14 The Jerusalem Plate

14 The Jerusalem Plate Outside, Peanut got to work quickly. She was standing on a narrow pathway that ran around the outside of the church, hidden from the eyes of the tourists that were in the square. She had Little Tail in her left hand and was drawing a picture of a door on the wall as quickly as she could. As the point danced smoothly across the brickwork, she remembered what Dad had told her about the power of the pencil and the artist who wields it.

14 耶路撒冷餐盘 到了外面，花生很快忙活起来。 她站在教堂外侧一条狭窄的小路上，躲开了广场上游客的视线。 她左手牵着小尾巴，正以最快的速度在墙上画一扇门。 笔尖在砖墙上顺滑滑动时，她想起爸爸告诉过她，铅笔和握笔的画家都拥有力量。

She tried her best to concentrate her thoughts on the Spire, specifically Mr White's control room at the top of it. That's where she needed this door to lead to, after all. Fortunately, it wasn't long since she had been there with Little-Bit and Rockwell, so it felt fresh in her mind. Two minutes later, Peanut was done. She stood back and admired her work. Then she slipped the pencil into its slot on her bandolier, walked around the corner through a small gate and— into the square right outside the church. The sight that greeted her made her heart sink. Mr Stone was standing with a nervous-looking Leo, Little-Bit and Rockwell, talking very animatedly. Peanut rushed over.

她努力把思绪集中在尖塔上，尤其是塔顶怀特先生的控制室。 毕竟，这扇门本来就该通往那里。 幸好她不久前才和小不点、罗克威尔去过那里，所以记忆犹新。 两分钟后，花生就画完了。 她退后一步欣赏自己的作品。 接着她把铅笔插回肩带的插槽，拐过墙角穿过一扇小门，然后——径直走到了教堂外的广场上。 眼前的景象让她的心一下子沉了下去。 斯通先生正和神情紧张的利奥、小不点、罗克威尔站在一起，说得滔滔不绝。 花生连忙冲了过去。

"What do you want? Where's Mum?" she shouted. Ah, here she is," sneered Mr Stone. "Little Pernilla. Don't worry, your mother will be out in a minute. In the meantime, as I was just telling the kindergarten class here, I've got a bone to pick with you, girl." He grabbed Peanut by the arm and pulled her roughly towards him. "If you think for one second that you're going to derail my plans, then you are sorely mistaken." His snarling face was so close to Peanut's she could feel his hot breath on her eyeballs. "You will NOT ruin this for me! So when Mummy comes out, why don't you give her one of your repulsive little hugs, tell her you have some homework to finish and then scuttle off back to whichever filthy little cave the four of you emerged fr—" Suddenly, he stopped talking. Nerys had appeared, silently, next to the group. Stone paused for a beat, smiled and let go of Peanut's arm, tapping her affectionately on the head as he stepped backwards. Peanut's heart was beating wildly. This man was so dangerous. She would not let him hurt Mum. Or Nerys, who returned her shocked stare with an "I-told-you-so" look in her eye. "YOO-HOO, EVERYONE! HERE I AM," shouted Mum in a sing-song voice as she came out of the church door

"你想干什么？ 妈妈在哪里？"她大喊道。 "啊，她来了呀，"斯通冷笑一声， "小佩妮拉。 别担心，你妈妈马上就出来了。 趁这功夫，我刚还跟这儿这帮小朋友说呢，我得跟你算笔账，小姑娘。" 他一把抓住花生的胳膊，狠狠把她拽到自己身边。 "如果你哪怕有一分钟觉得你能破坏我的计划，那你可大错特错了。" 他凶巴巴的脸离花生太近了，花生都能感觉到他呼出来的热气喷在自己眼球上。 "你绝对别想毁了我的好事！ 所以等妈妈出来，你不如给她一个你那恶心的小拥抱，告诉她你要回去写作业，然后赶紧滚回你们四个钻出来的哪个脏山洞——"话说到一半，他突然停住了。 奈瑞斯悄无声息地出现在了人群边上。 斯通顿了一拍，笑着松开了花生的胳膊，还亲昵地拍了拍她的脑袋，往后退了一步。 花生的心狂跳不止。 这个男人太危险了。 她绝不会让他伤害妈妈。 也不会让他伤害奈瑞斯，奈瑞斯回望着震惊的花生，眼神里带着“我早就告诉过你”的意味。 "哟嗬，大家看这里！ 我来啦！"妈妈拖着甜甜的调子喊着，从教堂门口走了出来

and skipped over to the group. "What's going on here then? Has something happened?" "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no," said Stone. "I was just... apologising to Pernilla for the fact that the return flight I booked for them was leaving so soon. Unfortunately, it was all I could get at such short notice." "Return flight?" said Mum, looking down at her daughter. "Oh. When are you leaving?" Any minute now, actually," said Stone before Peanut could answer. "Flying visit. So I suppose, sadly, that we should say our goodbyes. It has been a delight to see you all, though." Nerys subtly kicked Peanut's foot and looked at her with pleading eyes. "Er, yes," said Peanut. "I'm afraid he's right. It's only a flying visit. But don't worry because before we go we've arranged for, um, a private view of, er, that, er, that other priceless artefact. You know, the really famous one that is also kept in this church. Another priceless artefact? Other than The Last Supper?" asked Mum, perplexed. "Exactly," replied Peanut. "You know, it's the... It's the..." "It's the Jerusalem Plate!" interrupted Little-Bit. "You know, the actual plate that Jesus

蹦蹦跳跳地走到人群这边。 "这是在说什么呀？ 出什么事了吗？" "哦没事没事，没事的，"斯通说， "我刚刚……只是跟佩妮拉说，抱歉我给她们订的返程航班出发得太早了。 可惜，时间这么紧，我只能订到这个航班了。" "返程航班？"妈妈低头看着女儿问。 "哦。 你们什么时候走呀？" 花生还没开口，斯通就抢着回答："其实呀，马上就要走了。 "就是一次短暂的拜访。 所以说啊，可惜，我们该说再见了。 不过能见到你们各位，真的太开心了。" 奈瑞斯悄悄碰了碰花生的脚，满眼恳求地看着她。 "呃，对，"花生说， "恐怕他说得没错。 我们真的只是来一趟短途拜访。 不过别担心，我们走之前已经安排好了，嗯，专场参观，呃，那个，另一件无价之宝。 你知道的，就是那件特别有名的，也藏在这座教堂里的宝贝。 另一件无价之宝？ 除了《最后的晚餐》之外还有吗？"妈妈困惑地问。 "没错，"花生回答。 "你知道的，它是…… 它是……" "它就是耶路撒冷餐盘！"小不点抢先开口。 "你知道的，就是耶稣当年用的那个盘子

used at the actual Last Supper. They keep that here as well. In fact, I think it still has a bit of Jesus's dinner on it." "Really?" said Mum. "I've never heard of the Jerusalem Plate." "Er, no. Not many people have," said Rockwell. "Only a very select group of people ever get to see it." "That's right," added Leo. "Fortunately, Mr Stone here is very well-connected and has managed to get us all a pass." Mum turned to Nerys, who smiled and nodded her head enthusiastically. And the thing is," said Peanut, looking down at her non-existent watch, "we have to go in right now. We only have a small window of time, you see." "Oh, OK then," said Mum. "Well, again, that's so kind of you, Milton. I guess we'd better go in." "Yes," Stone replied suspiciously. "I guess we'd better go in." "Follow me," said Peanut. "The door is just around the corner." She led the group through the small gate and onto the narrow pathway. Here we are," she said, when they got to her illustration. She put her hand on the graphite handle and carefully turned it. The latch clicked, and she pulled the door open. After you," she said politely. And then she ushered the entire party through, closing the door behind her just as it started to crumble.

是真正的最后的晚餐上用过的。 他们也把它存放在这儿。 说真的，我觉得上面现在还沾着一点耶稣吃剩的晚餐呢。” “真的吗？”妈妈问道。 “我从来没听说过耶路撒冷盘子呀。” “呃，是啊， 没多少人听说过它，”罗克韦尔说道。 “只有经过挑选的少数人才能见到它。” “没错，”利奥补充道。 “幸运的是，这位斯通先生人脉很广，帮我们所有人都弄到了准入许可。” 妈妈转向内里斯，内里斯笑着热情地点了点头。 对了，”皮奈特一边说，一边低头看了看那块根本不存在的手表，“我们现在就得进去。 你知道的，我们能进去的时间非常短。” “哦，那好吧，”妈妈说道。 “唔，我再说一遍，你真是太好了，米尔顿。 我想我们最好现在就进去。” “是啊，”斯通疑惑地回答道。 “我想我们最好现在就进去。” “跟我来，”皮奈特说道。 “门就在拐角那边。” 她领着一行人穿过小门，走上了狭窄的小路。 我们到啦，”他们抵达她所在的插画位置时，她说道。 她把手放在石墨做的门把手上，小心翼翼地转动了它。 门闩咔哒一声响，她拉开了门。 “您先请，”她有礼貌地说道。 接着她引着所有人都走了进去，就在门开始碎裂的时候，她关上了身后的门。