Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13 Amy knew she was in trouble as soon as the Kabras got out of the car. She and Dan had counted on Isabel being impeccably dressed and groomed as always, wearing her signature stiletto heels. The plan had been to draw Ian one way and Natalie another into the forest, where surely Isabel wouldn't follow them. Dan would stall Ian, Amy would stall Natalie, and then they would double back to confront Isabel on her own. But Isabel was wearing hiking sneakers and running step for step with Natalie. It would be two against one at the waterfall. Having scouted out the area earlier, Amy gained a bigger lead on the Kabras when she left the path for a smaller trail through the forest. If Natalie had been on her own, Amy could have tried losing her. But Amy had to keep track of where Isabel

卡布拉一家一下车，艾米就知道自己有麻烦了。 她和丹本以为伊莎贝尔会像往常一样打扮得无可挑剔，穿着她标志性的细高跟鞋。 他们的计划是用一种方式把伊恩和娜塔莉引到森林里去，伊莎贝尔肯定不会跟着他们。 丹会拖住伊恩，艾米会拖住娜塔莉，然后他们会赶回来独自面对伊莎贝尔。 但伊莎贝尔穿着登山鞋，和娜塔莉一步一步地跑着。 在瀑布那是二对一。 早些时候，艾米巡视了这个地区，当她离开小路，穿过森林走一条更小的小路时，她在卡布拉斯山脉上取得了更大的领先优势。 如果娜塔莉独自一人，艾米可能会试图失去她。 但艾米得跟踪伊莎贝尔的行踪

was, which meant continuing on to the waterfall. Amy ran over a little wooden bridge that crossed a stream. A few yards farther on, she reached the clearing at the bottom of the falls. The waterfall was hemmed in between two rock walls covered with ferns and other lush plant life. It spilled down over a series of rock shelves, almost like a steep staircase. Amy splashed into the water and began climbing the rocks right into the falls. There were four shelves of rock that could be climbed. Amy scaled them quickly but carefully; they were slippery with moss and algae. The fifth shelf was too high to reach. It formed the roof of a shallow little cave, with the water pouring down the front of it like a curtain. Already soaking wet, Amy clambered onto the fourth shelf and slipped through the waterfall. It wasn't exactly a hiding place. One look at the falls, and anyone could guess where she had gone. She took a few steps toward the back of the cave and found the gear she and Dan had left there earlier: a mosquito net and some rope. The

原来是，这意味着继续去瀑布。 艾米跑过一座横跨小溪的小木桥。 又走了几码，她来到了瀑布底部的空地上。 瀑布被两堵石墙包围着，墙上长满了蕨类植物和其他茂盛的植物。 它洒在一系列的岩石架子上，几乎像一个陡峭的楼梯。 艾米扑通一声跳入水中，开始顺着岩石爬进瀑布。 有四个可以攀爬的岩石架子。 艾米迅速而小心地爬了上去；它们被苔藓和水藻弄得很滑。 第五个架子太高够不着。 它形成了一个浅的小洞穴的顶部，水像窗帘一样从它的前面倾泻下来。 艾米已经浑身湿透了，她爬上第四个架子，滑过瀑布。 那也不是个藏身之处。 只要看一眼瀑布，任何人都能猜到她去了哪里。 她向洞穴后面走了几步，找到了她和丹之前留在那里的装备：一个蚊帐和一些绳子。 的

plan had been that if she couldn't lose Natalie, she would lead her here, throw the net over her, and tie her up. It had been Dan's idea; after deciding to trap Ian in the cargo net, he must have had nets on the brain. It wasn't a very good plan to start with; Amy was pretty doubtful about being able to get Natalie tied up. And now, with Isabel in the picture, too… Amy's hands were shaking. What could she do against both of them? She looked around wildly, as if a solution might suddenly appear out of thin air. Nothing. Her mind was blank, except for a feeling of terror. Any second now, the murderer of her parents would burst through the curtain of water. If Isabel hadn't been right next to her, Natalie didn't know if she would have recognized her mother. She was soaking wet— totally inelegant— and climbing the rocks faster than Natalie thought possible.

她的计划是，如果她不能失去娜塔莉，她就把她带到这里，把网撒在她身上，把她绑起来。 这是丹的主意；在决定把伊恩困在货物网里之后，他的脑子里肯定有网。 这不是一个很好的开始计划；艾米很怀疑能不能把娜塔莉绑起来。 现在，伊莎贝尔也在照片里……艾米的手在颤抖。 她怎么能对付他们俩呢？ 她疯狂地环顾四周，仿佛一个解决办法会突然出现在空气中。 什么都没有。她的脑子一片空白，只有一种恐惧的感觉。 现在，杀害她父母的凶手随时可能从水帘中冲出来。 如果不是伊莎贝尔就在她身边，纳塔利不知道她是否还能认出她的母亲。 她浑身湿透——完全不优雅——爬上岩石的速度比娜塔莉想象的要快。

Isabel stepped through the waterfall with Natalie right behind her. Natalie watched as her mother tossed her head gently, to shake out some of the water in her hair. She was suddenly not in a hurry anymore. Natalie saw Amy standing against the rock wall. Isabel stretched out her hand. "The dragon, please?" she said. Her voice was raised so she could be heard over the din of the waterfall; still, Natalie was impressed by her mother's utterly calm demeanor. It was as if she were asking Amy for a chocolate or something. "I— I don't have it with me," Amy said, edging away from Isabel. "You can search me if you want. I'm telling you the truth. It's not here, I left it back in town." "In that case, you're coming with us," Isabel said. "Where are your cohorts? Never mind, it doesn't matter. We'll get word to them somehow, and I'm sure that once they hear of the— well, the plans I have for you— they'll come running." Natalie didn't know what her mother's plans were, but it wouldn't be lunch and shopping, that

伊莎贝尔穿过瀑布，娜塔莉紧随其后。 娜塔莉看着母亲轻轻地摇着她的头，抖掉头发上的一些水。 她突然不着急了。 娜塔莉看见艾米靠在岩壁上站着。 伊莎贝尔伸出手来。 “那龙呢？”她说。 她的声音提高了，这样就能在瀑布的喧闹声中听到她的声音；尽管如此，娜塔莉还是被她母亲完全平静的举止所打动。 就好像她在向艾米要巧克力什么的。 “我——我没带它，”艾美说着，从伊莎贝尔身边挪开。 “如果你愿意，你可以搜我的身。 我说的是实话。 不在这里，我把它忘在城里了。” “那样的话，你就跟我们一起去吧。”伊莎贝尔说。 “你的同伙呢？”没关系，没关系。 我们会设法通知他们的，我相信他们一听到——嗯，我对你的计划——他们就会跑过来的。” 娜塔莉不知道她妈妈的计划是什么，但肯定不会是午餐和购物

was for sure. She felt a little flutter in her stomach. No blood. Please, no blood, it— it's so… disgusting. Natalie immediately felt guilty for her disloyalty, but she still couldn't quell the thought. Isabel stepped forward, grabbed Amy's arm, and dragged her through the curtain of water. She pushed Amy down the rock steps, her grip so tight that Amy cried out in pain. Natalie followed, almost losing her balance several times on the slippery surface. "We're going back to town, and you will give me that dragon," Isabel said, as if nothing could be simpler. "Then we'll get in touch with that nanny of yours." They made their way back onto the path. Amy was doing her best to struggle against her captor but without success. Isabel's grip was like iron. The little wooden bridge came into view. The— "AMY! RUN!" Natalie saw Amy react immediately. She

是肯定的。她感到胃里一阵悸动。 没有血。求你了，不要流血，太恶心了。 娜塔莉立刻为自己的不忠感到内疚，但她仍然无法抑制这种想法。 伊莎贝尔走上前去，抓住艾米的胳膊，拖着她穿过水帘。 她把艾米推下石阶，抓得太紧了，艾米痛得大叫起来。 娜塔莉紧随其后，在光滑的地面上好几次差点失去平衡。 “我们要回城里去，你要把那条龙给我。”伊莎贝尔说，仿佛没有比这更简单的事了。 “然后我们再联系你的保姆。” 他们回到小路上。 艾米竭尽全力与俘虏她的人搏斗，但没有成功。 伊莎贝尔的手像铁一样紧。 那座小木桥映入眼帘。 ——“艾米!快跑!”娜塔莉看到艾米立刻做出了反应。 她

backward–head–butted Isabel on the chin. Isabel shrieked in pain as Amy broke free of her grasp and ran over the bridge. There was a sudden rattling sound; Natalie couldn't make out what it was. She and Isabel raced onto the bridge. Too late, Natalie saw dozens of small round brown objects rolling around in front of her. She slipped on one and lost her balance. The same thing happened to Isabel. Natalie grabbed on to a bridge strut to stop her fall. Her mother was not so lucky. Isabel fell and struck her head on an iron post. She crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Natalie cried out. She saw blood coming from a gash on her mother's forehead. Then she heard someone say, "Designer dog turds. I knew they'd come in handy." Amy could hardly believe her eyes. It was Nellie. She had thrown dozens of nutmegs onto the bridge and now stood at the other end, waving an

用头向后撞伊莎贝尔的下巴。 当艾美挣脱她的手跑过桥时，伊莎贝尔痛苦地尖叫起来。 突然传来咔哒咔哒的声音；娜塔莉看不清那是什么。 她和伊莎贝尔跑上了桥。 太晚了，娜塔莉看到几十个棕色的小圆球在她面前滚来滚去。 她踩着一个滑倒，失去了平衡。 同样的事情也发生在伊莎贝尔身上。 娜塔莉抓住桥上的支柱不让自己掉下去。 她的母亲就没那么幸运了。 伊莎贝尔摔倒了，头撞在一根铁柱子上。 她瘫倒在地，不省人事。 娜塔莉叫道。她看见血从她母亲额头上的伤口流出来。 然后她听到有人说：“设计师狗屎。 我知道它们迟早会派上用场的。” 艾米几乎不敢相信自己的眼睛。 是内莉。她往桥上扔了几十颗肉豆蔻，现在站在桥的另一头，挥舞着一只手