13 Nerys Tells Them the Truth

13 Nerys Tells Them the Truth Whenever Peanut and Nerys had met in the past, she had always been such a jolly, calming presence. As such, the obvious fear in her voice was even more unsettling. "Of course I'll help you. But... but.. when I just mentioned Mr Stone to Mum, she—" "She made out that you were crazy for thinking that he would do anything to hurt her? I know! That's been her response to me too! I think that he must have brainwashed her or something. She's totally convinced that we're all just having a nice little city break. She didn't even flinch when he

13 内里斯说出真相 过去花生和内里斯每次碰面，她都总是乐呵呵的，总能让人安下心来 正因如此，她声音里藏不住的恐惧，反倒更让人不安 “我当然会帮你们 可是…… 可……我刚才跟妈妈提到斯通先生，她—— “难道她说你疯了，居然觉得他会伤害她？ 可不是嘛！ 他对我也是这么回应的！ 我觉得他肯定给她洗脑了还是怎么的 她完全深信我们只是来城里好好玩几天 她连眼皮都没眨一下，当他

took our passports from us and said we'd be staying in Milan for a few weeks. I'm not gonna lie to you, I'm absolutely terrified." "So what has White, er, Stone, said to you then?" asked Peanut. "Nothing that made any sense," she whispered. "Last night, after the ballet, he started to behave very strangely. When I reminded him that we were due to fly back to London straight after we'd seen The Last Supper, he just smiled smugly, shook his head and said something about not going anywhere until the heir arrives. I had no idea what he was talking about. The heir of what?"

夺走了我们的护照，还说我们要在米兰待几周 我不骗你们，我真的怕极了 “那怀特，呃，斯通，他都跟你说了什么？”花生问道 “说的话完全没道理，”她轻声说 “昨晚看完芭蕾后，他就开始变得特别奇怪 我提醒他看完《最后的晚餐》我们就得直飞伦敦，他只是得意地笑了笑，摇头说继承人来之前我们哪儿都去不了 我完全听不懂他在说什么 什么的继承人？

That explains the flash of anger, thought Peanut. White must be cross because Dad— Conté's heir— hadn't shown up with them. Thank heavens they'd persuaded him to stay back in Chroma. "I just wish we weren't in Milan," continued Nerys. "We're so far away from home. What I'd give to just... teleport away from this place." Peanut smiled and brought her hand up to Little Tail. Then she grabbed Nerys by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. "Don't worry. I'm going to rescue you both, I promise. I've got a plan, but you're going to have to trust me. And you're going to have to help. "Of course," said the woman. "What do you need me to do?" "You need to take Mum over to the painting and keep her looking at it for a few minutes. Then I want you to bring her and Mr Stone outside the church. I'll be waiting for you with Rockwell, LB and Leo, and we're going to get you out of here. Whatever happens, don't leave Stone on his own with Mum. Do you think you can do that?" "Er, yes, I think so," replied Nerys. "So just a few minutes with the painting?" "Yes," said Peanut, reassuringly. "That should give me enough time." She let go of Nerys's shoulders and walked back over to

这下那阵怒火就能解释通了，花生心想 怀特肯定很生气，因为爸爸——孔特的继承人——没跟他们一起来 谢天谢地，他们劝服爸爸留在克罗马了 “我真希望我们现在不在米兰，”内里斯继续说道 “我们离家太远了 我多希望能……直接从这儿传送走呀 花生笑了笑，抬手碰了碰小尾巴 接着她抓住内里斯的肩膀，直视着她的眼睛 “别担心 我一定会把你们俩救出去，我保证 我有一个计划，但你得相信我 而且你得帮我才行 “当然没问题，”内里斯说 “你需要我做什么？” “你得把我妈妈引到那幅画那边，让她看几分钟 然后你带她和斯通先生出教堂 我会和罗克韦尔、LB还有莱奥在那儿等你们，带你们离开这儿 无论发生什么，都别让斯通单独和我妈妈待在一起 你能做到吗？” “呃，好，我觉得可以，”内里斯回答 “就是让她看几分钟画对不对？” “对，”花生放心地说道 这应该能给我留出足够的时间 她松开内里斯的肩膀，走回

her mother, who was lovingly redoing Little-Bit's plaits. She caught her sister's eye and winked at her. Little-Bit seemed to understand what was happening and nodded slightly in return. "Er, Mum," said Peanut, smiling. "Look, I'm really sorry about that stuff I said about Mr Stone. I think I'm a bit, er, tired. It's been a busy morning already. In fact, maybe we should all wait for you outside. You know, get some fresh air while you have a look at the painting. Shall we see you in a few minutes?" "OK, darling," she said, handing Peanut a ten-euro note. And maybe get yourselves a lemonade or something too. You do look a bit frazzled."

她妈妈身边，妈妈正温柔地给小比特重新编辫子 她对上妹妹的眼神，冲妹妹眨了眨眼 小比特好像明白发生了什么，轻轻点头回应 “呃，妈妈，”花生笑着说 “你看，刚才我说斯通先生的那些话，真的对不起 我觉得我有点，呃，累了 今天一上午已经够忙的了 其实，要不然我们大家都在外头等你 你看画的时候我们还能出去透透气 我们几分钟之后再见好不好？” “好的，亲爱的，”妈妈说着，递给花生一张十欧元钞票 “你们也去买点柠檬水什么的喝吧 “你看起来确实有点累坏了