45 The Strip

45 The Strip Peanut pulled on the cardigan that she had painted for herself as the gang walked past the row of trees. She was pleased to find that it was a good fit and, more importantly, covered the bandolier. They found themselves at the edge of a bustling metropolis. "That must be Main Street," said Rockwell. "Come on, there's a footbridge over there." As they crossed the raised walkway, they could see that Main Street stretched in a perfectly straight line for a couple of miles in each direction: a ten-lane artery transporting its cargo across the city, feeding dozens of smaller capillary roads on either side. Peanut remembered the instructions given to them by Jonathan Higginbottom and looked to her right. And there it was. A tall, white spike on the horizon. The heart of the city.

45 花生一行人走过一排排树木时，扯了扯自己亲手染画的开衫。 她开心极了，这件衣服不仅合身，更重要的是刚好遮住了子弹带。 走着走着，他们来到了一座热闹大都市的边缘。 “那肯定就是主街了，”罗克韦尔说。 “快点，那边有一座步行桥。” 走过高架步道时，他们看见主街向两端笔直延伸出好几英里：它就像十车道的交通大动脉，载着车流穿城而过，两侧还分出了几十条细小的支路。 花生想起乔纳森·希金博顿给她们的指示，于是朝右边望去。 那东西就出现在她眼前。 地平线上立着一根高耸的白色尖桩。 那正是这座城市的心脏。

"The Spire," she gasped. "That's the Spire? It's miles away!" groaned Little-Bit. "My legs are aching already!" Alongside the wide river of traffic, a slower-moving stream of people flowed along the pavements. It was an urban canyon. "What are those colourful shapes following everybody around?" said Rockwell. "There's loads of them! Are they balloons?"

“尖塔！”她倒吸一口气。 “那居然就是尖塔？ 它离这儿还有好几英里啊！” 小不点唉声抱怨道。 “我的腿现在就开始疼了！” 宽阔的车流之旁，人行道上涌动着节奏缓慢的人潮。 这里就像一座都市峡谷。 “跟在每个人身后那些彩色的东西是什么呀？”罗克韦尔问。 “那儿有好多好多！ 它们是气球吗？”

"I think said Peanut excitedly, "that they're speech bubbles! Yes! Look! As people talk, whatever they say appears in type above their heads. It's like we've jumped inside a comic book!" "That's so cool!" said Little-Bit. Doodle barked and led them down to a raised platform at the busy roadside. A sign read: "COURTESY TRAM: KANE PARK'. They joined the end of the queue. In front of them stood a man wearing a stiff, beige raincoat and a yellow fedora. He was talking loudly on his phone. Rockwell looked up at the speech bubbles above his head. "If it means taking this wise guy for a little chat down a dark alleyway, then. "Listen! I don't care how you do it, just get him to sign the papers!" "Just close the deal, Charlie!" Rockwell turned to Peanut and raised his eyebrows. "How does anyone keep secrets in this town?" "Maybe it's not a secretive kind of place," she replied. "Hang on a second," said Little-Bit, looking upwards, "Where are our speech bubbles?"

“我觉得，”花生兴奋地说，“它们是对话气泡呀！ 没错！ 你看！ 人们说话的时候，说过的话都会变成文字浮在头顶。 咱们就好像跳进漫画书里了一样！” “这也太酷了吧！”小不点说。 杜多叫了一声，领着他们走到繁忙路边的抬高站台上。 一块牌子写着：“免费电车：开往凯恩公园”。 他们排在了队伍的末尾。 他们前面站着一个男人，穿着硬挺的米色雨衣，戴着一顶黄色软呢帽。 他正对着手机大声说话。 罗克韦尔抬头看向他头顶的对话气泡。 “要是非得带这个自作聪明的家伙去黑胡同聊一聊，那就。 “给我听着！ 我不管你用什么办法，一定要让他签了文件！” “搞定这笔交易就行，查理！” 罗克韦尔转向花生，挑了挑眉毛。 “这地方谁还能藏得住秘密啊？” “也许这儿本来就不是藏秘密的地方，”她回答道。 “等一下，”小不点抬头说道，“咱们的对话气泡哪儿去了？”

"Oh great! Yet another way for us to stand out from the crowd... Rockwell sighed. "OK. Let's just try to keep the chat to a minimum, shall we?" said Peanut, "We don't want any unnecessary attention. A few minutes later, a low rumbling noise signalled the arrival of a large, chrome-trimmed burgundy tram. It looked exactly like the vintage ones that Peanut had seen on a (Melody High) school trip to the London Transport Museum a year ago. It was beautifully old-fashioned with curved glass windows at each end. They waited patiently for passengers to get off before they boarded and claimed seats at the front of the driverless carriage. The doors slid shut and Peanut heard the crackle of electricity on the overhead lines as they pulled away. Peanut couldn't help feeling uneasy as they headed down Main Street, directly towards the Spire. Everything was going smoothly. Too smoothly, perhaps? She was aware that since Dad had left, her default setting was one of pessimism, but nevertheless a sixth sense was telling her that trouble was just around the corner. The question was, would she be equal to the challenge when it presented itself? She hoped beyond hope that their resistance contact would make an appearance before she found out the answer.

“哦可真棒， 又多了一个让咱们在人群里扎眼的办法…… 罗克韦尔叹了口气。 “好吧。 咱们尽量少说话，行不行？”花生说，“我们可不想引来不必要的注意。 几分钟后，一阵低沉的轰隆声传来，一辆镶着镀铬饰边的酒红色大电车驶来了。 它看起来和一年前花生跟着旋律高中去伦敦交通博物馆研学见过的老式电车一模一样。 它复古得很漂亮，两端都装着弧形玻璃窗。 他们耐心等所有乘客下车后才上车，在无人驾驶车厢的前排找到了座位。 车门滑关上，电车开动时，花生听到了架空电线发出的滋滋电流声。 电车沿着主街直奔尖塔，花生忍不住心里发慌。 一切都进展得太顺利了。 会不会顺利得过头了？ 她清楚自从爸爸离开后，她天生就习惯往坏处想，但第六感还是告诉她，麻烦马上就要来了。 问题是，真等到挑战来临的时候，她能应付得来吗？ 她满心盼着，他们抵抗组织的联络人能在她找到答案之前出现。