3 THE GHOST OF PANCAKE COURT

THE GHOST OF PANCAKE COURT Bean was hiding inside a big, round bush in her front yard. The bush was right next to the sidewalk, and it was very scratchy and sticky inside, but Bean needed to be in the bush for her plan to work. Here's how Bean's plan went: She took a $20 bill out of Nancy's purse and taped a long thread to it. She put the $20 bill on the sidewalk. Then she held on to the other end of the thread and climbed into the bush. Nancy would be coming home from school soon. She would see the money on the sidewalk. She would bend down to pick it up. Bean would quickly pull the money away. And then Nancy would freak out. Bean could hardly wait. There was only one problem. Nancy

宾藏在她家前院的一棵又大又圆的灌木丛里。 灌木丛就在人行道旁边，里面又痒又粘，但比恩需要在灌木丛里才能让她的计划奏效。 比恩的计划是这样的：她从南希的钱包里拿出一张0美元的钞票，用一根长线绑在上面。 她把那张0美元的钞票放在人行道上。 然后她抓住线的另一端，爬进灌木丛。 南希很快就要放学回家了。 她会看到人行道上的钱。 她会弯下腰把它捡起来。 比恩会很快把钱抽走。 然后南希就会抓狂。 比恩几乎等不及了。只有一个问题。 南希

didn't come. Bean sat inside the bush for a long time. A branch poked her arm. Leaves fell down her shirt. She itched. She waited. Nothing happened. It was very quiet. Bean was hardly ever this quiet for this long. Because there was nothing else to do, she looked at the house across the street. Really, it wasn't across the street. It was around the street. Bean loved her street. The first reason was its name: Pancake Court. The second reason was that it ended in a big circle right in front of Bean's house. Her dad called it a cul-de-sac. Bean called it cool. If Bean started riding her bicycle at the end of the block and pedaled really, really hard, she could whiz around the circle, tilting low over the sidewalk like a motorcycle racer.

没来。憨豆在灌木丛里坐了很长时间。 一根树枝扎了她的胳膊。树叶落在她的衬衫上。 她很痒。她等待着。什么也没有发生。 非常安静。比恩从来没有这么安静过这么久。 因为没有别的事可做，她看了看街对面的房子。 真的，它不在街对面。 它在街道周围。比恩喜欢她的街道。 第一个原因是它的名字：煎饼庭。 第二个原因是它正好在比恩家门前绕了一个大圈。 她爸爸称之为死胡同。 比恩说它很酷。如果比恩在街区的尽头开始骑自行车，并且踩得非常非常用力，她就能绕着圈子疾驰而过，像摩托车赛车手一样在人行道上低低地倾斜。

Slam! Bean looked up. She saw Ivy come out onto her front porch and plop down on the top step. Bean squinted at her. Ivy looked strange. She wasn't wearing a dress today. She was wearing a black bathrobe with lots of little pieces of paper stuck to it. Weird, thought Bean. She squinted some more. Instead of a big book, Ivy was carrying a stick, painted gold. Bean made a face. What a goony costume, she thought. What a dork.

大满贯!比恩抬起头。她看见艾薇走到她家的前廊，扑通一声落在楼梯顶上。 比恩眯起眼睛看着她。艾薇看起来很奇怪。 她今天没穿裙子。 她穿着一件黑色的浴袍，上面粘着许多小纸片。 真奇怪，比恩想。她又眯了眯眼睛。 艾薇拿的不是一本大书，而是一根漆成金色的棍子。 比恩做了个鬼脸。多么滑稽的装束啊，她想。 真是个笨蛋。

Ivy sat. She didn't do anything. She just sat there all by herself. That was another strange thing about Ivy. She didn't mind being alone. She never played with anyone. Bean played with everyone. Big kids, little kids, all the kids in the neighborhood played with Bean. Even crummy Matt— who was so crummy he threw other kids' toys into the road—wanted to play with Bean.

艾薇坐着，她什么也没做。 她就一个人坐在那里。 艾薇还有一件奇怪的事。 她不介意一个人呆着。 她从不和任何人一起玩。 比恩和大家一起玩。 大的孩子，小的孩子，附近所有的孩子都和比恩一起玩。 就连坏透了的马特——他坏到把别的孩子的玩具扔到路上——也想和比恩一起玩。

She took care of the little kids. When they fell down and got blood all over their knees, Bean would take them home to get Band-Aids. The big kids let her play with them because she had good ideas, like seeing how many backyards they could cross without touching the ground. Bean loved big groups of kids playing big games, like pirates or hide-and-seek. Sometimes Bean wished she were an orphan so she could live in an orphanage with a hundred other kids. Of course, she didn't tell her mother and father that. Bean watched Ivy, alone on her front porch. Wasn't she lonely? Now Ivy was muttering something that Bean couldn't hear. And then she began to wave the stick in the air. Bean couldn't stand it anymore. "What the heck are you doing?" yelled Bean from inside her bush. Ivy looked all around. Bean forgot that

她照顾孩子们。 当他们摔倒，膝盖上都是血的时候，比恩会带他们回家拿创可贴。 大孩子们让她和他们一起玩，因为她有好主意，比如看看他们能在不触地的情况下穿过多少个后院。 比恩喜欢和一大群孩子一起玩大型游戏，比如海盗或捉迷藏。 有时，比恩希望自己是孤儿，这样她就能和其他一百个孩子一起生活在孤儿院。 当然，她没有把这件事告诉她的父母。 比恩看着独自站在门廊上的艾薇。 她不寂寞吗？现在艾薇在咕哝着什么，比恩听不见。 然后她开始在空中挥舞那根棍子。 比恩再也无法忍受了。 “你到底在干什么？”比恩从她的灌木丛里喊道。 艾薇环顾四周。豆子忘记了

Ivy couldn't see her. "What's with the stick?" she yelled. Ivy's eyes got big. "Who's there?" she said. "Are you a ghost?" A ghost! What a great idea! Bean made her voice scratchy and spooky. "Yessss," she howled. "I am the ghost of Mr. Killop. I lived in your house before. And I died there, too." Mr. Killop had actually moved to Ohio, but Bean thought it was more interesting to say he had died. "I've come to haunt you! Tonight when you're sleeping, I'll wrap my icy fingers around your neck!" "Bean! What are you yelling about?" Oops. It was Nancy.

艾薇看不见她。“那根棍子是怎么回事？”她喊道。 艾薇的眼睛睁大了。“谁在那儿？”她说。 “你是鬼吗？”一个鬼!好主意！比恩把她的声音弄得沙哑而怪异。 “是的。”她嚎叫道。“我是基洛普先生的鬼魂。 我以前住过你的房子。 我也死在那里了。”基洛普先生实际上已经搬到了俄亥俄州，但比恩认为说他已经死了更有趣。 “我是来缠着你的！今晚你睡觉的时候，我要用冰冷的手指掐住你的脖子！”“豆!你在喊什么？”哦。 是南希。