19 What Could Possibly Go Wrong

Chapter 19 WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? July third. Coke and Pep enjoyed a relaxing pancake breakfast at the campground with their parents before embarking on what would turn out to be one of the most important days of their lives. "So, we have a whole day to kill in Washington before the wedding tomorrow," Dr. McDonald announced as they cleaned the dishes. "Where shall we go? The Air and Space Museum? Museum of Natural History? Take a tour of the Capitol building? We could visit the Vietnam Memorial…" "Pep and I want to go to the Museum of American History," Coke said firmly. "Yeah," agreed his sister. "What? I didn't even mention that one." "Why do you kids want to go there?" asked Mrs.

第十九章什么地方可能出错？ 7月第三。可口可乐和佩普在露营地和父母一起享受了一顿轻松的煎饼早餐，然后开始了他们生命中最重要的一天。 “所以，在明天的婚礼之前，我们要在华盛顿消磨一整天的时间。” 他们洗盘子时，麦克唐纳宣布。 “我们到哪儿去呢？”航空航天博物馆？ 自然历史博物馆？ 去参观国会大厦？ 我们可以参观越南纪念碑……”“佩普和我想去美国历史博物馆，”可乐坚定地说。 “是的，”他的妹妹同意道。 “什么?我都没提过那个。” “你们这些孩子为什么想去那儿？”

McDonald. "How do you even know about it?" Pep looked at Coke for guidance. "Before school let out," Coke said, "they told us that next year the teachers are going to put a huge emphasis on social studies. So we thought going to that museum would really help us with our studies. But even more than that, it will help us learn about the history of this great land." "Yeah," Pep agreed, "what he said." It was a total lie, of course. Nothing had been said at school about social studies, or any other subject. But Coke knew how to blow smoke with the best of them, when he put his mind to it. "Don't you want to go to the Museum of Natural History or the Air and Space Museum?" Dr. McDonald asked. "They have the Wright Brothers' plane there. You can see the Spirit of St. Louis. That's the plane Charles Lindbergh flew—" "We know, Dad," Coke interrupted. "We've seen plenty of planes." "Yeah, you see one plane, you've seen 'em all," added Pep.

麦当劳。“你是怎么知道的？”佩普向可口可乐寻求指导。 “在学校放假之前，”科克说，“他们告诉我们，明年老师会把重点放在社会研究上。 所以我们觉得去那个博物馆对我们的学习很有帮助。 但更重要的是，它将帮助我们了解这片伟大土地的历史。” “是啊，”佩普同意道，“他说的话。” 当然，这完全是个谎言。 在学校里，没有人谈论社会研究或其他任何科目。 但可口可乐知道，当他用心去做的时候，他是如何做到最好的。 “你不想去自然历史博物馆或航空航天博物馆吗？”博士。 麦当劳问道。“那里有莱特兄弟的飞机。 你可以看到圣。 路易。那是查尔斯·林德伯格开的飞机——”“我们知道，爸爸，”科克打断他说。 “我们看到过很多飞机。” “是的，你看到一架飞机，你就看到了所有的飞机，”佩普补充道。

"Ben, they want to go to the Museum of American History," said Mrs. McDonald. "That's a good thing. It will help them in school. You, of all people, should be supportive. You're a history teacher." "It's just that I've visited that museum three or four times already," Dr. McDonald said, a little whiny. "I'd rather go to someplace I've never been." Mrs. McDonald shot her husband a look, one of those looks that said he should stop being selfish and think of the children. Coke was looking over a Washington, D.C., sightseeing map. "I have an idea," he said. "The Museum of Natural History is right next door to the Museum of American History. And Air and Space is right across the National Mall. Pep and I can go to American History while you two go to one of the other

“本，他们想去美国历史博物馆，”麦克唐纳太太说。 “这是件好事。这将帮助他们在学校。 所有人中，你最应该支持我。 你是个历史老师。” “只是我已经去过那个博物馆三四次了，”他说。 麦克唐纳有点抱怨地说。 “我宁愿去一个我从未去过的地方。” 麦克唐纳太太看了她丈夫一眼，那种眼神告诉他应该停止自私，为孩子们想想。 可口可乐正在看华盛顿特区的观光地图。 “我有个主意，”他说。 “自然历史博物馆就在美国历史博物馆的隔壁。 航空航天公司就在国家广场对面。 我和佩普去上美国历史你们两个去上另一个

museums. That way everybody will be happy." "That's a great idea!" Pep said. "Then we can meet up when we're done." "I don't know…," Mrs. McDonald said dubiously. "Please, Mom…," Pep begged, making her best puppy dog eyes. "Are you sure you'll be okay on your own?" "Bridge, they're thirteen now," Dr. McDonald said. "They're big kids. They can handle themselves in a museum. What could possibly go wrong?" "Yeah, what could possibly go wrong?" asked Coke, who in the last two weeks had been forced to jump off a cliff, dipped into boiling oil, drowned in ice cream, and gassed in a rest-stop bathroom. "Well, okay…" "Yay!" The family got a late start into Washington because Mrs. McDonald had washed some clothes and needed to wait until they were finished in the dryer before she could leave. Coke used the extra time to load up his backpack with stuff as if he was going

博物馆。这样大家都会高兴的。” “这是个好主意！”Pep说。 “完事后我们可以见面。” “我不知道……”麦克唐纳太太怀疑地说。 “求你了，妈妈……”佩普恳求道，露出她最可爱的小狗眼睛。 “你确定你一个人能行吗？”“布里奇，他们现在13岁了。” 麦克唐纳说。“他们都是大孩子。 他们在博物馆里可以应付自如。 还能出什么差错呢？”“是啊，还能出什么问题呢？”科克问道。在过去的两周里，他被迫跳下悬崖，泡在滚烫的油里，被冰淇淋淹死，还在休息站的浴室里被毒气毒死。 “嗯，好吧……”“耶！”一家人很晚才到华盛顿，因为麦克唐纳夫人洗了一些衣服，需要等到衣服在烘干机里洗完后才能离开。 科克利用这段额外的时间把东西装进背包，好像他要走了

on a commando raid. The can of Silly String he'd bought in the Miami County Museum. The duct tape they got in Avon, Ohio. The Frisbee from Bones that said TGF FLYING HIGH on it. The little bars of soap that Mya had given them at the motel. Other knickknacks he had picked up at gift shops along the road. You never know what you might need in an emergency. They got on the Metro and rode it to Gallery Place-Chinatown again. From there, they had to switch to the red line for one stop, and then the blue line for two stops until they reached SMITHSONIAN. That stop empties out right in the middle of the National Mall, a large, grassy rectangle that is surrounded by the Smithsonian museums. It was a glorious day. The sun was high in the sky, but it wasn't too hot. The Mall was crowded with people out walking, jogging, riding bikes, and Roller-blading. Coke pointed out the Capitol building in the distance straight ahead, and the Washington

在突击队的突袭中。他在迈阿密县博物馆买的傻线罐头。 他们在俄亥俄州埃文找到的管道胶带。 骨头里的飞盘上面写着TGF飞得很高。 米亚在汽车旅馆给他们的小块肥皂。 其他的小玩意是他在路边的礼品店买的。 你永远不知道在紧急情况下你会需要什么。 他们上了地铁，又去了画廊广场-唐人街。 从那里，他们必须换乘红线一站，然后换乘蓝线两站，直到到达史密森尼。 那一站正好位于国家广场（National Mall）的中央，这是一个被史密森尼博物馆（Smithsonian museums）包围的巨大的、长满草的长方形广场。 这是美好的一天。太阳高高地挂在天上，但天气不太热。 广场上挤满了外出散步、慢跑、骑自行车和滑旱冰的人。 柯克指了指前方远处的国会大厦和华盛顿大厦

Monument, only a block or so behind them. The kids knew they didn't need to be at the museum until two o'clock. That was what the cipher said—July third, two o'clock. Nobody was quite ready to separate just yet. Coke pulled out his Frisbee and threw it to his dad, who threw it to his mom, who threw it to his sister, who threw it back to him. Pep was getting pretty good with a Frisbee, he had to admit. She had finally learned to throw it flat, straight, and true. After a while, they all flopped on the grass and had a little spontaneous picnic, with trail mix and snacks that always seemed to magically appear out of Mrs. McDonald's purse. Coke had to remind himself—why were they doing this? He knew somebody or something was waiting for them inside that museum. He knew it could very well be someone who wanted to kill them. Why walk into a trap? If he and Pep didn't go, he reasoned, whoever was waiting for them would come and get them. It could be tomorrow, or it could be next week or next month. But there was no avoiding it. And if he was

纪念碑，就在他们后面一个街区左右。 孩子们知道他们不需要在两点钟之前到博物馆。 密码上是这样写的——七月三号，两点。 大家都还没准备好分开。 可口可乐掏出飞盘扔给他爸爸，爸爸又扔给他妈妈，妈妈又扔给他妹妹，妹妹又扔给他。 佩普不得不承认，他玩飞盘玩得很不错。 她终于学会了把球扔得又平又直又准。 过了一会儿，他们都在草地上扑倒着，自发地进行了一次野餐，带着什物和零食，这些零食似乎总是神奇地从麦当劳太太的钱包里冒出来。 可口可乐不得不提醒自己——他们为什么要这么做？ 他知道有人或有什么东西在博物馆里等着他们。 他知道很可能是有人想杀了他们。 为什么要走进陷阱？他想，如果他和佩普不去，等着他们的人就会来把他们带走。 可能是明天，也可能是下周或下个月。 但这是无法避免的。 如果他是