儿童英语读物《神奇树屋》 第十册 Ghost Town at Sundown 07

7 Ghost Story

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幽灵的故事

杰克在马鞍上被颠得一上一下。他能感觉到夜晚的冷风刮过面庞。

他也说不上自己是在往哪里走，但他相信灰尘能跟上前面的马群。

马群开始放慢脚步，而灰尘也终于追上了它们。

杰克挥动缰绳，灰尘赶上了瘦子和安妮，和他们并排走着。

“你好!”瘦子说。

“你好!”杰克也说。

“你好!”安妮问杰克，“你还好吧?”

杰克推了推眼镜。“还好。”他说，“你呢?”

“很好。”她回答说。

“骑得真不错，小矮子!”瘦子说。

“谢谢!”杰克说，一面露出了微笑。他现在有些喜欢被称为“小矮子”了。

“我们去哪儿啊，老板?”杰克问瘦子。

“蓝色峡谷。”瘦子回答，“没问题吧?”

“没问题。”杰克说。

“这边走!”瘦子说。他拍了拍马，一行人马又跑了起来。

瘦子把马队带到了左边，很快，他就带着他们走过了一条又深又窄的小路。

一行人马终于来到了一片开阔地，这里四周是岩壁，笼罩在月光下。

“我们就在这里——蓝色峡谷把野马圈成一圈。”瘦子说。

他下了马，也帮着杰克下了马。安妮则从日落身上哧溜滑了下来。

“把它带到它妈妈那里去。”瘦子吩咐安妮道。

安妮把日落带到了母马身边。在月光下，两匹野马互相厮磨着，发出阵阵嘶叫。

杰克拍着灰尘湿漉漉的脖子，想起了最后两个待马的方法：表扬和奖励。

“谢谢你。”他轻声对灰尘说，“你真了不起，你真是最棒的。”

瘦子为灰尘卸下马鞍，把鞍囊递给了杰克。

“把这个拿到有草的地方去。我们就在那里扎营。”瘦子说。

杰克拿着鞍囊，他的靴子又紧又硬，双腿酸痛得直发抖。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。他累坏了。安妮也坐在了他身旁。

“它们重获自由，又能相聚，看来高兴极了。”她说，一面看着月光下的野马。

“是啊。”杰克说。

他仰身躺下，用背包做枕头，看着天上的星星。

“要是我们能有谜语的答案，一切就太完美了。”他说。

“是啊。”安妮应道。

“嘿，瘦子。”他叫道，“我有个问题要问你。”

“说吧。”瘦子说。

“你知道这个谜语的答案吗?”杰克问。“从蓝色之中，我孤寂的声音向你呼唤。我是谁?是谁?”

瘦子沉默了一会儿，然后说：“对不起，小矮子，这个我可不知道。”

杰克的心一沉。“没关系，”他说，“我们也不知道。”

“我也有个问题。”安妮说，“旅馆里的钢琴为什么能自己弹奏呢?”

“这个问题我能给你答案。”瘦子说。

“是什么?”安妮问。

“那是孤独卢克。”瘦子说，“他是一个牛仔的幽灵，总在大草原上游荡。”

杰克坐起身来。

“我看到他了!我看到他了!”他说，“我想起来了!是他吓退了盗马贼!要不是他赶来，我可逃不出来啦。”

“哦，是吗?”瘦子笑了起来。“我们真够幸运的。孤独卢克有时是喜欢帮助人逃离困境。”

瘦子把自己的马鞍扔在地上，背靠着它坐在杰克和安妮旁边。

“许多年前，孤独卢克疯狂地爱上了一个女孩。”瘦子说，“但她没法接受狂野西部，就回东部去了。”

“后来呢?”杰克问。

“卢克就疯了。他每天晚上都会出现在旅馆弹钢琴，反反复复地弹奏‘红河谷’。”

“然后，在一个夜晚，他消失在大草原上，从此再也没有人见到他活着。一年后人们找到了他的尸骨。但人们说他的幽灵回到了旅馆弹奏‘红河谷’。就是这样　　的……”

瘦子掏出一把口琴，开始吹一首歌。正是杰克和安妮在旅馆听到的那首忧伤的曲子。

杰克又躺下身来，听着那首孤独的乐曲。远处有狼在嚎叫。马匹在黑夜里骚动了一阵。

我应该做点笔记，杰克想。

可他还没写一个字，就睡着了。甚至连靴子都没顾上脱。