Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16 Amy's eyes were riveted astern where, she knew, Jonah and the Janus would appear any second now. At the last possible instant, Dan let up on the gas. The launch floated into the shadow of the yacht just as Jonah's boat burst into the open. Standing on the bow, the young star surveyed the Grand Canal in both directions. The Cahills were nowhere to be seen. His father shut his cell phone in disgust. "I've tried all our contacts at the Venice radio stations. Nobody has a traffic copter in the air right now." "Their craft is slow," put in Ponytail. "They cannot be far." Jonah nodded. "We'll split up, yo. We'll head under the bridge and check out that direction. Tell the others to go the opposite way."

第十六章艾美的眼睛死死盯在船尾，她知道，约拿和“雅努斯号”随时都会出现在那里。 在最后一刻，丹松开了油门。 小艇飘进了游艇的阴影里，就在这时，约拿的小艇突然露出了水面。 这位年轻的明星站在船头，从两个方向打量着大运河。 卡希尔一家不见了。 他父亲厌恶地关上了手机。 “我试过了我们在威尼斯广播电台的所有联系人。 现在空中没有交通直升机。” “他们的速度很慢，”马尾辫插嘴说。 “他们不会远的。”约拿点了点头。 “我们分开吧，你。我们去桥下看看那个方向。 告诉其他人走相反的路。”

Ponytail shouted the instructions to their Janus colleagues, and the two boats raced for the bend in the waterway that led to the Bay of San Marco. Then he put their motor in gear and roared through the stone arches beneath the Rialto Bridge. An eye peered over the gunwale of the launch and watched Jonah and company disappear in the distance. "They're gone," Amy whispered. "What now?" Dan popped up beside her. "I don't know. I honestly wasn't expecting this to work." "Let's get our diary pages and find Nellie," Amy said urgently. "The Janus won't stay away forever." Dan reignited the motor and piloted the launch out from behind the yacht. "I think I'm getting pretty good. I haven't hit anything for, like, ten minutes." "That's the real miracle." The thrum of a powerful engine reached their ears, and the water astern of the luxury craft began to churn.

马尾辫向他们的雅努斯同伴喊着指令，两艘船在通往圣马可湾的水道拐弯处赛跑。 然后，他把马达挂上档，呼啸着穿过里亚托桥下的石拱。 一只眼睛从小艇的舷侧往外一看，看见约拿和他的同伴消失在远处。 “他们走了，”艾米低声说。 “现在?”丹突然出现在她身边。 “我不知道。老实说，我没想到这能成功。” “我们去拿日记，去找内莉，”艾美急切地说。 “雅努斯不会永远远离你。” 丹重新点燃发动机，从游艇后面驾驶快艇驶出。 “我觉得我做得很好。 我大概有十分钟没碰任何东西了。” “这才是真正的奇迹。” 一架强大的发动机的轰鸣声传到了他们的耳朵里，这艘豪华船后面的水开始翻腾起来。

"They're starting up," Amy commented. "Lucky they didn't pull away when the Janus were out there." As the small craft ventured into the center of the canal, the yacht began to move as well, falling into place behind them. The shadow of her pointed bow towered over them. Dan leaned on the throttle. "Better speed up. Those guys could run us over and think they've hit a goldfish." They backtracked along the broad waterway and swerved into the narrower canal that led to the moored Royal Saladin, where they'd stashed the Nannerl pages. "Dan — look!" The Cahills watched in bewilderment as the high-tech yacht maneuvered expertly into the smaller channel. "Why would anybody drive a big boat like that into a tiny little trickle?" asked Amy in consternation. "He could get stuck." "Only one reason," Dan said grimly. "He's following us."

“他们正在启动，”艾米评论道。 “幸运的是，当两面神在那里时，他们没有离开。” 当小船冒险进入运河中心时，游艇也开始移动，落在他们身后的地方。 她那尖弓的影子高耸在他们上方。 丹靠在油门上。 “最好加快速度。那些家伙会从我们身上碾过去，还以为撞到了金鱼呢。” 他们沿着宽阔的水道折回，拐进了一条较窄的运河，这条运河通往停泊的皇家萨拉丁号，他们把南奈尔的书页藏在那里。 “丹——看！”卡希尔一家困惑地看着这艘高科技游艇熟练地驶入较小的航道。 “为什么会有人把这么大的船开进一条细流呢？”艾米惊愕地问。 “他可能会被困住。”“只有一个原因，”丹冷酷地说。 “他在跟踪我们。”

"Why? He isn't one of the Janus." "Maybe not, but he's right on our tail." Dan had the throttle at maximum, but the yacht was keeping up easily. There was no doubt that the luxury craft could overtake them at will. The Cahills sailed past the old Church of San Luca and under the tiny bridge where the Royal Saladin was moored. Amy looked astern in trepidation and was surprised to find the yacht well back, coming to a virtual stop in the water. "What are they doing?" Dan wondered. "They had us!" It dawned on Amy first. "They're too tall! The upper deck can't make it under the bridge!" "Yes!" Dan made a rude gesture toward the yacht, which was now reversing up the channel. "In your face, you big doofus!" "We can't get the diary pages now," Amy warned. "Jonah can't see us, but whoever's on the yacht might." Dan didn't let up on the gas. "No problem. We'll just lose this guy and loop around to get our stuff." At top speed, he navigated their craft down

“为什么?他不是两面神。” “也许不是，但他就在我们后面。” 丹把油门开到最大，但游艇很容易跟上。 毫无疑问，豪华游艇可以随意追上他们。 卡希尔号驶过圣路加的老教堂，从皇家萨拉丁号停泊的小桥下驶过。 艾美惊恐地向后看了看，惊讶地发现游艇已经停在水里了。 “他们在干什么？”丹奇怪。 “他们抓住了我们！”艾米首先明白了。 “它们太高了！上层甲板无法从桥下通过！”“是的!”丹对游艇做了一个粗鲁的手势，游艇正在逆流而上。 “打在你脸上，你这个大笨蛋！”“我们现在拿不到日记，”艾米警告说。 “乔纳看不到我们，但游艇上的人可能会看到。” 丹没有放松油门。 “没问题。我们会甩掉这个家伙，然后绕着圈去拿我们的东西。” 他以最快的速度驾驶着他们的飞船降落

tributaries far too narrow for a larger boat. "Out of my way, landlubbers! Captain Dan coming through!" The launch lurched as they bounced off a stone dock. "Oops." "I hope you know where we are," Amy put in nervously. "Relax." Dan wheeled the launch along another tight channel, and there ahead of them was the Grand Canal. "Once we hit the main drag, it'll be easy to find the right turnoff for the Royal Saladin." The engine groaned in protest, but Dan showed it no mercy. He pushed the throttle as far as it would go, demanding everything the little motor would offer. The wind in his hair added to his exhilaration. In a few more seconds, they would be on the Grand Canal. "Ha!" he cheered. "It takes more than a million-dollar canoe to outsmart a Cahill!" And suddenly, a wall of shiny metal blocked their way. Where just a second ago the sparkling open waters of the wide channel had beckoned, now the full length of the high-tech yacht moved

支流对大船来说太窄了。 “别挡我的路，懒汉们！”丹船长过来了！”他们在一个石头船坞上弹跳时，船颠簸了一下。 “哦。”“我希望你知道我们在哪里，”艾米紧张地说。 “放松”。丹推着船沿着另一条狭窄的航道前进，在他们前面就是大运河。 “一旦我们进入主干道，就很容易找到皇家萨拉丁的岔路口。” 发动机发出抗议的呻吟声，但丹毫不留情。 他把油门推到最大，要求这台小马达能提供的一切。 风拂过他的头发，使他更加兴奋。 再过几秒钟，他们就在大运河上了。 “哈！”他欢呼道。“价值百万美元的独木舟可比卡希尔家族聪明多了！”突然，一道闪亮的金属墙挡住了他们的去路。 就在一秒钟前，宽阔的海峡上波光粼粼的开阔水域在向你招手，而现在，这艘高科技游艇的整个长度在移动

out into their path. Desperately, Dan threw the launch into reverse, but there was no stopping. The engine screamed and stalled out. The Cahills continued on an arrow-straight collision course. Amy heard someone screaming and recognized her own voice. Dan shut his eyes. It was his only option. The launch rammed into the steel hull and came apart like a balsa wood model. Everything went dark.

进入他们的道路。丹绝望地倒车，但却停不下来。 发动机尖叫着熄火了。 卡希尔号继续沿着笔直的碰撞路线前进。 艾米听到有人尖叫，认出了自己的声音。 丹闭上眼睛。这是他唯一的选择。 发射架撞到了钢制船体上，像一个巴尔沙木模型一样裂开了。 一切都变黑了。