兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第二冊 Knight At Dawn 04

4進入城堡

“我想殺了她。”杰克自言自語著。

他把所有的東西都塞進背包里，向吊橋走去。他希望不被任何人發(fā)現(xiàn)。

天越來越黑了，這肯定是夜晚。

他來到橋邊，開始過橋。橋上的木板在腳下咯吱咯吱作響。

他從橋沿往下看了看。護城河里有鱷魚嗎?他不知真假。

“站住!”有人大聲喊道。一個衛(wèi)兵站在城堡的墻頭上，正注視著下面。

杰克飛速跨過橋，穿過城堡的大門，沖進院子里。

從城堡里面?zhèn)鱽砹艘魳仿暋⒑敖新暫蜌g笑聲。

杰克急忙躲在一個黑暗的角落里，蹲伏下來。他渾身發(fā)抖，掃視四周，尋找安妮。

火把將院子四周的高墻都照亮了。院子里幾乎是空空如也。

兩個侍童牽著馬，走在灰色鵝卵石路上，噠噠作響。

“咴咴咴咴!”

杰克轉過身。這是那個騎士的黑馬!

“噓!”

他盯著黑暗處看了看。

安妮在那里。

她正藏在院子中央一口井的后面。她向他揮了揮手。

杰克也揮了揮手。他等呀等，等到侍童和馬消失在馬廄里，然后沖向井邊。

“我打算去找音樂聲!”安妮低聲說，“你來嗎?”

“好吧。”杰克嘆息說。

他們一起躡手躡腳地走過鵝卵石路，然后溜進城堡的入口。

喧鬧聲、音樂聲從他們前面那個亮堂堂的房間傳來。他們站在大門的一旁偷看著。

“宴會在大廳里舉行!”杰克低聲說。他屏住氣，敬畏地注視著。

在喧鬧房間的另一端，一座大壁爐里正爐火熊熊。鹿角和壁毯掛在石墻上。鮮花覆蓋著地板。身著短服的侍童端著大盤大盤的食品。

狗在桌下為骨頭你爭我奪。

身穿鮮亮衣服、頭戴滑稽帽子的人們在人群中轉來轉去。有的彈著形狀古怪的吉他。有的把球拋向空中。有的用手指頂著寶劍，讓它立在空中不倒下來。

披著斗篷、穿著皮衣的先生們和女士們順著長長的木餐桌而坐，擠擠一堂。

“我納悶哪一個是那個騎士。”杰克說。

“我也不知道。”安妮低聲說。“但是他們正在用他們的手指抓東西吃。”

突然有人在他們的背后大叫起來。

杰克轉過身來。

一個侍童端著一盤餡餅正站在幾英尺之外。

“你們是誰?”侍童怒氣沖沖地問。

“杰克。”杰克細聲答道。

“安妮。”安妮細聲答道。

然后他們奮力地向光線昏暗的門廳跑去。

4 Into the Castle

“I’m going to kill her，” muttered Jack.

He threw his stuff into his pack and moved toward the drawbridge. He hoped no one would see him.

It was getting darker. It must be night.

When he got to the bridge， he started across. The wooden planks creaked under his feet.

He peered over the edge of the bridge. Were there any crocodiles in the moat? He couldn’t tell.

“Halt!” someone shouted. A guard on top of the castle wall was looking down.

Jack dashed across the bridge. He ran through the castle gate and into the courtyard.

From inside the castle came the sounds of music， shouting， and laughter.

Jack hurried to a dark corner and crouched down. He shivered as he looked around for Annie.

Torches lit the high wall around the courtyard.The courtyard was nearly empty.

Two boys led horses that clopped over the gray cobblestones.

“Neeee-hhhh!”

Jack turned. It was the knight’s black horse!

“Psssst!”

He peered into the darkness.

There was Annie.

She was hiding behind a well in the center of the courtyard. She waved at him.

Jack waved back. He waited till the boys and horses disappeared inside the stable. Then he dashed to the well.

“I’m going to find the music!” whispered Annie. “Are you coming?”

“Okay，” Jack said with a sigh.

They tiptoed together across the cobblestones. Then they slipped into the entrance of the castle.

Noise and music came from a bright room in front of them. They stood on one side of the doorway and peeked in.

“The feast in the Great Hall!” whispered Jack. He held his breath as he stared in awe.

A giant fireplace blazed at one end of the noisy room. Antlers and rugs hung on the stone walls. Flowers covered the floor. Boys in short dr

esses carried huge trays of food.

Dogs were fighting over bones under the tables.

People in bright clothes and funny hats strolled among the crowd. Some played funny-shaped guitars. Some tossed balls in the air. Some balanced swords on their hands.

Men and women dressed in capes and furs sat at long， crowded wooden tables.

“I wonder which one is the knight，” said Jack.

“I don’　t know，” whispered Annie. “But they’re eating with their fingers.”Suddenly， someone shouted behind them.

Jack whirled around.

A man carrying a tray of pies was standing a few feet away.

“Who art thou?” he asked angrily.

“Jack，” squeaked Jack.

“Annie，” squeaked Annie.

Then they ran as fast as they could down a dimly lit hallway.