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儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Orphan Train CHAPTER 9 Scrabble, Anyone?

时间:2017-11-21 03:12来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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No sooner had the professor gone inside, than Lindsay stepped out the door. “I thought I’d find you here,” she told the Aldens with a smile. “I just wanted to let you know I’ll be leaving in the morning.”

The children were surprised to hear this. “You mean you won’t be working here anymore?” Benny wondered.

“Oh, I’ll be back, Benny,” Lindsay assured the youngest Alden. “I’m just going to take a few days off to attend my cousin’s wedding.” She sat down in the empty chair beside Violet. “I really wasn’t planning to go at all, you know. I told my cousin if I could do it in one day that’d be different. But it’s too long a drive for that. I just couldn’t pull it off. And how could I leave Kate with a houseful of guests any longer than that?”

Jessie and Henry exchanged glances. That must have been the phone conversation they’d overheard in the woods!

“I was determined1 to keep the whole wedding thing to myself,” Lindsay went on. “Only Kate found the invitation in my apron2 pocket and put her foot down. There’s no way she’ll let me miss a family wedding.”

Violet nodded in sudden understanding. That’s what Lindsay had shoved into her pocket when they’d startled her that first day—the wedding invitation!

Benny stared at Lindsay. “You were talking on the phone about something old and blue.”

“Oh, you heard that, did you?” Lindsay was smiling. “It’s a tradition for brides, Benny. ‘Something old, something new…’”

“‘Something borrowed, something blue!’” finished Violet, in a singsong voice.

“Exactly!” Lindsay laughed. “My cousin has her heart set on borrowing a lace hanky that’s been in my family for years. It has tiny blue flowers on it.”

“Something old and blue,” said Jessie, catching3 Henry’s eye. He nodded. They could cross Lindsay off their list of suspects.

Lindsay pushed her chair back. “Well, I’d better check on dinner. I’ve got a roast chicken in the oven.”

“We’ll help,” Jessie offered, speaking for them all. “We can set the dining room table.”

“It sure is funny about that photograph,” Henry said as he set plates around the table.

“Are you talking about the lady in the white cap?” asked Benny.

Henry nodded. “I wonder who she was.”

Violet had an answer. “Margaret O’Malley. At least, that’s what it said under the picture.”

“Margaret O’Malley?” repeated Jessie, as she smoothed out the tablecloth4. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on where she’d heard it.

Violet went to shut the opened door. “The painting of the Emerald Isle5, remember?” she reminded them in a hushed voice. “Margaret O’Malley was the artist.”

Henry’s eyebrows6 shot up. “Oh, that’s right!”

“She must have been the family cook,” said Jessie, every bit as surprised as her older brother.

Benny nodded. “Kate said she worked here when Sally was growing up!”

“That’s not all.” Violet set a vase of daisies in the middle of the table. “Margaret O’Malley’s photograph was taken in 1904.”

“Are you sure?” Henry looked uncertain.

Violet nodded. “Quite sure, Henry.”

“But … that’s the same year Sally’s photograph was taken,” Jessie realized, her eyes huge.

“Sitting at a half-moon table,” added Henry, “when she was a little girl.”

“There’s no doubt about it,” Violet concluded. “Those photographs were taken at the same time—right here at Wiggin Place.” She nodded her head slowly as it began to sink in. “And I bet they were taken by the same person!”

The Aldens looked at one another. Had Ethan Cape7 stayed at Wiggin Place more than once?

“According to Kate,” Henry said after a moment’s thought, “Sally never met Ethan Cape until she was much older—a grandmother.”

“All the same, I’m pretty sure Ethan was here before that,” Violet insisted, “when Sally was a little girl.”

Benny placed the napkins around the table. “Do you think Ethan met Thane Pace back then?”

“I guess it’s possible,” Henry had to admit. “They were both here around the same time.”

“Can you believe it?” Violet couldn’t help laughing. “The mysteries are starting to connect!”

“Seems that way,” agreed Jessie.

Henry had a suggestion. “Let’s keep a lid on this for now. At least until we can make some sense of it.”

After dinner, the Aldens challenged Kate to a game of Scrabble. They were hoping it would take her mind off the missing necklace for a while, but it was no use. Before long, Kate called it a night, leaving the four children to finish the game on their own.

While Benny was having a turn, Jessie spoke8 up. “Kate tries to be cheery, but …”

“She’s afraid she’s seen the last of her necklace,” finished Violet, who had pulled her chair closer to her little brother’s. She knew he might need help with the harder words.

Henry noticed Benny eyeing the popcorn9. “Find any words yet, Sherlock?” he asked, passing the bowl of popcorn across the kitchen table to him.

Benny shifted the letters around on the wooden tile-holder. “Well, it looks like I can spell APE.”

“Way to go, Benny!” praised Violet. “And guess what? If you add the letter C, you can turn APE into CAPE.55

Benny broke into a smile. “Cool!”

“You can even switch the letters around and turn CAPE into PACE,” Jessie pointed10 out.

“I think I’ll stick with CAPE.” Benny shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth, then carefully placed his letters on the board.

As Henry added up Benny’s score, Jessie said, “It’s funny, isn’t it?”

“What’s funny about CAPE, Jessie?” Benny asked, raising his eyes.

“It’s just… the last names are so similar.”

Benny looked puzzled. So did Henry and Violet.

“Ethan Cape and Thane Pace, I mean,” Jessie explained. “Their last names have exactly the same letters, only switched around.”

“You’re right, Jessie. I never noticed that before.” Henry shrugged11 a little. “Just a coincidence, I guess.”

But Jessie wasn’t so sure. On a hunch12, she began fishing around in the bag of lettered tiles. While the others watched, she spelled out the name ETHAN on the scrabble board.

Benny had something to say about this. “You’re not supposed to use a person’s name, Jessie. It’s against the rules.”

“I don’t think this is part of the game, Benny,” said Violet, a finger to her lips.

Jessie switched one letter around, and ETHAN suddenly turned into THANE.

“Wow!” cried Henry, clearly startled.

“I … I can’t believe it … .” Violet pressed her hands to her cheeks. “Their last names have exactly the same letters in them, too!”

“That’s got to be more than a coincidence,” said Benny, his voice rising with excitement.

“A lot more!” put in Henry, who couldn’t get over it.

Jessie giggled13. “One thing’s for sure,” she said. “Ethan Cape never met Thane Pace because—”

“Ethan Cape was Thane Pace!” finished Benny.

The Aldens looked at one another, stunned14 by their latest discovery.

“That was good detective work, Jessie,” praised Henry.

Benny suddenly looked up. “I helped, too.”

Jessie smiled over at her little brother. “You sure did. You helped make the word CAPE.”

“There’s something I don’t understand,” said Violet. “Why would Thane Pace change his name to Ethan Cape?”

“I have a hunch we won’t know the answer to that,” Jessie said, “until we figure out the second rhyme.”

The Aldens had a feeling they were very close to uncovering the truth.

Late in the night, Violet awoke from a strange dream about following the Yellow Brick Road. In her dream, when she got to the Emerald City, she found it was ruby-red! She wanted to paint it green, but there wasn’t a drop of green paint in the land. The wizard said he had an answer to the problem. He told Violet, “Two make one.”

Violet was still thinking about her dream as she lay awake in the dark. She couldn’t help wondering what it meant. And then it suddenly hit her.

“Wake up, Jessie!” she whispered, sitting up.

Jessie began to stir. “What …?”

“I know the answer to the rhyme!” Violet said as she slipped out of bed.

“What are you talking about, Violet?” Jessie asked in a drowsy15 voice.

“Two make one/ a gem16 of a clue!” Violet recited. “Two colors make one, Jessie. Blue and yellow make green.”

Jessie opened her eyes. “And an emerald is green!”

Violet nodded. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“I think so,” said Jessie, throwing her covers back. “Let’s go check it out.”

After waking Benny and Henry, the Aldens tiptoed downstairs. As they stepped into the front room, Violet stopped so suddenly that Henry almost bumped into her. Somebody was prowling around in the dark with a flashlight!


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
2 apron Lvzzo     
n.围裙;工作裙
参考例句:
  • We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
  • She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。
3 catching cwVztY     
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住
参考例句:
  • There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
  • Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。
4 tablecloth lqSwh     
n.桌布,台布
参考例句:
  • He sat there ruminating and picking at the tablecloth.他坐在那儿沉思,轻轻地抚弄着桌布。
  • She smoothed down a wrinkled tablecloth.她把起皱的桌布熨平了。
5 isle fatze     
n.小岛,岛
参考例句:
  • He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
  • The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。
6 eyebrows a0e6fb1330e9cfecfd1c7a4d00030ed5     
眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
  • His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。
7 cape ITEy6     
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风
参考例句:
  • I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
  • She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。
8 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
9 popcorn 8lUzJI     
n.爆米花
参考例句:
  • I like to eat popcorn when I am watching TV play at home.当我在家观看电视剧时,喜欢吃爆米花。
  • He still stood behind his cash register stuffing his mouth with popcorn.他仍站在收银机后,嘴里塞满了爆米花。
10 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
11 shrugged 497904474a48f991a3d1961b0476ebce     
vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀,什么也没说。
  • She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩,装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 hunch CdVzZ     
n.预感,直觉
参考例句:
  • I have a hunch that he didn't really want to go.我有这么一种感觉,他并不真正想去。
  • I had a hunch that Susan and I would work well together.我有预感和苏珊共事会很融洽。
13 giggled 72ecd6e6dbf913b285d28ec3ba1edb12     
v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
  • The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
14 stunned 735ec6d53723be15b1737edd89183ec2     
adj. 震惊的,惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
  • The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。
15 drowsy DkYz3     
adj.昏昏欲睡的,令人发困的
参考例句:
  • Exhaust fumes made him drowsy and brought on a headache.废气把他熏得昏昏沉沉,还引起了头疼。
  • I feel drowsy after lunch every day.每天午饭后我就想睡觉。
16 gem Ug8xy     
n.宝石,珠宝;受爱戴的人 [同]jewel
参考例句:
  • The gem is beyond my pocket.这颗宝石我可买不起。
  • The little gem is worth two thousand dollars.这块小宝石价值两千美元。
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