儿童英语读物 The Mystery in the Snow CHAPTER 11 A Fresh Start

The Aldens trudged¹ back to the cabin silently. Each was deep in thought. Finding the glove in the snow near the smashed sculpture was a shock. It belonged to Freddy; that much, they knew. But they weren’t sure what it meant.

In the cabin, Jessie put Freddy’s glove on the table. Henry made a fire. Violet and Benny changed into their flannel² pajamas³. Then, they all settled close to the fireplace.

Finally, Benny spoke⁴. “Now, we have two clues.”

“Pointing in different directions,” Henry said.

“Pete could have put Freddy’s glove in the snow to make it look like she did it,” Violet said.

“If he did that, wouldn’t he remember to cover his tracks?” Henry said. He shook his head. “I don’t think he did it. His prints don’t mean any more than Watch’s do.”

“Do you think Freddy did it?” Benny asked.

Henry shrugged⁵. “I don’t know.”

“She wants to win, that’s for sure,” Violet said.

They had all heard Freddy’s conversation with Jimmy. She thought Jimmy’s team was better. “Something has to be done to even things out,” they remembered her saying. Perhaps ruining the snowpeople was her way of doing just that.

“She came in late to supper,” Jessie remembered.

“And she was looking for her glove,” Benny added. “She could have smashed the snowpeople while we were eating.”

“If I had just done that, and my glove was missing, I’d go back to look for it,” Henry reasoned. “I wouldn’t tell everyone I’d lost it.”

Benny yawned. “We’ll never figure this one out,” he said.

“What we need’s a good night’s sleep,” Jessie said.

“Yes,” Violet said. “Tomorrow they’re judging the snow sculptures, and then come the ski races.”

“We’ll make a fresh start in the morning,” Henry said.

Benny awoke at dawn. He dressed quickly and quietly, then slipped four apples into his pockets and started out. Watch followed him.

“All right, boy,” Benny whispered. “You can come with me.”

Outside, Watch took off on the run, his short tail wagging.

“Wait up!” Benny called. He hurried along the path behind foggy bursts of his breath.

Alan, Debbie, and Jason were already hard at work. They had repaired one snowperson and were working on another.

“What should I do?” Benny asked.

“You can patch Debbie’s arms,” Alan answered.

Benny grinned. “Her arms look fine to me,” he joked.

They all laughed.

They worked well together, much faster and better than they had the day before.

When they were half finished, Benny remembered how hungry he was. “Who wants an apple?” he asked.

Everyone did. They stood back to admire their work, and munched⁷ the crisp, tart⁶ apples.

“What will we do at breakfast time?” Jason asked. “We can’t leave our snow sculpture alone.”

Alan nodded. “That’s right. Someone might come along and wreck⁸ everything again.”

“We can take turns guarding,” Debbie suggested.

Benny broke off a piece of apple and gave it to Watch. “I have a better idea,” he said. “We can leave Watch here. He’s a good guard dog.”

That decided⁹, they got back to work.

At breakfast, Benny asked Violet, “What did you do with Freddy’s glove?”

“We brought it with us,” Violet answered. “Jessie has it.”

“We’re going to give it back to her,” Henry said.

“We won’t have any evidence then,” Benny objected.

“The glove doesn’t really prove anything, Benny,” Jessie said. “And we might be able to tell something from the way Freddy reacts when we give it back to her.”

They were on their way out the lodge¹⁰ door when Freddy came in with members of her team. Her smile melted when she saw the Aldens.

“Oh, Benny,” she said, “I just heard about what happened yesterday. I’m really sorry.”

Benny didn’t respond. He didn’t think she was at all sorry.

Jessie pulled the glove out of her pocket. “Freddy, we found this. I think it belongs to you.”

Freddy took the outstretched glove. “Great!” she said. “Thanks.”

“Don’t you want to know where we found it?” Benny asked.

Freddy shrugged. “If you want to tell me,” she answered.

Benny opened his mouth to speak, but Henry spoke first. “It was in the snow,” he said.

Freddy nodded. “It wasn’t in here,” she said. “It had to be outside somewhere.”

Violet said, “We found it near — ”

“I’m sorry — I’ve got to go,” Freddy interrupted. “I just remembered we have some planning to do.” She added, “Victory speeches,” and then she hurried away.

1 trudged   

vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He trudged the last two miles to the town. 他步履艰难地走完最后两英里到了城里。
• He trudged wearily along the path. 他沿着小路疲惫地走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 flannel   

n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服

参考例句：

• She always wears a grey flannel trousers.她总是穿一条灰色法兰绒长裤。
• She was looking luscious in a flannel shirt.她穿着法兰绒裙子，看上去楚楚动人。

3 pajamas   

n.睡衣裤

参考例句：

• At bedtime,I take off my clothes and put on my pajamas.睡觉时，我脱去衣服，换上睡衣。
• He was wearing striped pajamas.他穿着带条纹的睡衣裤。

4 spoke   

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。

5 shrugged   

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》

6 tart   

adj.酸的；尖酸的，刻薄的；n.果馅饼；淫妇

参考例句：

• She was learning how to make a fruit tart in class.她正在课上学习如何制作水果馅饼。
• She replied in her usual tart and offhand way.她开口回答了，用她平常那种尖酸刻薄的声调随口说道。

7 munched   

v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She munched on an apple. 她在大口啃苹果。
• The rabbit munched on the fresh carrots. 兔子咯吱咯吱地嚼着新鲜胡萝卜。 来自辞典例句

8 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

9 decided   

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。

10 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。