6 THINKING THINGS OVER

CHAPTER 6 THINKING THINGS OVER Mom!" Ally cried the second Mrs. Jeffrey walked in the door. "Mom, you've got to find somebody else to take care of the kids." Cosmo's nose was practically glued to Ally's head. He sniffed and pawed at the little ball on top of her ponytail. "Ally," Mrs. Jeffrey said as she sorted through the mail. "We've been over this. I know you'd like to see your friends after school—" "No, it's not about that," Ally said. She swatted at Cosmo as though she could feel him messing with her ponytail, but her hand went right

第6章三思而后行，妈妈！杰弗里太太一进门，艾丽就哭了。 “妈妈，你得找别人来照顾孩子们。” 科斯莫的鼻子几乎粘在艾丽的头上了。 他嗅了嗅，用爪子抓了抓她马尾辫上的小球。 “艾丽，”杰弗里太太一边整理邮件一边说。 “我们已经谈过了。我知道你想在放学后见到你的朋友——”“不，不是那个问题，”艾丽说。 她朝科斯莫挥了一巴掌，仿佛感觉到他在摆弄她的马尾辫，但她的手向右转

through him. "Then what is it about?" Mrs. Jeffrey asked. "David and Ben are scared to stay home alone without an adult. Right, guys?" Ally raised her eyebrows at them. "Yes," Ben said at the same time David said, "Well—" Mrs. Jeffrey turned to Ben with concern. "What are you scared of?" she asked. "Ghosts," Ben said. "There's no such thing as ghosts," Mrs. Jeffrey said. Kaz groaned. He didn't like it when solid people said that. "There is, too," Ben said. "They come to our house every day at five o'clock!" "Mom," Ally said, worming her way in between Ben and their mother. "Ava's mom watches little kids after school. She said she would love to have David and Ben." "You know we can't afford a babysitter, Ally,"

通过他。“那是关于什么的？”杰弗里太太问。 “大卫和本害怕独自呆在家里，没有大人的陪伴。 对不对?”艾丽朝他们扬起眉毛。 “是的，”本说，与此同时，大卫说，“嗯——”杰弗里太太关切地转向本。 “你害怕什么？”她问。 “鬼，”本说。“根本就没有鬼，”杰弗里太太说。 Kaz呻吟着。他不喜欢可靠的人这么说。 “也有，”本说。 “他们每天五点钟到我们家来！”“妈妈，”艾丽说着，从本和他们的妈妈中间挤了进来。 艾娃的妈妈在孩子放学后照顾他们。 她说她很想要大卫和本。” “你知道我们请不起保姆，艾丽，”

Mrs. Jeffrey said. She set the mail on the counter. "Ava's mom says you don't have to pay—" Mrs. Jeffrey shook her head. "I can't let her do that. But both boys have dentist appointments on Monday. You can see your friends then. Other than that, I need you here after school. I'm sorry, honey." "One day off. Big whoop," Ally grumbled as she left the room. Cosmo started to follow Ally, but Kaz called, "Cosmo! Stay here!" The ghost dog let out a low groan and swam back to Kaz. "Good boy," Kaz said, giving his dog a pat. Then Mrs. Jeffrey noticed Claire. "Who are you?" she asked, glancing curiously at the things in Claire's hands. "This is Claire," David said. "She's here to help us get rid of our ghosts." "I see," Mrs. Jeffrey said with a tight smile. Kaz had a feeling Mrs. Jeffrey didn't believe

杰弗里太太说。她把邮件放在柜台上。 “艾娃的妈妈说你不用付钱——”杰弗里太太摇了摇头。 “我不能让她那样做。但两个男孩周一都约了牙医。 你可以看到你的朋友。 除此之外，我需要你放学后过来。 对不起，亲爱的。”“休息一天。 大呼！”艾丽离开房间时嘟囔着。 宇宙开始跟着艾丽，但是卡兹叫道：“宇宙！呆在这儿!”鬼狗发出一声低低的呻吟，游回和子身边。 “好孩子，”卡兹说，拍拍他的狗。 然后杰弗里太太注意到了克莱尔。 “你是谁？”她问，好奇地瞥了一眼克莱尔手里的东西。 “这是克莱尔，”大卫说。 “她是来帮我们赶走鬼魂的。” “我明白了，”杰弗里太太苦笑着说。 卡兹有一种感觉，杰弗里太太不相信

Claire could do that. "It's nice to meet you, Claire," Mrs. Jeffrey said. "But I think it's time for you to go home." "Okay," Claire said. She opened her water bottle, and Kaz and Cosmo quickly swam inside. Then she shoved everything else in her bag and headed for the door. "Wait." Mrs. Jeffrey called her back. She handed her a magazine called CQ. It was addressed to someone named J. C. Hill. "This mail was delivered here by mistake. Would you mind dropping it off at the next-door neighbors' house on your way home?" "Sure," Claire said, taking the magazine. "Bye, David. I'll see you tomorrow." Claire glanced down at the address on the

克莱尔也能做到。“很高兴见到你，克莱尔，”杰弗里太太说。 “但我觉得你该回家了。” “好吧，”克莱尔说。她打开水瓶，卡兹和科斯莫迅速游了进去。 然后她把其他东西都塞进包里，朝门口走去。 “等等。”杰弗里太太给她回了电话。 她递给她一本叫《CQ》的杂志。 收件人是J。 c·希尔。“这封邮件是误送到这里的。 你介意在回家的路上把它送到隔壁邻居家吗？”“当然，”克莱尔接过杂志说。 “再见,大卫。明天见。” 克莱尔瞥了一眼上面的地址

magazine, then up at the house numbers. "I think it's that house over there," she said, walking over. She put J. C. Hill's magazine in the mailbox, then adjusted the strap of her water bottle and started for home. "Those are strange ghosts at that house," Kaz said. "They only come out at five o'clock. They do the same thing every day: They turn on a lamp, they open the garage door, and they mess up the TVs. But then they stay there inside the TVs and the organ. They don't come out and glow or wail or anything." Claire nodded. "It makes me wonder if there's another explanation for what's happening at David's house." "Like what?" Kaz asked. "I don't know," Claire said. Kaz and Claire walked in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. If ghosts aren't turning on the lamp, opening the garage door, and talking through the TVs and

杂志，然后是门牌号。 “我想是那边的那所房子，”她边说边走过去。 她把j·c·希尔（J. C. Hill）的杂志放进邮箱，然后整理好水瓶的带子，开始回家。 “那所房子里有奇怪的鬼魂。”和子说。 “他们五点钟才出来。 他们每天都做同样的事情：他们开灯，他们打开车库门，他们弄乱电视。 然后他们就呆在电视机和风琴里。 它们不会出来发光，也不会嚎啕大哭什么的。” 克莱儿点了点头。“这让我怀疑大卫家发生的事情是否另有原因。” “像什么?”Kaz问道。“我不知道，”克莱尔说。 卡兹和克莱尔默默地走了一会儿，各自沉浸在自己的思绪中。 如果鬼魂不开灯，不开车库门，不通过电视说话