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儿童英语读物 The Vanishing Passenger CHAPTER 5 A Very Strange Message

时间:2017-11-22 05:43来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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The children met their grandfather at the Greenfield Diner for dinner. The place was bustling1 with customers. The air was filled with the hum of conversation, the clinking of silverware, and the wonderful scent2 of many different meals.

Sitting in their favorite booth, the Alden children gave their grandfather the details of this latest mystery. Meanwhile, they only picked at their dinners. Grandfather soon gave up hope that his grandchildren would show much interest in food while they were working on this case. Benny didn’t even order dessert!

“Too bad we don’t have Mr. Finch3’s cell phone number,” Henry said. “I’m sure he carries it with him wherever he goes.”

“We’ll have to tell Ms. Connally what’s happening,” Jessie said. “We should stop over there before we go home tonight to give her an update.”

“And then what?” Violet asked.

No one had an answer to that. They all fell silent.

Benny had been listening quietly, munching4 on his chicken strips and sipping5 his milk. But then something caught his attention from the other side of the room.

“Hey,” he said in a whisper, “look over there!”

He pointed7 to a man sitting in a small booth by himself, drinking coffee.

“What?” Henry asked. “That man?”

“No, the bag!”

There was a brown leather bag on the other seat. It was very handsome and looked expensive.

“What about it?”

“Look at the initials8, near the top!”

Sure enough, embroidered9 right into the leather just under the zipper10, were the initials ‘GXF.’ All at once, the Aldens remembered Mr. Finch’s full name: Gilbert Xavier Finch!

“Oh my goodness!” Violet gasped11. “Do you really think …?”

“How many other people have those initials?” Jessie said. “A middle name that begins with X?”

The children studied the man carefully. He was dressed in a navy blue T-shirt with long sleeves, plus blue jeans and a pair of well-worn work boots. He had dark hair with flecks12 of silver, and he looked as though he hadn’t shaved in a few days.

As he took another sip6 from his coffee, the waitress came over and asked if he wanted anything else. He shook his head and took his wallet from his pocket. The waitress left the bill on the table, and the man set a five-dollar bill on top of it. Then he got up, taking the bag with him.

“Well, if we want to find out, we’d better move fast,” Henry said.

The children filed out of the booth, followed by their grandfather.

Outside, the man paused for a moment to put on a pair of glasses.

“Excuse me, sir?” called Jessie.

The man turned suddenly, surprised to see the Aldens. “Yes?”

“I know this is going to sound like a strange question,” Henry said, smiling, “but may I ask if that’s your bag?”

Now the man smiled back. “No, it isn’t. Er … how did you know that?”

“We think it may belong to a friend of ours,” Violet said. “Did you find it on a train, by any chance?”

The man looked even more surprised, and also a little bit impressed. “Yes, as a matter of fact I did.”

“On train number sixteen?” Jessie added.

Now the man laughed. “Yes, that’s exactly right. It just so happens that I’m the engineer!”

The children looked at each other. Now they were getting somewhere!

“And was the bag … on the fourth car?” Benny asked him. “The one that was supposed to be closed?”

The man nodded. “Indeed it was, young man.”

“So Gilbert Finch was there,” Violet said. “He must’ve been the person who jumped off!”

Henry explained the rest of the story. “And we thought Mr. Finch might’ve been in that fourth car.”

“I guess he was,” the engineer commented. He slid the bag off his shoulder and handed it over to Henry. “I found this in the overhead luggage rack of the fourth car. When I do find something valuable and I can’t find the owner, I then have to report it. That means I have to fill out all these boring forms and stuff.” He rolled his eyes. “Not much fun at all. So if you can return the bag to Mr. Finch, that would be great.”

“We sure will,” Jessie said. “Thanks.”

Back at the library, the children told Ms. Connally everything they knew so far. Then they set Mr. Finch’s bag on a table in one of the back rooms and unzipped it.

“I feel weird13 going through it,” Violet said. “I’m sure it has some of Mr. Finch’s personal things in here.”

“But there might also be something that helps us find him,” Jessie pointed out.

On the top layer, the children found several copies of his books, mostly his new one. Underneath14 that, a cell phone charger, some clothes, and a leather bag with a toothbrush, shampoo, and other toiletries inside. And under that was a small notepad.

Jessie opened the notepad and began reading.

“Anything important?” Henry added. “Any clues?”

“Hmm—Food shopping on Thursday … Do laundry on Friday … Booksigning up in Clearwater on the fifth of June … Fix that broken window on the second floor …” Jessie sighed. “Not very interesting.”

“That’s it?” Violet asked.

“There’s one more page,” She said, flipping15 to it. “Might need new dining room table … Have someone mow16 the back lawn … What should I do about …”

“What is it?” Henry said.

“Okay, this might be a clue—it says, What should I do about Van Buren?”

“So we’re back to him again,” Violet said.

“You know what?” Henry said. “We should go through the library’s catalog to see if we can find any information on Mr. Van Buren and Mr. Finch. You know—newspaper or magazine articles, maybe something on the Internet. We need to know more about this strange connection.”

“Good idea,” Jessie agreed. “Maybe we can figure out why Mr. Van Buren’s name keeps coming up.”

The children began to look through the library for any information they could find. After about an hour, they had gathered a small stack of newspapers and magazines. They each took a few and began going through them.

“According to this article,” Violet said,” Mr. Finch loves animals. It says he has given lots of time and money to various animal charities, and that he has kept dozens of pets through the years. It also says he refuses to eat any kind of meat. Only fruits, vegetables, and—listen to this—granola bars!”

Jessie nodded. “It had to be him in the fourth car of the train.”

“In this magazine,” Henry told them, “it says he sometimes likes to write in what he calls a ‘secret country hideaway’. But he refused to tell the writer of the article where it was. He would only say that ‘… it used to be a big old barn, painted red. It has since been repainted white with black shutters17 and now looks quite lovely. I go there every now and then because it’s so quiet and peaceful out there in the country?’”

“What about his relationship with Mr. Van Buren?” Violet asked. “Anything about that?”

“Yes,” Jessie said, “I think I found something. In this article, Mr. Finch said, ‘I’m thrilled my books are doing so well. As long as they do better than Daniel Van Buren’s, I’ll be happy.’”

“In this interview,” Henry added, picking up a printout of an Internet article he’d found, “Mr. Van Buren said, ‘I’m glad my readers enjoy what I write so much. As long as they stay away from that silly stuff Gilbert Finch comes up with, they’ll be okay.’ ”

“In this one,” Violet went on, “Mr. Finch says, ‘There are two types of books a youngster18 can read—good ones, and those that are like Daniel Van Buren’s.’”

Benny said, “Wow, they don’t like each other very much, do they.”

“Apparently not,” Jessie said. Then she noticed it was nearly eight o’clock. “We’d better get going,” she told them. “Grandfather is expecting us.”

When the children got home, they found a surprise waiting for them.

“I came in and saw the light blinking,” Grandfather explained as he stood by the answering machine in the kitchen. “At first I thought it was a message from all of you. I quickly realized I was wrong. Listen—”

He hit the PLAY button, and out came one of the strangest messages the Alden family had ever heard. There was so much noise Henry turned the volume all the way up and still only a few words could be understood.

“Let you know … had no choice but to … he jumped off … lost in Allerton … terrible storm … going to Mr. Beans … soon as possible …”

And there the message ended.

“It’s Mr. Finch!” Benny shouted.

Jessie looked closely at the little screen on the answering machine.

“The call came in at 10:32—over six hours ago!” she said.

“And we’ve been out all day,” said Henry, “No wonder we didn’t know about it.”

“Oh my goodness, I hope he’s all right!” Violet said.

“Why don’t we try calling his cell phone now?” Henry suggested.

“I thought we didn’t have the number,” Jessie pointed out.

Henry nodded. “It should be there on the answering machine, on the caller ID.”

Jessie looked down and saw it. “Oh yeah. Good thinking!”

She tapped in the number and waited. Everyone else watched her, holding their breath.

After a few moments, Henry said, “Is he answering?”

Jessie shook her head. “No, it goes right to his voice mail.”

“It doesn’t even ring?” Violet asked.

“No.” Jessie let out a long sigh. “Looks like this mystery is getting thicker rather than thinner.”

“He said he was going to a ‘Mr. Bean’s,’ didn’t he?” Jessie asked.

“That’s what I heard,” Violet answered. “But who’s Mr. Bean?”

No one knew.

“And what town did he say he was in?” Henry wondered. “Allerton? That must’ve been where he jumped off. I’ve never heard of it.”

“It’s about fifty miles up north,” Grandfather said. “It’s a nice little place. I’ve driven through it a few times. Very quiet.”

Violet’s face lit up. “Oh my goodness! Allerton! I’ve seen that name before!”

“You did? Where?”

She paused for just a moment to think about it one more time and make sure she was right. Then she looked at the others.

“I saw it in one of the articles we found at the library,” she said. “It’s where Daniel Van Buren lives!”
 


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 bustling LxgzEl     
adj.喧闹的
参考例句:
  • The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
  • This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。
2 scent WThzs     
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉
参考例句:
  • The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
  • The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。
3 finch TkRxS     
n.雀科鸣禽(如燕雀,金丝雀等)
参考例句:
  • This behaviour is commonly observed among several species of finch.这种行为常常可以在几种雀科鸣禽中看到。
  • In Australia,it is predominantly called the Gouldian Finch.在澳大利亚,它主要还是被称之为胡锦雀。
4 munching 3bbbb661207569e6c6cb6a1390d74d06     
v.用力咀嚼(某物),大嚼( munch的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • He was munching an apple. 他在津津有味地嚼着苹果。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Munching the apple as he was, he had an eye for all her movements. 他虽然啃着苹果,但却很留神地监视着她的每一个动作。 来自辞典例句
5 sipping e7d80fb5edc3b51045def1311858d0ae     
v.小口喝,呷,抿( sip的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • She sat in the sun, idly sipping a cool drink. 她坐在阳光下懒洋洋地抿着冷饮。
  • She sat there, sipping at her tea. 她坐在那儿抿着茶。
6 sip Oxawv     
v.小口地喝,抿,呷;n.一小口的量
参考例句:
  • She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
  • Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。
7 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。
8 initials qquzAi     
n.首字母,姓名
参考例句:
  • a glass tankard with his initials etched on it 刻有他姓名首字母的玻璃大酒杯
  • All the towels were personalized with their initials. 所有毛巾上都标有物主姓名的首字母。
9 embroidered StqztZ     
adj.绣花的
参考例句:
  • She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。
  • She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。
10 zipper FevzVM     
n.拉链;v.拉上拉链
参考例句:
  • The zipper is red.这条拉链是红色的。
  • The zipper is a wonderful invention.拉链是个了不起的发明。
11 gasped e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80     
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
  • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
12 flecks c7d86ea41777cc9990756f19aa9c3f69     
n.斑点,小点( fleck的名词复数 );癍
参考例句:
  • His hair was dark, with flecks of grey. 他的黑发间有缕缕银丝。
  • I got a few flecks of paint on the window when I was painting the frames. 我在漆窗框时,在窗户上洒了几点油漆。 来自《简明英汉词典》
13 weird bghw8     
adj.古怪的,离奇的;怪诞的,神秘而可怕的
参考例句:
  • From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来,他好像有点怪。
  • His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。
14 underneath VKRz2     
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面
参考例句:
  • Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
  • She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣,里面套着一条连衣裙。
15 flipping b69cb8e0c44ab7550c47eaf7c01557e4     
讨厌之极的
参考例句:
  • I hate this flipping hotel! 我讨厌这个该死的旅馆!
  • Don't go flipping your lid. 别发火。
16 mow c6SzC     
v.割(草、麦等),扫射,皱眉;n.草堆,谷物堆
参考例句:
  • He hired a man to mow the lawn.他雇人割草。
  • We shall have to mow down the tall grass in the big field.我们得把大田里的高草割掉。
17 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。
18 youngster PffwQ     
n.儿童,少年,年轻人
参考例句:
  • I rode the youngster on my back.我让小孩骑在背上。
  • That youngster works with a will.这小伙子干活有股傻劲儿。
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