Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14 GGRRROOCCCCK… Ian's knees buckled. The rock outcropping shook the ground, sending a spew of grayish dust that quickly billowed around them. Shielding his eyes, he spotted Amy standing by the figurine, which was now moving toward her. She was in shock, her backpack on the ground by her feet. "Get back!" he shouted. Ian pulled Amy away and threw her to the ground, landing on top of her. Gravel showered over his back, embedding into his hair and landing on the ground like a burst of applause. His second thought was that the shirt would be ruined. And this was the shock of it— that his first thought had not been about the shirt. Or the

第十四章“呜！呜！”伊恩的膝盖一弯。 露出地面的岩石震动了地面，喷出一股灰色的灰尘，迅速在他们周围翻腾。 他捂着眼睛，看见艾米站在小雕像旁边，小雕像正朝她走来。 她惊呆了，背包掉在她脚边的地上。 “退后！”他喊道。伊恩拉开艾米，把她扔到地上，落在她身上。 碎石像雨点一样落在他的背上，扎进他的头发，落在地上，就像一阵掌声。 他的第二个想法是衬衫会毁了。 这就是他的震惊之处——他首先想到的不是那件衬衫。 或者是

coin. Or himself. It had been about her. But that was not part of the plan. She existed for a purpose. She was a tactic, a stepping stone. She was… "Lovely," he said. Amy was staring up at him, petrified, her eyelashes flecked with dust. Ian took her hand, which was knotted into a fist. "Y-y-you don't have to do that," she whispered. "Do what?" Ian asked. "Be sarcastic. Say things like 'lovely.' You saved my life. Th-thank you." "My duty," he replied. He lowered his head and allowed his lips to brush hers. Just a bit. The air was slowly clearing, and the noise had stopped. Ian sat up, letting go of Amy's hand. The carving now jutted diagonally outward a few inches from the rock. Where it had been was now a rectangular opening. A rotten, acrid smell blasted from within. Alistair was the first to stand, dusting off his

硬币。或自己。这是关于她的。 但这不是计划的一部分。 她的存在是有目的的。 她只是个策略，垫脚石。 “真可爱，”他说。 艾米抬头盯着他，呆若木鸡，睫毛上布满了灰尘。 伊恩握住她的手，她的手被打成了拳头。 “你——你——你不必这么做。”她小声说。 “做什么?”伊恩问道。“要讽刺。 说“可爱”之类的话。你救了我的命。 Th-thank你。”“我的职责，”他回答。 他低下头，让他的嘴唇擦过她的嘴唇。 只是一点点。空气慢慢变清了，噪音也停止了。 伊恩坐了起来，放开了艾米的手。 雕刻现在从岩石向外斜伸出几英寸。 原来的地方现在变成了一个长方形的开口。 一股腐烂的、辛辣的气味从里面喷了出来。 阿利斯泰尔第一个站了起来，掸去手上的灰尘

carefully pressed hiking pants. "Hideyoshi's hiding place…" he said in awe. Dan and Natalie were right beside him, coughing and shaking off the dust. Dan recoiled as he tried to peek inside. "Dang, someone forgot to flush." Alistair had found Amy's backpack and was pulling out two battery-operated collapsible Coleman lanterns. Ian helped Amy to her feet. "Do you have the coin?" he asked gently. "We may need it later, to close up the entrance." "Po-pock—" Amy tapped her pocket. "I put it in there when the thing s-started to open…." Alistair handed her a lantern. "You and I will lead, Amy." As she walked on shaky legs into the cavern, Natalie glared at Ian. He winked at her and walked inside. Oh, she of little faith.

精心熨烫的登山裤。 “秀吉的藏身之处……”他敬畏地说。 丹和娜塔莉就在他身边，一边咳嗽一边抖着灰尘。 丹想往里面看，却退缩了。 “该死，有人忘了冲厕所。” 阿利斯泰尔找到了艾米的背包，拿出了两个由电池供电的可折叠科尔曼灯笼。 伊恩扶着艾米站起来。 “你有硬币吗？”他温柔地问。 “我们以后可能会用到它，用来封闭入口。” “噗噗——”艾米敲了敲口袋。 “当东西开始打开的时候，我把它放进去了....” 阿利斯泰尔递给她一盏灯笼。 “你和我来带路，艾米。” 当娜塔莉摇摇晃晃地走进洞穴时，她怒视着伊恩。 他朝她眨了眨眼，走了进去。 哦，她没有信仰。

Focus. All Amy could feel was her lips. The bluish fluorescent lantern light danced off the crags of a domed cavern, the ammonia smell of animal droppings invaded her nostrils. They were in a cave that most likely hadn't been seen by a human being in half an eon, and her shoes were squishing into a carpet of something she'd rather not see. And all she could feel was the tingle in her lips. Everything was happening at once. The coin, the hiding place, the… The what? What exactly had just happened? Ian was walking beside her quietly. She was supposed to hate him. She had hated him. But for the life of her, she could no longer remember why. Despite the surroundings, she felt alert, alive, and unbelievably happy. "Thank you," she said quietly. "For what?" Ian asked. "For giving me that coin back in the alleyway in Tokyo," she said. "If you hadn't done that, this whole thing might not have happened."

的焦点。艾米能感觉到的只有她的嘴唇。 淡蓝色的荧光灯在圆顶洞窟的峭壁上摇曳，动物粪便的氨气味扑鼻而来。 他们在一个洞穴里，很可能已经有半个世纪没有人看到过了，她的鞋子被压成了一层她不想看到的东西。 她所能感觉到的只是嘴唇的刺痛感。 一切都同时发生了。 硬币，藏身处，什么？ 刚才到底发生了什么？ 伊恩静静地走在她身边。 她应该恨他。 她恨他。但无论如何，她再也想不起来为什么了。 尽管周围环境恶劣，她还是感到警觉、充满活力和难以置信的快乐。 “谢谢你，”她平静地说。 “为了什么?”伊恩问道。“感谢你在东京的巷子里给了我那枚硬币，”她说。 “如果你没有那样做，这整件事可能就不会发生。”

Ian nodded. "It was one of the Kabra family's most cherished possessions. There were rumors it was the key to a Tomas clue, but my parents didn't believe it. I had to steal it from them." He shuddered. "I will not like to face my father once he's found out." Amy reached into her pocket and handed him the coin. "I— I couldn't," Ian said. "I promised." "We don't need it anymore," Amy said. "Thank you." Ian took the coin and put it in his pocket. But his eyes were focused upward. "Amy? Do you see something moving up there?" Amy swung her lantern upward, into a shadow that flitted and danced— and then broke away in a shrieking cloud. "DUCK!" Dan cried out as a liquid mass of flying bats chittered overhead. They screamed and flapped, their wingtips flicking Amy's hair like rain as she cowered. Then, like smoke through a chimney flue, they exited through the narrow entrance. "Are you all right?" Ian asked.

伊恩点点头。“这是卡布拉家族最珍贵的财产之一。 有传言说这是托马斯线索的关键，但我父母不相信。 我不得不从他们那里偷来的。” 他战栗。“一旦我父亲发现了，我可不想去见他。” 艾米把手伸进口袋，把硬币递给他。 “我——我不能，”伊恩说。 “我答应。”“我们不再需要它了，”艾米说。 “谢谢你。”伊恩拿起硬币放进口袋里。 但他的目光却集中在上面。 ”艾米吗?你看见上面有东西在动吗？”艾美把提灯向上一挥，变成一团飞舞的影子——然后又化成一片尖叫的云。 “鸭!”丹叫了一声，一群飞行的蝙蝠在头顶上咕咕叫。 它们尖叫着，拍打着翅膀，翅膀尖像雨水一样拍打着艾米的头发，她蜷缩着。 然后，像烟囱里的烟一样，他们从狭窄的入口出去了。 “你没事吧？”伊恩问道。

Amy nodded. "I hate bats." She sat up, swinging her lantern around, allowing the arc to include his face. Just to see it. And that was when Dan yelled again. "Amy, shine that thing over here!" It was the coolest thing he had ever seen. Cooler than the lifetime supply of Wii games he'd almost won in his sixth-grade raffle. Now Alistair and Amy were both racing over, their lanterns illuminating a mammoth pile of objects stacked floor to ceiling. At the top, where the bats had been, a grove of stalactites hung down. They surrounded the pile like an upsidedown picket fence holding it in place. They were swords— a tower of them, arranged neatly in a crisscross pattern. The hilts jutted out, some fancy and jeweled, others dented and dull. They looked like hands, reaching out as if daring someone to pull, which would probably upset the pile like a falling house of cards.

艾米点点头。“我讨厌蝙蝠。” 她坐起来，挥舞着提灯，让弧线遮住他的脸。 只是为了看看。这时丹又喊了起来。 “艾米，把那东西照过来！”这是他见过的最酷的东西。 比他六年级抽奖时差点赢的Wii游戏机还要酷。 现在阿利斯泰尔和艾米都跑了过来，他们的灯笼照亮了一大堆从地板到天花板堆在一起的东西。 在山顶，蝙蝠出没的地方，一丛钟乳石垂下来。 他们围绕着那堆东西，就像一个倒立的尖桩篱笆，把它固定在原地。 它们是剑——一塔剑，整齐地排列成纵横交错的图案。 剑柄突出来，有些很别致，镶着宝石，有些则凹陷而暗淡。 它们看起来像两只手，伸出来，好像有人敢拉，这可能会像倒塌的纸牌屋一样掀翻那堆东西。