兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第十冊 Ghost Town at Sundown 07
Jack bounced in the saddle.He felt the cool night wind against his face.
He couldn’t tell where they were going. But he trusted Dusty to follow the others.
Finally Dusty caught up with the herd as they began to slow down.
Jack snapped his reins. Dusty came up beside Slim and Annie.
“Howdy!” said Slim.
“Howdy!” said Jack.
“Howdy!” said Annie.“Are you okay?”
Jack pushed his glasses into place. “Yup，” he said. “You?”
“Yup，” she said.
“That was some good riding， Shorty!” said Slim.
“Thanks，” said Jack， smiling. He even liked being called “Shorty”now.
“Where we headed， boss?” Jack asked Slim.
“Blue Canyon，” said Slim. “Okay with you?”
“Yup，” said Jack.
“This way!” said Slim. He slapped his horse and they all speeded up again.
Slim steered the herd to the left. Soon he led them through a deep， narrow pass.
Finally they came to a boxy open space surrounded by walls of rock and lit by moonlight.
“We’ll corral the mustangs here in Blue Canyon，” Slim said.
He got off his horse. He helped Jack down.Annie slipped off Sunset.
“Take him to his ma，” Slim told Annie.
Annie led Sunset to the mare. In the moonlight， the two mustangs rubbed against one another and neighed.
As Jack patted Dusty’s damp neck， he remembered the last two rules：praise and reward.
“Thanks，” he whispered to Dusty. “You were great.You were super great.”
Slim unsaddled Dusty， then handed Jack his saddle bags.
“Take those over to that grassy spot. We’ll camp there，” he said.
As Jack carried the saddlebags， his boots felt stiff and tight. His legs were sore and wobbly. But he didn’t mind.
He threw down the saddlebags and his backpack.Then he flopped himself down. He was very tired. Annie joined him.
“They seem so happy to be free and together again，” she said， gazing at the moonlit mustangs.
“Yup，” said Jack.
He lay back， using his backpack as a pillow.He looked up at the stars.
“If we just had the answer to the riddle， everything would be perfect，” he said.
“Yup，” said Annie.
“Hey， Slim，” he called. “I have a question for you.”
“Shoot，” said Slim.
“Do you know the answer to this riddle?” Jack asked. “Out of the blue， my lonely voice calls out to you. Who am I?Am I?”
Slim was silent for a moment， then said， “Sorry， Shorty， don’t know that one.”
Jack’s heart sank. “That’s okay，” he said.“We don’t either. ”
“I have a question， too，” said Annie. “Why does the piano in the hotel play by itself?”
“I do know the answer to that one，” said Slim.
“What is it?” said Annie.
“It’s Lonesome Luke，” said Slim. “He’s a ghost of a cowboy who wanders the prairie.”
Jack sat straight up.
“I saw him!I saw him!” he said. “I just remembered!he scared the rustlers!If he hadn’t come， I never would have gotten away!”
“Oh， yeah?” Slim chuckled. “Well， lucky for us， Lonesome Luke sometimes likes to help folks out.”
Slim threw his saddle down next to Jack and Annie and sat against it.
“Years ago， Lonesome Luke had a gal who he was just crazy about，”
said Slim.“She couldn’t take the Wild West， though.So she went back east.”
“What happened then?” asked Jack.
“Luke went loco. Every night he’d show up at the hotel and play the piano. He played ‘Red River Valley’over and over.
“Then one night he just vanished into the prairie and was never seen alive again.His bones were found a year later. But folks say his ghost returns to the hotel piano to play ‘Red River Valley.’It goes like this…”
Slim took out a harmonica. He began to play a song. It was the same sad song Jack and Annie had heard in the hotel.
Jack lay back down and listened to the lonesome tune. A coyote howled in the distance. The horses stirred in the dark.
I better take some notes， thought Jack.
But he didn’t write a word before he fell asleep. He didn’t even take off his boots.
7幽靈的故事
杰克在馬鞍上被顛得一上一下。他能感覺到夜晚的冷風(fēng)刮過面龐。
他也說不上自己是在往哪里走，但他相信灰塵能跟上前面的馬群。
馬群開始放慢腳步，而灰塵也終于追上了它們。
杰克揮動韁繩，灰塵趕上了瘦子和安妮，和他們并排走著。
“你好!”瘦子說。
“你好!”杰克也說。
“你好!”安妮問杰克，“你還好吧?”
杰克推了推眼鏡。“還好。”他說，“你呢?”
“很好。”她回答說。
“騎得真不錯，小矮子!”瘦子說。
“謝謝!”杰克說，一面露出了微笑。他現(xiàn)在有些喜歡被稱為“小矮子”了。
“我們?nèi)ツ膬喊?，老?”杰克問瘦子。
“藍(lán)色峽谷。”瘦子回答，“沒問題吧?”
“沒問題。”杰克說。
“這邊走!”瘦子說。他拍了拍馬，一行人馬又跑了起來。
瘦子把馬隊帶到了左邊，很快，他就帶著他們走過了一條又深又窄的小路。
一行人馬終于來到了一片開闊地，這里四周是巖壁，籠罩在月光下。
“我們就在這里——藍(lán)色峽谷把野馬圈成一圈。”瘦子說。
他下了馬，也幫著杰克下了馬。安妮則從日落身上哧溜滑了下來。
“把它帶到它媽媽那里去。”瘦子吩咐安妮道。
安妮把日落帶到了母馬身邊。在月光下，兩匹野馬互相廝磨著，發(fā)出陣陣嘶叫。
杰克拍著灰塵濕漉漉的脖子，想起了最后兩個待馬的方法：表揚(yáng)和獎勵。
“謝謝你。”他輕聲對灰塵說，“你真了不起，你真是最棒的。”
瘦子為灰塵卸下馬鞍，把鞍囊遞給了杰克。
“把這個拿到有草的地方去。我們就在那里扎營。”瘦子說。
杰克拿著鞍囊，他的靴子又緊又硬，雙腿酸痛得直發(fā)抖。但他毫不介意。
杰克扔下鞍囊和自己的背包，然后跌坐在地上。他累壞了。安妮也坐在了他身旁。
“它們重獲自由，又能相聚，看來高興極了。”她說，一面看著月光下的野馬。
“是啊。”杰克說。
他仰身躺下，用背包做枕頭，看著天上的星星。
“要是我們能有謎語的答案，一切就太完美了。”他說。
“是啊。”安妮應(yīng)道。
“嘿，瘦子。”他叫道，“我有個問題要問你。”
“說吧。”瘦子說。
“你知道這個謎語的答案嗎?”杰克問。“從藍(lán)色之中，我孤寂的聲音向你呼喚。我是誰?是誰?”
瘦子沉默了一會兒，然后說：“對不起，小矮子，這個我可不知道。”
杰克的心一沉。“沒關(guān)系，”他說，“我們也不知道。”
“我也有個問題。”安妮說，“旅館里的鋼琴為什么能自己彈奏呢?”
“這個問題我能給你答案。”瘦子說。
“是什么?”安妮問。
“那是孤獨盧克。”瘦子說，“他是一個牛仔的幽靈，總在大草原上游蕩。”
杰克坐起身來。
“我看到他了!我看到他了!”他說，“我想起來了!是他嚇退了盜馬賊!要不是他趕來，我可逃不出來啦。”
“哦，是嗎?”瘦子笑了起來。“我們真夠幸運的。孤獨盧克有時是喜歡幫助人逃離困境。”
瘦子把自己的馬鞍扔在地上，背靠著它坐在杰克和安妮旁邊。
“許多年前，孤獨盧克瘋狂地愛上了一個女孩。”瘦子說，“但她沒法接受狂野西部，就回東部去了。”
“后來呢?”杰克問。
“盧克就瘋了。他每天晚上都會出現(xiàn)在旅館彈鋼琴，反反復(fù)復(fù)地彈奏‘紅河谷’。”
“然后，在一個夜晚，他消失在大草原上，從此再也沒有人見到他活著。一年后人們找到了他的尸骨。但人們說他的幽靈回到了旅館彈奏‘紅河谷’。就是這樣 的……”
瘦子掏出一把口琴，開始吹一首歌。正是杰克和安妮在旅館聽到的那首憂傷的曲子。
杰克又躺下身來，聽著那首孤獨的樂曲。遠(yuǎn)處有狼在嚎叫。馬匹在黑夜里騷動了一陣。
我應(yīng)該做點筆記，杰克想。
可他還沒寫一個字，就睡著了。甚至連靴子都沒顧上脫。
