CHAPTER 11
“Ow!” Carl laughed as the baby bird pecked at his head, grooming him. He was holding another little bird in his hand.
“Look at you,” Russell cooed at the babies, “you’re so soft.”
Kevin called out. She was at the entrance to the labyrinth—her home, where she would be safe.
Carl and Russell groaned. It was time to say goodbye. They set Kevin’s babies gently on the ground and watched as they streaked toward their mother.
“I wish I could keep one,” Russell said sadly.
One of the babies hissed at Dug. But Dug wasn’t offended. He had finally accepted that these birds simply didn’t want to be his prisoners.
Kevin cuddled her babies for a moment. Then she led them into the labyrinth. She turned back and squawked.
“Bye, Kevin.” Russell waved.
Then he and Carl headed back to the blimp.
“Ready?” Russell asked as he sat at the controls.
“Ready!” Carl grinned at his copilot as they took off into the sky.
Muntz’s dogs hung their heads through the open windows, enjoying the breeze. It turned out that they weren’t nearly as ferocious as Muntz had wanted them to be. Now that Carl was their master, they were just regular dogs.
They were all on their way home.
“And by receiving their badges, the following Explorers will graduate to Senior Explorers,” the campmaster announced. He stood at the front of the auditorium, along with the Wilderness Explorers and their fathers. “For Extreme Mountaineering Lore. Congratulations, Jimmy.” He handed the badge to Jimmy’s father, who beamed proudly.
“For Assisting the Elderly …” The campmaster looked up to find Russell and blinked.
Russell’s uniform was beat up, and his skin was tan from his time in South America. Unlike the other Wilderness Explorers at the ceremony, Russell had been on a real adventure.
“Russell, is your dad here for you?” the campmaster asked.
Russell peered out into the audience, where someone was making his way forward.
“Excuse me. Old man coming through.” Carl climbed onto the stage. “I’m here for him,” he told the campmaster.
The campmaster handed Carl the badge. “Congratulations, Russell,” he said. He moved on to the other Explorers.
Carl leaned down to pin something to Russell’s sash. “Russell, for assisting the elderly, and for performing above and beyond the call of duty, I would like to award you the highest honor I can bestow: the Ellie Badge.”
Russell looked down. Carl had given him Ellie’s grape-soda pin. “Wow.”
They saluted each other. Then Russell gave Carl a hug.
“All right, I think that covers everybody. So, let’s give a big Explorer Call to our brand-new Senior Wilderness Explorers!” the campmaster said.
The audience let out a wild “Caw-caw, rarr! Caw-caw, rarr!”
Dug and the other dogs howled in approval. And Carl grinned, knowing that he and his friends would have many more adventures together.
Russell and Carl sat on a curb outside Fenton’s. They were licking chocolate ice cream cones and watching cars go by.
“Blue one,” Russell said.
Carl squinted. “Red one.”
“Blue one.”
“Red one.”
“That’s a bike,” Russell protested.
“It’s red, isn’t it?” Carl demanded.
“Mr. Fredricksen, you’re cheating.”
“No, I’m not,” Carl insisted. “Red one.”
“That’s a fire hydrant.”
Carl licked his ice cream, chuckling. “Maybe I need new glasses.”
Russell looked up. The blimp was parked overhead. A single blue balloon floated up and away from them. “Another blue one,” he said.
Carl nodded. He wasn’t about to argue. After all, it was simply a game. And it was the simple things that he and Russell liked best.
(The End)
第 11 章
“嗷!”卡爾大笑著,一只小鳥正啄著他的腦袋,為他梳理頭發(fā)。而他手里還托著另一只小鳥。
“瞧瞧你們,”小羅溫柔地對小鳥說,“你們摸起來真軟。”
凱文鳴叫了一聲。她站在迷宮入口,那里是她的家,是她安全的港灣。
卡爾和小羅嘆息一聲,是時候說再見了。他們把凱文的孩子輕輕地放到地上,看著他們向自己的媽媽奔去。
“我要是能養(yǎng)一只就好了。”小羅失落地說。
一只小鳥沖道格嘶叫了一聲,但道格并沒有生氣,他終于接受了這些鳥不想做他的俘虜這一事實。
凱文抱了抱自己的孩子,然后帶著他們走進迷宮,進去之前,她轉過頭叫了一聲。
“再見,凱文。”小羅揮了揮手。
然后,他和卡爾返回了飛船。
“準備好了嗎?”小羅坐在操控臺前問。
“好了!”卡爾對他的飛行員笑著,他們慢慢向天空飛去。
蒙茲的那群狗把頭伸出窗戶,享受著微風。其實,它們并沒有那么兇猛,都是蒙茲讓他們表現(xiàn)成之前那樣的,卡爾成為他們的主人后,他們又變回普通的狗了。
現(xiàn)在他們都在回家的路上。
“以下獲得徽章的探險家,將成為高級探險家。”野營主辦者宣布道。他正站在禮堂前方,旁邊是野外探險家們和他們的父親。“這是極限攀登知識徽章,恭喜你,吉米。”他把徽章交到吉米父親的手上,吉米的父親自豪地笑著。
“下面是助老徽章……”野營主辦者抬頭看到小羅,眨了 眨眼。
小羅的制服上沾滿了灰塵,他的皮膚也在去南美洲期間曬黑了。與授獎儀式上的其他野外探險家不同,小羅經歷了一場真正的探險。
“小羅,你爸爸來了嗎?”野營主辦者問道。
小羅向觀眾席張望,發(fā)現(xiàn)有個人正朝主席臺趕來。
“抱歉,請給老頭子讓讓路。”卡爾爬上舞臺,對野營主辦者說,“我是他的家長。”
野營主辦者將徽章交給卡爾,又轉頭說道:“恭喜你,小羅。”說完便走向下一位探險家。
卡爾俯身把一樣東西戴在了小羅的肩帶上。“小羅,幫助老人,盡職盡責,表現(xiàn)優(yōu)異,現(xiàn)授予你我所能頒發(fā)的最高榮譽:艾莉徽章。”
小羅低頭看了看,卡爾給他戴的竟然是艾莉的葡萄汽水瓶蓋徽章。他驚呼一聲:“哇!”
他們互相敬禮,隨后小羅給了卡爾一個大大的擁抱。
“好了,徽章已全部頒發(fā)完畢?,F(xiàn)在,讓我們?yōu)樾乱慌呒壱巴馓诫U家歡呼吧!”野營主辦者說。
觀眾熱烈地喊著,“嘎—嘎,喔嗚!嘎—嘎,喔嗚!”
道格和其他的狗也都發(fā)出支持的嗥叫??栃α耍雷约汉团笥褌兘窈筮€會一同經歷更多的探險。
小羅和卡爾坐在“芬頓”冰激凌店外的馬路邊,他們一邊舔著巧克力冰激凌蛋筒,一邊看著來來往往的車輛。
“藍色的。”小羅說。
卡爾瞇起眼睛說:“紅色的。”
“藍色的。”
“紅色的。”
“那是輛自行車。”小羅抗議道。
“但它是紅色的,不是嗎?”卡爾為自己辯解。
“費迪遜先生,你耍賴。”
“我可沒有。”卡爾堅持道,“又一個紅色的。”
“那是消火栓。”
卡爾舔了舔冰激凌,笑著說:“也許我要配副新眼鏡了。”
小羅抬起頭,看見一艘飛船停在他們頭頂。一只藍色氣球飄起來,飛離了他們,他說:“又一個藍色的。”
卡爾點點頭,他不想爭論。畢竟,這只是個游戲,而且,這些簡單的事情就是他和小羅的最愛。
(完)