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儿童英语读物 The Mystery at Peacock Hall CHAPTER 8 The Figure at the Window

时间:2017-09-07 02:13来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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The Aldens ran upstairs to a room with windows that overlooked the front lawn.

“This is where we found the old paper,” Benny said.

“And now it’s gone,” Violet added.

Henry went over to the windows. Roscoe was standing1 by the empty goldfish pond. He glanced around, as if waiting for someone.

“I wonder who he’s waiting for,” Henry said.

Jessie   and   the   others   joined   Henry, pulling the dusty draperies back so they could see.

Then an older man joined Roscoe. It was Tate.

Violet watched the two men. “They seem awfully2 happy.”

“Tate did say Roscoe came here a lot when he was a kid,” Henry said. “I guess they’re still good friends. But how can Tate be laughing when he’s about to lose his home? Where will he go?”

Jessie wasn’t listening. From here, she had a good view of the smokehouse. A light shone in the single window.

“Look!” she cried.

A small figure passed in front of the window. Who was it?

“Somebody’s in the smokehouse,” Violet said.

“Whoever it is, Tate doesn’t want anyone to know,” Jessie said, remembering the times Tate had scolded them.

“But he’s busy with Roscoe,” Henry pointed3 out. “We could go out the back way and he’d never see us. We could find out who Tate’s mysterious guest is.”

Benny was already heading for the door. “Let’s go!”

The back staircase came out by the kitchen. As the children tiptoed past the hallway, they glimpsed Cousin Althea sitting alone in the living room.

Violet felt sorry for her. If only Grandfather would come back with good news!

The lawn was damp with dew. Violet’s sneakers were soaked by the time they reached the smokehouse. Above the piney woods a round moon was rising. It was an evening for surprises, she thought.

Benny peered into the peacock pen. Both birds were roosting on the roof of the little house. At least the peacock’s cry wouldn’t give them away.

He took the lead as they crept single file around the corner of the smokehouse.

The front door was open!

Benny was ready to charge in when Henry pulled him back.

“Let me go first,” Henry whispered. “I’ll make sure it’s safe.”

Cautiously he stuck his head inside the door.

“Might as well come in,” called a young voice.

Violet knew that voice. “David!” she exclaimed, rushing past Henry and inside the little building.

David sat on an old chair at a table. He’d been reading a book. He wore a pair of jeans with a hole in one knee.

“Mom’s out,” he said quietly. “She’s picking flowers to finish an order.”

Violet gazed around the small room. Bunches of dried herbs and flowers hung from the wooden ceiling beams. Fresh flowers stood in buckets and canning jars of water. An herb wreath lay on a larger table. Dishes stacked in the tiny sink and a basket of folded laundry were the final clues.

“You and your mother live here!” she declared. “You’re the secret Tate’s been keeping from us!”

David sighed. “That’s right.” He indicated a worn-out sofa and another old chair. “I knew you four wouldn’t give up till you found out the truth. Sit down, everyone.”

When the Aldens made themselves comfortable, David began his story.

“Mom and I lost our lease back last fall. The lease on our apartment,” he explained. “Our landlord raised the rent. Mom couldn’t pay it, so we had to leave. But we didn’t have anyplace to go.”

Jessie felt a pang4 of sympathy. “We know what you mean. When our parents died, we didn’t have a home, either.”

“So we moved into an old boxcar,” Henry said. “And that’s where we lived till Grandfather found us and took us to live with him.”

“I wish I had a grandfather like yours,” David said wistfully. “But it’s just Mom and me. Most of the time we get along pretty good. But this past winter . . .” He stopped.

Violet thought David looked as if he was going to cry. “How did you meet Tate?” she asked gently.

“He was driving along the highway and he saw us walking. He stopped to give us a ride. When he found out we didn’t have anyplace to live, he said we were coming home with him and he wouldn’t take no for an answer.” David smiled at the memory. “Tate can be pretty bossy5 sometimes.”

“Why didn’t he tell Cousin Althea?” Henry wanted to know. “Why is he keeping you and your mother a secret?”

“Tate was going to tell Mrs. Randolph. But then Mrs. Randolph got that tax letter, and Tate thought she had enough to worry about. So he never told her about us.”

“Were you going to live here forever?” Benny asked. He liked the smokehouse. It was small and neat, like their boxcar.

David shook his head. “Mom opened the herb stand on the highway. She was saving money to get us an apartment in town. But then the county made her shut down her stand. I don’t know what’s going to happen now.”

The children were silent a moment.

Jessie absently pulled the scrap6 of denim7 from the pocket of her skirt.

“What’s that?” David asked.

Jessie flushed. “It’s a piece of material. We saw your pants hanging on the clothesline and wondered if the material came from your jeans.”

As if to answer her question, David got up and opened a bureau drawer. He pulled out two pairs of denim pants, both with holes in the knees. “These belong to my mom. She can’t afford to buy us new clothes.”

Jessie felt worse than ever. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean —”

“We aren’t being nosy,” Henry put in. “We found the material on the ledge8 beneath the girls’ bedroom window. Somebody tried to break in the first night we got here. He — or she — tore their pants getting away.”

David’s eyes widened. “You don’t think I did it? Or my mother?”

“No, of course not!” Violet said quickly. “But that was before we knew you and Heather lived here in the smokehouse.”

Jessie stuffed the scrap back in her pocket. “We keep finding clues, but they lead nowhere.”

“I might be able to help,” David told her. “You all came here Sunday evening?”

“That’s right.” Henry leaned forward with interest. “What do you know about that night, David?”

“It was warm and I was out taking a walk,” David replied. “Tate told Mom and me that Mrs. Randolph’s relatives were coming, so we’d have to stay out of sight.”

“Did you see something?” Violet asked anxiously. This was one mystery she definitely wanted solved.

David shook his head. “I didn’t see anything, but I heard something. A car with a loud engine.”

“Whose car was it?” asked Jessie.

But Henry already knew. A certain Jeep had a powerful engine. “It was Roscoe Janney, wasn’t it?”

“Only one car around here that sounds like his Jeep,” David said. “He must have parked it along the road instead of in the driveway, so nobody would see him. He probably walked up the driveway.”

Henry nodded. This made sense. “Roscoe is friends with Tate, so he could have easily borrowed a ladder from the gardener. But why would he break into his aunt’s house?”

Jessie spoke9 up. “Roscoe knew we were here. Maybe he tried to scare us away.”

“But we don’t scare that easily,” Benny said.

Violet explained to David that they had been involved in several mysteries.

“But this mystery is the hardest of all,” she concluded. “We need to find the hidden treasure to save Peacock Hall. So far we don’t even know what it is, much less where it is.”

“Soon Cousin Althea will be without a home,” Jessie added. “And Tate. Where will they go?”

Then she realized that David and Heather wouldn’t have a home, either, if Peacock Hall was auctioned10 for taxes.

Now the Aldens had to help two families find a home.

In one day.
 


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 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。
2 awfully MPkym     
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地
参考例句:
  • Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
  • I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。
3 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。
4 pang OKixL     
n.剧痛,悲痛,苦闷
参考例句:
  • She experienced a sharp pang of disappointment.她经历了失望的巨大痛苦。
  • She was beginning to know the pang of disappointed love.她开始尝到了失恋的痛苦。
5 bossy sxdzgz     
adj.爱发号施令的,作威作福的
参考例句:
  • She turned me off with her bossy manner.她态度专橫很讨我嫌。
  • She moved out because her mother-in-law is too bossy.她的婆婆爱指使人,所以她搬出去住了。
6 scrap JDFzf     
n.碎片;废料;v.废弃,报废
参考例句:
  • A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
  • Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。
7 denim o9Lya     
n.斜纹棉布;斜纹棉布裤,牛仔裤
参考例句:
  • She wore pale blue denim shorts and a white denim work shirt.她穿着一条淡蓝色的斜纹粗棉布短裤,一件白粗布工作服上衣。
  • Dennis was dressed in denim jeans.丹尼斯穿了一条牛仔裤。
8 ledge o1Mxk     
n.壁架,架状突出物;岩架,岩礁
参考例句:
  • They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
  • Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上,摔倒了。
9 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。
10 auctioned 1a9ab53832945db108ff2919e21fccc6     
v.拍卖( auction的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • It was sad to see all grandmother's lovely things being auctioned off. 眼看着祖母那些可爱的东西全都被拍卖掉,心里真不好受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder. 电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
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