Chapter 10

Chapter 10 Shattering Glass Evan started running down the driveway. Grandma would be easy to spot, he was sure. She was wearing a dark green coat that would stand out like a flag with all that white snow blanketing the ground. He wished he could follow her tracks, but Jessie and Maxwell and Pete and Evan had made so many footprints since yesterday, it was impossible to make sense out of the mishmash that covered the driveway. And what if she hadn't stuck to the driveway? What if she was in the woods that spread out on both sides? Evan ran past Little Pond, looking left and right. The woods were shaded and filled with the shifting shadows of brown and green cast by tall pine trees. The sun was low in the sky, and the woods seemed to be sprouting

埃文开始沿着车道往下跑。 他确信奶奶很容易被认出来。 她穿着一件深绿色的外套，在白雪覆盖的地面上，这件外套就像一面旗帜一样显眼。 他真希望能跟着她的足迹走，可是杰西、麦克斯韦尔、皮特和埃文从昨天起就留下了那么多脚印，车道上的一堆乱七八糟的东西根本无法辨认。 如果她没有堵在车道上呢？ 如果她是在树林里呢？ 埃文跑过小池塘，左顾右望。 树林里被高大的松树投下的褐色和绿色的阴影笼罩着。 太阳低垂在天空中，树林似乎正在发芽

strange shapes right before his eyes. If Grandma had stopped to sit down, if she was hurt and lying on the ground surrounded by the thickness and silence of those trees, he would never see her. He started to run faster. He thought of calling out, but a voice inside told him not to. Maybe Grandma had forgotten who he was again. Maybe she would be afraid of him. If she heard his voice calling, she might hide, and then he would never find her. The thought banged against the inside of his skull with every crashing step he took. It was cold, and it was getting dark. She was old and didn't remember things right. People died up here in the mountains. Kids lost in a snowstorm. Grownups when their cars broke down. Hikers who left the trails and became disoriented. Evan had heard the stories. People died up here. Evan kept running. The driveway was long and curved and stretched for over half a mile

奇怪的形状就在他眼前。 如果祖母停下来坐下，如果她受伤了，躺在地上，周围是茂密而寂静的树木，他永远也见不到她了。 他开始跑得更快了。他想喊一声，但内心有个声音告诉他不要喊。 也许奶奶又忘了他是谁了。 也许她会害怕他。 如果她听到他的声音，她可能会躲起来，这样他就永远找不到她了。 他每踏出一步，这个念头就在他的脑壳里砰砰作响。 天很冷，天黑了。 她年纪大了，记性不太好。 有人死在山上了。 孩子们在暴风雪中迷路了。大人们的车坏了。 徒步旅行者离开了小路，迷失了方向。 埃文听过这些故事。 有人死在这里。埃文继续跑。 车道又长又弯，绵延半英里多

before reaching the road. He was breathing hard, and each breath felt like a rusty knife sawing through his lungs. His eyes stung from the cold, and two puddles of snot collected under his nostrils. But he kept running. Running toward the road. How far could she have gotten? As far as the road? She was wearing a dark green coat. No one would be able to see that coat if she was walking on the side of the road after dark. What if a car came around a curve too fast? When Evan reached the Big Rock, he heard a car—the crunch and grind of its wheels as it turned from the main road onto the driveway. Mom! Evan would have screamed if his throat weren't so dry and raw from running in the cold. He waved his arms wildly, running toward the road. But it wasn't his mother's car. It was Pete's truck, and Pete rolled down his window to find out why Evan was acting like a crazy person in the middle of the road. Breathing hard, trying to

在到达大路之前。他呼吸困难，每一次呼吸都像一把生锈的刀在锯他的肺。 他的眼睛冻得刺痛，鼻孔下面有两滩鼻涕。 但他一直在跑。朝大路跑去。 她能走多远？ 到路那边去？她穿着一件深绿色的外套。 如果天黑后她走在路边，没人能看到她的外套。 如果一辆车转弯太快怎么办？ 当埃文到达大石头时，他听到一辆汽车的声音——车轮嘎吱嘎吱地从主干道转到车道上。 妈妈!如果埃文不是因为在寒冷中奔跑而喉咙又干又痛的话，他早就尖叫了。 他疯狂地挥舞着双臂，朝大路跑去。 但那不是他妈妈的车。 那是皮特的卡车，皮特摇下车窗想弄清楚为什么埃文在路中间表现得像个疯子。 呼吸困难，努力

keep from crying, Evan explained. Pete listened seriously. "Okay, first thing, let's call your mom." "She doesn't have her cell phone with her— she left it at home! And I don't know exactly where she is. Somewhere in town. Meeting with an insurance agent." Pete nodded his head slowly, letting this information sink in. "All right, then. Here's the plan. Someone needs to stay at the house. Can you do that? Can you be the person who answers the phone if anyone calls and who waits there in case your grandmother comes back on her own?" Evan nodded his head. "I'll call the police, and they'll put together a search. When's your mom expected back?" Evan shook his head. "She said by dinnertime." "I think I better drive into town and track her down," said Pete. "If she gets back before I do, have her call me on my cell, okay?"

别哭，埃文解释说。 皮特认真地听着。“好吧，首先，我们给你妈妈打个电话。” “她没带手机——她把手机落在家里了！”我也不知道她到底在哪。 在镇上的某个地方。去见保险代理人。” 皮特慢慢地点了点头，让自己明白了这一点。 “那好吧。计划是这样的。 得有人待在家里。 你能做到吗？如果有人打电话来，你能接电话吗？如果你祖母独自回来，你能在那里等着吗？”埃文点了点头。 “我会打电话给警察，他们会组织搜查。 你妈妈什么时候回来？”埃文摇了摇头。 “她说到吃晚饭的时候。”“我想我最好开车进城去找她，”皮特说。 “如果她比我先回来，让她打我手机，好吗？”

"Okay." Evan was glad Pete was here, giving orders. Still, nothing Pete had said so far made Evan feel like Grandma was any closer to being found. "I'll take you back to the house," said Pete. "No, I'll walk," said Evan. He wanted Pete to go get his mother as soon as possible. And there was nothing waiting back at the house for him. Evan was sure of that. Pete backed up the truck to the road and then spun the wheel and roared off. Evan started walking slowly toward the house. With every step he took, he became more convinced that Grandma was out in the woods, out in the falling darkness, out in the cold. And he couldn't help feeling that it was his fault. He should have convinced her not to go for a walk. He should have talked her into waiting with him in the mudroom. He should have found his boot more quickly. Heard her leaving. Figured out which way she'd gone. Not been the one she forgot.

“好吧。”埃文很高兴皮特在这里发号施令。 然而，到目前为止，皮特说的话并没有让埃文觉得奶奶离被找到更近一步。 “我带你回家，”皮特说。 “不，我走着去，”埃文说。 他想让皮特尽快去接他妈妈。 家里也没有什么东西等着他。 埃文对此深信不疑。皮特把卡车倒到路上，然后转动方向盘，呼啸而去。 埃文开始慢慢朝房子走去。 他每走一步，就更加确信奶奶就在树林里，在暮色中，在寒冷中。 他不禁觉得这是他的错。 他应该说服她不要去散步。 他应该说服她和他一起在储藏室等着。 他应该更快地找到他的靴子。 听到她离开的声音。弄清楚她走哪条路了。 不是她忘记的那个。

The one she didn't like. When Evan got back to the house, he went first to the barn. No one was there. Then he stood in the front yard, the last place Grandma had been, and stared at the house. No lights were on. Grandma wasn't back. Pete had told him to wait inside. That was his job. And over the last few days, Pete had taught him the importance of each man doing his job and doing it well. But what if Grandma had gone to the bell? What if the bell had "called to her"? That's what Grandma said. Sometimes things called to her, and she had to follow their voices. A bird. A cluster of irises. The pond. The moon. All these things called to Grandma from time to time. And she always went when she was called. Evan dove into the woods, finding the path that led through the trees to Lovell's Hill. The sun was dipping below Black Bear Mountain and everything had gone flat and gray, but Evan

她不喜欢的那个。当埃文回到家时，他先去了谷仓。 没有人在那里。然后他站在前院，也就是奶奶最后去过的地方，盯着房子看。 没有灯亮着。奶奶没有回来。 皮特让他在屋里等着。 那是他的工作。在过去的几天里，皮特教会了他每个人各司其职并做好工作的重要性。 但是如果奶奶去了门铃那儿呢？ 如果是钟声在“呼唤她”呢？ 奶奶也是这么说的。有时有什么东西在召唤她，她就得跟着它们的声音走。 一只鸟。一束鸢尾花 池塘。月亮。所有这些东西都时不时地呼唤着奶奶。 只要叫她，她就会去。 埃文一头扎进树林，找到了穿过树林通往洛弗尔山的小路。 太阳正从黑熊山下下山，一切都变得暗淡无光，但埃文