兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第十冊 Ghost Town at Sundown 09

9 Lonesome Luke

The sun was low in the sky when they reached Rattlesnake Flats.

“Just let us off in front of the hotel，” said Annie.

“You sure the stage is coming through here?” said Slim.

“Yup，” said Jack and Annie together.

In front of the hotel， Slim got down from Dusty. Then he helped Jack and Annie down.

“I hope you’ll come to Laramie and visit me，” said Slim. He winked. “I might be needing some help on my book.”

“Sure，” said Annie.

Slim climbed back on Dusty. He looked down at Jack.

“You know， Shorty，” he said， “you might be short， but you’re mighty tall in the brains.”

“Thanks，” said Jack.

“And， Smiley，” Slim said. “Your great courage is nothing to smile about.”

“Thanks，” said Annie.

“Good luck with your writing， Slim，” said Jack.

“I’m grateful to you both for steering me straight，” said Slim. “I promise I’ll thank you someday.”

“Really?” said Annie.

“A cowboy never goes back on his word，” said Slim. Then he snapped his reins， and Dusty loped down the street.

“Bye， Slim!” yelled Annie.

Slim Cooley turned one last time. He waved his hat. “So long， pardners!” he called.

Then he rode off into the sunset.

Jack let out a deep sigh. “Okay. I’m ready to take my boots off now，” he said.

“Me too，” said Annie.

They sat down on the porch of the hotel. They started pulling off their boots.

“There!” Jack got them both off.

He wiggled his toes. He took his sneakers out of his pack and put them on. Annie put hers on， too.

“Man， sneakers never felt so good，” said Jack.

Suddenly the sound of a piano drifted through the air.

“Lonesome Luke!” said Annie.

Jack grabbed his pack.He and Annie crept across the porch.They pushed open the swinging door.

The piano was playing“Red River Valley.” Sitting on the piano stool was the dim but shimmering shape of a cowboy.

Just then the ghost of Lonesome Luke looked at Jack and Annie. He waved a shimmering hand.

Jack and Annie waved back.

Then the ghost of Lonesome Luke faded away.Cold air wafted past Jack and Annie.They both shivered.

“Oh， man， let’s go，” breathed Jack.

They leaped and dashed up the dusty road.They ran across the cracked ground and past the graveyard. They ran until they reached the tree with the Magic Tree House in it.

Annie grabbed the rope ladder.

She hurried up and Jack followed. They were out of breath when they got inside the tree house.

Annie grabbed the ancient scroll. She unrolled it.

“Yay!” she said.

The scroll had one glowing word on it：

ECHO

“We got it right!” said Annie.

Jack grabbed the Pennsylvania book. He pointed to a picture of the Frog Creek woods.

“I wish we could go there!” he said.

The wind started to blow.

The tree house started to spin.

It spun faster and faster.

Then everything was still.

Absolutely still.

9孤獨盧克

他們到達響尾蛇淺灘時，太陽已經(jīng)低低地掛在天邊了。

“就把我們放在旅館前面吧。”安妮說。

“你肯定馬車會從這里經(jīng)過嗎?”瘦子問。

“是。”安妮和杰克一起答道。

瘦子在旅館前下了馬，又幫著杰克和安妮下了馬。

“希望你們能到勒拉密來看我。”瘦子說著眨了眨眼睛，“也許我寫書時還需要幫手呢。”

“一定。”安妮說。

瘦子重又騎上灰塵。他看著杰克，說：

“要知道，小矮子，你雖然個子矮，腦子里卻有著大智慧呢。”

“謝謝。”杰克說。

“還有，愛笑的丫頭。”瘦子又說，“你的勇氣可是不能小看的。”

“謝謝。”安妮說。

“祝你的書好運，瘦子!”杰克說。

“我很感激你們?yōu)槲艺业搅苏_的方向。”瘦子說，“我保證有一天會酬謝你們的。”

“真的?”安妮問。

“牛仔可是從不食言的。”瘦子說著，揮動了韁繩，灰塵跳躍著沿街跑去。

“再見，瘦子!”安妮喊道。

瘦子庫里最后回頭看了一眼。他揮揮帽子，喊道：“再見，伙計們!”

然后，瘦子就騎著馬消失在夕陽里。

杰克深深地嘆了口氣，說：“好了，現(xiàn)在我可以把靴子脫掉了。”

“我也是。”安妮說。

他們坐在旅館的門廊上，開始脫靴子。

“哎呀!”杰克把兩只靴子都脫掉了。

他使勁揉了揉腳指頭。從背包里拿出球鞋穿上了。安妮也穿上了她的球鞋。

“啊，從來沒覺得球鞋這么舒服。”杰克說。

突然，空中飄來一陣鋼琴的聲音。

“是孤獨盧克!”安妮喊道。

杰克一把抓起背包，和安妮一起爬過門廊，推開了那扇搖搖晃晃的門。

鋼琴正彈奏著“紅河谷”。琴凳上坐著一個模糊卻又閃著光芒的牛仔身型。

正在這時，孤獨盧克的幽靈看到了杰克和安妮。他用那閃著光的手朝他們揮了揮。

杰克和安妮也沖他揮了揮手。

然后孤獨盧克的幽靈就消失了。冷冷的空氣拂過杰克和安妮。他們不禁打了個寒戰(zhàn)。

“哦，天啊，咱們走吧。”杰克吸了口氣。

他們跳了起來，沖向灰蒙蒙的街道，跑過了吱吱作響的地面，穿過墓地，一直跑到神奇樹屋所在的那棵樹下。

安妮抓住了繩梯。

她趕緊往上爬，杰克緊跟在后面。他們爬進樹屋的時候都有些喘不過氣來了。

安妮拿起那個卷軸，展開了。

“耶!”她叫道。

卷軸上只有一個閃光的詞：

回聲。

“我們猜對了!”安妮喊著。

杰克抓起那本賓夕法尼亞書。他指著一幅蛙溪樹林的圖片說：

“希望我們能去到那里!”

風吹了起來。

樹屋開始打轉(zhuǎn)。

轉(zhuǎn)得越來越快。

然后一切都平靜了。

絕對的平靜。