Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Chickens Jessie looked up from her notebook as Evan walked into the living room. She and Maxwell had spent most of the day walking all over Grandma's property, looking for someone to spy on. Now they were watching Get Smart while Jessie wrote important notes that would help them with their spy mission. They'd finished watching the episode called "Diplomat's Daughter" and were about to watch the one where Maxwell Smart disguises himself as a giant chicken. At the top of the first page of her notebook, Jessie had written, "The Bell Bandit," which she thought sounded just like the title of a real episode from the show. When Evan walked in, Jessie was surprised to see that he had his snow boots on. "Not

埃文走进客厅时，杰西从笔记本上抬起头来。 她和麦克斯韦尔花了大半天的时间在奶奶的房子里转来转去，想找个可以监视的人。 现在他们在看《聪明起来》，杰西在写重要的笔记，帮助他们完成间谍任务。 他们已经看完了《外交官的女儿》这一集，正准备看麦克斯韦·斯玛特把自己伪装成一只大鸡的那一集。 在她笔记本的第一页上方，杰西写着“钟贼”，她觉得这个名字听起来就像这部剧真正的一集的标题。 当埃文走进来时，杰西惊讶地发现他穿着雪地靴。 “不

allowed!" she said, pointing her pencil at the dripping boots. "You're tracking in snow!" "Mom!" shouted Evan. "Mom, can you come here?" Jessie looked at Evan's face. It didn't look the way it usually did. It almost looked like Evan was scared of something. But that didn't make any sense, because there was nothing to be afraid of here in the house. Jessie looked over at Maxwell. He hadn't even noticed that Evan had come in the room. He was busy watching the television. "What is it?" shouted Mrs. Treski from the second floor. Evan took the stairs two at a time. Ten seconds later, Mrs. Treski came hurrying down with Evan right behind her. Without saying a word, they disappeared into the kitchen. Jessie slowly got up from the couch and wandered after them, not sure she wanted to see what was going on. In the kitchen, Jessie's mom was trying to take

允许！”她说着，用铅笔指着湿淋淋的靴子。 “你在雪地里追！”“妈妈！”埃文喊道。 “妈妈，你能过来一下吗？”杰西看着埃文的脸。 它看起来和往常不一样了。 看起来埃文好像被什么东西吓到了。 但这说不通，因为这房子里没有什么可怕的。 杰西看了看麦克斯韦。 他甚至没有注意到埃文进了房间。 他正忙着看电视。 “怎么了？”特雷斯基太太在二楼喊道。 埃文一步走两级楼梯。 十秒钟后，特雷斯基太太匆匆走了下来，埃文紧跟在她后面。 他们二话没说就消失在厨房里了。 杰西慢慢地从沙发上站起来，跟在他们后面，她不确定自己是否想看看发生了什么事。 在厨房里，杰西的妈妈想拿

Grandma's coat off, but Grandma kept twisting away, saying it was time to feed the chickens. Chickens! Just like on Get Smart. But Jessie knew that Grandma didn't keep chickens anymore. She used to, for years and years, and Jessie remembered the smelly coop and the soft fluff of feathers when she held a hen and the warm, smooth eggs that came in all different colors. That had been a long time ago, when Jessie was just a little kid. Why was Grandma saying she had to feed the chickens now? "I'll feed the chickens, Mrs. Joyce," said Evan. Why was Evan calling Grandma Mrs. Joyce? "I'll take care of everything." "You don't know how!" said Grandma angrily. "Susan, stop it. I have my chores to do." She swatted at Jessie's mom with her good hand and twisted away again. "Yes, I do," said Evan. "The feed is in the barn, in the barrel to the left of the door. I fill the empty milk jug then shake it into the two

奶奶脱下外套，但奶奶不停地扭着身子，说该喂鸡了。 鸡!就像《聪明起来》一样。 但是杰西知道奶奶不再养鸡了。 她曾经这么做过，年复一年，杰西还记得她抱着一只母鸡时，那臭烘烘的鸡舍和柔软的羽毛，还有那些温暖、光滑、颜色各异的鸡蛋。 那是很久以前的事了，那时杰西还是个孩子。 奶奶为什么说她现在得喂鸡了？ “我来喂鸡，乔伊斯太太，”埃文说。 埃文为什么叫奶奶乔伊斯夫人？ “我会处理好一切的。” “你不知道怎么做！”奶奶生气地说。 “苏珊，别说了。我还有家务要做呢。” 她用那只没受伤的手打了杰西的妈妈一下，又扭开了。 “是的，我喜欢，”埃文说。“饲料在谷仓里，在门左边的桶里。 我把空牛奶罐装满，然后摇成两杯

feeders. And then I refill the pan with fresh water." Grandma stopped struggling. "How do you know that?" "I used to feed the chickens for you all the time," said Evan. Jessie thought his voice sounded funny, like it was being squeezed out of a toothpaste tube. "Did you?" Her voice was quiet. She looked at Evan for a long time. "All right, then." Evan walked out the back door and headed for the barn. Where was he going? "Come on, Mom," said Mrs. Treski, helping Grandma out of her coat. Grandma was very quiet now. It looked as if she was concentrating really hard on a particularly difficult jigsaw puzzle. Mrs. Treski led Grandma out of the kitchen. Jessie followed them into the living room and watched them go upstairs. "You don't see that every day," Jessie

喂食器。然后我把锅里装满淡水。” 奶奶停止了挣扎。 “你怎么知道的？”“我以前总是帮你喂鸡，”埃文说。 杰西觉得他的声音听起来很滑稽，就像从牙膏管里挤出来的一样。 “你呢?”她的声音很平静。 她盯着埃文看了很长时间。 “那好吧。”埃文走出后门，朝谷仓走去。 他要去哪里？“来吧，妈妈，”特雷斯基太太说，帮奶奶脱下外套。 奶奶现在很安静。 看起来她好像在全神贯注地玩一个特别难的拼图游戏。 特雷斯基太太领着奶奶走出厨房。 杰西跟着他们进了客厅，看着他们上楼。 “这可不是每天都能看到的，”杰西说

murmured. "You certainly don't," said Maxwell, right on cue, his eyes still glued to the TV set. Seconds later Evan walked in through the front door. "Why did you pretend to feed the chickens?" Jessie blurted out. Evan pointed to the ceiling. "Is she upstairs?" "Yeah, with Mom." Jessie looked at Evan's face. "There are no chickens, Evan!" Evan shrugged. "Yeah, I know. I just thought it would be the easiest thing. I don't know." "Is she pretending she doesn't know you again?" "It's not pretending, Jessie!" Evan sounded angry. Why would he be angry? What had she done? "That doesn't make sense," said Jessie. "You don't just forget someone in your family. That's not possible." "Yeah, well, tell Grandma that. You can talk

低声说道。“你当然不知道，”麦克斯韦说，就在这时，他的眼睛仍然盯着电视机。 几秒钟后，埃文从前门走了进来。 “你为什么要假装喂鸡？”杰西脱口而出。 埃文指着天花板。 “她在楼上吗？”“是的，和妈妈一起。” 杰西看着埃文的脸。 “没有鸡，埃文！”埃文耸了耸肩。 “是的，我知道。我只是觉得这是最简单的事。 我不知道。”“她又假装不认识你了吗？”“这不是假装，杰西！”埃文听起来很生气。 他为什么要生气？她做了什么？ “这说不通啊，”杰西说。 “你不会忘记家里的某个人。 这不可能。”“是啊，好吧，把这话告诉奶奶。 你可以说话

to her. She remembers you." And now Jessie was positive that Evan was angry. "None of this makes sense," said Jessie. "I'm going to go get Mom." "No!" said Evan. "Leave her alone. She's taking care of Grandma." "So?" said Jessie. "She can still talk to me." She headed for the stairs. "Don't!" And the way he said it made Jessie stop and turn around. Maxwell laughed loudly at something that was on the TV, and Evan looked at him. Then in a quiet voice, Evan said, "Why does he have to be here?" "Because we're watching TV," Jessie said. What was wrong with Maxwell? Why didn't Evan want him around? "Whatever," said Evan, and he headed for the kitchen. But before he left the room, he turned and said, "You were right. The bell's gone. We saw it, Grandma and me. Just before she went loopy."

给她。她记得你。” 现在杰西确定埃文生气了。 “这些都说不通，”杰西说。 “我去叫妈妈。” “不！”埃文说。“别烦她。 她在照顾奶奶。” “那又怎样？”杰西说。“她还能跟我说话。” 她朝楼梯走去。 “不!”他说话的样子让杰西停下脚步，转过身来。 麦克斯韦尔对着电视上的什么东西大笑起来，埃文看着他。 然后，埃文平静地说：“他为什么一定要在这里？”“因为我们在看电视，”杰西说。 麦克斯韦怎么了？ 为什么埃文不想让他在身边？ “随便吧。”埃文说着，朝厨房走去。 但在他离开房间之前，他转过身说：“你说得对。 铃响了。我们看到了，奶奶和我。 就在她发疯之前。”