Chapter 1

ChAPTER ONE Kate was having one of the best days of her entire life. As a birthday treat, Dad had taken her and Rupert to the City. After walking through bright streets lined with autumn leaves and visiting the latest findings Mum had sent to the Museum of Seaweed that morning, Dad had announced there was one more surprise, and handed Kate a ticket. The Lookout Post WITH HANK

第一章 凯特正处在人生中最快乐的一段日子里。 作为生日福利，爸爸带她和鲁珀特来到了城里。 他们穿过铺满秋叶的明亮街道，参观了妈妈那天早上刚送到海藻博物馆的最新发现，之后爸爸说还有一个惊喜，递给了凯特一张票。 《瞭望岗报》参观之旅 向导汉克

Now she was listening, enthralled, to Hank, a kind man in an ink-spotted boiler suit. Kate, Rupert and Dad were part of a small crowd following Hank through a basement filled with oily levers and criss-crossing conveyor belts, as he explained how everything worked. The tour members all had special Lookout Post hats on, but Kate was too giddy to mind looking silly. She couldn't believe she was inside the building where her One True Idol, Catherine Rodríguez, had penned her world-famous articles. "The newspaper is printed down here," Hank was saying. "It's sent from the very top of the building, where the writers and Figgy FitzHarris- she's the owner of The

此刻她正听得入迷，给他们做向导的汉克是个和善的男人，穿着一件沾着墨点的连体工作服。 凯特、鲁珀特和爸爸跟着一小群人，在汉克的带领下穿过摆满了沾着油污的控制杆、纵横交错的传送带的地下室，汉克正给大家讲解所有设备的运作原理。 所有来参观的人都戴着专属的《瞭望岗报》纪念帽，可凯特太兴奋了，根本不在乎戴着帽子看起来傻不傻。 她简直不敢相信自己现在就在这座大楼里，她唯一的真偶像凯瑟琳·罗德里格斯就是在这里写下了那些闻名世界的报道。 “报纸就是在这里印刷的。”汉克说道。 “内容是从大楼的最顶层传下来的，撰稿人们还有菲吉·菲茨哈里斯——她是《瞭望岗报》的

Lookout Post- put it together. He stopped and rapped on the belly of the biggest machine. "And here's our star of the show- Johannes." Kate had to crane her neck to take in the sight of the huge printing press. Johannes loomed above them, as tall as a house and surrounded by metal steps, viewing platforms and huge vats of bubbling ink. "Five tonnes of solid brass and thirty- seven conveyor belts. Hank beamed. "She's not had a day off in seventy years- every night she cranks out fresh newspapers for the whole city, which are sent soaring straight into our fleet of vans in seconds." He gestured at a series of conveyor belts

老板，内容都是他们在顶层编排好的。 他停下脚步，敲了敲最大的那台机器的机身。 “给大家介绍我们今天的主角——约翰内斯。” 凯特得伸长脖子才能看清这台巨型印刷机的全貌。 约翰内斯赫然耸立在他们面前，有一栋房子那么高，周围围着金属台阶、观景平台，还有好几大桶冒着泡的墨水。 “整整五吨黄铜打造，配有三十七根传送带。 汉克笑着介绍。 “七十年来她从没休过一天假——每天晚上都会印出全新的报纸，供应整座城市，印好的报纸几秒内就能直接送到我们的送货车队里。” 他指了指一排从外墙穿出去的传送带

and pipes that disappeared through the outside wall. "She deserves a holiday!" cried a voice from the back of the crowd. "Johannes doesn't have a passport," replied Hank with a smile. "And she's cemented to the floor. Now, who wants to press the button and see her in full, steam- powered glory?" Rupert waved his tail in the air and did a little jumping dance. It was at moments like this that Kate knew why they were the best of friends. "Excellent!" Hank beamed again, scooping up Rupert so he could press the big shiny button. Go!

和管道。 “她该休个假啦！”人群后面传来一个声音。 “约翰内斯可没有护照哦。”汉克笑着回答。 “而且她被水泥固定在地板上啦。 好了，谁想来按下按钮，看看她蒸汽驱动全力运作的壮观模样？” 鲁珀特晃着尾巴，还开心地蹦跶了几下。 每当这种时候，凯特就知道为什么他俩是最好的朋友了。 “太棒啦！” 汉克又笑了，他把鲁珀特抱起来，好让他能按到那个亮闪闪的大按钮。 启动！