43 Chapter 43

Chapter 43 Up bright and early the next morning, Kyle made his way across the Rotunda Reading Room. It was eight-fifteen. The Dewey decimal doors would open in one hour and forty-five minutes. The game would be over in less than four hours. Kyle was totally pumped. Sierra Russell, on the other hand, was sitting in a comfy chair reading a book. "Hey," said Kyle. "Hi," said Sierra, stifling a small yawn. "Did you stay up all night reading?"

第四十三章第二天一大早，凯尔就起床了，穿过圆形大厅阅览室。 现在是八点十五分。杜威十进制的门将在1小时45分钟后打开。 比赛将在不到四个小时内结束。 凯尔非常兴奋。另一方面，塞拉·罗素正坐在舒适的椅子上看书。 “嘿，”凯尔说。“嗨，”塞拉说，忍住了一个小小的哈欠。 “你通宵读书了吗?”

"No. I went upstairs around two. But there was a new stack of books on the librarian's desk when I came down." "Oh, really? What'd you find?" "Five copies of this." She showed Kyle her book. It was The Eleventh Hour: A Curious Mystery. "It's a rhyming picture book about Horace the Elephant's eleventh birthday party and the search to find out who ran off with all the food. There are hidden messages and cryptic codes all over the pages." "Why's it called The Eleventh Hour?" "The birthday feast was supposed to take place at eleven a.m. But since somebody stole all the food …" Kyle laughed. "Eleven a.m." "What?" "The eleventh hour! The last possible moment." Kyle nudged his head up at the Wonder Dome. "How much do you want to bet that at eleven o'clock, on the dot, the clue we need most of all will pop up in the three hundreds section?"

“没有。我两点左右上了楼。 但是当我下楼的时候，图书管理员的桌子上有一摞新书。” “哦,真的吗?你发现了什么?”“复印五份。” 她给凯尔看了她的书。书名是《第十一个小时:一个奇怪的谜团》。 这是一本押韵的绘本，讲的是大象贺拉斯的十一岁生日派对，以及寻找谁带着所有食物跑掉的故事。 书页上到处都是隐藏的信息和神秘的代码。” “为什么叫《最后一刻》?”“生日宴会应该在上午11点举行。 但既然有人偷走了所有的食物……”凯尔笑着说。 “上午11点”。“什么?”“最后一刻!”最后一刻。” 凯尔抬起头，看着神奇巨蛋。 “你敢打赌多少钱，十一点整，我们最需要的线索就会出现在三百区?”

Sierra smiled. "So this new book is a clue about our clue?" "That's my guess. Did you eat breakfast?" "Not yet." "Well, what are you waiting for?" said Miguel as he strode into the room. "Today's the big day. We're gonna need our energy for the final sprint." "He's right," said Akimi, climbing down the spiral staircase. "The doors open in less than two hours. Then we only have two more hours to figure everything out." "But," said Kyle to his other teammates, "Sierra just figured out when we'll get the big three hundreds clue." He gestured toward the picture book. "At the last possible minute." "What?" said Akimi. "Eleven-fifty-nine?" "Close. Eleven o'clock." "Awesome," said Miguel. "It must be a very good clue." Kyle and his team went into the café, where they found Haley Daley seated at a table, eating half a

塞拉笑了。“所以这本新书是关于我们的线索的线索?”“这是我的猜测。 你吃早餐了吗?”“还没有。” “那你还在等什么?”米格尔大步走进房间说。 “今天是个大日子。我们需要精力进行最后的冲刺。” “他说得对。”明美边说边爬下螺旋形楼梯。 “不到两个小时，门就开了。 然后我们只有两个多小时的时间来解决所有问题。” “但是，”凯尔对他的其他队友说，“塞拉刚刚算出了我们什么时候能拿到300美元的大线索。” 他指了指图画书。 “在最后一分钟。” “什么?”明美说。“一千一百五十九年?””接近。 十一点。”“太棒了，”米格尔说。 “这一定是一条很好的线索。” 凯尔和他的团队走进咖啡馆，他们发现海莉·戴利(Haley Daley)坐在一张桌子旁，吃了半个

grapefruit and staring blankly through the glass walls into the rotunda. "Hey, Haley," said Kyle. "How's it going?" "Not bad. You?" "Good. Win or lose, we're having a blast." "We're the fun bunch," said Akimi. "You guys really get along, huh?" "Oh, yes," said Sierra. "I haven't had this much fun since I was six." "Seriously?" "What's the matter, Haley?" said Akimi. "Life not so good on Team Charles?" "It's okay, I guess. I mean, we've pulled together some good clues and all.…" "Well," said Miguel, "if you ever want to switch sides, we're always looking for new members." "Can I do that? Just switch sides? Even though I know everything about what Team Charles did all day yesterday?" "I think so," said Kyle. "I mean, there was nothing in the rules about teams." "Huh," said Haley. "And Andrew's teamed up with you guys, too?"

吃着葡萄柚，茫然地隔着玻璃墙凝视着圆形大厅。 “嘿，海莉，”凯尔说。“怎么样?”“不坏。 你呢?”“很好。不管输赢，我们都很开心。” “我们是一群有趣的人，”明美说。 “你们相处得很好，是吧?”“哦，是的，”西拉说。 “我从六岁起就没这么开心过。” “严重吗?”“怎么了，哈利?”明米说。 “查尔斯队的生活不太好吗?”“我想还好吧。 我是说，我们搜集到了一些有用的线索。“嗯，”米格尔说，“如果你想改变立场，我们一直在寻找新成员。” “我能做到吗?”只是换一边? 即使我知道查尔斯队昨天一整天所做的一切?”“我想是的，”凯尔说。 “我的意思是，规则里没有关于团队的规定。” “嗯。”哈利说。“安德鲁也和你们合作了?”

"No," said Kyle. Haley nodded toward the wall of windows behind Kyle. "Then why'd he just swipe his library card and go into your meeting room?"

“不，”凯尔说。哈利朝凯尔身后的那堵窗户点了点头。 “那他为什么刷了借书证就进了你的会议室?”