Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18 ABOUT THREE WEEKS LATER HOLLY'S HOUSE Flames were everywhere; trees were exploding. Josh ran as fast as he could, but it was no use. He fell onto his back. And then… Fffffffft. Fffffffft.

第十八章大约三个星期后，霍莉的房子到处都是火焰；树木爆炸了。 乔希拼命地跑，但没有用。 他仰面摔倒了。然后……Fffffffft。 Fffffffft。

Josh's eyes shot open. Bubbles had her head resting on the bed, inches from Josh's face. Fffffffft. The lizard licked him again, then made a purring sound. Wake up! Josh's heart was still pounding. He wondered how long he'd be having these nightmares. A long time, he guessed. He rested his hand on Bubbles's smooth head. "Good morning," he said. Fffffffft. A kiss on his chin. He looked around—the sun was shining bright outside. Mom's bed was neatly made, her suitcase all packed. "Bubbles?" Holly's voice called out. "Where are you?" A minute later she came in, hobbling on her crutches. It was good to see her moving around, not wincing with every step.

乔希的眼睛突然睁开了。泡泡把头靠在床上，离乔希的脸只有几英寸。 Fffffffft。蜥蜴又舔了舔他，然后发出咕噜咕噜的声音。 醒醒吧!乔希的心还在狂跳。 他不知道这样的噩梦会持续多久。 很长一段时间，他猜。他把手放在泡泡光滑的头上。 “早上好，”他说。Fffffffft。 他下巴上的一个吻。他环顾四周——外面阳光灿烂。 妈妈的床收拾得整整齐齐，行李箱也收拾得整整齐齐。 “泡沫?”霍莉的声音喊道。 “你在哪儿？”一分钟后，她拄着拐杖一瘸一拐地走了进来。 很高兴看到她四处走动，而不是每走一步都畏缩不前。

"You know the rule," Holly scolded when she spied Bubbles. "No lizards upstairs!" Bubbles let out an insulted little hiss and scuttled out. Josh and Holly both shook their heads and laughed. But then they went quiet. Holly eyed Mom's suitcase. "I wish you could stay," Holly said. "Me too," Josh said, his throat tightening. He and Holly looked at each other, and Josh got a lump in his throat. She sure was different from him. But something had happened to them in that fire. Like what Lucas and Eleanor had said happened to them and the rest of their crew after the River Complex Fire. He and Holly had come together. They'd gotten each other through. And now it felt like they were tied together somehow. And it was different from how he felt after a good game with his basketball buddies. Basketball was important to him, but it was just a sport. That

“你知道规矩的，”霍莉发现泡泡后责备道。 “楼上没有蜥蜴！”泡泡发出一声受了侮辱的嘶嘶声，飞快地跑了出去。 乔希和霍莉都摇摇头笑了。 但后来他们安静了下来。霍莉看了看妈妈的手提箱。 “我希望你能留下来，”霍莉说。 “我也是。”乔希说，喉咙收紧了。 他和霍莉对视了一下，乔希哽咽了。 她确实和他不一样。 但他们在那场火灾中发生了一些事情。 就像卢卡斯和埃莉诺所说的那样，在河综合体火灾之后，他们和其他船员身上发生了什么。 他和霍莉走到了一起。 他们互相帮助度过了难关。 现在我觉得他们好像被绑在一起了。 这与他和他的篮球伙伴们打了一场好比赛后的感觉不同。 篮球对他来说很重要，但它只是一项运动。 那

feeling of togetherness he and the guys felt after a big win didn't last between games. This tie with Holly? Josh knew it would last forever. Aunt Nicole's voice echoed up the stairs. "Holly! Josh! Breakfast!" "It's your goodbye feast," Holly said. "Mom's been cooking since dawn." They laughed, and Holly left him to get dressed. The smell of muffins and bacon pulled Josh out of bed. His stomach growled. Finally he had his appetite back. And he could swallow. Breathing in all that smoke had hurt his throat. And his lungs. He and Holly had both been in bad shape. After the Huey landed at the air attack base, they'd been rushed to the hospital. Holly needed surgery on her broken leg. The burn on Josh's arm was deep, and doctors had to take skin from his leg and put it onto his arm. His hand needed treatment, too. For days they both wore oxygen

在一场大胜之后，他和队友们在一起的感觉并没有持续到比赛间隙。 这条和霍莉的领带？乔什知道这会永远持续下去。 妮可姨妈的声音在楼上回荡。 “冬青!杰克!早餐!”“这是你的告别宴，”霍莉说。 “妈妈从黎明就开始做饭了。” 他们笑了，霍莉离开他去穿衣服。 松饼和培根的味道把乔希从床上拉了起来。 他的肚子咕咕叫。他终于恢复了食欲。 他还能吞咽。吸入那么多烟伤了他的喉咙。 还有他的肺。他和霍莉的状况都很糟糕。 休伊战机降落在空袭基地后，他们被紧急送往医院。 霍莉的断腿需要做手术。 乔希手臂上的烧伤很深，医生不得不从他的腿上取下皮肤，放在他的手臂上。 他的手也需要治疗。 几天来，他们都带着氧气

masks to help them breathe. They were still using inhalers three times a day. But they were both getting stronger. And finally the doctors had said Josh was well enough to make the trip home to New Jersey. Mom had booked their flights a couple of days ago. Josh got dressed. He tied his sneakers, staring at the nasty burn scars on his arm and fingers. At least they didn't hurt so much anymore. Josh got up and looked out the window. The part of the forest behind the house was still green—the winds had shifted and carried the flames away. That's the only reason this house was still here. That last-minute change in the wind. The fire—named the Carr Fire—had spread far and was still burning in some places. More than a thousand firefighters from around the state and the country were battling it, including Eleanor and Lucas. Firefighters were starting to get it under control, but the fire was still dangerous. It had already

戴口罩帮助呼吸。 他们仍然每天使用三次吸入器。 但他们俩都越来越强壮了。 最后，医生说乔希已经康复，可以回新泽西的家了。 妈妈几天前就订好了他们的机票。 乔希穿好衣服。他系好球鞋，盯着手臂和手指上难看的烧伤疤痕。 至少他们不再那么疼了。 乔希站起身，朝窗外望去。 房子后面的那部分森林仍然是绿色的——风已经改变方向，把火焰卷走了。 这是这房子还在的唯一原因。 最后一刻的风向变化。 这场名为“卡尔大火”的大火已经蔓延得很远，在一些地方仍在燃烧。 包括埃莉诺和卢卡斯在内，来自全州和全国的一千多名消防员正在与大火搏斗。 消防队员开始控制火势，但火势仍然很危险。 它已经

destroyed nearly two hundred thousand acres. It had spread into the big town of Redding and burned a thousand houses. Eight people had died. Meanwhile, another huge fire had broken out north of here. 2018 was already one of the worst fire years in California history. And as Lucas had said, it wasn't even the busy time of fire season yet. After breakfast, Mom and Aunt Nicole loaded the car. Josh and Holly went to say goodbye to King Kong. The big snake had returned to his enclosure the same way he'd escaped, through the little hole in the floor. (And right after he returned, Aunt Nicole had fixed the floor!) Josh stood and watched King as he wrapped himself around his log, his green-and-gold skin glistening in the sun. Finally Josh waved goodbye to the snake, and walked to Bubbles's enclosure.

摧毁了近20万英亩土地。 大火蔓延到雷丁这个大城镇，烧毁了一千所房屋。 造成8人死亡。与此同时，这里北部又发生了一场大火。 2018年已经是加州历史上最糟糕的五年之一。 就像卢卡斯说的，现在甚至还不是火灾季的高峰期。 早饭后，妈妈和妮可姨妈把东西装上车。 乔希和霍莉去和金刚道别。 那条大蛇又回到了它的围栏，就像它从地板上的小洞逃出来一样。 （他一回来，妮可姨妈就把地板修好了！）乔希站在那里，看着金把自己裹在木头上，他那绿色和金色的皮肤在阳光下闪闪发光。 最后，乔希向蛇挥手告别，走向泡泡的围栏。