Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 "This way," whispered Reagan Holt, "stay low or they'll see us coming." Against all his natural tendencies, Eisenhower Holt crept along as quietly as a mouse. His huge frame was much more suited to tackling someone from behind and beating the tar out of him. "Do you see anyone?" he asked. "No. I think they went this way." Reagan was peering around the corner of an aqua concrete building that hadn't seen a fresh coat of paint in fifty years. She and her father were tracking two people down a potholed street lined with decaying buildings. "Where did they go?" boomed Eisenhower Holt. "They're like cats, those two!" "Dad, will you please keep it down? Don't you know the meaning of the word whisper?" Eisenhower Holt was about to retort when he

第十章“这边走，”里根·霍尔特低声说，“保持低调，不然他们会看见我们来的。” 艾森豪威尔·霍尔特违背了他所有的天性，像老鼠一样悄悄地爬行。 他巨大的身躯更适合从后面抓住人，把他打得精疲力尽。 “你看见谁了吗？”他问。 “没有。我想他们往这边走了。” 里根凝视着一栋水色混凝土建筑的一角，这座建筑已有50年没刷过一层新漆了。 她和父亲正在一条坑坑洼洼的街道上追踪两个人，街道两旁都是腐朽的建筑。 “他们去哪儿了？”艾森豪威尔·霍尔特大声问道。 “他们俩就像猫一样！”“爸爸，你能小点声吗？” 难道你不知道耳语这个词的意思吗？”艾森豪威尔·霍尔特正要反驳，他

and Reagan were jumped from behind. The bigger of the two attackers landed on Eisenhower's back, put an arm around his neck, and wouldn't let go. Reagan and a smaller assailant rolled around in the dirt while Eisenhower spun in a great circle, his captor's legs swinging in the air behind him. "Sneak attack! I told you to zip it!" yelled Reagan. She was in a serious fight, punching and kicking from below a girl her exact same size. "I'll save you!" said Eisenhower. "Too late," said the person on his back. "I got it!" "And that's the game!" said Mary-Todd, throwing her hands up as she appeared from out of nowhere. "This round goes to Hamilton and Madison. Nice job on the switchback." Mary-Todd Holt pulled out a well-worn pocket- size journal and made a notation. "You're falling behind in the standings, sugar maple. You can do better." Eisenhower had flopped down on all fours, his usual move when he'd lost the flag. Hamilton, Reagan, and Madison jumped on board. When Eisenhower stood up again, he shook with all his might until his children fell off in a pile at his feet.

和里根被人从后面偷袭 两个袭击者中较大的那个落在艾森豪威尔的背上，用一只胳膊搂住他的脖子，不肯松手。 里根和一个较小的攻击者在泥土里打滚，而艾森豪威尔则在地上转了一个大圈，他的俘虏的腿在他身后的空中摆动。 “偷袭!我叫你闭嘴！”里根喊道。 她打了一架，从下面踢了一个和她一样大的女孩。 “我会救你的！”艾森豪威尔说。 “太晚了。”背上的人说。 “我知道了！”“这就是游戏！”玛丽-托德说，不知从哪里冒出来，她举起双手。 "这一轮汉密尔顿和麦迪逊获胜。 转弯做得好。” 玛丽·托德·霍尔特拿出一本破旧的口袋大小的日记本，做了个记号。 “你的排名落后了，甜心。 你可以做得更好。”艾森豪威尔四脚朝天地扑倒在地，这是他丢掉国旗时的惯常动作。 汉密尔顿、里根和麦迪逊也加入了进来。 当艾森豪威尔再次站起来时，他用尽全身的力气抖了抖，直到他的孩子们在他的脚边摔成了一堆。

"I keep telling you," fumed Reagan, "you need to be quieter. We'll never catch up if you can't learn to stalk like a cat." "Look at the size of these guns!" yelled Eisenhower, pointing to his preposterously bulging biceps. "It ain't easy keeping these guys still. They like to fight." "My dad is a dork," said Reagan. "Someone help me, please." Eisenhower pulled Hamilton aside, threw an arm around him, and began walking. The father and son were like two buildings, big and solid. "Did you hear from them yet?" asked Eisenhower. He knew it was past time for a father-son chat, but somehow they never went quite as planned. "Just a few minutes ago," said Hamilton. Already the boy was looking defensive. "They told me where to go. I think we're getting close." "We're putting an awful lot of trust in you on this deal. It would be a monumental disappointment if they were tricking us." "No way, Dad. This is the real deal. I'm sure of it."

“我一直在告诉你，”里根生气地说，“你需要安静点。 如果你不能学会像猫一样跟踪，我们就永远赶不上了。” “看看这些枪的大小！”艾森豪威尔指着他那可笑的隆起的二头肌喊道。 “让这些家伙保持安静并不容易。 他们喜欢打架。”“我爸爸是个笨蛋，”里根说。 “谁来帮帮我，拜托。” 艾森豪威尔把汉密尔顿拉到一边，用胳膊搂住他，开始走路。 父子俩就像两栋楼，又大又结实。 “你收到他们的消息了吗？”艾森豪威尔问道。 他知道父子谈话的时间已经过去了，但不知怎的，他们从来没有按计划进行。 “就在几分钟前，”汉密尔顿说。 男孩已经露出了防备的神情。 “他们告诉我该去哪里。 我认为我们离成功越来越近了。” “在这笔交易上，我们非常信任你。 如果他们在欺骗我们，那将是一个巨大的失望。” “不行，爸爸。这是真正的交易。 我敢肯定。”

"You better be. You fail, the whole family fails. And you know how I feel about failure." They walked a little farther and Eisenhower slapped his son on the back. "You do realize we'll have to double-cross them in the end. We can't risk falling behind here. If a clue comes our way, we need to keep it for ourselves. And don't think for a second they won't do the same to us given the chance. They're no better than their parents were in that department." "Dad… I was thinking. We've got a lot more stuff to find before this is over," said Hamilton, tension visible in his shoulders. "Maybe a partnership makes sense?" "You going soft on me?" asked Eisenhower. "This is a competition, not a playdate. When the time comes, we cut the cord and leave them behind. End of discussion." "But, Dad—" "I said END OF DISCUSSION! Don't overstep your pay grade, young man. Just get the job done and leave the rest to me." Hamilton's shoulders slumped, and deep in

“你最好是。你失败了，整个家族都会失败。 你知道我对失败的感受。” 他们又走了一会儿，艾森豪威尔拍了拍儿子的背。 “你知道我们最终不得不出卖他们吧。 我们不能冒险落后于人。 如果我们得到了线索，我们要把它留给自己。 别以为只要有机会他们就不会对我们做同样的事。 在这方面，他们并不比他们的父母强多少。” “爸爸……我在想。在这一切结束之前，我们还有很多东西要找到，”汉密尔顿说，他的肩膀上可以看到紧张。 “也许合作有意义？”“你要对我手软吗？”艾森豪威尔问道。 “这是一场比赛，不是玩耍约会。 时机一到，我们就切断联系，把他们抛在脑后。 讨论到此结束。”“可是，爸爸——”“我说了，讨论到此为止！”别越级了，年轻人。 把工作做完，剩下的交给我。” 汉密尔顿的肩膀耷拉下来，陷得很深

Eisenhower's chest, his heart squeezed. But there was a chain of command that had to be followed. Or else people got hurt. Even killed. "My dad was bigger than me," said Eisenhower, his eyes on his own family. "A mountain of a man." Eisenhower fell silent as they walked back toward the twins, thinking about his father. Eisenhower's mother had died really young and it had been just the two guys living together. A lot of sports. Not a lot of anything else. And that had been fine. Just fine. "Fall in, team!" cried Eisenhower. "New orders!" "We can't seem to shake those Kabras," said Mary-Todd, thumbing her hand behind her. A black Land Rover had pulled into an alley, where it sat idling, spewing exhaust. "We'll deal with them soon enough," said Eisenhower. He looked at his son with a mix of admiration and concern, which was the closest thing to praise he knew how to give. "Tell us where we're going, Ham. And make it snappy!"

艾森豪威尔的胸膛，他的心脏挤压着。 但是有一连串的命令必须遵守。 否则就会有人受伤。甚至死亡。 “我父亲比我高大，”艾森豪威尔说，他的眼睛盯着自己的家人。 “一个像山一样高大的人。”当他们朝双胞胎走去时，艾森豪威尔默不作声，想起了他的父亲。 艾森豪威尔的母亲很早就去世了，只有两个人生活在一起。 很多运动。其他的就不多了。 这很好。很好。 “大家集合！”艾森豪威尔喊道。 “新订单!”“我们似乎无法摆脱那些卡布拉。”玛丽-托德说着，用手在背后指了指。 一辆黑色的路虎（Land Rover）停在一条小巷里，空转着，不停地喷着尾气。 “我们很快就会对付他们，”艾森豪威尔说。 他带着钦佩和关心的目光看着儿子，这是他所知道的最接近赞美的东西。 “告诉我们要去哪儿，哈姆。 快一点！”

"I have a hunch about something else," said Amy. "Do you want to hear it?" They were sitting in the St. Petersburg airport, awaiting instructions, and Dan was itching to hit the magazine stand for some junk food. "Can it wait until I refill the backpack with provisions?" Amy rolled her eyes. As they walked, Amy laid out her idea. "Everything we've found has been carved or sculpted, right? First it was the little room in the paperweight, then the Rasputin figurine, then the coat of arms carved into wood and painted, and finally the stone with the broken bones. They're all intricately made pieces of art." They entered the store and Dan started perusing the shelves. "And we keep getting this recurring color— orange, like honey," said Amy. "The paperweight was a murky orange. Rasputin's model, it's the same. The snake was orange, the stone is orange. At first I thought it was just a Russian thing, but I'm starting to think it means something else." "Uh-huh," said Dan, barely paying attention as

“我有别的预感，”艾米说。 “你想听吗？”他们坐在教堂里。 彼得堡机场，等待指示，丹很想去杂志摊买些垃圾食品。 “能等我把背包装满给养再说吗？”艾米翻了个白眼。 他们边走边说，艾米提出了她的想法。 “我们发现的所有东西都是雕刻的，对吧？” 首先是镇纸上的小房间，然后是拉斯普京雕像，然后是用木头雕刻和绘画的盾形纹章，最后是碎骨头的石头。 它们都是错综复杂的艺术品。” 他们走进商店，丹开始细看货架。 艾米说：“我们不断看到这种反复出现的颜色——橙色，像蜂蜜一样。” 镇纸是暗橙色的。 拉斯普京的模型是一样的。 蛇是橙色的，石头也是橙色的。 一开始我以为这只是俄罗斯的东西，但我开始认为它有别的意思。” “嗯哼，”丹说，几乎没有注意到