74 Sacrifice

74 Sacrifice Peanut heaved the unconscious Rockwell over her shoulder and hauled him as fast as she could towards Mr and Mrs M and the opening in the netting. She heard heavy footsteps behind her. It was Alan. Suddenly, Doodle came racing out from inside the dome and ran straight for Mr White's henchman, barking as loudly as he could.

74 舍己救人 皮纳特把昏迷的罗克韦尔扛到肩上，拼尽全力朝着M夫妇和防护网的缺口赶去。 她听到身后传来沉重的脚步声。 来人是艾伦。 突然，杜多从穹顶里冲了出来，径直扑向怀特先生的手下，拼尽全力大声吠叫。

"Aaaargggh!" shrieked Alan, backing away. "Nice doggy! Good doggy! Please don't hurt me!" He turned around and ran back towards the Big X. Peanut, still carrying Rockwell, stumbled through the opening into the dome, closely followed by Doodle. "Well hello again, young lady," said Jonathan Higginbottom. Allow me to help you with your friend. Let's get him some medical attention. Relieved, Peanut smiled as Mr and Mrs M helped her to lower Rockwell on to the alligator's back. "Peanut!" beamed Mrs M. "You did it, dear! You rescued Malcolm. Right! Let's get to the Bunker quickly, shall we? Cups of tea all round?" As they rushed towards the little wooden hatch next to the tree-stump chimney, slap bang in the middle of the dome, Peanut looked back over her shoulder. She saw Mr White bending down to pick the pencil up. He stood up straight, cradling it in both hands. And then he started to laugh. Quietly at first, but then louder. Much louder. "IT'S MINE!" he bellowed. "CONTÉ'S PENCIL IS MINE!" He turned around, seemingly oblivious to anything else, climbed the steps of the Big X, jumped into the cockpit and sat next to the trembling Alan. The terrible roar of the engine filled the valley before the vehicle turned around and drove away.

“啊啊啊！”艾伦尖叫着连连后退。 好狗狗！ 乖狗狗！ 求你别伤害我！” 他转身跑回大X装置那边。皮纳特仍扛着罗克韦尔，跌跌撞撞穿过缺口进了穹顶，杜多紧紧跟在她身后。 “哟，又见面了，小姑娘，”乔纳森·希金博顿开口道。 请让我帮你安顿你的朋友。 我们得给他处理一下伤口。 M夫妇帮皮纳特把罗克韦尔放到鳄鱼背上，松了口气的皮纳特露出了笑容。 “皮纳特！”M太太开心地笑了。 “你做到了，亲爱的！ 你救出了马尔科姆。 好了！ 我们赶紧去地堡吧，怎么样？ 大家都来喝杯茶？” 他们急匆匆朝穹顶正中央、树桩烟囱旁的小木舱口赶去，这时皮纳特回头望了一眼。 她看见怀特先生弯下腰捡起了那支铅笔。 他直起身子，用双手捧着铅笔。 接着他笑了起来。 一开始笑声很轻，随后越来越大。 大了很多很多。 “这是我的！” 他吼道。 “孔特的铅笔是我的！” 他转过身，仿佛眼里只剩这支铅笔，接着爬上大X的台阶，跳进驾驶舱，坐在了浑身发抖的艾伦身边。 车子调转车头驶离前，可怕的引擎轰鸣响彻了整座山谷。

Peanut's eyes filled with tears. Yes, her friends were safe, for now, but her dad was still missing, and Little Tail was gone. And, with it, any chance they had of getting home.

皮纳特的眼里噙满了泪水。 没错，朋友们暂时安全了，可她的爸爸依旧下落不明，小尾也已经不见了。 跟着小尾一起消失的，还有她们回家的所有希望。