Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15 EIGHT DAYS LATER, OCTOBER 18, 5:30 P.M. MR, MORROW'S HOUSE, BELDEN AVENUE, CHICAGO, The day was bright and clear. Oscar stood in Mr. Morrow's studio. Mr. Morrow had been right — this was Oscar's favorite room in the house. He liked the view of the lake in the distance. But best of all were Mr. Morrow's paintings that lined the walls and crowded the shelves. Oscar's favorites, of course, were four paintings that Mr. Morrow had created of their farm in Castle. Oscar came up here every day to look at them.

第十五章八天后，十月十八日下午五点半 莫罗先生的房子，芝加哥贝尔登大街，天气晴朗。 奥斯卡站在莫罗先生的画室里。 莫罗先生是对的——这是奥斯卡在这所房子里最喜欢的房间。 他喜欢远处湖的景色。 但最精彩的还是莫罗先生的画，它们排列在墙上，挤在架子上。 奥斯卡最喜欢的当然是莫罗先生创作的四幅画，画的是他们在卡斯尔的农场。 奥斯卡每天都来这里看他们。

Voices drifted from the kitchen, along with the scent of baking cookies. Oscar breathed deep, wanting to take in the sweet smells. Finally he could take a breath without doubling over into a coughing fit. His lungs were healing, now, his burns and cuts scabbing over. But he couldn't shake the nightmares that haunted him every night. It was always the same, how he'd wake up shouting two words over and over: "Jennie! Bruno!" Oscar would sit in bed, his heart hammering, tears streaming down his cheeks, as he thought of them lost and alone in the burning city. The search for Jennie and Bruno had started the morning after Oscar and Mr. Morrow got back to the house. Dozens of Mr. Morrow's friends helped them. They scoured the lakefront, where thousands of people were living in makeshift tents. They searched Lincoln Park, which was packed with thousands more. Day after day they all searched, but there was no sign of Jennie and Bruno. And there were

厨房里飘来了说话声，还有烤饼干的香味。 奥斯卡深深地吸了一口气，想要吸入甜甜的气味。 终于，他可以喘口气了，不再咳嗽了。 他的肺正在愈合，他的烧伤和割伤正在结痂。 但他无法摆脱每晚萦绕在他心头的噩梦。 他总是一遍又一遍地喊着两个字醒来:“珍妮!布鲁诺!”奥斯卡会坐在床上，他的心砰砰直跳，眼泪顺着脸颊流下，因为他想到他们迷失在燃烧的城市里，独自一人。 寻找珍妮和布鲁诺是在奥斯卡和莫罗先生回到家里的第二天早晨开始的。 莫罗先生的几十个朋友帮助了他们。 他们搜索了湖边，那里有成千上万的人住在临时搭建的帐篷里。 他们搜查了林肯公园，那里挤满了数千人。 他们都找了一天又一天，可是没有珍妮和布鲁诺的踪影。 确实有

moments when Oscar feared the worst. "Have hope," Mr. Morrow kept saying. But it was hard to have hope when all Oscar could see in any direction was smoldering ruins. Hundreds of people were dead, and four miles of the city had burned to the ground. As they walked through the streets, Mr. Morrow kept his arm around Oscar's shoulders. He'd point to men carting away wagonloads of wreckage, at the new shacks popping up on still-smoldering lots. Mr. Morrow reminded Oscar of Papa, that day in the ruined forest. Just as Papa had seen those little green shoots popping through the ash, Mr. Morrow already saw signs that Chicago would be rebuilt. And then Mr. Morrow had the idea of drawing Jennie and Bruno's picture and having it printed in the newspaper. Oscar described their faces, and Mr. Morrow's pencil brought them to life. The picture was printed in the Chicago Tribune, along with an ad:

奥斯卡担心最坏的情况。 “抱有希望，”莫罗先生一直说。 但是，当奥斯卡从任何方向看到的都是燃烧的废墟时，很难抱有希望。 数百人死亡，四英里的城市被夷为平地。 当他们穿过街道时，莫罗先生一直搂着奥斯卡的肩膀。 他会指着那些运走一车一车残骸的人，指着那些仍在冒烟的空地上拔地而起的新棚屋。 莫罗先生使奥斯卡想起了爸爸，那天在被毁坏的森林里。 就像爸爸看到那些绿色的小芽从灰烬中冒出来一样，莫罗先生已经看到了芝加哥将被重建的迹象。 后来莫罗先生有了一个主意，要把珍妮和布鲁诺的画画出来，登在报纸上。 奥斯卡描绘了他们的脸，莫罗先生用铅笔把他们栩栩如生地画出来。 这张照片刊登在《芝加哥论坛报》上，旁边还有一则广告:

Mr. Charles Morrow and the Chicago police seek information about two missing children, Jennie, approximately 9, and Bruno, approximately 3. Oscar had insisted that Mr. Morrow add one more detail to the picture: the battered purple lady's hat on Bruno's head. The very next day, the police received a tip from a woman on the city's west side, in a neighborhood that hadn't been burned. The woman had always been suspicious of one of her neighbors. The man lived alone, but roughlooking boys were always showing up at odd hours, often carrying large sacks and suitcases through the back door of the house. The woman was reading the newspaper, and Mr. Morrow's drawing caught her eye. She'd seen two kids in front of the neighbor's house just that morning. She wouldn't have looked twice, except for something very strange about the boy — the purple lady's hat on his head. Oscar had been up here in the studio, standing in this exact spot, when he'd heard the clatter of

查尔斯·莫罗先生和芝加哥警方正在寻找两名失踪儿童的信息，约9岁的珍妮和约3岁的布鲁诺。 奥斯卡坚持要莫罗先生在照片上再加一个细节:布鲁诺头上那顶破旧的紫色女士帽。 就在第二天，警方收到了一名妇女的线报，她住在纽约市西区一个没有被烧毁的街区。 这个女人一直对她的一个邻居心存疑虑。 这个男人独自生活，但长相粗野的男孩总是在奇怪的时间出现，经常从房子的后门拎着大麻袋和手提箱。 那个女人正在看报纸，莫罗先生的画引起了她的注意。 就在那天早上，她看到两个孩子在邻居家门前。 她不会再多看一眼，除非那个男孩身上有一件非常奇怪的事——他头上戴着一顶紫色的女士帽。 奥斯卡一直在摄影棚里，站在这个地方，突然听到了

hooves outside. He'd looked out the window, and there was Joseph's cab, pulled by his faithful old nag. Oscar figured it was more of Mr. Morrow's friends coming to stay. Mr. Morrow and Mama kept the door wide open to anyone who needed a bed or a meal, and the house was overflowing. Oscar had turned away from the window, but then he'd heard a croaking voice shouting up to him. "Occar!" He'd looked out the window and his heart just about burst apart — it was Jennie and Bruno. They were ragged and dusty but all in one piece. Oscar's knees momentarily went weak, and then he'd practically flown down the stairs. Oscar had scooped Bruno up and held him tight. He grabbed Jennie's hand. He could hardly believe it. He still couldn't. They were back together — for good now. Mama and Mr. Morrow made sure they all understood that. Oscar had to wait until later that night, after Bruno was asleep, for Jennie to tell Oscar and Mama and Mr. Morrow the whole incredible story

外面的蹄子。他向窗外望去，原来是约瑟夫的马车，由他那匹忠实的老马拉着。 奥斯卡估计是莫罗先生的朋友来住的。 莫罗先生和妈妈一直为任何需要床铺或吃饭的人敞开大门，屋子里挤满了人。 奥斯卡已经从窗口转过身去，但他听到一个嘶哑的声音朝他喊道。 “Occar !”他望着窗外，心都要炸裂了——原来是珍妮和布鲁诺。 他们衣衫褴褛，满身灰尘，但都完好无损。 奥斯卡的膝盖一时发软，然后他几乎飞下了楼梯。 奥斯卡把布鲁诺抱起来，紧紧地抱着他。 他抓住珍妮的手。他简直不敢相信。 他还是做不到。他们又在一起了——永远地在一起了。 妈妈和莫罗先生确保他们都明白这一点。 奥斯卡只好等到那天晚上布鲁诺睡着以后，珍妮才把整个不可思议的故事告诉奥斯卡、妈妈和莫罗先生

— how they'd escaped the fire, how Otis had brought them to the house of a man he obviously knew very well. It turned out this man was the gang's real leader. "What was he like?" Mama asked. "Believe it or not, he didn't act like a wicked criminal," Jennie said. "He gave us plenty to eat, and he had a very friendly smile." But there was one thing about the man Jennie said she'd never forget. "The man had only one ear." Oscar and Mama had stared at each other in disbelief. But it turned out to be true: The man was Earless Max Kildair. And Papa had been right about the gangster still being up to no good. Now Earless was in jail, where he belonged. Otis Webber and his gang had disappeared, but Jennie and Bruno wouldn't have to worry about them anymore. The police recovered thousands of dollars of silver and paintings from Kildair's house. They also found three suitcases.

——他们是如何逃出大火的，奥蒂斯是如何把他们带到一个他显然非常熟悉的人的家里的。 原来这个人才是这个团伙真正的头目。 “他长什么样?”妈妈问。 “信不信由你，他的行为并不像个坏人，"珍妮说。 “他给了我们很多吃的，而且他的微笑非常友好。” 但是珍妮说，这个人有一点是她永远不会忘记的。 “那人只有一只耳朵。” 奥斯卡和妈妈难以置信地面面相觑。 但事实证明这是真的:这个人就是没耳朵的马克斯·基尔代尔。 爸爸说对了，那个匪徒仍然不怀好意。 现在Earless在监狱里，他属于那里。 奥蒂斯·韦伯和他的同伙消失了，但珍妮和布鲁诺再也不用担心他们了。 警方在基尔代尔的房子里发现了价值数千美元的银器和画作。 他们还发现了三个手提箱。