5 EXP-A-A-A-ND

CHAPTER 5 EXP-A-A-A-ND Tell us the idea!" Little John begged Pops. "We're not afraid of danger. Are we, Kaz?" Well..., Kaz thought. But out loud he said, "No. We're not afraid of danger." He could be brave if it meant finding his mom. The sooner they found Mom, the sooner they could go back to the library. "How far can you boys expand?" Pops asked. "Pretty far," Little John said proudly. He expa- a-a-a-a-nded from the floor almost to the ceiling to prove it. "Fabulous. How about you, Kaz?" Pops asked.

第五章告诉我们是怎么回事！”小约翰恳求老爷子。 “我们不怕危险。 是吗，卡兹？”嗯…卡兹想。 但他大声说：“不。 我们不怕危险。” 如果能找到他妈妈，他可以勇敢一点。 他们越早找到妈妈，就能越早回到图书馆。 “你们这些男孩能扩张到什么程度？”持久性有机污染物问道。 “相当远，”小约翰自豪地说。 为了证明这一点，他几乎从地板上跳到了天花板上。 “令人难以置信的。你呢，卡兹？”持久性有机污染物问道。

Kaz was taller than Little John. He exp-a-a-aa- a-nded from the floor and past the ceiling. His head popped through the ceiling and into Margaret's bedroom upstairs. Margaret was sound asleep in her bed. "Very good," Pops said as Kaz and Little John shrank to their normal sizes. He peered out into the backyard. "This could work." "What could work? What do you want us to do?" Kaz asked. "Yeah, what's your idea, Pops?" Little John asked. "If we all expand as far as we can, and then hold hands really, really tight, we might be able to

卡兹比小约翰高。 他从地板上跳了下来，越过了天花板。 他的头从天花板探了出来，进了楼上玛格丽特的卧室。 玛格丽特在床上睡得很熟。 “很好，”老爷子说，这时卡兹和小约翰缩回了正常的尺寸。 他向后院望去。 “这是可行的。”“什么能起作用？” 你想让我们做什么？”Kaz问道。 “是啊，你有什么主意，老爷子？”小约翰问。 “如果我们都尽我们所能地扩张，然后紧紧握住我们的手，我们也许能做到

stretch from inside this house all the way to the tree house," Pops said. "You mean expand across the whole backyard?" Kaz asked. That did sound dangerous. "Let's try!" Little John said eagerly. "Okay. I'll stay here in the house and make sure we don't all blow into the Outside," Pops said. "Little John, you'll go first. I want you to hold tight to Kaz's hand. Then you're going to pass through this window and expand into the backyard as far as you can. Kaz, you'll grab my hand with your other hand, and then you'll pass through and expand as far as you can. Finally, I'll expand my arm, Little John, and we'll see if you can reach the tree house. If your mother is there, she can grab onto your hand, and we'll pull her back here." "That sounds like a good plan," Little John said. But if anyone let go, or if Pops wasn't strong enough to keep his body inside the house while

从房子里一直延伸到树屋，”老爷子说。 “你是说扩展到整个后院？”Kaz问道。 这听起来确实很危险。“我们试试!”小约翰急切地说。 “好吧。我就呆在家里，确保我们不会都吹到外面去。”老爷子说。 “小约翰，你先走。 我要你抓紧卡兹的手。 然后你要穿过这扇窗户，尽可能地延伸到后院。 卡兹，你用另一只手抓住我的手，然后你穿过我，尽可能地扩张。 最后，我会伸出我的手臂，小约翰，我们看看你能不能够到树屋。 如果你妈妈在那里，她可以抓住你的手，我们把她拉回来。” “听起来是个好计划，”小约翰说。 但如果有人松手了，或者老爷子不够强壮不能把自己的身体留在屋里

holding onto Kaz's hand outside the house, they would all blow away! Kaz remembered how their big brother, Finn, used to stick his arm or leg through the walls of the old schoolhouse because he liked to scare his little brothers. But one day Finn wasn't strong enough to keep the rest of his body inside the old schoolhouse. The wind pulled him into the Outside, and he blew away. Grandmom and Grandpop had tried to rescue him, but they ended up in the Outside, too. Kaz and Claire had found his grandparents at a nursing home near the library a few weeks ago. But no one, including Grandmom and Grandpop, knew what had happened to Finn. "We can do it. Right, Kaz?" Little John said as he reached for Kaz's hand. Kaz gulped. They had to try. "Right," he said. "Okay, let's do this," Pops said. He grabbed Kaz's other hand.

在房子外面抓住和子的手，他们都会被吹走！卡兹记得他们的哥哥芬恩曾经把胳膊或腿伸进旧校舍的墙里，因为他喜欢吓唬他的弟弟们。 但是有一天，芬恩的身体不够强壮，无法把身体的其余部分留在旧校舍里。 风把他吹到了外面，他被吹走了。 爷爷奶奶曾试图救他，但他们最后也被送到了外面。 卡兹和克莱尔几周前在图书馆附近的一家养老院找到了他的祖父母。 但是没有人，包括爷爷奶奶，知道芬恩出了什么事。 “我们能做到。Kaz ?”小约翰边说边伸手去拉卡兹的手。 Kaz一饮而尽。他们不得不尝试。 “对，”他说。“好吧，我们开始吧，”老爷子说。 他抓住卡兹的另一只手。

Kaz held tight to both hands as Little John passed slowly through the glass window and expa- a-a-a-a-nded out... out... out... across Margaret and Henry's backyard. "Hey, it's raining out here!" Little John called from the Outside. "I've never felt raindrops pass through me before." He giggled. Great, Kaz thought. He didn't know what Little John was giggling about. He remembered the first time he was inside Claire's water bottle and she turned on the water above him. He didn't like it when the water passed through his body. He didn't like it at all. "Your turn, Kaz," Pops said. "Are you ready? You've learned to do so many things since we've been apart. Wait until your mother sees everything you can do now." Kaz gulped again. He could do this. For his mom. He took a deep breath, then followed Little John through the window and out... out...

卡兹紧紧抓住小约翰的双手，小约翰慢慢地穿过玻璃窗，走了出去…… 出……出……穿过玛格丽特和亨利的后院 “嘿，外面在下雨！”小约翰在外面叫道。 “我从来没有感觉到雨滴从我身上流过。” 他咯咯地笑着说。太好了，卡兹想。 他不知道小约翰在笑什么。 他记得他第一次在克莱尔的水瓶里，她打开了他上面的水。 他不喜欢水流经他的身体。 他一点也不喜欢。“轮到你了，卡兹，”老爷子说。 “准备好了吗？”我们分开后，你学会了很多事。 等着让你妈妈看到你现在的能力吧。” 卡兹又咽了口气。他可以这么做。 为了他妈妈。他深吸了一口气，然后跟着小约翰穿过窗户，走了出去…… 出……

out... across the yard. Rain pounded through his head. His arms. His back. It felt like little bits of him were being dropped all over the yard. But Kaz managed to hold himself together and push his brother farther into the yard. Then Pops exp-a-a-a-a-a-nded his arm and pushed Kaz and Little John even farther. But Little John still wasn't past the backyard climbing structure. "Can you guys expand any more?" Little John asked as lightning flashed and thunder rumbled above them. "I'll try," Pops said. Kaz could feel Pops pushing... pushing... pushing. He str-e-e-e-e-e-tched both arms as far as he could. But it still wasn't enough. "I can't expand any more," Kaz said, exhausted from the effort.

出……穿过院子。雨水打在他的头上。 他的怀里。他的背。感觉他的身体碎片被扔得到处都是。 但是和子设法振作起来，把他哥哥推到院子里更远的地方。 然后老爷子伸出胳膊，把卡兹和小约翰推得更远。 但是小约翰仍然没有越过后院的攀爬结构。 “你们能再扩大一点吗？”小约翰问，电闪雷鸣在他们头顶轰鸣。 “我试试，”老爷子说。卡兹能感觉到老爷子在推…… 推动……推动。他把两只胳膊伸得尽可能远。 但这还不够。 “我不能再扩张了，”和子说，他已经筋疲力尽了。