Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19 "It's not like with Irina." From the backseat of the car, Dan's voice was barely above a whisper. The doctor who had signed off on Dan's chart that morning said there was nothing physically wrong with him, but that he might feel a little woozy from the sedative given to him in the night. "Good food, sunshine, relaxation, that's my prescription," the doctor declared. No, Amy had thought. That won't do it. What Dan needs is to rewind everything, back to a time when Lester was still alive. Looking at her brother's pale, exhausted face, Amy knew exactly what he meant about Irina. Irina had chosen to be part of the Clue hunt. She had known about both the rewards and the risks and had made the deliberate decision to participate despite the potential dangers. She had

第十九章跟艾琳娜不一样 从汽车后座上，丹的声音微弱得像耳语。 那天早上在丹的病历上签字的医生说，他的身体没有任何问题，但由于晚上给他注射了镇静剂，他可能会感到有点头晕。 “美食、阳光、放松，这就是我的处方，”医生说。 不，艾米想。那不行。 丹需要的是倒带一切，回到莱斯特还活着的时候。 看着哥哥苍白、疲惫的脸，艾米完全明白他对伊琳娜的意思。 伊琳娜选择了成为寻找线索的一部分。 她既知道回报，也知道风险，尽管有潜在的危险，她还是慎重地决定参加。 她

died in full knowledge that her death was a consequence of the battle over the Clues. Lester hadn't known any of that. "It's so unfair," Dan said. "All he wanted to do was be helpful." Tears slid out from behind his closed eyelids. "And we never gave him a chance." Tears were rolling down Amy's cheeks, too, but now she cleared her throat. "What do you mean?" she asked. Dan opened his eyes. "We should have told him. That it might be dangerous to help us. We should have given him a chance to decide." He used his T–shirt to wipe his eyes. "We're Madrigals, all right. I mean, we knew that before, but we were thinking we could be different, right? This proves we can't. Lester died, and it was our fault." "But— but we didn't set out to— to kill him. Or anyone! Not even close!" Dan shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Whether we meant to or not, that doesn't change anything for Lester." Amy's insides twisted. The pain in Dan's eyes

死的时候完全知道她的死是线索之战的结果。 雷斯脱一点也不知道。 “这太不公平了，”丹说。 “他只想帮忙。” 泪水从他紧闭的眼皮后面滑了出来。 “我们从来没有给过他机会。” 眼泪也从艾美的脸颊上滚落下来，但现在她清了清嗓子。 “你是什么意思?”她问。 丹睁开眼睛。“我们应该告诉他的。 帮助我们可能会很危险。 我们应该给他一个决定的机会。” 他用t恤擦眼睛。 “我们是牧歌，没错。 我是说，我们之前就知道，但我们一直在想我们可以有所不同，对吧？ 这证明我们不能。雷斯脱死了，这是我们的错。” “可是——可是我们并没有打算——要杀他。 或任何人!差远了！”丹摇了摇头。 “没关系。不管我们是有意还是无意，这对莱斯特来说并没有什么改变。” 艾米的内心扭曲了。丹眼中的痛苦

mirrored the pain in her own heart— to the nth degree. It was too much to bear. Amy almost choked on the lump in her throat. She had to try twice before she could speak. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she whispered. He nodded. "Yeah," he said. She didn't have to stop to consider it. "Okay." "Okay," he echoed. There was no need for more words. "Airport." Nellie slammed on the brakes. Fortunately, they weren't even out of the parking lot yet. "Airport? What for?" she demanded. Amy was staring out the window. "We're going home," she said hoarsely. "Back to Aunt Beatrice." "WHAT?!" "It's the only way," Dan said. "We're Madrigals. Madrigals hurt people. Even kill them, or at least get them killed. We have to get out of the hunt before it happens again."

反映了她内心的痛苦，达到了n度。 这太令人难以忍受了。艾米差点被哽咽噎住了。 她试了两次才开口说话。 “你在想我在想什么吗？”她小声说。 他点了点头。“是的，”他说。 她根本不用停下来考虑。 “好吧。”“好吧，”他附和道。 没有必要再说什么了。 “机场”。内莉猛踩刹车。 幸运的是，他们还没离开停车场。 “机场?为什么？”她问。 艾米凝视着窗外。 “我们要回家了，”她沙哑地说。 “回到比阿特丽斯姨妈那儿去。”“什么? !”“这是唯一的办法，”丹说。 “我们悠扬。牧歌会伤害人。 甚至杀了他们，或者至少让他们被杀。 我们必须在这种情况再次发生之前退出追捕。”

The silence that followed lasted for several moments. "You sure about this?" Nellie said at last. "Yes." They spoke in one voice, quietly but without hesitation. Nellie drove onto the road. Dan stared out the car window. My last views of Jamaica… I'm never coming back here again. Then a guilty thought occurred to him. We should go see Miss Alice. He was about to mention it when he saw the sign for the airport exit whiz by. "Hey, that was the turnoff for the airport," he said. "You missed it. But it's okay— I was thinking we should go see Miss Alice before we leave." Amy looked at him sadly. "You're right," she said. "So, Spanish Town instead of the airport," Dan said, wondering what he could possibly say to Miss Alice.

随后的沉默持续了好几分钟。 “你确定吗？”耐莉最后说。 “是的。”他们异口同声地说，声音很轻，但毫不犹豫。 内莉把车开到了路上。 丹凝视着车窗外。 这是我最后一次看牙买加了，我再也不会回来了。 这时，他有了一个内疚的念头。 我们应该去看看爱丽丝小姐。 他正要提起这件事，这时他看到机场出口的标志飞快地经过。 “嘿，那是去机场的岔路口，”他说。 “你错过了。不过没关系——我想我们走之前应该去看看爱丽丝小姐。” 艾米伤心地看着他。“你说得对，”她说。 “那么，去西班牙城而不是去机场。”丹说，不知道该对爱丽丝小姐说些什么。

No reply from Nellie. And she wasn't wearing her earbuds. "Nellie?" Amy said. "We want to go see Miss Alice, did you get that?" Nellie pulled her sunglasses off the top of her head and put them on. "I heard you," she said. "Just sit back and relax. You could both use some rest." "But this isn't the right way," Dan said. "Spanish Town is that way—" He jerked a thumb over his shoulder, indicating the opposite direction. After another moment or two, it became clear that Nellie had no intention of turning around, and Dan felt his confusion turning into a vague sense of dread. "Where's Lester's box?" he said suddenly. "I told you, it's safe," Nellie replied. He could see Nellie's reflection in the rearview mirror. She gave him a thin little smile. "Don't worry about it," she said. "Remember, the doctor said you should take it easy." "I'll take it easy as soon as you tell me where the

内莉没有回答。而且她没戴耳机。 “内莉?”艾米说。“我们要去见爱丽丝小姐，你听到了吗？”内莉从头顶上摘下墨镜，戴上了。 “我听见了，”她说。“坐好，放松。 你们俩都需要休息一下。” “但这不是正确的方式，”丹说。 “西班牙镇在那边——”他在肩膀上猛地竖起大拇指，指的是相反的方向。 又过了一两分钟，很明显内莉没有转身的意思，丹感到他的困惑变成了一种模糊的恐惧感。 “雷斯脱的盒子在哪里？”他突然问道。 “我告诉过你，这是安全的，”内莉回答。 他可以从后视镜里看到内莉的倒影。 她对他微微一笑。 “别担心，”她说。 “记住，医生说你应该放轻松。” “只要你告诉我在哪儿，我就放心了。

box is," Dan said. Nellie's lips tightened. Then she said, "I'm not answering any more questions. You'll understand everything once we get there." "Get WHERE?" Dan's voice rose. "Where are you taking us?" No answer. Amy must have felt the same panic he did, because now she grabbed the door handle. "Stop the car," she said. "I'm getting out— I'm not going any farther until you tell us what's going on." "Sorry," Nellie said. "This is an express car. No stops until— the terminus." The terminus. The way she said it sounded ominous to Dan. Amy jerked the door handle. The child latch was engaged; they were locked in. "For your own protection," Nellie said. For a wild moment, Dan thought of grabbing the steering wheel or putting his hands over Nellie's eyes— anything to make her stop. But

盒子是，”丹说。内莉的嘴唇绷紧了。 然后她说：“我不再回答任何问题了。 等我们到了那里，你就明白了。” “在哪里?”丹的声音提高了。 “你要带我们去哪儿？”不回答。 艾米一定和他一样感到恐慌，因为现在她抓住了门把手。 “停车，”她说。“我要出去——除非你告诉我们发生了什么事，否则我不会再往前走了。” “对不起，”内莉说。“这是一辆快车。 在——终点站之前没有站。” 终点站。她说话的口气对丹来说是个不祥的预兆。 艾米猛拉门把手。 儿童门闩扣紧了；他们被锁在里面了。 “为了你自己的安全，”内莉说。 在一个疯狂的时刻，丹想抓住方向盘或者用手捂住内莉的眼睛——任何能让她停下来的方法。 但