能让他走！”她反驳道。 “我们还不如把整个比赛都交给他！”“就算你被抓住也改变不了这一点！”她哥哥坚持说。 “这是他的地盘！”我们必须和一群疯狂的艺术家战斗，他们会为了这三页纸而把我们的头扯下来，因为他们爱这些愚蠢的博物馆藏品胜过爱生活本身！”她看上去很吃惊，然后又下定了决心。

"You're right! They'll do anything to protect their artwork! Come on!" She ran into the hall. Dan followed, confused, but ready for action. Ahead of them, the Wizards and their host stepped into the atrium, pausing to observe the squirt painters and their spinning wheel. In another moment, they'd be lost in the crowd. It was now or never. Amy dashed past Jonah, leaped onto the stage, and snatched a tube of liquid red from a bewildered artist. Jonah pointed. "Hey, isn't that —?" Before he could finish the question, Amy jumped down again. In a few seconds she'd be the center of attention, but her fear of crowds was the last thing on her mind. Every fiber of her being was focused on what she had to do. Ponytail turned on her. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" Amy ran to the legendary portrait of George Washington. "Freeze!" she ordered, pointing the paint at the picture on the wall. "One more step

“你是对的!他们会不惜一切保护自己的作品！来吧!”她跑进了大厅。 丹跟在后面，很困惑，但准备好了行动。 在他们前面，奇才队和他们的主人走进中庭，停下来观察喷水画家和他们的纺车。 再过一会儿，他们就会消失在人群中。 机不可失，时不再来。艾米从乔纳身边冲过去，跳上舞台，从一个不知所措的艺术家手里抢过一管红色液体。 约拿。“嘿，那不是——？”他还没来得及说完问题，艾米又跳了下去。 再过几秒钟，她就会成为大家关注的焦点，但她对人群的恐惧是她脑子里最后一件事。 她的每一根纤维都集中在她必须做的事情上。 马尾辫对着她。“你是谁？” 你是怎么进来的？”艾米跑到传说中的乔治·华盛顿画像前。 “不许动！”她命令道，用颜料指着墙上的画。 再走一步

and George gets it!" Ponytail's eyes widened in horror. "You wouldn't dare!" "Are you kidding?" piped up Dan. "That's my sister! She's on the edge!" Jonah slipped the diary pages inside his jacket. "What do you Cahills want?" "Those papers you're trying to hide," Amy told him. "Hand them over." "They're nothing!" Jonah babbled, unable to believe that Amy and Dan had outmaneuvered him here, in his own branch's stronghold. "Just garbage, yo. I was looking for a trash can—" "Cough them up, Wizard," Dan snarled. "Forget it." Amy brandished the paint tube an inch from the first president's face. "I'm not afraid to use this!" "You're bluffing!" Jonah accused. But behind his bravado, his confidence was weakening, cracks forming in the legendary Wizard attitude. "Slime him, sis," Dan urged. "Make him a

乔治得到了！”马尾辫惊恐地瞪大了眼睛。 “你不敢！”“你在开玩笑吗？”丹尖声说。 “那是我妹妹！”她快崩溃了！”约拿把日记本塞进夹克里。 “你们卡希尔家有什么事？”“你想藏起来的那些文件，”艾米告诉他。 “给我。”“他们没有!”乔纳胡言乱语，不敢相信艾米和丹在他自己分支的大本营比他高明。 “就是垃圾，你。我在找垃圾桶——”“把它们吐出来，巫师。”丹咆哮道。 “算了吧。”艾米在离第一任总统的脸一英寸的地方挥舞着油漆管。 “我不怕用这个！”“你是虚张声势!”约拿被指控。 但在他虚张声势的背后，他的信心正在减弱，传奇巫师的态度出现了裂痕。 “给他涂点黏液，姐姐。”丹催促道。 “让他成为一个