4 Home Sweet Home

Chapter 4 Home Sweet Home For a minute or two, the twins knelt in the sand, catching their breath, clearing their heads, and trying to comprehend what had just happened to them. Except for a few seagulls circling overhead, the beach was empty. Nobody had seen them land. Finally, Coke looked up at the cliffs and marveled that he had jumped from such a great height and survived. "I told you we should've taken the bus," Pep said, panting. "What fun would that have been?" Coke replied, cackling. Pep unzipped her wingsuit and peeled it off. There was a Dumpster down the beach. She

有一两分钟，这对双胞胎跪在沙滩上，喘口气，清醒一下头脑，试图理解刚刚发生在他们身上的事情。 除了几只海鸥在头顶盘旋外，海滩上空荡荡的。 没有人看见他们着陆。 最后，可口可乐抬头看着悬崖，对自己从这么高的地方跳下来还活了下来感到惊奇。 “我告诉过你我们应该坐公共汽车，”佩普气喘吁吁地说。 “那会有什么乐趣呢？”可口可乐咯咯地笑着回答。 佩普拉开她的飞行服拉链，把它脱了下来。 海滩那边有个垃圾箱。 她

crumpled the suit and parachute into a big ball and stuffed them into the Dumpster. Coke did the same. The wingsuits probably cost somebody hundreds of dollars, but neither of the twins ever wanted to see those things again. Together, Coke and Pep climbed the wooden steps leading off the beach to the main road. Looking around, they knew they were about a mile from home. "How are we gonna tell Mom and Dad about this?" Pep asked. "Are you crazy?" Coke replied. "We're not gonna say a word to Mom or Dad. You know how they worry. They would never believe it, anyway." The twins hiked away from the beach, into the hills and along the narrow road until they approached Point Reyes Station. It's a small town in the middle of a national park called Point Reyes National Seashore. Soon they could see their house. There was an RV parked in front with the words Cruise America painted on

把宇航服和降落伞揉成一个大球，塞进了垃圾箱。 可口可乐也做了同样的事情。翼装可能要花几百美元，但这对双胞胎都不想再看到那些东西了。 可口可乐和佩普一起爬上了从海滩通往大路的木台阶。 他们环顾四周，知道已经离家一英里了。 “我们怎么告诉爸爸妈妈这件事？”Pep问道。 “你疯了吗？”可口可乐答道。 “我们不会对爸爸妈妈说一个字的。 你知道他们有多担心。反正他们也不会相信的。” 这对双胞胎离开了海滩，走进了山里，沿着狭窄的道路走到了雷耶斯角车站。 它是雷耶斯角国家海岸国家公园中心的一个小镇。 很快他们就能看到他们的房子了。 门口停着一辆房车，上面写着“邮轮美国”

the side. And there were two figures on the front lawn. "They're waiting for us," Pep said, groaning. And so they were. Dr. and Mrs. McDonald had been sitting there on lawn chairs for a while, fretting and looking up and down the street with binoculars. When they spotted the twins walking toward them, they jumped up to greet them. "You're late!" Dr. McDonald hollered. "Why weren't you on the school bus?" "We decided to walk home," Coke said, hoping that would end the discussion.

的一面。前面的草坪上有两个人影。 “他们在等我们，”佩普呻吟着说。 事实也的确如此。麦克唐纳医生和夫人在草坪上的椅子上坐了一会儿，坐立不安，用双筒望远镜上下打量着街道。 当他们看到双胞胎朝他们走来时，他们跳起来迎接他们。 “你迟到了!”麦克唐纳医生喊道。 “你为什么不在校车上？”“我们决定步行回家，”可口可乐说，希望这样能结束讨论。

"Both of you are a mess!" Mrs. McDonald yelled. "What were you doing: wrestling on the beach? Is that any way to treat your school clothes?" "We were worried sick," Dr. McDonald went on. "We thought something terrible might have happened!" The twins shot glances at each other. If they only knew. "We're sorry," they said in unison. It's amazing how a simple, sincere apology will usually melt the hardest of hearts. At least temporarily. Dr. McDonald threw an arm around each of his children and pulled them close. "Anything exciting happen today?" he asked. The twins looked at each other again. "Nah," Coke said. "Same stuff, different day." "Tell us the truth," their mother said. "Were you two in detention again?" "No!" Coke replied indignantly. "Don't be ridiculous! We just, uh... jumped off the cliff

“你们俩都一团糟！”麦克唐纳太太喊道。 “你在干什么：在沙滩上摔跤吗？” 你就是这样对待你的校服的吗？”“我们担心得要命。” 麦克唐纳接着说。“我们以为可能发生了什么可怕的事情！”这对双胞胎互相瞥了一眼。 要是他们知道就好了。“我们很抱歉。”他们异口同声地说。 令人惊讶的是，一个简单而真诚的道歉通常会融化最坚硬的心。 至少暂时如此。麦克唐纳医生伸出一只胳膊搂住每个孩子，把他们拉得更近。 “今天有什么激动人心的事发生吗？”他问。 这对双胞胎又互相看了看。 “不，”可口可乐说。“同样的东西，不同的日子。” “告诉我们真相，”他们的母亲说。 “你们俩又被关禁闭了吗？”“不!”可口可乐愤怒地回答。 “别傻了！”我们只是… 跳下悬崖

and parachuted home." "Aha-ha-ha!" Dr. McDonald chortled. "I love you kids!" "Five more minutes and we were going to call the police to report you as missing, you know," Mrs. McDonald told them. "Where are your backpacks?" Pep had no answer for that one. They had ditched their backpacks up on the cliff when that Mya lady gave them the wingsuits to wear. Pep looked at her brother, who was a much more skillful liar than she. "We left 'em at school," Coke said. "We'll get them tomorrow. There was no homework." "You should have called home," Mrs. McDonald said sternly. "Why do you think we got you cell phones?" "We... forgot," Coke said. When in doubt, "we forgot" can get you out of just about any mess you got yourself into. It may make you look like an airhead, but that's better than admitting the real reason you did the dumb

然后跳伞回家。”“Aha-ha-ha !”博士。 麦当劳乐不可支。“我爱你们，孩子们！”麦克唐纳太太对他们说：“再等五分钟，我们就报警说你们失踪了。” “你的背包呢？”佩普对此无计可施。 他们把背包丢在悬崖上时，那位米亚女士给了他们飞行服。 佩普看了看她的哥哥，他是一个比她更熟练的骗子。 “我们把他们留在学校了，”科克说。 “我们明天去拿。没有家庭作业。” “你应该给家里打个电话，”麦克唐纳太太严厉地说。 “你以为我们为什么要给你手机？”“我们… 我忘了，”可口可乐说。当你有疑问的时候，“我们忘记了”可以让你摆脱任何你陷入的困境。 这可能会让你看起来像个傻瓜，但这比承认你做蠢事的真正原因要好

thing you did. "You'd forget your heads if they weren't screwed onto your necks," Dr. McDonald said. "Actually, Dad, our heads aren't screwed on," Coke replied. "They're attached with tendons, ligaments, muscles, that sort of thing. If heads were screwed on, it would be a simple matter to do head transplants." Dr. McDonald shook his head: Kids! He was the kind of man who was organized almost to the point of obsession. Everything in his office was tidy, efficient, labeled, and filed in alphabetical, chronological, or numerical order. He took pride in the fact that he could put his fingers on any piece of paper he needed within seconds. It was inconceivable to him why his children lacked this essential human trait. They must have inherited a scatterbrain gene from their mother, he assumed. Mrs. McDonald prepared an early dinner while the twins showered and changed their clothes upstairs. Her husband's professional life

你做的事。“如果你的头没有被拧在脖子上，你会忘记它们的。” 麦克唐纳说。“实际上，爸爸，我们的头并没有拧紧，”科克回答说。 “它们与肌腱、韧带、肌肉等类似的东西相连。 如果把脑袋拧上去，做头部移植就很简单了。” 麦克唐纳医生摇了摇头：孩子们！他是那种组织严密到近乎痴迷的人。 他办公室里的每样东西都整洁、高效、贴有标签，并按字母顺序、时间顺序或数字顺序归档。 他可以在几秒钟内把手指放在他需要的任何一张纸上，这让他感到自豪。 他无法想象，为什么他的孩子们缺乏这种基本的人类品质。 他推测，它们一定是从母亲那里继承了散乱脑基因。 麦克唐纳太太早早地准备了晚餐，而双胞胎则在楼上洗了澡，换了衣服。 她丈夫的职业生涯