Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15 A panel of wall swept back to reveal a Plexiglas chamber filled with water. With a loud thrumming noise, the water was sucked away. An airtight hatch hissed open. There was no hesitation. This might be a trap, and a deadly one at that. But with enemies coming at them from both sides, it looked like escape. Dan in the lead, they scrambled up a metal ladder. He was mystified. "Where did all this water come from?" "You're in Venice, dweeb!" Amy's arms and legs worked like pistons. "The canals, remember? Keep climbing!" "Look—" he exclaimed. "Daylight!" The late afternoon sun shone down through the grill of a sewer grating. Amy knew a brief moment

一扇墙板向后一扫，露出一个装满水的有机玻璃房间。 随着砰的一声巨响，水被吸走了。 一个密封的舱门发出嘶嘶声打开了。 没有任何犹豫。这可能是个陷阱，而且是致命的陷阱。 但由于敌人从两边向他们扑来，他们看起来像是在逃跑。 在丹的带领下，他们爬上了一个金属梯子。 他感到迷惑不解。“这些水是从哪里来的？”“你在威尼斯，笨蛋！”艾米的胳膊和腿像活塞一样转动着。 “运河，记得吗？”继续攀升!”“看——”他叫道。 “日光!”傍晚时分的阳光透过下水道栅栏的格栅照了下来。 艾美愣了一会儿

of panic. Manhole covers were iron and weighed hundreds of pounds. What if they were trapped? Her fear disappeared as Dan easily flipped the grating aside. "Plastic!" he chortled. He scrambled out of the shaft and pulled his sister up beside him. They took stock of their surroundings. They were on a narrow stone dock along one of Venice's famous canals. Dan looked around in amazement. "Whoa — it's like the road is the water! And people drive boats instead of cars!" Amy nodded. "Some Venetians hardly ever set foot on the street. They can get everywhere they need to go on the canals." Their tourist moment was cut short when they heard the echo of a shoe on the metal ladder, and Jonah's voice called, "This way!" They fled down a narrow walkway that joined their dock to another one. "Whoa!" Dan pulled up short and just in time. The path ended abruptly. He had nearly given himself — and Nannerl Mozart's diary pages — an

的恐慌。井盖是铁的，重达数百磅。 如果他们被困住了呢？ 她的恐惧消失了，丹轻而易举地把铁栅栏拨开。 “塑料！”他笑着说。他爬出竖井，把妹妹拉到身边。 他们评估了周围的环境。 他们在威尼斯一条著名运河旁的一个狭窄的石头码头上。 丹惊奇地环顾四周。 “哇——就像路就是水一样！”而且人们开的是船而不是车！”艾米点点头。 “有些威尼斯人几乎从不上街。 他们可以通过运河到达任何他们需要去的地方。” 当他们听到金属梯子上的鞋子发出的回声，约拿的声音喊道：“这边走！”他们沿着一条狭窄的走道逃跑，这条走道连接着他们的码头和另一个码头。 “哇!”丹突然停了下来，正好及时。 小路突然结束了。他几乎把自己和莫扎特的日记都给毁了

unexpected bath in dirty canal water. "What are we going to do?" Amy squeaked. They watched as a motor launch pulled alongside the small pier they were standing on and tied up to a pylon. A young woman jumped out and ran into the row house that abutted the dock. She was obviously on a quick errand because she left the keys in the ignition and the motor idling. Amy took in the inspired look on her brother's face. "That's stealing!" Dan was already stepping into the boat. "It's borrowing, and it's an emergency!" He pulled his sister aboard, steadying the two of them as the small craft pitched under their weight. "Hang on!" he ordered, and brought the throttle forward. With a deafening roar, the launch churned about eighteen inches from the dock and lurched to a stop, unmuffled engine protesting. "You forgot to untie the rope!" Amy stooped to release the mooring line, and they plowed into the narrow waterway. Behind them, the fake manhole cover flipped

意想不到的在脏水里洗澡。 “我们该怎么办？”艾米发出“吱吱”的响声。 他们看着一艘摩托艇停在他们所在的小码头旁边，并被拴在一个塔架上。 一个年轻女子跳了出来，跑进了紧邻码头的排屋。 她显然是急着去办事，因为她把钥匙留在点火装置上，发动机也空转着。 艾米注意到她哥哥脸上受到启发的表情。 “这是偷窃!”丹已经跨上了船。 “这是借款，而且是紧急情况！”他把妹妹拉上了船，在小船被他们的重量压得倾斜时，把他们俩稳住。 “抓紧！”他命令道，把油门往前拉。 随着震耳欲聋的轰鸣声，汽艇在离船坞大约18英寸的地方颠簸着停了下来，没有消声器的发动机发出了抗议。 “你忘了解开绳子！”艾美弯下腰松开系缆，他们开进了狭窄的水道。 在他们身后，假井盖掀开了

open again, and out climbed Jonah, his father, and the man with the ponytail. They ran to another dock and jumped into a motorboat. Several Janus were hot on their heels. Two more craft took to the murky waters. Dan accelerated, steering toward the closest thing the canal had to a passing lane. Slender gondolas bobbed like corks in their wake. Gondoliers shook their fists and cursed. "Dan, this is crazy!" Amy quavered. "You can't drive a boat!" "Says who? It's no different from Xbox!" Wham! The port-side rubber bumper at the launch's bow slammed into the end of an ancient cobblestone wharf. The small craft spun like a top, pitching Amy to the deck. Only an iron grip on the wheel saved Dan from a similar spill. He hung on for dear life. "Okay, scratch Xbox — think bumper cars! I rock at those! Remember the carnival?" His sister was on her hands and knees, clinging to the gunwale. "Forget the carnival! Get us out of here!"

门又打开了，约拿、他的父亲和那个扎马尾的人都爬了出来。 他们跑到另一个码头，跳上了一艘摩托艇。 几个双子星紧追不舍。 又有两艘船驶进了浑浊的水域。 丹加速了，转向运河上最接近过往车道的地方。 细长的贡多拉像软木塞一样在他们身后晃动。 船夫们挥舞着拳头咒骂着。 “丹，这太疯狂了！”艾米可怜巴巴地说。 “你不会开船！”“谁说的? 这和Xbox没什么区别！”哇!船首左舷的橡胶保险杠撞到了一个古老的鹅卵石码头的末端。 小船像陀螺一样旋转着，把艾米抛到甲板上。 只有他牢牢地抓住方向盘，丹才免于类似的事故。 他拼命地坚持着。“好吧，撇开Xbox，想想碰碰车吧！我喜欢那种！还记得那次狂欢节吗？”他的妹妹趴在地上，紧紧抓住船舷。 “忘掉狂欢节吧！”让我们离开这里！”

He followed her gaze. It was the Janus — gaining on them. The Wizards were in the lead, weaving between slow-moving gondolas. Dan took a tight corner too wide. With a crunch, the launch bounced off a moored skiff and ricocheted into the middle of the canal. Amy was terrified. "You're going to drown us both!" "You want me to stop and give the Wizards a chance to do it?" he shot back. Dead ahead, the passage split off in three directions. The leftmost path was skinny, jagged, and inhospitable. Perhaps the Janus would avoid it. Dan headed for it. "Am I ever glad those old- time Venice guys put in these canals!" "I don't think anyone built the canals," Amy panted. "Venice is really a bunch of tiny islands so close together that the space between them forms waterways." "Yeah, well, they rule. I just wish this dumb boat would go faster." Amy glanced nervously astern. "Maybe we've

他注视着她的目光。是两面神在追上他们。 奇才队领先，在缓慢移动的贡多拉之间穿梭。 丹把一个死角拍得太宽了。 随着“嘎吱”的一声，汽艇从一艘停泊的小船上弹回，弹回了运河中央。 艾米吓坏了。“你会把我们俩都淹死的！”“你想让我停下来，给奇才一个机会？”他反问道。 正前方，这条通道分成了三个方向。 最左边的那条路很窄，参差不齐，不适合居住。 也许Janus会避开它。 丹朝它走去。“那些旧时代的威尼斯人修了这些运河，我真高兴！”“我不认为运河是谁建的，”艾米喘着气说。 “威尼斯实际上是一群小岛，它们之间的空间紧密相连，形成了水道。” “是啊，他们说了算。我只希望这只笨船能开得快一点。” 艾米紧张地向后瞥了一眼。 “也许我们

lost them." Her brother was skeptical. "Not for long. Listen, if Jonah catches us, those diary pages had better not be here. We've got to ditch them." "Ditch them?" Amy echoed. "We nearly got killed breaking them out of the stronghold!" "That's why we have to stash them in a very safe place. Then we can wait till the heat's off and come back for them." She was nervous. "We don't know Venice! If we hide those pages, we might never find them again!" "All the more reason we have to find a place that's impossible to forget." "Like what?" "Like that." They passed under a low street-level bridge by a modest church — San Luca. A small pleasure craft was moored there, partially concealed underneath the span. The name was painted on the stern: Royal Saladin. He cut the motor, allowing the launch to glide

失去了他们。”她的哥哥对此表示怀疑。 “不会太久。听着，如果约拿抓住我们，那些日记最好不在这里。 我们必须抛弃他们。”“抛弃他们吗?”艾米回荡。 “我们把他们赶出堡垒时差点丧命！”“这就是为什么我们必须把它们藏在一个非常安全的地方。 然后我们可以等到天气停了再回来找他们。” 她很紧张。“我们不了解威尼斯！”如果我们把那些书页藏起来，我们可能再也找不到它们了！”“所以我们更要找一个让人无法忘记的地方。” “像什么?”“这样。”他们经过一座低矮的桥下，旁边是一座朴素的教堂——圣卢卡教堂。 一艘小型游艇停泊在那里，部分隐藏在跨度下面。 船尾写着“皇家萨拉丁”的名字。 他切断了马达，让快艇滑行