Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8 FOUR DAYS LATER SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1900 AROUND 9:30 A.M. CHARLY'S HOUSE "Doing anything exciting today?" Papa asked Charlie, peering up over the newspaper.

第八章四天后1900年9月8日星期六上午9:30左右 “今天有什么好玩的事吗？”爸爸问查理，从报纸上方看过去。

Lulu was stuffing a pancake into her mouth, and Mama was sipping her coffee. They all looked at Charlie. "I'm going to the Pagoda," Charlie said, which wasn't a lie. That's where he'd find Gordon on a Saturday morning, for sure. Of course, Mama and Papa had no idea what Charlie actually planned to do today. Neither did Sarah. She definitely wouldn't approve of his plan. Luckily she and her family had gone to Houston for the weekend. Sarah was now fifty miles away. "Thank goodness it's cooler today," Mama said, sliding another pancake onto Lulu's plate. Yesterday had been brutal, one of the hottest days of the summer. Papa nodded. "Seems like the temperature dropped ten degrees before the sun came up." "Speaking of sunrise," Mama said, eyeing Charlie. "What got you out of bed so early?"

露露正在往嘴里塞煎饼，妈妈在喝咖啡。 他们都看着查理。 “我要去宝塔，”查理说，这可不是谎话。 周六早上他肯定会在那里找到戈登。 当然，爸爸妈妈并不知道查理今天到底打算做什么。 萨拉也不知道。她肯定不会赞成他的计划。 幸运的是，她和家人周末去了休斯顿。 萨拉现在在五十英里之外。 “谢天谢地，今天凉爽多了。”妈妈边说边把另一个煎饼放到露露的盘子里。 昨天天气很恶劣，是夏天最热的一天。 爸爸点了点头。“好像太阳出来之前气温下降了十度。” “说到日出，”妈妈看着查理说。 “你怎么这么早就起床了？”

Charlie gulped. He had been up early, but he hadn't thought Mama or Papa had heard him. "Um, I…" Think fast. "I just needed a drink of water. Then I went back to sleep." He couldn't tell them the real reason: He'd crept into the kitchen to get some cockroaches. Dead ones. He needed them for the trick that was going to terrify Gordon Potts into leaving him alone. Finding cockroaches in Galveston was never a problem—they were everywhere, even in Mama's spotless kitchen. Charlie quickly found three dead ones under the stove. He had them in his pocket now, tucked inside a box. Papa put his newspaper down on the table. "Well, it's a good thing we're not in Florida. Says here in the weather report there's a very bad storm there." "A storm?" Lulu said, her eyes suddenly wide. "No, darling," Mama said, shooting Papa her don't scare Lulu look.

查理一饮而尽。他起得很早，但他没想到爸爸妈妈听到了他的声音。 “嗯，我……”“我只是需要喝点水。 然后我又睡着了。” 他不能告诉他们真正的原因：他溜进厨房去抓蟑螂。 死的。他需要他们来耍个花招，吓唬戈登·波茨，让他一个人待着。 在加尔维斯顿发现蟑螂从来都不是问题——蟑螂无处不在，甚至在妈妈一尘不染的厨房里。 查理很快在炉子下面找到了三具尸体。 现在他把它们放在口袋里的一个盒子里。 爸爸把报纸放在桌子上。 “嗯，还好我们不在佛罗里达。 天气预报说那里有一场非常严重的风暴。” “暴风雨吗?”露露说，她的眼睛突然睁得大大的。 “不，亲爱的，”妈妈说着，朝爸爸开枪，她不要吓到露露。

"Not anywhere near here," Papa said, giving Lulu's cheek a gentle pat. "We might just get a little rain." Charlie leaned over and read the weather report for Galveston. Rain Saturday and Sunday. Some winds from the north. Papa was telling Lulu the truth. No storms today. Which was a relief. Because a storm would keep Gordon away from the Pagoda—and ruin Charlie's plan. An hour later, Charlie was on his way to the beach. Eyeing the cloudy sky, Charlie decided it definitely looked like rain. But anything was better than yesterday's sticky heat. As usual, the street was packed. But Charlie barely noticed. In his mind, he was going through his trick. He'd spent hours working it out,

“不要靠近这里，”爸爸说，轻轻地拍了拍露露的脸颊。 “我们可能会下点小雨。” 查理俯下身来，读着加尔维斯顿的天气预报。 星期六和星期日有雨。有北风。 爸爸告诉了露露真相。 今天没有暴风雨。这让我松了一口气。 因为风暴会让戈登远离宝塔，破坏查理的计划。 一小时后，查理在去海滩的路上。 看着多云的天空，查理断定肯定要下雨了。 但任何事情都比昨天的闷热好。 像往常一样，街上挤满了人。 但查理几乎没有注意到。 在他心里，他是在耍花招。 他花了好几个小时才算出来

practicing over and over in the mirror. He felt like Meraki, rehearsing for a big show. He'd stalk Gordon, stride up to him, and stare right into his eyes. "Gordon Potts," he'd say, in a low, steady voice. "Did you know it's possible to put a cockroach into a person's skull? It's an ancient trick I've mastered." Then he would pull the cockroach from his pocket, wave it in front of Gordon's eyes, and whip it right up next to Gordon's ear. He'd make sure Gordon felt the creature's spindly legs and antennae on his ear. But then Charlie would secretly let the cockroach slip back into his palm, a French drop. Gordon would think the cockroach had vanished—into his skull. Gordon would be good and spooked, and Charlie would finish off the trick. "I will remove the cockroach from your brain," he'd say. "If you vow never to bother me again.

对着镜子一遍又一遍地练习。 他觉得自己像梅拉基，在为一场大型演出排练。 他会跟踪戈登，大步走向他，直视他的眼睛。 “戈登·波茨，”他用低沉而稳定的声音说。 “你知道可以把蟑螂放进人的头骨里吗？” 这是我掌握的一个古老的把戏。” 然后他会从口袋里掏出蟑螂，在戈登眼前晃一晃，然后把它甩到戈登的耳朵旁边。 他要确保戈登能感觉到这种生物细长的腿和耳朵上的触角。 但随后查理会偷偷地让蟑螂滑回他的手掌，就像法式滴下一样。 戈登会以为蟑螂已经消失在他的头骨里了。 戈登会表现得很好，很害怕，查理会完成这个戏法。 “我会把蟑螂从你的大脑里取出来，”他会说。 “如果你发誓再也不打扰我的话。

I'll give you five seconds to decide—before the cockroach can lay its eggs." That egg-laying part—Charlie was especially proud of that touch. If—when—Gordon swore to leave Charlie alone, Charlie would reach up to Gordon's ear and pretend to pluck something out. Finally, he would reveal the cockroach that had supposedly been inside Gordon's skull. Charlie smiled to himself now as he made his way along the crowded sidewalk. He wasn't even that scared. Still, his heart was really thumping. His whole body seemed to be vibrating. His ears echoed with a low, pounding boom. Ba-ROOM, ba-ROOM, ba-ROOM. But it wasn't his heart. Charlie realized this as soon as the beach came into view. He stared ahead, his eyes wide. That sound… it was coming from the Gulf of Mexico. Even from ten blocks away, he could see them.

我给你五秒钟的时间来决定——在蟑螂产卵之前。” 那个下蛋的部分——查理对这个动作特别自豪。 如果戈登发誓要离查理远点，查理就会凑到戈登的耳朵上假装要把什么东西拔出来。 最后，他将展示那只据说在戈登头骨里的蟑螂。 查理在拥挤的人行道上走着，他暗自笑了。 他甚至没那么害怕。 不过，他的心还是怦怦直跳。 他的整个身体似乎都在颤动。 他的耳朵里回响着低沉的砰砰声。 房间，房间，房间。 但那不是他的心。查理一看到海滩就意识到了这一点。 他盯着前方，眼睛睁得大大的。 那声音是从墨西哥湾传来的。 即使隔着十个街区，他也能看到他们。