Chapter 12

ChAPTER TWELVE "I knew it!" exclaimed Kate. "You're the one behind this whole mess!" "I'm NOT!" cried Frances, pulling herself out of the vat, her face streaming with black goo. Kate was incredulous. "I've caught you red-handed! We know you've been sneaking around in Penny's room and meddling with the paper- not to mention your plans to leave The Lookout Post!"

第十二章 “我就知道！”凯特惊呼道。 “这整堆烂摊子都是你搞的鬼！” “我才没有！” 弗朗西斯一边喊，一边从大缸里爬出来，脸上淌着黑糊糊的黏浆。 凯特满脸不信。 “我都当场把你抓个正着了！ 我们都知道你偷偷溜进彭妮的房间乱碰报纸——更别提你还打算离开瞭望岗！”

Frances's eyes grew wide. "What do you mean? I've never set foot in Penny's room! And how do you know about my personal plans?" "That's private information," snapped Kate, crossing her arms. Why else would you be down here, if it wasn't to meddle?" "I wanted to crack the case," said Frances, looking down sheepishly at her ink-sodden feet. "What?" Kate gaped at Frances. This was not what she had been expecting to hear. "I thought if I was able

弗朗西斯的眼睛一下子瞪得溜圆。 “你说什么呢？ 我从来没踏进过彭妮的房间半步啊！ 而且你们怎么会知道我的私人计划？” “那是隐私信息。”凯特抱着胳膊没好气地说。 你要是不是来搞破坏的，不然躲在这里干什么？” “我是想查出搞破坏的人呀。”弗朗西斯说着，害羞地低下头看着自己被墨水浸透的脚。 “啊？” 凯特目瞪口呆地看着弗朗西斯。 这话可完全出乎她的意料。 “我还想着要是我能找到

to find the saboteur, Aunt Figgy might be so grateful that she'd finally listen to me and let me leave. "But... but, then why did you run away from me?" spluttered Kate. "Because you chased me! What would you do if someone came careering out of nowhere with a look of pure vengeance on their face?" Pure vengeance? Kate frowned. "And anyway, continued Frances, "if I'm really the saboteur, how on earth could I have done this?" She plucked a passing newspaper from the conveyor belt and held it up. It was riddled with scribbles and bin stains. "You saw everything I did down here- there's no

那个搞破坏的人，菲吉姨妈说不定会特别感激我，最后就能听我说话，同意我离开了。 “可……可是，那你之前为什么要从我身边跑开？”凯特结结巴巴地问。 “因为你在追我啊！ 要是有个人突然冲出来，脸上还一副要找你拼命的样子，你会怎么做？” 要找你拼命？ 凯特皱起了眉。 “再说了，”弗朗西斯接着说，“如果我真的是那个搞破坏的人，我怎么可能做得到这些事啊？” 她从传送带上拿起一份刚传过来的报纸举了起来。 报纸上满是乱涂乱画的痕迹，还有垃圾桶的污渍。 “你都看到我在这里做的所有事了——我根本没

way I could have somehow swapped it or written all these daft headlines!" "Oh NO!" cried Kate suddenly, staring at the newspaper. In all the drama of the last few minutes she had completely forgotten! "Exactly, said Frances. "You've got it all wrong!" "No, it's not that!" cried Kate, looking around wildly in the direction of the chute. "Where's Rupert?" "Isn't he somewhere in your trouser leg, or riding inside your shoe?" asked Frances, raising her eyebrow. I put him in a capsule and sent him into Johannes!" Kate said, frantically looking for any sign of the little white

办法换掉报纸，也不可能写出这些傻兮兮的头条啊！” “哦糟了！”凯特突然盯着报纸大叫起来。 刚才这几分钟闹得鸡飞狗跳，她把这事完全忘了！ “对啊，”弗朗西斯说。 “你完全搞错啦！” “不是，不是这个事！”凯特喊着，慌慌张张地朝着滑槽的方向张望。 “鲁珀特在哪？” “他难道不是在你裤腿里，或者躲在你鞋子里吗？” 弗朗西斯挑了挑眉问道。 我把他放进胶囊里，送到约翰尼斯里面去了！” 凯特一边说，一边疯狂地找着那只白色小

mouse. "If the papers are here, then he should be too!" "Holy baloney!" said Frances, her eyes widening. "I'll help you look!" She grabbed Kate's sleeve and the pair dashed up Johannes's metal steps until they were level with the chute. Kate spotted an empty glass capsule. "Rupert?" she called, her heart thumping. "Rupert?!" "Kate!" His white fur was smudged with dirt and he smelled of rotting rubbish, but Kate scooped him up into her arms in a second.

老鼠的踪影。 “要是报纸都在这里，那他肯定也在这儿！” “我的天呐！”弗朗西斯眼睛瞪得更大了。 “我帮你一起找！” 她抓住凯特的袖子，两个人顺着约翰尼斯的金属台阶往上冲，一直冲到和滑槽齐平的位置。 凯特看到了一个空的玻璃胶囊。 “鲁珀特？”她喊着，心砰砰直跳。 “鲁珀特？！” “凯特！” 他的白毛上沾着脏污，身上还一股腐烂垃圾的味道，可凯特立刻就把他抱进了怀里。

"Roo!" she cried. "You're okay! What happened?" Rupert's eyes widened. "The papers are here?" "Yes, look!" Kate pointed at the piles of newspapers Johannes was churning out in ever taller piles. "Our plan didn't work and the paper's ruined again, it'll be halfway across the City by now- and it's not Frances either, at least I don't think-" "But that doesn't make any sense!" squeaked Rupert. "Me and the papers never even got here! We ended up in the RuBBiSh CHUTE!"

“小鲁！” 她喊道。 “你没事真好！ 刚才发生什么了？” 鲁珀特的眼睛瞪大了。 “报纸都在这里？” “对呀，你看！” 凯特指着约翰尼斯正不断吐出来的、堆得越来越高的报纸堆。 “我们的计划失败了，报纸又被毁了，现在估计都快传遍半个城市了——而且也不是弗朗西斯干的，至少我觉得不是——”“可这说不通啊！” 鲁珀特尖叫着说。 “我和报纸根本就没到这里来啊！ 我们掉到垃圾滑槽里去了！”