Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 Leo stepped toward the alley. Wilkie grabbed him by the back of the shirt. "No," he said. "There's no way out of there!" "What do you mean?" "That alley doesn't cut through," he said. "How do you know?" Leo said. "I know every alley in this town," Wilkie said. "That one is useless." But Leo had to do something. He couldn't let Morris die in that alley. How could he help? Leo searched his mind for ideas. And as usual, his thoughts turned to Grandpop. He remembered that terrifying story of the forest fire in the Sierras. He'd only heard it a few times. But he remembered every detail.

利奥向小巷走去。 威尔基抓住他的后衣襟。 “不，”他说。“那里没有出路!”“你是什么意思?”“那条小巷不通，”他说。 “你怎么知道的?”利奥说。 “我知道这个镇上的每一条小巷，”威尔基说。 “那个没用。”但里奥必须做点什么。 他不能让莫里斯死在巷子里。 他能帮什么忙呢?利奥在脑子里寻找主意。 像往常一样，他又想起了爷爷。 他想起了发生在塞拉山脉的那场可怕的森林大火。 他只听过几次。 但他记得每一个细节。

Grandpop had finally crossed into California. In just a few more days, he'd be in gold country. He'd left his horse and wagon at a trading post. He'd headed up into the woods to hunt for rabbits. He would need their skins to trade for gold-mining tools. It had been a hot and dry summer. Everywhere he looked there were dying trees, their leaves brown and papery. Dead grass and weeds crunched under Grandpop's boots. There was hardly a speck of green anywhere. Grandpop roamed the woods. He bagged a few rabbits. And then clouds rolled in. Grandpop had smiled up at the sky. A cool rain was just what he needed. But only a few raindrops fell. Meanwhile, lightning sliced through the sky. And then — KABOOM! A lightning bolt struck a dead tree, turning it into a burning torch. More lightning bolts shot out of the clouds, stabbing the ground like burning spears.

爷爷终于到了加利福尼亚。 再过几天，他就会在黄金之乡了。 他把马和马车留在了一个贸易站。 他到树林里去打兔子了。 他需要他们的皮来交换采金工具。 那是一个炎热干燥的夏天。 他放眼望去，到处都是枯死的树，叶子枯黄如纸。 死草和野草在爷爷的靴子下嘎吱作响。 几乎没有一点绿色。 爷爷在树林里漫步。 他打了几只兔子。然后乌云滚滚而来。 爷爷对着天空笑了。 一场凉雨正是他所需要的。 但是只下了几滴雨。 与此同时，闪电划破天空。 然后——砰!一道闪电击中了一棵枯树，把它变成了一支燃烧的火炬。 更多的闪电从云层中射出，像燃烧的长矛刺向地面。

Soon there were fires everywhere. A powerful wind fanned the flames. Within just a few minutes, Grandpop was stuck in the middle of a ring of fire. The heat was so strong that the metal on his belt started to melt. Grandpop had no idea what to do. He got down on his hands and knees. Down low the smoke wasn't as thick, and he could see where he was going. He almost didn't see the stream until he'd crawled into it. It was practically dry, with just a few inches of water covering the muddy bottom. But there was enough so that Grandpop could lie down and soak his clothes. He took his kerchief and drenched it in water. He put the soaking kerchief over his head, filled his lungs with air, and dashed through the flames. Seconds later, when he came out the other side, his pants and the back of his coat were on fire. He rolled into the dirt and put them out.

很快，到处都着火了。 强风煽起了火焰。 就在几分钟内，爷爷被困在了一个火圈的中间。 热量是如此强烈，以至于他腰带上的金属开始融化。 爷爷不知道该怎么办。 他双手双膝跪下。 下面的烟没有那么浓，他可以看到他要去的地方。 他几乎没有看到小溪，直到他爬进去。 它实际上是干燥的，只有几英寸的水覆盖在泥泞的底部。 但是足够爷爷躺下来泡衣服了。 他拿起手帕，把它浸在水里。 他把浸湿的手帕盖在头上，往肺里灌满空气，冲进火焰。 几秒钟后，当他从另一边出来时，他的裤子和外套后面都着火了。 他滚到泥土里，把它们扑灭了。

Then he ran for his life. When he staggered back into the trading post, nobody recognized him. His beard and eyebrows were singed off. His face was black with ash, his fingers blistered red. But once again, his quick thinking and calm head had saved him. "I need to find some water," Leo said to Wilkie now. "You heard those firemen," Wilkie said. "They can't even find any." Leo thought for a minute. He remembered the men leading those horses out of the stable. Where there were horses, he thought, there had to be water. Wilkie followed Leo as he dashed into the stable. Sure enough, there was a trough filled with dirty water. There was also a blanket. Wilkie watched as Leo climbed into the trough of water and soaked himself from head to toe. Then he soaked the blanket so it was dripping wet. "What are you doing?" Wilkie said.

然后他逃命了。当他摇摇晃晃地回到贸易站时，没有人认出他来。 他的胡子和眉毛都被烧掉了。 他满脸是灰，手指起了红肿。 但他敏捷的思维和冷静的头脑又一次救了他。 “我需要一些水，”利奥现在对威尔基说。 “你听到那些消防员的声音了，”威尔基说。 “他们连一个都找不到。” 利奥想了一会儿。他想起了那些把马牵出马厩的人。 他想，哪里有马，哪里就一定有水。 利奥冲进马厩时，威尔基跟着他。 果然，有一个水槽装满了脏水。 还有一条毯子。威尔基看着利奥爬进水槽里，从头到脚都湿透了。 然后他把毯子浸湿了，使它湿淋淋的。 “你在干什么?”威尔基说。

"This water is going to protect me," Leo said, out of breath, "when I run into the alley." "You can't go in there," Wilkie said. "That little bit of water isn't going to do anything." "I'll make it," Leo said. "I'll make it." He repeated those words in his mind, trying to believe them, as he ran back outside. At the entrance to the alley, Leo put the blanket around his body and over his head. And then Wilkie grabbed him again. "Let go!" Leo shouted. They had no time to waste! But Wilkie wasn't trying to stop him. "I'm going with you," he said. Leo opened his mouth to tell Wilkie no, to tell him to stay where he was. But there wasn't time to argue. And from the look in Wilkie's eyes, he understood that there was no stopping Wilkie. They were in this together. Leo had to stand on his tiptoes to get the blanket around Wilkie. "Make sure your face is covered," Leo told him. "On the count of three, take a deep breath and run as fast as you can!"

利奥上气不接下气地说:“当我跑进小巷时，这水会保护我的。” “你不能进去，”威尔基说。 “那一点点水不会有任何作用。” “我会做到的，”里奥说。“我会做到的。” 他在心里重复着这句话，试图相信它们，然后跑回屋外。 在小巷的入口处，利奥把毯子裹在身上，盖在头上。 然后威尔基又抓住了他。 “放手!”狮子座喊道。他们没有时间可以浪费了!但威尔基并没有试图阻止他。 “我和你一起去，”他说。 利奥张开嘴想对威尔基说不，让他待在原地。 但是没有时间争论了。 从威尔基的眼神中，他明白没有什么能阻止威尔基。 他们是一伙的。 利奥不得不踮起脚尖把毯子盖在威尔基身上。 “一定要把脸遮起来，”里奥告诉他。 “我数到三，深呼吸，然后尽可能快地跑!”

Leo filled his lungs and put the blanket over their heads. "One, two, three!" Leo and Wilkie rushed into the fire.

利奥吸了一口气，把毯子盖在他们的头上。 “一，二，三!”利奥和威尔基冲进火里。