1 SECRET CLUB

BY EDGAR AWARD WINNER DORI HILLESTAD BUTLER The HAUNTED LIBRARY

埃德加奖得主多里·希勒斯塔德·巴特勒著《闹鬼的图书馆》

CHAPTER 1 SECRET CLUB Who left the TV on in here again?" Mr. Kendall grumbled as he wandered into the living room. He picked up the remote and turned off the TV. "Hey!" Little John cried as he hovered above the couch. "We were watching that!" "He can't hear you," Kaz reminded his brother. "Oh yeah," Little John said.

第一章秘密俱乐部谁又把电视忘在这里了？”肯德尔先生一边嘟囔着一边走进客厅。 他拿起遥控器，关掉了电视。 “嘿!”小约翰在沙发上方盘旋时哭了起来。 “我们正在看呢！”“他听不见。”卡兹提醒弟弟。 “哦，是的，”小约翰说。

Kaz and Little John were ghosts. They used to live in an old abandoned schoolhouse with the rest of their ghost family. But when the schoolhouse was torn down, the family got separated. Now Kaz and Little John lived in the library with their solid friend Claire and her family. Claire could see ghosts when they weren't glowing, and she could hear ghosts when they weren't wailing. Her dad, Mr. Kendall, could not. Little John swam over. His whole body glowed. "We... were... watching... that," he wailed loudly in Mr. Kendall's face. Claire's dad jumped. He could see and hear Little John now. "Sorry," he said, backing away. "I... uh... forgot we were sharing our home with a bunch of ghosts." "Not... a... bunch... of... ghosts," Little John wailed. "Just... three." Beckett was the third ghost. He wasn't related to Kaz and Little John, but he'd been at the library

卡兹和小约翰是鬼魂。 他们曾经和鬼魂家族的其他成员住在一所废弃的旧校舍里。 但是当校舍被拆除后，这个家庭就分开了。 现在卡兹和小约翰和他们的好朋友克莱尔一家住在图书馆里。 克莱尔能看到不发光的鬼魂，也能听到不哀号的鬼魂。 她的父亲肯德尔先生却不能。 小约翰游了过去。他全身发红。 “我们…是……看…… 他当着肯德尔先生的面大声哭道。 克莱尔的爸爸跳了起来。现在他能看到小约翰，也能听到他的声音了。 “对不起。”他说着，往后退。 “我……嗯…忘了我们和一群鬼住在一起了。” “不…一个……群……的…… 鬼！”小约翰哭着说。 “只是……三。”贝克特是第三个鬼魂。 他和卡兹和小约翰没有血缘关系，但他去过图书馆

way longer than they had. Beckett preferred books to TV, so he was probably downstairs reading. Claire's dad turned the TV back on and started to leave. "You... can... watch... TV... with... us... if... you... want," Kaz wailed. He had only learned to wail a couple of weeks ago. He still couldn't glow. "Oh, I don't think so," Claire's dad said. He couldn't see Kaz, so he talked to the air a few feet to the right of Kaz. "Awww... come... on!... Stay... and... watch... with... us," Little John wailed. "It's... a... good... show." "No. No, thank you," Claire's dad said as he checked his watch. "Claire will be home soon. She may even be home now. Maybe she'll watch TV with you." He hurried away. Little John's glow went out. "Why doesn't Claire's dad like us?" he asked Kaz. "I don't think he dislikes us," Kaz replied.

比他们长得多。比起看电视，贝克特更喜欢看书，所以他可能在楼下看书。 克莱尔的爸爸打开电视，准备离开。 “你……可以…看……电视…… 与…我们……如果……你…… 我想要。”卡兹哭着说。他几个星期前才学会哭泣。 他还是不能发光。“哦，我不这么认为，”克莱尔的爸爸说。 他看不见和子，所以他对着和子右边几英尺的空气说话。 “哇…来……!…保持…… 和…看……与…小约翰哭着说。 “这是……一个……好…显示。” “没有。不，谢谢，”克莱尔的爸爸一边看表一边说。 “克莱尔很快就会回来。 她现在可能在家。也许她会和你一起看电视。” 他匆匆走开了。小约翰的光芒熄灭了。 “为什么克莱尔的爸爸不喜欢我们？”他问卡兹。 “我不认为他不喜欢我们，”卡兹回答。

"He doesn't like to be around us," Little John said. "He always leaves whenever he knows we're in the room." Kaz had noticed that, too. "I think he feels weird around us." "Why?" Little John asked. "Because we're ghosts. And he's a solid," Kaz said. "So?" Little John shrugged. "So, we can see him, but he can't see us. That must feel weird. Remember, he didn't even know ghosts existed until Claire and her mom and her grandma told him about us," Kaz said. When Claire's mom and Grandma Karen were Claire's age, they could see and hear ghosts, too— just like Claire. But they couldn't do it anymore. Claire and her mom and Grandma Karen had told Claire's dad about their unusual abilities a couple of weeks ago. It was hard for him to understand. "Is he scared of us?" Little John asked.

“他不喜欢和我们在一起，”小约翰说。 “只要他知道我们在房间里，他就会离开。” 卡兹也注意到了这一点。 “我觉得他和我们在一起感觉怪怪的。” “为什么?”小约翰问。“因为我们是鬼。 他是个可靠的人，”卡兹说。 “所以?”小约翰耸了耸肩。 “所以，我们可以看到他，但他看不到我们。 那感觉一定很奇怪。记住，他甚至不知道鬼魂的存在，直到克莱尔和她的妈妈和奶奶告诉他我们的事，”卡兹说。 克莱尔的妈妈和奶奶凯伦在克莱尔这么大的时候，她们也能看到和听到鬼魂——就像克莱尔一样。 但他们不能再这样做了。 几个星期前，克莱尔和她的妈妈以及凯伦奶奶告诉了克莱尔的爸爸他们不寻常的能力。 这对他来说很难理解。 “他怕我们吗？”小约翰问。