-
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
“I wonder what she meant by that?” Violet asked when Jessie told the others about Marianne’s strange remark.
“She said we’d find out soon enough,” Henry said, glancing around. “Talk about the Payne mansion1. This place is falling apart. I wonder why Mrs. Harrington doesn’t make any repairs.”
Jessie stopped in front of the cabin she was sharing with Violet. “Grandfather told me earlier he thinks Mrs. Harrington has fallen on hard times. She probably can’t afford to have the repairs made.”
Henry unlocked the door to his and Benny’s cabin. “I can see why. It’s the middle of summer and hardly anybody is staying here.”
“We’ll see you guys after we’ve unpacked2 and cleaned up,” Jessie said to the boys. “Then Grandfather is taking us back to see the town.”
“I still can’t believe we own our very own town!” Benny exclaimed. “I want to be fire chief and police chief!”
Violet giggled3. “I don’t think there are fires or criminals, Benny. Nobody lives there!”
She and Jessie went inside their cabin. The place had been cute once but now was shabby. Faded red-checked curtains hung at the single window. The knotty5 pine bunks6 were covered with Indian blankets, the holes darned many times. Dusty pictures of the Rockies hung on the walls.
The girls stowed their clothing in the small dresser, then Jessie decided7 to take a quick shower.
She came right out of the bathroom. “We have no towels.”
“I saw Marianne put some in there before she made up the beds,” Violet answered.
“Well, there aren’t any now.” Jessie went over to the phone on the pine stand between the bunks and picked up the receiver. A frown crossed her face as she jiggled the connector button.
“What’s wrong?” asked Violet.
“The phone isn’t working,” replied Jessie. “We’ve got to have towels. I’ll borrow some from the boys.”
But Henry and Benny didn’t have towels, either.
“This is weird8,” said Violet. “I’ll go up to the main office and get some.”
She came back a few moments later with a stack of threadbare towels. “Mrs. Harrington gave me a funny look. She said all the cabins are supplied with linens9.”
“Why would we fib about towels?” asked Jessie. “Surely she doesn’t think we stole them?” She held up one. “These barely make good rags.”
Henry took half of the towels for his and Benny’s bathroom. “Eagles Nest is weird, don’t you think?”
As Violet waited for Jessie to take her shower, she thought Benny might be right. Eagles Nest was odd — and so were the people who ran it. Dead phones, missing towels ... what would happen next?
“I’ll never get used to this road!” Henry yelled as the Jeep tore up the mountain.
The Aldens were glad when the road finally ran out and Grandfather parked the Jeep. Early evening sunlight dappled the trail. Now that they were aware of the altitude, they didn’t try to climb so fast.
“What are you going to do with your property?” Henry asked his grandfather.
Grandfather pondered the question. “I really don’t know yet. What do you children think I should do with it?”
“Aldenville?” Jessie chuckled10.
“No! Bennytown!” If Benny had a town named after himself, he could be mayor, police chief, and fire chief.
Before the trail ended at the canyon11, where they had first glimpsed the ghost town, another trail branched off, an old unused road. Mrs. Harrington had told the Aldens to take this road down into the canyon.
They found the fork in the path and soon were walking down the dirt road, now overgrown with weeds.
“This is the old wagon12 road,” Grandfather said. “It seems steep and twisty, but a team of horses could get down into the canyon on it.”
“I bet that ride would be wilder than in our Jeep!” Benny exclaimed, running ahead.
The road took one more turn, then straightened to become the main street of the ghost town. A wooden sign with faint letters announced the town of Tincup.
Benny waited for the others before entering the town.
“All right,” said Grandfather firmly. “No one is to enter any buildings unless I go, too. Remember, these buildings are more than a hundred years old. The flooring could be rotted. Consider them dangerous.”
The children nodded. Stores and other buildings lined either side of the street. Many had wooden awnings13.
“We’ll just stroll down Main Street first,” Grandfather went on. “Then we’ll explore indoors.”
As anxious as Henry had been to reach the old town, he found himself walking cautiously down the dusty road. Signboards flapped in the rising wind. Creak! Creak! went the barbershop shingle14. Tincup was creepy.
Jessie was thinking the same thing. Not a living soul stays here. Mrs. Harrington’s whispered words came back to her.
Grandfather finally broke the eerie15 silence. “See the raised sidewalks?” He pointed16 to the shallow wooden platforms built in front of the stores and the two hotels. “They didn’t have concrete back in those days. So they made sidewalks out of wood. Women wouldn’t get the hems17 of their long dresses muddied or dusty.”
Violet had also been under the spooky spell of the empty old place. She was glad to picture real people in Tincup.
“I bet their dresses were really pretty,” she said.
Jessie nodded. “But those gowns were hard to move around in. I’d rather wear jeans any day!”
Benny pointed to wooden poles in front of the dry goods shop. “What are those for?” he asked.
“Those are hitching18 posts,” answered Henry. “When a rider came into town on his horse, he looped the reins19 over the hitching post so his horse wouldn’t wander off.”
“Like parking a car,” Benny said.
Jessie giggled. Benny could always make them laugh. “Yes, the cowboys parked their horses!”
“Can we go into one of the buildings now?” Benny asked Grandfather. “Like that one?” He pointed to the dry goods shop.
“Let me check it out first,” Grandfather replied. “I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”
“You be careful, too,” said Violet. She worried about Grandfather, even though he was healthy and fit.
The children waited as he opened the door, which hung off a broken hinge, and disappeared inside.
The sun was sinking below the rim4 of the canyon, high above the town. The wind picked up, tumbling twigs20 and leaves down the deserted21 street.
Just as the sun touched the edge of the canyon, like a fireball in the sky, Violet noticed something.
A figure was standing22 at the end of town.
Violet gasped23, and the others looked, too.
The figure was clearly a woman, dressed in a long, plain gray dress. Her back was turned to the children. A light gray shawl was wrapped tightly around the woman’s shoulders. Stringy gray hair blew in the wind.
“Who is that?” Jessie whispered.
“I don’t know,” said Henry. “But I think we should tell Grandfather.”
Just then the sun sank over the ledge24, leaving a purple haze25 over Tincup.
“Grandfather!” Benny called. “Come quick!”
James Alden hurried through the door. “What is it?”
“There’s a lady — ” Violet began.
But the woman had vanished.
“What lady?” quizzed Grandfather. “I don’t see anybody.”
“She was here,” Jessie insisted. “We all saw her. She had on a long dress.”
Grandfather stared at them. “I believe you saw something. The altitude can play tricks on your eyes.”
“It wasn’t a trick,” Violet said. “We saw a lady.”
“We’d better go back to Eagles Nest,” said Grandfather. “Maybe Mrs. Harrington knows about this mysterious lady.”
Everyone was silent as they climbed the wagon road and then the trail back to the Jeep.
At Eagles Nest, dinner was about to be served. Mrs. Harrington urged the Aldens to sit down at the large table. Mr. Lacey, Mr. Williams, and Corey were already seated.
“How was your trip into Tincup?” asked Mrs. Harrington.
“My grandchildren saw someone,” Grandfather replied. “A woman. By the time I got there, she was gone.”
“Was the woman walking toward the sunset?” asked Mrs. Harrington.
“Yes!” answered the Alden children at once.
“But then she disappeared,” added Benny.
“Right as the sun went down?” Mrs. Harrington prompted.
“Yeah,” said Benny. “How’d you know?”
Mrs. Harrington nodded sagely26. “You children saw someone very special.”
“Who?” asked Jessie, her spine27 already tingling28.
“Rose Payne.”
Grandfather’s eyebrows29 lifted. “Duncan Payne’s wife? But Rose Payne is long dead.”
“Yes,” said Mrs. Harrington. “But the ghost of Rose Payne is still here. Mr. Alden, you bought a ghost town that comes with its very own ghost!”
收听单词发音 |
1
mansion
|
|
| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
unpacked
|
|
| v.从（包裹等）中取出（所装的东西），打开行李取出( unpack的过去式和过去分词 )；拆包；解除…的负担；吐露（心事等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
giggled
|
|
| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
rim
|
|
| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
knotty
|
|
| adj.有结的，多节的，多瘤的，棘手的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
bunks
|
|
| n.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的名词复数 )；空话，废话v.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的第三人称单数 )；空话，废话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
weird
|
|
| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
linens
|
|
| n.亚麻布( linen的名词复数 )；家庭日用织品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
chuckled
|
|
| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
canyon
|
|
| n.峡谷，溪谷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
wagon
|
|
| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
awnings
|
|
| 篷帐布 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
shingle
|
|
| n.木瓦板；小招牌(尤指医生或律师挂的营业招牌)；v.用木瓦板盖（屋顶）；把（女子头发）剪短 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
eerie
|
|
| adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
hems
|
|
| 布的褶边，贴边( hem的名词复数 )； 短促的咳嗽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
hitching
|
|
| 搭乘； （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的现在分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
reins
|
|
| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
twigs
|
|
| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
deserted
|
|
| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
gasped
|
|
| 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： |
|
|
|
|
24
ledge
|
|
| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
haze
|
|
| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
sagely
|
|
| adv. 贤能地，贤明地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
spine
|
|
| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
tingling
|
|
| v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
eyebrows
|
|
| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
购买
在百度中搜索