兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第四冊 Pirates Past Noon 01
1太晚了!
杰克注視著他臥室的窗外，雨還在沒完沒了地下著。
“電視上說雨中午就會停的。”安妮，他7歲的妹妹說。
“但現(xiàn)在中午已經(jīng)過了。”杰克說。
“可咱們一定得去樹屋啊!”安妮說，“我有種感覺，那個代號為M的人今天一定會在那兒!”
杰克把眼鏡往鼻梁上推了推，深吸了一口氣。他不知道自己是不是準(zhǔn)備好了去見那位代號為M的人——那個把所有的書放進(jìn)神奇樹屋的神秘人士。
“走吧!”安妮說。
杰克嘆了口氣，說，“好吧。你去拿咱們的雨衣和靴子，我去取書簽和金牌。”
安妮跑去拿他們的雨具。
杰克將手伸進(jìn)他的抽屜，取出那塊金牌。
獎牌是金子做的，上面刻有一個字母M。
然后他又拿出書簽。書簽是藍(lán)色皮制的，上面也有一個相同的M。
這兩個M和樹屋地板上的那個M一模一樣。
杰克將金牌和書簽放進(jìn)他的背包，然后又往包里扔進(jìn)他的筆記本和鉛筆。他可是個喜歡將重要事情都記下來的人。
“我把咱們的雨具都拿來了!”安妮喊道。
杰克拿起背包跑下樓，安妮已經(jīng)在后門等他了。她一邊往腳上穿靴子，一邊說，“咱們外面見!”
杰克套上雨衣和靴子，背起背包，追上安妮。
風(fēng)刮得很猛。
“好了嗎?預(yù)備!沖啊!”安妮大聲說。
他們低著頭，沖入風(fēng)雨中。
很快，他們來到了蛙溪樹林里。
樹枝搖曳著，將雨到處甩。
“討厭!”安妮說。
他們劈里啪啦地淌過水洼，最后終于來到了林中那棵最高的橡樹跟前。
他們抬頭一看，卡在兩個樹枝之間的樹屋在暴風(fēng)雨中顯得黑乎乎、孤零零的。從樹屋吊下來的繩梯也在風(fēng)中飄來蕩去。
杰克想到了樹屋里的那些書，希望它們沒有被打濕。
“那個代號為M的人已經(jīng)在那兒了。”安妮說。
“你怎么知道?”杰克屏住呼吸問。
“我能感覺到。”安妮小聲說。
她抓住繩梯開始往上爬，杰克緊隨其后。
樹屋里面又濕又冷，但書卻是干的，像頭一天他們來時那樣整齊地靠墻放著。
安妮撿起最上面的那本有關(guān)城堡的書，這本書曾把他們帶入城堡時代。
“還記得那個騎士嗎?”她問杰克。
杰克點了點頭。他怎么會忘記那個曾經(jīng)幫助過他們的騎士呢!
安妮放下那本有關(guān)城堡的書，又從那摞書中拿起另一本。
這是將他們帶入恐龍時代的那本恐龍書。
“記得它嗎?”她問。
杰克點點頭。
他是永遠(yuǎn)也不會忘記把他從霸王龍嘴下救出的那只無齒翼龍的。
接著安妮拿起有關(guān)古埃及的那本書。
“喵。”她叫了一聲。
杰克笑了。這本書曾把他們領(lǐng)進(jìn)金字塔時代，一只黑貓曾跑到那里去救援。
“這一本是有關(guān)家的書。”安妮舉起里面有他們家鄉(xiāng)圖片的那本書。他們的家——賓夕法尼亞的蛙溪鎮(zhèn)。
杰克又笑了，每次歷險這本書總在最后把他們帶回家。
杰克嘆了口氣，好吧，他還有最后兩個問題沒有搞清楚：誰是那個把書弄到這兒的代號為M的人?那個騎士、無齒翼龍和貓都認(rèn)識這位代號為M的人嗎?
終于，杰克把手伸進(jìn)背包，取出金牌和皮書簽，把它們放在地板上，正放在地板上那淡淡發(fā)光的M上。
這時一陣寒風(fēng)吹過，雨水飄進(jìn)了樹屋。
“呃。”安妮說，“今天可不暖和啊!”
杰克覺得她說的沒錯，天的確又冷又濕。
“看那兒。”安妮指著墻角一本打開的書說，“我不記得有書被翻開了啊!”
“我也不記得呀。”杰克說。
安妮撿起那本書，盯著那上面的圖片說，“哇，這地方看起來真棒!”她把圖遞給杰克，只見那上面是一個陽光明媚的海灘，一只綠色的大鸚鵡坐在一棵棕櫚樹 上，藍(lán)色的海面上行駛著一只船。又一股寒風(fēng)夾著雨吹進(jìn)樹屋，安妮指著那幅圖片說，“真希望咱們在那兒而不是這里。”
“沒錯，但那兒是哪兒啊?”杰克問。
“太晚了!”這時突然傳來一聲刺耳的尖叫。安妮和杰克趕緊轉(zhuǎn)身一看，只見樹屋窗外的樹枝上坐著一只綠鸚鵡，與圖片上的那只鸚鵡簡直一模一樣。
“太晚了!”那只鸚鵡又尖叫了一聲。
“一只會說話的鸚鵡!”安妮喊道，“你叫波利嗎?我可不可以叫你波利?”
突然，風(fēng)呼嘯起來。
“噢，糟糕!現(xiàn)在我們遇到大麻煩了!”杰克說。
風(fēng)越刮越大。
樹葉在顫抖。
樹屋開始打轉(zhuǎn)，而且越轉(zhuǎn)越快。
杰克把眼睛閉得緊緊的，然后一切都平靜了。
絕對的平靜。
杰克睜開眼睛。波利又尖叫著說，“太晚了!”
1 Too Late!
Jack stared out his bedroom window. The rain kept falling. And falling.
“The TV said it would stop by noon，” said Annie， his seven-year-old sister.
“It’s already past noon，” said Jack.
“But we have to go the tree house，” said Annie. “I have a feeling the M person will be there today.”
Jack pushed his glasses into place and took a deep breath. He wasn’tsure he was ready to meet the M person yet.The mysterious person who had put all the books in the magic tree house.
“Come on，” said Annie.
Jack sighed. “Okay，” he said. “You get our raincoats and boots.I'll get the medallion and bookmark.”
Annie ran to get their rain gear.
Jack reached into his drawer. He took out the medallion.
It was gold. The letter M was engraved on it.
Then he took out the bookmark. It was made of blue leather. It had the same M on it.
Both M’s matched the M that was on the floor of the tree house.
Jack put the medallion and bookmark into his backpack. Then he threw in his notebook and pencil. Jack liked to take notes about important things.
“I got our rain stuff!” called Annie.
Jack picked up his pack and went downstairs. Annie was waiting by the back door. She was putting on her boots. “Meet you outside，” she said.
Jack pulled on his raincoat and boots. Then he put on his backpack and joined her.
The wind was blowing hard.
“Ready! Set! Go!” shouted Annie.
They kept their heads down and charged into the rainy wind.
Soon they were in the Frog Creek woods.
Tree branches swayed，flinging rainwater everywhere.
“Yuck!” said Annie.
They splashed through puddles.Until they came to the tallest oak tree in the woods.
They looked up.
Tucked between two branches was the tree house.It looked dark and lonely against the stormy sky.
Hanging from the tree house was a rope ladder. It was blowing in the wind.
Jack thought of all the books up there. He hoped they weren’t getting wet.
“The M person’s been there，” said Annie.
Jack caught his breath. “How can you tell?” he said.
“I can feel it，” she whispered.
She grabbed the rope ladder and started up. Jack followed.
Inside the tree house it was chilly and damp.
But the books were dry. They were all neatly stacked along the wall. Just the way they had been the day before.
Annie picked up a castle book on top of one stack. It had taken them to the time of castles.
“Remember the knight?” she said.
Jack nodded. He would never forget the knight who had helped them.
Annie put down the castle book. She picked up the next book on the stack.
It was the dinosaur book that had taken them to the time of dinosaurs.
“Remember?” she said.
Jack nodded.
He’d never forget the pteranodon who had saved him from the Tyrannosaurus rex.
Then Annie held up a book about ancient Egypt.
“Meow，” she said.
Jack smiled.The Egypt book had taken them to the time of pyramids. A black cat had come to the rescue there.
“And here’s the book about home，” Annie said.
She held up the book with the picture of their hometown in it.
Frog Creek， Pennsylvania.
Jack smiled again. The Pennsylvania book had brought them back home at the end of each of their adventures.
Jack sighed. Okay. He still had two main questions.
Who was the M person who had put all the books here?
And did the knight， the pteranodon， and the cat all know the M person?
Finally Jack reached into his backpack.He took out the gold medallion and the leather bookmark. He placed them on the floor. Right over the spot where the M glowed faintly in the wood.
Rain blew into the tree house.
“Brr!” said Annie. “It’s not very cozy today.”
Jack agreed with her. It was too wet and cold.
“Look.” Annie pointed to an open book lying in the corner.“I don’
t remember a book being open.”
“Me neither，” said Jack.
Annie picked up the book. She stared at the picture on the page.
“Wow， this place looks great.” She showed the picture to Jack.
He saw a sunny beach. A big green parrot sitting in a palm tree. And a ship sailing on a blue sea.
Another gust of rainy wind blew into the tree house.
Annie pointed to the picture. “I wish we were there instead of here，” she said.
“Yeah，” said Jack.“But where is there?”
“Too late!” came a squawk.
Jack and Annie turned quickly.
Sitting on a branch outside the window ledge of the tree house was a green parrot. Exactly like the parrot in the picture.
“Too late!” the parrot squawked again.
“A talking parrot!” said Annie.“Is your name Polly?Can I call you Polly?”
Suddenly the wind started to whistle.
“Oh no! Now we’re in big trouble!” said Jack.
The wind blew harder.
The leaves shook.
The tree house started to spin. Faster and faster!
Jack squeezed his eyes shut. Then everything was still.
Absolutely still.
Jack opened his eyes.
“Too late!” squawked Polly.
