Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 At church on Sunday, Chet went out of his way to say hi to the guys. They seemed relieved that he wasn't mad anymore. And the truth was, he really wasn't, now that he understood how it was with pranks — and now that he had a genius plan for getting them back. "Come swimming with us today," Sid called as he helped his mother into their buggy. "We'll be there right after lunch."

第七章星期天在教堂里，切特特意向大家打招呼。 他们似乎松了一口气，因为他不再生气了。 事实是，他真的不是，现在他明白了恶作剧是怎么回事——现在他有了一个让恶作剧回来的天才计划。 “今天和我们一起游泳吧，”希德一边帮妈妈上童车一边喊。 “我们吃完午饭就过去。”

"Sure!" Chet called back. "I'll meet you!" Uncle Jerry patted him on the back. "That's the way, kiddo," he said. "There's no room in a small town for grudges." Chet was dying to tell Uncle Jerry about his idea. But Chet kept his mouth shut, worried that his uncle might tell someone and spoil the plan. He saw Minnie Marston as he was leaving the churchyard. She waved to him and smiled, like she wanted him to go up and talk to her. For months last spring Chet had prayed that Minnie would look in his direction. But now? He didn't have time for girls, not even Minnie. He had to get to the creek before the guys. He waved to Minnie and headed home. Uncle Jerry was going to the diner to take care of some bookkeeping, and Chet headed home to change. He grabbed the bag he'd packed that morning. Inside was a bottle of ketchup, one of his old work boots, and the white cap he always wore at work — everything he needed. He hurried to the creek, which was completely quiet, and went straight to work. His plan had two parts. First, he wanted to make the guys think he'd been attacked and

“当然!”切特回话了。“我来接你!”杰瑞叔叔拍了拍他的背。 “就是这样，孩子，”他说。 “小镇容不下怨恨。” 切特非常想把他的想法告诉杰瑞叔叔。 但是切特守口如瓶，担心他叔叔会告诉别人，破坏计划。 他离开教堂墓地时看见了敏妮·马斯顿。 她向他挥手，微笑着，好像想让他过去和她说话。 去年春天好几个月，切特一直祈祷敏妮能朝他这边看。 但是现在呢?他没时间和女孩在一起，连明妮都没有。 他得赶在其他人之前到达小溪。 他向敏妮挥了挥手，朝家走去。 杰里叔叔要去餐厅处理一些账务，切特回家换衣服了。 他抓起早上打包好的包。 里面是一瓶番茄酱，他的一只旧工作靴，以及他工作时经常戴的白色帽子——他需要的一切。 他急忙跑到小溪边，那里非常安静，然后直接去工作。 他的计划分为两部分。首先，他想让那些人以为他被袭击了

dragged, bloody and screaming, into the creek. He dribbled some ketchup along the dock — a trail of blood. He put his boot in the middle of the dock and covered it with ketchup. He did the same to his cap. Chet stood back and admired his work. So far, so good. Now Chet took off his undershirt and trousers and kicked off his boots. He hid them in the tall grass. Then he went to the wettest part of the bank. He scooped up handfuls of the slimiest mud he could find and smeared it onto his face, his arms, and his chest. He used extra mud to cover his head so that no hairs poked through. He had no idea what the Creek Devil was supposed to look like, but he was pretty sure it didn't have orange hair. Chet was just finishing when he heard voices. The guys! Chet closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he let out the biggest, loudest scream he could muster. He screamed like he was terrified, like he was in agony. And then he splashed loudly into the creek, careful not to wash off the

浑身是血，尖叫着，被拖进了小溪。 他沿着码头滴了一些番茄酱——一道血迹。 他把靴子放在船坞中央，涂上了番茄酱。 他对自己的帽子也做了同样的处理。 切特退后一步，欣赏着自己的作品。 到目前为止，一切顺利。切特脱下汗衫和裤子，踢掉靴子。 他把它们藏在高高的草丛里。 然后他走到河岸最潮湿的地方。 他抓起一把他能找到的最黏糊糊的泥，把它涂在脸上、胳膊上和胸口上。 他用额外的泥盖住他的头，这样头发就不会穿出来了。 他不知道小溪魔鬼应该是什么样子，但他很确定它不会有橙色的头发。 切特刚吃完就听到了声音。 伙计们!切特闭上眼睛，深吸了一口气。 然后他发出了最大、最响的尖叫。 他尖叫起来，好像很害怕，好像很痛苦。 然后他大声地往小溪里泼水，小心翼翼地不把水冲走

mud. He screamed some more, and then waded into the reeds and hid. "Chet?" Sid called. "That you?" Chet didn't answer. He couldn't see the guys, but he heard their heavy breathing and their panicky voices. "Where is he?" "Is that his boot?" "What the…" "Oh, my God," Sid whispered. "Is that blood?" Chet held his breath. Would they really fall for it? Could this actually work? "Chet?" Sid called. "Chet, you there?" Chet had to puff up his cheeks to keep from bursting out laughing. "Isn't that Chet's cap?" Dewey whispered. A few seconds went by. "What's happening?" Monty said quietly. They were falling for it! Now it was time for part two. Chet gave a low hiss, remembering what Mr. Colton had said about the sound the Creek Devil made before an attack. "What the heck was that?" Dewey said, his voice shaking.

泥浆。他又尖叫了几声，然后涉水到芦苇丛里躲了起来。 “切特?”Sid。“那你呢?”切特没有回答。 他看不见那些家伙，但他听到了他们沉重的呼吸声和惊慌的声音。 “他在哪儿?”“那是他的靴子吗?”“哦，我的上帝，”希德低声说。 “那是血吗?”切特屏住了呼吸。 他们真的会上当吗? 这真的可行吗?“切特?”Sid。 “切特，你在吗?”切特不得不鼓起双颊，以免笑出声来。 “那不是切特的帽子吗?”杜威低声说。 几秒钟过去了。“发生了什么?”蒙蒂平静地说。 他们上当了!现在是第二部分的时间了。 切特想起科尔顿先生说过的克里克恶魔在袭击前发出的声音，发出了一声低沉的嘶嘶声。 “那是什么鬼东西?”杜威说，他的声音在颤抖。

"Quiet!" Sid said. "Should we go get someone?" Dewey said. "HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS." Chet was impressed by how spooky he sounded. Next he started to moan, low at first, and then louder. "OOOOOOMMMMMMMOOOOOO." He poked his head through the reeds, not all the way through, just enough for the guys to catch a glimpse of a hideous head covered with black slime.

“安静!”席德说。“我们去叫人来好吗?”杜威说。 “HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS。”切特对他的怪异声音印象深刻。 接着他开始呻吟，起初声音很低，后来声音更大了。 “OOOOOOMMMMMMMOOOOOO。”他从芦苇丛里探出头来，但没有探到芦苇丛里，刚好让大家瞥见他那满是黑色黏液的丑陋脑袋。