32 Going Up

Chapter 32 Going Up Rocky, why on earth did you press the top-floor button?" said Little-Bit. "Look, I panicked," replied the boy. "I didn't exactly have time to consider my options. I just pressed anything!" "Well, next time try to think it through. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Maybe I should have just let that big, massive ginger bloke open the door and catch us. Anyway, what "next time"? I'm not actually planning on making this a regular occurrence!" Quiet, you two," snapped Peanut. "I'm trying to concentrate." She was kneeling,

第32章 往上走 “罗基，你到底为什么按顶层按钮啊？”小不点说道。 “你看，我慌神了”男孩回答道。 “我根本没时间斟酌选哪个按钮， 我随便乱按的！” “行吧，下次想清楚再按。 “哦，实在对不起！ 说不定我刚才就该让那个大块头红头发家伙开门抓住我们算了。 再说了，哪来什么“下次”啊？ 我可没打算把这种事当成家常便饭！” “你们俩安静点”花生厉声说道。 “我正集中注意力呢。” 她正跪在地上，

furiously drawing three large sketches in mid-air with Little Tail. "What floor are we on?" "Seventy-four," said Little-Bit. "No, seventy-eight. Eighty! Eighty-three! And we're heading up to one hundred and two. It says "Observation Deck" next to it. Thirty seconds later, there was a ding sound, and the doors slid open. "Right. This one's for you, LB, and this one's for you, Rockwell," said Peanut, pointing to the drawings. "Try not to touch them with your hands as you put them on." Floating near the floor of the elevator were three drawings of what looked like rucksacks. The children all crouched down and reversed into them, awkwardly hooking their arms through the graphite shoulder straps. Once the drawings were safely on their backs, they turned left out of the elevator. "Oh no," said Peanut, looking at the floor-to-ceiling glass windows that surrounded them. "It's not an open-air observation deck!"

借着小尾巴在空中飞快地画了三幅大草图。 “我们现在在几楼？” “七十四楼”小不点说。 不对，七十八。 八十！ 八十三！ 我们要去一百零二楼。 那层旁边标注着“观景台”。 三十秒后，叮的一声响，电梯门缓缓滑开了。 “好了。 这张给你，LB，这张给你，罗克韦尔”花生指着画说道。 “把它们贴上去的时候，别用手碰。” 电梯地板附近飘着三幅画，看起来和背包没什么两样。 几个孩子全都蹲下来，后退着钻进去，笨手笨脚地把胳膊伸进石墨画出来的背带里。 把画稳稳背在背上之后，他们出了电梯往左拐。 “糟了”花生看着环绕四周的落地窗说道。 “这不是露天观景台！”

"That's a good thing, isn't it?" said Rockwell. "Much safer. After all, we don't want to go over the edge." "On the contrary," said Peanut, looking around. "Right! This way!" They headed back past the lift, through a small door to their left and up a flight of stairs. "Er, Peanut? What did you mean when you said "on the contrary"?" asked Rockwell nervously as they climbed. "Oh, don't worry about it," replied Peanut. Let's just get to the top of these stairs as quickly as we can, shall we?" Suddenly they heard a familiar ding behind them, followed by the sound of lift doors opening. "THERE THEY ARE! GET UP THOSE STAIRS, YOU BLOCKHEAD!" Mr White's dulcet tones signalled to the children that they had company. As the children got to the top of the metal staircase, they heard the clanging sound of Alan's heavy footsteps at the bottom. As quickly as she could, Peanut pulled open the heavy steel door in front of them, which immediately flooded the dark stairwell with sunlight. Then the three of them ran out into the fresh air. "WHOA!" shouted Rockwell, windmilling his arms backwards as he came to a sudden stop. "We are very high up! And that barrier is very low down!" The children looked out, past the waist-high concrete

“这不是好事吗？”罗克韦尔说。 “安全多了。 毕竟我们可不想掉下去呀。” “正好相反”花生边说边环顾四周。 “对了！ 这边走！” 他们原路返回经过电梯，穿过左边的小门，爬上了一段楼梯。 “呃，花生？ 你刚才说“正好相反”是什么意思呀？”罗克韦尔爬楼梯时紧张地问道。 “哦，别担心这个”花生回答道。 我们赶紧尽快爬到楼梯顶，好吗？” 突然他们听到身后传来熟悉的电梯叮声，接着是电梯开门的声响。 “他们在那儿！ 快上楼追啊，你这个笨蛋！” 怀特先生那响亮的声音告诉孩子们，追兵跟来了。 孩子们爬到金属楼梯顶端的时候，听见艾伦沉重的脚步声在楼梯底哐哐作响。 花生拼尽全力拉开面前厚重的钢门，阳光瞬间涌进了漆黑的楼梯间。 接着三个人都冲进了露天的新鲜空气里。 “哇哦！”罗克韦尔大喊，他猛地停住脚，胳膊往后甩得团团转。 “我们站得好高啊！ 而且这个护栏也太低了！” 孩子们往前望去，越过齐腰高的混凝土

wall that lined the narrow walkway surrounding the top of the building. The view was breathtaking. Thousands of tall, grey buildings, packed tightly together like concrete redwoods in an urban forest, stretched to the horizon. The city was bordered on each side by water, and punctuated by a large area of greenery in the centre. In any other circumstance, one that didn't involve them running for their lives, it would have been perfect Instagram fodder. "I hate to say this, Peanut," said Little-Bit, but I think we might be trapped. "WE'RE DEFINITELY TRAPPED!" echoed Rockwell loudly. "OH NO, WHY ME?" "Guys," said Peanut calmly. "Do you trust me?" "WHAT?" shrieked Rockwell. "NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT!" "Do... you... trust... me?" repeated Peanut slowly. "Of course we do!" said Little-Bit. "Well, in that case promise me you'll do exactly as I tell you. Whatever that may be." "OK. I promise," said Little-Bit. "Rockwell?" YES! WHATEVER! I PROMISE!" said the near-hysterical boy. At that moment, Alan and Mr White appeared in the doorway behind them. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Miss Pinilla Jones," sneered Mr

围墙，这圈墙围着楼顶边缘狭窄的步道。 眼前的景色美得令人窒息。 成千上万座灰色高楼紧紧挨在一起，就像城市森林里的混凝土红杉，一直延伸到地平线尽头。 城市四面环水，中心点缀着一大片绿地。 换作别的不逃命的情况，这绝对是发Instagram的完美素材。 “我不想说扫兴的话，花生”小不点说，“可我觉得我们大概被困住了。” “我们肯定被困住了！”罗克韦尔大声附和道。 “哦天呐，为什么偏偏是我！” “伙计们”花生平静地开口。 “你们相信我吗？” “什么？”罗克韦尔尖叫道。 “现在可不是讲正向鼓励的时候啊！” “你…们…相…信…我…吗？”花生一字一顿地重复道。 “我们当然相信你！”小不点说。 “那好，答应我，完全按我说的做。 不管我要你们做什么。” “好。 我答应你”小不点说。 “罗克韦尔？” 我答应！ 不管做什么都可以！ 我答应！” 这个几近歇斯底里的男孩说道。 就在这时，艾伦和怀特先生出现在他们身后的门口。 “哟，哟，哟。 这不就是皮尼拉·琼斯小姐嘛”怀特冷笑道

White. "Fancy seeing you here. Having a nice little outing with your friends, are we?" "It's Peanut, actually! And we know all about you, Mr White. That you're stealing the world's greatest works of art so that you have them all to yourself. It's quite the plan. And nothing could bring me more pleasure than scuppering it!" "Ha!" said Mr White, holding on to his fedora to stop the wind blowing it from his head. "I think that may be wishful

怀特。 “真没想到在这儿碰到你。 和你的朋友们出来小聚，玩得开心吗？” “我其实叫花生！ 我们早就摸清你的底细了，怀特先生。 你偷走全世界最伟大的艺术品，就是想把它们全都占为己有。 这计划可真够野心的。 而毁掉你的计划，就是我最大的乐趣！” “哈！”怀特先生说着，扶住自己的费多拉帽，不让风把帽子吹走。 “我看这恐怕只是你一厢情愿的