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儿童英语读物 The Disappearing Friend Mystery CHAPTER 7 Beth’s Disappearing Trick

时间:2017-07-21 08:10来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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The phone rang as Jessie, Violet, Benny, Henry, and Grandfather Alden were finishing breakfast the next morning. A minute later, Mrs. McGregor came into the dining room. She was smiling. “I have a call for The Boxcar Helpers,” she said.

“It’s our first job,” said Jessie excitedly. “Oh, Grandfather, may one of us be excused to see who it is?”

Grandfather laughed. “The early bird gets the worm,” he said. “Go on, Jessie.”

Jessie slipped quickly away from the table. Everyone else began to help Mrs. McGregor clear away the dishes. They had just finished when Jessie came back.

“What is it, Jessie?” cried Benny.

“That was a lawyer, Ms. Singh, who is going away on a business trip for two days,” Jessie told them. “She wants us to come feed her cats this week while she’s gone. She lives over on Garden Street, and she’s going to leave the key under the mat by the back door.”

“That’ll be fun,” said Violet. “Only we had better not take Watch!”

The phone rang again. “I’ll get it,” said Henry.

“Sounds like you’re off to a good start,” said Grandfather. “I’ll leave you to conduct business.”

“Let’s go see what job this is,” said Benny. He and Violet and Jessie joined Henry. Henry hung up the phone and wrote something down carefully.

“Well?” asked Jessie.

“Mr. Hudson, on Hickory Lane, wants his grass cut. I told him I was an expert grass cutter!” Henry laughed. “So while you’re feeding cats, I will cut the grass.”

The phone rang again, and then again. Soon they had more than enough jobs for the day, and they began to schedule them for the next day and the next.

“We have to tell Beth,” said Violet when the phone finally stopped ringing. Quickly she dialed Beth’s number. “Hello, Beth?” she said eagerly. Then she frowned. “Oh. Thank you.”

A moment later she said again, “Hello, Beth? Is that you? This is Violet Alden speaking.”

The others listened as Violet told Beth all about the jobs. “So we’ll be busy all day,” Violet said. “Are you going to come with us? . . . Oh. That’s too bad. Okay, we’ll see you tomorrow. Good luck!”

Violet hung up the phone. “Poor Beth. She has to go to the dentist in Silver City today and can’t help us.”

“Too bad,” said Jessie sympathetically. “But we’d better get started.”

The Aldens made a list of all the jobs they had to do that day, then went and got their bicycles and pedaled into town to get started. They had just come out of the post office, where they had taken a package to be mailed for someone, when they saw a familiar figure riding her bicycle down the street ahead of them.

“Look!” Violet was startled. “Isn’t that Beth?”

Henry raised his hand to shade his eyes. “It sure looks like her. Beth! Hey, Beth!”

The figure didn’t turn around.

“Beth!” shouted Benny at the top of his lungs.

This time, Beth turned around. So did several other people on the street.

But Beth didn’t stop. She didn’t even wave. Instead, she turned around again and pedaled her bicycle even faster.

Surprised, the Alden children watched the figure until she disappeared around a corner.

Henry looked puzzled. “That’s strange. Wasn’t Beth going to the dentist?”

“That’s what she told me,” Violet answered.

“Do you think she was lying?” asked Jessie.

“I can’t believe she would,” said Violet.

“Maybe Beth doesn’t like us anymore,” suggested Benny.

“No, Benny,” said Henry. “That couldn’t be it.”

“Why didn’t she at least stop and say hello?” Jessie wondered.

But they forgot all about Beth as they came around the next corner. One of the posters they had put up on the bulletin board outside the deli had been torn down. It had been ripped apart and trampled1.

“I don’t believe this,” said Henry, stopping his bike.

Jessie looked mad. “Here,” she said shortly. “Watch my bike. I’m going in to ask the people in the deli if they saw anything.”

But when she came back out a few minutes later, she didn’t have any clue to give them.

“I think Henry’s right. Somebody really doesn’t want us to raise money,” said Violet.

“Yes. It’s a good thing most of our posters are inside the windows of the stores. At least they probably won’t get ripped down,” said Jessie.

“Maybe it’s that doctor,” said Benny.

Henry frowned. “Maybe,” he agreed slowly. “But it’s a funny way for a doctor to act.”

Just then Jessie noticed a truck parked on the side of the street. It was the truck that belonged to Charlie the Fix-it Man. As they turned the corner, they saw a small man with a white cap on his head cutting the grass in the backyard of the house. The cap said CHARLIE on the bill.

“So we do work on some of the same jobs,” said Henry.

“Could Charlie be the one who tore down our sign?” asked Violet. “Maybe he doesn’t want us taking his business.”

“Maybe,” said Jessie. She looked at her watch. “We’d better get going. The day’s nearly half over and we have a lot of work to do.”

The next day, they got two new jobs in addition to the ones scheduled from the day before. One of the jobs was in Beth’s neighborhood.

This time, Jessie called her. “Guess what, Beth?” she asked. “The Millers3 have asked us to come dig their vegetable garden. They live in your neighborhood. So we can come pick you up at your house.”

“No!” said Beth so forcefully that Jessie had to hold the phone a little away from her ear. “No,” Beth repeated, more quietly, but just as firmly. “It’s . . . well, the house is such a mess . . . we haven’t finished unpacking4. My parents would kill me if I invited anyone over.”

“Oh. Well,” said Jessie slowly, a bit taken aback by Beth’s strong response. “We’ll just have to meet you there then.” She gave Beth directions to the Millers’ house and they agreed to meet in half an hour.

“Did Beth say anything about seeing us yesterday?” asked Henry as the Aldens headed for the Millers’ house.

“No,” answered Jessie thoughtfully. “Something very strange is going on.”

Beth was waiting out front when they got to the Millers’. She waved cheerfully as they pedaled up. “What a great day for gardening,” she said.

“I’m glad you could come today,” said Violet softly, falling into step by Beth as they walked up to the front door of the house. “How was the dentist?”

Beth made a face. “Oh—the dentist. I don’t like going. But at least I didn’t have any cavities.”

“That’s good,” said Violet.

“Did you have a lot of jobs yesterday?” Beth asked Violet.

“Lots!” said Violet. “We had to go all over town, too.” She paused, wondering if Beth would mention seeing them.

But Beth just flung out her arms and said, “Great. Soon we’ll have enough money to pay for the whole new hospital wing!”

Henry grinned. “Or at least one of the rooms!” he said as he rang the Millers’ doorbell.

Mr. Miller2 was an older man, with a round face and little mustache. He was wearing baggy5 pants held up by red suspenders, with a red striped shirt to match. He kept his thumbs hooked in the suspenders as he showed the children what he wanted them to do.

He unhooked one of the thumbs to raise his hand and give the children a little wave as he went back into the house.

The Millers had marked off a large square piece of level ground in a sunny area of their backyard for the garden. There were shovels7, hoes, and pitchforks for breaking up the ground. Benny collected all the rocks and lined the edge of the garden with them. They pulled up clumps8 of weeds and took out sticks. Then they made long raised rows of dirt, which would be easy to plant in. Between the rows of mounded dirt, they carefully marked paths. With everyone working together, the Aldens and Beth soon had the garden ready for planting.

As they were working, a truck drove slowly by and then stopped. A wiry little man in faded blue overalls9 and a blue work shirt leaned out of the window on the driver’s side. He pushed the bill of his cap back and squinted10 over the fence.

It was Charlie, the Fix-it man.

“You kids know what you’re doing?” asked Charlie.

“Yes, thank you,” said Beth.

“Gardening can be hard work—especially if you aren’t used to it,” he commented. “Of course I do a lot of it.”

“With all of us working together, it goes pretty quickly,” Henry said.

“I guess so.” Charlie jerked his head toward the house. “I usually do the gardening for the Millers,” he said. “Or I used to.”

“Oh!” said Violet. No one else could think of anything to say.

“Yep,” said Charlie, looking off into the distance. “See you later.” He leaned back in the window, put the truck in gear, and drove away.

“Do you think we really are taking work away from Charlie?” asked Jessie.

“I don’t know,” said Henry, wiping his forehead. It was a very hot day.

“If the Millers usually have Charlie do their gardening, I wonder why they hired us,” Violet said.

“Maybe Charlie did something they didn’t like,” Henry suggested.

Just then Mr. Miller came out onto the back porch and invited the Aldens and Beth in for lemonade.

“Yes, please!” said Benny quickly.

“That would be great,” said Henry, propping11 his shovel6 against a tree. “We only have a little more to do.”

But Beth shook her head regretfully. “I have to go. I promised I’d help out at home today, too.”

“You kids are doing a great job,” said Mr. Miller.

Beth smiled. “Thank you,” she said. “See you tomorrow,” she told the Aldens. She went around the side of the house toward her bicycle and everyone else went inside for glasses of cold lemonade. It was delicious. Benny had two glasses.

“Whew,” said Henry as they went back outside. “That’s hot, thirsty work.”

Violet nodded. “I like gardening, but I’m glad we’re almost through. . . .”

Her voice trailed off in horror as she looked past Henry at the garden they had so carefully dug.

All the neat rows had been kicked and shoveled12 every which way. Rocks and sticks and weeds were scattered13 all over the garden plot. And the soft, crumbly dirt had been stomped14 down hard.

“Oh, no!” cried Jessie.

“My rocks!” wailed15 Benny.

They all ran forward to look more closely.

“This is awful,” said Violet. “We’ll have to do it all over again.”

Benny trudged16 out into the garden and began to pick up rocks.

“Wait a minute, Benny,” said Henry. “Maybe we can find some clue to who did this. Like footprints.”

But it was impossible to pick out individual footprints because there were so many and the dirt was so scuffed17 up.

Sadly, the Aldens went back to work. As they worked, they talked about who could have done such an awful thing.

“Why doesn’t someone want us to earn money for the hospital?” wondered Henry.

“Maybe it was that doctor,” Violet said. “She was very angry about the hospital wing —both times we saw her.”

“Did she follow us here?” Benny asked.

“I guess she might have. Or maybe it was Charlie. He may be angry that we’re taking some of the jobs he used to do—like this garden. And he definitely knew we were here.”

“He was just down the street the day we saw the torn poster,” Violet pointed18 out.

“And he was in town when the air was being let out of my tires,” Benny added.

The children kept working. When they were almost done Jessie said, “You know . . . there’s another person it could be. Have you thought about all the strange things that have happened? They all have something in common.”

“What do you mean?” Violet asked.

“Every time something happened, Beth had suddenly left—or disappeared,” Jessie said. “We were in our kitchen having cookies and milk when the supplies were taken, remember?”

Violet said slowly, “Beth was in my room putting on one of Grandfather’s old blue work shirts.”

Nodding, Jessie said, “Right. But she was gone for a long time. Then, when we went to buy new art supplies . . .”

“Beth said she had to go next door and do some errands. When we came out, someone had let the air out of Benny’s bicycle tires,” Henry finished.

“And whoever ruined the garden did it while we were inside having lemonade,” said Jessie. “And Beth left just before we went inside. Or said she was leaving.”

“It can’t be Beth,” cried Violet. “I just know Beth wouldn’t do anything like this.”

“I don’t want to believe it either, Violet,” said Jessie. “But the clues all seem to point to her.”

“It could have been anybody,” argued Violet. “It’s just a coincidence that makes it look like Beth was the one. Besides, she’s new in town. Why wouldn’t she want us to help with the hospital?”

“That’s true,” said Henry doubtfully. “But still . . .”

“Beth’s the one who thought of the helper service, too,” Violet pointed out.

“It doesn’t make sense,” said Jessie. “But it is possible Beth did all these awful things.”

“Well,” said Violet stubbornly. “I’m not going to believe it.”

The Aldens finished the garden in silence, and went home with heavy hearts.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 trampled 8c4f546db10d3d9e64a5bba8494912e6     
踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 ); 践踏; 无视; 侵犯
参考例句:
  • He gripped his brother's arm lest he be trampled by the mob. 他紧抓着他兄弟的胳膊,怕他让暴民踩着。
  • People were trampled underfoot in the rush for the exit. 有人在拼命涌向出口时被踩在脚下。
2 miller ZD6xf     
n.磨坊主
参考例句:
  • Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
  • The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。
3 millers 81283c4e711ca1f9dd560e85cd42fc98     
n.(尤指面粉厂的)厂主( miller的名词复数 );磨房主;碾磨工;铣工
参考例句:
  • Millers and bakers sought low grain prices. 磨粉厂主和面包师寻求低廉的谷物价格。 来自辞典例句
  • He told me he already been acquainted with the Millers. 他跟我说他同米勒一家已经很熟。 来自互联网
4 unpacking 4cd1f3e1b7db9c6a932889b5839cdd25     
n.取出货物,拆包[箱]v.从(包裹等)中取出(所装的东西),打开行李取出( unpack的现在分词 );拆包;解除…的负担;吐露(心事等)
参考例句:
  • Joe sat on the bed while Martin was unpacking. 马丁打开箱子取东西的时候,乔坐在床上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • They are unpacking a trunk. 他们正在打开衣箱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 baggy CuVz5     
adj.膨胀如袋的,宽松下垂的
参考例句:
  • My T-shirt went all baggy in the wash.我的T恤越洗越大了。
  • Baggy pants are meant to be stylish,not offensive.松松垮垮的裤子意味着时髦,而不是无礼。
6 shovel cELzg     
n.铁锨,铲子,一铲之量;v.铲,铲出
参考例句:
  • He was working with a pick and shovel.他在用镐和铲干活。
  • He seized a shovel and set to.他拿起一把铲就干上了。
7 shovels ff43a4c7395f1d0c2d5931bbb7a97da6     
n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 );锹;推土机、挖土机等的)铲;铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 );锹;推土机、挖土机等的)铲;铲形部份
参考例句:
  • workmen with picks and shovels 手拿镐铲的工人
  • In the spring, we plunge shovels into the garden plot, turn under the dark compost. 春天,我们用铁锨翻开园子里黑油油的沃土。 来自辞典例句
8 clumps a9a186997b6161c6394b07405cf2f2aa     
n.(树、灌木、植物等的)丛、簇( clump的名词复数 );(土、泥等)团;块;笨重的脚步声v.(树、灌木、植物等的)丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 );(土、泥等)团;块;笨重的脚步声
参考例句:
  • These plants quickly form dense clumps. 这些植物很快形成了浓密的树丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The bulbs were over. All that remained of them were clumps of brown leaves. 这些鳞茎死了,剩下的只是一丛丛的黃叶子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 overalls 2mCz6w     
n.(复)工装裤;长罩衣
参考例句:
  • He is in overalls today.他今天穿的是工作裤。
  • He changed his overalls for a suit.他脱下工装裤,换上了一套西服。
10 squinted aaf7c56a51bf19a5f429b7a9ddca2e9b     
斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 ); 眯着眼睛; 瞟; 从小孔或缝隙里看
参考例句:
  • Pulling his rifle to his shoulder he squinted along the barrel. 他把枪顶肩,眯起眼睛瞄准。
  • I squinted through the keyhole. 我从锁眼窥看。
11 propping 548f07f69caff3c98b65a959401073ee     
支撑
参考例句:
  • You can usually find Jack propping up the bar at his local. 你常常可以看见杰克频繁出没于他居住的那家酒店。
  • The government was accused of propping up declining industries. 政府被指责支持日益衰败的产业。
12 shoveled e51ace92204ed91d8925ad365fab25a3     
vt.铲,铲出(shovel的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • The hungry man greedily shoveled the food into his mouth. 那个饥饿的人贪婪地、大口大口地吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • They shoveled a path through the snow. 他们在雪中铲出一条小路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
13 scattered 7jgzKF     
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的
参考例句:
  • Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来,塞进文件夹里。
14 stomped 0884b29fb612cae5a9e4eb0d1a257b4a     
v.跺脚,践踏,重踏( stomp的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She stomped angrily out of the office. 她怒气冲冲,重步走出办公室。
  • She slammed the door and stomped (off) out of the house. 她砰的一声关上了门,暮暮地走出了屋了。 来自辞典例句
15 wailed e27902fd534535a9f82ffa06a5b6937a     
v.哭叫,哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句
16 trudged e830eb9ac9fd5a70bf67387e070a9616     
vt.& vi.跋涉,吃力地走(trudge的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • He trudged the last two miles to the town. 他步履艰难地走完最后两英里到了城里。
  • He trudged wearily along the path. 他沿着小路疲惫地走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
17 scuffed 6f08ab429a81544fbc47a95f5c147e74     
v.使磨损( scuff的过去式和过去分词 );拖着脚走
参考例句:
  • I scuffed the heel of my shoe on the stonework. 我的鞋跟儿给铺好的石头磨坏了。
  • Polly dropped her head and scuffed her feet. 波莉低下头拖着脚走开了。 来自辞典例句
18 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
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