Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14 "Rise and shine, mates," Shep called cheerfully. "I'm going to make a pot of coffee and a bit of brekkie, and then we're off to the field. Everybody sleep okay?" It was still dark out. Shep had switched on the lights. "Mmmfff," Nellie said, her head in the pillow. "Great," Dan said, sitting up in a tangle of quilts. While Nellie put the pillow over her head and Shep started the coffee, Amy rose woodenly and went to the bathroom. She splashed cold water on her face and looked at herself in the mirror. They had all come to find out where her parents had been. That was crucial. Finding that out told them something. Something that made one of them start the fire. Her fault. She remembered the flush of triumph on

“起床啦，伙计们，”谢普高兴地喊道。 “我要煮一壶咖啡和一点早餐，然后我们就去球场了。 大家都睡得好吗？”外面还很黑。 谢普打开了灯。 “嗯，”内莉把头埋在枕头里说。 “太好了，”丹说着，在一堆被子里坐了起来。 当内莉把枕头盖在头上，谢普开始煮咖啡时，艾米笨拙地站起身去了洗手间。 她往脸上泼凉水，对着镜子照了照自己。 他们都是来看看她的父母去了哪里。 这一点至关重要。这个发现告诉了他们一些事情。 让他们中的一个纵火的原因。 她的错。她记得胜利的喜悦

Isabel's cheeks as she held her. The way she held her even as she squirmed… that had been a threat. Isabel was saying I can get to your children. Amy closed her eyes, remembering the flash of fear and anger on her mother's face. She held on to the sink and leaned over while the words beat inside her…. My fault my fault my fault Dan banged on the door. "Are you asleep in there?" Amy opened the door and walked over to the couch. Mechanically, she began to pack. Nellie shot her concerned glances but Amy always turned away. She couldn't talk about it. If she talked about it, she would crack wide open. She would cry and cry and never stop. My fault my parents are dead. Research. That always helped her. If she could get her mind going on a problem, she could forget what she didn't want to remember. While Shep made pancakes, Amy opened Dan's

伊莎贝尔抱着她的面颊。 她在她扭动身体时抱着她的样子……那是一种威胁。 伊莎贝尔说我可以去找你的孩子。 艾米闭上眼睛，想起母亲脸上闪过的恐惧和愤怒。 她抓着洗手池，身子探过身去，这句话在她心里跳动.... 我的错我的错我的错丹砰地敲门。 “你在里面睡着了吗？”艾米打开门，走到沙发前。 她机械地开始收拾行李。 内利关切地瞥了她一眼，但艾美总是转过身去。 她不能谈论这件事。 如果她谈起这件事，她会裂开的。 她会不停地哭，哭个不停。 我父母的死是我的错。 研究。这对她很有帮助。 如果她能集中精力思考一个问题，她就能忘记她不想记住的东西。 当谢普做煎饼时，艾米打开了丹的

laptop and searched for anything involving Amelia Earhart and Darwin, Australia. Amy clicked through photographs and found one taken of her at the Darwin airport. She was climbing steps to a building, holding her jacket and a notebook. It could be the very notebook she'd written the letter on! Amy peered closer. Visible on Amelia's pinkie finger was a ring with a white stone. She clicked back to a photograph of Amelia in Bandung. No ring. It must be the ring she'd described, the one the strange man had sold to her. She tried to magnify the image, but it just became blurry. Dan came over and peered at the screen. "What are you doing?" "I'm not sure," Amy admitted. "Do you see the ring on Amelia's finger? It must be the one she bought in Darwin. I'm trying to see it up close. I'm wondering why this guy tried to sell her a ring." "Well, it sure wasn't a good luck charm," Dan said. He made a noise like a plane spiraling down

笔记本电脑，搜索任何与阿米莉亚·埃尔哈特和澳大利亚达尔文有关的信息。 艾米点击照片，发现了一张她在达尔文机场拍摄的照片。 她手里拿着夹克和笔记本，正爬上一座大楼的台阶。 这可能就是她写那封信的笔记本！艾米凑近了看。 艾米莉亚的小指上戴着一枚镶着白色宝石的戒指。 她点击回到一张阿米莉亚在万隆的照片。 没有戒指。这一定是她描述过的那枚戒指，那个陌生人卖给她的那枚。 她想把图像放大，但画面变得模糊了。 丹走过来看了看屏幕。 “你在干什么？”“我不确定，”艾米承认。 “你看到阿米莉亚手指上的戒指了吗？” 一定是她在达尔文买的。 我想近距离观察一下。 我在想这家伙为什么要卖戒指给她。” “嗯，那肯定不是一个幸运符。”丹说。 他发出一种像飞机盘旋降落的声音

and crashing. Amy winced. "It looks like a white stone," she said. "Probably an opal," Nellie said with a quick look at the computer. She was on her way to the bathroom. "Most likely," Shep agreed. "Australia has more than ninety percent of the world's opals. Even back then, there was a pretty solid mining trade going on, I'd imagine." "He said they were in a hole but not to worry," Amy quoted. Shep grinned. "In a hole? Sounds like Coober Pedy. It means 'white man in a hole' in Aboriginal language." "Coober who?" "Name of a town, love," Shep said. "Most of the buildings are underground because it's so freakish hot. Even for Australia. And it's the number one town in the world for mining opals." "Where is it?" Dan asked. "Oh, a bit north of Adelaide. About nine hours' drive."

和崩溃。艾米了。“它看起来像一块白色的石头，”她说。 “可能是蛋白石吧，”内莉说着匆匆看了一眼电脑。 她在去洗手间的路上。 “很有可能，”谢普表示同意。 “澳大利亚拥有世界上90%以上的蛋白石。 我想，即使在当时，也有相当稳定的采矿贸易在进行。” “他说他们在一个洞里，但不用担心，”艾米引用道。 谢普咧嘴一笑。“在洞里？”听起来像库伯·佩迪。 它在土著语言中的意思是‘洞里的白人’。” “Coober谁?”“小镇的名字，亲爱的，”谢普说。 “大多数建筑都在地下，因为那里太热了。 即使对澳大利亚来说也是如此。它是世界上开采蛋白石最多的城市。” “它在哪儿？”丹问道。“哦，在阿德莱德北边一点儿。 大约九个小时的车程。”

That didn't sound like a bit, but maybe it was for Australia. Amy felt her excitement growing. They were getting close to something, she could feel it. She knew Dan could feel it, too. "How long did our parents stay in Adelaide?" Dan asked. "Let's see… I picked up some tourists in Perth and flew them to Alice Springs and Uluru… or was it Shark Bay and Ningaloo… can't remember, but I think I was gone three or four days. Then I swung on down to Adelaide to pick up Hope and Arthur for the Darwin trip." Amy and Dan exchanged a glance. They didn't have to say it out loud. They knew it. Their parents had gone to Coober Pedy. They'd driven up from Adelaide. They just hadn't wanted to involve Shep more than they had to. It could have put him in danger. Amy and Dan nodded at each other. Shep pointed the spatula to Amy and then to Dan. "How did you just do that? You two just had a conversation without saying a word!" They looked at each other again. It's not that we

这听起来不太像，但也许对澳大利亚来说是这样。 艾米感到自己越来越兴奋。 他们离什么东西越来越近了，她能感觉到。 她知道丹也能感觉到。 “我们的父母在阿德莱德呆了多久？”丹问道。 “让我想想……我在珀斯接了一些游客，带他们去爱丽丝泉和乌鲁鲁……或者是鲨鱼湾和宁格鲁……记不清了，但我想我去了三四天。” 然后我又去阿德莱德接霍普和阿瑟去达尔文。” 艾米和丹交换了一下目光。 他们不用大声说出来。 他们知道这一点。他们的父母去了库伯佩迪。 他们是从阿德莱德开车过来的。 他们只是不想把谢普牵扯进来。 这可能会让他陷入危险。 艾米和丹互相点了点头。 谢普用抹刀指着艾米，又指着丹。 “你是怎么做到的？” 你们两个一句话也没说就聊了起来！”他们又互相看了看。 并不是我们

don't trust him. It's that our parents were right— the less he knows, the better off he is. "You just did it again! What are you saying?" Shep put his hands on his hips. "Wait a minute. Hold the phone. You want me to fly you to Coober Pedy, don't you." Dan smiled innocently. "Your pancakes are burning," he said. After a breakfast of slightly charred pancakes, they loaded their gear into Shep's Jeep and took off for the airfield. The sun was rising as they left the outskirts of Sydney and took a smaller road, snaking up into the hills. Finally, Shep pulled up to a wire gate and punched in a code. The gate opened and they roared in. "Congratulations," Shep said. "You just passed through airfield security." He parked the car and pointed out the plane. "Um, it looks kind of… small?" Amy offered. "Small? I can fit fourteen in that baby," Shep said. "You're a good pilot," Nellie said. "Right?"

不要相信他。我们的父母是对的——他知道的越少，他过得越好。 “你又这么做了！”你在说什么？”谢普双手叉腰。 “等一下。别挂电话。 你想让我送你去库伯佩迪，是不是？” 丹天真地笑了。“你的煎饼烧焦了，”他说。 吃了一顿略焦的煎饼早餐后，他们把装备装进谢普的吉普车，出发去机场。 当他们离开悉尼郊区，走上一条蜿蜒上山的小路时，太阳正在升起。 最后，谢普把车停在一扇铁丝门前，输入了一个密码。 门开了，他们咆哮着走了进来。 “恭喜你，”谢普说。 “你刚刚通过了机场安检。” 他停好车，指着飞机。 “嗯，它看起来有点……小？”艾米。 “小?我可以把14个孩子装进去，”谢普说。 “你是个好飞行员，”内莉说。 “对吧?”