Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8 The following morning at first break, Flora called a meeting to discuss what they had discovered at the zoo. 'OK, so now we know a boy is involved,' she said, as they guzzled their fruit snacks. 'But does anybody have any ideas who has stolen these animals and why?' 'Rustled,' corrected Mohsen. 'Who's Russell?' asked Wogan. 'Is he the one we're looking for? He sounds like a right desperate criminal.' 'Not Russell. Rustled,' Mohsen replied. 'Rustling is the proper word for stealing animals.' 'I wonder why,' said Wogan, thoughtfully. 'Maybe they rustle if you hide them under a blanket when you steal them?' 'That's not a bad–'

第八章第二天早上第一次课间休息时，弗洛拉召集了一个会议，讨论他们在动物园的发现。 当他们狼吞虎咽地吃着水果零食时，她说：“好了，现在我们知道这是一个男孩干的。” “但是有人知道是谁偷了这些动物吗？为什么？”“沙沙作响，”莫森纠正道。 “拉塞尔是谁?沃根问。 “他就是我们要找的人吗？” 他听起来像个绝望的罪犯。“不是拉塞尔。” “沙沙作响。”莫森回答。“偷动物最合适不过了。“我不知道为什么，”沃根若有所思地说。 “也许你偷的时候把它们藏在毯子下面会发出沙沙声？”“这还不错——”

'Anyway,' interrupted Flora, 'as I was saying, does anybody have any idea why these animals are being stolen?' 'Or eaten,' said Wogan. 'Pardon?' 'Just because they're being stolen first doesn't mean they aren't being eaten afterwards.' 'By a boy?' asked Flora, despairingly. 'A llama- eating boy? You think there's a chinchilla-munching child stalking our town?' Wogan looked embarrassed. 'Maybe not.' 'It's much more likely somebody is stealing these animals and trying to make it look like they're being eaten!' 'So here's what we do know, then,' said Mohsen. 'A number of animals have gone missing from the zoo and the school and people's gardens. We know that it was a boy that took the animals from the zoo, and a bear that took the chickens from the school. So we are possibly looking for a boy who owns a bear.' 'Or,' said Wogan, waggling a finger in the air, 'a boy who can change into a bear? A boy who we know changes into animals but who maybe can't remember doing it?' Mohsen gasped. 'You're saying the wild side has taken over Charlie? That the monster inside him can't be controlled?' Wogan nodded his head once firmly. 'Exactly.' 'RIGHT, THAT'S IT!' Charlie roared. 'I'VE HAD ENOUGH! I AM NOT A MONSTER! IN CASE YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN, THE GREAT

“不管怎样，”弗洛拉插嘴说，“正如我所说的，有人知道为什么这些动物被偷走了吗？“或者被吃掉了。”沃根说。 “你说什么?“虽然它们先被偷了，但这并不意味着它们之后就不会被吃掉。”“被一个男孩？”弗洛拉绝望地问。 “一个吃羊驼的男孩？”你觉得有个嚼着龙猫的孩子在我们镇上偷袭吗？”沃根看起来很尴尬。 “也许不是。“更有可能的是有人偷走了这些动物，并试图让它们看起来像是被吃掉了！”“那么，这就是我们所知道的，”莫森说。 “动物园、学校和人们的花园里有很多动物失踪了。 我们知道，是一个男孩把动物从动物园带走，是一只熊把鸡从学校带走。 所以我们要找的可能是一个养熊的男孩。“或者，”沃根说着，在空中摇了摇手指，“一个能变成熊的男孩？” 一个我们知道会变成动物的男孩，但他可能不记得是怎么做的？”Mohsen气喘吁吁地说。 “你是说查理已经被野蛮的一面控制了？” 他体内的怪物无法控制？”沃根坚定地点了点头。 “没错。“对，就是这样！”查理怒吼。 “我受够了！”我不是怪物！如果你忘了，伟大的

CATSBY IS STILL MISSING! DO YOU THINK I HAVE EATEN MY OWN CAT?' Charlie was burning with anger. Anger that his friends didn't believe him, anger that his family was falling apart. 'I'm SICK and TIRED of not being trusted! WHY would I be stealing these animals?' Charlie ranted. 'What possible reason could I have for stealing– now let me get this right–' he counted them off on his fingers– 'chinchillas, cats, dogs, chickens, penguins, eagles and a llama? And where on earth do you think I'm keeping them all? I–' 'Shush!' Flora jumped up. 'What do you mean, "shush"? You can't shush me when I'm ranting!'

猫比仍然下落不明！你认为我吃了我自己的猫吗？”查理气得要命。 因为朋友们不相信他而愤怒，因为家庭分崩离析而愤怒。 “我受够了不被信任！”我为什么要偷这些动物？”查理咆哮。 “我偷东西有什么理由呢——现在让我弄清楚——”他用手指数着它们——“龙猫、猫、狗、鸡、企鹅、鹰和美洲驼？ 你以为我把他们都藏哪儿了？ 我——”“嘘!”弗洛拉跳了起来。 “‘嘘’是什么意思？” 你不能在我咆哮的时候让我闭嘴！”

'Charlie, do shush just for a minute! I'm trying to think!' Flora said, closing her eyes. Charlie, Wogan and Mohsen fell silent, waiting eagerly to hear what was on Flora's mind. After about eight seconds the silence was too much for Wogan. 'I think she's coming up with an idea,' he whispered. 'That's definitely her ideas face,' replied Mohsen. 'Yeah– it's all scrunched up and red.' 'Yes, she always does that scrunched-up, bright red face like she's straining to do a poo when she's concentrating really hard and–' 'WOULD YOU TWO BLATHERING CHATTERBOXES BE QUIET FOR JUST ONE MINUTE!' Flora thundered. 'I AM TRYING TO ENTER MY MIND PALACE!'

“查理，请安静一会儿！”我正在努力思考呢！”弗洛拉闭上眼睛说。 查理、沃根和莫森都沉默了，急切地等着听弗洛拉在想什么。 大约八秒钟后，沃根受不了这种沉默。 “我想她有主意了，”他低声说。 “这绝对是她的想法，”莫森回答。 “是啊——全都揉成一团，通红的。“是啊，她在全神贯注的时候，总是把脸揉成一团，通红的，好像要使劲拉便便似的，而且——”“你们两个絮絮叨叨的喋喋不休的人能不能安静一分钟！”植物打雷。 “我正试图进入我的思想宫殿！”

Mohsen and Wogan froze in terror, not daring to ask what a mind palace was. After a few more moments of intense thinking,fn1 Flora opened her eyes and announced calmly: 'I think I know what's going on.' 'What?' asked Wogan and Mohsen urgently. 'You're being framed, Charlie,' Flora said simply. The three friends gasped in unison. They had a hundred questions but Flora continued to speak. 'Big cat footprints in people's back gardens– that doesn't make sense. Bears in the school playground? That makes even less sense. Unless somebody is trying to make it look like there are lots of different animals on the loose in town, eating people's pets. Somebody who knows Charlie can change into animals and is trying to make it look like it's him.' 'But who?' Wogan asked. 'Dylan,' said Charlie. 'Apart from us, he's the only one who knows I can change into animals.' 'Lola and Daisy both know,' said Mohsen. 'They don't count,' replied Flora. 'They only found out after the disappearances started.' 'Ah,' said Wogan. 'That's not exactly true. There's a small chance I might have actually told Daisy everything just after the first time you changed.' The others stared at Wogan. 'In fact, it's more than a small chance. I'm pretty sure I told her. Definitely, I mean. I absolutely did tell her.' 'Great! Now we have two suspects!' groaned Mohsen.

莫森和沃根吓呆了，不敢问什么是思维宫殿。 又沉思了一会儿，弗洛拉睁开眼睛，平静地说：“我想我知道是怎么回事了。“什么?沃根和莫森急切地问。 “你被陷害了，查理，”弗洛拉简单地说。 三个朋友异口同声地倒吸了一口气。 他们问了上百个问题，但弗洛拉还在继续说话。 “大猫的脚印出现在人们的后花园——这说不通。 学校操场上的熊？ 这就更说不通了。 除非有人想让它看起来像有很多不同的动物在城里游荡，吃人们的宠物。 有人知道查理能变成动物还想伪装成是他。“可是谁呢？”Wogan问道。 “迪伦，”查理说。“除了我们，他是唯一知道我能变成动物的人。“萝拉和黛西都知道，”莫森说。 “它们不算数，”弗洛拉回答。 “他们是在失踪事件开始后才发现的。“啊，”沃根说。 “这并不完全正确。在你第一次改变之后，我有可能把一切都告诉了黛西。”其他人都盯着沃根。 事实上，这不是一个小机会。 我很确定我告诉她了。 当然，我是说。我确实告诉她了。“太好了!现在我们有两个嫌疑人了！莫森呻吟道。

'It's not Daisy!' Wogan blurted out. 'Daisy is sweet and lovely and like an angel!' 'Aww thank you, Wogan! That's sweet of you to say so!' The friends all swung round to see Daisy and Lola standing right behind them. 'How long have you two been there?' asked Wogan, face glowing bright red. 'Oh, ages,' said Daisy. 'And how do you keep managing to creep up on us like that?' asked Flora. 'So, Lola was wondering,' Daisy continued, ignoring Flora's question, 'whether Mohsen would like to come to the dance with her.' Flora slapped her forehead. 'Oh, for goodness'–' Mohsen stared down at one of his two left feet and muttered 'yes'. 'Honestly,' continued Flora. 'I'm starting to think I might not even bother going to this ridiculous dance!'

“不是黛西！”沃根脱口而出。 “黛西又甜又可爱，像个天使！”“啊，谢谢你，沃根！”你这么说真是太好了！”朋友们都转过身来，看到黛西和萝拉就站在他们身后。 “你们俩在那儿多久了？”沃根问道，脸涨得通红。 “哦，好多年了，”黛西说。“你是怎么老是这样悄悄靠近我们的？”弗洛拉问。 “那么，萝拉在想，”黛西继续说，无视弗洛拉的问题，“莫森是否愿意和她一起去舞会。”弗洛拉拍了拍额头。 “哦，天哪！”莫森低头盯着自己两只左脚中的一只，咕哝着“是的”。 “说实话，”弗洛拉接着说。 “我开始觉得我可能根本就不会去参加这个荒谬的舞会了！”