10 An Amazing Coincidence

Chapter 10 AN AMAZING COINCIDENCE Coke and Pep came running through the Luray Caverns gift shop like they were in the Olympics, almost knocking over a rotating rack of miniature license plates with people's first names on them. (Does anybody ever buy those things? Oh, never mind.) "Don't you want to get souvenirs?" their mother asked as they dashed through. "That way you'll have something to remember this place." "Oh, we'll remember it," Pep said. "Can we please get out of here now?"

第10章惊人的巧合可口可乐和佩普像在奥运会上一样跑过卢雷洞穴礼品店，几乎撞倒了一个旋转架，上面放着人们的名字的微型车牌。 有人买过这些东西吗？ 哦，没关系。)“你们不想买纪念品吗？”她们冲过去时母亲问。 “这样你就能记住这个地方了。” “哦，我们会记住的，”佩普说。 “我们现在能离开这里吗？”

Go to Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/). Click Get Directions. In the A box, type Luray VA. In the B box, type Mount Solon VA. Click Get Directions. Dr. McDonald pulled out of the parking lot and found his way to Route 211 heading west. Mrs. McDonald got out of her seat and busied herself in the little RV kitchen, making sandwiches for everyone's lunch. It was pretty country outside, but Coke and Pep didn't pay much attention to the scenery rushing by the window. Both of the twins had been freaked out by the encounter with Mrs. Higgins in the underground cave. Maybe she was harmless now, they thought. After all, she didn't threaten them or make any

进入谷歌Maps （http://maps.google.com/）。 点击“获取路线”。在A框中，输入Luray VA。 在B框中，输入Mount Solon VA。 点击“获取路线”。麦克唐纳医生从停车场出来，找到了211公路向西行驶的路。 麦克唐纳太太从座位上站起来，在房车的小厨房里忙着做三明治给大家当午餐。 外面是一片美丽的乡村，但可口可乐和佩普并没有太注意窗外飞驰而过的风景。 这对双胞胎都被在地下洞穴里遇到希金斯太太吓坏了。 他们想，也许她现在是无害的了。 毕竟，她既没有威胁他们，也没有制造任何威胁

move to hurt them. But still, it was hard to trust someone with her track record. Coke turned on his iPod and bobbed his head to the music. Pep settled her mind down by pulling out her notebook and working on the message she had seen in the sky at the Fourth of July fireworks. LEVEL VIS I She wrote each letter on a smaller scrap of paper and juggled the scraps around, as if they were on a Scrabble rack.... I SELL VIVE LISLE VIVE ILL VIS EVE VEILS VEIL LIVE LIVES No luck. Pep was getting frustrated. It didn't usually take her this long to crack a cipher. After about twelve miles on Route 211, Dr. McDonald merged onto a big interstate

去伤害他们。但是，像她这样有记录的人很难信任。 科克打开iPod，随着音乐摇了摇头。 佩普拿出她的笔记本，把她在7月4日的烟火上看到的信息写下来，使她的思想安定下来。 她把每封信都写在一张小纸片上，然后把纸片扔来扔去，就好像它们在拼字游戏的架子上.... 我卖活着的，活着的，活着的，活着的，活着的，活着的，没有运气。 佩普很沮丧。 她破解密码通常不会花这么长时间。 在211公路上行驶了大约12英里后。 麦克唐纳汇入了一条大州际公路

highway, I-81 heading south. Mrs. McDonald passed around her sandwiches. "Hey kids!" she said, "guess what we're going to see this afternoon?" "Another giant ball of twine?" guessed Coke. "No. The National Jousting Hall of Fame!" "Jousting?" asked Pep. "You mean, like, with horses?" "Yup." "That's stupid," Pep said. "Who wants to watch two idiots charge at each other on horseback with long pointy poles?" Coke and Dr. McDonald raised their hands. Again, it's a guy thing. They pulled off the highway at exit 240 and drove by some rolling hills and lovely Virginia farmland until they reached the little town of Mount Solon, where the National Jousting Hall of Fame is located. Well, to be honest, the Hall of Fame is really just one dusty room in the Natural Chimneys Regional Park visitor center. But it is for real. Go

高速公路，I-81向南行驶。 麦克唐纳太太把她的三明治分发给大家。 “嘿，孩子们！”她说，“猜猜今天下午我们要看什么？”“又是一个巨大的麻线球？”科克猜测道。 “没有。国家格斗名人堂！”“比武？”佩普问。 “你是说，跟马一起？”“是的。” “这太愚蠢了，”佩普说。 “谁想看两个白痴骑在马背上拿着长长的尖杆子互相攻击？”可口可乐和Dr。 麦克唐纳举起了手。 再说一次，这是男人的事。他们在高速公路的240号出口下了车，驶过连绵起伏的丘陵和可爱的弗吉尼亚农田，来到了索伦山小镇，国家马术名人堂就坐落在那里。 嗯，说实话，名人堂实际上只是自然烟囱地区公园游客中心的一个满是灰尘的房间。 但这是真的。去

ahead and look it up if you don't believe me. "What could they possibly have in a jousting hall of fame?" Pep asked as she opened the door. Not much, really. Inside, there was a suit of armor, a mannequin dressed like a medieval page, and some lances. Though disappointed, Mrs. McDonald dutifully took notes and photos for Amazing but True. A little sign said that jousting demonstrations

如果你不相信我，可以去查一下。 “在一个格斗名人堂里，他们能有什么呢？”佩普一边开门一边问。 没什么，真的。里面有一套盔甲，一个穿得像中世纪侍者的人体模型，还有一些长矛。 麦克唐纳太太虽然失望，但还是尽职尽责地为《惊人但真实》做了笔记和照片。 一个小牌子上写着比武示威

were given in the park behind the visitors' center. The McDonalds went out back and were fortunate that the demonstration was just about to begin. Two men were on horseback, covered head to toe in armor. You couldn't even see their faces. A small group of families had gathered around them. "Jousting is one of the world's oldest sports," one of the jousters said. "Do any of you kids know anything about jousting?" "Medieval knights would charge toward each other and try to knock the other guy off his horse," Coke said. "They were usually trying to win a fair maiden's hand." "That's right," the second jouster said. "But today, jousting is a regular sport." He explained that they use a series of small rings, which are suspended vertically from a metal rod. A jouster on horseback will charge eighty feet down a straight track and try to "catch" the rings at the end of his wooden lance. As jousters get better at it, the rings become

是在游客中心后面的公园里发放的。 麦当劳的人走到后面，幸运的是示威活动刚刚开始。 两个男人骑在马背上，从头到脚都披着盔甲。 你甚至看不见他们的脸。 一小群家庭聚集在他们周围。 “比武是世界上最古老的运动之一，”其中一名比武者说。 “你们这些孩子知道比武吗？”“中世纪的骑士会冲向对方，试图把对方从马上撞下来，”科克说。 “他们通常是想赢得一位美丽少女的芳心。” “没错，”第二个比武者说。 “但如今，比武是一项常规运动。” 他解释说，他们使用了一系列的小环，这些小环垂直悬挂在一根金属棒上。 骑在马上的比武者会沿着一条笔直的小径冲锋80英尺，试图“抓住”他的木矛末端的环。 当比武者的技艺越来越好，戒指就变得