Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26 Amy and Dan sat on the beach the next morning, looking out at the calm tropical waters. They had spent the longest night of their lives, unable to sleep, just sitting, waiting for dawn. Now they stared with bloodshot eyes out at the horizon. Their white T-shirts were gray from smoke and soot, and their throats still felt dry and scratchy despite the water they'd drunk. They knew Nellie would be here soon on a launch. It was important they leave before the authorities arrived. Alistair had ordered them to stay on the beach. He didn't want them to see what remained at the house. They didn't want to think about it. He had wandered off, and they knew he wanted to be alone. Irina had been his enemy, but he'd known her a long time. Maybe he wanted to mourn her. Irina had been their enemy, too. Last night, she

第二十六章第二天早上，艾米和丹坐在海滩上，望着外面平静的热带海水。 他们度过了一生中最漫长的夜晚，无法入睡，只是坐着，等待黎明。 现在他们用充血的眼睛盯着地平线。 他们的白t恤被烟和烟灰染成了灰色，尽管他们喝了水，但他们的喉咙仍然感到干燥和沙哑。 他们知道内莉很快就会来参加发射。 他们在当局到来之前离开是很重要的。 阿利斯泰尔命令他们留在海滩上。 他不想让他们看到房子里剩下的东西。 他们不愿意考虑这个问题。 他走丢了，他们知道他想一个人待着。 伊琳娜是他的敌人，但他认识她很久了。 也许他想哀悼她。 伊琳娜也曾是他们的敌人。 昨晚，她

had saved their lives. Amy touched the jade dragon on her necklace. Why? How could someone she'd thought of as pure evil have the goodness inside to sacrifice her life for them? Last night someone had stolen the poem. Alistair knew that much. He had awakened, smelled smoke, and immediately checked for the paper. They all knew it had to be Isabel. Alistair had heard the sound of a motor out on the water, but he hadn't been able to see anything. This morning they'd found the vessel that no doubt Irina had used, a small fishing boat she'd probably paid someone to borrow back at the harbor. They had the facts, or most of them. What they couldn't sift through was their feelings. The only thing Amy knew for sure was that it was time to tell Dan. She had to tell him now, before Nellie showed up. She couldn't go through another day like yesterday. She could face anything, but she couldn't face it without Dan. She'd been so wrong, and he'd been so right.

救了他们的命。艾米摸了摸项链上的玉龙。 为什么?一个她认为纯粹邪恶的人怎么会有善良的内心为他们牺牲自己的生命呢？ 昨晚有人偷了那首诗。 阿利斯泰尔知道这些。他醒了，闻到了烟味，立刻检查了一下有没有那张纸。 他们都知道一定是伊莎贝尔。 阿利斯泰尔听到了水面上发动机的声音，但他什么也看不见。 今天早上，他们找到了毫无疑问是伊琳娜用过的那艘船，一艘小渔船，她可能是在港口付钱向别人借的。 他们掌握了事实，或者说掌握了大部分事实。 他们无法筛选的是他们的感受。 艾米唯一确定的是，是时候告诉丹了。 她现在必须告诉他，趁内利还没来。 她不能再像昨天那样过一天了。 她可以面对任何事情，但没有丹，她无法面对。 她错得太离谱了，而他是对的。

He'd been so scared last night, but he'd never lost his nerve. He'd been like that all along. Times when she was frozen with fear, he'd kept on moving. In so many ways, he was braver than she was. He could face anything. "There's a reason I didn't tell you about Mom and Dad being murdered," she said haltingly. "And it wasn't because I didn't trust you. It was because I remembered something I did. I didn't want you to know. I-I didn't want you to blame me." He shot her a questioning look. "That night… the night of the fire… I was still awake when the strangers came. I heard them downstairs. I listened at the door. They were asking Mom and Dad where they'd been. They asked over and over." Amy paused, and then the words rushed out. "I was scared. S-so I ran inside the room. A woman picked me up. Isabel. She talked about the teddy bears on my nightgown and I corrected her. I said they were koalas. So that's how they all knew." Dan shook his head. "Knew what?"

他昨晚非常害怕，但他从来没有失去勇气。 他一直都是这样的。 当她被吓得呆住的时候，他一直在移动。 在很多方面，他都比她勇敢。 他可以面对任何事情。“我没有告诉你爸爸妈妈被谋杀的事是有原因的，”她吞吞吐吐地说。 “这并不是因为我不信任你。 那是因为我想起了我做过的事。 我不想让你知道。 我不想让你怪我。” 他疑惑地看了她一眼。 “那天晚上……起火的那天晚上……陌生人来的时候我还醒着。 我听见他们在楼下。我在门口听着。 他们问爸爸妈妈他们去哪儿了。 他们一遍又一遍地问。” 艾米停顿了一下，然后话就脱口而出。 “我很害怕。所以我跑进了房间。 一个女人把我接走了。伊莎贝尔。 她谈到我睡衣上的泰迪熊，我纠正了她。 我说它们是考拉。所以他们都是这样知道的。” 丹摇了摇头。“知道什么?”

"That Mom and Dad had gone to Australia in search of Robert Cahill Henderson. And they must have figured that they'd brought something back. Because later, when they were outside, Isabel said, They traced him to Australia, didn't they? This has to be taken care of tonight." "Do you think that they did bring something back? And that's what Dad was looking for?" "What do you do when your house is on fire?" Amy asked. "You run for the most valuable thing. So Mom ran for us, and Dad ran for whatever it was." "Maybe somebody set the fire so they could watch what happened. Maybe things went wrong. But the fire wouldn't have happened if I hadn't told them that Mom and Dad were in Australia! If I hadn't been such a… know-it-all!" Amy buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook with sobs. She felt as though she could cry forever. She could cry out her grief and her shame but it would keep welling back up, and it would never stop. Dan squirmed. "Amy. Wigging. Totally." She lifted her head, swiping a hand across her

爸爸妈妈去澳大利亚找罗伯特·卡希尔·亨德森了。 他们一定觉得自己带回来了什么东西。 因为后来，当他们在外面的时候，伊莎贝尔说，他们追踪到他到了澳大利亚，不是吗？ 这件事今晚必须解决。” “你认为他们带回来什么东西了吗？” 这就是爸爸要找的东西吗？”“当你的房子着火了你会怎么做？”艾米问。 “你为最有价值的东西而跑。 所以妈妈为了我们而跑，爸爸为了什么而跑。” “也许有人放了火，这样他们就能看到发生了什么。 也许事情出了问题。但是如果我没有告诉他们爸爸妈妈在澳大利亚，火灾就不会发生了！要不是我是个……万事通！”艾米双手掩面。 她的肩膀因抽泣而颤抖。 她觉得自己好像可以永远哭下去。 她可以大声说出自己的悲伤和羞愧，但这些悲伤和羞愧会不断涌上心头，永远不会停止。 丹局促不安。”艾米。责备。 完全。”她抬起头，用手在身上擦了擦

eyes. "What?" "Let me get this straight. Because you had koalas on your pajamas, our parents died?" "Well…" "That's just dumb. Our parents died because our house caught fire. You didn't light the match. One of our dear, devoted relatives did. You dweeb. You think that because you said the magic word, you changed everything? We're talking Cahills here. They would have done it no matter what." The scorn in Dan's voice took away Amy's fear. If Dan had been soothing, if he'd tried to reassure her, she would have lost it again. Soot still streaked his pale face. He looked tired, worn out, sad. And honest. "You are one awesomely weird sister-dude," Dan said. She wanted to hug him, but she knew it would totally freak him out. She hugged her knees instead. She felt a little of her shame begin to lift. Dan saw things clear. If he didn't think she was to blame… maybe she wasn't. She had said the

眼睛。“什么?”“让我把话说清楚。 就因为你睡衣上有考拉，我们的父母就死了？”“嗯……”“这太蠢了。 我们的房子着火了，我们的父母都死了。 你没有点火柴。 是我们的一位挚爱的亲戚干的。 你白痴。你以为你说了咒语，就能改变一切吗？ 我们说的是卡希尔。 他们无论如何都会这么做。” 丹声音里的轻蔑消除了艾米的恐惧。 如果丹安慰她，如果他试着安慰她，她会再次失去理智。 烟灰仍在他苍白的脸上留下痕迹。 他看上去很疲倦，疲惫，悲伤。 和诚实。丹说：“你真是个了不起的奇葩姐妹。” 她想拥抱他，但她知道这会把他吓坏的。 她抱着膝盖。 她感到有点羞耻感开始消失了。 丹看得很清楚。如果他不认为是她的错，也许她没有。 她说

words out loud, she had dredged up every memory, and she hadn't shattered. Instead, Amy realized, the opposite had happened. She was stronger. "Irina said something else in the tunnel," she said. "She asked me why Mom ran back into the house. Was it just for Daddy? What could be more important than their children?" "The fate of the world?" Dan joked. But his grin faded as he met Amy's serious green eyes. "The fate of the world," she repeated. They didn't say anything for a minute. It seemed impossible to think about right now, with the smudge of pink on the horizon and the lightening blue of the sea. Impossible to think of the great, wide world around them… depending on them. "I think I know what they were looking for," Dan said. "The poem." "Alistair stole it," Amy said. "It all makes sense now. Last night I remembered him standing by the fireplace. While everyone was looking at me, he

大声地说着，她回忆起每一件事，她没有崩溃。 艾米意识到，事实正好相反。 她更坚强了。“伊琳娜在隧道里说了别的什么，”她说。 她问我妈妈为什么跑回屋里。 是给爸爸的吗？还有什么比他们的孩子更重要呢？”“世界的命运？”丹开玩笑说。 但当他看到艾米严肃的绿眼睛时，他的笑容消失了。 “世界的命运，”她重复道。 他们有一分钟什么也没说。 眼下，眼看着地平线上一片粉红色的污迹，海面上泛着淡蓝色，一切似乎都不可能再去想了。 无法想象他们周围广阔的世界……取决于他们。 “我想我知道他们在找什么，”丹说。 “诗”。“阿利斯泰尔偷了它，”艾米说。 “现在一切都说得通了。昨晚我记得他站在壁炉旁。 大家都看着我的时候，他