Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19 The fine for dropping a cat off the Great Wall of China turned out to be four hundred yuan— about fifty-nine US dollars. Amy and Nellie also paid a hundred-yuan tip to the soldier who went down to bring Saladin back to them, plus another forty-three and change to buy ointment and bandages for the scratches he received. Their hotel was really more of a guest cottage— just barely adequate. It was called the Golden Monkey. It didn't have monkeys, but a couple of the cockroaches could have passed for pygmy marmosets. Amy barely noticed the dingy, cramped room and the bugs. The only thing on her mind was Dan. "We blew it, Nellie," she exclaimed, staring out the fly-specked window at the distant ramparts of the Great Wall. "We took a gamble and we lost.

把猫扔下长城的罚款是400元人民币，约合59美元。 艾米和内莉还给了那个下去把萨拉丁带回来的士兵一百元小费，另外又给了他们四十三元零钱，用来给萨拉丁买药膏和包扎伤口的绷带。 他们的旅馆实际上更像是一间客用小屋——勉强够用。 它被称为金丝猴。 那里没有猴子，但有几只蟑螂可以被当成侏儒狨猴。 艾米几乎没有注意到这个又脏又挤的房间和臭虫。 她脑子里只想着丹。 “我们搞砸了，内莉，”她惊叫道，从满是苍蝇的窗户望向远处的长城城墙。 “我们赌了一把，结果输了。

For some reason, Jonah blew off that trip to the Wall. Or we were in a different part. And by now he could be anywhere. They might not even be in China anymore. For all we know, we're on the wrong continent." Nellie was at the tiny desk, hunched over Dan's laptop computer. "Hey, come and look at this." "You found Jonah?" Amy asked eagerly. "No. But I've been thinking about your idea— that Puyi was working on something Cahill when he got turfed out of the Forbidden City. And that we might be able to take a guess at it by looking at major world events around 1924." "I don't care," Amy groaned. "I just want Dan back." Nellie looked up sharply. "Hey, little girl, you get a grip. The clue hunt isn't over, and it's doubly important now. Remember, Jonah's still on it, which makes it the best way to pick up Dan's trail. Now, I've made a list of some of the top news headlines from the early 1920s. See if any of this rings a bell in the Cahill world." Chastened, Amy got up to join her. Of course

出于某种原因，约拿没有去长城。 或者我们在不同的地方。 现在他可能在任何地方。 他们甚至可能已经不在中国了。 就我们所知，我们走错大陆了。” 内莉坐在那张小桌子旁，弯着腰看着丹的笔记本电脑。 “嘿，过来看看这个。” “你找到约拿了？”艾米急切地问。 “没有。但我一直在想你的想法——溥仪被赶出紫禁城时正在研究卡希尔的东西。 我们也许可以通过观察1924年左右的重大世界事件来猜测一下。” “我不在乎，”艾米呻吟道。 “我只想让丹回来。”内利猛地抬起头来。 “嘿，小姑娘，你要控制自己。 寻找线索的工作还没有结束，现在它变得更加重要了。 记住，乔纳还在那里，这是找到丹踪迹的最好方法。 现在，我列出了20世纪20年代早期的一些头条新闻。 看看这些在卡荷尔的世界里是否有什么耳熟。” 艾美受了教训，站起来和她站在一起。 当然

her au pair was right. Without a lead pointing directly to Dan, all they could do was pursue the 39 Clues in the hope that Dan would do the same. She peered down at the screen: 20-ton meteorite lands near Blackstone, Virginia. Egypt gains independence. President Harding dies in office. Construction begins on Yankee Stadium. George Mallory and Andrew Irvine lost on Mount Everest. Great Kanto earthquake devastates Japan. First US execution using poison gas. J. Edgar Hoover appointed head of FBI.

她的互惠生是对的。没有直接指向丹的线索，他们所能做的就是追踪39条线索，希望丹也会这么做。 她低头看了看屏幕：一块重达20吨的陨石降落在弗吉尼亚州的布莱克斯通附近。 埃及获得独立。哈丁总统在任上去世。 洋基体育场开始动工。 乔治·马洛里和安德鲁·欧文在珠穆朗玛峰上迷路了。 关东大地震摧毁了日本。 美国首次使用毒气处决。 j·埃德加·胡佛任命为联邦调查局局长。

Amy read the full three-page list and sat back with a sigh. "I don't know. I think Grace may have mentioned some of these things over the years, but I can't be sure. The truth is, she's only been dead a couple of months, and already I'm having trouble remembering the sound of her voice." Saladin rubbed up against her leg and emitted a sympathetic "mrrp." "So what should we do?" she asked worriedly. Nellie shrugged. "We'll go back to the Wall. We're already here. We might as well give it one more try." Amy nodded. They had no other leads— for Dan or the Clue hunt. If they came up empty today, they would be completely adrift. The pounding punk rock chords were tinny and distorted through the tiny speaker. "Hi, this is Nellie. I'm probably off tasting food you've never heard of, or listening to music that would blow your mind. So what are you waiting for? Leave a message." The beep cut right to Dan's heart. He slumped

艾米读完了整整三页的清单，叹了口气，坐了回去。 “我不知道。我想这些年来格蕾丝可能提到过这些事，但我不确定。 事实是，她去世才几个月，我就已经记不清她的声音了。” 萨拉丁蹭了蹭她的腿，发出一声同情的“哼”。 “那我们该怎么办？”她担心地问。 内莉耸耸肩。“我们回长城去。 我们已经到了。我们不妨再试一次。” 艾米点点头。他们没有其他线索——无论是丹还是寻找线索。 如果今天空手而归，它们就会完全漂流。 砰砰作响的朋克摇滚和弦在小小的扬声器里显得又细又扭曲。 “嗨，我是内莉。我可能会去品尝你从未听说过的食物，或者听让你大吃一惊的音乐。 那你还在等什么？ 请留言。”这哔哔声直刺丹的心。 他下降

against the glass of the pay phone booth, hoping against hope that the cell phone problem had been fixed— that the message was a mistake, and the au pair's familiar voice would cut in. "It's me— Dan," he stammered. "Sorry I haven't called sooner. I thought Jonah's dad was leaving messages for me. It's a long story. I'm in— well, I guess that doesn't matter because I have to find you guys now. Uh… see you later— I hope." He hung up and immediately wrenched the receiver from its cradle and added, "I miss you!" But it was too late. The connection was already broken. The streets of downtown Xian had been deserted when Dan had stormed out of the Bell Tower Hotel. They were crowded now, like Boston at the height of rush hour. Peddlers clogged the sidewalks; bizarre food smells issued from every storefront; plucked chickens hung next to state-of-the-art cell phones in display windows. The sounds were loud and discordant. Bicycles and motor scooters battled buses for road space. Being alone, a foreign kid amid all this chaos,

靠在公用电话亭的玻璃上，抱着一线希望，希望手机的问题已经解决了——信息是个错误，互惠生熟悉的声音会插进来。 “是我——丹。”他结结巴巴地说。 “对不起，我没有早点给你打电话。 我以为乔纳的爸爸在给我留言。 说来话长。我加入了，好吧，我想这不重要因为我现在必须找到你们。 嗯……待会儿见——希望如此。” 他挂了电话，立刻把听筒从摇篮里扯下来，接着说：“我想你！”但为时已晚。 连接已经中断。 当丹冲出钟楼饭店时，西安市中心的街道已经空无一人。 他们现在很拥挤，就像波士顿的高峰时间一样。 人行道上挤满了小贩；每个店面都散发出奇异的食物气味；拔毛的鸡挂在展示橱窗里最先进的手机旁边。 声音又大又不和谐。 自行车和摩托车与公共汽车争夺道路空间。 独自一人，一个外国孩子在一片混乱中，

should have been frightening to Dan. Instead, all he felt was anger, most of it directed at himself. What have I done? He had trusted Jonah, who had always proved to be untrustworthy. And he had run away from Amy when he should have stuck by her. Standing alone on this street, it seemed like the ultimate no-brainer— she was all he had in the world, and he was the same for her. Now it was too late. He had no way of finding Amy, no way to know what leads they were following, no way even to surrender to Social Services— or worse, Aunt Beatrice. Possibly the most dangerous of all, he had spilled the beans about their deepest, darkest secret. Now the word was out that he and Amy were Madrigals. And for what? The pleasure of seeing the Wizards look shocked for two or three seconds? He grinned in spite of himself. It was a pretty great two or three seconds. But stupid. He was a target now. Amy, too. I should have warned her. Of course, who knew if Nellie was even

应该会吓到丹的 相反，他只感到愤怒，而且大部分是冲着自己来的。 我做了什么？他信任约拿，而约拿向来是靠不住的。 他本应该和艾米在一起，却从她身边跑开了。 独自站在这条街上，这似乎是最简单的选择——她是他在这个世界上的全部，而他对她来说也是一样。 现在已经太晚了。他找不到艾米，不知道他们在追查什么线索，甚至没有办法向社会福利机构——或者更糟的是，向比阿特丽斯姑妈投降。 也许最危险的是，他泄露了他们最深、最黑暗的秘密。 现在有消息说他和艾米是牧歌家的人。 为了什么？看到奇才队两到三秒钟的震惊是一种乐趣吗？ 他不由自主地笑了。 那两三秒真是太棒了。 但愚蠢的。他现在成了目标。 艾米。我应该警告她的。 当然，谁知道内莉是不是扯淡