Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8 LATER WEDNESDAY MORNING CASCADE, WASHINGTON Stepping out of the train car, all Janie could see was snow. It gushed from the sky, big fat flakes that stuck to her coat sleeves like glue. Drifts rose up higher than Janie's head. Luckily, there was a

第八章星期三上午晚些时候，华盛顿喀斯喀特，珍妮走出火车车厢，看到的只有雪。 它从天上喷涌而出，又大又肥的雪花像胶水一样粘在她的大衣袖子上。 雪堆得比珍妮的头还高。 幸运的是，有一个

shoveled path that led from the train to the beanery. Snow blew across Janie's face. But she managed to catch glimpses of the town around them. If you could even call it a town. There were no roads or stores, no proper houses or brick-and-stone buildings like in Spokane. Definitely no library. Most of the little wooden buildings were crowded along the railroad tracks. Up the hill was a scattering of sad-looking cottages and shacks. Mountains jutted up around them. "What a terrible place," Mr. Riggins mumbled as they trudged along. It was grim. But no worse than the dark little apartment where she lived with Aunt Barbara, with stray dogs howling from the trash-filled alley below. They were all half-frozen when they stumbled into the beanery. It was just a large room with grimy floors and walls that shook with every gust

从火车站到豆荚厂的那条被铲过的小路。 雪吹过珍妮的脸。 但她设法瞥见了他们周围的城镇。 如果你能称它为城镇的话。 那里没有道路，没有商店，没有像样的房子，也没有像斯波坎那样的砖石建筑。 绝对没有图书馆。大多数小木屋都挤在铁路边上。 山上散布着几座看起来很凄凉的茅屋和棚屋。 群山在他们周围隆起。 “真是个可怕的地方，”里金斯先生咕哝着，他们步履蹒跚地往前走。 这是可怕的。但总不会比她和芭芭拉阿姨住的那间黑暗的小公寓更糟，楼下满是垃圾的小巷里有流浪狗在嚎叫。 当他们跌跌撞撞地走进豆制品店时，都冻得半死。 那只是一个大房间，地板肮脏，墙壁一阵风就会摇晃

of wind. But a glowing fire crackled in a big potbellied stove, and the smell of pancakes and syrup filled the air. "Now this is worth writing about!" Miss Wade said excitedly. The long tables and benches were already crowded with other passengers. Janie didn't recognize most of them—they must have been passengers from the other sleeper and the day coaches. She waved at Mrs. Letts and Violet's mom—her name was Mrs. Kayden. She was bouncing her baby boy on her knee. He flashed a gummy grin at anyone who looked his way. Janie couldn't see Violet, but she knew the little pest was here somewhere. And sure enough, just as they all sat down at a long table, the little girl popped up right next to Janie. "Peekaboo, Janie!"

的风。但是在一个大腹便便的炉子里，火焰噼啪作响，空气中充满了煎饼和糖浆的味道。 “这才值得写！”韦德小姐兴奋地说。 长桌和长凳上已经挤满了其他乘客。 他们中的大多数人珍妮都不认识——他们一定是其他卧铺车厢和白天车厢的乘客。 她向莱茨太太和维奥莱特的妈妈——她的名字叫凯登太太——挥了挥手。 她在膝上颠着她的男婴。 凡是朝他这边看的人，他都咧嘴一笑。 珍妮看不见维奥莱特，但她知道这个小讨厌鬼就在附近的某个地方。 果然，当他们都在一张长桌旁坐下时，小女孩突然出现在珍妮旁边。 “躲猫猫,珍妮!”

"Violet!" called her mother. "Come back over here. I told you not to wander away!" Violet leaned close to Janie, sending her syrup breath into Janie's face. "I'm going to build a snowman," she whispered. Then she darted away. Just then, a thick-bearded man in an apron appeared at their table. He was carrying two trays loaded with food. "Hope you folks are hungry." He grinned. "Smells good," said Mr. Riggins, perking up at the sight of pancakes, eggs, and sausages. Miss Wade flipped open her notebook. She plucked a pencil from behind her ear. "Are you the chef here?" she asked the bearded man. "Just the waiter," he said. "The name's John. There's our cook, Harry, right over there." He pointed to a tall man standing behind a huge cookstove. The man looked over with a welcoming smile and a big wave.

“维奥莱特！”她妈妈叫道。 “过来。我告诉过你不要乱跑！”维奥莱特靠向珍妮，把她那糖浆味的气息吹到珍妮的脸上。 “我要堆一个雪人，”她低声说。 然后她跑开了。就在这时，一个围着围裙的大胡子男人出现在他们的桌旁。 他拿着两个装满食物的托盘。 “希望你们都饿了。” 他咧嘴一笑。“闻起来真香，”里金斯先生说，一看到煎饼、鸡蛋和香肠就兴奋起来。 韦德小姐打开笔记本。 她从耳后抽出一支铅笔。 “你是这里的厨师吗？”她问大胡子。 “只有服务员，”他说。 “我叫约翰。那是我们的厨师，哈利，就在那边。” 他指着一个站在巨大炉灶后面的高个子男人。 那人面带欢迎的微笑，向我挥了挥手。

"It's very generous of you two, to feed us all," Mr. McBride said. "It's a big crowd," he said. "We've got the passengers and crew from your train, plus eight more men from the mail train." "Mail train?" Mr. Riggins asked. "It arrived here a few hours after your train. Stuck here too." Everyone piled their plates high. But Janie's stomach was still twisting and churning. She couldn't even think of eating. Glancing up at the windows, she kept imagining Malvo's face. She shrunk down on the bench. If only she really could disappear, like a wizard in one of Miss Eva's fairy tales. Groups of passengers came and went. Each time the door opened, the wind sent napkins flying and snowflakes swirling through the air. "Quite a blizzard out there," Mr. McBride said as John poured coffee from a battered tin pot.

“你们俩真是太慷慨了，给我们大家提供食物，”麦克布莱德先生说。 “人很多，”他说。 “我们有你们火车上的乘客和机组人员，还有邮车上的八个人。” “邮件火车?”里金斯先生问。 “它比你的火车晚到几个小时。 也被困在这里了。”每个人都把盘子堆得高高的。 但珍妮的胃仍在翻腾。 她甚至连吃饭的念头都没有。 她抬头望着窗户，不断想象着马尔沃的脸。 她缩在长凳上。 要是她真的能消失就好了，就像伊娃小姐童话里的巫师一样。 一群群的乘客来来往往。 每次门一开，风就把餐巾吹得飞扬，雪花在空中飞舞。 “外面的暴风雪可真大啊，”麦克布莱德先生说着，约翰从一个破旧的锡壶里倒咖啡。

"I'll say," John said. "We get more snow up here than almost anywhere in the whole country. And this blizzard is one of the worst I've seen in my many years here. Yesterday we got ten feet of snow—maybe more. Trains are stuck up and down the line. Telegraph service is knocked out. Telephones too. All over the state." Janie's ears pricked up. "Nobody can send a message?" she asked. "Or call anyone?" Everyone looked at her; she'd barely said a word since they'd left Spokane. "That's right," John said. "And not just here. Blizzards are slamming half the country. Everything is shut down." "I'm sure your family in Seattle knows the train is delayed," Mr. McBride said to Janie. Janie nodded and tried to look worried. But inside she was cheering. Malvo had no way of finding out that Hammer had been arrested. Maybe her plan wasn't ruined!

“我会说的，”约翰说。“我们这里的降雪量几乎比全国任何地方都多。 这场暴风雪是我在这里多年来见过的最严重的一次。 昨天下了10英尺厚的雪，也许更多。 火车在这条线路上卡上卡下。 电报服务中断了。 电话了。全州都有。” 珍妮竖起了耳朵。“没人能传个信？”她问。 “或者给谁打电话？”大家都看着她；自从他们离开斯波坎后，她几乎没说过一句话。 “没错，”约翰说。 “而且不只是在这里。暴风雪席卷了半个国家。 一切都被关闭了。”“我肯定你在西雅图的家人知道火车晚点了，”麦克布莱德先生对珍妮说。 珍妮点点头，竭力装出担心的样子。 但她内心却在欢呼。 马尔沃无从得知汉默被捕了。 也许她的计划没有被毁！