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儿童英语读物 The Movie Star Mystery CHAPTER 9 A Movie Star Trap

时间:2017-09-18 06:42来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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Somebody’s outside the window,” said Henry. He jumped toward the window and pulled the curtain back.

Jessie ran to join him and said, “Look!”

They saw a shadowy figure scuttling1 across the lawn.

Then Benny said, “I can see the lights in the neighbor’s house.”

“You’re right, Benny. Only our lights seem to be off,” said Grandfather. “Someone must have made them go off.”

“Stay here,” Courtney told Tate. “I’m going to check this out.”

“We’ll come with you,” Henry said.

But it was too late to catch whoever had turned the lights off. By the time they got outside, the shadowy figure was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly the lights in the house came back on. “Grandfather must have fixed2 the lights,” said Henry.

“Look,” said Violet. “Footprints.” She pointed3 to the soft earth beneath the dining room window.

“Boot prints,” said Courtney, kneeling to examine them. “Not much bigger than my own. They could belong to a man or a woman.”

Suddenly Henry looked around with a frown. “Where’s Jessie?” he asked.

At that moment, they heard Jessie call, “Stop! What are you doing?” and then saw a flash of light.

They ran around the corner of the house toward Jessie’s voice.

“Jessie? Are you okay?” called Henry.

A woman’s angry voice said, “It’s only you!”

The Aldens and Courtney stopped. Jessie stood in front of them near the sidewalk. A brown car was parked at the curb4. A woman with long red hair stood near the open door of the car, lit by the interior light. Jessie was holding her arm. The woman had a small camera in her other hand.

“Monica Tripe5!” said Violet.

Courtney suddenly stepped back into the shadows. Benny looked around in surprise. It was almost as if she had become invisible.

“What’s going on?” Henry demanded. “What are you doing here?”

Monica pulled her arm free of Jessie’s grasp. “Just taking a few photographs of Greenfield,” she said unconvincingly.

“At night? Here?” asked Violet in disbelief.

Jessie said, “You’re the one who turned out our lights, aren’t you?”

Monica stepped back with an angry toss of her head. “I did not. I don’t have to make up my stories.”

“What stories? What are you talking about?” asked Henry.

“Why did you take my photograph?” Jessie asked.

“I thought you were someone else,” Monica muttered. “I saw the house go dark and then I heard someone running in this direction. I thought it was . . . the friend I’ve been looking for.”

“Well, I’m not,” said Jessie.

“Maybe not,” said Monica. She edged toward her car. “But he’s around here. I know it. And I’m going to find him, no matter what you or anyone does to stop me!”

With that, she jumped into her car, slammed the door, and drove away into the night.

Courtney said, “It’s a good thing Tate didn’t come outside. I’d better go see how he’s doing.”

She turned and went into the house as quickly and quietly as a cat.

“How did you know that Monica would be out in front of the house?” asked Henry as they walked back to the dining room.

“I didn’t,” said Jessie. “I just thought I heard something and went to check it out.”

“Did she turn off the lights?” asked Benny.

Jessie shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she told him.

“Why not?” asked Henry.

“I know!” said Violet. “Did you see Monica’s shoes? She wasn’t wearing boots like the footprints we found. She was wearing high heels.”

The Aldens went back inside the house. Jessie said, “We should tell Tate we saw Monica Tripe. But what if she and Courtney are working together?”

“I don’t think they are,” said Henry.

“Why not?” asked Violet. “Courtney has been around for everything that has happened. She was in town that day when the ice-cream parlor6 had the smoke alarm. She could have hidden the letter in the mailbox. And she’s the one who got the mysterious phone call.”

“But she didn’t turn off our lights,” Jessie said. “There is no way she could have. She was inside the whole time.”

“And it couldn’t have been Monica. Not wearing those shoes. And she didn’t have time to change,” agreed Henry.

“Courtney didn’t want Monica to see her,” Benny said. “She backed up out of sight when she saw Monica.”

“She knew Monica would recognize her as Tate’s bodyguard,” said Violet. “That’s why.”

“You’re right,” said Jessie slowly. “I don’t think Courtney is behind all this.”

“Then who is?” asked Benny. “Monica?”

“If it’s Monica, she’s not working alone. We have to find out who is helping7 her,” said Henry.

“It has to be someone who knows Tate is here,” said Violet. “And if it’s not Courtney, that leaves four other people: Tate’s mother; his agent, Eddie Hampton; Stefan; and Harpo.”

“But which one?” asked Violet.

“I have an idea,” said Jessie. They had reached the house. She grinned. “Let’s go inside and have some cake and I’ll explain. Tate needs to hear this, too.”

The letter carrier opened the mailbox and slipped the mail inside. Then he drove away.

Benny said, “We’ve been here all morning. And we haven’t caught anybody yet.”

“Be patient,” Jessie whispered.

Benny yawned and leaned back against the tree. “Oh, okay,” he said.

A few minutes later, he leaned forward again. “I hear a car,” he whispered.

Watch gave a little whimper of excitement.

A brown car came into view on Old Farm Road. It drove past where the Boxcar Children were hiding in the woods and down the road.

“It looked like Monica’s car,” said Violet. “But it didn’t stop. Why not?”

Her question was answered as the car drove back into view from the other direction. It slowed down and the Aldens could see the driver clearly, despite the bright green scarf that covered her hair and the huge dark glasses on her nose.

“Monica,” said Henry.

Still moving slowly, the car passed them, rounded the curve, and then stopped. “She must be putting the car in the same hiding place as before. She’ll be back,” Jessie predicted.

Sure enough, they soon heard rapid footsteps on the road. Monica appeared, holding a white envelope in one hand. She had a camera around her neck. Looking nervously8 around, she approached the mailbox in front of the big gates of the Radley mansion9. Quickly she opened the mailbox and shoved the envelope inside.

Then she hurried across the road to slip into the bushes and hide. She crouched10 behind a tree only a few yards from the Aldens.

Tate came to the gate, opened it, and walked out. He took out the envelope. Monica raised her camera, waiting for a chance to get a perfect shot of Tate’s outraged11 reaction.

But Tate didn’t open the letter.

Instead he walked straight across the road to where Monica was hiding. Monica lowered her camera.

Tate stopped on the other side of the tree.

Monica’s mouth dropped open in shock as Tate said, “Did you leave me this letter, Monica?”

“No! That is, I—I—” Monica began to stammer12.

At that moment, the Aldens came out from their hiding places and surrounded Monica. “Yes,” said Jessie. “Monica left that note. We saw her.”

Monica’s head jerked around. “You!” she gasped13. “What are you doing here?”

Henry gave Monica a sweet smile. “Waiting for you,” he said.

Tearing open the envelope, Tate took out a single sheet of paper. Black letters the same as on the previous note were printed on one side of the paper. “If you hide too long. You’ll soon be gone,” Tate read aloud. He gave Monica a cool look. “Is that a threat?”

“No!” Monica’s cheeks turned bright red as she answered.

“It sounds like one to me,” Violet said.

“Me, too,” said Benny.

“Well, it’s not!” Monica said. “Tate, you’re a star. But if you keep hiding, your fans will forget about you. That’s all.”

“I have a right to a quiet, private vacation just like anybody else,” said Tate. “And I would be glad to give out interviews and talk to reporters if they refused to report stories that weren’t true or exaggerate things that happened in order to make a good story.”

Monica lowered her eyes, and her cheeks grew even redder. “I—I don’t do that,” she said.

“Yes, you do,” said Jessie.

“And now you’re sending anonymous14 letters and setting fires and making anonymous phone calls and putting out the lights in our house,” said Henry in disgust. “Just to make a good story.”

“No!” Monica answered, startled. “I didn’t do all that! I just left the letters to try to make Tate come out of hiding. That’s all, I promise!”

“How did you know Tate was here?” asked Benny. “It was a secret.”

“And why did you keep turning up wherever he was? How did you know to look in the ice-cream shop for him that day?” added Henry.

“Tips,” Monica said. “I got secret information from someone.”

“Who?” asked Tate.

Monica shook her head. She said, “I don’t know. Most of the time they were phoned in to me. A husky voice would tell me where and when to find you. I couldn’t even tell if it was a man or a woman.”

The Aldens exchanged glances. This sounded like the anonymous caller who had spoken to Courtney.

Monica continued, “But the first tip—about where you were, Tate—came on this postcard.” She took a postcard out of her camera bag and held it out.

The Aldens and Tate saw a picture of the Greenfield town square on the front. On the back, in square print, were the words, Look here for Tate.

“Whoever it was had to have bought the postcard here in Greenfield,” said Jessie. “When did you get it in the mail?”

“Nine days ago,” said Monica.

“So it had to have been mailed the week before,” said Violet. She turned to Tate. “When did you get to Greenfield?”

“I’ve been here for seven days,” said Tate. “But my mother and Eddie came ahead.”

“Did Stefan and Harpo come with them, too?” asked Benny.

“They came with Courtney and me,” said Tate.

Henry said, “Well, we know your mother didn’t cause this mischief15.”

Tate nodded.

“It has to be Eddie Hampton, then, doesn’t it?” cried Monica. “Wow. This will be a great story!”

“Wait just a minute,” said Henry. “It won’t be a story until we prove it was Eddie.”

“How are you going to do that?” asked Monica.

Tate glanced around at the Aldens. “Oh, I think we’ll all be able to prove it—and then you can have your story, Monica. Well, Aldens, what do we do now? I feel sure you have an idea for how to catch Eddie.”

“We sure do!” said Henry


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 scuttling 56f5e8b899fd87fbaf9db14c025dd776     
n.船底穿孔,打开通海阀(沉船用)v.使船沉没( scuttle的现在分词 );快跑,急走
参考例句:
  • I could hear an animal scuttling about in the undergrowth. 我可以听到一只动物在矮树丛中跑来跑去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • First of all, scuttling Yu Lung (this yuncheng Hejin) , flood discharge. 大禹首先凿开龙门(今运城河津市),分洪下泄。 来自互联网
2 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。
3 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。
4 curb LmRyy     
n.场外证券市场,场外交易;vt.制止,抑制
参考例句:
  • I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
  • You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。
5 tripe IGSyR     
n.废话,肚子, 内脏
参考例句:
  • I can't eat either tripe or liver.我不吃肚也不吃肝。
  • I don't read that tripe.我才不看那种无聊的东西呢。
6 parlor v4MzU     
n.店铺,营业室;会客室,客厅
参考例句:
  • She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
  • Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店?
7 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
8 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。
9 mansion 8BYxn     
n.大厦,大楼;宅第
参考例句:
  • The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
  • The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。
10 crouched 62634c7e8c15b8a61068e36aaed563ab     
v.屈膝,蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He crouched down beside her. 他在她的旁边蹲了下来。
  • The lion crouched ready to pounce. 狮子蹲下身,准备猛扑。
11 outraged VmHz8n     
a.震惊的,义愤填膺的
参考例句:
  • Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
  • He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。
12 stammer duMwo     
n.结巴,口吃;v.结结巴巴地说
参考例句:
  • He's got a bad stammer.他口吃非常严重。
  • We must not try to play off the boy troubled with a stammer.我们不可以取笑这个有口吃病的男孩。
13 gasped e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80     
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
  • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
14 anonymous lM2yp     
adj.无名的;匿名的;无特色的
参考例句:
  • Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
  • The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。
15 mischief jDgxH     
n.损害,伤害,危害;恶作剧,捣蛋,胡闹
参考例句:
  • Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
  • He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。
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