Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 The three of them walked for at least an hour more, inching their way along the packed sidewalks. They were getting closer to the Palmer House, Jennie said. But new fires kept forcing them to find alternate routes. Now they were caught in a sea of hundreds of bodies. People squeezed them on all sides, and Oscar struggled to stay on his feet. They were passing by a warehouse when suddenly — KABOOM! The smell of oil filled the air, and shards of wood flew all around them. "Run!" someone screamed. Boom! Boom! Boom!

他们三个人在拥挤的人行道上缓慢前行，至少又走了一个小时。 他们离帕尔默家越来越近了，珍妮说。 但新的火灾不断迫使他们寻找其他路线。 现在他们被困在数百具尸体的海洋中。 人们从四面八方挤来挤去，奥斯卡挣扎着站起来。 他们正经过一个仓库，突然——砰!空气中弥漫着油味，木屑在他们周围飞舞。 “快跑!”有人尖叫。繁荣!繁荣!繁荣!

The explosions rang out like cannon fire. Like a herd of cattle startled by a clap of thunder, the crowd erupted into a stampede. Oscar, Jennie, and Bruno were caught right in the middle. Elbows jabbed them, boots mashed Oscar's feet. He watched as parents were torn away from their children. A woman fell and didn't get up again. "Hold on tight, Bruno!" Oscar ordered, locking his arm around the boy as he gripped Jennie's hand so hard he was sure he would crush it. If they were separated now, they'd never find each other again. Luckily the street widened slightly, and they managed to burst out of the crushing crowd. Jennie led them down a side street, and finally into a wide alley. "State Street is just a block away from here," Jennie said as they caught their breath. "The Palmer House will be right there." Halfway down the alley, they discovered a water barrel. They all ran toward it, desperate to quench their thirst and to cool their burning skin.

爆炸声像大炮一样响了起来。 就像一群牛被一声雷声吓了一跳一样，人群突然爆发出一阵狂奔。 奥斯卡、珍妮和布鲁诺被夹在中间。 胳膊肘戳着他们，靴子踩烂了奥斯卡的脚。 他目睹父母与孩子分离。 一个女人跌倒了，再也没有站起来。 “抓紧了，布鲁诺!”奥斯卡命令道，一面用胳膊搂住男孩，同时紧紧地抓住珍妮的手，他确信他要把它捏碎了。 如果他们现在分开，就再也找不到对方了。 幸运的是，街道稍微变宽了一些，他们终于从拥挤的人群中挤了出来。 珍妮领着他们走过一条小街，最后来到一条宽巷子里。 “道富街离这儿只有一个街区，"她们缓过气来，珍妮说。 “帕尔默之家就在那儿。” 在小巷的半路上，他们发现了一个水桶。 他们都朝它跑去，不顾一切地想止渴降温。

Oscar felt like a stalk of wheat, shriveled in the boiling sun. He hoisted the lid off and held Bruno while the boy slurped up water like a thirsty horse. When he was finally done, Oscar and Jennie took turns, scooping up handfuls of the cool water and gulping them down. They splashed the soothing water on their faces and down scorched necks and arms. Oscar sighed with relief. "You really know your way around the city," he said to Jennie as he dabbed drops of water onto his

奥斯卡觉得自己像一根麦秆，在滚烫的太阳下枯萎了。 他掀开盖子，抱着布鲁诺，男孩像口渴的马一样大口喝水。 他终于喝完了，奥斯卡和珍妮轮流舀起一把凉水，大口地喝下去。 他们往脸上、烧焦的脖子和胳膊上泼了些舒缓的水。 奥斯卡如释重负地叹了口气。“你真熟悉这个城市的路数，"他对珍妮说，一面把水珠往他的手上擦

burned forehead. "You'd make a good tracker." "My mother was a baker," Jennie said, with a hint of pride. "Bruno and I used to go with her to deliver her cakes and cookies." "I love cookies," Bruno whispered to Oscar, as though he was sharing a deep secret. A picture popped into Oscar's mind. He saw Jennie with her braids straight and glossy, Bruno nibbling on a cookie almost as big as his head. He pictured a lady with Bruno's dark curls and Jennie's big brown eyes, standing in the kitchen in a flowered apron. "My mama got sick," Bruno said softly. "She in heaven." Jennie glanced at Oscar and he glimpsed the fresh hurt in her eyes. "My papa's in heaven, too," Oscar said, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Our father died right after Bruno was born, in an accident," Jennie said. "Mama died six months ago. I promised her I'd keep an eye on Bruno, no matter what." Oscar thought of his own promise to Papa: to watch over the farm. That promise had kept him

燃烧的额头。“你会成为一个很好的追踪者。” “我母亲是一个面包师，”珍妮说，带着一丝自豪。 “布鲁诺和我过去常常和她一起去给她送蛋糕和饼干。” “我喜欢饼干，”布鲁诺低声对奥斯卡说，好像他在分享一个很深的秘密。 一幅画面突然出现在奥斯卡的脑海里。 他看见珍妮的发辫又直又亮，布鲁诺在啃一块几乎和他的头一样大的饼干。 他想象着一个女人，有着布鲁诺的黑卷发和珍妮的棕色大眼睛，系着花围裙站在厨房里。 “我妈妈病了，”布鲁诺轻声说。 “她在天堂。”珍妮看了奥斯卡一眼，他也在她的眼睛里看到了新的痛苦。 “我爸爸也在天堂，”奥斯卡说，咽下了喉咙里的哽咽。 “布鲁诺出生后，我们的父亲就在一场事故中去世了，”珍妮说。 “妈妈六个月前去世了。 我答应过她，不管发生什么事，我都会照看好布鲁诺。” 奥斯卡想起了他对爸爸的承诺:看守农场。 那个诺言留住了他

going these past two years. But now it was broken. Would Papa forgive him? Would Oscar forgive himself? Jennie put her hand on Bruno's head. "I couldn't let us go to the orphanage," Jennie said. Her voice dropped very low when she said orphanage, as if it was a curse word no one should ever say. Oscar understood. He'd heard horror stories about the orphanage in Minneapolis, the city closest to Castle — that it was more like a jail than a home. Oscar looked at Jennie and Bruno, suddenly wondering what would happen to them. Their home was gone. They were all alone. What would they do? But no, Oscar suddenly remembered. They weren't alone. He picked up Bruno. They weren't alone because they had Oscar. "Hey, Bruno," he said. "I bet up in heaven, my papa and your parents are good friends."

过去的两年。 但现在它坏了。爸爸会原谅他吗? 奥斯卡会原谅自己吗? 珍妮把手放在布鲁诺的头上。 “我不能让我们去孤儿院，”珍妮说。 当她说到孤儿院时，她的声音很低，好像这是一个没有人应该说的诅咒词。 奥斯卡的理解。他听说过离城堡最近的明尼阿波利斯市的孤儿院的恐怖故事，说那里更像监狱而不是家。 奥斯卡看着珍妮和布鲁诺，突然不知道他们会发生什么事。 他们的家没了。他们都是孤身一人。 他们会怎么做?但不是，奥斯卡突然想起来了。 他们并不孤单。他抱起布鲁诺。 他们并不孤单，因为他们有奥斯卡。 “嘿，布鲁诺，”他说。“我敢打赌，在天堂里，我爸爸和你父母是好朋友。”

Bruno leaned back so he could look Oscar in the eye. "Like us!" he exclaimed. His soot-covered face grinned out from under the fancy lady's hat. Both Oscar and Jennie laughed, and for that second Oscar forgot about the smoke and the flames. But their smiles didn't last long. They'd just started walking through the alley again when they heard loud voices. A group of boys swung into the alley from the street. They were walking toward them. Jennie froze. Then Oscar saw who they were: the boys from the train station. And there, right in front, with his rattlesnake eyes glowing through the smoke, was Otis Webber.

布鲁诺向后靠了靠，以便能直视奥斯卡的眼睛。 “像我们一样!”他那张满是烟灰的脸从那名贵女士的帽子下露出了笑容。 奥斯卡和珍妮都笑了，在这第二秒里，奥斯卡忘记了烟和火焰。 但他们的笑容并没有持续太久。 他们刚要再次穿过小巷，就听到了响亮的声音。 一群男孩从街上拐进了小巷。 他们朝他们走来。 珍妮冻结。这时奥斯卡看清了他们是谁:那两个从火车站来的男孩。 就在前面，奥蒂斯·韦伯那双响尾蛇般的眼睛在烟雾中闪闪发光。