Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 "Hurricane Katrina is now a Category Five storm, folks," said the man on the radio. "That's the strongest there is. Winds a hundred and seventy-five miles an hour. Waves will be twenty feet high. It's aiming right for our beautiful city. Right for us. This is the storm we've been fearing. It's time to leave. Time to get—" Mom switched off the radio. "Okay," she said softly. "I heard you. We're leaving." "Who are you talking to, Mom?" Barry asked.

“朋友们，卡特里娜飓风现在是五级风暴，”广播里的人说。 “这是最强的。 风速每小时一百七十五英里。 海浪将达到20英尺高。 它正朝着我们美丽的城市飞去。 对我们来说是正确的。这就是我们一直担心的风暴。 该走了。该——”妈妈关掉了收音机。 “好吧，”她轻声说。“我听见了。 我们离开。”“妈妈，你在跟谁说话?”巴里问。

She looked surprised to see him. "Sorry, baby!" she said, turning and kissing Barry on the cheek. "That man is getting on my nerves." She had three coolers arranged on the floor and was filling them with food for their car trip. "Are you worried?" Barry asked, brushing some flour from Mom's sleeve. She'd been baking all morning. "Not at all," she said, but Barry could see she was fibbing. Mom always baked when she got nervous. And she'd packed enough muffins and cookies in those coolers to feed the Saints. "We're almost ready, right?" she asked. Barry nodded. He'd helped Dad board up the windows. He'd carried the porch furniture and Cleo's princess house into the shed. "Need anything else?" "Find your sister," Mom said. "She hasn't been herself all morning. I need you to work some Barry magic on her." Barry found his sister crying in her bed. "What is it, Clee?" he asked. "My princess house!" she wailed. "That lady took it!" "What lady?" "Katrina!"

看到他，她显得很吃惊。 “对不起，宝贝!”她说着，转身吻了一下巴里的脸颊。 “那个人真让我心烦。” 她在地板上放了三个冷藏箱，里面装满了他们开车旅行用的食物。 “你担心吗?”巴瑞一边问，一边从妈妈的袖子上刷面粉。 她整个上午都在烤面包。 “一点也不。”她说，但巴里看得出她在撒谎。 妈妈一紧张就烤面包。 她还在冰箱里装了足够圣徒们吃的松饼和饼干。 “我们差不多准备好了，对吧?”她问。 巴里点点头。他帮爸爸用木板把窗户封上。 他把门廊的家具和克利奥的公主屋搬进了小屋。 “还需要什么吗?”“找到你妹妹，”妈妈说。 “她整个上午都不对劲。 我需要你给她施点巴瑞魔法。” 巴里发现他妹妹在床上哭。 “怎么了，克利?”他问。 “我的公主家!” “是那位女士拿的!”“什么夫人?”“卡特里娜飓风!”

Barry tried not to smile. In that three-year-old brain of Cleo's, Katrina was probably a big fat vampire lady flying through the air. "Your princess house is safe in the shed," Barry said. "And Katrina isn't a lady. It's just a bunch of clouds. We're not afraid of clouds, are we?" Cleo looked at Barry with her huge teary eyes. Barry always got a soft feeling in his heart, like the purring of a little cat, when he looked at his sister. Good thing he wasn't a superhero. One look at a crying Cleo and all his powers would be drained away. "We're having an adventure!" Barry said. "You can't cry on an adventure!" Cleo gave a big sniff. "Will Akivo be there?" she asked. Of course Cleo knew all about Akivo. For weeks, anytime Barry told Cleo a bedtime story, he made Akivo the star. Who rescued Snow White from the evil stepmother? Akivo! Who saved the three little pigs from the big bad wolf? Akivo! Now Barry put his face closer to his sister's. "I think Akivo will be waiting for us in Houston

巴里强忍着不笑。在Cleo三岁大的脑子里，Katrina可能是一个在空中飞翔的胖女人。 “你的公主屋在小屋里很安全。”巴里说。 “卡特里娜也不是淑女。 只是一堆云。 我们不怕云，对吧?”克利奥用她那双泪眼婆娑的大眼睛看着巴里。 巴里看着妹妹的时候，心里总有一种温柔的感觉，就像小猫的呼噜声。 好在他不是超级英雄。 只要看一眼哭泣的克利奥，他所有的力量就会耗尽。 “我们在冒险!”巴里说。 “你不能在冒险中哭泣!”克莱奥深深地吸了一口气。 “阿基沃会去吗?”她问。 Cleo当然知道关于Akivo的一切。 几个星期以来，每当巴里给克莱奥讲睡前故事时，他就把阿基沃当成明星。 谁从邪恶的继母手中救出了白雪公主? Akivo !谁从大灰狼手里救了三只小猪? Akivo !现在巴瑞把脸凑近他妹妹的脸。 “我想Akivo会在休斯顿等我们

tonight," he said. He hated tricking Cleo, but it wasn't really a lie. Akivo was always appearing in Barry's dreams. Maybe Cleo would dream about him too. "To retect us?" "That's right," Barry said. "He will protect us." Cleo gave another big, messy sniff and then nodded bravely. "I won't cry," she whispered. She held out her arms so Barry could pick her up. He pulled her close. She put her head on his shoulder and let him carry her to the car. Ten minutes later, they were on the road.

今晚，”他说。他讨厌欺骗克莱奥，但这并不是真的谎言。 阿基沃总是出现在巴里的梦里。 也许克利奥也会梦见他。 “为了反抗我们?”“没错，”巴里说。 “他会保护我们的。”克莱奥又使劲地嗅了嗅，然后勇敢地点了点头。 “我不哭，”她低声说。 她伸出双臂，让巴瑞把她抱起来。 他把她拉近。她把头靠在他的肩上，让他把她抱上车。 十分钟后，他们上路了。