兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第五冊 Night of the Ninjas 04

4 Captured

The ninjas pulled iron bands off their hands.The bands had spikes like claws on them.

“That’s how they climbed the tree，” Annie whispered to Jack.

The ninjas stared at Jack and Annie with dark， piercing eyes. The rest of their faces were covered by their scarves.

Jack felt frozen under their stares.

Annie wasn’t frozen， though. She stepped right up to them.

“Hi，” she said.

The ninjas didn’t say “hi” back. They didn’t move at all. They were as still as Jack.

“We’re trying to help our friend， Morgan，” said Annie.

She held up Morgan’s note.

The tall ninja took the note from her. He looked at it. Then he gave it to the short ninja.

The two ninjas stared at each other. Then they looked back at Jack and Annie.

Finally the short ninja nodded once. He put the note into the pocket of his shirt.

“You can help us?” Annie asked.

Neither ninja spoke. Jack wished he could see their faces. He couldn’t tell what they were thinking.

The short ninja tossed the rope ladder back out of the tree house. The tall one pointed down the ladder. Then he pointed at Jack and Annie.

Uh-oh， thought Jack. Were they being captured?

“Us? Go with you?” said Annie.

The ninja nodded.

“Oh boy!” said Annie.

Oh boy? Is she nuts? wondered Jack.

The short ninja darted down the ladder. He went hand over hand. His feet didn’t touch the rungs of the ladder.

The tall one did the same.

Jack gasped. The ninjas moved very fast. They were like spiders dropping from webs.

“Wow!” said Annie.

“Now’s our chance to leave，” said Jack. “Quick!” He looked around the tree house again.

Where was that Pennsylvania book?

“Let’s go with them， Jack，” said Annie.

“No! This isn’t a game!” Jack said.

“But I think they know something about Morgan!” said Annie.

She started down the ladder.

“Come back!” said Jack.

But it was too late.

Jack sighed. “Why does this always happen?” he asked himself.

“Come on ，Jack!” came Annie’s voice from below.

Jack put his notebook and the ninja book into his pack. He pushed his glasses into place. And he started down the ladder.

Jack joined Annie and the ninjas on the ground.

The sun had fallen behind the hills. The sky was streaked with red and gold.

The mouse peeked out from Annie’s sweatshirt pouch.

“Don’t be scared， Peanut，” Annie whispered. “We’ll take care of you.”

Great， thought Jack. But who is going to take care of us?

The short ninja held Jack’s arm in one hand and Annie’s arm in the other. He led them through the twilight. The tall ninja walked behind them.

“Where are we going?” Jack asked.

The ninjas stopped near the rushing water of the wide stream. The water roared as it raced downhill.

The short ninja looked at Jack and Annie. He let go of their arms. Then he pushed them toward the stream.

“You want us to cross it?” shouted Annie.

The ninja nodded. Then he and the short ninja stepped into the wild stream. They started wading across.

“Let’s run back to the tree house!” said Jack.

“No， we have to follow them!” said Annie. “For Morgan’s sake!”

Jack took a deep breath. She was right.

Annie grabbed Jack’s hand. Together they stepped into the water.

“YIKES!” They both screamed and jumped out.

It was the coldest water Jack had ever felt!It was colder than ice. It was so cold it felt like fire.

“I can’t go back in，” said Annie， shivering.

“Me neither，” said Jack. “I’ll have a heart attack.”

The ninjas looked at Jack and Annie. Then they turned around and came back.

The tall ninja grabbed Jack.

“Help!” Jack cried.

But the ninja lifted Jack high into the air. And put him on his shoulder.

The short ninja put Annie on his shoulder.

Then the two ninjas stepped into the stream again. The icy wild waters swirled around them. It went up to the short ninjas’s waist.

But the ninjas moved through the stream as calmly as two sailing ships.

4被逮住了

忍者把他們手上的鐵套脫了下來，那些套子上有刺，就像爪子一樣。

“他們就靠那個爬上來的。”安妮低聲對杰克說。

忍者用他們黑色的、有穿透力的眼睛盯著杰克和安妮，他們臉部的其他部分都被頭巾遮著。

杰克被他們盯得一動也不敢動。

不過安妮可沒有一動不動，她徑直朝他們走了過去。

“你好。”她說。

忍者沒有回敬一句“你好”，他們和杰克一樣，根本就沒有動。

“我們想要幫助我們的朋友，摩根。”安妮說。

她舉起摩根的留言，高個子忍者拿起留言看了看，然后遞給了矮個子忍者。兩個人互相對望了一下，然后又朝杰克和安妮看著。

最后，那個矮個子忍者點了一下頭，他把那張留言放進(jìn)了上衣的口袋里。

“你能幫助我們嗎?”安妮問道。

兩個忍者都沒有說話，杰克真希望能看到他們的臉啊，他完全不知道他們在想些什么。

矮個子忍者把繩梯從樹屋里給放了下去，高個子指了指下面的梯子，然后又指了指杰克和安妮。

喔!杰克想，他們是不是被逮了?

“我們?跟你們走?”安妮說。

忍者點了點頭。

“噢!太好了。”安妮說。

太好了?她是不是瘋了?杰克懷疑。

矮個子忍者飛快地從梯子上下去了，他一節(jié)一節(jié)用手下去，腳根本就沒有碰那些橫檔。

高個子忍者也和他一樣下去了。

杰克倒吸了一口氣，忍者動作太快了，他們就像一只蜘蛛從它織的網(wǎng)上滑下去一樣。

“哇塞!”安妮說。

“現(xiàn)在我們逃跑的機(jī)會來了。”杰克說，“趕快!”他再次環(huán)顧小樹屋一周，那本賓夕法尼亞的書到底在哪里?

“我們跟他們走，杰克。”安妮說。

“什么?這可不是玩游戲!”杰克說。

“可是我認(rèn)為他們好像知道一些摩根的事!”安妮說。

她開始順著繩梯爬下去了。

“回來!”杰克說。

可是太遲了。

杰克嘆了口氣，“為什么老是發(fā)生這種事情?”他問自己。

“來吧，杰克!”安妮的聲音從下面?zhèn)髁松蟻怼?/p>

杰克把他的筆記本和那本忍者的書放回他的背包，然后推了推眼鏡，也順著繩梯爬了下去。

杰克跟著安妮和那兩個忍者后面到達(dá)了地面。

太陽已經(jīng)下山了，天空被映上紅色和金色的條紋。

小老鼠從安妮運(yùn)動服的口袋里伸出腦袋偷偷張望。

“別害怕，花生。”安妮輕聲道，“我們會照顧你的。”

真是不錯啊，杰克想，可是誰來照顧我們?

矮個子忍者一只手抓住杰克的胳膊，另一只手抓住安妮的胳膊。他引著他們在暮色中穿行。高個子忍者跟在他們身后。

“我們要去哪兒?”杰克問。

兩個忍者在那條寬闊小溪的湍急水流面前停下了，溪水在奔騰而下的同時發(fā)出隆隆的吼聲。

矮個子忍者看著杰克和安妮，他放開他們的手，然后把他們推到了溪邊。

“你要我們渡過去?”安妮喊道。

忍者點了點頭，然后高個子忍者就和矮個子忍者一起邁進(jìn)了寬闊的溪水中，他們開始涉水渡溪了。

“我們快點跑回樹屋去!”杰克說。

“不行，我們得跟著他們!”安妮說，“為了摩根!”

杰克深呼了一口氣，她說得沒錯。

安妮抓住了杰克的手，一起跨進(jìn)水里。

“我的媽呀!”他們兩個同時尖叫著跳上岸來。

那是杰克碰過的最冷的水了!比冰還要冷，以至于反而感覺就像火在燒一樣。

“我不能再下去了。”安妮打著冷顫說。

“我也是。”杰克說，“我就要得心臟病了。”

兩個忍者看著杰克和安妮，然后轉(zhuǎn)了個身又回來了。

高個子忍者一把抓住了杰克。

“救命!”杰克叫道。

可是那個忍者把杰克高高地舉到空中，然后把他放在了自己的肩頭上。

矮個子忍者也把安妮放到了肩上。

兩個忍者這又重新回到了水中，冰冷刺骨的溪水在他們身邊流淌著，一直漫到了那個矮個忍者的腰部。

可是兩個忍者在水里就像兩艘艦艇一樣，鎮(zhèn)定地移動著。