Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12 Charlie slept fitfully that night– his dreams full of trapped cats and squashed snails– and when the day of the school dance finally arrived, he couldn't have felt less like celebrating or dancing. He was exhausted. The recollection that the Great Catsby was still missing hit Charlie like a punch and the house felt deathly quiet as he ate his soggy cornflakes, as if sadness had sucked all the air out of it. Charlie felt he could hardly breathe. His dad was moving out tomorrow. It was their last day living together as a family. It was actually happening. SmoothMove walked into the kitchen carrying an empty breakfast bowl, which he chucked into the dishwasher. He looked at Charlie, who looked mournfully back at him. 'It sucks, right?' said SmoothMove. Charlie nodded.

第十二章那天晚上查理睡得断断续续——他的梦里都是被困住的猫和被压碎的蜗牛——当学校舞会的那天终于到来时，他一点也不想庆祝或跳舞。 他筋疲力尽。查理想起那只大猫仍然不见踪影，就像一记重拳打在他身上。他吃着湿漉漉的玉米片，屋子里鸦雀无声，仿佛悲伤把屋子里所有的空气都吸走了。 查理觉得他几乎不能呼吸了。 他爸爸明天就要搬出去了。 这是他们作为一家人生活在一起的最后一天。 这是真的。 SmoothMove拿着一个空的早餐碗走进厨房，他把碗扔进了洗碗机。 他看着查理，查理也悲伤地看着他。 “糟透了，对吧？”SmoothMove说。 查理点了点头。

'It doesn't mean they love us any less, though, you know.' Charlie stared into his cereal. He could feel tears starting. SmoothMove came over and ruffled Charlie's hair. 'And we've always got each other.' And then Charlie cried. SmoothMove put a comforting arm round Charlie, and Charlie swung round and buried himself into SmoothMove's chest and sobbed, long and hard. SmoothMove held him tightly, letting his pyjamas get soaked with his brother's tears. 'It's not fair!' Charlie wept. 'It's not fair!'

“不过，你知道，这并不意味着她们不爱我们了。”查理盯着他的麦片粥。 他能感觉到眼泪开始流了。 SmoothMove走过来把查理的头发弄乱了。 “我们一直都有彼此。”然后查理哭了。 SmoothMove用安慰的手臂搂住了查理，查理转过身来，把自己埋在SmoothMove的胸膛里，呜咽了很久。 SmoothMove紧紧地抱着他，让他的睡衣浸透了他哥哥的眼泪。 “这不公平！”查理哭了。 “这不公平！”

'You're right,' said SmoothMove. 'It's totally not fair. It's life, though. And we always get through these tough times and out the other side.' Charlie stopped crying and felt a bit better. He smiled at SmoothMove and felt a little burst of bravery swell in his chest. 'Now, wipe your eyes and get ready for school,' SmoothMove said. 'You've got your school dance tonight, right?' 'Yup!' said Charlie, and then, very quickly, whilst he gobbled his cereal, he filled in his brother on everything that had been going on with the missing pets and Dylan trying to frame him. 'And,' he added, 'Flora asked me to go to the dance with her. But I don't know how to dance!' Charlie grimaced. 'Wogan said he would teach me how to do some basic toprocks, possibly even the windmill and headspin, but I don't reckon we'll have time today, what with trying to get the key to the basement from Dylan and whatnot. So on top of everything else, I'm going to embarrass myself in front of Flora tonight.' 'Charlie,' said SmoothMove. 'Let me give you some advice. You don't need to breakdance to impress Flora. She likes you for who you are. Just enjoy yourself– have fun, do whatever– that's the best way to dance.' 'Thanks, SmoothMove. You know, you're all right– for a smelly big brother!' Charlie grinned and ran upstairs to get ready for school.

“你说得对。” “这完全不公平。但这就是生活。 我们总是能挺过这些艰难的时刻，走出困境。”查理不哭了，感觉好些了。 他对SmoothMove微微一笑，感到胸中涌起一阵勇气。 “现在，擦擦眼睛，准备去上学。”SmoothMove说。 “你今晚有学校舞会，对吗？”“是的!然后，他一边狼吞虎咽地吃着麦片，一边飞快地向他哥哥讲述了丢失宠物和迪伦试图陷害他的所有事情。 “而且，”他又说，“弗洛拉邀请我和她一起去参加舞会。 但我不会跳舞！”查理扮了个鬼脸。 “沃根说他会教我如何做一些基本的攀岩，甚至可能是风车和头部旋转，但我想我们今天没有时间了，因为我要从迪伦那里拿到地下室的钥匙什么的。” 所以最重要的是，今晚我要在弗洛拉面前出丑。“查理，”SmoothMove说。 “让我给你一些建议。 你不需要跳霹雳舞来打动弗洛拉。 她喜欢真实的你。 尽情享受——玩得开心，做任何事——这就是跳舞的最佳方式。“谢谢，SmoothMove。” 你知道，你还不错——对于一个臭哥哥来说！”查理笑了笑，跑上楼准备去上学。

***The day seemed to disappear in a blur, and no matter what Charlie and his friends did, they couldn't get the key from Dylan. At first break, Charlie changed into a tiny mouse and climbed up Dylan's trouser leg to get the key out of his pocket, while Flora tried to distract Dylan by asking if he wanted to go to the dance with her. But Dylan had felt mouse-Charlie and screamed, so Charlie had to run away without being seen. At lunch, Wogan tried bamboozling Dylan by doing headspins while Mohsen sneaked up on him from behind and picked his pocket. But Mohsen got his hand stuck, and Dylan turned round and poked him in the eye.

***这一天似乎在模糊中消失了，无论查理和他的朋友们怎么做，他们都无法从迪伦那里拿到钥匙。 第一次休息时，查理变成了一只小老鼠，爬上迪伦的裤腿，从口袋里拿出钥匙，而弗洛拉则试图分散迪伦的注意力，问他是否愿意和她一起去跳舞。 但是迪伦感觉到了老鼠般的查理并尖叫起来，所以查理不得不在不被发现的情况下逃跑。 午餐时，沃根试着用头转来迷惑迪伦，而莫森则从背后悄悄靠近他，偷了他的口袋。 但莫森的手被卡住了，迪伦转过身，戳了他的眼睛。

By the end of the day, the four friends were in despair. 'It's hopeless,' said Charlie, his face like a wet Wednesday. 'I really am finished. There's nothing we can do to stop Dylan this time. All the stolen animals are still missing and he's got the video of me changing, so all the evidence points to me. The whole town is going to think I'm a freak who's been going around eating their pets.' 'Maybe we could get his phone off him?' said Mohsen. 'Then he wouldn't have anything to show on the big screen?' 'No,' replied Charlie, forlornly. 'He'll have a backup. It's pointless.'

一天结束的时候，四个朋友陷入了绝望。 “没希望了，”查理说，他的脸像湿了的星期三。 “我真的完了。这次我们阻止不了迪伦了。 所有被偷的动物都不见了他有我换衣服的视频，所以所有证据都指向我。 全镇的人都会认为我是个吃他们宠物的怪胎。“也许我们可以把他的手机从他身上拿下来？”莫森说。 “那他就没有东西可以在大银幕上展示了？”“不，”查理绝望地回答。 “他会有后援的。这是毫无意义的。

'Maybe we could just smash our way into the basement?' suggested Wogan. 'We can't do that either,' said Charlie. 'Mr O'Dear's office is just down the corridor, so he'd hear us and we'd totally get in trouble for damaging school property.' 'So we're back to square one then.' 'I have another idea,' said Flora. 'But it's risky.' 'Go on,' said Charlie. 'We kidnap Dylan, force him to open the basement and then lock him in there until the dance is over. I know it's extreme,' Flora continued, 'but if we can prove the animals are alive AND stop Dylan showing the video this evening, Charlie will be OK.' 'Dylan could still upload the video on the internet,' Mohsen pointed out. 'But once the stolen animals are all back, people will just think it's fake. No one's stupid enough to believe something like that on the internet.' The boys all nodded. 'We're agreed then?' 'Definitely,' said Charlie with grim determination. 'In that case,' said Flora, 'here's the plan…' ***That evening, the four friends arrived at the dance early. The hall had been totally transformed. Lights and lasers were beaming across the room, which now looked like a dance floor. Streamers, which the

“也许我们可以冲进地下室？”沃根建议道。 “我们也不能那样做，”查理说。 “欧迪尔先生的办公室就在走廊那头，所以他会听到我们说话，我们就会因为破坏学校财产而惹上麻烦。“那么我们又得从头开始了。”“我有另一个主意，”弗洛拉说。 但这是有风险的。“说下去，”查理说。 “我们绑架了迪伦，强迫他打开地下室，然后把他锁在里面，直到舞会结束。 “我知道这很极端，”弗洛拉继续说，“但如果我们能证明动物们还活着，并且今晚阻止迪伦播放视频，查理就没事了。“迪伦仍然可以把视频上传到互联网上，”莫森指出。 “但是一旦被偷的动物都回来了，人们就会认为这是假的。” 没有人会蠢到相信网上的那种东西。”男孩们都点了点头。 “那么我们达成一致了？”“当然，”查理坚决地说。 “那样的话，”弗洛拉说，“计划是这样的……”那天晚上，四个朋友早早地来到了舞会。 大厅已经完全变了样。 灯光和激光在房间里闪烁，现在看起来就像一个舞池。 飘带，其中