8 Cat Speaks

CHAPTER 8 Cat Speaks Joshua came back with the Ouija board and set it up at the bottom of my sleeping bag. "We don't need the triangle this time," he said. "We'll just ask the cat some questions. If she answers, we'll know it's the ghost." A chill raced through my body. Again. "Okay," I said. "So make it stand up," he said. "You do it." "No, you." "You're the one that said that's what we're

第八章 小猫说话了 约书亚拿着通灵板回来，把它摆在我睡袋的底端。 “这次我们不用那个三角指针啦。”他说。 “我们就问小猫几个问题就行。 要是她回答了，我们就知道那真的是鬼魂啦。” 一股寒意窜过我的全身。 又一次。 “好呀。”我说。 “那你让它站起来呀。”他说。 “你来吧。” “不要，你来。” “明明是你说我们要这么做的呀。

supposed to do." "But you're the one it came over to sit with." He had a point. "How about if we do rock-paper-scissors to decide," I said. So that's what we did. "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot," we whis- pered together. I made my hand a fist, like a rock. But his hand was flat, like a piece of paper. "Go on, Stella," he said. "Two out of three?" I asked. But Joshua shook his head. I moved the eensiest weensiest bit closer to the cat. "Here, kitty kitty," I said softly. I gave it the gentlest nudge from behind, and then I pulled my hand back right away, like I'd just touched a hot tray of fudge and burned myself.

该这么做的。” “可它刚才是跑过来挨着你坐的呀。” 他说得有道理。 “不然我们玩石头剪刀布来决定谁来好不好？”我说。 于是我们就这么办了。 “石头、剪刀、布，出！”我们一起小声喊着。 我握了个拳头，出的是石头。 可他的手摊得平平的，出的是布。 “去吧，斯特拉。”他说。 “三局两胜好不好？” 我问。 可约书亚摇了摇头。 我一点点、一点点挪得离小猫更近了些。 “来呀，小猫咪，小猫咪。”我轻轻唤道。 我从后面轻轻碰了它一下，然后立刻把手缩了回来，就好像我刚碰到了一盘热软糖，把手烫到了似的。

Joshua and I watched as the cat stood up slowly and stretched its back. Then it plod- ded toward us. With each plod of its paws, my heart seemed to pound louder and louder. It stopped right in front of the board. "Wow," Joshua said. "I think it really is the ghost with a message." "So now what?" "Now we have to ask what it wants to tell us." We counted to three and whispered together: "What do you want to tell us." The cat stood. Joshua's eyes were as big and round as gumballs. I couldn't see my own eyes, but I bet that's what they looked like, too. The cat stepped on E, then N. Joshua and I were whispering the letters out loud so we could remember them and fig- ure out what they spelled.

我和约书亚看着小猫慢慢站起身，伸了个懒腰。 然后它慢悠悠地朝我们走过来。 它的爪子每走一步，我的心脏就跳得越来越响。 它刚好在通灵板前面停了下来。 “哇。”约书亚说。 “我觉得它真的是那个有消息要告诉我们的鬼魂。” “那现在怎么办呀？” “现在我们得问问它想告诉我们什么呀。” 我们数到三，一起小声问：“你想告诉我们什么呀？” 小猫站在那儿没动。 约书亚的眼睛睁得圆圆的，和口香糖球一样大。 我看不见自己的眼睛，但我敢说我的眼睛肯定也是这个样子。 小猫踩在了字母E上，然后是N。我和约书亚小声念出这两个字母，好记住它们，想拼出来是什么词。

It stepped on the T. What was the word going to be? E-N-T- E-R? Enter where? Or maybe E-N-T-E-R-T- A-I-N, like it was going to put on a show for us. Or else maybe E-N-T-R-A-P. I'd learned that word when I'd made a fort of pillows for Baby Marco. Dad said I'd entrapped him, so he couldn't get out.

它又踩在了T上。 会是什么词呢？ E-N-T-E-R？ 进去？进哪里呀？ 或者是E-N-T-E-R-T-A-I-N，娱乐？就好像它要给我们表演节目似的。 不然也可能是E-N-T-R-A-P，困住。我给小马可做枕头堡垒的时候刚学会这个词。 爸爸说我把他困住了，他出不来了。

Oh no! Did the cat have a plan to entrap us?! It lifted another paw. My breath was caught in my throat. Time seemed to be mov- ing in slow motion as I waited to see where it would put its paw down. It stepped on the 7. As far as I knew there was no word in the whole entire world that started out as E-N-T-7. The cat plopped itself down on the middle of the Ouija board and rested its head between its two front paws. "Make it move again," Joshua told me. I shook my head. "It's your turn," I said. He whacked the board with the side of his palm. The cat lifted its head again, but it didn't move. "Come on," Joshua said, in a whisper-yell. "SHHHHH," I told him. Then I whispered

哦不要啊！ 小猫会不会是想把我们困住啊？！ 它又抬起了一只爪子。 我的呼吸都卡在嗓子眼儿里了。 我等着看它会把爪子落在哪里，时间好像都变慢了。 它踩在了数字7上。 我可从来没听说过世界上有哪个词是E-N-T-7开头的。 小猫扑通一下趴在通灵板中间，把头搁在两只前爪中间。 “你再让它动一动呀。”约书亚跟我说。 我摇了摇头。 “轮到你啦。”我说。 他用手掌侧边拍了拍通灵板。 小猫抬了抬头，但没动地方。 “快点啊。”约书亚压着嗓子喊。 “嘘——！”我让他安静。 然后我对着小猫小声