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儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Empty Safe CHAPTER 3 The Man with the Limp

时间:2017-09-26 08:13来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Sara all looked back down the street to see who was following them. But the only people they saw were a young couple sitting on a bench and a mother pushing a stroller.

“Are you sure, Benny?” Henry asked.

“I don’t see anyone now,” Jessie pointed1 out.

Benny looked back down the street, also. “But—but—” Had he imagined that the man was following them? “There was a man behind us—I guess he’s gone now.”

“What did he look like?” Violet asked.

“I didn’t really get a good look at him,” Benny said. “But he was wearing a long dark coat. And he limped when he walked. And there was something about him …” Benny paused.

“Something what?” Henry asked.

“I don’t know,” said Benny.

“Are you sure he was following us?” Jessie asked.

“Well, I guess I’m not sure …” Benny admitted.

“We’ll keep an eye out for him,” said Henry. “In the meantime, let’s go get our party supplies.”

Soon the children were walking into Party Time. They were happy to see that at least no one had taken down their poster there.

“Hello, Aldens,” Ms. Fox called when she saw them.

“Thanks for leaving up our poster,” said Jessie. Then she told Ms. Fox what had happened to the other ones.

“Well, sometimes posters get ripped and the store owners take them down so they won’t look messy,” Ms. Fox said. “I wouldn’t worry about it. So, what are you in here for today?”

Sara eagerly told Ms. Fox all about her coming birthday and the party the Aldens were planning.

“That’s exciting,” said Ms. Fox. She turned to the Aldens. “Are Sara’s parents the ones you met in here last week?”

“Yes, they are. Do you remember them?” Violet asked.

“I do,” said Ms. Fox.

“It’s a good thing they overheard us talking to you about our party service!” said Henry.

“Yes, it is, isn’t it?” Ms. Fox said with a smile.

“We’d better get started,” Jessie said, heading down the aisle2 that held art supplies.

The Aldens picked out paper and paints to make posters of the planets, and they found paper plates, napkins, and a tablecloth3 decorated with stars and moons.

“These are perfect!” said Sara.

For party favors, the Aldens chose little puzzles with pictures of rockets on them.

“I think we’re all set now,” said Jessie.

“Just don’t forget the birthday candles!” Violet called out, and they all laughed.

The following afternoon, the Aldens met at Sara’s house to work on the decorations. Violet traced the shapes of planets, comets, and moons on several pieces of paper, and the others painted them. Saturn4 was the most fun to paint, with its beautiful rings. After they’d been working for a while, Sara and Benny began to get restless.

“How about if we take a break now and go to the playground down the road?” Jessie suggested. “We can finish these later.”

“Hooray!” said Benny as they rinsed5 their brushes and put the tops back on the paints.

In no time, the children were walking down the road. Sara had brought along a ball so they could play soccer on the field next to the playground. “Violet!” Sara called, kicking the ball down the wide sidewalk to the older girl.

Violet stopped the ball with her foot and passed it to Henry. Henry then kicked the ball to Benny.

Benny tried to stop Henry’s pass, but the ball rolled off his foot and back down the sidewalk away from him. “I’ll get it,” Benny called over his shoulder as he ran back for the ball. He bent6 down to get it, and as he stood back up, he saw the man in the dark coat who’d been following them the day before. He was walking about half a block behind Benny, limping, just as Benny had noticed the day before.

But now the sun wasn’t in his eyes, and Benny immediately recognized the man. “Mr. Woodruff!” he said under his breath. He started to say hello. But before he could, Mr. Woodruff turned and went behind a truck.

“That’s strange,” Benny said to himself. If it had been someone else, Benny would have gone after him and said hello. But he was a little frightened of grouchy7 Mr. Woodruff.

So instead, Benny ran ahead to tell the others. But as he got closer, he began to feel funny. How could he tell Sara that her father was snooping around after them? He decided8 to tell Jessie or Henry and let them figure out what to do.

When Benny reached the playground, Violet and Sara were climbing on the monkey bars, and Jessie and Henry were sitting on the swings. Benny went straight over to the older children and told them whom he’d seen.

“That’s strange,” Jessie said. The children looked back down the road, but now there was nobody there.

“Where do you think he is now?” asked Henry.

“I don’t know. Maybe hiding behind a tree or bush or something,” said Benny. “But he was definitely following us.”

“And you’re sure it was Mr. Woodruff?” Henry said.

“Yes,” Benny said.

“Why would he be following us?” Henry asked.

“Two days in a row!” added Benny.

“Maybe he just wants to keep an eye on his daughter,” Jessie suggested.

“Yes, but sneaking9 around behind her is kind of a strange way to do it, isn’t it?” said Henry.

Just then Sara ran over with a big grin on her face and grabbed the ball away from Benny. “I thought we were going to play soccer!” She ran onto the field. “Come on!”

The others followed Sara. But before Benny began to play, he looked down the road and around the playground. There was no sign of Mr. Woodruff. Still, Benny wondered if he was hidden somewhere nearby, watching them.

That night, the Aldens had just finished a delicious dinner of crispy fried chicken, creamy mashed10 potatoes, and buttery biscuits when the phone rang. Mrs. McGregor answered it. She was the family’s housekeeper11 and the one who had made the wonderful meal. “Yes, they’re right here,” they heard her say. “Hold on just a minute—I’ll put Jessie on.”

Jessie took the call and talked for a moment before hanging up. “We’ve got another job!” she told the others excitedly.

“Really?” said Violet.

“That was a man named Mr. Grayson. He lives in the same neighborhood as the Pierces and the Woodruffs. In fact, it was Mrs. Woodruff who told him about us. He’s planning his daughter Hallie’s birthday party. It’s this Saturday, and he needs us to help him.”

“This Saturday! A rush job. I wish he’d called sooner,” Henry said.

Jessie explained, “Mr. Grayson said they were going to have a skating party, and they rented the party room at the rink to serve the cake in. But now Hallie’s broken her ankle. So they obviously can’t have a skating party anymore. But he still wants to use the party room because he doesn’t want kids running all over his house. He said he has a lot of fancy artwork and stuff there.”

“We could plan some sitting-down games that they could play in the party room,” Henry pointed out.

“That’s just what I had in mind,” said Jessie. “I told him we’d come up with some ideas and meet with them tomorrow afternoon.”

“Sounds great,” said Violet.

The children spent the evening thinking of ideas for Hallie’s party. Since she’d wanted to have a skating party they tried to keep the theme of winter sports. At last they’d come up with a bunch of fun games and interesting crafts for the kids to make.

“I think Hallie and her father will like these ideas,” said Henry.

The following afternoon, the Aldens arrived at the Graysons’ house. Mr. Grayson, a tall, thin man with a mustache, welcomed them into the living room.

“I can see why you don’t want to have the party here,” Jessie said, admiring all the beautiful sculptures and crystal vases on the tables and shelves.

“Yes, I’m an art collector and I have a lot of valuable pieces here,” Mr. Grayson said. “I couldn’t take the chance that something would get broken.”

Mr. Grayson motioned for the Aldens to sit down. “Sorry to call you on such short notice, but Hallie just broke her ankle. I happened to be chatting with Janet and Bob Woodruff, who are good friends of mine, and I told them my problem—fifteen guests invited for a party this Saturday, and no plans for entertaining them! Janet told me that you were planning Sara’s party and had some wonderful ideas. In fact, she just couldn’t say enough good things about you. So I figured I’d see if you could help us.”

“We’re glad you did,” said Jessie.

Just then a girl about Violet’s age hobbled into the room on crutches12. She had a large cast on her ankle and looked very sad.

“This is my daughter, Hallie,” Mr. Grayson said.

“Hello!” said Henry.

“Too bad about your ankle,” Jessie added.

“Yeah,” said Hallie, looking at the ground. “Now my birthday will be ruined.”

“Wait until you hear the ideas we have,” Benny piped up. “You’ll still have a great birthday!”

Mr. Grayson couldn’t help but smile at Benny’s enthusiasm. But Hallie just slumped13 into a chair. She didn’t even look at the Aldens.

Henry began talking. “We figured that since you wanted to have a skating party, you must like winter sports. So we’ve planned a puppet show and a lot of sitting-down games and crafts that are about winter.”

“At least that’s better than what my dad suggested,” Hallie grumbled14. “He wanted to have that magician. But we did that last year. I don’t want to have the same party again.”

Jessie wondered if Hallie was referring to Cassandra the Great, but she didn’t ask. Instead she began to tell the Graysons about their ideas. “Do you and your friends like to make things?” she asked Hallie.

“Yeah, why?” Hallie said.

“You can each make your own snow globe,” Jessie said. “You make a little scene out of clay, put it in a small glass jar, and add water and some glitter for the snow.” The night before, the Aldens had made a snow globe to show Hallie. Jessie pulled it out of her backpack.

For the first time since they’d met her, Hallie smiled. “Wow,” she said, taking the homemade snow globe from Jessie and turning it around in her hands. She watched as the glittery “snow” floated down on the little log cabin scene Violet had created inside. “We can make these ourselves?”

“You sure can,” said Violet. “It’s easy. We’ll bring all the supplies and show everyone what to do. Our neighbor has a baby, so we’ll ask her for her empty baby food jars to make them in.”

The Aldens then told her about a game they’d made up called “Melt the Ice Cube.” It was a little like “Hot Potato.” The kids would sit in a circle passing the “ice cube”—which was really a present wrapped in lots of layers of paper—in time to music. Each time the music stopped, whoever was holding the gift got to unwrap a layer. The one who tore off the last layer of wrapping paper got to keep the gift as a prize.

“That sounds like fun!” said Hallie. “And I can do it even with this stupid broken ankle!”

“You sure can,” said Violet.

“Hey, tell her about the popcorn15 snowmen,” said Benny.

“Popcorn snowmen?” asked Hallie.

“As a special treat to eat, all the kids can make their own popcorn snowmen,” said Henry. “We’ll start them before the party, by mixing popcorn and melted marshmallows, and rolling the mixture into balls. Then everyone can stack the popcorn balls and decorate them with candy to make them look like snowmen.”

“And then you get to eat them!” Benny added.

Mr. Grayson smiled broadly. “It sounds like you kids have put a lot of thought into this party and come up with some great ideas—on very short notice!”

He was interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing. “Excuse me,” he said, picking up the receiver.

Hallie and the Aldens talked quietly while Mr. Grayson was on the phone. She was very excited about her birthday party now that she’d heard their wonderful ideas. Benny asked Hallie about the writing he saw on her cast. Hallie explained that her friends had written little get-well messages there. Then she pulled out some colored markers, and each of the Aldens signed her cast and drew pictures, too.

As they were working, Jessie looked over at Mr. Grayson, who was still on the phone. His face was red and he looked angry. His voice sounded tense.

She looked back at her drawing and tried to focus on it. But all of a sudden Jessie overheard Mr. Grayson say, “I’m sorry if you’re angry, but I’ve already hired the Alden kids. I don’t want to discuss this anymore.” And he quickly hung up the phone.
 


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 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。
2 aisle qxPz3     
n.(教堂、教室、戏院等里的)过道,通道
参考例句:
  • The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
  • The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。
3 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。
4 Saturn tsZy1     
n.农神,土星
参考例句:
  • Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪,为什么只有土星有光环。
  • These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们,土星由较轻的物质构成。
5 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》
6 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
7 grouchy NQez8     
adj.好抱怨的;愠怒的
参考例句:
  • Grouchy people are always complaining for no reason.满腹牢骚的人总是毫无理由地抱怨。
  • Sometimes she is grouchy, but all in all she is an excellent teacher.有时候她的脾气很坏,但总的来说她还是一位好老师。
8 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
9 sneaking iibzMu     
a.秘密的,不公开的
参考例句:
  • She had always had a sneaking affection for him. 以前她一直暗暗倾心于他。
  • She ducked the interviewers by sneaking out the back door. 她从后门偷偷溜走,躲开采访者。
10 mashed Jotz5Y     
a.捣烂的
参考例句:
  • two scoops of mashed potato 两勺土豆泥
  • Just one scoop of mashed potato for me, please. 请给我盛一勺土豆泥。
11 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。
12 crutches crutches     
n.拐杖, 支柱 v.支撑
参考例句:
  • After the accident I spent six months on crutches . 事故后我用了六个月的腋杖。
  • When he broke his leg he had to walk on crutches. 他腿摔断了以后,不得不靠拐杖走路。
13 slumped b010f9799fb8ebd413389b9083180d8d     
大幅度下降,暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 ); 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]
参考例句:
  • Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
  • The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上,疲惫得睡着了。
14 grumbled ed735a7f7af37489d7db1a9ef3b64f91     
抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 发牢骚; 咕哝; 发哼声
参考例句:
  • He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
  • The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏,水手们边干活边发着牢骚。
15 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。
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