Chapter 7

CHAPTER seven Fletch opened his eyes first. "What the…" He jumped up. Leo's candle gave the room an eerie golden glow. Wilkie stirred for a second, grumbled, and then closed his eyes again. Fletch gave him a cruel kick in his side. "What?" Wilkie said, scrambling to his feet. He quickly fixed his eyes on Leo. "Who's that?" "Give me my gold," Leo whispered again. The two boys stared at him. And then Leo saw it, in Wilkie's eyes. A flicker of fear. "It's that man!" Wilkie said. "What man?" Fletch rasped. "Let's get out of here," Wilkie said.

第七章弗莱契先睁开了眼睛。 “什么……”他跳了起来。 利奥的蜡烛使房间散发出诡异的金色光芒。 威尔基动了一下，嘟囔了一声，然后又闭上了眼睛。 弗莱彻狠狠地踢了他一脚。 “什么?”威尔基说着，爬了起来。 他迅速地把目光锁定在利奥身上。 “那是谁?”“把我的金子给我，”利奥又低声说。 两个男孩盯着他。 然后里奥从威尔基的眼睛里看到了。 一丝恐惧。“就是那个人!”威尔基说。 “什么人?”羽毛发出刺耳的声音。 “我们离开这里吧，”威尔基说。

Fletch wavered a little, Leo could see. But he was still looking at Leo with a hard, untrusting expression. He wasn't fooled, Leo thought. This wasn't working. Run! he told himself. Get out of here now! But somehow Leo was able to stay still. He stood a little taller. He imagined he really was the ghost of a murdered man. Fletch and Wilkie weren't killers, as far as Leo knew. But they had hurt dozens of people in their lives, probably more. If anyone deserved to be haunted, it was these two. "I know what you've done," Leo whispered, the way Papa used to whisper when he told his late-night stories. "You will be punished." Wilkie looked terrified. It was as though Leo had cast a spell on him. But then there was a loud crash from the front. They all turned. And for a second Leo expected to see the ghost of Corey Drew hovering in the doorway. Instead, he saw a familiar skinny shape. Morris.

莱契有点动摇，利奥看得出来。 但他仍然带着一种冷酷、不信任的表情看着利奥。 他没有被骗，利奥想。 这行不通。快跑!他对自己说。 马上离开这里!但不知怎么的，里奥能保持不动。 他站得高一点。他想象自己真的是一个被谋杀的人的鬼魂。 据里奥所知，弗莱彻和威尔基不是凶手。 但他们在生活中伤害了几十个人，可能更多。 如果有人应该被闹鬼，那就是这两个人。 “我知道你做了什么，”利奥低声说，就像爸爸在深夜讲他的故事时那样。 “你会受到惩罚的。”威尔基看上去吓坏了。 就好像利奥对他下了魔咒。 但就在这时，前方传来一声巨响。 他们都转过身来。有那么一瞬间，里奥以为会看到科里·德鲁的鬼魂在门口徘徊。 相反，他看到了一个熟悉的瘦削的形状。 莫里斯。

Leo's heart dropped into his boots. Fletch let out a rasping laugh. He walked over and grabbed Morris. He dragged him back by the collar and then pushed him hard into Leo. Leo's candle dropped to the floor. Now it was almost completely dark in the old saloon. But that didn't stop Fletch and Wilkie. As Wilkie pinned Leo and Morris against the wall, Fletch came close to them. Leo could feel the heat of his rotten-smelling breath. Fletch grabbed Papa's hat from Leo's head and smacked Leo across the face with it. Hard. "Your gold is long gone," he said, in his sickening growl. Then he punched Morris in the stomach. Morris doubled over, moaning in pain. "Hey!" Leo said. Without thinking, he gave Fletch a hard shove. Fletch tripped and fell to the floor. In the faint predawn light, Leo saw the chilling stare on Fletch's face. It was the look of a rattlesnake ready to strike.

利奥的心一下子掉到了嗓子眼上。 弗莱契发出刺耳的笑声。 他走过去抓住莫里斯。 他拽着利奥的衣领把他拖了回来，然后用力把他推到利奥身上。 利奥的蜡烛掉到了地板上。 现在，老酒馆里几乎全黑了。 但这并没有阻止弗莱彻和威尔基。 当威尔基把利奥和莫里斯按在墙上时，弗莱彻走近了他们。 利奥可以感觉到他那难闻的呼吸的热度。 弗莱契从里奥的头上抓起爸爸的帽子，在里奥的脸上打了一巴掌。 困难的。“你的金子早就没了。”他用令人作呕的咆哮说道。 然后他一拳打在莫里斯的肚子上。 莫里斯弯下腰，痛苦地呻吟着。 “嘿!”利奥说。他不假思索地用力推了弗莱契一下。 弗莱契绊了一下，倒在地板上。 在黎明前微弱的光线中，利奥看到弗莱契脸上令人毛骨悚然的凝视。 那表情就像一条随时准备攻击的响尾蛇。

Fletch leaped to his feet and came charging toward Leo. Leo closed his eyes and braced himself for a beating. His entire body began to shake. But wait. He wasn't shaking. The entire house was. There was a strange sound, like thunder rumbling from deep in the ground. The trembling got stronger. The noise rose up around them, so loud that it hurt Leo's ears. The floor bounced beneath their feet. "What is it?" Wilkie said. Morris grabbed Leo by the arm. "It's an earthquake!" Morris shouted. "We have to get out of here!"

弗莱契一跃而起，向里奥冲了过来。 利奥闭上眼睛，准备挨一顿揍。 他的整个身体开始颤抖。 但是等待。他没有发抖。 整个房子都是。有一种奇怪的声音，像是从地下深处发出的雷声。 颤抖得更厉害了。 他们周围的声音越来越大，吵得利奥的耳朵都痛了。 他们脚下的地板在弹跳。 “什么事?”威尔基说。 莫里斯抓住利奥的胳膊。 “地震了!”莫里斯喊道。 “我们必须离开这里!”