兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第十冊 Ghost Town at Sundown 05

5 Slim

“We’re not horse thieves!” said Annie.

“Well then， what are you doing with my horse here?” he said.

“Some bad guys came through town with his mother，” said Annie.“They left him behind because he was too slow.”

“Yup， must be the rustlers that stole my last five mustangs，” the cowboy said.

“Who are you?” said Jack.

“I’m a mustang herder，” the cowboy said.

“They rode through town. Then Sunset showed up all alone，” said Annie. “We’re taking him to his mother.”

“Sunset?” the cowboy said.

“Yup，” Annie smiled. “I named him.”

The cowboy put away his six-shooter. “Well， you’re pretty brave to try and rescue him， Smiley，” he said.

“Thanks，” said Annie.

Jack cleared his throat. “A mustang needs his family，” he said. “The bond between a mare and her young is very strong.”

The cowboy looked at Jack. “Whoa， you’re pretty smart to know that， Shorty.”

“Shorty?” said Jack.

“Every cowpoke’s got to have a nickname，” said the cowboy.

“What’s yours?” said Annie.

“Slim，” said the cowboy. “My name is Slim Cooley. And this is Dusty.” He patted his horse.

“That fits，” said Annie.

Jack agreed. Slim was slim.And Dusty was dusty.

“So tell me，” Slim said. “How did you two brave， smart young’uns end up in Rattlesnake Flats?”

Jack caught his breath. He didn’t know how to explain it.

“Um…the stagecoach，” said Annie. “We begged the driver to let us off. But I think we made a mistake.”

Slim looked around. “I’ll say，” he said.

“When the next stage comes through， we’re leaving，” said Annie.

“I see，” said Slim. “Well， I’m going to take my colt now and find those rustlers. You didn’t hear where they were headed， did you?”

“They said they were going to camp over the rise，” said Jack.

“Hmm， must be over yonder，” said Slim. He looked at a low rise in the distance. The sun was a red ball above it.

“Better get going before dark，” he said.

“Can we go with you?” said Annie.

“No， we have to stay here，” Jack said quickly. Now that Slim could help Sunset， Jack wanted to look for the answer to the riddle. Plus， he still wanted to take off his boots.

“Shorty’s right to be scared，” Slim said to Annie. “This is no job for young’uns.”

“Scared?” said Jack.

“Oh， please!I want to go，” said Annie.

Slim looked at Jack. “And what do you want， Shorty?”

For starters， he wanted Slim to stop calling him Shorty.And he wanted Slim to think he was brave.

“Sure， I want to go，” said Jack.

“What about your stagecoach?” asked Slim.

“It’s not coming until tomorrow，” Annie said quickly.

“Well…” Slim scratched his chin. “I reckon I could use some brave， smart help.But you have to do everything I say.”

“We will!” said Annie.“Can I ride Sunset?”

“I wouldn’t say ‘yes’ to many kids， Smiley， but you seem to have a knack with horses，” said Slim. “Now， hang on tight to his mane， I’ll just pull him along behind me.”

Slim slipped the rope off the post.Then he held his hand out to Jack.

“Put your foot in the stirrup， Shorty.And grab my hand，” said Slim.

Jack did as Slim said.Slim pulled him onto the front of his saddle.

Jack held on to the saddle horn.

“Sit tight，” said Slim. “It’s not far.”

Slim snapped his reins.Dusty took off with Sunset right behind him.

Jack bounced up and down. His boots hurt.The sunlight blinded him.

“Giddy-up!” said Slim.

“Giddy-up!” said Annie.

The horses galloped across the prairie， dust flying from their hooves.

“Ah-choo!” Jack sneezed as he bounced along into the setting sun.

5瘦子

“我們可不是盜馬賊!”安妮說。

“哦，那你們對我的馬兒做了些什么啊?”牛仔說。

“有幾個壞蛋帶著它媽媽從這個鎮(zhèn)過去了。”安妮說，“他們說它太慢了，所以把它扔下了。”

“是，準(zhǔn)是那些盜馬賊把我的最后五匹野馬偷走了。”牛仔說。

“你是誰啊?”杰克問。

“我是養(yǎng)野馬的。”牛仔答道。

“他們騎馬從鎮(zhèn)里經(jīng)過，然后‘日落’就孤零零地獨自跑來了。”安妮說，“我們正準(zhǔn)備把它帶去找媽媽呢。”

“日落?”牛仔問。

“啊。”安妮笑了起來，“我給它起的名字。”

牛仔把自己的六彈手槍收了起來。“你能試著救它真是夠勇敢的、愛笑的丫頭。”他說。

“謝謝。”安妮說。

杰克清了清嗓子，說：“野馬需要自己的家庭。母馬和孩子之間的關(guān)系非常緊密呢。”

牛仔看了看杰克，說：“小矮子，你知道這么多，還真聰明啊。”

“小矮子?”杰克問。

“每個牛仔都得有個外號。”牛仔說。

“那你的外號是什么?”安妮問。

“瘦子。”牛仔答道，“我叫瘦子庫里。這是灰塵。”他說著拍了拍自己的馬。

“這名字倒合適它。”安妮說。

杰克也同意安妮的說法。瘦子很瘦，灰塵也灰不溜秋的。

“那么請告訴我，”瘦子說，“你們兩個勇敢聰明的小家伙是怎么到響尾蛇淺灘來的呢?”

杰克喘了口氣，卻不知道該如何解釋。

“嗯……是坐馬車來的。”安妮說，“我們請車夫把我們放在這里的，不過我想這是個錯誤。”

瘦子朝四周看了看說：“我看也是。”

“下一趟馬車一來，我們就離開。”安妮說。

“我明白了。那么，我該帶著我的小馬駒走了，去找那些盜馬賊。”瘦子說，“你們有沒有聽到他們朝哪個方向去了?”

“他們說是要在高處扎營。”杰克說。

“嗯，一定是在那邊。”瘦子說。他看著遠(yuǎn)處一片低低的高地，夕陽在高地上方就像一個紅球。

“最好在天黑之前出發(fā)。”瘦子說。

“我們能和你一起去嗎?”安妮問。

“不行，我們得留在這里。”杰克立刻說。既然有瘦子去幫助日落，杰克就想去找謎語的答案了。而且，他還想把靴子脫掉呢。

“小矮子害怕了，這也很正常。”瘦子對安妮說，“這活兒可不適合小孩子。”

“害怕?”杰克說。

“哦，求求你!我想去嘛。”安妮說。

瘦子看了看杰克，說：“那么你怎么想呢，小矮子?”

杰克首先想讓瘦子別再叫他小矮子了。另外，他也希望瘦子能把他看做一個勇敢的人。

“我當(dāng)然想去。”杰克說。

“那你們的馬車怎么辦呢?”瘦子問。

“馬車明天才來呢。”安妮說。

“那么，”瘦子摸著自己的下巴，“我承認(rèn)我確實需要個勇敢聰明的幫手。不過你們得完全按照我的吩咐去做。”

“我們會的!”安妮說，“那我能騎日落嗎?”

“我可不常向孩子們說‘好’，愛笑的丫頭。不過你看起來對馬倒是挺在行的。”瘦子說,“來，抓緊它的鬃毛，我會把它拖在后面。”

瘦子把繩子從柱子上解開，然后把手伸向了杰克。

“把你的腳踩在馬鐙里，矮子。抓緊我的手。”瘦子說。

杰克照瘦子說的做了。瘦子一把把他拽上來，坐在了他的馬鞍的前面。

杰克緊緊地抓住馬鞍的鞍頭。

“坐好了。”瘦子說，“不遠(yuǎn)的。”

瘦子一揮韁繩，灰塵立刻跑了起來，后面跟著日落。

杰克在馬上被顛得一上一下的。他的靴子弄得他很痛。陽光也刺眼得讓他看不清東西。

“駕!”瘦子喊道。

“駕!”安妮也叫著。

兩匹馬在大草原上飛奔，馬蹄揚(yáng)起陣陣塵埃。

“阿嚏!”杰克打了個噴嚏，他們騎著馬朝落日的方向奔去。