Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 When Dan's eyes opened from a nap, the Yugo was parked under a tree at the top of a hill. Below them was a field where a group of men played soccer. He pressed his tongue against the top of his mouth. The tip was still sore, but the swelling had gone down. "Owwww…" "Where are we?" Amy said groggily. "Lunch stop," Nellie said. "Just outside Pretoria. There's a food shop up the road. I figure we'll hide the car here in case our friends come looking for us." "Um, guys?" Dan said, looking past Amy. "Is that what I think it is?" Amy whirled around. A hulking purple pickup truck trailing white feathers was lumbering up the

当丹从午睡中睁开眼睛时，那辆尤戈车停在山顶的一棵树下。 在他们下面是一块田地，一群人在那里踢足球。 他把舌头贴在嘴上。 针尖还疼，但肿已经消了。 “哦www...”“我们在哪里？”艾米昏昏沉沉地说。 “午休时间，”内莉说。 “就在比勒陀利亚郊外。在这条路上有一家食品店。 我想我们应该把车藏在这里，以防我们的朋友来找我们。” “嗯,伙计们?”丹说，目光越过艾米。 “这是我想的那个东西吗？”艾米转过身来。 一辆拖着白色羽毛的笨重的紫色小货车在街道上缓慢行驶

road toward them. "Why would that be here?" Amy said. "It belongs to the farmer whose chicken coop the Hummer destroyed." "Unless the Hummer dudes hijacked it!" Dan said. "Come on!" Nellie hopped in the Yugo and turned the ignition key. The car sputtered and wheezed. She tried again and it died. "Run!" Amy said. They sprinted down toward the soccer field. The players stopped, staring at them in bafflement. Beyond the field, the hill swept upward into a dense thicket of trees. It would be easy to get lost there. Amy climbed, keeping right behind Nellie. But when they reached the top, Dan wasn't with them. "What the—?" Nellie said. Dan was talking to one of the soccer players, gesturing back toward the pickup. The man was nodding intently as other players gathered around them.

通往他们的路。“为什么会在这里？”艾米说。 “它属于一个农夫，他的鸡笼被悍马摧毁了。” “除非悍马那帮人劫持了它！”丹说。 “来吧!”内莉跳上尤戈车，转动点火钥匙。 汽车噼啪作响，呼哧呼哧地响。 她又试了一次，但它死了。 “快跑!”艾米说。他们冲向足球场。 球员们停下来，困惑地盯着他们。 在田野的那一边，那座山向上延伸，变成了茂密的树丛。 在那里很容易迷路。 艾米爬了上去，紧跟在内利后面。 但当他们到达山顶时，丹却没有和他们在一起。 ——“什么?”内莉说。 丹正在和一个足球运动员说话，指着皮卡。 当其他球员聚集在他们周围时，这个人专心地点头。

"Dan!" Amy started to call out, but Nellie put her hand over her mouth. In a moment, Dan was scooting up the hill. "Move!" he said. "We need to hide!" "What were you doing?" Amy hissed. "Run now, chat later." Dan scampered past them into the woods, finding a path that followed along the ridge. When the soccer field came in sight again, he ducked behind a thick bush. "We'll wait," he said. "If everything goes right, there will be a huge fight down there. We'll circle back to the car and try again." Amy and Nellie knelt on either side of him. On the field, the soccer team had closed around five people dressed in elaborate, colorful African robes and odd feathered hats. One guy, who appeared to be captain of the players, was gesturing heatedly. In a moment, Amy and Dan's pursuers were shedding their robes. The burliest one was the first to remove his hat. The bristling, brush-cut scalp of Eisenhower Holt was instantly recognizable. As was the slavering pit bull that was bounding around the

“丹!”艾米开始大叫，但内利用手捂住了嘴。 不一会儿，丹就飞快地爬上了山。 “走开！”他说。“我们得躲起来！”“你在干什么？”艾米发出嘘嘘的声音。 “现在跑步，以后再聊天。”丹从他们身边跑进树林，找到了一条沿着山脊的小路。 当足球场再次出现时，他躲到茂密的灌木丛后面。 “我们会等的，”他说。“如果一切顺利，那里将会有一场巨大的战斗。 我们绕回车上再试一次。” 艾米和内莉跪在他的两侧。 在球场上，足球队围着五个人，他们穿着精美的彩色非洲长袍，戴着奇怪的羽毛帽子。 一个似乎是队员队长的家伙，正在激烈地打手势。 不一会儿，艾米和丹的追求者脱下了他们的长袍。 最魁梧的那个是第一个摘下帽子的。 艾森豪威尔·霍尔特（Eisenhower Holt）毛发浓密、毛发稀疏的头皮一眼就能认出来。 就像那只流口水的斗牛犬在院子里跳来跳去

sidelines. "The Holts?" Dan said. Amy grabbed Dan's arm. "Those were the clothes they were wearing when I saw them crouched down in the Hummer. It's their idea of a disguise. What did you tell the players?" "The truth, sort of," Dan replied. "That the people in the truck were a gang of bad guys chasing after innocent kids. Now, come on, let's get ready to move." Amy glanced to her left, following the path they would need to take to the car. For at least fifty yards, they would be totally exposed. Below, Eisenhower was shouting at one of the players. Pushing him. But Hamilton was on the sidelines, combing his hair in a hand mirror. Preening. The sun's reflection glinted from Ham's mirror. Dan recoiled, shielding his face with his hand. "The jerk." The glare landed on Nellie. "Ow! Oh, thanks a lot. Let's get out of here." "Wait," Amy said. "I think he's aiming it."

间隙。“霍尔特嗤之以鼻?”丹说。 艾米抓住丹的胳膊。“当我看到他们蹲在悍马里时，他们就穿着这些衣服。 这是他们的伪装。 你对球员们说了什么？”“说实话，差不多吧。”丹回答。 “卡车里的人是一群追逐无辜孩子的坏人。 现在，来吧，我们准备出发。” 艾米朝左边瞥了一眼，顺着他们要走到车上的那条路走。 至少在50码的范围内，他们会完全暴露。 下面，艾森豪威尔正在对一名队员大喊大叫。 推他。但汉密尔顿站在一旁，用手照镜子梳头。 梳理羽毛。太阳的倒影从哈姆的镜子里闪闪发光。 丹后退了几步，用手遮着脸。 “混蛋。”那耀眼的目光落在了内莉身上。 “噢!哦，非常感谢。我们离开这里吧。” “等等，”艾米说。“我认为他是在瞄准。”

Dan became rigid. "Whoa. Hold still, Nellie. He's sending a message!" "A what?" Nellie said. "Dit-dit-dit, dah-dah-dah, dit-dit-dit," Dan muttered. "The standard Morse code distress signal. Hamilton is sending Morse code! This is, like, so World War Two!" He took his Shaka card from his pocket and gave it to Amy. "Hold this up. Try to catch the mirror message as best you can. I'll write down the letters." "You know Morse code?" Nellie said. "Duh," Dan replied. By the time Dan got out a pencil and candy wrapper, the flares had stopped. But they began again as Amy held up the card. Dan whispered as he wrote: "Dah-dah-dit… dah-dah-dah… dah-dit… dah-dah-dah… dit-dah-dah… dah-dit-dit-dit… dit… dit-dah-dah… dit-dah… dit-dah-dit… dit…" Hamilton abruptly put his mirror in his pocket

丹变得僵硬了。“哇。别动，内莉。 他在传递信息！”“什么?”内莉说。 “哒哒哒，哒哒哒，哒哒哒，哒哒哒，”丹嘟囔着。 标准的莫尔斯电码求救信号。 汉密尔顿在发送摩尔斯电码！这简直就是第二次世界大战！”他从口袋里掏出他的沙卡递给艾米。 “拿着这个。尽你所能抓住镜像信息。 我把这些字母写下来。” “你知道摩尔斯电码吗？”内莉说。 “废话，”丹回答。当丹拿出铅笔和糖果包装纸时，信号弹已经停止了。 但当艾米举起卡片时，他们又开始了。 丹低声说,他写道:“Dah-dah-dit dah-dah-dah……dah-dit dah-dah-dah……dit-dah-dah……dah-dit-dit-dit……说……dit-dah-dah dit-dah……dit-dah-dit…说…”汉密尔顿突然把他的镜子在他的口袋里

and ran onto the field. The African players were teasing him in a mixture of English and some other language. "What's it say?" Amy asked. Dan showed what he'd written: Dan read the letters." 'Gon ow be ware'?" he said. "Um, I'm just a stupid au pair," Nellie said, "but wouldn't that be, Go now. Beware?" RRRROMMMMMM… CHCK! CHCKCHCK-CHCK. Amy looked up at the sound. At the top of the ridge, about twenty yards farther in and well out of sight of the clearing, the

然后跑到球场上。非洲球员们混合着英语和其他语言取笑他。 “上面说什么？”艾米问。 丹展示了他写的东西：丹读了那些信。” “你会小心吗？”他说。 “嗯，我只是一个愚蠢的互惠生，”内莉说，“但这不是很好吗？现在就去吧。” 小心?”RRRROMMMMMM…CHCK !CHCKCHCK-CHCK。 艾米抬头看了看声音。 在山脊的顶端，离那块空地大约二十码远的地方，有一辆马车