儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Hot Air Balloon CHAPTER 6 A Suspect

Pointing at Pete Moran, Brad Golder said, “You!”

Pete’s mouth dropped open. “I — I — don’t know what you’re talking about,” he sputtered¹.

Matt stepped forward. “Wait a minute, Brad,” he said. “What makes you think Pete launched your balloon?”

Brad pointed² his finger. “His back pocket,” he answered.

Looking puzzled, Pete reached behind him and pulled a red-and-white bandanna³ from his pocket.

“That’s my bandanna!” Brad said.

Sky took the scarf from Pete. “It’s just a red bandanna,” she said. “It could be anybody’s.”

“Look in the corner,” Brad directed. “You’ll see my initials.”

Sky did as he directed. Sure enough, the letters B. G. were written in black ink.

“I always tie two bandannas⁴ to my balloon basket: a red one and a blue one. For luck,” Brad explained.

“I didn’t launch your balloon,” Pete told him. “I found that bandanna this morning on my way back from the farmers’ market. I was buying fruit and vegetables for the inn. I stopped at the spring on Mill Road for a cool drink. The bandanna was lying on the ground.”

“That’s true,” Mary England said. “I saw Pete on Mill Road early this morning.”

After that, no one said anything for what seemed like a long time. Finally, Brad mumbled⁵ something and walked off.

Pete looked after him. Then, he turned to the waiting group. He forced a smile and said, “Let’s eat.”

“Good idea,” Benny said.

The Aldens took their plates to a tree at the edge of the field.

“If I’d known we would have a picnic, I would have brought our blue cloth,” Jessie said. The blue tablecloth⁶ was a reminder⁷ of their days in the boxcar.

“And I would have brought my old pink cup,” Benny put in.

“We’ll do fine without those things,” Henry said.

They sat in a circle in the shade of the oak.

Mopping his forehead with a large white handkerchief, Hollis McKnight came up to them. “More trouble?” he asked as he adjusted his glasses.

“No, sir,” Henry answered.

“Then what was all that commotion⁸ by Pete’s station wagon⁹?”

Henry nodded. “Oh, that,” he said. “Brad Golder thought Pete Moran launched his balloon.”

“Now why would he think that?” Mr. McKnight asked.

Jessie told him about the bandanna.

“Pete’s telling the truth,” he said. “I saw him out by the spring this morning.”

“Mary England saw him, too,” Benny told him.

Mr. McKnight glanced down at Benny. His eyes looked very big behind his glasses. “Mary? She told you that? Well, that proves Pete wasn’t anywhere near the port.” Then he said, “Enjoy your lunch,” and hurried away.

“That was strange,” Violet said.

“I thought so, too,” Jessie agreed.

“Why?” Benny asked.

“I don’t think he came over to see what was going on between Brad and Pete,” Jessie explained.

“Instead, he waited to ask us about it,” Violet added.

“A good newspaper person likes to get the information firsthand,” Henry said.

“Maybe he’s not a good newspaper person,” Benny said.

“He seemed to know all about the runaway¹⁰ balloon,” Soo Lee commented.

“Everybody knows about that,” Benny said.

Henry understood what Soo Lee meant. “That’s right,” he said. “Don Fister tried to tell him about it, but Mr. McKnight wouldn’t listen.”

“Someone else probably told him,” Jessie said.

“Mary might have told him,” Violet suggested.

They ate silently, thinking about this morning’s events.

“Do you think Pete launched the balloon?” Benny asked after a while.

“Oh, I don’t think he would do such a thing,” Jessie answered.

“He couldn’t have done it alone,” Henry said.

Remembering this morning’s argument at the inn, Violet said, “ ‘Sometimes we just have to do what we have to do.’ ”

“What does that mean?” Henry asked.

“It’s what Barbara said to Mary this morning at the inn,” Jessie answered. “When they were arguing.”

“Maybe Barbara and Pete launched the balloon,” Benny said.

“Barbara was at the inn with us this morning,” Soo Lee reminded them.

“But Pete wasn’t,” Benny said. “Barbara told us he was running errands.”

“He just told us he was at the farmers’ market,” Jessie said.

“He could have been fibbing,” Soo Lee said.

“Right,” Benny agreed. “Maybe Barbara was nervous because she knew he was launching the balloon, and she was afraid he’d get caught.”

Violet shook her head. “Pete didn’t do it,” she said firmly. “He’s too nice.”

“And why would he?” Benny said.
 

1 sputtered   

v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的过去式和过去分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出

参考例句：

• The candle sputtered out. 蜡烛噼啪爆响着熄灭了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The balky engine sputtered and stopped. 不听使唤的发动机劈啪作响地停了下来。 来自辞典例句

2 pointed   

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。

3 bandanna   

n.大手帕

参考例句：

• He knotted the bandanna around his neck.他在脖子上系了一条印花大围巾。
• He wiped his forehead with a blue bandanna and smiled again.他用一条蓝色的大手帕擦擦前额，又笑了笑。

4 bandannas   

n.印花大手帕( bandanna的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Long hair, overalls, bandannas, a Jesus beard on Dad. 长发，工作裤，大手帕，还有父亲的耶稣式胡子。 来自互联网
• They had standard-issue bandannas over their faces. 脸上蒙普通的大花巾。 来自互联网

5 mumbled   

含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话，可我没太听清楚。
• George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。

6 tablecloth   

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。

7 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

8 commotion   

n.骚动，动乱

参考例句：

• They made a commotion by yelling at each other in the theatre.他们在剧院里相互争吵，引起了一阵骚乱。
• Suddenly the whole street was in commotion.突然间，整条街道变得一片混乱。

9 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

10 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。