Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 "Hand it over," said a raspy voice. Leo didn't have to see the face to know who was talking. It was Fletch Sikes, the most brutal thief in the neighborhood. The other kid had to be Wilkie Barnes, a giant of a boy who went everywhere Fletch did. When Fletch was just five years old, the story went, he'd been attacked by a pack of stray dogs. He'd survived, but one of the dogs had bitten his throat. The bite ruined his voice. And turned Fletch vicious. Fletch and Wilkie didn't just steal food and pick pockets. Sometimes they beat kids up just for fun. A few months ago, they'd been caught by the police, and sent to a work farm up north.

第三章“把它交出来。”一个沙哑的声音说。 里奥不用看脸就知道是谁在说话。 那是弗莱彻·赛克斯，这一带最凶残的小偷。 另一个孩子一定是威尔基·巴恩斯，一个大块头男孩，弗莱彻去哪儿他就去哪儿。 弗莱彻五岁的时候，他被一群流浪狗袭击了。 他活了下来，但其中一只狗咬了他的喉咙。 那一口咬坏了他的声音。 使弗莱契变得恶毒。 弗莱彻和威尔基不只是偷食物和扒窃。 有时他们打孩子只是为了好玩。 几个月前，他们被警察抓住了，被送到了北部的一个农场。

Leo had heard a rumor that they had escaped. He'd heard that they were hiding out in an old, abandoned saloon on Rincon Hill. And now here they were, back to their old vicious tricks. "You can take my money," Leo said, trying not to sound as terrified as he felt. "We don't want your money," Wilkie said. The kid was a monster. He had to weigh almost three hundred pounds, with smooth chubby cheeks like a baby. A baby with a steel fist. "What do you want?" Leo asked, his knees shaking. "You know," Fletch growled. Leo's heart stopped. Of course he knew. Somehow Fletch had found out about Leo's gold nugget. But how? Leo hadn't told a soul about it. Except … Morris. That little pest of a kid, who buzzed around Leo like a fly.

利奥听说他们逃走了。 他听说他们躲在林肯山上一个废弃的老酒馆里。 现在他们又来了，故技重施。 “你可以拿我的钱，”利奥说，尽量让自己听起来不像他感到的那样害怕。 “我们不要你的钱，”威尔基说。 那孩子是个怪物。他的体重差不多有三百磅，脸颊光滑圆润，像个婴儿。 一个拿着钢铁拳头的婴儿。“你想要什么?”利奥问，他的膝盖在颤抖。 “你知道，”弗莱契咆哮道。 利奥的心跳停止了。他当然知道。 不知怎么的，弗莱彻发现了利奥的金块。 但如何?里奥没有告诉任何人这件事。 除了……莫里斯。那个讨厌的小孩，像苍蝇一样围着里奥转。

Leo had showed him the gold a few weeks ago. He must have blabbed about it to kids on the street. And the story had gotten back to Fletch and Wilkie. Fletch pushed Leo's face harder into the wall. The bones of Leo's cheek felt like they would crack, like the shell of an egg. "Take my money," Leo said again. "I have more than a dollar. Take it all." "We will," Fletch said, with a rasping laugh. "But we want the gold, too." Hand it over. It was Papa's voice, in Leo's head. Leo knew there was no way he could fight these guys, no way to outrun them. Wilkie was the fastest kid in the neighborhood. But that gold had been Papa's prized possession. Leo couldn't just give it up. "No," Leo said, summoning up all of his strength. He whirled around and broke free from Fletch's grip. He made it about three steps before Wilkie caught him by the back of the shirt, and threw him onto the ground.

利奥几周前给他看了金子。 他一定是把这件事告诉了街上的孩子们。 弗莱彻和威尔基又听到了这个故事。 弗莱契把利奥的脸更用力地往墙上推。 利奥的脸颊好像要裂开了，就像蛋壳一样。 “拿着我的钱，”利奥又说了一遍。 “我有不止一美元。 全拿去吧。”“我们会的，”弗莱契说，发出刺耳的笑声。 “但我们也想要金子。” 把它交出来。那是爸爸的声音，在里奥的脑海里。 里奥知道他不可能打败这些家伙，不可能跑得过他们。 威尔基是附近跑得最快的孩子。 但那块金子是爸爸最珍贵的财产。 里奥不能就这么放弃。 “不，”利奥说，鼓起了全身的力气。 他转过身来，挣脱了弗莱契的手。 他刚走了三步，威尔基就抓住他的衣襟，把他摔在地上。

Slam! Leo landed hard, biting his tongue. "Hand it over!" Fletch shouted in his creepy, strangled voice. "No!" Leo yelled again. What happened next took only a minute. Wilkie picked Leo up by his shirt, holding him in the air as Fletch emptied Leo's pockets. Then Wilkie threw him into a pile of garbage. The two goons walked away, laughing. Blood dribbled from Leo's mouth. His head throbbed. But the worst was the searing pain from somewhere deep inside, like something had been ripped out of him. His gold was gone.

大满贯!利奥重重地落在地上，咬着舌头。 “给我!”弗莱契用他那令人毛骨悚然、窒息的声音喊道。 “不!”利奥又喊道。接下来发生的事只花了一分钟。 威尔基抓住利奥的衬衫，把他举在空中，弗莱彻掏空了利奥的口袋。 然后威尔基把他扔进了垃圾堆。 两个打手笑着走开了。 鲜血从利奥的嘴里滴落下来。 他的头隐隐作痛。但最糟糕的是内心深处的灼痛，就像有什么东西从他身上被撕裂了一样。 他的金子不见了。