Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 Nellie Gomez had never been a cat person. And that was before she'd become chief caregiver to an Egyptian Mau on a food-free diet. She switched off her iPod and regarded Saladin with concern. She had expected that the cat would be eating by now. But apparently, Saladin was tougher than he looked. She'd heard stories of Grace Cahill's monumental strength of character. Obviously, Amy and Dan's grandmother had managed to instill that trait in her pet. Even more worrisome, Saladin was scratching compulsively around his neck and ears. She picked him up. "What's the matter, sweetie? Have you got fleas?" She thought about fleas for a second and put the cat down swiftly. Nellie was game to put college on hold and take two kids on an around-the-world high-stakes treasure hunt. But she

第四章内莉·戈麦斯从来不是个爱猫的人。 那是在她成为一个不吃东西的埃及Mau的主要照顾者之前。 她关掉iPod，关切地看着萨拉丁。 她原以为猫这会儿已经在吃东西了。 但很显然，萨拉丁比他看起来要坚强。 她听说过格蕾丝·卡荷尔性格坚毅的故事。 显然，艾米和丹的祖母已经成功地把这种特质灌输给了她的宠物。 更让人担心的是，萨拉丁不由自主地搔着脖子和耳朵。 她把他抱起来。“怎么了，亲爱的？” 你身上有跳蚤吗？”她想了想跳蚤，赶紧把猫放下。 内莉决定暂时搁置大学学业，带着两个孩子环游世界，进行高风险的寻宝活动。 但她

didn't do bugs. There was the sound of a key in the lock, and Amy and Dan came in, feet dragging. "Uh-oh," said Nellie. "Rough morning?" "Oh, it was a blast," Dan replied sarcastically. "Picture a million-year-old house with no video games, and when you finally find a book to look at, it's not even there. What a bunch of idiots! They practically called out the army because of a diary that was probably eaten by termites a century ago." "Termites eat wood, not paper," Amy reminded him, too tired and discouraged to work up a good argument. She hefted a bag. "Anyway, we brought lunch." Nellie stared. "Burger King? We're in Austria, land of schnitzel, sauerbraten, white asparagus, and the greatest pastry in the world, and you bought American fast food? I'd expect it from Dan, but you, Amy?" Dan took a burger, turned on the TV, and flopped on the couch. "White asparagus! Green wasn't gross enough. Soggy cigars, man."

没有做虫子。钥匙插锁的声音响起，艾米和丹拖着脚走了进来。 “哦哦，”耐莉说。“早上粗糙?”“哦，太棒了，”丹讽刺地回答。 “想象一下，一栋有一百万年历史的房子里没有电子游戏，当你终于找到一本书看的时候，它甚至都不在那里。 真是一群白痴！因为一本可能在一个世纪前被白蚁吃掉的日记，他们几乎叫来了军队。” “白蚁吃木头，不吃纸，”艾米提醒他，她太累了，也很沮丧，无法和他好好争辩。 她提着一个袋子。“不管怎样，我们带了午餐。” 内莉盯着。“汉堡王吗? 我们在奥地利，这里有炸肉排，酸菜，白芦笋，还有世界上最好吃的糕点，而你却买了美国快餐？ 我以为丹会这么做，但你呢，艾米？”丹拿了一个汉堡，打开电视，扑通一声躺在沙发上。 “白芦笋!绿色还不够恶心。 湿透了的雪茄，伙计。”

The monitor brightened. The image crackled and sharpened. Three jaws dropped. Larger than life at the center of the screen was an attractive teenager, resplendent in the latest hip-hop fashion. Smiling with all thirty-two gleaming white teeth, he was holding a press conference, and the gaggle of reporters and throng of adoring fans were lapping it up. The teen was completely comfortable with his fame, and why not? He had the top-rated reality TV show in the world, the number-one single on the pop charts, a bestselling clothing line, a series of popular children's books, action figures, souvenir steak knives, and even his own Pez dispenser. His name was Jonah Wizard: international star and mogul, Cahill cousin, rival in the search for the 39 Clues. "Jonah!" Amy exclaimed, her brow furrowed with worry. It unnerved her to think of their competition. The others seemed to have so much going for them — fame, brawn, experience, training, and lots and lots of money. How could a couple of no-name orphans expect to compete with that? She squinted at the date stamp in the

监视器亮了起来。图像噼里啪啦地变清晰了。 三只下巴掉了下来。在屏幕中央，有一个魅力四射的少年，穿着最新的嘻哈时尚，光彩夺目。 他面带微笑，32颗洁白的牙齿闪闪发光，正在召开新闻发布会，一群叽叽喳喳的记者和成群的崇拜他的粉丝都在鼓掌。 这个少年对自己的名声完全习以为常，为什么不呢？ 他拥有世界上收视率最高的真人秀节目，流行音乐排行榜上排名第一的单曲，最畅销的服装系列，一系列受欢迎的儿童书籍，动作人偶，纪念牛排刀，甚至还有他自己的Pez糖果盒。 他的名字叫乔纳·奇才：国际明星和大亨，卡希尔的表亲，寻找39条线索的对手。 “约拿!”艾米惊叫道，她的眉头因担心而皱了起来。 一想到他们之间的竞争，她就心慌意乱。 其他人似乎有很多优势——名声、肌肉、经验、训练，还有很多很多的钱。 一对没有名字的孤儿怎么能和他们竞争呢？ 她眯着眼看信封上的日期戳

bottom corner of the screen. "This was recorded yesterday! What's he doing in Vienna?" "He's on a promotional tour," supplied Nellie. "The European DVD of Who Wants to Be a Gangsta? comes out this week." "That's just a cover!" Dan exclaimed. "He's here because he knows the next clue is about Mozart. Maybe he found something we missed in Paris." "Or he's working with the Holts," Nellie added. "They must have checked where our train was headed." Amy peered at her famous cousin on TV. Why did that street seem so familiar? Suddenly, she understood. "Dan — it's Domgasse!" Dan stared. "You're right! There's the Mozarthaus a couple of doors down! And look — it's that old librarian, the one who called out the SWAT team over a missing diary!" Nellie frowned at the elderly Austrian woman on the stoop. "Not my idea of the classic hip-hop fan." Amy shrugged. "I suppose anybody would be interested to check out such a big star—" Her

屏幕的底部角落。 “这是昨天录的！”他在维也纳做什么？”“他在做巡回宣传，”内莉说。 《谁想成为黑帮？》的欧洲版DVD 本周出版。”“那只是个幌子！”丹喊道。 “他来这里是因为他知道下一个线索是关于莫扎特的。 也许他发现了我们在巴黎错过的东西。” “或者他在和霍尔特一家合作，”内莉补充道。 “他们一定查过我们的火车开往哪里了。” 艾米在电视上凝视着她有名的表妹。 为什么那条街看起来那么熟悉？ 突然，她明白了。“丹——是多姆加斯！”丹盯着。 “你是对的!隔壁几扇门就有莫扎索夫妇！瞧——是那个老图书管理员，就是那个因为一本丢失的日记而叫来特警队的人！”内莉对站在门廊上的奥地利老妇人皱了皱眉头。 “不是我心目中的经典嘻哈乐迷。” 艾米耸耸肩。“我想任何人都会有兴趣看看这样一个大明星——”她说

breath caught in her throat. "Guys, I've got it! What if it's no accident Jonah picked that spot for his press conference? What if he did it there to create a distraction so he could steal Nannerl's diary from the Mozarthaus?" "That would make sense," Dan mused, "except there he is on-screen, with twenty cameras on him, stealing nothing." Amy shook her head. "When have we ever seen Jonah without his father standing right behind him, talking into two cell phones and making business deals on his BlackBerry? So where's Daddy at this press conference?" Dan clued in. "Jonah held the conference to give his dad the chance to sneak into the Mozarthaus and swipe the diary! Amy, you were right — the diary is important!" "Yeah, and now the enemy has it." "That stinks," Dan agreed. "We were just a day late. Still …" His eyes took on a glitter of inspiration. "They stole it from the museum; why can't we steal it from them?" "Hang on," Nellie burst in. "There's a big

她的喉咙哽住了。 “伙计们，我找到了！”如果乔纳选那个地方开新闻发布会不是偶然呢？ 如果他在那里做这件事是为了分散注意力，这样他就可以从莫扎托斯那里偷走南内尔的日记了呢？”“这就说得通了，”丹若有所思地说，“除了他出现在屏幕上，有20个摄像头盯着他，却什么也没偷。” 艾米摇了摇头。“我们什么时候见过乔纳没有他父亲站在他身后，对着两部手机说话，在他的黑莓手机上谈生意？” 爸爸在新闻发布会上去哪了？”丹插话了。 “乔纳召开这次会议是为了让他爸爸有机会溜进莫扎thaus家偷走日记！”艾米，你说得对——日记很重要！”“是的，现在它在敌人手里了。” “太臭了，”丹同意道。 “我们只是晚了一天。不过……”他的眼睛里闪着灵感的光芒。 “他们从博物馆偷走了它；我们为什么不能从他们那里偷呢？”“等一下，”内莉插嘴说。 “有一个很大的

difference between searching for clues and robbing people. You're not crooks." "But Jonah and his dad are," Dan argued. "If we're going to compete with them, we have to be willing to do what they do." Nellie was unmoved. "As long as I'm your babysitter—" "Au pair!" Dan interjected hotly. "—I'm not going to stand by and let you two switch over to the dark side." "But then we'll lose!" Dan wailed. Amy spoke up, her expression solemn. "As much as I hate to agree with Dan, he's got a point. I know stealing is wrong, but this contest is too huge for us to worry about being the good guys. A chance to influence human history — we could change the whole world!" "It might be a chance to change the world," Nellie amended. "That's what Mr. McIntyre said. He also said trust nobody — and that includes him." Sudden tears filled Amy's eyes and she blinked them back stubbornly. This was too important to

寻找线索和抢劫的区别。 你们不是骗子。”“但约拿和他爸爸是，”丹争辩道。 “如果我们要和他们竞争，我们必须愿意做他们做的事情。” 内莉不为所动。“只要我是你的保姆——”“互惠生！”丹生气地插嘴说。 “我不会袖手旁观，让你们两个转到黑暗面去的。” “那我们就输了！”丹恸哭。 艾米大声说，表情严肃。 他说：“虽然我很不愿意同意丹的观点，但他说得有道理。 我知道偷东西是不对的，但这场比赛太大了我们没必要担心自己是不是好人。 一个影响人类历史的机会——我们可以改变整个世界！”“这可能是一个改变世界的机会，”内莉补充道。 麦金太尔就是这么说的。 他还说不相信任何人，包括他自己。” 艾美突然热泪盈眶，她顽强地眨着眼睛。 这事太重要了