24 Epilogue

EPILOGUE They never heard the splash. By the time everyone had rushed to the railing and peered down into the murky water, it was too late. Dr. Warsaw's body did not come back to the surface. They never found it. It may have washed out to sea or been eaten by sharks. Some people on the bridge that day cried. Those were the people who didn't know Dr. Warsaw and all the evil things he had done. Those who did know him just felt a sense of relief. It was better this way. A quick but painful death had to be preferable to spending the rest of his life in prison. Nobody felt more relieved than Coke and Pep. Their summer-long cross-country nightmare was finally over. When Coke climbed down off the cable, there was no applause or cheering from the crowd. A man had died. Pep embraced Coke and their parents held on to the two of them like they would never let go. When they finally did, Mya and Bones came over for a

他们没有听到水花飞溅的声音。 当所有人都冲到栏杆前，凝视着浑浊的河水时，已经太晚了。 华沙医生的尸体没有回到水面。 他们一直没有找到。它可能被冲到海里，或者被鲨鱼吃掉了。 那天桥上的一些人哭了。 这些人都不认识他。 华沙和他所做的一切坏事。 那些认识他的人只是感到了一种解脱。 这样比较好。比起在监狱里度过余生，快速而痛苦的死亡更可取。 没有人比可口可乐和佩普更放心了。 他们整个夏天的越野噩梦终于结束了。 当可口可乐从电缆上爬下来时，人群中没有掌声或欢呼。 一个人死了。佩普拥抱了可口可乐，他们的父母紧紧抱住他们，好像永远不会放手。 当他们终于找到了，米娅和骨头过来

group hug. "It's over," Mya said quietly. "Dr. Warsaw will never bother you again." "We're sorry about all the things you kids went through this summer," said Bones. "We tried our best to protect you." "I know," Pep said. "We wouldn't be alive right now if it weren't for you." "We'll never forget you," Coke said, sniffling. The twins were about to walk away when another group of people approached—Mrs. Higgins, John Pain, and the bowler dudes. Instinctively, Coke and Pep backed away and prepared to make a run for it. But instead of attacking, the bowler dudes threw their arms around them. "We'll miss you kids," said the clean-shaven bowler dude, tears running down his cheeks. "In a strange way," Coke replied, "I'm going to miss you, too." "It was fun trying to kill you," said the mustachioed bowler dude.

集团拥抱。“结束了，”米娅平静地说。 “华沙医生再也不会打扰你了。” “我们对你们这些孩子今年夏天所经历的一切感到抱歉，”Bones说。 “我们尽了最大努力保护你。” “我知道，”佩普说。“如果没有你，我们现在就不会活着。” “我们永远不会忘记你，”科克抽着鼻子说。 这对双胞胎正要走开，另一群人走过来了。 希金斯，约翰·潘，还有那些打保龄球的家伙。 可口可乐和佩普本能地后退，准备逃跑。 但这些保龄球手并没有攻击它们，而是张开双臂抱住了它们。 “孩子们，我们会想念你们的，”那个刮得干干净净的保龄球手说，泪水顺着脸颊流下来。 “以一种奇怪的方式，”可口可乐回答说，“我也会想念你的。” “杀你很有趣，”那个大胡子的保龄球手说。

Mrs. Higgins moved in for a hug and told the twins she would see them when school started in September. They thanked her for saving their lives in Death Valley, and driving them back to San Francisco. "Let's blow this pop stand," Coke told his sister. They would have to give a statement to the police, of course. And there was still the matter of getting home and returning to a normal, teenage life after all they had been through. That might take some getting used to. But The Genius Files program was over. With Dr. Warsaw out of the picture, Coke and Pep would never again have to worry about lunatics chasing them around and trying to kill them at any opportunity. "You two were amazing!" Mrs. McDonald said, still reluctant to let go of her children. "Now let me get this straight," said Dr. McDonald. "That Warsaw guy has been chasing you ever since we left home?"

希金斯太太上前拥抱了一下，并告诉这对双胞胎，9月份开学时她会去看他们。 他们感谢她在死亡谷救了他们的命，并开车送他们回旧金山。 “我们炸了这个汽水摊吧，”可口可乐对妹妹说。 当然，他们必须向警方提供一份证词。 而且，在经历了这一切之后，回家回到正常的青少年生活仍然是一个问题。 这可能需要一些时间来适应。 但是“天才档案”项目结束了。 有了华沙博士的存在，可口可乐和佩普就再也不用担心有疯子追着他们到处跑，随时想杀了他们。 “你们俩太棒了！”麦克唐纳太太说，仍然不愿意放手她的孩子们。 “现在让我把事情搞清楚。” 麦当劳。“自从我们离开家，那个华沙人就一直在追你？”

"Yes!" Pep said. "That's what we've been trying to tell you all along!" "We just thought you were putting us on," Mrs. McDonald said. "You know, the way teenagers do." "It was all real, Mom," Coke explained. "At first we didn't want to worry you. Then, when we decided to tell you the truth, you wouldn't believe us. But we've been almost frozen to death, boiled in oil, pushed into a sand pit—" "Thrown into a vat of Spam, kidnapped, blasted with loud music—" added Pep. "—swarmed by bats, abducted by aliens, sprayed with poison gas, had stuff dropped on our heads," said Coke. "And all of these things actually happened?" asked Dr. McDonald. "You didn't make any of it up?" "Yes, it all happened!" Pep shouted at him. "And a lot of other stuff, too. You could fill a—" "Book!" Dr. McDonald said, his eyes suddenly wide. "This is it! This is the idea I've

“是的!”Pep说。“这就是我们一直想告诉你的！”“我们以为你是在骗我们，”麦克唐纳太太说。 “你知道，就像青少年那样。” “这一切都是真的，妈妈，”科克解释说。 “一开始我们不想让你担心。 然后，当我们决定告诉你真相时，你不相信我们。 但是我们几乎被冻死了，被油煮了，被推到沙坑里——”“被扔进了一大桶午餐肉，被绑架了，用大声的音乐轰击——”佩普补充道。 “——被蝙蝠包围，被外星人绑架，被喷洒毒气，有东西掉在我们头上，”科克说。 “所有这些事情都真的发生过吗？” 麦当劳。“这些都不是你编的吗？”“是的，都发生了！”佩普对他大喊大叫。 “还有很多其他的东西。 你可以填满一个——”“一本书！”博士。 麦克唐纳说着，眼睛突然睁得大大的。 “就是这个！”这是我的想法

been searching for! I can write a novel about two kids who travel cross-country while some bad guys are trying to kill them the whole time! And their parents don't know a thing about it! It can't miss! This could be my bestseller!" "That's a great idea, Dad!" said Pep. "We'll tell you exactly what happened." "Ben, I don't know if it's a good idea to put your name on that book," said Mrs. McDonald. "How will the university feel if one of their respected professors publishes a crazy novel like that? You could lose your job." "You may be right, Bridge." "What if you used a pen name, Dad?" Pep suggested. "Then nobody would know it was you." After some discussion, Dr. McDonald came up with a pen name. Coke and Pep told their father everything that had happened to them since they started the trip. There was so much information that he was able to make it into a five-book series, which he called the Genius

一直在寻找！我可以写一本关于两个孩子穿越全国旅行的小说，而一些坏人一直想杀他们！他们的父母对此一无所知！它不会失手的！这可能是我的畅销书！”“好主意，爸爸！”佩普说。 “我们会告诉你到底发生了什么。” “本，我不知道把你的名字写在那本书上是不是个好主意，”麦克唐纳太太说。 “如果一个受人尊敬的教授出版了这样一部疯狂的小说，学校会怎么想？” 你可能会丢掉工作。”“你也许是对的，布里奇。” “如果你用笔名呢，爸爸？”Pep。 “那样就没人知道是你了。” 经过一番讨论后。 麦克唐纳想出了一个笔名。 寇克和佩普把旅途中发生的一切都告诉了父亲。 有这么多的信息，他能够把它写成一个五本书的系列，他称之为天才

Files. And guess what happened after the first book was published?

文件。猜猜第一本书出版后发生了什么？