4 DeLay in disguise

Chapter 4 DeLay in disguise "The cord on the inro must have broken," said Sarah, "or maybe the netsuke fell off so it slipped from Kojima's belt. Let's retrace our steps. Don't worry, Kojima, I'm sure we'll find it." But they found no trace of the inro on the way back to the gate. "I'll ask the guard if he's found it," Sarah said. But when she approached him, she saw immediately that it was a different guard on duty now. His helmet was small enough for her to see his face, and his eyes twinkled. When she asked if he'd found an inro, he said, "Sorry, I haven't," in a voice that was friendly, not gruff. "Maybe the guard who was here before found it," Sarah said. "Where can we find him?"

第四章伪装的拖延“一定是飞船上的绳子断了，”萨拉说，“或者是网子掉下来了，从小岛的腰带上滑了下来。 让我们倒回去看看。别担心，小岛，我相信我们会找到的。” 但在返回大门的路上，他们没有发现介绍人的踪迹。 “我去问问警卫有没有找到，”萨拉说。 但当她走近他时，她立刻发现现在值班的是另一个警卫。 他的头盔很小，足以让她看到他的脸，他的眼睛闪闪发光。 当她问他是否找到了介绍人时，他说：“对不起，我没有。”他的声音很友好，一点也不粗鲁。 “也许之前在这里的警卫发现了它，”莎拉说。 “我们到哪里去找他？”

The new guard said, "He ran off, I'm afraid. He suddenly headed that way across the castle gardens without a word. I don't know what got into him." Sarah's heart sank. She was pretty sure why the guard had vanished... She hurried back to the others. "That wasn't a guard who searched us," she said grimly. "He was DeLay in disguise!" "DeLay?" said Kojima "Who's DeLay?" "It's a long story," Jackson said. "DeLay is a villain who causes trouble wherever he goes. And now he's stolen your inro." The samurai looked horrified. "That means Daimyo Matsuzo's message has been stolen, too! Peace in Japan is in terrible danger!" Sarah laid a hand on his arm. "We'll get the inro back, Kojima. Promise." We just have to figure out how... she thought. "Let's go after DeLay before he gets too far ahead," said Jackson. Following the direction shown by the new guard, they raced between carefully trimmed trees and tidy flower beds, through a copse of nut trees, then stopped to catch their breath. "Where could he have gone?" Jackson wondered. The three friends, with Tempo swooping alongside, carried on. They passed two grand houses and came to a lawn that was so smooth it looked like velvet. Kojima was behind them, looking hot in his heavy armor.

新来的警卫说：“恐怕他跑掉了。 他突然一言不发地朝城堡花园那边走去。 我不知道他是怎么了。” 萨拉的心一沉。她很清楚守卫为什么消失了…… 她急忙回到其他人身边。 “搜查我们的不是警卫，”她严肃地说。 “他是乔装打扮的迪莱！”“迪莱？”小岛说，“谁是迪莱？”“这说来话长，”杰克逊说。 “拖延是一个恶棍，无论走到哪里都惹出麻烦。” 现在他偷走了你的护照。” 武士看起来吓坏了。 “这意味着松藏大名的留言也被偷了！”日本的和平岌岌可危！”萨拉把手放在他的胳膊上。 “小岛，我们会把介绍信拿回来的。 承诺。”我们只需要想办法… 她想。“让我们在迪莱走得太远之前追上他，”杰克逊说。 他们顺着新来的卫兵指示的方向，在精心修剪过的树木和整洁的花坛之间奔跑，穿过一片坚果树丛，然后停下来喘口气。 “他会去哪儿呢？”杰克逊想知道。 三个朋友继续往前走，Tempo在旁边俯冲。 他们经过两栋大房子，来到一块光滑得像天鹅绒一样的草坪上。 小岛在他们后面，穿着厚重的盔甲，看起来很性感。

Sarah stopped suddenly. The lawn was shooting up before her eyes, into tall and wild grasses. Beside it, a row of crab apple trees was shedding blossoms that turned brown before they reached the ground. Sarah and Jackson looked at each other. "Time Crunch!" they said together. Time Crunches were DeLay's secret weapons. They looked like pocket watches, and as he threw one, it would make a tick tick tick sound, then erupt into smoke. When that happened, time might freeze, move forward or backward, or even keep repeating. "DeLay must have thrown a Time Crunch that has messed up the plants," Sarah whispered to Jackson. Kojima gave a surprised yelp. "What's happening?" They turned to see what was up. Kojima pointed to a miniature tree in a clay pot. "That bonsai oak grew in seconds, right before my eyes!" he said. "How can it be? It takes many years to grow and train a bonsai tree."

萨拉突然停了下来。草坪在她眼前拔地而起，变成了又高又野的野草。 在它旁边，一排海棠树正在开花，花儿还没落地就变成了褐色。 萨拉和杰克逊面面相觑。 “时间紧迫！”他们一起说。 时间紧缩是迪莱的秘密武器。 它们看起来像怀表，当他扔出一个时，它会发出滴答滴答的声音，然后突然冒出烟雾。 当这种情况发生时，时间可能会冻结，向前或向后移动，甚至不断重复。 “一定是延误造成了时间紧张，把植物搞砸了。”莎拉小声对杰克逊说。 小岛惊讶地叫了一声。 “发生了什么?”他们转过身去看看发生了什么事。 小岛指着一个陶罐里的一棵小树。 “那棵盆景橡树几秒钟就长出来了，就在我眼前！”他说。 “怎么可能呢？”培养一棵盆景树需要很多年的时间。”

Sarah said, "It's hard to explain, but what's happening in the garden is connected to DeLay." "Let's follow the messed-up plants," said Jackson. "If we're quick, they might lead us to DeLay." A trail of withering bushes and rotting flowers led the friends to a small gate and out onto a busy street. People were gathered together, talking earnestly to each other. Kojima asked a worried-looking woman what was happening. "Come this way," she said, "and I'll show you." Jackson and Sarah followed her into a small house, where the woman pointed to a strange wooden box. "This is my incense clock," said the woman. The top was divided into square sections, and a flowery, spicy aroma rose from it. In a tray below the dividers, they could see a trail of burning incense. "It's gone wrong," the woman explained. "The incense is burning much too fast. How can I tell what time it is?" She gestured toward the crowd outside. "Everyone's incense clocks have gone wrong." The Timekeepers knew why. DeLay is nearby, thought Sarah.

莎拉说：“这很难解释，但花园里发生的事情与迪莱有关。” “让我们跟着那些坏掉的植物，”杰克逊说。 “如果我们动作快，他们可能会把我们引向拖延。” 一串枯萎的灌木和腐烂的花朵把朋友们引到一扇小门前，走上一条繁忙的街道。 人们聚在一起，认真地交谈着。 小岛问一个看上去忧心忡忡的女人发生了什么事。 “这边走，”她说，“我指给你看。” 杰克逊和萨拉跟着她进了一所小房子，那个女人指着一个奇怪的木盒子。 “这是我的香钟，”女人说。 顶部被分成正方形，一种花香和辛辣的香气从上面散发出来。 在隔板下面的一个托盘里，他们可以看到一缕烧香的痕迹。 “出问题了，”女人解释说。 “香烧得太快了。 我怎么知道现在是几点呢？”她向外面的人群做了个手势。 “每个人的香钟都出了问题。” 计时员知道为什么。拖延就在附近，萨拉想。

"We're on the right track," she said to Jackson and Kojima. Then she said to the woman, "Things will be normal soon, we promise." The moment they stepped outside, Jackson cried, "There he is!" Across the street stood DeLay. He had changed out of his guard disguise into a kimono patterned with leaves falling from a branch. But the leaves looked wrong. They weren't the gold, yellow, and red of fall—they were bright green. "Hey! Stop!" Sarah shouted. DeLay smirked at the Timekeepers, waved the stolen inro at them, and disappeared into the crowd. "How rude!" fumed Jackson. Sarah had an idea. "Tempo! Where's Tempo?" she cried, scanning the sky. "Tempo!" The cuckoo was perched on a tall pine tree. She heard her name and streaked like an arrow toward the Timekeepers. "Please follow DeLay!" said Sarah.

“我们在正确的轨道上，”她对杰克逊和小岛说。 然后她对那个女人说：“我们保证，一切都会很快恢复正常的。” 他们刚走出去，杰克逊就喊道：“他在那儿！”街对面站着迪莱。 他脱下了卫兵的伪装，换上了一件和服，上面画着从树枝上飘落的树叶。 但是树叶看起来不对。 它们不是秋天的金色、黄色和红色，而是明亮的绿色。 “嘿!住手!”莎拉喊道。 迪莱对计时员傻笑着，向他们挥舞着偷来的表，消失在人群中。 “太粗鲁了！”杰克逊生气地说。 莎拉有了一个主意。“节奏!Tempo在哪里？”她扫视着天空，喊道。 “速度!”那只布谷鸟栖息在一棵高大的松树上。 她听到自己的名字，像箭一样冲向计时员。 “请跟着迪莱！”萨拉说。

Kojima looked with amazement at the cuckoo as she soared into the air. "Your bird friend understands you," he said. Jackson grinned. "You'd be surprised at what she can do!" The friends followed the direction Tempo had taken. Moments later they heard, "Cuckoo!" "This way!" Sarah cried, darting down a side street. She could tell that DeLay was trying dodging tactics, because Tempo kept changing direction: left, right, straight ahead, left again... The cuckoo flew higher and circled around and around over the same location. "That must be where DeLay is," said Jackson.

小岛惊奇地看着那只飞向空中的布谷鸟。 “你的鸟朋友理解你，”他说。 杰克逊咧嘴一笑。“你会对她的能力感到惊讶的！”朋友们顺着Tempo的方向走。 过了一会儿，他们听到“咕咕！”“这样!”萨拉喊道，冲进一条小街。 她看得出来，“DeLay”在尝试躲避战术，因为“Tempo”一直在改变方向：向左，向右，笔直向前，再向左…… 杜鹃飞得更高，在同一个地方盘旋。 “那一定是迪莱所在的地方，”杰克逊说。