Chapter 23

ChAPTERTWENtY-THREE One week later, Kate, Dad and Rupert were back at The Lookout Post for its grand reopening under its new owner, Smarty Jones. It was lovely to visit in the knowledge everything on each floor was running as smoothly as Johannes in the basement. Hank met them at the doors. "Couldn't stay away, could you!" He beamed at Dad, who was quick to show him a

第二十三章 一周之后，凯特、爸爸和鲁珀特回到了《瞭望哨所》报社，参加它在新老板斯马蒂·琼斯接手后的盛大重开仪式。 得知报社每一层的运作都像在地下室的约翰内斯那样顺畅平稳，大家的探访之旅格外舒心。 汉克在门口迎接了他们。 “到底还是忍不住过来了，对吧！” 他对着爸爸笑得灿烂，爸爸也马上掏出一样东西给他看：

wobbly sculpture he had welded from clothes hangers. Kate grinned at Rupert, flicking through the pages of the latest copy of The Lookout Post as they took the lift up to the Newsroom. "No banana peels or obscene headlines." The doors opened onto a wonderful sight. The writers" room was decorated with shredded copies of the sabotaged

一个用衣架焊接成的摇摇晃晃的小雕塑。 凯特对着鲁珀特咧嘴一笑，一边翻着最新一期的《瞭望哨所》报纸，一边和大家一起乘电梯往新闻编辑部去。 “没有香蕉皮，也没有离谱的头版头条啦。” 电梯门一开，一幅美妙的景象映入眼帘。 编辑室里装饰着用之前被蓄意破坏的报纸碎做的彩带，一圈圈挂得满满当当。

paper, which had been looped into streamers. In the centre was a big cake in the shape of the headquarters, the word OPEN written down the side in icing. "Is that supposed to be Figgy?" asked Kate, squinting at a small figure stuffed inside a Swiss roll and hanging off the side of the cake. "My favourite work to date," said Hilda, sidling up next to Kate and pressing a fancy drink into her hand, before leading her into the crowd of writers. Kate looked around to see if Frances was there, but couldn't spot her new friend. She was probably winning another pageant or filming something important. It was a shame, thought Kate, that she

房间正中央摆着一个做成报社总部形状的大蛋糕，侧面用糖霜写着“开业”两个字。 “那个是菲吉吗？”凯特眯着眼睛指着蛋糕侧边挂着的、塞在瑞士卷里的小糖人问道。 “这是我目前最满意的作品。”希尔达边说边悄悄走到凯特身边，把一杯精致的饮料塞到她手里，接着就拉着她挤进了作家们的人群里。 凯特四处张望，想看看弗朗西斯在不在，却没找到这位新朋友的身影。 她说不定又在赢什么选美比赛，或是在拍什么重要的片子呢。 凯特觉得有点遗憾，她 还从来没好好谢谢弗朗西斯呢。

had never properly thanked her. The party was soon in full swing. Gus and River announced their wedding; Penny was showing off her glasses to Smarty, who was convinced they could change sports reporting forever with their playback ability and infinite zoom; and Bunty was having the time of her life being a dog at nobody's assistance. DING-DING-DING! Smarty clanged the top of his glass and the chatter quieted. "Not only are we here to celebrate the reopening of The Lookout Post," he began, "but to raise a slice of cake to one of the most competent Special Correspondents I've ever met."

还从来没好好谢谢弗朗西斯呢。 派对很快就进入了高潮。 格斯和里弗宣布了他们要结婚的喜讯； 彭妮正给斯马蒂展示她的眼镜，斯马蒂坚信这副眼镜有回放功能和无限变焦能力，能彻底改变体育报道的形式； 而邦蒂作为一只小狗，不用帮任何人干活，正玩得不亦乐乎。 叮——叮——叮！ 斯马蒂敲了敲自己的杯口，喧闹的交谈声渐渐平息下来。 “今天我们聚在这里，不光是为了庆祝《瞭望哨所》重新开业，”他开口说道，“还要为我见过的最能干的特约记者之一，切一块蛋糕。”

Kate looked around for Catherine Rodríguez, but she wasn't there. "Kate!" Kate blinked in surprise. "Me?" "Of course!" said Smarty. "You cracked the case when no one else could and showed us all how to hate each other a little less. Now I know that dinner with the stars doesn't taste as good when you're full of comparisons. Or being sabotaged by your boss," he added. "So I'd like to give you something special." He handed her an unwrapped, unwashed retainer. "It belonged to Fahmida "The Fist" Williams," he said matter-of-factly. "Um, thank you, Smarty, said Kate,

凯特四处张望找凯瑟琳·罗德里格斯，可她不在现场。 “凯特！” 凯特惊讶地眨了眨眼。 “我吗？” “当然是你！”斯马蒂说。 “所有人都破不了的案子，你解开了，还让我们大家都学会了少对别人抱有恶意。 现在我才明白，要是心里满是和别人攀比的念头，就算和明星共进晚餐也没那么美味。 更别说还要被自己的老板暗中使绊子了。”他补了一句。 “所以我想给你一份特别的礼物。” 他递给她一个没有包装、也没洗过的牙齿保持器。 “这是‘铁拳’法赫米达·威廉姆斯的东西。”他语气平常地说道。 “呃，谢谢你，斯马蒂。”凯特说，

as Rupert tried not to laugh. Just then, someone tapped Kate on the shoulder. She turned to see a grinning Frances. "Frances!" Kate hugged her friend. "I thought you must be too busy to be here!" "Never!" said Frances. "These days I'm spending my time doing a whole lot of whatever I like! This week I've been ice skating, eaten twelve hot dogs and worn all of my frilly dresses- and the best part is, I get to change into pyjamas and stay at home whenever I want to!" "That's great news!" said Kate. "We could come and visit!" squeaked Rupert. "I'd like that," said Frances, smiling. "But

旁边的鲁珀特拼命憋着笑。 就在这时，有人轻轻拍了拍凯特的肩膀。 她转过身，就看见弗朗西斯正笑嘻嘻地看着她。 “弗朗西斯！” 凯特一把抱住了自己的朋友。 “我还以为你太忙了，来不了呢！” “怎么会！”弗朗西斯说。 “现在我每天想做什么就做什么，可自在了！ 这周我去滑了冰，吃了十二个热狗，把我所有的花边裙子都穿了个遍——最棒的是，我想什么时候换上睡衣宅在家都可以！” “这可太好了！”凯特说。 “我们可以去找你玩呀！”鲁珀特尖声说道。 “我很欢迎呀。”弗朗西斯笑着说。 “不过