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儿童英语读物 A Horse Named Dragon CHAPTER 8 A Flashlight Night

时间:2017-12-04 05:24来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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The children lay awake in their bunks2. One hour passed. And another. But sleep would not come. Henry’s back was sore from digging the fence posts. His face and arms stung from the locust3 branch scratches.

Violet thought about the woman whose horse, Buttercup, was stolen. She thought about the flyers and hoped her drawing of Dragon was good enough to help find him.

Jessie’s pillow was wet with tears. Who would steal Dragon? Was he all right?

Benny thought about the goldfish in the horse’s drinking water. He thought about the little brown pony5 who liked being sprinkled with the hose. He thought about the skinny red-haired man who brought Honey and Bunny home.

“What license6 plate has a picture of a cowboy riding a bucking7 bronco?” he asked. Benny forgot he was supposed to be sleeping.

Henry peered down from his bunk1. “Where did you see that?” he whispered.

“On the blue pickup8 truck that brought Honey and Bunny back.” Benny closed his eyes and pictured the license plate. “The state’s name had a W and a Y in it.”

“Wyoming,” whispered Violet.

“Is Wyoming near Connecticut?” asked Benny.

Jessie groaned9. As soon as Benny could read a little better, she would teach him geography. “Wyoming is halfway10 across the United States from here,” she said. “When we get home, I’ll show you on the map.”

“I guess we’re awake,” said Henry, switching on his flashlight. Three more flashlights switched on. Henry flashed his light at Jessie. “Didn’t you tell me a neighbor brought Honey and Bunny back?”

“Yes.” Jessie sniffed11. “Alyssa said the man found them in his pasture.”

Henry clicked his flashlight on and off. “Why would a neighbor here in Connecticut have Wyoming license plates?”

The children chased each other’s lights around the ceiling. “Cookie said she didn’t know this neighbor,” said Violet. “That he must have just moved here.”

“That could explain the Wyoming plates,” agreed Henry. “Come to think of it, Bucky told me he never saw the neighbor before.”

Jessie swooped12 big circles around the wall with her light. “What do we really know about Bucky? When I went looking for Dragon, I saw Bucky standing13 near the fence with a bunch of horses. What if he spilled the oats so the horses would come to the fence? What if he rigged that fence to open?” A shiver went through her. “Dragon could have gone to eat the oats, and a friend of Bucky’s could have come and stolen him.”

“Bucky told me he grew up around here,” said Henry. “He moved away when he was eight, and he just came back.”

Benny held his flashlight under his chin. It made him look scary. “Maybe Bucky came back to steal Cookie’s horses,” he said.

Violet traced her light along the ceiling. Suddenly, she sat up, gasping14. “I just thought of something.”

“What, what?” they all demanded.

“Okay, pretend we wake up tomorrow morning and find a strange dog right here in the bunkhouse. How do we know who it belongs to?”

“Dog tags?” asked Benny.

“No tags,” said Violet. “Just dog.”

“Then, we wouldn’t know whose dog it was,” said Jessie. “We don’t live around here.”

“Exactly!”

“So?” asked Benny.

“Sooooo,” said Violet, “the man who brought Honey and Bunny back said he found them in his pasture. But he’s never been to the Dare to Dream Ranch4. How did he know they belonged here?”

“Horse tags?” said Benny, giggling15. He always giggled16 when it was far past his bedtime.

“I’m serious,” Violet said.

“He couldn’t have known,” said Jessie. “What if he’s not a neighbor at all? What if he’s a thief?”

“He’s not,” Henry yawned. “Because thieves steal things.” He yawned again, which made everyone else yawn. “Thieves don’t bring things back.”

“Like the thief who stole my new camera,” said Jessie.

“I’ll bet it was that man out at the old barn,” said Benny. “He didn’t like you taking pictures of the rescue horses.”

“It can’t be him,” said Violet. “Cookie said that Slim’s volunteers stay out at the old barn. They never come to the main house. The camera thief has to be someone who wouldn’t look suspicious walking into Cookie’s office.”

“Like Cookie?” asked Benny. The others groaned. “Like us?”

Violet sighed. “It would have to be someone who comes in and out a lot, like Slim or Alyssa, Kurt or Bucky.”

Henry yawned. “I saw Slim driving off to buy medicine for the horses,” he said. “So it couldn’t be him. But I don’t know where Kurt went after we fixed17 the fence. And I don’t know where Alyssa was before she took us on the trail ride. And Bucky could have been anywhere.”

The children felt sad. They didn’t want to accuse someone they knew of stealing the camera. But none of them could think who else it might be.

The weary children switched off their flashlights and pulled their blankets tight. One by one they fell fast asleep. Benny struggled to stay awake. But his eyelids18 finally grew heavy, too.

Smoke! The smell of it woke the children at dawn. They leapt from their bunks and ran to the window. “There!” cried Violet, pointing to an orange glow in the distance. They raced to the ranch house to tell Cookie. She was already busy in the kitchen baking biscuits for breakfast.

“It’s all right,” she told them. “Kurt and the men are at the fire pit. Every few days, they burn brush at sunup, when the air is still. That keeps the fire from spreading. If you like, you can ride out and take a look-see before breakfast.”

The children quickly dressed and saddled up, then rode out across the ranch until they reached a big open field. A powerful fire roared in the middle. Ranch hands tossed old branches and brush into the flames. They wore kerchiefs over their mouths and noses. Kurt drove a tractor in a wide circle around and around the fire. A big rake hooked to the back of his tractor raked the dirt to keep the fire from spreading. The children’s horses snorted and backed up nervously19. “This must be where Kurt brought the locust branch that crushed the fence,” said Henry.

Violet thought of her sketch20. “Henry,” she said, “there are only three big trees near that fence. And they are all maple21 trees. There isn’t a locust anywhere near there. Someone brought the locust branch there. Someone dropped it on the fence.”

They watched Kurt driving the tractor. The ranch manager saw the children and drove over. He pulled his kerchief down. His face was sooty from the smoke. The ends of his blond moustache drooped22 from the heat.

“Get those horses away from here,” he said, scowling23. “Did Alyssa send you out here?”

“Alyssa?” asked Jessie.

Kurt snorted in disgust. “She doesn’t even know that horses can panic around smoke. She’s the worst wrangler24 I’ve ever seen. If Cookie had hired my friend for the job, this ranch would be run right! Now, get those horses away from here.” He pulled up his kerchief and drove the tractor back to the fire.

The children rode slowly back to the ranch house. “Do you think Kurt turned Honey and Bunny loose?” asked Jessie. “To make it look like Alyssa couldn’t take care of the horses?”

“He did blame her for letting them escape,” said Violet.

Henry looked at the scratches on his hands. “Honey and Bunny didn’t have any scratches. Which means they escaped before the branch fell on the fence. Kurt could have cut the fence wire, turned the horses loose, then dropped the branch on the fence.”

“And maybe he stole Dragon to make Alyssa look even worse,” said Jessie.

“Shouldn’t we tell Cookie?” asked Violet.

“We have no proof,” Henry said. “We need to think of a way to find some.”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 bunk zWyzS     
n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位;废话
参考例句:
  • He left his bunk and went up on deck again.他离开自己的铺位再次走到甲板上。
  • Most economists think his theories are sheer bunk.大多数经济学家认为他的理论纯属胡说。
2 bunks dbe593502613fe679a9ecfd3d5d45f1f     
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:
  • These bunks can tip up and fold back into the wall. 这些铺位可以翻起来并折叠收入墙内。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • At last they turned into their little bunks in the cart. 最后他们都钻进车内的小卧铺里。 来自辞典例句
3 locust m8Dzk     
n.蝗虫;洋槐,刺槐
参考例句:
  • A locust is a kind of destructive insect.蝗虫是一种害虫。
  • This illustration shows a vertical section through the locust.本图所示为蝗虫的纵剖面。
4 ranch dAUzk     
n.大牧场,大农场
参考例句:
  • He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
  • The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。
5 pony Au5yJ     
adj.小型的;n.小马
参考例句:
  • His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
  • They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。
6 license B9TzU     
n.执照,许可证,特许;v.许可,特许
参考例句:
  • The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
  • The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。
7 bucking a7de171d35652569506dd5bd33b58af6     
v.(马等)猛然弓背跃起( buck的现在分词 );抵制;猛然震荡;马等尥起后蹄跳跃
参考例句:
  • a bucking bronco in the rodeo 牛仔竞技表演中一匹弓背跳跃的野马
  • That means we'll be bucking grain bags, bustin's gut. 那就是说咱们要背这一袋袋的谷子,得把五脏都累坏。 来自辞典例句
8 pickup ANkxA     
n.拾起,获得
参考例句:
  • I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。
9 groaned 1a076da0ddbd778a674301b2b29dff71     
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦
参考例句:
  • He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
  • The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 halfway Xrvzdq     
adj.中途的,不彻底的,部分的;adv.半路地,在中途,在半途
参考例句:
  • We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路,天就黑了。
  • In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上,最忌讳的是有始无终。
11 sniffed ccb6bd83c4e9592715e6230a90f76b72     
v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说
参考例句:
  • When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣,吸了吸鼻子,擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 swooped 33b84cab2ba3813062b6e35dccf6ee5b     
俯冲,猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The aircraft swooped down over the buildings. 飞机俯冲到那些建筑物上方。
  • The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it. 鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
13 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
14 gasping gasping     
adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词
参考例句:
  • He was gasping for breath. 他在喘气。
  • "Did you need a drink?""Yes, I'm gasping!” “你要喝点什么吗?”“我巴不得能喝点!”
15 giggling 2712674ae81ec7e853724ef7e8c53df1     
v.咯咯地笑( giggle的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • We just sat there giggling like naughty schoolchildren. 我们只是坐在那儿像调皮的小学生一样的咯咯地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I can't stand her giggling, she's so silly. 她吃吃地笑,叫我真受不了,那样子傻透了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
16 giggled 72ecd6e6dbf913b285d28ec3ba1edb12     
v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
  • The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
17 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
18 eyelids 86ece0ca18a95664f58bda5de252f4e7     
n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 );眼睛也不眨一下;不露声色;面不改色
参考例句:
  • She was so tired, her eyelids were beginning to droop. 她太疲倦了,眼睑开始往下垂。
  • Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
19 nervously tn6zFp     
adv.神情激动地,不安地
参考例句:
  • He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇,努力忍着不哭出来。
  • He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。
20 sketch UEyyG     
n.草图;梗概;素描;v.素描;概述
参考例句:
  • My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
  • I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。
21 maple BBpxj     
n.槭树,枫树,槭木
参考例句:
  • Maple sugar is made from the sap of maple trees.枫糖是由枫树的树液制成的。
  • The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。
22 drooped ebf637c3f860adcaaf9c11089a322fa5     
弯曲或下垂,发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。
  • The flowers drooped in the heat of the sun. 花儿晒蔫了。
23 scowling bbce79e9f38ff2b7862d040d9e2c1dc7     
怒视,生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • There she was, grey-suited, sweet-faced, demure, but scowling. 她就在那里,穿着灰色的衣服,漂亮的脸上显得严肃而忧郁。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • Scowling, Chueh-hui bit his lips. 他马上把眉毛竖起来。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
24 wrangler poQyt     
n.口角者,争论者;牧马者
参考例句:
  • When the strangled wrangler dangles the mangled spangles on the bangle jangle.被绞死的辩论者晃荡时,手镯上撕碎的小金属片发出刺耳的声音。
  • A wrangler is a cowboy who works with cattle and horses.牧马者是放牧牛马的牛仔。
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