Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14 ONE HOUR LATER At last the ash blizzard stopped. A thick coating of the warm flakes covered their heads and shoulders. Jess spit and coughed and wiped her eyes. The sky had lightened up. Finally she could see well enough to climb through the tangle of limbs

第十四章一小时后，火山灰暴雪终于停了。 一层厚厚的温暖的雪花覆盖了他们的头和肩膀。 杰西又吐又咳嗽，还擦了擦眼睛。 天空变亮了。最后，她终于看清楚了，可以从乱成一团的树枝中爬过去

that covered the hole. She made her way up until she was high enough to see the forest. Except it was no longer a forest. It was a graveyard of fallen trees. Every single tree was down — thousands and thousands of trees. The force of the blast and the surge had ripped most of them right out of the ground. Two-hundred-foot trees, knocked over like Popsicle sticks. Some had been uprooted, others snapped like twigs. If Jess and the twins hadn't been deep in that hole, they all would have been crushed. The cabin was smashed under a huge fir tree. Everything was covered with a thick coating of gray ash. But there was a sight even worse than the ruined forest: the mountain. With the trees down, Jess now had a perfect view of St. Helens. Or what was left of St. Helens.

它盖住了洞。她爬到足够高的地方，看到了森林。 只不过这里不再是森林了。 那是一片树木倒下的墓地。 每一棵树都倒下了——成千上万的树。 爆炸和巨浪的力量把它们中的大部分都从地面上扯了出来。 两百英尺高的树，像冰棒棍一样被撞倒。 一些人被连根拔起，另一些人像树枝一样折断。 如果杰茜和双胞胎没有陷得太深，他们都会被压碎的。 小屋被一棵巨大的冷杉树压得粉碎。 所有的东西都覆盖着一层厚厚的灰。 但还有比森林废墟更糟糕的景象:那座山。 树被砍倒后，杰西现在可以完美地看到圣。 海伦斯火山。或者圣。 海伦斯火山。

It looked as though it had been smashed by a giant hammer. Its sparkling peak was gone. In its place was a gaping black mouth vomiting up smoke. Jess had never seen anything so hideous. She slammed her eyes shut and turned away. She climbed back down into the hole again. And now she could finally really see the boys. Their faces were plastered white with ash and smeared with blood. They looked like two battered ghosts. Sam was staring down. Jess followed his gaze to his thigh. His pants were torn. What was that on his leg? It didn't look like skin. It looked ripped up and blackened, like burned meat. Jess gasped. "Oh, Sam!" And then she looked at Eddie. She couldn't see his wounds. But from the glazed look in his eyes, she could see that he was badly hurt, too. Both boys were shivering.

它看起来就像被一把大锤砸坏了。 它闪闪发光的峰顶不见了。 取而代之的是一张张开的黑嘴，正在吐着烟。 杰西从来没见过这么可怕的东西。 她猛地闭上眼睛，转过身去。 她又爬回洞里。 现在她终于可以真正看到孩子们了。 他们的脸上涂满了灰和血迹。 他们看起来像两个受了伤的鬼魂。 山姆向下凝视着。杰西顺着他的目光注视着他的大腿。 他的裤子破了。他腿上的是什么? 它看起来不像皮肤。它看起来像是被撕烂了，变黑了，像烧焦的肉。 杰斯气喘吁吁地说。“哦,山姆!”然后她看着埃迪。 她看不见他的伤口。 但从他呆滞的眼神中，她可以看出他也伤得很重。 两个男孩都在发抖。

They needed to find help — now. But how? The boys couldn't stand. And Jess wouldn't be able to carry even one of them out. It was hopeless. They would have to sit here and wait for help to come. Jess looked up, praying that she'd see Mr. Rowan peering down into the hole. But how would he get to them? It would take hours — even days — for anyone to make it through the maze of fallen trees. Jess had to get help. But what if there was another eruption? What if another fiery hurricane swept over the forest? What if she got lost? A hundred terrible questions swirled through her mind, and none had answers. But that didn't matter, Jess realized. "I'm going to get help," she said, fighting back tears. "I'll be back very soon."

他们需要寻求帮助——现在。 但如何?男孩们站不起来了。 而杰茜连一个都抬不出来。 这是没有希望的。他们将不得不坐在这里等待救援。 杰西抬起头，祈祷能看到罗文先生正往洞里张望。 但他要怎么找到他们呢? 任何人都要花上几个小时，甚至几天才能穿过倒下的树木迷宫。 杰西不得不寻求帮助。但如果再次爆发呢? 如果另一场猛烈的飓风横扫森林怎么办? 如果她迷路了怎么办?一百个可怕的问题在她脑海里盘旋，但没有一个问题能回答。 但这并不重要，杰茜意识到。 “我要去寻求帮助，”她强忍着泪水说。 “我很快就回来。”

The boys didn't seem to hear her. Both seemed to be drifting away. Sam's eyes were closed. He was shivering harder now. Jess gently took Sam's cold hand and laid it on her palm. She lifted Eddie's and put it on top of Sam's. She rested her other hand on top of Eddie's. She gripped both boys' hands tightly within her own. All for one, she said to herself. And one for all. For the first time, Jess really understood what those words meant. Jess would do anything to help the boys. She would even face the volcano by herself.

男孩们似乎没听见她的话。 两者似乎都在渐渐远去。 萨姆的眼睛闭上了。他现在哆嗦得更厉害了。 杰西轻轻地握住山姆冰冷的手，放在自己的手掌上。 她把埃迪的拿起来放在山姆的上面。 她把另一只手放在埃迪的手上。 她紧紧地抓住两个男孩的手。 都是为了一个人，她对自己说。 一个给所有人。杰茜第一次真正理解了这句话的含义。 杰茜愿意做任何事来帮助孩子们。 她甚至会独自面对火山。