Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18 That night, Amy couldn't sleep. Images collided in her head. Temples and tombs, crocodiles and lions. Ian Kabra's dark eyes and flashing smile. The squeeze of panic she'd felt in the airport as the crowd closed in. Her brother's narrow, intent face, the way he'd pushed through the crowd to get to her. The old couple, the woman looking down into her tote bag. Light glinting on the woman's silver ring. Sleep was dragging her down, and right before she slipped into it, she saw Grace's face smiling at her and saying, Trust people, but keep your money in your sock. Amy woke in the middle of the night. It wasn't as though she heard a noise. It was more that she had the memory of a noise. She fought her way up

第十八章那天晚上，艾米睡不着。 画面在她的脑海中碰撞。 寺庙和坟墓，鳄鱼和狮子。 伊恩·卡布拉的黑眼睛和闪烁的微笑。 当人群逼近时，她在机场感受到的恐慌。 她哥哥狭窄而专注的脸，他挤过人群走向她的样子。 那对老夫妇，那个女人低头看着她的手提包。 光在女人的银戒指上闪烁。 睡眠把她拖垮了，就在她睡着之前，她看到格蕾丝的脸对她笑着说：“相信别人，但把钱放在袜子里。” 艾米半夜醒来了。 她好像并没有听到什么声音。 更重要的是，她还记得有什么声音。 她奋力往上爬

from the luxury of sleep. Her hand fell alongside the bed, where she had a habit of resting it on the waist pack on the floor. There it was, the sharp angle of the base of the Sakhet, poking out. She started to settle back against her warm pillow again.… but keep your money in your sock. Amy reached down again and moved her fingers around the base to touch the Sakhet. Her fingers met empty air. There was no statue attached to the base. Heart hammering, Amy came fully awake. She slipped out of bed and felt along the floor. Nothing. Under the bed. Empty. The window was open. Had she left the window open? Amy ran to look out. The moon was high and full and illuminated the lawn outside like stadium lights. It was easy to see Theo, duffel in hand, hurrying along the curving path. Amy saw car headlights flash in the parking lot beyond. Amy didn't stop to think. She raised the window the rest of the way and slipped outside.

远离奢侈的睡眠。她的手落在床边，她习惯把它放在放在地板上的腰袋上。 就在那儿，沙基特底部的尖角凸出来了。 她又开始靠在温暖的枕头上。但是把钱放在袜子里。 艾米又把手伸下去，手指在底座周围移动，摸了摸沙吉特。 她的手指碰到了空气。 基地上没有任何雕像。 心怦怦直跳，艾米完全清醒了。 她从床上滑下来，在地板上摸索着。 什么都没有。在床底下。空的。 窗户是开着的。她让窗户开着吗？ 艾米跑过去看看。月亮又高又圆，像体育场的灯光一样照亮了外面的草坪。 很容易看到西奥，手里拿着行李包，在弯弯曲曲的小路上匆匆赶路。 艾米看到远处停车场的汽车前灯在闪烁。 艾米没有停下来思考。她把窗户抬起来，溜了出去。

Her bare feet hit the cool dirt. She snaked through the bushes, hit the grass, and took off. Too late she realized that she'd need help. Theo was heading for that car. Could she take him down? She'd need to hit him right around the knees… She heard pounding footsteps behind her. Nellie was racing toward Theo, her face set with angry determination. Her legs flashed underneath the boxer shorts and oversize Pearl Jam T-shirt she wore to bed. She slammed into Theo in a tackle that would have gotten her thrown out of the NFL. He went down with a howl of pain. Amy sped past them and raced to the car. To her surprise, Hilary sat at the wheel, her mouth open in comical surprise at the sight of her grandson with Nellie on his chest. "What's going on, ducks?" Hilary's face was pale, but she tried to keep her voice merry. Amy reached over and turned off the engine, then pocketed the keys. "Why don't we find out," she suggested. She was surprised at her own

她光着脚踩在冰冷的泥土上。 她蜿蜒穿过灌木丛，撞到草地上，然后逃走了。 她意识到自己需要帮助，但为时已晚。 西奥正朝那辆车走去。 她能把他打倒吗？她得打他的膝盖……她听到身后传来沉重的脚步声。 内莉向西奥跑去，她的脸上充满了愤怒和决心。 她穿着四角短裤和超大号珍珠果酱t恤上床睡觉，她的腿在里面闪闪发光。 她在铲球时撞到了西奥差点被踢出NFL。 他痛苦地嚎叫着倒下了。 艾米从他们身边疾驰而过，跑向汽车。 令她吃惊的是，希拉里坐在驾驶座上，看到她的孙子胸前抱着内莉，她惊讶地张着嘴。 “怎么回事，鸭子们？”希拉里脸色苍白，但她努力使自己的声音保持愉快。 艾米伸手关掉了引擎，然后把钥匙放进了口袋。 “我们为什么不弄清楚呢？”她建议道。 她对自己的经历感到惊讶

coolness. If you got mad enough, you didn't have to try to be brave. "Mrrrp." Amy heard the soft noise and her heart lifted. "Saladin?" She reached into the backseat and took the cat carrier. Taking a firm grip on Hilary's elbow, Amy marched her back to Theo and Nellie. Theo's face was twisted in pain. "Did you have to hit me that hard?" he howled. Nellie leaned over and hissed the words in his face. "Your arrogance just led to your demise, sucker!" Theo sat on the floor of the hotel room while Amy lifted the Sakhet from his duffel. Hilary sat primly in a chair. "I'm sure we can work this out," she said. "If Theo has done something wrong, I can take care of it." "I wouldn't be so sure," Amy said. "Could I at least have some ice for my ankle?" Theo asked plaintively. "Sure," Nellie said. She went to the ice bucket,

清凉。如果你足够生气，你就不需要逞强。 “Mrrrp。”艾米听到了那轻柔的声音，她的心也舒畅了。 “萨拉丁?”她把手伸进后座，拿起猫笼。 艾米紧紧抓住希拉里的胳膊肘，带她回到西奥和内莉身边。 西奥的脸因痛苦而扭曲。 “你非得打我那么狠吗？”他吼道。 内莉俯下身来，对着他的脸嘶嘶地说着这些话。 “你的傲慢导致了你的灭亡，笨蛋！”西奥坐在酒店房间的地板上，艾米从他的行李包里拿起了沙克特。 希拉里一本正经地坐在椅子上。 “我相信我们能解决这个问题，”她说。 “如果西奥做错了什么，我可以处理” “我可不这么肯定，”艾米说。 “至少给我点冰敷脚踝好吗？”西奥悲哀地问。 “当然，”内莉说。她走到冰桶边

picked it up, and dumped the contents on Theo's head. "Thanks," Theo said. "Don't mention it," Nellie said sweetly. "Snake." "What should we do with them?" Dan asked. He'd grabbed the lamp off the table and was holding it, just in case Theo tried to get away. He'd bash him in a second if Theo gave him the chance. But Theo didn't look like he wanted to give him the chance. He looked deflated and damp. "Police, for sure," Nellie said. "Stick a fork in him, he's done," Dan agreed. "What are you talking about?" Hilary looked horrified. "Theo, what are they talking about?" "Not police," Theo begged. "Please. Stealing the statue would be a capital crime. You don't want me to go to jail, do you? I'd be there for a thousand years!" "Then some archaeologist can study you," Dan said. "You don't understand," Theo said. "You didn't

把它捡起来，倒在西奥的头上。 “谢谢，”西奥说。“别客气，"耐莉温柔地说。 “蛇”。“我们该拿它们怎么办？”丹问道。 他从桌上抓起台灯，举着，以防西奥逃跑。 如果西奥给他机会，他会毫不犹豫地揍他。 但西奥看起来并不想给他机会。 他看上去又瘪又湿。 “当然是警察，”内莉说。 “用叉子戳他，他就完了，”丹同意道。 “你在说什么？”希拉里看起来吓坏了。 “西奥，他们在说什么？”“不是警察，”西奥恳求道。 “请。偷窃雕像是死罪。 你不想让我进监狱，对吧？ 我会在那里待上一千年！”“然后一些考古学家可以研究你，”丹说。 “你不明白，”西奥说。 “你没

even seem to want the statue. It was just part of some silly scavenger hunt. You didn't realize what you had!" "Theo!" Hilary cried. "When you asked me to meet you here, I never thought…" Her hands flew to her mouth. "Oh, please," Nellie said. She crossed to the phone. "Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Theo continued. "But after all, you know what Egyptologists make. You study for years and years, you go down into tombs, you pore over papyrus, and what do you get for it? A job offer as some assistant curator in a museum with a salary that won't even cover the rent." Hilary buried her face in her hands. "Oh, Theo. If you'd just let me take him away, I promise… I'll make it up to you." Amy stared at her hand. "That's a nice ring, Hilary." "Thank you, dear." "When did you get to Aswan?" "Just now, ducks. Theo asked me to meet him; I had no idea why."

甚至似乎都想要雕像。 这只是某个无聊的寻宝游戏的一部分。 你没有意识到你拥有了什么！”“西奥!”希拉里哭了。 “当你叫我来这里见你的时候，我从没想过……”她的双手都捂住了嘴。 “哦，拜托，”内莉说。 她走过去接电话。“听着，我很抱歉，好吗？”西奥继续说。 “但毕竟，你知道埃及古物学家是做什么的。 你年复一年地学习，你下到坟墓里，你仔细研读莎草纸，你从中得到了什么？ 一份在博物馆担任助理馆长的工作，薪水甚至不够付房租。” 希拉里用双手掩面。 “哦,西奥。如果你让我把他带走，我保证……我会补偿你的。” 艾米盯着自己的手。“这戒指真漂亮，希拉里。” “谢谢你，亲爱的。”“你什么时候到阿斯旺的？”“刚才，鸭子们。 西奥叫我去见他；我不知道为什么。”