29 The Key

29 The Key Peanut turned to Rockwell. He shook his head slightly. She swallowed, deciding to trust Mrs M with their secret. "Well. I, er, drew a door in my bedroom. "You drew a door in your bedroom?" "Yes, and then I opened it and walked through. And then we were here. In Chroma. By the signposts. "Really? That's very interesting." Mrs M nodded. And what, may I ask, did you draw the door with?" "This." Peanut pulled the pencil from its slot on her bandolier. Mrs M's eyes widened. "Where did you get this, Peanut?" "I, er, I found it.

29 主角皮纳特转向罗克韦尔。 他轻轻摇了摇头。 她咽了口唾沫，决定信任M夫人，说出他们的秘密。 “唔。 我，那个，我在卧室画了一扇门。 “你在自己卧室画了一扇门？” “没错，然后我打开门走了进去， 之后我们就到这儿了。 来到了克罗玛。 就在路牌旁边。 “真的吗？ 这可太有意思了。” M夫人点了点头。 那我能问问，你是用什么画的这扇门吗？” “就是这个。” 皮纳特从弹夹带的笔槽里拔出了那支铅笔。 M夫人一下子睁大了眼睛。 “你从哪儿弄到这支笔的，皮纳特？” “我，那个，是我捡到的。

"You found it? Forgive me, but I'm not sure I believe you, said Mrs M. Her eyes hadn't left the pencil. "Remarkable. Truly remarkable. With this, we might just be able to... "To what?" asked Rockwell. "What are you talking about?" "I'm sorry. I'm forgetting myself." She stood up. "You, Peanut, you have something that Mr White would give his eye teeth for. Something for which he'd trade every single item that he has confiscated from the people of

“你捡到的？抱歉，我有点不敢相信，M夫人说道。 她的目光一直停留在那支铅笔上。 “太了不起了。 真的太不可思议了。 有了它，我们说不定就能…… “就能做什么？”罗克韦尔问道。 “你在说什么呀？” “抱歉。 我有点失态了。” 她站起身来。 “你呀皮纳特，你手上的东西，是怀特先生梦寐以求都想得到的， 为了得到它，他愿意把从克罗玛民众那里没收来的所有东西都拿出来交换。

Chroma." Her voice became little more than a whisper. "Unless I'm very much mistaken, that little yellow pencil that you have there is "Little Tail". Otherwise known as "Pencil Number One". It's Conté's prototype. Peanut looked down at the yellow pencil. "Your pencil is a key. The key. To unlimited travel between Chroma and your world. Whenever you like, you can just draw a door and walk between the worlds. It is extremely powerful. "Can I use it to help rescue Mr M?" "You can use it to help rescue all of us, Peanut. That and all of those other "weapons" you have strapped to your chest: the paint, the spray, the markers." Peanut thought for a minute. Then she stood up and rummaged around in the front pocket of her dungarees. Can I ask you a question, Mrs M?" "Of course you can, my dear. "Have you ever seen this man?" She showed Mrs M the strip of passport photos of her and her dad. Mrs M removed her glasses and had a good look. Ah yes. Of course I remember him. Young Gary was one of the first. A true Resistance hero and a very brave chap, as I recall. He was carrying out a lot of important work for us until "You know him?!" gasped Peanut. "You've seen him?" Mrs M looked at Peanut and then back at the photograph in her hand. Ah yes, I can see the resemblance. Your father,

克罗玛。” 她的声音轻得几乎像耳语。 “要是我没记错，你手里这支小黄笔就是‘小尾巴’。 它也被叫做‘一号铅笔’。 它是孔特铅笔的原型。 皮纳特低头看着这支黄色铅笔。 “你的这支铅笔就是一把钥匙。 就是那把关键钥匙。 能让你在克罗玛和你的世界之间自由穿梭。 不管什么时候，你只要画一扇门，就能往返两个世界。 它拥有非常强大的力量。 “我能用它来救M先生吗？” “你可以用它救我们所有人，皮纳特。 再加上你绑在胸前的那些‘武器’：颜料、喷漆和马克笔。” 皮纳特想了一会儿。 接着她站起身，在工装裤的前口袋里翻找起来。 我能问你一个问题吗，M夫人？” “当然可以呀，亲爱的。 “你见过这个男人吗？” 她把印着自己和爸爸的护照照片条拿给M夫人看。 M夫人摘下眼镜，仔细看了看。 啊，没错。 我当然记得他。 年轻的加里是最早一批成员。 我记得他是真正的反抗军英雄，非常勇敢。 他一直为我们做很多重要工作，直到——“你居然认识他？！” 皮纳特倒吸了一口冷气。 “你真的见过他？” M夫人看看皮纳特，又低头看了看她手里的照片。 啊没错，我能看出你们长得很像。 你的爸爸，

I presume? The apple didn't fall too far from the tree, did it?" "Yes. Yes, he's my dad! Do you know where he is now?" She was barely able to contain her excitement. "Well, I've not seen him for a very long time, I'm afraid. He was here, though, carrying out a top-secret spying mission for us. And he was doing a brilliant job, bringing us a lot of highly valuable information at great personal risk. But then, one day, he just... didn't come back. About a year ago?" said Peanut. "Sounds about right," said Mrs M sadly. "We did our best to find out what had happened but there has been no intelligence since he disappeared. "Do you think Mr White has got him? Do you think he has been locked up in the Spire too?" I can't say for certain, but that would be my guess. She stood up, walked across the room and rested Peanut's photographs against the picture of her husband. "Maybe they're together, keeping each other's spirits up. "Don't worry, Mrs M, we'll find them!" insisted Little-Bit. "Hang on, LB. What do you mean, "we"? I said you could stay until we found Doodle's owners, and then you would have to go home," said Peanut. I'm coming with you," said Little-Bit firmly. "He's my daddy too!"

我没说错吧？ 果然有其父必有其女，对不对？” “没错。 对呀，他就是我爸爸！ 你知道他现在在哪里吗？” 她几乎按捺不住内心的激动。 “唉，我已经很久没见过他了。 不过他之前在这里，给我们执行绝密间谍任务。 他做得非常出色，冒着生命危险给我们送来很多珍贵情报。 可后来，有一天，他就……再也没回来。 “大概是一年前对吗？”皮纳特问道。 “差不多是这个时间，”M夫人难过地说。 “我们拼尽全力打听他的下落，但自从他失踪后，就再也没有任何消息了。 “你觉得是怀特先生抓了他吗？ 你觉得他也被关在尖塔里吗？” 我不能完全确定，但我猜应该是这样。 她站起身，走到房间另一头，把皮纳特的照片靠在她丈夫的照片旁。 “说不定他们俩关在一起，互相打气呢。 “别担心，M夫人，我们一定会找到他们的！”小比特坚定地说。 “等一下，LB。 你说‘我们’是什么意思？ 我之前说好了，找到杜德尔的主人你就得回家，”皮纳特说道。 我就要跟你一起去，”小比特坚定地说。 “他也是我爸爸呀！”

"No way!" said Rockwell. "Why not? So you can have Peanut all to yourself?" "No! Because, er, because... just because, all right?" "Peanut," said Little-Bit with a sly grin. "Wouldn't it be awful if Mummy found out about what you were up to. Especially as you're already in such big trouble cos of all the detentions and everything. Peanut sighed reluctantly. "OK, LB, but you have to do exactly what Rockwell and I tell you. At all times. "Er, who said anything about me coming?" said Rockwell incredulously. "Peanut, you can't be serious. We can't possibly do this! What about school?" "What about school?" Peanut snapped. "There are some things in life that are far more important than school! The fact that the world's entire supply of creative energy is at risk of being destroyed, for example. And what about this poor lady's husband? And my dad? I haven't seen him for an entire year! If there's any possibility that he is being held against his will here in Chroma I have to at least try to rescue him. Surely you can understand that!" "B-b-but what about my differentiation homework? And the physics test?" "Remember what I told you about the weird thing that happens with time in Chroma?" said Peanut. "Last time I was here, I spent over three hours playing with Doodle, but when

“不可能！”罗克韦尔说。 “为什么不行？ 你想独占皮纳特对不对？” “才不是！ 因为，呃，就是…就是不行啦，行了吧？” “皮纳特，”小不点坏笑着说。 要是妈妈发现你偷偷干的这些事，那可不就糟了嘛。 更何况你本来就因为留堂这些破事惹了大麻烦了。 皮纳特不情愿地叹了口气。 “好吧，小不点，不过你得完完全全听我和罗克韦尔的指挥。 任何时候都得听。 “呃，谁说我要去了？”罗克韦尔不敢置信地说。 “皮纳特，你不是来真的吧。 我们绝对不能这么干！ 那上学怎么办？” “上学算什么事？” 皮纳特厉声说道。 “人生里有些事可比上学重要多了！ 举个例子，全世界的创造力能量都面临被毁灭的危机。 那这位可怜夫人的丈夫怎么办？ 那我爸爸怎么办？ 我已经一整年没见过他了！ 哪怕只有一丁点可能他被强行扣在克罗马，我至少得试着去救他。 你肯定能理解的对不对！” 可、可、可是我的微分作业怎么办？ 还有物理考试呢？” “还记得我跟你说过克罗马这里的时间会发生怪事吗？”皮纳特说。 上次我来这儿，我和杜德尔玩了三个多小时，可是当

I got home I'd only been gone for about ten minutes. "Your friend is right," said Mrs M. "Time is linear, but it can move at different speeds. The chances are, you would still make it to school on time. "Besides," Peanut looked at Rockwell, "I thought we were friends." Rockwell couldn't stop the smile from appearing on his face. "Study buddies, actually." He sighed. "OK. I'll do it. But only if you promise to test me on my differentiation on the way to school when we get back. Deal. Peanut tightened her grip on the pencil. "OK, so how do we get to the Spire?"

我回到家的时候 我才只不过出去了十分钟而已。 “你的朋友说得对，”M夫人说。 “时间是线性的，但它可以用不同的速度流动。 大概率你还是能准时赶到学校的。 “再说了，”皮纳特看着罗克韦尔，“我还以为我们是朋友呢。” 罗克韦尔忍不住露出了笑容。 “其实我们是学习搭档啦。” 他叹了口气。 好吧。 我跟你们去。 但你得保证我们回来上学路上，要帮我抽考微分知识点。 一言为定。 皮纳特把铅笔握得更紧了。 “好了，那我们怎么去尖塔呢？”