Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 EIGHT WEEKS EARLIER SUNDAY, MARCH 23, 1980 SPIRIT LAKE MEMORIAL HIGHWAY, WASHINGTON STATE "Skeleton Woman is not real," Jess said. "She's totally made up," Sam agreed.

第二章八周前1980年3月23日星期天华盛顿州灵湖纪念公路“骷髅女人不是真的，”杰斯说。 “她完全是编出来的，”萨姆同意道。

"Can we please stop talking about Skeleton Woman?" said Eddie, Sam's twin brother. "You're giving me the creeps." It was Sunday morning, and Jess and the Rowan twins were riding in the back of a red Ford pickup truck. Mr. Rowan, the twins' dad, was up front, singing loudly along to his favorite disco song. They were about twenty miles from their hometown of Cedar, Washington, rumbling along a winding highway. The road was lined with trees, a forever stretch of forest and rolling hills. They were heading to the Rowans' fishing cabin, which was on Loomis Lake, up closer to Mount St. Helens. It wasn't fishing season quite yet. But Mr. Rowan wanted to get the cabin ready. He was happy to have Jess and the twins tagging along for the day. Looking across at the twins, Jess saw two matching buzz-cut heads, four identical green eyes, and about ten thousand freckles. When they

“我们能不能别再谈骷髅女了?”山姆的孪生兄弟埃迪说。 “你让我浑身起鸡皮疙瘩。” 那是一个星期天的早晨，杰西和罗文双胞胎坐在一辆红色福特皮卡的后座上。 双胞胎的父亲罗文先生站在前面，大声唱着他最喜欢的迪斯科歌曲。 他们在距离家乡华盛顿州锡达市大约20英里的地方，沿着一条蜿蜒的高速公路隆隆行驶。 路上绿树成荫，绵延不绝的森林和连绵起伏的丘陵。 他们正前往罗文家位于卢米斯湖(Loomis Lake)上的钓鱼小屋。 海伦斯火山。现在还不是捕鱼的季节。 但罗文先生想把小屋准备好。 他很高兴有杰西和双胞胎跟着他一天。 看着对面的双胞胎，杰西看到了两个相同的平头，四只一模一样的绿眼睛，还有大约一万个雀斑。 当他们

were little, Jess would have done anything to look more like them. She'd blown out her birthday candles with a wish for green eyes instead of brown. She'd even drawn Magic Marker freckles onto her pale skin. But Jess had outgrown that. And anyway, the twins weren't so exactly alike. Eddie was quiet and serious. Sam never shut up and he had a fearless streak that sometimes got all three of them into big trouble. Like today, for example. Mr. Rowan didn't know the real reason that Jess and the boys wanted to get up to the mountain: Skeleton Woman. She was an evil woman from a scary old story, kind of like the witch from Hansel and Gretel, but worse, because she supposedly lived around here. She had wild white hair and coal-black eyes and rusted metal claws instead of fingers. According to the old legend, she lurked in the dark forests that covered the slopes of St. Helens,

当他们还小的时候，杰茜会想尽一切办法让自己看起来更像他们。 她吹灭了生日蜡烛，希望自己的眼睛变成绿色而不是棕色。 她甚至在苍白的皮肤上画了魔笔雀斑。 但杰茜已经长大了。 而且，这对双胞胎也不完全一样。 艾迪安静而严肃。 萨姆从不闭嘴，他无畏的性格有时会让他们三个都惹上大麻烦。 比如今天。罗文先生不知道杰西和男孩们想要上山的真正原因:骷髅女人。 她是一个可怕的古老故事里的邪恶女人，有点像《韩赛尔和格莱特》里的女巫，但更糟的是，她应该住在这附近。 她一头乱发，一双乌黑的眼睛，一双生锈的金属爪子，而不是手指。 根据古老的传说，她潜伏在覆盖着圣。 海伦斯火山,

the mountain that rose up over this whole valley. She wandered through the woods, searching for children, whose bones she used to make her magic powders. It was just a creepy story, the kind you told while you were roasting marshmallows or huddled together at a slumber party. But some of the kids in their school actually believed Skeleton Woman was real. One girl, Missy Samuels, swore Skeleton Woman lived in a broken-down shack in the woods near Loomis Lake. "That whole part of the forest is cursed," Missy had said, flicking one of her curls. It had been last Wednesday, and they were on the blacktop at school. Eddie had been impatiently bouncing a red rubber ball. Usually they played kickball at recess, but Missy wouldn't stop yakking about Skeleton Woman. Jess used to be good pals with Missy. But that was about a million years ago, before Missy's dad

那座山耸立在整个山谷之上。 她在树林里游荡，寻找孩子们，用他们的骨头制作魔法粉。 这只是一个令人毛骨悚然的故事，那种你在烤棉花糖或在睡衣派对上挤在一起时讲的故事。 但他们学校里的一些孩子竟然相信骷髅女是真实存在的。 一个叫米西·塞缪尔斯的女孩发誓说，骷髅女人住在卢米斯湖附近树林里的一间破旧的棚屋里。 “那整个森林都被诅咒了，”米西说着，轻轻甩了甩一头卷发。 那是上周三，他们走在学校的柏油路上。 埃迪一直在不耐烦地弹着一个红色橡皮球。 通常他们在课间休息时踢足球，但米西总是喋喋不休地谈论骷髅女。 杰西以前和米西是好朋友。 但那是一百万年前的事了，在米西的爸爸出生之前

got an important new job at the lumber company. Now Missy lived in the biggest house in Cedar — the only big house in Cedar. "Skeleton Woman is in those woods," Missy went on. "My dad says some of his workers saw her. And now they refuse to step foot in that part of the forest." "That's not true," Jess said. "They saw her, Jess!" Missy insisted. "Her clothes were covered with blood!" "It's just a dumb story," Eddie scoffed. "If you're so sure, maybe you should go to the shack yourselves," Missy said. This was starting to sound like a dare. "Fine," Sam blurted out. "We'll go." Jess and Eddie had shared a look that meant Please tape Sam's mouth shut now! Too late. "Fine," Missy said. "You better bring a camera, because I'll need proof."

在木材公司找到了一份重要的新工作。 现在米西住在锡达最大的房子里——锡达唯一的大房子。 “骷髅女就在树林里，”米西接着说。 “我爸爸说他的一些工人看到了她。 现在他们拒绝踏进那片森林。” “那不是真的，”杰西说。 “他们看到她了，杰西!”密斯坚持道。 “她的衣服上全是血!”“这只是一个愚蠢的故事，”埃迪嘲笑道。 “如果你们这么肯定，也许你们应该自己去窝棚，”米西说。 这听起来像是在挑战。 “很好，”萨姆脱口而出。“我们走吧。” 杰西和埃迪相视而视，意思是请把山姆的嘴封上!太迟了。 “很好，”米西说。“你最好带上相机，因为我需要证据。”

Within minutes, she'd blabbed to everyone, making it sound like a big joke — with Jess and the twins as the punch line. So of course they couldn't back out. Which is why they were here, on this cold morning, sitting in the back of the red pickup. "But what if she's actually there?" Eddie asked. "Then Jess will take her picture," Sam said. Jess gripped her backpack, where she'd put Dad's camera. She felt a pang of guilt. The camera had been Dad's prized possession, and Jess knew that Mom wouldn't want Jess taking it into the woods. But Jess would be extra careful. She'd even wrapped it in a plastic bag, in case it rained. "How will I take her picture?" Jess asked. "Mrs. Skeleton Woman," Sam said in a high voice, "say cheese!" Eddie leaned forward and bared his teeth like a skeleton. "Cheese!" he growled. A glob of egg glistened on one of his teeth.

几分钟之内，她就把这件事告诉了所有人，让人觉得这是一个大笑话，而杰西和双胞胎则是笑话的重点。 所以他们当然不能反悔。 这就是为什么他们会在这个寒冷的早晨，坐在那辆红色皮卡的后座上。 “但如果她真的在那里呢?”埃迪问。 “然后杰西会给她拍照，”萨姆说。 杰西紧紧抓住她的背包，她把爸爸的相机放在那里。 她感到一阵内疚。这台相机是爸爸最珍贵的财产，杰西知道妈妈不会希望杰西把它带到树林里。 但杰西会格外小心。 她甚至用塑料袋包起来，以防下雨。 “我怎么给她拍照呢?”杰斯问道。 “骷髅太太，”萨姆大声说，“说奶酪!”埃迪身体前倾，露出了像骷髅一样的牙齿。 “奶酪!”他咆哮道。一颗鸡蛋在他的一颗牙齿上闪闪发光。