Chapter 19

ChAPTER NINETEEN Kate and Rupert burst into the Newsroom. Scattered papers littered the floor, and all around the News Team were packing up their belongings. "We're too late!" squeaked Rupert. "She's already told them!" "Kate!" Frances had arrived just seconds behind them. "I got your note! You think Figgy is behind all this?" "Yes!" said Kate. "We've got mountains

第十九章 凯特和鲁珀特冲进了新闻编辑室。 散落的报纸丢得满地都是，新闻组的所有人都在收拾自己的东西。 “我们来晚了！”鲁珀特尖声叫道。 “她已经告诉大家了！” “凯特！” 弗朗西斯只比他们晚到几秒。 “我收到你的字条了！ 你觉得这一切都是菲吉搞的鬼？” “没错！”凯特说。 “我们有一大堆

of proof but there's no time to explain- we've got to speak to her now!" "She's about to announce the end of The Lookout Post to the rest of the City," said Smarty gloomily, walking past them carrying a smelly box Kate assumed was stuffed with unwashed sportswear. "What do you mean?" she asked. "She's up on the roof, about to let down the CLOSED sign. The letters are seven storeys high- soon the whole city will see." Smarty wiped a tear from his eye with a pair of yellowing underpants. "I never thought I'd see the day..." "We haven't got time to go all the way back to Figgy's office and get to the roof that way," said Kate.

证据，可没时间解释了——我们现在就得去找她！” “她马上就要向全城宣布《瞭望哨报》停刊了。”斯马蒂垂头丧气地说，他抱着个臭烘烘的盒子从几人身边走过，凯特猜里面塞满了没洗的运动服。 “你这话是什么意思？” 她问道。 “她就在屋顶上，正准备把‘停业’的牌子挂下来。 那些字有七层楼那么高——很快全城的人都能看见了。” 斯马蒂用一条发黄的内裤擦了擦眼角的泪。 “我从没想过会有这么一天……” “我们没时间绕回菲吉的办公室再上屋顶了。”凯特说。

"I know a shortcut!" said Frances eagerly. "Lead the way!" With Rupert in her pocket, Kate followed Frances between rows of desks and cubicles, all the way into a room she'd never seen before. It had a very tall ceiling with a winding staircase stretching up to the very top. "Gus's Weather Room," explained Frances. "He says he needs to be as close to the sky as possible in order to "speak its language"." "I'm not sure it works like that, said Kate.

“我知道一条近路！”弗朗西斯急急忙忙地说。 “带路吧！” 鲁珀特待在凯特的口袋里，凯特跟着弗朗西斯穿过一排排桌子和隔间，一直走进了一间她从没见过的房间。 房间的天花板特别高，一道盘旋的楼梯一路延伸到最顶端。 “这是格斯的气象室。”弗朗西斯解释道。 “他说他得尽可能靠近天空，才能‘和天空对话’。” “我觉得不是这么回事吧。”凯特说。

"I'm not sure Gus works much at all." Frances giggled, pointing at a comfy- looking hammock stretched under a big window. "As much as I hate to interrupt your bonding," said Rupert with a smile, "I think you have a newspaper to save?" Once they'd reached the top of the winding stairs, the trio poked their heads out of a hatch in the roof. Figgy was standing at the end of the long, thin blimp pad and was cranking a giant metal handle, slowly unrolling a huge CLOSED poster down the side of the building.

“我看格斯根本就没怎么干活。” 弗朗西斯咯咯笑了起来，指了指大窗户底下那张看着就很舒服的吊床。 “虽然我很不想打断你们聊天增进感情，”鲁珀特笑着说，“但你们是不是还要救一份报纸来着？” 三人爬到盘旋楼梯的顶端之后，从屋顶的一个舱口探出头去。 菲吉正站在又长又窄的飞艇停机坪尽头，摇着一个巨大的金属把手，慢慢把一张巨大的“停业”海报顺着楼的侧面往下卷。

A sudden gust of autumn wind blew through the hatch, nearly knocking them back down the stairs. "This is going to be tricky, said Kate. "We're smaller than Figgy- one more gust of wind like that and we'll be pigeon food." "I've got an idea!" Frances untied the ribbon from her dress. "Loop this around yourself- I'll stay here and hang on to

一阵秋日的劲风忽然吹过舱口，差点把他们吹回楼梯下面。 “这事不好办啊。”凯特说。 “我们比菲吉个子小——再来一阵这样的风，我们就得变成鸽子的口粮了。” “我有办法！” 弗朗西斯把自己裙子上的丝带解了下来。 “把这个系在你身上——我留在这儿抓着