Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8 A tiny penlight barely illuminated a rickety set of stairs. The door thudded shut behind them. "We could meet an occasional rat," Irina said. "Otherwise, perfectly safe." "Don't worry," Amy said. "I'm used to rats. They run in my family." "Comedian like your brother, eh?" Irina said. "This tunnel was used in the 1800s. If a lowlife drank too much rum at a bar, he found himself on a ship out to sea the next morning. Smuggled through tunnel to harbor." They reached the bottom of the stairs. The floor was dirt, the walls crumbling stone. Amy couldn't see what was ahead. "Wh-where are you taking me?" She hated the quaver in her voice. She wouldn't let it out again. "Ha!" Irina barked the word without humor. "You think I'm kidnapping you? I'm saving you.

一盏小小的笔灯勉强照亮了一段摇摇欲坠的楼梯。 门在他们身后砰地关上了。 “我们偶尔会遇到一只老鼠，”伊琳娜说。 “否则，绝对安全。” “别担心，”艾米说。“我已经习惯老鼠了。 这是我们家族的遗传。”“像你哥哥一样的喜剧演员，嗯？”伊丽娜说。 “这条隧道在19世纪使用。 如果一个下贱的人在酒吧里喝了太多朗姆酒，第二天早上他就会发现自己上了一艘出海的船。 通过隧道走私到港口。” 他们走到楼梯底下。 地板很脏，墙壁是摇摇欲坠的石头。 艾米看不清前方是什么。 “你——你要带我去哪儿？”她讨厌自己声音里的颤抖。 她再也不让它出来了。 “哈!”伊琳娜毫无幽默感地咆哮着这个词。 “你以为我在绑架你？” 我在救你。

There are some things I won't stoop to do." "Really," Amy said. "I thought you stooped at nothing." "Is a joke? It's true, though, what you say. There was nothing I wouldn't do to win. But today, Amy Cahill, I'm doing you a favor. I'm giving you advice you need. Here it is—you are afraid of everything except what you should fear." "Thanks," Amy said. "That was really helpful." "For example, you are afraid of me right now. Understandable, I am your enemy. But at this moment, I am least of your problems." "Really?" Amy said. "Weird. Seeing that I'm in a tunnel with rats, and you just threatened me with poison." "Here is other thing I must tell you— you don't remember what you should never forget." "That really clears up a lot." "Go ahead, make the fun. But before we part, you must understand that what you don't know will doom you. And the world." "Exaggerate much?" Somehow, taunting Irina

有些事我是不会屈尊去做的。” “真的吗？”艾米说。“我还以为你什么都不会做呢。” “是个笑话吗？”不过你说的是真的。 为了赢，我什么都愿意做。 但今天，艾米·卡荷尔，我要帮你个忙。 我是在给你你需要的建议。 这就是——你什么都害怕，除了你应该害怕的东西。” “谢谢，”艾米说。“这真的很有帮助。” “比如，你现在害怕我。 可以理解，我是你的敌人。 但现在，我不是你的问题。” “真的吗?”艾米说。“奇怪。 看到我和老鼠在隧道里，而你刚刚用毒药威胁我。” “还有一件事我必须告诉你——你不记得你永远不应该忘记的事情。” “这真的让我明白了很多。” “去吧，创造乐趣。但在我们分开之前，你必须明白你不知道的事会毁了你。 还有整个世界。”“夸张?”不知怎么的，在嘲笑伊琳娜

kept her fear in check. "No." Irina spun her around. In the darkness, she stood very close. "Listen to me, Amy Cahill. It is time you lift your head and look around you. The thirty-nine clues are like game to your brother, yes?" Amy felt compelled by the ferocity of Irina's gaze. Her eyes, even in the faint glow of the penlight, were ice blue, her lashes startlingly dark against them. She couldn't deny what Irina had said. In many ways, the chase for the Clues was a game for Dan. "But you know better. That's why I risk so much to talk to you. Your parents died for this. Do you think they wanted to go?" "Don't talk about my parents!" Amy would have put her hands over her ears if she wasn't afraid it would make her look like a child. "No parent would ever want to leave a child. Do you think they would leave their beloved children for a game?" "Stop it!" "Do you think your mother left you alone and

控制住了她的恐惧。“没有。” 伊琳娜把她转了个身。黑暗中，她站得很近。 “听我说，艾米·卡希尔。 是时候抬起头来看看你的周围了。 这三十九条线索对你哥哥来说就像游戏一样，是吗？”艾美被伊琳娜凶狠的目光所迫。 她的眼睛，即使在微弱的烛光下，也是冰蓝色的，睫毛在它们的映衬下出奇地黑。 她无法否认伊琳娜所说的话。 从很多方面来看，寻找线索对Dan来说都是一种游戏。 “但你知道得更清楚。所以我才冒着这么大的风险跟你说话。 你的父母为此而死。 你认为他们想去吗？”“不要谈论我的父母！”艾米会用手捂住耳朵，如果她不担心这样会让她看起来像个孩子的话。 “没有父母会想离开自己的孩子。 你认为他们会为了一场游戏而离开自己心爱的孩子吗？”“住手!”“你以为你妈妈把你一个人留在家里

raced back into a burning house just for her husband?" Amy looked at Irina, startled. Frozen. "How do you know what happened?" she whispered. Irina shrugged. "From newspaper, of course. Unless not. Only you know for sure. Because you know who was there that night. You were old enough to see. You won't believe what any Cahill tells you, and that is smart. We each have our agenda. So you must remember." "I don't remember anything from that night," Amy said. But something dislodged and floated up into her brain, cold grass, ash flying, a window shattering, Dan crying… "You have been resourceful, I give you that," Irina said. "You think on your feet, you and your brother. But there comes a time when you must think deeper. You must face the thing you don't want to face. Until you can do that, you're vulnerable." "To what?" "To someone who will tell you what you want to hear," Irina said. "So I ask again. What

为了她的丈夫跑回着火的房子？”艾米吃惊地看着伊琳娜。 冻结。“你怎么知道发生了什么事？”她小声问。 Irina耸耸肩。“当然是从报纸上来的。 除非不是。只有你自己知道。 因为你知道那晚谁在场。 你已经长大了，可以看到。 你不会相信卡荷尔家的人说的话，这很聪明。 我们每个人都有自己的计划。所以你一定要记住。” “我不记得那晚发生的任何事了，”艾米说。 但有什么东西移开了，飘进了她的脑海，冰冷的草，飞舞的灰烬，破碎的窗户，丹的哭声……“你真是足智多谋，我承认，”伊琳娜说。 “你和你哥哥，你要站起来思考。 但总有一天，你必须更深入地思考。 你必须面对你不想面对的事情。 在你能做到这一点之前，你是脆弱的。” “什么?”“给一个会说你想听的话的人，”伊琳娜说。 所以我又问了一遍。什么

happened the night of the fire?" She was choking through the cold, wet towel Mommy had placed over her mouth. Mommy held her hand so tightly. She could hear the flames, but she couldn't see them. It was all smoke. Dan cried in their mother's arms. "I don't remember! I was a kid!" Fear tore the words from Amy's throat. The flashes she was getting were making her dizzy and sick. "It's strange," Irina said, her gaze suddenly unfocused. "I remember so clearly being seven. The day I got separated from my mother on the streets of St. Petersburg… I remember the coat I was wearing, my shoes, the exact color of the river, the look on her face when she found me…" "I'm happy for you," Amy said, swallowing hard. "Did anyone visit the house that night?" Irina asked. "Did you hear anything? Did your mother come upstairs for you? How did you get out of the house?" "Stop it!" They fought their way down the stairs. Daddy was in the study, throwing books on the floor.

火灾那晚发生了什么事？”妈妈用又冷又湿的毛巾盖住她的嘴，把她噎住了。 妈妈紧紧地握着她的手。 她能听到火焰的声音，但看不见。 全是烟。丹在妈妈的怀里哭了。 “我不记得了！”我那时还是个孩子！”恐惧使艾米说不出话来。 她看到的闪光使她头晕目眩，感到恶心。 “真奇怪，”伊琳娜说，她的目光突然不集中了。 “我清楚地记得我七岁的时候。 那天我和妈妈在圣。 彼得堡……我记得我穿的外套，我的鞋子，那条河的确切颜色，还有她发现我时脸上的表情……”“我为你感到高兴，”艾米哽咽着说。 “那天晚上有人来过吗？”伊丽娜问道。 “你听到什么了吗？”你妈妈上楼来找你了吗？ 你是怎么从房子里跑出来的？”“住手!”他们奋力走下楼梯。 爸爸在书房，把书扔在地板上。

"Get the children out!" he shouted. "Daddy!" she screamed. She held out her arms and he stopped for a second. "Angel," he said, "go with Mommy." "No!" She sobbed as her mother pulled her away. "No! Daddy!" "No," Amy whispered. "No." "We push away the bad memories," Irina said. Bleak sadness deadened her voice. "We tell ourselves is better not to remember. It is not better. Better to remember everything, even pain." "What do you want from me?" Irina's gaze snapped back into its glittering directness. "Come. We run out of time. This is a Lucian site. If we're both missing, it won't take long for Isabel to look here." They started to walk again. Amy thought the light might have been getting grayer. Were they reaching the end of the tunnel? She was ready to run if they were. She felt something scurry past, and she jumped. "Just a rat," Irina said. "One of the family, eh?

“把孩子们弄出去！”他喊道。 “爸爸！”她尖叫道。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!”“不，”艾米低声说。 “没有。”“我们赶走了不好的记忆，”伊琳娜说。 凄凉的悲伤使她的声音哑了。 “我们告诉自己最好不要记得。 它并没有更好。最好记住一切，甚至是痛苦。” “你想从我这里得到什么？”伊琳娜的目光立刻恢复了那闪闪发亮的直率。 “来。我们没时间了。 这是一个卢西恩网站。如果我们俩都不见了，伊莎贝尔很快就会找到这里的。” 他们又开始走路了。 艾米觉得光线可能越来越暗了。 他们到达隧道的尽头了吗？ 她已经准备好逃跑了。 她感到有什么东西从身边跑过，就跳了起来。 “只是一只老鼠，”伊琳娜说。“家里的一个人，嗯？”