兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第五冊 Night of the Ninjas 10

10 ’Night， Peanut

Jack opened his eyes.

Then he opened his fist. He stared at the moonstone in his hand. It was clear and smooth. It almost seemed to glow.

“We’re home，” said Annie.

Squeak.

Annie and the mouse were looking out the window.

Jack looked with them.

The sun was setting in the distance.

No time at all had passed in Frog Creek.

They heard their neighbor’s dog， Henry，bark. They heard crickets chirping.

In the distance， they could see their dad step out of their house. He stood on their porch.

“Ja-ack! An-nie!” he called.

Time for dinner.

“Com-ing!” Annie shouted.

Jack sat back on his heels. He looked at the moonstone again.

“I guess we have one of the four things，” he said.

“We’ll look for the other three tomorrow，” Annie said.

Jack nodded. They had a lot more work to do.

He put the moonstone in his pocket.

He pulled on his pack.

“Ready?” he said.

“Wait，” said Annie. She took off one of her sneakers. She pulled off her sock. Then she put her sneaker back on.

“What are you doing?” said Jack.

“I’m making a bed，” she said.

“A what?”

“Bed! You know， for Peanut to sleep in.” Annie picked up the mouse. She tucked it inside her sock.

“Night， Peanut，” she said softly.

Squeak.

“Oh brother，” said Jack.

Annie held the mouse close to Jack.

“Kiss it goodnight， Jack，” she said.

“Don’t be silly，” he said. “Let’s go.”

“Thanks for helping us，” Annie said to the mouse.

She put Peanut gently down on the glowing M. She pulled Morgan’s message out of her pouch.

And put it next to the mouse.

“See you tomorrow，” she said. Then she started down the ladder.

Jack stared at the mouse. It looked back at him.

For a moment， its dark eyes looked old and wise.

“Come on， Jack!” called Annie.

Jack kissed its tiny head.

“Night-night， Peanut，” he whispered.

Then Jack headed down the rope ladder.

It got darker and darker as he went down.

By the time he stepped onto the ground， it was almost completely black.

“Where are you?” said Jack.

“Here，” said Annie. Her hand bumped his. He took it.

“Careful，” he said.

“Careful yourself，” she said.

Together they took off through the cool， dark woods.

They moved silently and swiftly—two shadow warriors returning home.

10.晚安，花生

杰克睜開眼睛。

然后他張開了他的掌心，凝視著他手里的那塊月亮石，它又亮又光滑，幾乎可以發(fā)光了。

“我們到家了。”安妮說。

吱吱。吱吱。

安妮和那只小老鼠正朝窗外張望呢。

杰克也和他們一起向窗外看去。

遠(yuǎn)處太陽正在緩緩下山。

蛙溪鎮(zhèn)的時間還一點都沒有過。

他們聽見了鄰居家的狗亨利在叫，他們聽見蟋蟀的唧唧聲。

遠(yuǎn)處，他們看見他們的爸爸正走出家門，站在家門前的門廊上。

“杰克!安妮!”他叫道。

是吃晚飯的時間了。

“來啦!”安妮回應(yīng)道。

杰克跪坐下來，再一次看著月亮石。

“我想我們已經(jīng)得到了四樣?xùn)|西中的一樣。”他說。

“我們明天去找其他的三樣。”安妮說。

杰克點了點頭，他們還有很多事情要做。

他把月亮石裝進(jìn)他的口袋，然后背上了他的背包。

“準(zhǔn)備好了嗎?”他說。

“等等。”安妮說，她脫下了自己的一只鞋，又脫下一只襪子，然后穿上鞋子。

“你在干嗎?”杰克說。

“我在做一張床。”她說。

“一張什么?”

“床!知道嗎，給花生睡覺用的。”安妮抓起了小老鼠，把它塞進(jìn)了她的襪子里。

“晚安，花生。”她溫柔地說。

吱吱。吱吱。

“我的老天。”杰克說。

安妮把老鼠舉到杰克面前。

“跟它吻別，杰克。”她說。

“別傻了。”他說，“我們走。”

“謝謝你幫助我們。”安妮對小老鼠說。

她把花生輕輕地放在那個發(fā)光的字母M上，她把摩根的留言從口袋里拿出來，放在老鼠的旁邊。

“明天見。”她說，然后她開始從繩梯往下爬。

杰克看著老鼠，小老鼠也看著他。剎那間，它的小黑眼睛看起來又老成又充滿智慧。

“來呀!杰克。”安妮叫道。

杰克吻了吻它的小腦袋。

“晚安，花生。”他小聲說。

于是杰克也順著繩梯下去了。

他下去的時候外面越來越黑了。

他下到地面的時候，外面幾乎全黑了。

“你在哪兒?”杰克說。

“這兒。”安妮說，她的手碰到了他的手，杰克抓住了安妮的手。

“小心。”他說。

“你自己小心。”她說。

他們一起穿越了陰冷、黑暗的小樹林。

他們安靜地迅速地走著——兩個影子武士回家了。