Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 Amy, Dan, and Nellie were used to quick exits. Dan stuffed his feet back in his sneakers. Amy leaped over the back of the couch. Nellie charged for the door, opened it, and waited until Amy and Dan were clear. Shep leaped into the Jeep parked outside. "Get in!" he roared. A surfboard stuck out of the back, and Dan and Amy had to wedge themselves in next to it while Nellie swung into the front seat. Shep took off with a squeal of tires. Nellie leaned closer to Shep as they rocketed over the bumpy road. "What happened? Where are we going?" "Bondi, of course!" Shep yelled over the rushing wind. "Surf's up!" "Surf's up?" Nellie asked incredulously. "I thought the place was going to blow!"

艾米、丹和内莉习惯了快速离开。 丹把脚塞进球鞋里。 艾米从沙发后面跳了过去。 内莉冲到门口，打开门，一直等到艾米和丹走出去。 谢普跳上停在外面的吉普车。 “进来！”他吼道。一块冲浪板从后面伸出来，丹和艾米不得不挤到冲浪板旁边，而内莉则坐在前座。 谢普带着刺耳的轮胎声起飞了。 当他们在颠簸的路上飞驰时，内莉向谢普靠得更近了。 “发生了什么事?我们要去哪儿？”“当然是邦迪！”谢普在呼啸的风中大叫。 “冲浪企鹅!”“冲浪企鹅?”内莉怀疑地问。 “我以为这地方要爆炸了！”

Dan crashed back against the seat in relief. Amy blew out a breath. "You've got to drop everything when the call comes," Shep said. "I have to say, you three are aces at clearing out." "We used to be fire drill monitors at school," Dan said lamely. "Don't worry, there're plenty of shops," Shep yelled over the rushing wind. "You can pick up your gear there. And I've got plenty of surfie mates with long boards, short boards, body boards— we'll set you up." "I never understood surfing," Nellie said. "I'm a New England girl. Why jump on a board and get creamed by giant waves? I'd rather just swim." Shep chortled. "You'll love it. Just watch out for the bluebottles, and you'll be fine." "Can they kill you?" Dan asked hopefully. "Nah, but the pain is excruciating." "Cool!" Within a few minutes, Shep pulled into a space in front of a small surf shop. Soon he was

丹如释重负地向后靠在座位上。 艾米呼了一口气。“当电话来临时，你必须放下一切，”谢普说。 “我不得不说，你们三个是清理的高手。” “我们以前是学校消防演习的监督员，”丹跛着脚说。 “别担心，这里有很多商店。”谢普在呼啸的风中喊道。 “你可以在那里取你的装备。 我有很多冲浪伙伴，他们有长板、短板和全身板——我们会帮你的。” “我从来不懂冲浪，”内莉说。 “我是一个新英格兰女孩。为什么要跳上冲浪板，被巨浪打得晕头转向？ 我宁愿游泳。”谢普乐不可支。 “你会喜欢的。只要小心蓝瓶子，你就会没事的。” “他们能杀了你吗？”丹满怀希望地问。 “不疼，但是疼得要命。” “酷!”几分钟后，谢普把车开进了一家小冲浪店前的空地。 很快他就

cheerfully directing them to the proper gear and slapping down a credit card. Now dressed in board shorts and tops, they followed him down to a wide beach with rolling high surf. "The waves look awfully big," Amy said. Dan was glad that somebody besides him had said it. "Don't worry. Excellent lifeguards. Don't wave if you get into trouble, just raise your arm. Hey, there are my surfies!" Shep waved at a group that was passing around bottles of juice and sandwiches. They all looked tanned and athletic, both men and women, with sun-bleached hair like Shep's. Surfboards were resting on the sand or stuck in it like standing stones. "There he is!" one of the men called. "Took your time getting here, mate." "What have you got there, some shark biscuits?" another one called. "Did they just call us shark food?" Amy asked, gulping. "Don't pay them any mind. Shark biscuit just

兴高采烈地指引他们去找合适的装备，然后刷了一张信用卡。 现在，他们穿着冲浪短裤和上衣，跟着他来到一个波涛汹涌的宽阔海滩。 “海浪看起来太大了，”艾米说。 丹很高兴这句话是别人说的。 “别担心。优秀的救生员。 遇到麻烦时不要挥手，只要举起手臂就行了。 嘿，那是我的冲浪板！”谢普向一群递着瓶装果汁和三明治的人挥手。 他们看上去都是黝黑的、健壮的，男人和女人都有像谢普一样被太阳晒白的头发。 冲浪板要么搁在沙滩上，要么像立着的石头一样卡在沙滩上。 “他在那儿！”其中一个人喊道。 “你来这儿花了不少时间啊，伙计。” “你拿的是什么，鲨鱼饼干吗？”另一个喊道。 “他们刚才说我们是鲨鱼的食物吗？”艾米喘着气问道。 “别理他们。鲨鱼饼干

means a beginner." Shep strode forward. "These are my rellies Amy and Dan, and their au pair, Nellie. They're going to learn how to surf like an Aussie." "Choice," one of the girls said. "I've got a boogie board you can borrow." Shep grinned and tucked his board under his arm. "Come on, you three. I'll give you a quick lesson. And don't worry about the sharks— just stay between the flags." "Sharks," Nellie muttered. "Better on a plate. Sauce on the side." They spent twenty minutes trying to get the hang of the boogie boards. Nellie caught on almost immediately, but Amy kept falling off and getting dunked in the surf. She'd wind up yards down the beach and come up sputtering, having swallowed half of the Pacific Ocean. Dan kept laughing at her and getting smacked in the face with a wave. It was the most fun he'd had since he'd Fed-Exed his dead spider collection to his piano teacher. "I think you've got the hang of it now," Shep told them after awhile. "If you don't mind, I'll

意思是初学者。”谢普大步向前走。 “这是我的亲人艾米和丹，还有他们的保姆内莉。 他们将学习如何像澳大利亚人一样冲浪。” “选吧，”其中一个女孩说。 “我有冲浪板可以借你。” 谢普咧嘴一笑，把冲浪板夹在腋下。 “来吧，你们三个。我给你上一节简短的课。 别担心鲨鱼——就待在旗帜之间。” “鲨鱼，”内莉喃喃地说。 “最好放在盘子里。旁边放酱汁。” 他们花了二十分钟试图掌握冲浪板的窍门。 内莉几乎立刻就抓住了，但艾米却不断地掉下来，被海浪淹没。 她会沿着海滩游到几码远的地方，然后溅起水花，吞下了半个太平洋。 丹不停地嘲笑她，被她挥了一巴掌。 这是他把收集的死蜘蛛寄给钢琴老师以来最开心的一次。 过了一会儿，谢普对他们说：“我想你们现在已经掌握了窍门。” “如果你不介意的话，我来

paddle out with the long board for a bit." "I'm going to sunbathe," Nellie said. Nellie headed in, and Shep paddled out. Dan and Amy positioned themselves for the next wave. Amy pushed her hair out of her eyes and grinned. That worried look that made her eyebrows come together was gone. Dan caught a wave at the perfect point. He yodeled with happiness. When he finally came into shore, he sprang up laughing. But his grin faded when he saw a family in matching bright yellow board shorts and blue goggles start to splash into the water with long surfboards. Holts. Muscle-bound dimwits on parade. Dan towed his board as he timed a swim out past the breakers to where Amy still lay on her board, rocking with the swells. "We have company." Amy scanned the beach. "Oh, no. Quick, let's—" But it was too late. Eisenhower Holt had spotted them. He pointed a thick finger in their direction. "Game on!" he bellowed over the

用长板划出去一会儿。” “我要去晒日光浴，”内莉说。 内莉冲了进去，谢普划了出来。 丹和艾米准备迎接下一波海浪。 艾米拨开遮住眼睛的头发，笑了。 那种令她眉头紧锁的愁容消失了。 丹抓住了一个绝佳的时机。 他高兴地唱着约德尔歌。 当他终于上岸时，他笑着跳了起来。 但当他看到一个穿着亮黄色冲浪短裤和蓝色护目镜的家庭开始用长冲浪板溅水时，他的笑容消失了。 霍尔特嗤之以鼻。肌肉发达的笨蛋在游行。 丹拖着他的冲浪板，计时着游过了海浪，艾米仍然躺在冲浪板上，随着海浪摇摆。 “我们有客人。”艾米扫视了一下海滩。 “哦,不。快，我们——"可是已经太晚了。 艾森豪威尔·霍尔特发现了他们。 他用粗手指着他们的方向。 “游戏开始了！

crashing surf. "What do you think they want?" Dan asked. "Besides to drown us?" "Hamilton wouldn't," Amy said uncertainly. They had struck up a temporary alliance with Hamilton Holt in Russia. They'd even shared a Clue with him. But that didn't mean they were friends. "The Hammer is scared of his daddy," Dan said. "I'm scared of his daddy. You can't show fear to a Holt, though. They smell fear, and it tastes like chicken." He smacked the surface of the water. "Bring it on!" he yelled back at Eisenhower. Eisenhower flopped onto his board awkwardly, but as he began to paddle through the surf, he moved powerfully fast. "You owe us!" he yelled. "You sent us to Siberia! That wasn't fun! Now we need some answers." "We gave you a clue!" Amy shouted. "Big deal! We would have found it anyway!" "Dream on!" Dan yelled. "You couldn't find a clue if it bit you on the nose and hung on until Thursday!"

海浪。“你认为他们想要什么？”丹问道。 “除了淹死我们吗？”“汉密尔顿不会的，"艾米不确定地说。 他们与俄国的汉密尔顿·霍尔特结成了临时联盟。 他们甚至和他分享了一条线索。 但这并不意味着他们是朋友。 “大锤害怕他的爸爸，”丹说。 “我怕他爸爸。但你不能对霍尔特家的人表现出恐惧。 它们闻到了恐惧，味道就像鸡肉。” 他拍击水面。 “来吧！”他对艾森豪威尔喊道。 艾森豪威尔笨拙地扑倒在冲浪板上，但当他开始划桨划过海浪时，他的动作非常迅速。 “你欠我们的！”“你把我们送到西伯利亚！”这一点都不好玩！现在我们需要一些答案。” “我们给了你线索！”艾米喊道。 “大不了!反正我们会找到它的！”“梦想!”丹喊道。 “如果它咬了你的鼻子，一直挂到星期四，你就找不到任何线索了！”