兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第五冊 Night of the Ninjas 05

5 Flames in the Mist

The water grew shallow again. Then they were on dry land. The ninjas lowered Jack and Annie to the ground.

“Thanks，” said Annie.

“Thanks，” said Jack.

Squeak， said the mouse.

The ninjas said nothing， but they looked around.

Jack looked around， too. A full moon was rising in the sky. Dark rocks dotted the side of the mountain.

Then the ninjas started moving. They went silently up the slope， between the rocks.

Jack and Annie followed them. Jack wasn’t afraid of the ninjas now. In fact， he was starting to like them. Maybe they really could help find Morgan.

The ninjas moved silently. But Jack and Annie made plenty of noise.

They panted as they climbed the rocky hillside. Their wet sneakers made squishy sounds.

Suddenly the ninjas froze. Jack could see their eyes darting around. Voices were coming from the valley below. Jack saw torches flaming in the mist.

The ninjas started moving faster. Jack and Annie hurried after them.

“Who’s carrying the torches?” Annie asked.

Jack was too out of breath to speak. He also didn’t have an answer.

They came to a pine forest. Night birds called out. Wind rattled the branches.

The ninjas moved like ghosts through the forest. They appeared and disappeared， through moonlight and shadows.

Jack and Annie struggled to keep up.

Finally the ninjas came to a stop.

One ninja held out his hand， as if to say， Wait. Then both ninjas stepped away into the shadows of the trees. And were gone.

“Where did they go?” said Annie.

“I don’t know，” said Jack. “Maybe the book can tell us.”

He pulled the ninja book out of his pack.

He turned the pages until he came to a picture of a cave.

By the light of the full moon， he read：

Sometimes ninjas held meetings in hidden mountain caves to plan secret missions.

“Oh man，” said Jack， “I bet they went inside a hidden cave.”

He pulled out his notebook and pencil. He wrote：

meetings in hidde ncaves

Jack turned the page. He stared at a picture of a ninja sitting on a mat. He read：

Ninjas took orders from a ninja master. The master was a mysterious wise person who knew many secrets of nature.

“Wow，” whispered Jack.

Just then the two ninjas returned. Jack quickly put his books away.

The short ninja motioned for Jack and Annie to follow. In the shadows was the entrance of a dark cave.

“What’s in there?” Annie whispered.

“The ninja master，” Jack whispered back.

5迷霧中的火把

水漸漸淺了下去，他們又回到了干燥的地面上，忍者把杰克和安妮放下來。

“謝謝。”安妮說。

“謝謝。”杰克說。

吱吱。吱吱。小老鼠說。

忍者什么也沒說，但是他們四處張望著。

杰克也四處張望，一輪滿月升上了天空，黑色的巖石星星點點地分布在山的一側(cè)。

這時忍者開始行動了，他們靜悄悄地從巖石中間向山上走去。

杰克和安妮跟著他們，杰克現(xiàn)在一點也不怕那些忍者了，事實上，他開始喜歡上他們了?？赡芩麄冋娴哪軌驇蜕夏Ω?。

忍者的行動悄無聲息，可杰克跟安妮弄得到處都是響聲。他們氣喘吁吁地在亂石嶙峋的山上爬著，而那兩個渾身濕透的忍者只發(fā)出濕濕的摩擦聲。

突然兩個忍者不動了，杰克看見他們的眼睛飛快地四處掃著。有聲音從下面的山谷傳上來了，杰克看見很多明亮的火把出現(xiàn)在迷霧中。

忍者開始前進得更快了，杰克和安妮趕緊地跟在他們后頭。

“那些拿火把的人是誰?”安妮問道。

杰克已經(jīng)上氣不接下氣了，根本沒法回答，而且他也不知道答案。

他們來到了一個松樹林，晚上出沒的鳥兒叫了起來。風把樹枝吹得沙沙作響。

忍者在樹林中的行蹤神出鬼沒，他們在月光和樹影中一會兒出現(xiàn)一會兒又消失。

杰克和安妮拼命地跟上他們。

最終，那兩個忍者停了下來。

一個忍者伸出他的手，好像在說：等等。兩個忍者都朝樹影里走去，然后消失了。

“他們?nèi)ツ膬毫?”安妮說。

“我不知道。”杰克說，“可能書能告訴我們。”

他把忍者的書從背包里拿出來，翻到一幅有山洞的圖片。借著滿月的月光，他讀道：

有時候忍者在一些隱秘的山洞里開會，商討一些秘密行動。

“我的老天爺。”杰克說，“我猜他們肯定進了一個隱秘的洞穴里去了。”

他拿出他的筆記本和鉛筆，寫道：

秘密山洞里的會議。

杰克翻了一頁，他看見一幅圖片，圖片上一個忍者正坐在一張席子上。他讀道：

忍者們都聽從一個忍者頭目的命令，這個頭目是一個非常神秘的智者，他懂得很

多大自然的奧秘。

“真酷。”杰克輕聲道。

就在這時，那兩個忍者又回來了，杰克趕快把他的書放了回去。

矮個子忍者示意杰克和安妮跟上，在一個陰影處，一個黑暗的山洞入口出現(xiàn)在眼前。

“里面是什么?”安妮悄悄地說。

“忍者頭頭。”杰克也悄悄地回答。