Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 The next thing Josh knew, he was out the door, sprinting across the lawn. He heard Mom calling after him. Holly stepped out of the garage as Josh rushed past. "Josh! You won't believe it! King Kong! He's back! I walked into the garage…" But Josh kept running, not even looking at her.

下一件事乔希只知道，他已经出了门，在草坪上疾跑。 他听到妈妈在后面叫他。 霍莉走出车库，乔希冲了过去。 “杰克!你不会相信的！金刚!他回来了!我走进车库……”但乔希继续跑，甚至看都不看她一眼。

"Where are you going?" she shouted after him. He dashed across the big grassy yard, down the hill, and finally into the forest. He followed one of the hiking trails. Faster! he told himself, brushing through the scratchy pine branches that lined the path, jumping over a dead branch. Faster! But it didn't matter how fast he was going. He couldn't escape the ugly truth.

“你要去哪儿？”她在他身后喊道。 他冲过长满草的大院子，跑下山坡，最后进了森林。 他沿着一条徒步小径走。 快!他对自己说，一边穿过小径两旁粗糙的松枝，跳过一根枯枝。 快!但不管他开得多快。 他无法逃避丑陋的事实。

Dad—his hero—was a criminal. Josh ran until he couldn't take another step. He was so far into the woods; he couldn't see the house through the trees. This was farther than he and Holly had ever come before. He staggered to a stop and dropped to the ground between two big pine trees. He sat there, gasping for breath. His mind swirled.

父亲——他心目中的英雄——是个罪犯。 乔希一直跑到再也走不动了。 他已经深入树林了；他透过树林看不见房子。 这是他和霍莉从未走过的远。 他摇摇晃晃地停了下来，倒在两棵大松树之间的地上。 他坐在那里喘着粗气。 他的脑子一片混乱。

That whole story about a computer glitch at the bank—it was a lie. This trip to California. It was all a big trick. Mom hadn't dragged Josh here for an exciting adventure. They came here because this was the middle of nowhere. Because it was one of the only places Mom could take him where Josh would be cut off from everything—the news, texts from friends, the truth. Josh was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear Holly's footsteps. But now here she was in front of him, her face shiny with sweat. She tried to catch her breath. Josh turned away. She must have known the truth, too, Josh thought. She and Aunt Nicole were probably in on the whole thing. "Please just go," Josh said, wiping his tears and waving her away. "I want to be by myself." He still couldn't believe Dad had stolen that money! How was that possible? How could his father be a criminal?

整个关于银行电脑故障的故事都是谎话。 这次去加利福尼亚的旅行。这都是一个大骗局。 妈妈把乔什拖来可不是为了刺激的冒险。 他们来这里是因为这是个偏僻的地方。 因为这是妈妈能带他去的唯一一个隔绝一切的地方——新闻、朋友的短信、真相。 乔希沉浸在自己的思绪中，没有听到霍莉的脚步声。 但现在她却出现在他面前，满脸是汗。 她试着喘口气。 乔希转过身去。她一定也知道真相，乔希想。 她和妮可姨妈可能参与了整件事。 “请你走吧。”乔希说着，擦了擦眼泪，挥手让她走开。 “我想一个人待着。”他仍然不敢相信爸爸偷了那笔钱！这怎么可能呢？ 他的父亲怎么会是罪犯呢？

Josh pictured Dad taking care of Mom after her bike accident, carrying her up the stairs, cooking her favorite foods. Dad's bright, strong voice rang through Josh's mind, cheering Josh on in the driveway while he was practicing his threepointers. He saw Dad's big smile, the one that made Josh feel he could do anything. Now it seemed that person was gone. Holly came closer. "Josh," she pleaded. "What's going on? Are you okay? Are you mad at me? Did I do something?" Josh studied her. She looked totally confused, her face one big question mark. Could it be that she really didn't know the truth about his dad? Holly sat down in the dirt next to Josh. Her eyes searched his face for answers. Josh decided that no, Holly wasn't faking. They'd spent almost every minute together over the last week. He doubted she could keep such a big secret the whole time.

乔希想象着爸爸在妈妈自行车事故后照顾她，抱她上楼，做她最喜欢的食物。 爸爸明亮有力的声音在乔希的脑海里回荡，在车道上为练习三分球的乔希加油。 他看到爸爸灿烂的笑容，那种让乔希觉得自己无所不能的笑容。 现在看来，那个人已经不见了。 霍莉走近了。“乔希，”她恳求道。 “发生了什么事？”你还好吗？ 你生我的气了吗？我做错什么了吗？”乔希端详着她。 她看起来很困惑，脸上有一个大大的问号。 难道她真的不知道他父亲的真相吗？ 霍莉坐在乔希旁边的泥土里。 她的眼睛在他的脸上寻找答案。 乔什决定不，霍莉没有装。 上周他们几乎每时每刻都在一起。 他怀疑她能否一直保守这么大的秘密。

So Josh spat it all out—the whole ugly story about Dad. The arrest. The lies. The New York Times article. "He's going to jail," Josh finally said. Holly's eyes widened. "Jail?" Josh nodded. His shock was fading, he realized. Now he was just sad. Sadder than he'd ever been. "Did you hear King came back?" Holly said, definitely trying to distract him. "It was the weirdest thing. I walked into the garage looking for you, and there he was, wrapped around his log. Like he'd never left." She smiled hopefully, but Josh turned away. He was happy about King, of course. But he was pretty sure he'd never want to smile again. They sat there for what seemed like a long time, staring up into the trees. Finally Holly moved closer to him. "When my dad died, everything changed," she said in a very soft voice. "We used to live in the

所以乔什把一切都吐了出来——关于爸爸的丑事。 逮捕。的谎言。《纽约时报》的文章。 “他要进监狱了。”乔希最后说。 霍莉睁大了眼睛。“监狱?”杰克点了点头。 他意识到，他的震惊正在消退。 现在他只是伤心。比以往任何时候都悲伤。 “你听说金回来了吗？”霍莉说，显然是想分散他的注意力。 “这是最奇怪的事情。 我走进车库找你，他就在那里，被他的木头缠住了。 就像他从未离开过一样。”她满怀希望地笑了笑，但乔希转过身去。 当然，他为金感到高兴。 但他很确定自己再也不想笑了。 他们坐在那里似乎坐了很长时间，抬头望着树林。 最后，霍莉靠近了他。 “我爸爸去世后，一切都变了，”她用非常轻柔的声音说。 “我们以前住在