Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 Most of the time, Dan Cahill would rather show up to school in his underwear than get involved in his sister's love life. But this was different. Ian Kabra emerged from the limousine with a smirk the size of Texas plastered on his face, as self-assured as ever. Dan glanced over at his sister. Amy was glaring at Ian, but Dan could see her hands were trembling. This guy—this ogre— had not only lied about liking his sister, he'd tried to trap them in a cave. And leave them there forever. It was time to lower the boom. "You've got a lot of nerve showing up here after you tried to kill us!" Dan shouted. "Let's not get carried away. Your little brother has a big imagination," said Ian, taking a step toward Amy. "You know I'd never actually hurt you." Dan knew if Amy tried to talk it would come

大多数时候，丹·卡希尔宁愿穿着内衣去上学，也不愿卷入妹妹的感情生活。 但这次不一样。伊恩·卡布拉从豪华轿车里走出来，脸上挂着德州那么大的假笑，一如既往地自信。 丹瞥了他妹妹一眼。 艾米怒视着伊恩，但丹可以看到她的手在颤抖。 这个家伙——这个食人魔——不仅谎称喜欢他妹妹，还试图把他们困在一个山洞里。 永远留在那里。 是时候放下繁荣了。 “在你试图杀死我们之后，你还真有胆子出现在这里！”丹喊道。 “我们不要得意忘形。 你的小弟弟有丰富的想象力。”伊恩说着，向艾米迈了一步。 “你知道我从来没有伤害过你。” 丹知道如果艾米想开口，她就会开口

out all stutters. He wasn't going to let Ian Kabra anywhere near his sister. "Hold it together, Amy," he whispered. "I'm fine," said Amy, but now her lip was quivering ever so slightly. Dan lashed out at Ian. "Get back in your monstermobile and leave us alone!" Ian gave Amy a sideways smile, then sauntered up to the cabdriver. "Well done, my lead-footed friend. We had quite a time keeping up with you. Although I suppose it wouldn't have mattered." "What's that supposed to mean?" asked Dan, eyeing the revolving doors into the airport terminal. "You children play expensive games!" said the driver as he took a roll of rubber-banded bills from Ian and handed over a slick new phone in return. "Espionage must have been so much harder before GPS, don't you think?" asked Ian. Ian's sister, Natalie, emerged from the black limo like a model about to stroll down a media- frenzied red carpet. "Did you sleep in those pathetic things you call

排除所有口吃者。他不会让伊恩·卡布拉接近他妹妹的。 “振作起来，艾米。”他低声说。 “我很好，”艾美说，但现在她的嘴唇在微微颤抖。 丹怒斥伊恩。“回你的怪物车里去，离我们远点！”伊恩给了艾米一个侧面的微笑，然后慢悠悠地走向出租车司机。 “干得好，我的领头的朋友。 我们好不容易才跟上你的步伐。 不过我想这也没什么关系。” “这是什么意思？”丹问，眼睛盯着通往机场航站楼的旋转门。 “你们这些孩子玩昂贵的游戏！”司机一边说一边从伊恩手里接过一卷橡皮圈钞票，递给他一部漂亮的新手机。 “在GPS出现之前，间谍活动肯定要困难得多，你不觉得吗？”伊恩问。 伊恩的妹妹娜塔莉（Natalie）从黑色豪华轿车里走出来，就像一个模特正要走在被媒体疯狂追捧的红地毯上。 “你是不是睡在那些你称之为

clothes?" Dan looked down at his zip-up hoodie, which was wrinkled beyond all imagining. Oops. He actually had slept in his clothes. "Wrinkles are the new thing. Ask Jonah Wizard. He'll tell you." "Make this easy on yourself and tell us why you're here," said Ian, moving closer to Dan and Amy. Amy's eyes were locked on Ian's face, like a mouse confronted by a cobra. The cabdriver laughed at the scene playing out, got in his cab, and cranked it alive. A plume of black smoke burst from the tailpipe as he sped off, covering Natalie with a thin layer of soot. She howled and clutched protectively at her hair, which was just the diversion Dan needed. "Come on, Amy!" he yelled. He grabbed Amy by the hand and bolted for the revolving doors, but Ian was quick on his feet and snatched Amy's other hand. Dan pulled one way, Ian pulled the other. People were starting to take notice of the ruckus. "Let my sister go!" yelled Dan. "I think she likes it when I hold her hand," said

衣服?”丹低头看了看他的带拉链的连帽衫，它皱得难以想象。 哦。他实际上穿着衣服睡觉。 “皱纹是新事物。 问问巫师乔纳吧。他会告诉你的。” “别着急，告诉我们你为什么来这里。”伊恩说着，向丹和艾米靠近了一些。 艾米的眼睛紧盯着伊恩的脸，就像一只老鼠面对一条眼镜蛇。 出租车司机看着这一幕笑了起来，钻进他的车里，把它发动起来。 一股黑烟从排气管里冒了出来，他加速离开了，在娜塔莉身上盖上了一层薄薄的烟灰。 她嚎叫着，保护地抓着自己的头发，这正是丹需要的转移注意力的方式。 “加油，艾米！”他喊道。 他抓住艾米的手，奔向旋转门，但伊恩迅速站起来，抓住艾米的另一只手。 丹往一边拉，伊恩往另一边拉。 人们开始注意到这场骚动。 “放开我妹妹！”丹喊道。 “我想她喜欢我牵着她的手，”他说

Ian. "Don't you, Amy?" Amy didn't say a word. She reeled back and kicked Ian in the shin harder than she'd ever kicked anyone. There was a loud crack and Ian lost his grip, bouncing up and down on one leg as Dan and Amy ran for the revolving doors. "Direct hit!" cried Dan. "So long, suckers!" Amy yelled over her shoulder. "Get them!" howled Ian, hobbling toward the terminal entrance with Natalie and their driver, a guy who looked like he could crack concrete with his forehead, close behind. Once inside, Dan and Amy darted among a sea of people with rolling luggage, but the Kabras stayed on their tail. "This way!" said Amy, taking Dan by the elbow and dragging him into a busy travelers' store filled with candy bars and magazines. Seconds later, they were out the other side and into another store, through a web of foreigners. Dan was sure they'd lost the Kabras, but when he peered carefully around a corner, he saw Ian limping toward them, staring into his phone.

伊恩。“是吗，艾米？”艾米一句话也没说。 她向后一甩，狠狠地踢了伊恩的小腿一脚，比踢任何人都要用力。 砰的一声巨响，伊恩失去了控制，用一条腿跳上跳下，丹和艾米向旋转门跑去。 “直接击中！”丹叫道。“再见了，笨蛋！”艾米扭头喊道。 “抓住他们！”伊恩吼道，跟着娜塔莉和司机一瘸一拐地朝航站楼入口走去。司机跟在他后面，看起来他的额头可以把混凝土敲碎。 一进去，丹和艾米就冲进了带着滚动行李的人群中，但卡布拉一家一直跟在他们后面。 “这边走！”艾米说着，拉着丹的胳膊肘，把他拖进了一家摆满了糖果和杂志的繁忙的旅客商店。 几秒钟后，他们穿过外国人的网，从另一边出来，进入另一家商店。 丹确信他们跟丢了卡布拉一家，但当他仔细张望拐角时，他看到伊恩一瘸一拐地朝他们走来，眼睛盯着手机。

"Uh-oh," said Dan. "I think we've been had." Dan took off his backpack and started unzipping compartments. Hidden in the front pocket was another cell phone, the GPS blinking their position. "Double-crossed times two!" said Dan. "That cab-driver must have planted it when he got ahold of my backpack at the hotel." Amy looked around the corner once more. The Kabras were getting really close. "Give it here," she said, taking the phone from her brother. "I know just what to do with Ian's precious gadget." Amy moved back into the flow of oncoming people with Dan close behind. She swept quickly across the wide corridor and dropped the phone into a passing baby stroller, then ducked into a bookstore and opened the first book she could find. The stroller was attached to a mother who was clearly late for a flight, parting traffic as she ran for her gate. The Kabras were so intent on watching the screen on Ian's phone that they walked right past Dan and Amy, then broke into a run themselves.

“哦哦，”丹说。“我想我们被骗了。” 丹脱下背包，开始拉开隔层的拉链。 前口袋里藏着另一部手机，GPS显示着他们的位置。 “双面乘以二！”丹说。 “一定是那个出租车司机在旅馆里拿到我的背包时放的。” 埃米又看了看拐角处。 卡布拉兄弟离我们很近了。 “给我，”她说着，从哥哥手里接过电话。 “我知道该怎么处理伊恩的宝贝小玩意。” 艾米回到迎面而来的人群中，丹紧随其后。 她飞快地穿过宽阔的走廊，把手机扔进一辆路过的婴儿车里，然后躲进一家书店，打开她能找到的第一本书。 这辆婴儿车的主人是一位母亲，她显然赶不上飞机了，在奔向登机口时避开了车流。 卡布拉一家全神贯注地盯着伊恩的手机屏幕，他们正好从丹和艾米身边走过，然后自己也跑了起来。

"Nice play!" said Dan. "I hope that kid drools all over their expensive technology before they get it back." Amy shot Dan a triumphant smile. Clearly, outsmarting the Kabras— especially Ian— had put some Cahill sizzle back in her step. "Let's find that locker," she said. The locker wasn't very big, about one foot square. But it was plenty full. There were three items inside, which Amy removed one at a time. "This looks like a paperweight, don't you think?" she asked, holding a honey-colored glass ball in the palm of her hand. "Let me see," Dan said, reaching out to grab it. "No way! Knowing you, it'll get dropped on the floor and smashed into a thousand pieces. Let me have a look first." Dan didn't protest. He had already imagined what a marble that size would look like rolling down the long airport corridor. "Try holding it in the light a little more," said Dan. Amy squinted up at it. "It looks like a room, and

“玩得好！”丹说。“我希望在他们把昂贵的技术拿回来之前，孩子们会对它们垂涎三尺。” 艾米给了丹一个胜利的微笑。 显然，战胜卡布拉家族——尤其是伊恩——让卡希尔的激情重新回到了她的步伐中。 “我们去找那个储物柜吧，”她说。 储物柜不是很大，大约一平方英尺。 但它已经足够满了。里面有三件东西，艾米一次拿掉一件。 “这看起来像镇纸，你不觉得吗？”她问道，手里拿着一个蜜色的玻璃球。 “让我看看，”丹说，伸手去抓它。 “不可能!就我对你的了解，它会掉在地上摔成碎片。 让我先看看。” 丹没有抗议。他已经想象过这么大的弹子滚下长长的机场走廊会是什么样子。 “试着在光线下多拿一点，”丹说。 艾米眯起眼睛看着它。“它看起来像一个房间，而且