Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12 The back wall of Abe's room was gone. But there was a spot near the top of the stairs where they could escape from the wind and rain. Barry and Cruz sat there for a few minutes, until Cruz started to whimper. "What's wrong?" Barry asked. The dog was panting. "You thirsty? You need water?" Cruz's tail thumped. Barry knew that none of the sinks would work. But maybe there were bottles of water

第十二章亚伯房间的后墙不见了。 不过楼梯顶上有一个地方，他们可以在那里避风避雨。 巴里和克鲁兹在那里坐了几分钟，直到克鲁兹开始呜咽。 “怎么了?”巴里问。 狗在喘气。“你渴吗? 你需要水吗?”克鲁兹的尾巴砰砰作响。 巴里知道没有一个水槽能用。 但也许有瓶装水

somewhere in the kitchen. Barry and Cruz made their way down the slanting staircase. "You stay here," Barry said to Cruz, pointing to the bottom of the stairs. He didn't want Cruz wading through the dirty water. But Cruz wouldn't stay. He seemed to be glued to Barry's leg. They waded into the small kitchen. Dishes were floating around their feet, along with boxes and cans of food, but nothing to drink. Barry yanked open the fridge, and a thrill went through him when he saw two six-packs of Coke, some cheese, hot dogs, bread, and a large bottle of water. "We're in luck," he said to Cruz. He looked around for something to carry the food in. He saw a plastic bag floating in the corner and bent down to reach for it. But before he could grab it, Cruz let out a ferocious bark and rammed his body against Barry, almost knocking him down. A long, dark shape shot out from under the bag and disappeared into the murky water. A snake!

在厨房的某个地方。巴里和克鲁兹走下倾斜的楼梯。 “你待在这里，”巴里指着楼梯底部对克鲁兹说。 他不想让克鲁兹蹚过脏水。 但克鲁兹不愿留下来。他好像粘在巴里的腿上了。 他们涉水走进小厨房。 他们的脚边漂着盘子，还有盒子和罐头，但没有喝的。 巴里猛地打开冰箱，当他看到两罐六装可乐、一些奶酪、热狗、面包和一大瓶水时，一阵兴奋传遍了他的全身。 “我们很幸运，”他对克鲁兹说。 他四处寻找可以装食物的东西。 他看到角落里漂浮着一个塑料袋，便弯下腰去够它。 但在他抓住它之前，克鲁兹发出了一声凶猛的吠叫，用身体撞向巴里，几乎把他撞倒。 一个长长的黑影从袋子下面窜了出来，消失在浑浊的水中。 一条蛇!

Barry stood still, frozen in fear. Was that a water moccasin? He remembered Gramps's most terrifying Betsy story, about one of his friends who'd been bitten by a water moccasin while making his way through the flooded streets. "The water was filled with poisonous snakes," Gramps had said. "Lots of people got bit." Now Barry shuddered. He grabbed as much food and soda and water as he could carry. He hurried back upstairs, praying that snakes couldn't climb. There was a metal bowl in Abe's room, and Barry filled it to the top. Cruz emptied it, and Barry filled it up again. Barry drank two cans of Coke. He ripped open the package of hot dogs; Cruz ate four, one after another. Barry made himself a cheese sandwich and gave Cruz the crusts. When they were finished, they settled back against the wall. Cruz lay down on top of Barry's legs. He looked up at Barry with a thank you kind of look on his face. Barry stroked his head.

巴里一动不动地站着，吓呆了。 那是水鹿皮鞋吗? 他想起了爷爷最可怕的关于贝特西的故事，关于他的一个朋友在穿过被水淹没的街道时被一只水鹿皮鞋咬伤的故事。 “水里到处都是毒蛇，”爷爷说。 “很多人都被咬了。”现在巴里打了个寒战。 他尽可能多地拿了些食物、苏打水和水。 他赶紧上楼，祈祷蛇不要爬上来。 亚伯的房间里有个金属碗，巴里把它装满了。 克鲁兹把它倒了，巴里又把它装满了。 巴里喝了两罐可乐。 他撕开热狗的包装;克鲁兹吃了四个，一个接一个。 巴瑞给自己做了个奶酪三明治，把面包皮给了克鲁兹。 当他们完成后，他们靠在墙上。 克鲁兹趴在巴里的腿上。 他抬头看着巴里，脸上带着一种感谢的表情。 巴里抚摸着他的头。

"You're really not a killer dog, are you?" Barry said. Cruz looked at him and panted a little. Nah. That dog was probably from the shelter in downtown New Orleans. Abe couldn't afford a fancy Chinese army dog even if he'd wanted one. He had made up that killer-dog routine. Another trick to scare the bejesus out of Barry and Jay. "The storm will be over soon," Barry said to Cruz. The wind seemed to be dying down a bit. Cruz was still looking up at him. Barry saw the fear and confusion in his eyes. What could Barry do? And then it came to him. "I found my thrill," Barry sang quietly, "on Blueberry Hill…" Cruz licked Barry's chin. He liked it. So Barry kept singing — "The moon stood still… on Blueberry Hill" — until Cruz put his head on Barry's knee and closed his eyes. Soon Barry's eyelids started to sag. He stopped singing and leaned back to take a rest, lulled by the gentle rocking of the house and by

“你真的不是一只杀人狗，对吧?”巴里说。 克鲁兹看着他，有点喘不过气来。 不。那只狗可能来自新奥尔良市中心的收容所。 即使安倍想要一只漂亮的中国军犬，他也买不起。 他编了一套杀人狗的套路。 又一个把巴瑞和杰吓得魂飞梦散的把戏。 “暴风雨很快就会过去，”巴里对克鲁兹说。 风似乎小了一些。 克鲁兹还在抬头看着他。 巴里看到了他眼中的恐惧和困惑。 巴里能做什么呢?然后他想起来了。 “我找到了我的激情，”巴里轻声唱道，“在蓝莓山上……”克鲁兹舔了舔巴里的下巴。 他很喜欢。所以巴里一直在唱——“月亮静止不动……在蓝莓山上”——直到克鲁兹把头靠在巴里的膝盖上，闭上了眼睛。 很快，巴里的眼皮开始下垂。 他停止了歌唱，靠在椅背上休息，被屋子里轻柔的摇晃所催眠

the song — familiar now — of Katrina's winds and rain.

这首现在很熟悉的关于卡特里娜风雨的歌。