15 The Darkness

15 The Darkness "I can't see anything," said Mum. "Do they have to keep it dark in order to protect the Jerusalem Plate?" Peanut didn't reply. She was also wondering why none of the lights were on. It was especially frustrating because she wanted to be sure that they had arrived in the right place the room at the top of the Spire. "This is ridiculous!" boomed Mr Stone. "Hang on..."

15 黑暗 “我什么都看不见，”妈妈说。 “他们非得弄这么黑，才能保护耶路撒冷盘吗？” 花生没有回答。 她也想不通为什么所有灯都没开。 这尤其让人烦躁，因为她得确认他们有没有找对地方——尖塔顶层的这个房间。 “这太荒唐了！” 斯通先生吼道。 “等等……”

Two seconds later, a small but brilliant white light lit up the whole place. "That's better," said Stone, holding his phone aloft, its torch blazing brightly. The relief that Peanut felt when she recognised the control room soon disappeared when she realised that it was empty. Where were they? Dad, Woodhouse and 67 were supposed to be waiting there, ready to apprehend Mr White. They'd had long enough to get to the Spire, what with the time difference and everything. Something must have happened, she thought. "So, where is this plate then?" asked Mum. "I was wondering the same thing, said Nerys. "Where, indeed?" said Stone as he walked slowly around the large console jam-packed with switches, levers and buttons. The children looked anxiously at one other. Rockwell mouthed What's going on? Peanut shrugged. Stone crouched down and pulled

两秒钟后，一道细小却明亮的白光照亮了整个地方。 “这下好多了，”斯通举着手机说，手机的手电筒亮得晃眼。 花生认出这就是控制室，刚松了口气，很快又因为这里空无一人变得不安。 他们都去哪里了？ 爸爸、伍德豪斯和67本该在这里等着，准备抓住怀特先生。 他们明明有充足的时间赶到尖塔，算上时差这类因素，时间也早就够了。 肯定出什么事了，她想。 “所以，那个盘子到底在哪呀？”妈妈问道。 “我也在想这个问题，”内里斯说。 “是啊，到底在哪呢？”斯通一边说，一边慢慢绕着塞满开关、操纵杆和按钮的大控制台踱步。 孩子们紧张地看着彼此。 罗克威尔用口型问：出什么事了？ 花生耸了耸肩。 斯通蹲下身，拽了起来

hard at something on the floor. Suddenly, his face glowed with a multitude of bright rainbow colours. He had opened the trapdoor that led to the huge pool of Rainbow Lake water under the control-room floor. Stone looked up and smiled. "Beautiful," he said, his voice oilier than ever. That's when it happened.

对着地板上的东西使劲。 突然，他的脸上映满了一道道明亮的彩虹色。 他打开了活板门，那下面通往控制室地板下藏着的彩虹湖大水池。 斯通抬起头，笑了笑。 “太美了，”他说，声音比往常更油滑。 就在这时，意外发生了。

Stone moved so quickly that it didn't quite seem real. First, he flipped backwards and began to levitate, horizontally, a metre from the floor. Then he started to spin really, really fast. His white fedora flew from his head and landed right at Nerys's feet. Mum gasped. "MILTON!? Stop it! You're scaring me! Peanut, WHAT IS GOING ON!?" she yelled. "I-I don't know," replied Peanut. She turned to Nerys, who had picked up the hat and appeared to be quite enjoying the sight of Stone revolving rapidly. After a few seconds, Stone's spinning slowed before eventually stopping altogether. "I think he's got something wrapped around him," said Rockwell, "Hang on. Is he... tied up?" Sure enough, Mr Stone was wrapped tightly in thick, jet- black rope, its coils binding him from his chest to his knees. "AARRRRGH!" he squealed, the desperation in his high- pitched voice clear for all to hear. "SOMEBODY, HELP ME!" The confused expressions on the children's faces suddenly transformed into four wide grins as, slowly, a muscular female figure emerged from the shadows behind Mr Stone. Only then did it become apparent to Peanut that the man wasn't actually levitating after all; he was being held up by this woman who was dressed in a tight, black spandex suit. Billowing out behind her was a black cape emblazoned with a large, grey letter D.

斯通动得太快了，快得都让人觉得不真实。 首先，他向后一翻，开始飘浮起来，横在离地面一米高的半空中。 接着他开始转得特别特别快。 他的白色费多拉飞离了头顶，正好落在内里斯的脚边。 妈妈倒吸一口凉气。 “米尔顿！ 快停下！ 你吓坏我了！ 花生，这到底是怎么回事！” 她大喊道。 “我、我不知道，”花生回答。 她转向内里斯，内里斯已经捡起了帽子，看起来还挺乐意看斯通飞快转圈的样子。 几秒钟后，斯通的转速慢了下来，最后彻底停住了。 “我觉得他身上缠了什么东西，”罗克威尔说，“等等。 他该不会……被绑起来了吧？” 果然，斯通被粗黑的绳子紧紧缠住，绳圈从胸口一直绑到膝盖。 “啊啊啊啊！” 他尖叫起来，所有人都听出他尖尖的声音里满是绝望。 “来人啊，救救我！” 孩子们脸上原本满是困惑，突然全都咧开嘴笑开了花——一个健壮的女性身影慢慢从斯通身后的阴影里走了出来。 直到这时花生才明白，斯通根本不是自己飘浮起来的；他是被这个女人托住的，她穿着一件紧身黑色氨纶套装。 她身后扬起一件黑色斗篷，斗篷上印着一个大大的灰色字母D。

Then an equally muscular male figure appeared, wearing a dark brown body stocking and a green cloak. "Greetings, citizens!" he said. And greetings... MR WHITE! As you can now see, there is a reason why people are often afraid of... The Darkness!"

接着，一个同样健壮的男性身影走了出来，他身穿深棕色紧身衣，披着绿色斗篷。 “市民们，你们好！” 他说道。 也向你问好……怀特先生！ 现在你明白了吧，人们会害怕…… 黑暗！”