Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8 THE NEXT MORNING MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 1967 THE CABIN Mel woke up to the smell of eggs and toast. Kevin was gone; he'd left his stuffed alligator tucked in next to Mel. Mel threw on her jeans and sweatshirt and padded into the kitchen. Kevin had

第八章第二天早上，1967年8月7日星期一小木屋梅尔在鸡蛋和烤面包的香味中醒来。 凯文走了；他把鳄鱼标本塞在梅尔旁边了。 梅尔穿上牛仔裤和运动衫，蹑手蹑脚地走进厨房。 凯文了

finished breakfast and was busily drawing a picture. "Look, Melly!" he cried. "It's a picture of me and my wolverine beating up that mean grizzly!" Mel kissed his head and looked over his shoulder at his scribbles. Somehow Kevin had turned last night's terror into a thrilling adventure. She wished she was a little kid again. Pops looked tired, too. Mel doubted he'd closed his eyes last night. But he smiled as he served her a plate heaped with scrambled eggs and buttery toast. There was a knock at the door. They all jumped a little bit, before a familiar voice called out, "Hello!" "Aunt Cassie!" Kevin said gleefully. "Come in!" Pops answered. A moment later, the door swung open and Aunt Cassie appeared. With her yellow-and-pink dress and her green suitcase in hand, Aunt Cassie looked

吃完早餐，正忙着画画。 “瞧，媚兰！"“这是我和我的金刚狼痛打那只恶毒的灰熊的照片！”梅尔吻了吻他的头，扭头看着他的涂鸦。 不知怎么的，凯文把昨晚的恐怖变成了一场惊心动魄的冒险。 她多希望自己又变成一个小孩子。 老爷子看起来也很累。梅尔怀疑他昨晚有没有闭上眼睛。 但他微笑着端给她一盘炒蛋和黄油吐司。 有人敲门。 他们都跳了一下，然后一个熟悉的声音喊道：“你好！”“卡西阿姨!”凯文高兴地说。 “进来!”会回答。过了一会儿，门开了，凯西姨妈出现了。 卡西姨妈手里拿着黄粉相间的连衣裙和绿色的手提箱，看了看

like a flower — a six-foot flower with round glasses and an Afro. Mel's throat tightened. The last time she'd seen Aunt Cassie was at Mom's funeral, in December. Aunt Cassie had written Mel about ten letters since then. But Mel hadn't written back. She'd never known what to say. And now she felt ashamed. She couldn't even look at Aunt Cassie. But before Mel knew it, Aunt Cassie's arms were around her. "I've missed you!" she said. She put her hand on Mel's cheek so Mel had no choice but to meet her gaze. And to Mel's surprise, there wasn't even a flicker of anger in Aunt Cassie's eyes. Just the usual love and maybe a touch of sadness. Somehow, that split-second look between her and Aunt Cassie said more than one hundred letters could. "And you, little man," Aunt Cassie said to Kevin. "You've grown at least a foot!" Kevin hopped up and hugged her around the legs.

就像一朵花——一朵六英尺高的花，戴着圆眼镜，留着非洲式发型。 梅尔的喉咙绷紧了。她最后一次见到凯西阿姨是在去年12月妈妈的葬礼上。 从那以后，卡西姨妈给梅尔写了大约十封信。 但是梅尔没有回信。 她不知道该说些什么。 现在她感到羞愧。她甚至不敢看卡西姨妈。 但梅尔还没反应过来，卡西姨妈就已经搂住了她。 “我很想你！”她说。 她把手放在梅尔的脸颊上，梅尔别无选择，只能直视她的目光。 令梅尔吃惊的是，卡西姨妈的眼睛里甚至没有一丝愤怒。 只是一如既往的爱，也许还有一丝悲伤。 不知怎的，她和卡西姨妈之间那一刹那的眼神告诉我，一百封信都不能。 “还有你，小家伙，”凯西阿姨对凯文说。 “你至少长高了一英尺！”凯文跳起来，抱住她的腿。

"So…" Aunt Cassie said when Kevin finally let go. "Who wants to tell me what happened here?" She pointed to the cabin door. Or what was left of it. The wood of the door was cracked, the hinges bent. There were deep scratches in it from the bear's claws. "A grizzly came here!" Kevin cried. "It wanted to eat me! I was brave!" Aunt Cassie looked at Mel and Pops. "Believe it or not, that's exactly what happened," Pops said. Pops poured Aunt Cassie some coffee, and they told her the whole story. Aunt Cassie listened with wide eyes. "I've never heard of a grizzly acting like that!" she said when they were finished. And Aunt Cassie knew as much about grizzlies as Mel and Pops did. Because she'd also been coming to Glacier her whole life.

“那么……”凯文终于松手了，凯西姨妈说。 “谁能告诉我这里发生了什么？”她指着小屋的门。 或者它还剩下什么。门上的木头裂开了，铰链弯曲了。 上面有熊爪留下的深深的抓痕。 “一只灰熊来了！”凯文哭了。 “它想吃掉我！”我很勇敢！”卡西姨妈看着梅尔和老爷子。 “信不信由你，事情就是这样发生的，”老爷子说。 老爷子给凯西阿姨倒了些咖啡，然后他们把整个事情都告诉了她。 卡西姨妈睁大眼睛听着。 “我从来没听说过灰熊有那样的行为！”他们吃完饭后，她说。 凯西姨妈对灰熊的了解跟梅尔和老爷子一样多。 因为她一生都在来冰川大学。

Aunt Cassie and Mom actually met here as little girls splashing around in Lake McDonald. They'd told Mel all about the adventures they'd had together. The craziest ideas were always Mom's. She and Aunt Cassie would hike all day to find a secret waterfall or fishing hole. Sometimes they'd get lost and straggle home — smudged with dirt and covered with scratches — as the sun was coming down. But of course that was half the fun. Now Aunt Cassie lived in Chicago. She was a writer for all different magazines. She'd even won some prizes. Mom was so proud of her. Mel moved her chair toward Aunt Cassie. Being close to her made Mel feel calmer. But she still shuddered as she pictured that grizzly's claws aimed right at Kevin's face. "That bear… it was like a monster," Mel said. "It sure was," Pops agreed. "There had to be something… wrong with it." "What did the rangers say?" Aunt Cassie asked.

卡西阿姨和妈妈其实是在麦克唐纳湖玩水的时候认识的。 他们把他们一起经历的冒险都告诉了梅尔。 最疯狂的想法总是妈妈的。 她和卡西阿姨会徒步一整天去寻找一个秘密的瀑布或钓鱼洞。 有时，当太阳下山的时候，他们会迷路，跌跌撞撞地回家，身上沾满污垢和划痕。 当然，这只是乐趣的一半。 现在卡西姨妈住在芝加哥。 她是各种杂志的撰稿人。 她甚至赢过一些奖。 妈妈为她感到骄傲。梅尔把椅子挪到卡西姨妈身边。 靠近她使梅尔感到平静。 但当她想到灰熊的爪子正瞄准凯文的脸时，她仍然不寒而栗。 “那只熊……它就像一个怪物，”梅尔说。 “确实是，”老爷子同意道。 “肯定有什么地方……出了问题。” “护林员怎么说？”卡西姨妈问。

"Nothing yet," Pops said, clearing Kevin's plate. "I called earlier but there was no answer. They must be busy with the fires. I plan to stop by the station later. But first I want to go to town and get a lock for the front door." He glanced at Mel. "Just to be sure." Mel looked at Cassie, then back at Pops. "What if Aunt Cassie and I go to the station?" she said. "I can tell them what happened." She wanted the rangers to do something about the bear… now. Cassie's face brightened. "Sounds good to me," she said. "I'm curious to hear what they'll say." "That's fine," Pops said. Then he turned to Kevin. "Let's go, wolverine boy. We're going to town." "Ice cream!" Kevin boomed. On the way out the front door, Mel eyed the deep, jagged scratches in the wood. It looked like a maniac with an ax had tried to chop the door

“还没有，”老爷子说着，清理了凯文的盘子。 “我早些时候打过电话，但没人接。 他们一定在忙着生火。 我打算晚些时候去车站。 不过，我想先到城里去，给前门买把锁。” 他瞥了梅尔一眼。“只是为了万无一失。” 梅尔看了看凯西，又看了看老爷子。 “如果卡西姨妈和我一起去车站呢？”她说。 “我可以告诉他们发生了什么。” 她希望护林员对这只熊采取措施……现在。 卡西的脸亮了起来。“听起来不错，”她说。 “我很想听听他们会怎么说。” “很好，”老爷子说。然后他转向凯文。 “走吧，金刚狼小子。我们要去城里。” “冰淇淋!”凯文蓬勃发展。 在走出前门的路上，梅尔看到了木头上深深的、参差不齐的划痕。 看起来就像一个疯子拿着斧头想把门砍开