Chapter 52

52 The motel safe was huge, the size of a whole room, which was what it probably had been until Mr. Peckleman converted it into a steel-walled high-security vault. It was also empty except for a couple of stacks of birdseed sacks. Kyle couldn't believe it. "There's nothing in here," he said. "But it looks like there used to be," said Angus Harper. "Check out those marks on the carpet." He pointed to the floor. "Indentations that might've been made by heavy boxes," said Elliott Schilpp.

52汽车旅馆的保险箱很大，有一整个房间那么大，在佩克曼先生把它改成钢墙的高安全性保险库之前，它可能一直是这样的。 除了几堆鸟食袋外，里面也空无一物。 凯尔简直不敢相信。“这里什么也没有，”他说。 “但看起来以前是有的。”安格斯·哈珀说。 “看看地毯上的那些痕迹。” 他指着地板。“这些凹痕可能是由沉重的箱子造成的，”艾略特·席尔普说。

"Book boxes," added Sierra. "No!" somebody screamed outside the motel. "You can't do it!" "That sounds like Marjory," said Nicole Wisniewski. "She screamed at us all the time." "Come on!" said Kyle. The twelve treasure hunters tore out of the office, raced across the lobby, and headed out to the patio, where all the other Library Olympians and their chaperones were standing in a circle, staring at something that was making their jaws drop. Kyle heard a crackle and a pop. He pushed his way through the crowd. Mr. Peckleman stood next to the blazing fire pit, laughing hysterically. Marjory was there, too. Tears streamed down her cheeks. "I'm begging you, sir," Marjory said. "Don't do this." "What's going on?" demanded one of the chaperones.

“书盒子，”西拉补充道。 “不！”有人在汽车旅馆外尖叫。 “你不能这么做！”“听起来像玛乔丽，”妮可·维斯涅夫斯基说。 “她一直对我们大喊大叫。” “来吧！”凯尔说。十二个寻宝人冲出办公室，跑过大厅，向天井走去。所有其他的图书馆奥林匹克选手和他们的监护人都站在那里，围成一个圈，盯着一个让他们目瞪口呆的东西。 凯尔听到噼啪声和砰的一声。 他从人群中挤过去。 佩克曼先生站在熊熊燃烧的火坑旁，歇斯底里地笑着。 玛乔丽也在那里。泪水顺着她的面颊流下来。 “我求你了，先生。”马乔里说。 “不要这样做。”“出什么事了？”一个女伴问道。

"We're going to get rid of these wretched squirrel books, once and for all," cackled Mr. Peckleman. "Oh, no you are not," said Akimi, shoving her way to the front of the crowd to join Kyle near the roaring fire pit. Kyle could see garden carts, a little red wagon, and a wheelbarrow loaded down with books. On top of the pile closest to him was Flora and Ulysses. "Marjory told me all about how you tricked her into stealing that book," said a man in a priest collar, who Kyle figured had to be Father Mike, chaperone for the Midwest team. "I'm going to call the police." "Try it, Padre," snapped Mr. Peckleman, "and I start tossing books on the bonfire the second your finger touches your phone. I figure I can burn through most of 'em before the police even show up. They're very busy this afternoon down at the Lemoncello Library. It seems an anonymous tipster just phoned in a report of a major book burglary."

“我们要彻底摆脱这些可怜的松鼠书。”佩克曼先生咯咯地笑着说。 “哦，不，你不是，”明美说着，挤到人群前面，和凯尔一起靠近熊熊燃烧的火坑。 凯尔可以看到花园车，一辆红色的小马车，还有一辆装满书的手推车。 离他最近的那堆书的最上面是弗洛拉和尤利西斯。 “玛乔丽告诉了我你是怎么骗她偷那本书的，”一个戴着牧师领的男人说，凯尔猜他一定是迈克神父，中西部队的监护人。 “我要叫警察。” “试试吧，神父，”佩克曼先生厉声说，“你的手指一碰到手机，我就开始把书扔到篝火上。 我想我可以在警察来之前把大部分都烧掉。 莱蒙塞洛图书馆今天下午很忙。 好像是一个匿名的告密者刚刚打电话来报告了一起重大的图书盗窃案。”

"That was you!" whined Andrew. "How can you do this, Uncle Woody?" "Easy. You see, I agree with that lunatic Lemoncello: 'Knowledge not shared remains unknown.' Well, if I destroy this so-called knowledge about squirrels, no one will ever know it existed." He held up a copy of Flora and Ulysses. "A squirrel who writes poetry? Pah! Squirrels are nothing but thieving rodents. Rats with fluffy tails! They're bullies who steal food from innocent birds." "Look, Mr. Peckleman," said Kyle, "just because you don't like books about squirrels…" "Nobody else should, either! Don't you see, Mr. Keeley? I'm trying to protect you children. You shouldn't be forced to read lies about a squirrel named Earl who wears a red scarf and can't find his own acorn. Your young eyes should not be exposed to videos about a flying squirrel who shares his home with a talking moose." "That's a cartoon," said Kyle. "It's not real." Kyle didn't know what to do.

“是你！”安德鲁抱怨道。 “你怎么能这么做，胡迪叔叔？”“简单。 你看，我同意那个疯子莱蒙切罗的说法：“没有分享的知识仍然是未知的。”好吧，如果我毁了这些所谓的松鼠知识，就没有人会知道它的存在了。” 他举起一本《弗洛拉与尤利西斯》。 “一只会写诗的松鼠？ 多环芳烃!松鼠只不过是偷东西的啮齿动物。 有毛茸茸尾巴的老鼠！他们是从无辜的小鸟那里偷食物的恶霸。” “听着，佩克曼先生，”凯尔说，“就因为你不喜欢关于松鼠的书……”你还不明白吗，基利先生？ 我是想保护你们，孩子们。 你不应该被迫去读关于一只叫厄尔的松鼠戴着红领巾找不到自己的橡子的谎言。 你年轻的眼睛不应该接触到一只会飞的松鼠和一只会说话的驼鹿住在一起的视频。” “那是一部卡通片，”凯尔说。 “这不是真的。”凯尔不知道该怎么办。

Mr. Peckleman was nuttier than any of them had suspected. And the fire pit was really blazing. If the police were busy downtown at the library, investigating the theft of the missing books, it would take them maybe ten minutes to race all the way up to the motel. Mr. Peckleman could burn a ton of books in ten minutes. Kyle had to do something. Saving Mr. Lemoncello's library had to include protecting its books, even the ones some people didn't like. "Look, Mr. Peckleman, let's make a deal…." "Oh, that's right. Andrew told me about you. You're the game boy. You think you can make some kind of trade with me like you would if we were playing Monopoly?" "Why not? What are you afraid of?" "Not you, Kyle Keeley. Or any of your friends. What I am doing is right!" "Then let's play a game. If we win, you don't burn a single book."

佩克曼先生比他们任何人想象的都要疯狂。 火坑烧得很旺。 如果警察在市中心的图书馆忙着调查丢失的书的盗窃案，他们可能要花十分钟的时间才能跑到汽车旅馆。 佩克曼先生可以在十分钟内烧掉一吨书。 凯尔必须做点什么。拯救莱蒙塞罗的图书馆必须包括保护藏书，即使是一些人不喜欢的书。 “听着，佩克曼先生，我们做个交易吧....” “哦，对了。安德鲁跟我说过你。 你是游戏男孩。你觉得你能像玩大富翁那样和我做些交易吗？”“为什么不呢? 你在怕什么？”“不是你，凯尔·基利。 或者你的任何朋友。我所做的是对的！”“那我们来玩个游戏吧。 如果我们赢了，你一本书都不用烧。”

"And if I win?" Kyle looked to Akimi. She nodded. He turned to Mrs. Yunghans. "Do what you have to do, Kyle. We're running out of time." Finally, Kyle looked at Marjory Muldauer. She nodded, too. "Okay, Mr. Peckleman," said Kyle, "if you can beat us in a game—" The old man jabbed a finger at Kyle. "I get to choose the game, right?" "Fine. But remember—if we win, you have to leave the books alone." "Yes, I heard you the first time," said Mr. Peckleman. "But what do I get if I win?" Kyle swallowed hard. "The books." Mr. Peckleman's eyes bugged out and he sneered. "I already have the books. I want something more! Something to make this game a little more… exciting."

“如果我赢了呢？”凯尔看着阿明米。 她点了点头。他转向杨汉斯太太。 "做你该做的，凯尔。 我们的时间不多了。” 最后，凯尔看着玛乔丽·穆尔道尔。 她也点点头。“好吧，佩克曼先生，”凯尔说，“如果你能在比赛中打败我们——”老人朝凯尔伸出一根手指。 “我可以选择游戏，对吧？”“很好。 但是记住——如果我们赢了，你不能碰那些书。” “是的，我第一次就听到了，”佩克曼先生说。 “但如果我赢了，我能得到什么呢？”凯尔使劲咽了口气。 “书”。佩克曼先生瞪大了眼睛，冷笑起来。 “我已经有书了。 我想要更多！让这款游戏变得更有趣。”