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儿童英语读物 The Mystery at Skeleton Point CHAPTER 3 Skullduggery

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By the time the Alden children tucked themselves into bed in the greenhouse, a steady breeze was blowing in from Shady Lake. The children gazed up through the glass ceiling and walls. Branches on Charlotte’s willow1 tree gently swayed back and forth2, back and forth. Soon all four children were sound asleep.

But they did not sleep through the night. At four in the morning, a crack of thunder shook the greenhouse. Seconds later, streaks3 of lightning lit it up.

Jessie sat up first, after she heard some barking. “Watch!” she said, when she thought she saw a dog outside the greenhouse. She rubbed her eyes. “Oh, we’re at Charlotte’s, not at home.”

Soon loud plops of rain pelted4 the greenhouse.

Henry pulled his pillow around his ears. “What a racket!”

Benny scrunched5 himself way down into his sleeping bag. “Make the noise go away.”

Violet leaned over from her cot and patted Benny. “They’re only raindrops. Oh, no, what’s that?” Violet asked when she saw something move outside the greenhouse.

By the time Jessie looked out, the lightning was over and everything was completely dark again. “I think the lightning played tricks on our eyes. We’d better go back to sleep.”

The noisy raindrops gave way to a gentle rain, and everyone fell asleep again. An hour and a half later, the greenhouse filled with light.

“It’s only five-thirty,” Henry said when he checked his watch. “It’s so bright in here.”

Jessie yawned and stretched. “I dreamed Violet saw somebody with a dog outside during the storm. I thought Watch had followed us to Shady Lake.”

The Aldens quickly dressed and rolled up their sleeping bags. They had a big day ahead.

Charlotte was enjoying a cup of coffee with Grandfather when the children entered the kitchen. “Good morning,” Charlotte said, passing around a basket of blueberry muffins. “Take as many as you like,” she told the children. “Cousin James said you brought your bikes with you and want to bike out to Skeleton Point today instead of having us drive you there. It’s several miles each way on the bike path. You’re welcome to take out my rowboat, too. It’s the yellow one tied to the dock below Skeleton Point. You’re going to need a lot of energy for all your activities, so eat up.”

“We will,” Henry said as he buttered his muffin. “Are you and Grandfather going to come with us?”

“Not today, children,” Grandfather answered. “Charlotte and I have another cousin who lives upstate. She’s been feeling poorly, so we’re leaving for a few days, after Charlotte stops off at Skeleton Point.”

Charlotte put down her cup. “I’m going to meet with William and Hilda on the way. I’ll tell them I want you children to photograph and sketch6 the gardens and the house inside and out.”

After the children made their lunches, they went to get their bikes in Charlotte’s toolshed. That’s when they got an awful shock.

“What’s this?” Henry asked when he pulled his helmet from his bike bag. “Did you guys play a trick on me?” Inside Henry’s helmet, a plastic Halloween skull7 grinned back at him.

“Hey! There’s a skull in my bike helmet, too! And in yours and yours,” Benny said, pointing to the grinning plastic skulls8 inside his sisters’ helmets. “Somebody played a joke, but it wasn’t me.”

When Charlotte came out, she didn’t find the joke quite as funny, though she tried to laugh about it. “Goodness. I guess I can always use them at Halloween for my trick-or-treaters.”

Benny turned one of the skulls upside down to see if anything was inside. “We got the trick but not the treat.”

Charlotte laughed. “Well, if you children need more treats than what I left out for your lunches, stop at the general store. The bike path runs right behind it. You’ll see a sign for it.”

“Goody,” Benny said. “I saw lots of snacks there yesterday.”

The children put on their helmets and set off for the bike path. Since it was still early, they had it to themselves for a while.

Jessie checked the small bike mirror on her handlebars and saw a jogger in the distance. “I guess runners use this path, too,” she told the others. “There’s somebody behind us.”

When Henry turned around to take a look, the jogger took off into the woods. “Whoever it was is gone.”

The children rolled along, making good time on the smooth, empty path.

“There’s the sign for the general store. Should we stop?” Jessie teased, even though she already knew the answer.

“I saw gorp fixings in the store — nuts, raisins9, and chocolate chips,” Henry said.

“Good, gorp,” Benny said about the delicious, healthy snack they often brought on their outings.

The general store was already busy with people buying fishing tackle, getting mail, drinking coffee, and picking up groceries and the morning newspaper.

Jessie led the way to the camping section. “Here are the nuts and raisins. Benny, you and Violet go over to the baking aisle10 for the chips. I brought along some zip bags so we can mix up some gorp for each of us.”

When Benny and Violet came to the next aisle, a young woman was blocking the way. She and one of the cardplayers the children had seen the day before were so busy talking, they didn’t see the children standing11 there.

“Have you lived here a very long time?” the young woman asked the man, who was wearing a fishing vest today. “I’m trying to get information about those statues out at Skeleton Point. Nobody seems to know how old they are or where they came from.”

“Or where some parts of the statues are going,” the man told the young woman. “Lots of fool stories are going around about somebody — or something — damaging the statues. Stay away from them, I say. Those old statues have been out there forever — before I was born, anyway. Leave ’em be. Why do you want to know?”

The young woman hesitated, then stopped to read the label on a jar of honey. “Um ... just curious.”

With that, the young woman left the store without buying anything.

“Newcomers!” the man told Benny and Violet when he saw them standing there. “Always asking questions. You’d think from that young lady that Shady Lake was nothing but old statues covered with moss12. What about our fishing? Why, our trout13 are practically jumping out of the lake.”

“They are?” Benny asked, hoping to find out where he could see some of these jumping trout.

The man left without answering Benny.

“All set?” Jessie said when she and Henry joined the younger children. “Let’s go pay for everything.”

While the children stood in line, they heard a grinding sound nearby. One of the clerks was making keys for a customer. “Here’s the extra key you wanted, Greeny.” The worker handed over a new key and a brown bag. “Bring it back if it doesn’t fit this lock you just bought.”

“That must be Greeny Owen!” Henry whispered to his brother and sisters.

“I guess even on the island you have to be careful to keep your cabin locked up, huh?” the clerk asked.

“Um... right.” Greeny pocketed the key and put the bag in the small backpack he wore over his T-shirt and jogging shorts. He stepped away from the counter and left.

“I think Greeny was the jogger I saw in my bike mirror,” Jessie said quietly.

Henry agreed. “I bet you’re right. I wonder why he ran into the woods when I turned around. It was almost like he was following us but didn’t want us to see him.”

After the children made up their gorp bags, they returned to the parking lot.

Benny poked14 Henry then Jessie. “See that lady getting in the red car? She was being nosy15 about the statues when she was talking to that fisherman,” Benny said.

Henry watched the woman back out her red car and head down the road. “There sure are a lot of people besides Charlotte interested in those statues.”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 willow bMFz6     
n.柳树
参考例句:
  • The river was sparsely lined with willow trees.河边疏疏落落有几棵柳树。
  • The willow's shadow falls on the lake.垂柳的影子倒映在湖面上。
2 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
3 streaks a961fa635c402b4952940a0218464c02     
n.(与周围有所不同的)条纹( streak的名词复数 );(通常指不好的)特征(倾向);(不断经历成功或失败的)一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 );使布满条纹
参考例句:
  • streaks of grey in her hair 她头上的绺绺白发
  • Bacon has streaks of fat and streaks of lean. 咸肉中有几层肥的和几层瘦的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
4 pelted 06668f3db8b57fcc7cffd5559df5ec21     
(连续地)投掷( pelt的过去式和过去分词 ); 连续抨击; 攻击; 剥去…的皮
参考例句:
  • The children pelted him with snowballs. 孩子们向他投掷雪球。
  • The rain pelted down. 天下着大雨。
5 scrunched c0664d844856bef433bce5850de659f2     
v.发出喀嚓声( scrunch的过去式和过去分词 );蜷缩;压;挤压
参考例句:
  • The snow scrunched underfoot. 雪在脚下发出嘎吱嘎吱的声音。
  • He scrunched up the piece of paper and threw it at me. 他把那张纸揉成一个小团,朝我扔过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 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。
7 skull CETyO     
n.头骨;颅骨
参考例句:
  • The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
  • He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去,跌裂了颅骨。
8 skulls d44073bc27628272fdd5bac11adb1ab5     
颅骨( skull的名词复数 ); 脑袋; 脑子; 脑瓜
参考例句:
  • One of the women's skulls found exceeds in capacity that of the average man of today. 现已发现的女性颅骨中,其中有一个的脑容量超过了今天的普通男子。
  • We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight! 我们便能令月光下的平原变白,遍布白色的骷髅!
9 raisins f7a89b31fdf9255863139804963e88cf     
n.葡萄干( raisin的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • These raisins come from Xinjiang,they taste delicious. 这些葡萄干产自新疆,味道很甜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Mother put some raisins in the cake. 母亲在糕饼中放了一些葡萄干。 来自辞典例句
10 aisle qxPz3     
n.(教堂、教室、戏院等里的)过道,通道
参考例句:
  • The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
  • The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。
11 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。
12 moss X6QzA     
n.苔,藓,地衣
参考例句:
  • Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
  • He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。
13 trout PKDzs     
n.鳟鱼;鲑鱼(属)
参考例句:
  • Thousands of young salmon and trout have been killed by the pollution.成千上万的鲑鱼和鳟鱼的鱼苗因污染而死亡。
  • We hooked a trout and had it for breakfast.我们钓了一条鳟鱼,早饭时吃了。
14 poked 87f534f05a838d18eb50660766da4122     
v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 );戳出;拨弄;与(某人)性交
参考例句:
  • She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
  • His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
15 nosy wR0zK     
adj.鼻子大的,好管闲事的,爱追问的;n.大鼻者
参考例句:
  • Our nosy neighbours are always looking in through our windows.好管闲事的邻居总是从我们的窗口望进来。
  • My landlord is so nosy.He comes by twice a month to inspect my apartment.我的房东很烦人,他每个月都要到我公寓视察两次。
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