Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25 Hours later, Dan stared out at the pounding rain. The palm trees were bending like dancers. From here he could just make out the white line of the surf. The sun had set long ago. They were trapped for the night. "Not exactly blowing over," he said. "More like blowing." "Who knew?" Alistair said sheepishly. "I haven't been watching the weather. As soon as I get a clear signal, you can call Nellie. There's plenty of room here for you to spend the night." Alistair was staying in the only finished house on the island, on the edge of the construction site. It had been planned as a resort, but the Ekaterinas had bought it as a site for a possible stronghold. They were still deciding whether to finish it, but, in the meantime, Alistair came now and then. The house had one large room downstairs that

二十五小时后，丹凝视着外面的大雨。 棕榈树像舞者一样弯着腰。 从这里他只能辨认出浪花的白线。 太阳早已落山了。他们被困了一夜。 “还没有完全过去，”他说。 “更像是吹。”“谁知道?”阿利斯泰尔不好意思地说。 “我没有在看天气预报。 一旦信号清晰，你就可以打给内莉。 这里有足够的地方让你过夜。” 阿利斯泰尔住在岛上唯一一栋完工的房子里，就在建筑工地的边上。 它原本是一个度假胜地，但叶卡捷琳娜夫妇买下了它，作为一个可能的据点。 他们还在考虑是否要把它做完，但与此同时，阿利斯泰尔不时地来。 这所房子在楼下有一个大房间

was open on all sides and had a double-height ceiling. Alistair had closed sturdy wooden shutters when they had come up from the beach. Upstairs was a complete living area, with two bedrooms, a sitting room, and a small kitchen. The rain was still pattering lightly while they finished a meal of vegetables and rice. Alistair tried Nellie on his phone and she answered. He put her on speaker. "Who is this?" she barked. "It's Alistair Oh, Ms. Gomez. I'm calling to tell you that Dan and Amy are here with me and—" "Are they safe?" "We're safe, Nellie!" Amy called. "I'll come and get them." "No need. The weather—" "I don't care about the weather! Where are you?" "Nellie, we're on an island. We'll be back in the morning," Amy said. She could hear real concern in Nellie's voice. "We're sorry we didn't leave a note."

四面敞开，有两层高的天花板。 他们从海滩上来的时候，阿利斯泰尔关上了结实的木制百叶窗。 楼上是一个完整的生活区，有两间卧室，一间客厅和一个小厨房。 他们吃完一顿蔬菜和米饭时，雨还在淅淅沥沥地下着。 阿利斯泰尔打电话给内莉，她接了电话。 他打开免提。“这是谁？”她吼道。 “我是阿利斯泰尔，哦，戈麦斯女士。 我打电话是想告诉你丹和艾米和我在一起，而且——”“他们安全吗？”“我们安全了，耐莉！”艾米。 “我这就去拿。”“不需要。 天气——”“我才不管天气呢！你在哪儿？”“内莉，我们在一个岛上。 我们明天早上就回来，”艾米说。 她能从内利的声音里听出真正的担忧。 “我们很抱歉没有给你留个便条。”

"We can talk about the fact that you totally freaked me out for an entire day another time. Right now I'm coming to get you." "Ms. Gomez— Nellie— I'm afraid you will have to wait until morning," Alistair said reluctantly. "I swear I will deliver the children to you myself." "Don't bother. I'll be there tomorrow morning." After Alistair gave her directions and assurances that he'd fed them dinner and Dan had chimed in about the sad lack of dessert, Nellie said a reluctant good night and she'd see them tomorrow. Early. "Now, I think it's been a long day and we should all retire," Alistair said in his formal way. "You'll be safe here tonight." A few minutes later, Amy did feel safe as she snuggled under the cotton quilt. Alistair had loaned them each one of his soft white cotton T-shirts to wear to bed because their clothes still smelled like fish and saltwater. The wind and rain had stopped, and a fresh breeze wafted through the window. Amy fell asleep listening to the faint

“我们可以改天再谈你把我吓了一整天的事。 现在我来接你。” “戈麦斯女士——内莉——恐怕你得等到早上了。”阿利斯泰尔不情愿地说。 “我发誓我会亲自把孩子们交给你。” “不用麻烦了。我明天早上去。” 在阿利斯泰尔给她指示方向，并保证他已经给他们准备了晚餐，丹也插话说没有甜点的遗憾之后，内莉不情愿地道了晚安，说她明天见他们。 早。“现在，我想这是漫长的一天，我们都应该退休了，”阿利斯泰尔以他正式的方式说。 “今晚你在这里会很安全的。” 几分钟后，艾米蜷缩在棉被下，感到安全了。 阿利斯泰尔借给他们每人一件柔软的白色棉质t恤，让他们穿着睡觉，因为他们的衣服仍然散发着鱼和咸水的味道。 风和雨已经停了，一股清新的微风从窗户吹进来。 艾米听着昏厥声睡着了

rustling of the palms. Far away, a motor softly purred out on the dark sea. She was so tired that she hoped she wouldn't dream. At first she thought she was still hearing the whisper of the leaves outside. The noise was so soft. She turned over and felt herself slipping back into sleep. She could still smell the smoky trace of their dinner…. She sat up. She could smell it now. She could see the wisps of smoke curling in the moonlight. Panic shot through her. But she couldn't seem to move. She was seeing another night, another time. Fire. Amy holds her mother's hand. She cries as they run down the stairs to the first floor. "Get the children out!" her father shouts. He's in the den, pulling books down off the shelves. Looking for something… "Daddy!" she screams. She holds out her arms and he stops for a second. "Angel," he says, "go with Mommy." "No!" She sobs as her mother pulls her away. "No! Daddy!"

棕榈树的沙沙声。远处，一辆发动机在黑暗的海面上发出轻柔的咕噜声。 她太累了，希望自己不要做梦。 起初，她还以为听到的是外面树叶的窃窃私语。 那声音是那么柔和。她翻了个身，觉得自己又睡着了。 她还能闻到他们晚餐的烟味.... 她坐了起来。她现在可以闻到了。 她能看到月光下袅袅升起的缕缕烟雾。 她一阵恐慌。但她似乎动不了。 她在另一个晚上，另一个时间约会。 火。艾米握着妈妈的手。 当他们跑下楼梯到一楼时，她哭了起来。 “把孩子们弄出去！”她父亲喊道。 他在书房里，把书架上的书拉下来。 她在找东西……“爸爸！” 她伸出双臂，他停了一会儿。 “安吉尔，”他说，“跟妈妈一起去。” “不!”当她母亲把她拉开时，她抽泣着。 “不!爸爸!”

"Arthur!" her mother shouts. But she continues on with Amy and Dan. Cool night air, damp grass against her bare legs. Her mother leans over her. She takes Amy's face in her hands. "Look at me," her mother says, the way she always does when she wants Amy to listen hard. "Take care of your brother. I love you." Amy screams, begs her to come back even as her mother races back into the burning house…. She was so intensely part of the memory that it wasn't until she started to cough that she realized fully this wasn't a dream. The house was on fire! Alistair appeared in the doorway. She saw the shadows of flames flickering on his face, and it sent a jolt through her body. Alistair was there that night, too. He had damp towels in his hands, just like her mother had on that night so long ago. He closed the bedroom door and put the wet towel against the crack. Then he bent over double, coughing. He was standing next to the fireplace, his face in shadow. Pants ironed to a knife-crease. Gray suit, bright yellow tie. He coughed politely. "Let's calm

“亚瑟！”她妈妈喊道。 但她继续和艾米和丹在一起。 夜晚凉爽的空气，潮湿的草地贴着她裸露的双腿。 她妈妈俯身看着她。 她把艾米的脸捧在手里。 “看着我，”她妈妈说，每当她想让艾米认真听的时候，她总是这样说。 “照顾好你的弟弟。 我爱你。”艾米尖叫，恳求她回来，即使她的母亲跑回燃烧的房子.... 她是如此强烈的记忆的一部分，直到她开始咳嗽，她才完全意识到这不是一个梦。 房子着火了！阿利斯泰尔出现在门口。 她看到火焰的影子在他的脸上闪烁，她的身体一阵颤动。 阿利斯泰尔那晚也在那里。 他手里拿着湿毛巾，就像很久以前的那个晚上她母亲一样。 他关上卧室的门，把湿毛巾贴在门缝上。 然后他弯下腰，咳嗽起来。 他站在壁炉旁，脸笼罩在阴影里。 裤子烫成刀痕。 灰色西装，亮黄色领带。 他礼貌地咳嗽了一声。“让我们冷静

down. We are only here to take what is ours." Dan sat up in bed, coughing. The sound of his distress helped Amy to move. She threw off the sheet. Alistair rushed toward Dan. He pressed the wet towel against Dan's face. He put an arm around him and started to lead him to the window. "Hurry!" he called over his shoulder to Amy. When she got to the window, she saw smoke rolling out from below. She looked behind and saw the eerie sight of smoke blasting through the cracks surrounding the closed door. There would be no escape that way. "The ledge," Alistair said. Outside the window was a ledge wide enough to stand on. She heard the sound of shattering glass as the window blew out in the room next door. Alistair stepped out on the ledge and held out a hand to Dan. "Come on. The wind is blowing the smoke the other way. You can breathe out here." Dan stepped out onto the ledge. He gulped in the fresh air. Amy stepped out next. The wall

下来。我们来这里只是为了拿回属于我们的东西。” 丹从床上坐起来，咳嗽着。 他痛苦的声音帮助艾米移动。 她把床单掀了下来。阿利斯泰尔冲向丹。 他把湿毛巾按在丹的脸上。 他伸出一只胳膊搂住他，开始把他带到窗前。 “快点！”他回过头对艾美喊道。 当她走到窗口时，她看到烟从下面冒出来。 她向后看了看，看到了从关着的门周围的缝隙里冒出的烟雾。 那样是逃不掉的。 “窗台。”阿利斯泰尔说。 窗外有一块宽得足以站立的窗台。 她听到隔壁房间的窗户被吹碎时玻璃破碎的声音。 阿利斯泰尔走到窗台上，向丹伸出一只手。 “来吧。风把烟吹向了另一个方向。 你可以在这里呼吸。” 丹走到窗台上。 他大口吸着新鲜空气。 艾米接着走了出来。墙上