Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16 Suddenly, the schoolhouse door flew open with a loud bang. An icy blast of freezing air and snow exploded into the room. The wind had ripped off the door! But no. It wasn't the wind. Three men stumbled into the schoolhouse. One of them wrestled the door closed again. The men stood there, breathing hard. They were so caked

突然，学校的门砰的一声开了。 一股冰冷的空气和雪吹进了房间。 风把门刮掉了！但是没有。 不是风。三个人跌跌撞撞地走进了校舍。 其中一人又使劲把门关上。 男人们站在那里，喘着粗气。 它们太粘了

with snow and ice they looked like walking snowmen. Myra went running over. "Papa!" she said, ignoring the snow that covered him and throwing her arms around him. The other men were Mr. Johnson and Mr. Lowry, who owned stores in town. "We've got three sleds outside," Myra's father said, his voice rising over the wind. "Plenty of room for everyone. Blankets, too. We're going to get you into town, to the hotel. We can wait out the blizzard there and then get everyone home when the storm is over." Cheers rang out. They'd been rescued! Peter held up his broom and hooted. Miss Ruell closed her eyes, looked up, and whispered something to herself. And then she clapped her hands and called the class to order. "Everyone get their coats and wraps and line up."

在冰雪下，他们看起来像行走的雪人。 迈拉跑了过来。“爸爸！”她说，不顾盖在他身上的雪，伸出双臂搂住他。 另外两个人是约翰逊先生和洛瑞先生，他们在镇上开了几家商店。 “我们外面有三辆雪橇，”迈拉的父亲说，他的声音盖过了风。 “每个人都有足够的空间。 毯子。我们要送你进城，去酒店。 我们可以在那里等暴风雪过去，等风暴过去，大家都回家。” 欢呼声响起。他们获救了！彼得举起扫帚，叫了一声。 鲁埃尔小姐闭上眼睛，抬起头，自言自语地说了些什么。 然后她拍了拍手，让全班安静下来。 “每个人都拿上外套和围巾，排好队。”

"Let's be quick," said Myra's father. "Storm's getting worse. The horses are freezing." Miss Ruell divided the children into three groups. She would ride in the biggest sled in the front, with the six youngest children. Myra and Annie would take charge of three younger girls and go with Mr. Johnson in the second sled. John and the guys would be in the third sled with Mr. Lowry. John didn't want to be away from Franny. But there was no way he could argue. And he knew Miss Ruell would keep her safe. Myra's father flung open the door, and they faced the brutal cold. It was more freezing now than it had been when John was stuck outside. The snow poured down harder. It was like standing under a waterfall made of snow and ice. Within seconds they were all covered. John held Franny's hand tight as they pushed through the wild, frozen swirl. There were lanterns

“我们快点吧，”迈拉的父亲说。 “风暴越来越厉害了。马都冻僵了。” 鲁尔小姐把孩子们分成三组。 她会坐在前面最大的雪橇上，和六个最小的孩子一起。 迈拉和安妮负责三个小女孩，约翰逊先生坐第二辆雪橇去。 约翰和其他人会和劳瑞先生坐在第三个雪橇上。 约翰不想离开弗兰妮。 但是他没有办法争辩。 他知道鲁尔小姐会保护她的安全。 迈拉的父亲猛地打开门，他们面对着刺骨的寒冷。 现在的天气比约翰被困在外面时还要冷。 雪下得更大了。 就像站在冰雪形成的瀑布下。 几秒钟之内，他们都被包围了。 约翰紧紧地握着弗兰妮的手，他们穿过了这片狂野、冰冷的漩涡。 有灯笼

on each sled. The lanterns cast a ghostly yellow light, just enough to show the outline of the sleds. Each was a simple wooden wagon mounted on metal sled rails, and hitched to a single horse. John felt so sorry for those horses. Their fur wasn't much protection in cold this harsh. He wondered how long they'd be able to stand it. John lifted Franny into the first wagon and made sure she was wrapped in a blanket. It was useless to try to talk over the screaming, hissing wind. He hugged his sister tight and then hurried back to his sled. He climbed up and settled down next to Rex. Mr. Lowry was already in the driver's seat, holding the reins. John and the guys had one big blanket to share. They put it over their heads, to try to keep the snow and ice out of their faces. But it was useless. The snow was ground up so fine it completely filled the air. The glassy ice raked at his eyeballs, like tiny claws. John sat there, miserable and shivering. But he reminded himself that they were

在每个雪橇上。灯笼发出鬼魅般的黄光，刚好能照出雪橇的轮廓。 每辆车都是一辆简单的木制马车，安装在金属雪橇上，拴在一匹马上。 约翰为那些马感到难过。 在如此严寒的天气里，它们的皮毛保护不了什么。 他不知道他们还能忍受多久。 约翰把弗兰妮抬上第一辆马车，确保她用毯子裹着。 在呼啸、嘶嘶的风中说话是没有用的。 他紧紧地拥抱着妹妹，然后匆匆回到雪橇上。 他爬上去，在雷克斯旁边坐下。 劳瑞先生已经坐在驾驶座上，握着缰绳。 约翰和同伴们共用一条大毯子。 他们把它戴在头上，试图不让冰雪沾到他们的脸上。 但这毫无用处。雪被磨得很细，弥漫在空气中。 晶莹剔透的冰像小爪子一样抓着他的眼球。 约翰坐在那里，痛苦地颤抖着。 但他提醒自己，他们是

close to town — the trip shouldn't take more than ten minutes. The guys weren't complaining, were they? John had to be tough. Finally, the first sled started to move, and its yellow glowing lantern light disappeared. The second sled followed. Mr. Lowry was about to snap the reins to get their horse moving. But just then the wind let out a vicious howl. There was a crunch, and a hunk of the schoolhouse roof came flying through the air. It smacked the horse on the back. The horse reared in terror. The sled rocked and almost tipped over. Mr. Lowry tumbled out onto the ground. The horse took off in panic, dragging the sled — and John and the guys — along with it. And now they were speeding through the blizzard, out of control.

离城镇很近——这次旅行不会超过十分钟。 他们没有抱怨，是吗？ 约翰必须很强硬。最后，第一个雪橇开始移动，它的黄色发光的灯笼消失了。 第二辆雪橇紧随其后。劳瑞先生正要拉缰绳让马动起来。 但就在这时，风发出了一声恶毒的嚎叫。 嘎吱一声，校舍屋顶的一大块从空中飞了下来。 它拍了拍马的背。 那匹马惊恐地直立起来。 雪橇摇晃着，几乎要翻了。 劳里先生跌倒在地。 那匹马慌慌张张地跑开了，拖着雪橇——还有约翰和其他几个人——一起跑开了。 现在他们在暴风雪中飞驰，失去了控制。