Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 They stumbled out of the cabin. But the shaking was outside, too. The ground bucked up and down. The trees swayed back and forth violently. Jess and the boys clung to each other for balance as they staggered to the trail. But then crash! a huge tree fell right in front of them.

他们跌跌撞撞地走出小屋。 但地震也发生在外面。 地面上下颠簸。 树木猛烈地前后摇晃。 杰西和孩子们踉跄着向小路走去，为了保持平衡，他们紧紧抱在一起。 但接着就崩溃了!一棵大树倒在他们面前。

They turned to escape in the other direction, but crash! a massive limb hit the ground just feet from where they stood. They had to get out of there! "Wait! My dad's camera!" Jess shouted. But there was no going back. The ground was now splitting apart, like ice breaking on a frozen pond. Clods of dirt flew up. Yawning holes opened in the earth, some deeper than any grave. Jess and the twins huddled close together, their heads ducked down low, their arms wrapped tight around each other. More tree limbs crashed to the ground. Jess braced herself for the crushing blow of a huge branch hitting her head. And then, in a blink, the shaking stopped. The forest went mute. The only sounds were their own sobbing breaths.

他们转身向另一个方向逃跑，但是砰的一声!一根巨大的树枝落在离他们站着的地方几英尺远的地方。 他们必须离开那里!“等等!我爸爸的相机!”杰斯喊道。 但是没有回头路了。 地面裂开了，就像结冰的池塘上的冰裂开了一样。 土块飞扬起来。大地上裂开了一个个大洞，有些比坟墓还深。 杰西和双胞胎紧紧地挤在一起，低着头，胳膊紧紧地搂住对方。 更多的树枝倒在地上。 一根巨大的树枝打在她的头上，杰茜做好了准备。 然后，转眼间，震动停止了。 森林一片寂静。唯一的声音是他们自己啜泣的呼吸声。

They stood there too shocked and scared to speak. And then, without a word, they joined hands and ran down the trail. They jumped over fallen branches and holes in the ground, over roots and rocks. Jess kept looking over her shoulder, sure that Skeleton Woman was after them. She could practically feel the witch's oven breath huffing at her back. Missy had been right all along: This forest was cursed! They were almost to the parking lot when they heard Mr. Rowan shouting for them. He came rushing up the trail, moving his burly body way faster than Jess ever thought he could. He grabbed all three of them in a bear hug. They hadn't yet caught their breath when a man came hurrying up to them. He had dark brown skin and curly hair and looked to be about Mom's age. "Hey! Are you all okay?"

他们站在那里，吓得说不出话来。 然后，他们二话没说，手牵着手沿着小路跑去。 它们跳过倒下的树枝、地上的洞、树根和岩石。 杰西一直回头看，确信骷髅女在追他们。 她几乎能感觉到女巫的热气扑面而来。 米西一直都是对的:这片森林被诅咒了!他们快到停车场时，听到罗文先生在喊他们。 他沿着小路冲了过来，他那魁梧的身体移动得比杰西想象的要快得多。 他紧紧地抱住了他们三个人。 他们还没喘过气来，一个人匆匆向他们走来。 他有着深棕色的皮肤和卷曲的头发，看起来和妈妈差不多大。 “嘿!你们都没事吧?”

Jess and the twins peeled themselves away from Mr. Rowan. "We're all in one piece!" Mr. Rowan called out. "You?" "I'm fine," the man said, dusting off his pants. "That was a pretty strong quake." "Sure was," Mr. Rowan answered. Jess and the twins stared at each other in shock — and relief. An earthquake. Of course! Earthquakes happened sometimes in Washington State. They even had earthquake drills at school. They'd been so brainwashed by Missy's dumb story that they weren't thinking clearly. Mr. Rowan introduced himself to the man. "Skip Rowan," he said. "Tim Morales," the man said, shaking Mr. Rowan's hand and smiling warmly at the twins and Jess. "Do you have a cabin here, Tim?" Mr. Rowan asked.

杰西和双胞胎们挣脱了罗文先生。 “我们都安然无恙!”罗文先生喊道。 “你呢?”“我很好，”那人一边说，一边掸掉裤子上的灰尘。 “那是一次相当强烈的地震。” “当然是，”罗文先生回答。 杰西和双胞胎兄弟面面相觑，既震惊又宽慰。 一场地震。当然!华盛顿州有时会发生地震。 他们甚至在学校进行地震演习。 他们被米西那愚蠢的故事洗脑了，脑子都不清楚了。 罗文先生向那人作了自我介绍。 “斯基普·罗文，”他说。“蒂姆·莫拉莱斯，”那人说着，握着罗文的手，对双胞胎和杰西热情地微笑着。 “你在这儿有小屋吗，蒂姆?”罗文先生问。

"Actually, I'm here for work," he said, reaching into his shirt pocket and taking out a business card, which he handed to Mr. Rowan. "Dr. Timothy Morales," Mr. Rowan read, "Department of Seismology, University of Washington. You study earthquakes? Well, you came to the right place today." Dr. Morales nodded. "Actually we've detected at least fifty mild earthquakes in this area, all in this past week. They're coming from directly under St. Helens. At first we weren't sure what these earthquakes meant. But now we're certain they're warning signs." "Warning of what?" Mr. Rowan asked. Dr. Morales was quiet for a moment. And then he looked up at St. Helens. And what he said next was more unbelievable than any horror story Jess had ever heard. "I think Mount St. Helens is about to erupt."

“实际上，我是来上班的，”他说着，把手伸进衬衫口袋，拿出一张名片，递给罗文先生。 “蒂莫西·莫拉莱斯博士，”罗文先生念道，“华盛顿大学地震系。 你研究地震?嗯，今天你来对地方了。” 莫拉莱斯点点头。“实际上，我们已经在这个地区发现了至少50次轻微地震，都是在过去的一周内。 它们从圣。 海伦斯火山。起初我们不确定这些地震意味着什么。 但现在我们确定它们是警告信号。” “警告什么?”罗文先生问。 莫拉莱斯医生沉默了一会儿。 然后他抬头看着圣。 海伦斯火山。他接下来说的话比杰茜听过的任何恐怖故事都难以置信。 “我觉得圣海伦火山要喷发了。”