Chapter 9 Follow the Leader
It was pitch dark.
"What happened?" asked Annie.
"I don't know. Something weird," said Jack. "We have to get out of here fast. Push against the door."
"Good idea," said Annie in a small voice.
They felt their way through the darkness to the top of the stairs.
"Don't worry. Everything's going to be okay," said Jack. He was trying to stay calm.
"Of course," said Annie.
They leaned against the wooden door and pushed.
It wouldn't budge.
They pushed harder.
No use.
Jack took a deep breath. It was getting harder to breathe. And harder to stay calm.
"What can we do?" asked Annie.
"Just...just rest a moment," said Jack, panting.
His heart was pounding as he tried to see through the darkness.
"Maybe we should start down the hall," he said. "Maybe we'll eventually come to…to an exit."
He wasn't sure about that. But they had no choice.
"Come on," he said. "Feel the wall."
Jack felt the stone wall as he climbed slowly down the stairs. Annie followed.
Jack started down the dark hallway. It was impossible to see anything.
But he kept going. Taking one step at a time. Moving his hands along the wall.
He went around a corner. He went around another corner. He came to some stairs. He went up.
There was a door. He pushed against it. Annie pushed too. This door wouldn't budge either.
Was this the same door they had started at?
It was no use. They were trapped.
Annie took his hand in the dark. She squeezed it. They stood together at the top of the stairs. Listening to the silence.
"Meow."
"Oh, man," Jack whispered.
"He's back!" said Annie.
"Meow."
"Follow him!” cried Jack. "He's going away from us."
They started down the dark hallway. Following the cat's meow.
Hands against the wall, Jack and Annie stumbled through the darkness.
"Meow."
They followed the sound. All the way through the winding hallway. Down, down, down.
Around one corner, then another. And another...
Finally they saw a light at the end of the tunnel. They rushed forward — out into the bright sunlight.
"Yay!” Annie shouted.
... ...
Chapter 10 Another Clue
... ...
Jack and Annie looked around at the trees. Then they looked at each other.
"Tomorrow," they said together.
And they took off, running out of the woods.
They ran down their street.
They ran across their yard.
They ran into their house.
They ran into their kitchen.
They ran right into their mom.
She was making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
这是《Magic Tree House》系列第三本，讲的关于兄妹俩穿越到古埃及，探秘金字塔的故事，而木乃伊也是我小时候特别感兴趣的事物之一。之前一直觉得Jack很懦弱，然后这一本让我改变想法。或许作者从来就没想把Jack塑造成懦弱的人物，只是我一厢情愿地这样认为。不管怎么说，我发现作者总能把情景刻画得很到位，仿佛我也经历过类似的“冒险”，读起来有种身临其境的感觉。Anyway，冒险过后能重新回到普通而温馨的家庭生活，吃到妈妈做的菜，真的是一件很美好的事情！
