Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 Dan's backpack thudded against his spine. It felt good to run after being on a plane for a million hours. The only problem with traveling so much was… traveling. That, and the lack of Cherry Garcia ice cream on airplanes. Nellie passed him easily, even with Saladin's cat carrier swinging back and forth in one hand, her overstuffed pack on her back, and their duffel slamming against her hip with every step. Nellie seemed to spend her time napping or eating, but she was in awesome shape. Nothing like having a commando for an au pair. They reached the bus stop where the old woman had gotten off. They looked around wildly, but there was no sign of her. Pedestrians swirled around them, walking quickly, smiling, laughing, and chatting. A tall, elegant woman in green suede heels strolled over to look at an interesting

丹的背包砰的一声撞在他的脊椎上。 在飞机上坐了一百万小时后跑步的感觉真好。 旅行这么频繁唯一的问题是…… 除此之外，飞机上也没有樱桃加西亚冰淇淋。 内莉轻松地超过了他，尽管她一只手来回摆动着萨拉丁的猫笼，背上背着塞满东西的背包，每走一步，他们的行李袋都撞在她的臀部上。 内莉似乎把时间花在打盹或吃东西上，但她的身材非常好。 没有什么比一个突击队员做互惠生更好的了。 他们到达了那位老妇人下车的公共汽车站。 他们疯狂地四处张望，但没有她的踪影。 行人在他们周围转来转去，走得很快，微笑着，大笑着，聊天着。 一个穿着绿色麂皮高跟鞋、身材高挑、举止优雅的女人走过来看一个有趣的

building. Nobody hobbled around waving a map. Dan spotted a splash of red in the middle of some bushes. He hurried over. He pulled out the red suitcase the old lady had carried. It was surprisingly light. Dan flipped it open; it was empty. Two red splotches appeared on Amy's pale cheeks, as though somebody had slapped her. Dan knew that sign. Amy was trying not to cry. "I l-l-lost Grace's necklace. I can't believe it!" Amy collapsed on the stairs in front of a stone building. "It could turn up," Dan said. He thought he knew how Amy felt. When he'd lost the photograph of their parents in the train tunnel in Paris, he'd cried like a little kid. Right in public. Dan looked up at the building Amy had collapsed in front of. He saw the word museum on the sign. Normally, that would cause hives to break out on every inch of his body as he waited for his sister to drag him inside, but maybe a museum would distract her. Amy was blinking back tears so fast she was causing a breeze.

建筑。没有人一瘸一拐地挥舞着地图。 丹在灌木丛中发现了一片红色。 他匆匆走了过去。他拿出老妇人提着的红色手提箱。 它出奇地轻。 丹把它打开；它是空的。 艾米苍白的脸颊上出现了两个红点，好像有人打了她一巴掌。 丹知道那个标志。艾米强忍着不哭出来。 “我——我——丢了格蕾丝的项链。 我简直不敢相信！”艾米倒在一座石砌建筑前的楼梯上。 “它可能会出现，”丹说。 他以为自己了解艾米的感受。 当他在巴黎的火车隧道里弄丢了他们父母的照片时，他哭得像个小孩。 就在公共场合。丹抬头看着艾米倒塌在前面的那栋楼。 他在招牌上看到了“博物馆”两个字。 通常情况下，在他等着他妹妹把他拖进去的时候，他身上的每一寸地方都会起疹子，但也许博物馆能分散她的注意力。 艾米强忍着眼泪，快得连微风都吹起来了。

"Hey, look, a museum," he said. "Want to go in?" "Uh, Dan? Have you noticed? It's a museum," Nellie said. "I think I recall you saying you'd rather have spiders suck out your eyeballs than step foot in another museum again." Dan jerked his head toward his blubbering sister, letting Nellie know what he was up to. Nellie gave him an appreciative nod. "That's just silly," Dan said. "Spiders can't suck out eyeballs." He thought a moment. "Though maybe they can in Australia. Cool. Anyway, it's the Justice and Police Museum. That could rock. Come on, Amy, let's check it out. Maybe the thief ran in here to get away from us. You can read labels," he coaxed. Nellie sat on the stairs. "I'll wait here. They probably wouldn't let me bring in Saladin, anyway." She opened her Dictionary of Australian Slang. "I'll just put on my sunnies," she said, slipping on sunglasses. "I'll spit the dummy if you ankle biters take too long, but if you don't, she'll be apples!"

“嘿，看，一个博物馆，”他说。 “想进去吗？”“呃,丹? 你注意到了吗？这是一个博物馆，”内莉说。 “我记得你说过，你宁愿让蜘蛛吸掉你的眼球，也不愿再踏进另一个博物馆。” 丹猛地把头朝哭泣的妹妹扭过去，让内莉知道他在干什么。 内莉感激地点点头。 “那太愚蠢了，”丹说。 “蜘蛛不能吸眼球。” 他想了一会儿。“不过在澳大利亚也许可以。 酷。总之，这是司法和警察博物馆。 那会很震撼。来吧，艾米，我们去看看。 也许小偷跑进来是为了躲避我们。 你可以看标签，”他哄着说。 内莉坐在楼梯上。“我在这儿等着。 反正他们可能不会让我带萨拉丁来。” 她打开了《澳大利亚俚语词典》。 “我还是戴上我的太阳镜吧，”她边说边戴上太阳镜。 “如果你咬脚踝的时间太长，我就把假人吐出来，但如果你不这样做，她就会变成苹果！”

"Speak English, please," Dan said. "If you take too long, dude, you're toast." "Got it. C'mon, Amy, I bet they have weapons." Dan bounced up the stairs while Amy followed more slowly. At least she was coming. After they paid admission, Dan paused at a wall lined with photographs of criminals from the 1890s. They all looked like they were about to eat your face for breakfast. Incredibly cool. "Amy, listen to this! Once, this guy went missing, and then one day this shark in an aquarium coughed up his arm! I love this place!" But Amy had wandered off to look at a courtroom. Dan bent over to examine the death mask of Captain Moonlight. For once, he'd found a museum that made sense. Amy didn't get her brother. Didn't they have enough mayhem in their lives? Why did he find a place like this so fascinating? She saw the elegant woman in the green suede shoes lean forward to examine the wall of mug

“请说英语，”丹说。 “伙计，如果你耽搁太久，你就完了。” “明白了。来吧，艾米，我打赌他们有武器。” 丹蹦蹦跳跳地上了楼梯，艾米则慢慢地跟在后面。 至少她要来了。他们付了入场费后，丹在一面墙上停了下来，墙上挂着19世纪90年代罪犯的照片。 他们看起来都想把你的脸当早餐吃掉。 非常酷。“艾米，听着！”有一次，这家伙失踪了，然后有一天水族馆里的鲨鱼咳出了他的手臂！我爱这个地方！”但艾米却溜掉去看法庭了。 丹俯下身去检查月光船长的死亡面具。 这一次，他找到了一个有意义的博物馆。 艾米没有得到她的弟弟。 他们生活中的混乱还不够多吗？ 为什么他觉得这样一个地方如此迷人？ 她看见那个穿着绿色麂皮鞋的优雅女人探出身子，端详着墙上的杯子

shots. She looked intently at the wall, but Amy couldn't tell what she was looking at. Whatever it was, it was fascinating. The woman turned and reached into her purse, and something about the motion pinged inside Amy. Something familiar… like she knew this woman. But she didn't know anyone in Australia. By now she was used to following her instincts, no matter how strange they seemed. When the woman moved off down the hall, Amy followed. But when she turned the corner, the woman had disappeared. A re-creation of an old cell caught her attention. Amy stepped inside. It would be so handy to have a place like this to lock away little brothers when they got obnoxious. Which would be every five minutes… Suddenly, she heard the door behind her clang shut. She spun around. The woman was smiling pleasantly at her through the bars of the cell. She was beautiful, with huge amber eyes and gleaming dark hair that feathered against her face. Her skin was so smooth and perfect that it looked like a

镜头。她专注地看着墙，但艾米不知道她在看什么。 不管那是什么，都很吸引人。 那女人转过身，把手伸进钱包，艾美的内心响起了某种声音。 熟悉的东西，就像她认识这个女人。 但她在澳大利亚谁也不认识。 到现在为止，她已经习惯了跟随自己的直觉，不管它们看起来有多奇怪。 当那个女人走到走廊尽头时，艾米也跟着走了。 但当她转过街角时，那个女人已经不见了。 一个旧牢房的重现引起了她的注意。 艾米走了进去。要是有个这样的地方，当弟弟们变得讨厌的时候就把他们关起来，那该多方便啊。 突然，她听到身后的门哐当关上了。 她转过身来。那女人隔着牢房的铁栏向她愉快地微笑着。 她长得很漂亮，琥珀色的大眼睛，闪闪发光的黑发像羽毛一样在她的脸上飞舞。 她的皮肤如此光滑完美，看起来就像一个

china doll's. "Don't be alarmed. This was the only way I'd get to talk to you," she said in a British accent. Her voice was thick and creamy, as if she was holding a spoonful of yogurt in her mouth. She leaned closer, as though confiding in Amy. "We Cahills have a way of running away from each other, don't we." She winked. Amy wanted to kick herself. The woman was a Cahill! Amy casually looked around for another exit. "Still a worrier, I see." The woman's smile didn't waver. "You never trusted your own courage. Grace used to say that." Amy felt a stab of pain at those words. She lifted her chin. "D-d-don't tell me about my grandmother. Who are you?" She cocked her head and studied Amy, an affectionate smile still on her lips. "Ah, the regal stare. Now I see Grace in you. I'm Isabel Kabra." "Ian and Natalie's mother?" She nodded. "I've tried to stay out of the hunt for the thirty-nine clues. Tried to keep Ian and

中国娃娃。“不要惊慌。 这是我唯一能和你说话的方式，”她用英国口音说。 她的声音浑厚而柔滑，好像嘴里衔着一勺酸奶。 她靠得更近了，仿佛在向艾美倾诉。 “我们卡希尔家的人总有办法躲着对方，不是吗？” 她眨了眨眼。艾米想踹自己一脚。 这个女人是卡希尔家的！艾米漫不经心地环顾四周，寻找另一个出口。 “看来还是个担心的人。”女人的笑容丝毫没有动摇。 “你从不相信自己的勇气。 格蕾丝过去常这么说。”听到这些话，艾米感到一阵剧痛。 她抬起下巴。“别跟我说我奶奶的事。 你是谁？”她歪着头端详着艾米，嘴角上还挂着深情的微笑。 “啊，帝王般的凝视。现在我在你身上看到了格蕾丝。 我是伊莎贝尔·卡布拉。”“伊恩和娜塔莉的母亲？”她点了点头。 “我尽量不去寻找那三十九条线索。 我想留住伊恩