23 The Catacombs

Chapter 23 The Catacombs Between the two of them, Peanut and Rockwell managed to slide the heavy manhole cover to one side, revealing a deep, dark shaft and releasing a strong smell of damp into the warm night air. "I'll go first," said Peanut, turning around and carefully placing her foot on the first of the cast-iron rungs welded to the shaft's wall. "Oh, so we're climbing into drains now, are we?" said Rockwell, as Peanut slowly descended into the void. "You're not scared, are you?" she said, smiling as she looked up out of the hole. "Scared? Yeah, right!" said Rockwell, swallowing hard. "If anything, I'm looking forward to it.

第23章 地下墓穴 皮纳特和罗克韦尔两个人合力把沉重的井盖推到一边，露出了幽深漆黑的竖井，一股浓重的潮气散入了温热的夜色中。 “我先走。”皮纳特说着，转过身小心地把脚踩在焊在竖井壁上的第一个铸铁梯蹬上。 “哦，所以咱们现在要爬进下水道了对吗？”罗克韦尔说道，这时皮纳特正慢慢往漆黑的深处降下去。 “你该不会是害怕了吧？” 她笑着说，从洞口抬头望上来。 “害怕？” “怎么可能！”罗克韦尔说着，使劲咽了下口水。 “要说真的，我还挺期待的呢。

After a wobbly and considerably longer than expected descent, the three of them arrived at the bottom of the ladder, jumped the short distance from the final rung and landed with a splash. "UGH! It's wet!" shrieked Rockwell. "Ssssh!" said Peanut. "We don't want Mr White to hear us. They were standing in a small, circular brickwork chamber with a very low ceiling, a slow, repetitive dripping noise ramping up the creepiness factor nicely. The dim light coming through the manhole high above their heads was just bright enough for them to be able to see five exits evenly distributed around the chamber's walls. "OK, Sherlock, which way do we go now?" said Rockwell, who, being so tall, was having to stand with a slight bend in his knees. "I'm not sure," said Peanut. "Maybe I should try drawing a torch or something." "We're not in Chroma now. You can't draw stuff that becomes real here. Not without Little Tail." "Good point." Peanut was annoyed with herself for forgetting. "OK, anyone have any ideas?" "Well, speaking of torches," said Little-Bit, staring at a large iron bracket bolted to the wet brick wall, "I think there used to be one here." Really? What, like, one of those flaming-stick things that

三个人摇摇晃晃往下爬，比预想中花了久得多的时间，终于到了梯子底部，从最后一个梯蹬轻轻跳下，啪嗒一声踩进了水里。 “呃啊！ 全湿了！” 罗克韦尔尖叫道。 “嘘！”皮纳特说。 “我们可不能让怀特先生听见我们。 他们站在一间圆形的低矮砖室里，缓缓重复的滴答声让这里愈发阴森吓人。 头顶高处井盖透进来的微光刚好够他们看清，砖室墙壁四周均匀分布着五个出口。 “好了，大侦探，咱们现在该走哪条路？”罗克韦尔说，他个子太高，不得不微微弯着膝盖站着。 “我也不确定。”皮纳特说。 “要不我试着画个手电筒之类的东西吧。” “我们现在不在珂罗玛世界了。 在这里你画的东西不会变成真的。 没有小尾巴不行的。” “说得对。” 皮纳特懊恼自己把这件事忘了。 “好了，谁有什么想法吗？” “唔，说到火把，”小比特盯着钉在湿砖墙上的大铁支架说，“我觉得这里以前插过一把火把。” 真的吗？ 什么，就是那种烧着的木棍，

you see in old Robin Hood films?" asked Rockwell. "Exactly like one of those," she replied. And what's more, I'd say it's only been removed very recently." "Oh, come on, we might have gone through a couple of portals, but we haven't travelled five hundred years back in time!" Little-Bit started to slowly pace around the room, sniffing the air. "Er, so you're some sort of bloodhound now, are you?" said Rockwell. Suddenly, the little girl stopped in front of one of the passageway entrances. "He went this way!" she said confidently, before disappearing down it. Rockwell and Peanut looked at each other, shrugged, and then followed her into the darkness.

你在老罗宾汉电影里看到的那种吗？”罗克韦尔问道。 “就是那种没错。”她回答道。 而且，我敢说它才刚被拿走没多久。” “哦，拜托，我们就算穿过了好几个传送门，也没穿越回五百年前啊！” 小比特开始慢慢在房间里踱步，不停地嗅着空气。 “呃，所以你现在变成嗅探的猎犬了是吗？”罗克韦尔说。 突然，这个小女孩在一个通道入口前停了下来。 “他往这边走了！” 她自信地说道，接着就顺着通道走了进去，消失不见了。 罗克韦尔和皮纳特对视一眼，耸了耸肩，跟着她走进了黑暗中。