34 A Bobsleigh Ride

34 A Bobsleigh Ride Rockwell had never been a fan of roller coasters. If he was completely honest, he'd not even liked the tall slide at the local playground. He would only ever go down it sitting on his mum's lap which, when you're ten, could be a bit embarrassing. That's why, when he saw what Peanut was drawing with her magic pencil, several beads of sweat appeared on his brow. "Is that... a bobsleigh?" he asked. "Yes. We need to get down this mountain as quickly as possible, so I thought this would be our best bet. "Right." He swallowed. And you know how to drive a bobsleigh, do you?" "Nope. Don't have a clue."

34 长橇滑行 罗克韦尔向来不喜欢过山车。 说句掏心窝子的话，他连家附近游乐场的高滑梯都不喜欢。 他每次都得坐在妈妈腿上滑，这对十岁孩子来说可有点难为情。 所以当他看到皮娜用魔法铅笔画的东西时，额头上一下子冒出了好几颗汗珠。 “那是……长橇吗？”他问道。 “没错。 我们得尽快下山，所以我觉得长橇是最好的选择。 “好吧。” 他咽了口唾沫。 你会开长橇的，对不对？” “不会。 我完全摸不着头脑。”

"Right." He swallowed again. Peanut started drawing what looked like a long, narrow bathtub on skis with a steering wheel at one end. As she rushed to colour in her outlined drawing with a wash of black rain ink, the faint alarm call of the levitating mechanical fish rang out in the distance. Even Rockwell had to admit that a fast escape was a good idea. But that didn't mean he was happy about it. "Finished!" Peanut put her art equipment back in the bandolier. "Right, I'll drive. Doodle can sit by my feet and LB, you sit behind me. Rockwell, you're in the back. OK. Everybody in. They took their places. Rockwell started to feel a bit sick. Actually, Rockwell. Thinking

“好吧。” 他又咽了下口水。 皮娜开始画一个看起来像装了滑雪板、一端带方向盘的又长又窄的浴缸。 她赶着急用黑墨水给线稿上色时，悬浮机械鱼微弱的警报声从远处传了过来。 就连罗克韦尔也得承认，赶紧逃走是个好主意。 但这不代表他乐意这么做。 “画好了！” 皮娜把画具收回了弹带里。 “好了，我来开。 杜多坐我脚边，LB，你坐我身后。 罗克韦尔，你坐最后排。 好了。 大家都上来。 他们各就各位。 罗克韦尔开始有点犯恶心了。 对了，罗克韦尔。 我想到

about it, we're going to need a push-start. "You want me to do it?" "Yes. I've got to steer. Come on, get out and give us a push. Hurry up, that thing looked like it meant business and I'm guessing whoever it's calling will be here soon!" Rockwell clambered out of the sleigh and walked around to the back. It was pointing straight towards a very steep downward slope that ran for about thirty metres before

这件事，我们得让人推一把才能启动。 “你要我来推？” “没错。 我得掌舵开橇。 快，出来给我们推一把。 快点，那家伙来者不善，我猜它喊的帮手马上就到了！” 罗克韦尔爬下长橇，绕到了雪橇后头。 长橇正对着一段极陡的下坡，足有三十米长，在尽头

disappearing into the clouds below them. He shook his head. "I could be practising my differentiation now," he said out loud. "But instead I'm "GO!" shouted Peanut. He was surprised at how light the sleigh felt. It didn't need much of a shove to get going, and when it did, it gained momentum rapidly. He just about managed to haul himself back inside before it tipped forwards and plunged down into the clouds. The children were forced backwards as they hurtled down the mountain. Peanut squinted against the onrushing wind, steering left and then right and then left again, narrowly avoiding tree after tree. Rockwell, meanwhile, had his head between his knees and was praying for a quick death. He realised, to his relief, that the sound of the fish's alarm had faded away. It had, however, been replaced by a deafening, high-pitched whooping sound. He glanced up to see Little-Bit with both her hands

就消失在他们脚下的云层里。 他摇了摇头。 “我本来这会儿都在家练微分题了”，他大声说。 “结果我却在这——”“走了！”皮娜大喊。 罗克韦尔没想到长橇居然这么轻。 没费多大劲它就动了起来，一动起来就飞快加速。 他好不容易爬回橇内，长橇就往前倾斜，一头扎进了云层。 他们飞速冲下山，所有人都被惯性狠狠往后压。 皮娜迎着扑面而来的风眯起眼，左拐右拐再左拐，险险躲开一棵又一棵树。 与此同时，罗克韦尔把头埋在膝盖之间，只盼这折磨快点结束。 他松了口气，发现机械鱼的警报声已经慢慢消失了。 可取而代之的，是一阵震耳欲聋的高声尖叫欢呼。 他抬头一看，只见小比特双手

in the air and her head tipped back. "THIIIIIIIISSSS IS AWESOMME! she hollered. Rockwell put his head back down, just as they took a chicane at full speed. Bang. His left shoulder slammed into the side of the sleigh. Whack. Right shoulder. Bang. Left again. "THIS IS REALLY HURTING!" he shouted. "CAN WE STOP NOW PLEASE?" "ER, ABOUT THAT..." replied Peanut. "I FORGOT TO DRAW ANY BRAKES." Rockwell shut his eyes tightly and cursed the fact that he wasn't going to get to fulfil his potential as one of the nation's greatest ever engineers. He was at least thankful that he had managed to finally understand the laws of thermodynamics during last night's revision session. "RIGHT! HOLD TIGHT EVERYBODY!" bellowed Peanut. "I'M GOING TO TRY SOMETHING. All four passengers were suddenly thrown violently to the left and Rockwell felt the entire sleigh start to tip. They travelled for a full ten seconds leaning at a seemingly impossible angle before eventually levelling out and, miracle of miracles, starting to slow down. Rockwell didn't lift his head from between his knees until he was absolutely certain that they had come to a complete standstill. He groaned. "I think I'm going to be sick.

举在空中，脑袋向后仰着。 “这——太——棒——了——！ 她大喊道。 罗克韦尔刚把头埋回去，他们就全速冲进了一个急转弯。 砰。 他的左肩狠狠撞在了长橇侧壁上。 嘭。 右肩撞了。 砰。 又撞左肩。 “这真的太疼了！” 他喊道。 “我们能不能现在就停下来啊？” “呃，说起来……”皮娜回答。 “我忘了画刹车了。” 罗克韦尔紧紧闭上眼睛，暗骂自己没能活下来成为全国顶尖的工程师。 不过他至少还算欣慰，昨晚复习的时候总算搞懂热力学定律了。 “好了！ 大家都抓好了！” 皮娜大吼道。 “我要试个办法。 四个乘客猛地全被甩到左边，罗克韦尔感觉整个长橇都开始倾斜翻倒。 他们以几乎不可能的倾斜角度滑了整整十秒，终于回正车身，还奇迹般地开始减速。 罗克韦尔直到确认他们完全停稳，才敢把脑袋从膝盖之间抬起来。 他呻吟了一声。 “我觉得我要吐了。