8 Your Presence is Your Present

CHAPTER 8 Your Presence is Your Present Dad wasn't alone. Standing next to him, there was a lady in a business suit, and on the other side, a POLICE OFFICER. "Oh, thank goodness, you're all safe and sound," Dad said. He opened up his arms and we were all crowding into them—even Lia. But then he let go, and held the three of us out at arm's length. "What were you thinking, running off like that? What were you THINKING?!"

第八章 你的陪伴就是最好的礼物 爸爸不是一个人来的。 他身边站着一位穿西装的女士，另一边还有一位警察。 “哦，谢天谢地，你们都平平安安的。”爸爸说。 他张开双臂，我们都扑进了他怀里——就连莉娅也过来了。 可接着他松开手，把我们三个伸开胳膊架在身前。 “你们到底在想什么啊，就那样跑掉了？ 你们到底是怎么想的啊！！”

Penny started sniffling. "Please don't make me go to jail, Daddy. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. It wasn't my idea." Uh-oh, there went my little sister tattle- telling again. I glanced over at the police officer. He had a walkie-talkie raised up to his mouth, and he said, "They've been found." I turned back to Dad. "I'm sorry, too," I told him. "I'm sure you are," he said. "But we're still going to have a family talking-to, just so you know." That's when I remembered that I really, REALLY had to go the bathroom. I twisted my legs, one around the other. Dad's cell phone rang right then. It was Mom, making sure we'd really and truly been found. Penny grabbed the phone. "Mommy!" she cried.

佩妮开始抽鼻子了。 “爸爸，求你别把我送进监狱。 对不起嘛。 我真的知道错了。 这本来也不是我的主意呀。” 哎哟，我这小妹妹又开始打小报告了。 我瞟了一眼旁边的警察。 他举着对讲机凑到嘴边，说道：“三个孩子已经找到了。” 我转回脸看向爸爸。 “我也知道错了。”我对他说。 “我知道你们心里都愧疚。”他说。 “但你们记着，回头咱们全家肯定要好好聊聊这件事。” 这时候我才突然想起，我真的、真的急着要上厕所。 我两条腿扭来扭去，绞在一起。 刚好这时候爸爸的手机响了。 是妈妈打来的，确认我们是不是真的找到了。 佩妮一把抢过手机。 “妈妈！” 她大哭着喊。

The lady who'd opened the door said she'd take me to the bathroom. I followed her, even though she was a stranger, and we're not supposed to go anywhere with strangers. She had helped find us—and Dad seemed to trust her. Besides, the police officer was there, and he seemed to think it was okay, too. She waited right outside the door for me. When I finished, I washed my hands, and she handed me a paper towel. "You kids gave us quite a scare," she said. "I'm sorry," I said again. "How did you know how to find us?" "I got a call from a young girl just this morning. She was very curious about the feeding schedule for the koi fish—where the food was kept, what the hours were for my staff going into the storage room to get the food, whether the cleaning crew ever

之前开门的那位女士说她可以带我去厕所。 我还是跟着她去了，虽然她是陌生人，我们平时本来不该跟陌生人走的。 毕竟她帮忙找到了我们——而且爸爸看起来也信任她。 再说还有警察在呢，他好像也觉得没问题。 她就守在厕所门外等我。 我上完厕所洗完手，她还给我递了一张擦手纸。 “你们几个小家伙可把我们吓得不轻呀。”她说。 “对不起。”我又道歉了一次。 “你是怎么知道去哪里找我们的呀？” “我今天早上刚接到一个小姑娘打来的电话。 她对锦鲤的喂食时间表特别好奇——问鱼食放在哪里，我的员工几点会去储物间拿鱼食，清洁人员会不会

went into that room to clean things up, and how often that happened. When your father called to say the three of you were missing, we notified hotel security. We had everyone looking out for you." "Even the police," I said. "Your mom called them," she explained. "They arrived in the ballroom right about the time I did. They were gathering information about you girls, asking for room numbers. Lia's dad, Rob, gave his room number—1104— and that's when I remembered the call. It had come in from that very same room. Since Rob himself doesn't have the voice of a young child, I figured it had to be Lia calling, and I figured maybe the reason why she was asking all those questions about the supply closet was because she was planning to run away to it. As soon as I put two and two together, your

进那间屋子打扫，还有多久打扫一次。 你们爸爸打电话说三个孩子不见了的时候，我们立刻通知了酒店安保部。 我们让所有人都帮忙留意你们的踪迹。” “还有警察也在找我们对吧。”我说。 “是你们妈妈报的警。”她解释道。 “他们赶到宴会厅的时候，我也刚好到。 他们正在收集你们几个的信息，问你们的房间号。 莉娅的爸爸罗布报了他的房间号——1104——我一下子就想起了那通电话。 电话正好就是从那个房间打过来的。 罗布的声音不像小孩子，我猜打电话的肯定是莉娅，她问这么多储物间的问题，说不定就是打算躲到那里面去。 我一琢磨明白，就和你们

dad and I raced over—along with Officer Robbins. We opened the door, and you know the rest." "Thanks for finding us," I told her. "My dear, it's my job," she said. "Your job is finding people?" I asked. "My job is to help people with whatever question or problem they have when they're guests at this hotel." "Oh, I get it," I said. "You answer the phone for the Ask Aoife hotline—and that's the number that Lia called." "My dear," the lady said, taking my hand and leading me out the bathroom door, "I am Aoife!" Aoife and I walked back to Ballroom A. My whole entire family was standing together, crowded around Lia and Penny. A bunch of the regular guests were there, too. Penny

爸爸还有罗宾斯警官一起赶紧跑过去了。 我们打开门，后面的事你们就都知道啦。” “谢谢你找到我们。”我对她说。 “好孩子，这是我的工作呀。”她说。 “你的工作就是找人吗？” 我问她。 “我的工作是帮住在这家酒店的客人解决所有疑问和麻烦呀。” “哦，我知道啦！”我说， “你就是“问问Aoife”热线的接电话的人对吧——莉娅就是打了这个号码。” “好孩子，”女士牵着我的手带我走出厕所门，“我就是Aoife呀！” 我和Aoife一起走回A宴会厅。 我的全家人都站在一块儿，围着莉娅和佩妮。 还有好多常来的客人也在那儿。 佩妮