CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Two hours later Paul unlocked his door with a hairpin¹ for the last time, he hoped. He was determined² to escape. He had blankets and all his tablets in his lap. Sidewinder was downhill from here and, even if he had to slide all the way in the rain, he intended to try. Why hadn't he tried to escape before? Writing the book had become an excuse. It was true that it kept him alive, because it gave Annie a reason to want him alive; he was her pet writer, producing a book just for her. But it was also true that he was enjoying writing the book and didn't want to leave it. But now he didn't care. Annie could destroy the book if she wanted. He rolled himself into the sitting-room³. It had been tidy before, but now it was a mess. There were dirty dishes piled up on all the surfaces. Empty containers of sweet things of all kinds - jam, ice-cream, cake, biscuits, Pepsi-Cola - were everywhere. There was no sign of any spoons or forks; Annie used her hands when she was in this condition. There were splashes of icecream on the floor and the sofa. The figure of the flying bird was still on the table, but most of the other figures had been thrown into a corner, where they had broken into sharp little pieces. In the middle of the floor was an overturned vase of dead flowers. Underneath⁴ a small table lay a photograph album. Don't you know it's a bad idea to think about the past when you're feeling depressed⁵, Annie? 39 He rolled across the room. Straight ahead was the kitchen; on the right was the hall leading to the front door. He knew there was a door in the kitchen and he hoped he might get out of the house that way. But first he wanted to check the front door; he might get a surprise. He didn't. There were three locks on the door. Two of them were Kreigs - the best locks in the world. A thousand hairpins⁶ would be useless. And Annie of course had the keys with her. He reversed down the hall and went into the kitchen. The room was not as much of a mess as the sitting-room, although there was the smell of rotten food. Here it was the same story: the door had the same system of locks. Roydmans, stay out; Paul, stay in. He imagined her laughing. The windows were too high. Even if he did manage to break one and pull himself through he would probably break his back falling on to the ground. Then he'd have to pull himself through deep mud and crawl up to the road in the hope of being found. It was not a good idea. Another door in the kitchen had no locks. Paul opened it and saw that it led down some steep stairs to the cellar. He heard the squeaking⁷ of rats and smelled the foul⁸ smell of rotten vegetables. He quickly closed the door. Paul felt desperate. There was no way out. For a moment he thought about killing⁹ himself. He had found plenty of food in cans on the kitchen shelves, and also some boxes of matches. Perhaps he should just burn the whole house down in revenge, and kill himself at the same timer Maybe I will have to kill myself eventually, but I'll kill her first. That is my promise, I will never give up.

1 hairpin   

n.簪,束发夹，夹发针

参考例句：

• She stuck a small flower onto the front of her hairpin.她在发簪的前端粘了一朵小花。
• She has no hairpin because her hair is short.因为她头发短，所以没有束发夹。

2 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

3 sitting-room   

n.（BrE）客厅，起居室

参考例句：

• The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。
• Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。

4 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

5 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

6 hairpins   

n.发夹( hairpin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The price of these hairpins are about the same. 这些发夹的价格大致相同。 来自互联网
• So the king gives a hundred hairpins to each of them. 所以国王送给她们每人一百个漂亮的发夹。 来自互联网

7 squeaking   

v.短促地尖叫( squeak的现在分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者

参考例句：

• Squeaking floorboards should be screwed down. 踏上去咯咯作响的地板应用螺钉钉住。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Can you hear the mice squeaking? 你听到老鼠吱吱叫吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

9 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。