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儿童英语读物 The Castle Mystery CHAPTER 8 Mysterious Music

时间:2017-07-31 08:47来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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When the children came downstairs to help with dinner, Carrie was on the phone.

“Just wait there,” Carrie said, disgusted. “I can’t imagine why you ran out of gas. There was enough in the tank for at least one trip to town. Never mind. I’ll send someone for you right away.”

“What is it, Caroline?” Mr. Alden asked when he saw how upset his old friend was.

Carrie shook her head. “It’s Sandy, of course. Who else would have forgotten to fill the gas tank? What I can’t figure out is why she ran out of gas at all. The tank was low, but she should have been able to make it to town. And why is she calling so late when she left this morning?”

“There, there,” Mr. Alden said. “Henry and I will go for her. Now where was Miss Munson calling from?”

“From a pay phone where the lake road and the highway meet,” Carrie answered.

After Mr. Alden and Henry left, Benny and Violet began to set the table. Jessie checked the pantry, then the refrigerator.

“I guess we’ll have to wait for Sandy to get back with the groceries,” Jessie said. “We can figure out what to make for dinner when we see what she bought.”

Carrie twisted a dish cloth she had in her hands. “Sandy is so unreliable. I wish the Drummond Foundation had let me interview her myself. What good is it to know all about the castle and not be dependable?”

A half hour later, when it was dinnertime, Henry and Mr. Alden walked in the door, with Sandy Munson right behind.

“Hello, Sandy,” Carrie said without a smile. “If we all help unload the groceries from the Jeep, we can get dinner on the table.”

“But there’s nothing to unload,” Mr. Alden told Carrie. “Didn’t Miss Munson tell you she ran out of gas before she ever got to town?”

Sandy looked down at the floor. “I … I’ll go back to town in the morning, Carrie. I’m sorry. I guess I was lower on gas than you thought. Somebody can have my portion of whatever you have for dinner.”

“That won’t be much, Sandy,” Carrie said. “We have very little food. I had hoped to restock today.” Carrie looked around the kitchen at all her hungry helpers. “We can discuss this in the morning.”

Jessie found some eggs to make omelets. Violet sprinkled drops of water on the breakfast rolls to freshen them up before reheating them.

“We can make custard with the rest of this milk and the eggs,” Benny suggested. “Our housekeeper1, Mrs. MacGregor, showed me how. It’s easy!”

“I’ll help you, Benny,” Sandy offered. She looked ashamed. For a change she tried to cheer up the children instead of scolding them. “There are some custard molds up in this cabinet. They have a pretty snowflake pattern on the bottom. I used to make custard with my mother.”

“How did you know about the custard molds with the snowflake patterns?” Carrie asked.

When Sandy heard this she dropped the tin molds on the floor. “I … well … the other day I was looking for … uh … something else in that cabinet. They’re like the ones I had when I was a little girl.”

The children looked at Sandy closely when she rinsed2 off the custard tins. This wasn’t the first time she seemed to know more than a newcomer would about some of the things in Drummond Castle. Had she been here before?

Sandy went about helping3 Benny without saying much. She didn’t speak at all during the skimpy dinner everyone ate. Right afterwards she excused herself and went upstairs. She didn’t even wait for the custard to finish baking. “I’ll be in my room all night,” Sandy said. “I’m sorry about today.”

“I guess I’ll have to go grocery shopping with her tomorrow unless we all want to go on a diet!” Carrie said.

“I don’t!” Benny said, as he spooned up the last of the very good custard.

Carrie ruffled4 Benny’s hair. “Well you won’t have to. Now why don’t you children run up to your rooms and relax? On your way up, just knock on Sandy’s door. Tell her we’ll leave for town at eight sharp.”

“Okay,” the children said as they went upstairs.

There was no light coming from under Sandy’s door when Jessie gave a knock.

“That’s odd. She doesn’t seem to be there,” Jessie said.

“I guess we’d better find her if we want to eat tomorrow, right Ben?” Henry joked.

“Then let’s look for her,” Benny said.

The children checked some of the other rooms near Sandy’s. All of them were dark or locked.

“Let’s try the other wing,” Jessie suggested. “You never know where Sandy will show up.”

The children got their flashlights and took the long passageway that led to the other side of the castle. The hall was dark and cold, and so were the rooms off of it. None of them had been used for many years. Benny and Violet held hands tightly. Suddenly, the children heard faraway notes of sweet violin music.

Violet hummed softly. She whispered to Benny. “I know this is strange, but when I hear that tune5, I’m not as scared.”

But a moment later all the children were scared. When they reached the spiral staircase to the second tower, they saw a light moving up the stairs. The children stood at the bottom looking up the corkscrew turns. At each turn the light went higher and higher. Finally it disappeared at the top.

“Let’s go up,” Henry said. “Follow me.”

The children crept up the stairs without making a sound. The staircase was just like the one to their own room in the other tower. They didn’t need much light. They held on to the twisted iron railing and made their way up, step by step.

When they reached the landing, they expected anything but what they saw.

Nothing — except a locked door.

There was no one at the top of the stairs.

“How can that be?” Jessie asked. “The door is locked. The light that was here is gone.”

Henry jiggled the doorknob.

“It’s no use,” he said. He banged on the door. “Hello! Hello! Is anyone there?”

No one answered.

“Beats me,” Henry said, tapping his forehead in amazement6. “Let’s see if we can get Mr. Tooner to let us in. He has the key.”

Going down was less scary. The children turned on their flashlights. They didn’t whisper, and they didn’t tiptoe. It didn’t matter whether anyone heard them now.

The children followed a path outside that ran along the cliff to Mr. Tooner’s house. They thought they heard violin music again, but it was hard to tell with the strong wind blowing across the lake.

“Do you think Mr. Tooner will mind our visit?” Violet asked.

Henry looked thoughtful. “I think he would want to know if anyone is up in the tower who shouldn’t be.

The path ended at a small stone house. The children peeked7 in the window. Mr. Tooner was putting away a music stand.

Henry rang the doorbell. Mr. Tooner came to the window and looked out. He made a face and began to close the shutters8. Then he realized the Aldens were at the door.

Although Mr. Tooner didn’t smile, he didn’t look mad anymore either. “Is there any trouble?” he asked the children.

Violet stepped up to the door. She had a feeling Mr. Tooner liked her. “We think somebody’s up in the tower room. We followed somebody all the way up the stairs, but the door was locked when we got there.”

“Turn around! Look up there!” Mr. Tooner pointed9 up at the tower. “By golly, there is someone up there. A light is on.”

Before they knew it, the Aldens were following Mr. Tooner to a small door at the back of his house. It opened into a cave passageway.

“Does this cave lead to the castle?” Jessie asked.

“See for yourself,” Mr. Tooner said. He turned on two small overhead lights that brightened the passageway.

“Neat!” Benny said. “You can go back and forth10 to the castle without going outside.”

The passageway was quite short. Soon the children were following Mr. Tooner up the tower stairs. At the top, he pulled out his key ring and unlocked the door.

There was no electricity in this part of the castle. The children and Mr. Tooner used their flashlights to search the cluttered11 room.

“Whoever was here must be gone by now,” Henry said. “Sorry to bother you with this, Mr. Tooner.”

“That’s all right, my boy. I saw that light, too,” Mr. Tooner said. “Somebody must have made a copy of my keys, that’s all I can think.”

“Come on — let’s go,” Jessie said.

“I just want to see if I can see the moon through the chimney,” Benny answered, standing12 in the fireplace and looking up. “But there’s no chimney in this funny fireplace. Whoops13 — ”

The other children heard a thud and ran over to see what had happened to Benny. But he had disappeared!

Then they heard his voice, from the other side of the wall. “This is a fake fireplace! If you push it, there’s another room!” Benny yelled. “Lean hard, like I did, and it will turn around.”

The children and Mr. Tooner did just that. They managed to push themselves into a moonlit room the same size as the one they had just been in. Like the other room, this one was filled with old furniture, books, and toys. Mr. Tooner and the Aldens poked14 around as best they could in the dim light. Suddenly, while their backs were turned, they heard the creaking of the revolving15 wall.

“Oh no!” Jessie cried out. “Whoever was in here just got out.”

Everyone pushed at the movable wall, and it revolved16 again. They were back on the other side. But they were too late. The mysterious person had disappeared.

“Guess I’ll lock up. Not that it does much good if somebody’s got the key.” Mr. Tooner sounded upset. “I only hope whoever copied this key didn’t copy any others. Mr. Drummond trusted me to keep an eye on things, and that’s what I’ve done. But now …”

Violet patted Mr. Tooner’s hand. “It’ll be okay. You did a good job. We can help you find whoever it is who got in here.”

Everyone wanted to cheer up the old man. “We’ll help you put in some new locks,” Henry said. “We’re handy with tools.”

“A secret room, a secret room,” Mr. Tooner repeated. “I thought I knew every corner of this castle.”

“There, there,” Violet said. “Tomorrow we’ll try to figure out who really does know every corner of this castle.”
 


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 housekeeper 6q2zxl     
n.管理家务的主妇,女管家
参考例句:
  • A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
  • She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家,一家人吃得很省。
2 rinsed 637d6ed17a5c20097c9dbfb69621fd20     
v.漂洗( rinse的过去式和过去分词 );冲洗;用清水漂洗掉(肥皂泡等);(用清水)冲掉
参考例句:
  • She rinsed out the sea water from her swimming-costume. 她把游泳衣里的海水冲洗掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The clothes have been rinsed three times. 衣服已经洗了三和。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
3 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
4 ruffled e4a3deb720feef0786be7d86b0004e86     
adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • She ruffled his hair affectionately. 她情意绵绵地拨弄着他的头发。
  • All this talk of a strike has clearly ruffled the management's feathers. 所有这些关于罢工的闲言碎语显然让管理层很不高兴。
5 tune NmnwW     
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整
参考例句:
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子,并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。
6 amazement 7zlzBK     
n.惊奇,惊讶
参考例句:
  • All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
  • He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。
7 peeked c7b2fdc08abef3a4f4992d9023ed9bb8     
v.很快地看( peek的过去式和过去分词 );偷看;窥视;微露出
参考例句:
  • She peeked over the top of her menu. 她从菜单上往外偷看。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • On two occasions she had peeked at him through a crack in the wall. 她曾两次透过墙缝窥视他。 来自辞典例句
8 shutters 74d48a88b636ca064333022eb3458e1f     
百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 ); (照相机的)快门
参考例句:
  • The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
  • The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。
9 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。
10 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
11 cluttered da1cd877cda71c915cf088ac1b1d48d3     
v.杂物,零乱的东西零乱vt.( clutter的过去式和过去分词 );乱糟糟地堆满,把…弄得很乱;(以…) 塞满…
参考例句:
  • The room is cluttered up with all kinds of things. 零七八碎的东西放满了一屋子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The desk is cluttered with books and papers. 桌上乱糟糟地堆满了书报。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
12 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
13 whoops JITyt     
int.呼喊声
参考例句:
  • Whoops! Careful, you almost spilt coffee everywhere. 哎哟!小心点,你差点把咖啡洒得到处都是。
  • We were awakened by the whoops of the sick baby. 生病婴儿的喘息声把我们弄醒了。
14 poked 87f534f05a838d18eb50660766da4122     
v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 );戳出;拨弄;与(某人)性交
参考例句:
  • She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
  • His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
15 revolving 3jbzvd     
adj.旋转的,轮转式的;循环的v.(使)旋转( revolve的现在分词 );细想
参考例句:
  • The theatre has a revolving stage. 剧院有一个旋转舞台。
  • The company became a revolving-door workplace. 这家公司成了工作的中转站。
16 revolved b63ebb9b9e407e169395c5fc58399fe6     
v.(使)旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 );细想
参考例句:
  • The fan revolved slowly. 电扇缓慢地转动着。
  • The wheel revolved on its centre. 轮子绕中心转动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
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