Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 SEVEN DAYS EARLIER TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1910 AROUND 7:00 P.M. GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY STATION SPOKANE, WASHINGTON Janie sat on a bench in the Great Northern Railway station, scanning the crowd of people

第二章七天前，星期二，1910年2月22日晚上7点左右 华盛顿，斯波坎，大北方火车站珍妮坐在大北方火车站的长凳上，扫视着人群

waiting for the Seattle train. There were men with thick mustaches and ladies in swishing skirts. A frazzled mother rocked her fussy baby. Her pigtailed little daughter sat next to her, shrieking, "Peekaboo!" at anyone who walked by. Nobody seemed to notice Janie. And why would they? She'd combed the knots from her hair and scrubbed her nails clean. She had mended the holes in her stockings and shined her boots with spit. She'd made herself look like a normal, respectable eleven-year-old girl. Nobody would guess that she had a bundle of stolen diamond jewels inside her coat. The glittering rings and earrings were tucked into a secret pocket that rested against Janie's heart. She glanced across the station at the gorillasized man lurking in the corner. He was the one person here who knew what Janie was really doing. Janie didn't know his real name—everyone just called him Hammer. One look at his gigantic fists explained why. He was here to keep

等待开往西雅图的火车。 男人们蓄着浓密的胡子，女人们穿着飘逸的裙子。 一位疲惫的母亲摇着她那挑剔的婴儿。 她那扎着辫子的小女儿坐在她旁边，对着任何路过的人尖叫：“躲猫猫！” 似乎没有人注意到珍妮。 他们为什么要这么做？她梳理了头发上的打结，把指甲洗干净了。 她补好了袜子上的洞，用唾液擦了擦靴子。 她把自己打扮得像个正常的、受人尊敬的11岁女孩。 谁也猜不到她的外套里藏着一捆偷来的钻石珠宝。 闪闪发光的戒指和耳环被塞进了一个秘密的口袋，紧靠着珍妮的心脏。 她瞥了一眼站那头躲在角落里的那个长得像大猩猩的男人。 他是这里唯一知道简妮在干什么的人。 简妮不知道他的真名——大家都叫他汉默。 看一眼他巨大的拳头就知道了原因。 他一直在这里

an eye on Janie, to make sure she didn't run off with the jewels or get herself into trouble. When the Seattle train arrived, they'd both get on. Until then, Janie was supposed to sit quietly. "Don't talk to anyone," Hammer had told her. "Try to disappear." Janie was good at that—blending in, fading away. And that's what she had been doing. But now she spotted an old lady hobbling along, lugging a giant suitcase. The woman was small and frail and looked like she might keel over. Without thinking, Janie jumped up. "Ma'am," she said. "May I help you?" "Aren't you a dear!" the lady said with a kindly smile. "I just need to sit down for a few minutes." Janie took the suitcase and led the lady to a bench. "There you go," Janie said. She turned to leave, but the lady reached for Janie's arm. "Sit with me for a few minutes, dear," she said. "I'd like some company."

盯着珍妮，确保她不会带着珠宝跑掉或者给自己惹上麻烦。 当开往西雅图的火车到达时，他们俩都会上车。 在那之前，珍妮应该安静地坐着。 “不要和任何人说话，”汉默告诉她。 “试着消失。”珍妮很擅长这个——融入人群，渐渐消失。 这就是她一直在做的事情。 但现在她看见一个老太太拖着一个巨大的手提箱蹒跚而行。 那个女人又小又虚弱，看上去好像要倒下了。 简妮不假思索地跳了起来。 “夫人，”她说。“我能为您效劳吗？”“你真是个好孩子！”女士亲切地笑着说。 “我只需要坐几分钟。” 珍妮拿起手提箱，把那位女士领到一张长凳前。 “给你，”简妮说。 她转身要走，但那位女士伸手抓住了简妮的胳膊。 “跟我坐一会儿，亲爱的，”她说。 “我想有人陪我。”

Janie could feel Hammer's eyes burning into her. Helping old ladies was not part of the plan. But what choice did Janie have? "I'm Mrs. Letts," the lady said, patting the bench next to her. Janie sat down. "Nice to meet you," she said, purposely not saying her own name back. Never tell anyone your real name. "Are you going to Seattle?" Mrs. Letts asked. "Yes, ma'am," Janie answered with a fake smile. "I'm visiting my grandma." A lie. Janie had no grandma. No mother or father either. They'd both passed away in a motorcar accident when Janie was six. After that, Janie moved from California to live with her aunt Barbara, here in Spokane, Washington. Aunt Barbara wasn't the mothering kind. But at least Janie didn't wind up in an orphanage. "What a nice girl you are," Mrs. Letts said.

简妮能感觉到汉默的目光在她身上燃烧。 帮助老太太不是计划的一部分。 但珍妮有什么选择呢？ “我是莱茨太太，”那位女士说着，拍了拍她旁边的长凳。 珍妮坐了下来。“很高兴见到你，”她说，故意不回叫自己的名字。 永远不要告诉任何人你的真实姓名。 “你要去西雅图吗？”莱茨太太问。 “是的，太太，"简妮假笑着回答。 “我要去看我奶奶。” 一个谎言。珍妮没有奶奶。 也没有父母。 在珍妮六岁的时候，他们都在一场车祸中去世了。 在那之后，珍妮从加利福尼亚搬到华盛顿州斯波坎市，和她的姑姑芭芭拉住在一起。 芭芭拉姨妈不是个称职的母亲。 但至少珍妮没有被送进孤儿院。 “你真是个好女孩，”莱茨太太说。

Janie's fake smile wavered. Nice? she thought. What a joke. If only Mrs. Letts knew the truth: that Janie was a criminal. She worked for the gangster Ray Malvo. Her job was to help get stolen loot out of Spokane. Tonight her job was to ride the train across the state to Seattle. One of Malvo's goons would be waiting for Janie in an alley behind the train station. She'd hand over the jewels, and he'd give her a bundle of money. Then she'd get back on the train to bring the money home to Malvo. Malvo. Thinking about him made Janie want to spit. But there was no getting away from him. Just ask Aunt Barbara—she'd been working for Malvo for twenty years. "I'm heading to Seattle to see my wonderful grandchildren," Mrs. Letts said dreamily. "My grandson is nine," she went on, pulling a photo from her bag and showing it to Janie. "Isn't he handsome?"

珍妮的假笑动摇了。 好吗?她想。真是个笑话。 要是莱茨太太知道真相就好了：简妮是个罪犯。 她为黑帮老大雷·马尔沃工作。 她的工作是帮忙把赃物运出斯波坎。 今晚她的任务是乘火车穿过州去西雅图。 马尔沃的一个打手会在火车站后面的巷子里等着珍妮。 她会交出珠宝，他会给她一大笔钱。 然后她会回到火车上把钱带回马尔沃。 Malvo。一想到他，简妮就想吐唾沫。 但是谁也摆脱不了他。 问问芭芭拉姨妈就知道了——她已经为马尔沃工作了20年。 “我要去西雅图看我可爱的孙子们，”莱茨太太梦幻般地说。 “我孙子九岁了，”她接着说，从包里拿出一张照片给珍妮看。 “他是不是很帅？”

Janie's body tingled as she stared at the photo. Something about the kid—the flop of dark hair across his forehead; the small, sparkling eyes. He reminded Janie of her best friend, Dash. Dash was an orphan like Janie, part of Malvo's crew. And like a brother to her. They used to sneak off together when they weren't working. Their favorite spot was the Spokane Library. They'd made friends with a librarian there, Miss Eva. She'd sit them in a quiet corner with stacks of books. Sometimes she'd read to them, fairy tales mostly. There was also this story about a little steam engine that has to pull a long and heavy train all the way up a steep mountain. No way can it make it, everyone says. The engine tries. It huffs and puffs. It almost gives up. But then it starts talking to itself. "I think I can, I think I can!" It keeps saying those four words, over and over, until finally it makes it to the top.

珍妮盯着那张照片，浑身发麻。 关于这个孩子的一些事情——他额头上那绺蓬乱的黑发；那双闪闪发光的小眼睛。 他让珍妮想起了她最好的朋友达什。 达什和珍妮一样是个孤儿，是马尔沃的同伙。 就像她的兄弟一样。 他们过去不工作的时候经常一起溜出去。 他们最喜欢的地方是斯波坎图书馆。 他们和那里的图书管理员伊娃小姐交了朋友。 她会让他们坐在一个安静的角落里，身边放着一堆书。 有时她会给他们读故事，大多是童话故事。 还有一个关于一个小蒸汽机的故事，它必须拉着一列又长又重的火车一路爬上一座陡峭的山。 每个人都说，它不可能成功。 引擎试了试。它喘着气。 它几乎放弃了。然后它开始自言自语。 “我想我能，我想我能！”它不停地说这四个字，一遍又一遍，直到最后它到达了顶部。