56 THE TORCH

CHAPTER 56 THE TORCH Our friends were stuck in that tree. They sat in the upper branches, high above the wolves, trying to calculate an escape. Brightbill could fly off whenever he liked, but Roz had to come down eventually. And when she did, the wolves would be ready. Shadow and Barb stretched out in the shade. They glanced around and licked their fur and sniffed the mountain air. The wolves looked comfortable, and yet there was tension between them. "I'm hungry," growled Barb. "I want to eat rabbits and deer, or maybe go back to farm country and prey on livestock. Anything is better than hunting a creature that can't be eaten." "You can eat all the animals you like," said Shadow, "after we kill the robot." Barb grumbled with frustration. She didn't understand Shadow's need for revenge. But for now, she stayed loyal to her mate.

第五十六章火炬我们的朋友被困在那棵树上。 他们坐在上面的树枝上，比狼群高得多，想办法逃跑。 布莱特比尔想什么时候飞就什么时候飞，但罗兹最终还是得下来。 等她来了，狼群就准备好了。 影子和倒刺在阴凉处伸开四肢。 它们环顾四周，舔着皮毛，嗅着山上的空气。 狼们看起来很自在，但他们之间却有一种紧张。 “我饿了。” “我想吃兔子和鹿，或者回到农场去捕食牲畜。 任何事情都比猎杀一个不能吃的动物要好。” “你可以吃所有你喜欢的动物，”影子说，“在我们杀死机器人之后。” 巴巴沮丧地嘟囔着。 她不明白暗影为何需要复仇。 但现在，她仍然忠于她的伴侣。

Day turned to night, and the wolves started yawning. Barb's eyelids became heavy. Shadow's body became weary. Then the soothing song of the crickets lulled them both to sleep. The sight of sleeping wolves reminded Roz of those long winter nights on the island, when wild animals crawled into her warm home and slept. She remembered the frightened look in their eyes as they saw fire for the first time. And this gave Roz an idea. Quietly, she broke off a dead branch from the tree trunk. Then she took the lighter from her tool belt and held a flame under the branch's knobby end until it was blazing. And then she dropped down to the ground. Shadow and Barb snapped awake to find the world bathed in orange light. Towering above them, looking like a demon, was the robot. Her eyes were glowing. Her mouth was roaring. In her hand was a torch, flames rippling, embers whirling into the air. The wolves had never seen fire. It was beautiful, and it was terrible. Deep inside, they felt their wolf instincts telling them this ball of swirling light was

白昼转为黑夜，狼群开始打哈欠。 巴巴的眼皮变得沉重起来。 影子的身体变得疲倦了。 然后，蟋蟀舒缓的歌声把他们俩哄睡着了。 睡着的狼让罗兹想起了岛上那些漫长的冬夜，野生动物爬进她温暖的家睡觉。 她还记得他们第一次看到火时惊恐的眼神。 这给了罗兹一个主意。 她悄悄地从树干上折下一根枯枝。 然后，她从工具带里拿出打火机，在树枝多节的末端点上一根火，直到它燃烧起来。 然后她倒在地上。 Shadow和Barb突然醒来，发现整个世界沐浴在橙色的光芒中。 高高耸立在他们上方，看起来像个恶魔的是机器人。 她的眼睛闪闪发光。她的嘴在咆哮。 她手里拿着一支火炬，火焰荡漾，余烬在空中旋转。 狼从来没见过火。 它很美，但也很可怕。 在内心深处，他们感觉到狼的本能告诉他们这个旋转的光球是

dangerous. Their instincts told them to run for their lives, and when Roz lunged toward them, they ran. Barb yelped, Shadow whimpered, and the two wolves raced away from the fire just as fast as they could.

危险的。它们的本能告诉它们要逃命，当罗兹扑向它们时，它们就跑了。 巴布尖叫，黑影呜咽，两只狼以最快的速度逃离火堆。