CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Darkness fell and no police came, Annie spent the time putting new glass in Paul's window and picking up the broken pieces, so . 72 that when they came they would see nothing suspicious¹. Unless they look under the lawnmower, thought Paul. But why would they do that? Before she left, Paul asked her to bring him some paper so that he could continue writing the book while she was away. He needed the drug of writing. She shook her head regretfully. 'I can't do that, Paul. I'd have to leave the light on down here and someone might see the light through the windows. And if I give you a torch² or a candle you might try to shine it through the windows.' He thought of being left alone down here in the cellar³ in the dark, and his skin felt cold. He thought of the rats hiding in their holes in the walls, waiting for darkness so that they could come out. He wondered whether they could smell his fear. 'Don't leave me in the dark, Annie. The rats.' 'I have to. Don't be such a baby. I've got to go now. If you need an injection⁴, push the syringe into your leg. Don't worry about the rats, Paul. They'll probably recognize that you're a rat too.' She laughed at her joke and continued laughing all the way up the stairs. When she closed the door to the kitchen it became totally black. He could hear her drive away. He imagined that she was still laughing. In the darkness his imagination soon began to play games with his mind. He imagined that the young policeman came to life in the barn⁵ and crawled⁶ up to the house; he imagined that he came through the wall into the cellar. He felt one of the policeman's cold, dead fingers touch his cheek - but it was only a large spider and Paul realized that he had been dreaming. His legs were painful now and he gave himself an injection. Then he fell properly asleep, and, when he woke up, the dull light of early morning was filling the cellar. He saw a huge rat sitting in the plate of food which Annie had left, eating cheese. He screamed and the rat ran away. He took some Novril and looked round the cellar. He saw the 73 Suddenly on idea burst⁷ into his mind like a bright light. He looked at the idea from all directions and it still seemed sweet. barbecue stove with all its tools and equipment, and remembered burning Fast Cars . . . and suddenly an idea burst into his mind like a bright light. He looked at the idea from all directions and it still seemed sweet. At last he had a plan which might be successful. He fell asleep again with a smile on his face, dreaming about the next pages he would write. Annie came back in the middle of the afternoon. She was silent⁸, but seemed tired rather than depressed⁹. Paul asked her if everything had gone all right and she nodded. 'Do you want another injection, Paul?' she asked. 'Your legs must be hurting a lot by now.' It was true. The damp had made his legs hurt terribly, but he wanted her out of the cellar as quickly as possible, so he told net he was OK. When he got on to her back for the ride up the stairs he had to bite his lips¹⁰ to stop himself shouting in pain. At the bottom of the stairs she paused¹¹, and he hoped . . . prayed . . . that she would not notice the missing¹² can of barbecue fuel; he had pushed it down the back of his trousers. She didn't seem to notice anything. When he was back in his room he said, 'I think I would like that injection now, Annie.' She looked at his face, which was covered in sweat¹³ from the pain, and then nodded. As soon as she left the room to fetch the medicine he pushed the small, flat fuel can under the mattress¹⁴. He hadn't hidden anything there since the knife, so he didn't expect her suddenly to look there. Anyway, he wasn't planning to leave it there for long. After she had given him the injection she said she was going to sleep. 'If a car comes I'll hear it,' she said. 'I'll leave your wheelchair¹⁵ next to your bed so that you can get up and work if you want to.' 'I probably will, later,' he said. 'There isn't much time now, is there, Annie?' 'No, there isn't, Paul. I'm glad you understand that.' 'Annie,' he said innocently¹⁶. 'Since I'm getting to the end of the book, I wonder if you'd do something for me.' 75 'What?' 'Please don't read any more. When I've finished it all, then you can read all the last chapters. Will you do that? It'll make it more exciting for you.' 'Yes, thank you, Paul. Yes, I'll do that.' Four hours later she was still asleep. He had heard her go to bed upstairs at four o'clock and had heard nothing since then. He felt safe. He got into his wheelchair as quietly as possible and rolled himself over to his table by the window. Not long ago he had discovered a loose board in the floor. Under the board was a narrow space. The space was just big enough for the can of fuel. Paul sighed in relief when the board was back in postion. He gently blew the dust back over the board so that it looked the same as ail¹⁷ the surrounding boards. He wrote some pages of the book and then went back to bed and slept peacefully.

1 suspicious   

adj.可疑的，容易引起怀疑的，猜疑的，疑心的

参考例句：

• A man was hanging about the house in a suspicious manner.一个男人在房子周围可疑地荡来荡去。
• He's so suspicious he would distrust his own mother.他这个人疑心太重，连自己的母亲也不相信。

2 torch   

n.火炬

参考例句：

• They are looking for volunteers to carry the torch.他们正在寻找火炬传递的志愿者。
• A famous athlete held a torch and ran to the stadium.一个著名的运动员举着火炬跑到运动场。

3 cellar   

n.地窖，地下室，酒窖

参考例句：

• He took a bottle of wine from the cellar.他从酒窖里拿出一瓶酒。
• The little girl hid away in the cellar.小姑娘藏在地下室里。

4 injection   

n.注射，注入；注射液

参考例句：

• Those drugs are given by injection as well as through the mouth.那些药品可以注射，也可以口服。
• She pressed the patient a bit too hard when she gave him an injection.她打针时手重了些。

5 barn   

n.谷仓，饲料仓，牲口棚

参考例句：

• That big building is a barn for keeping the grain.那幢大房子是存放粮食的谷仓。
• The cows were driven into the barn.牛被赶进了牲口棚。

6 crawled   

v.爬( crawl的过去式和过去分词 )；（昆虫）爬行；缓慢行进；巴结

参考例句：

• They crawled along on their bellies. 他们匍匐前进。
• She crawled onto the river bank and lay there gulping in air. 她爬上河岸，躺在那里喘着粗气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 burst   

vi.（burst，burst）爆炸；爆破；爆裂；爆发；vt.使…破裂；使…炸破；n.突然破裂；爆发

参考例句：

• We all held our breath till the bomb burst.我们屏住呼吸直到炸弹爆炸。
• She suddenly burst into song.她突然唱起歌来。

8 silent   

adj.安静的，不吵闹的，沉默的，无言的；n.(复数)默剧

参考例句：

• Immediately on his beginning to speak,everyone was silent.他一讲话，大家顿时安静下来。
• The boys looked at the conjuror in silent wonder. 孩子们目瞪口呆地看着那魔术师。

9 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。

10 lips   

abbr.logical inferences per second 每秒的逻辑推论n.嘴唇( lip的名词复数 )；（容器或凹陷地方的）边缘；粗鲁无礼的话

参考例句：

• Her lips compressed into a thin line. 她的双唇抿成了一道缝。
• the fullness of her lips 她丰满的双唇

11 paused   

v.停顿( pause的过去式和过去分词 )；暂停；（按暂停键）暂停放音；暂停放像

参考例句：

• We paused for the red light at State College Street. 我们在州立大学大街上因遇到红灯而停了一下。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The joggers paused to catch their breath. 慢跑者们暂停下来以便喘口气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 missing   

adj.遗失的，缺少的，失踪的

参考例句：

• Check the tools and see if anything is missing.检点一下工具，看有无丢失。
• All the others are here;he's the only one missing.别人都来了，就短他一个。

13 sweat   

n.汗，汗水，水珠，焦急；vi.出汗，渗出，冒出水气，结水珠，烦恼，懊恼；vt.使出汗，流出，榨出，使汗流浃背

参考例句：

• She was all of a sweat.她一身大汗。
• She is always all of a sweat before the exam.她临考前总是急得不得了。

14 mattress   

n.床垫，床褥

参考例句：

• The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
• The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。

15 wheelchair   

n.(病人等用的)轮椅

参考例句：

• He used a wheelchair for the rest of his life.他的后半生依靠轮椅生活。
• He collapsed the wheelchair and put it on the boat.他将轮椅折叠起来放在船上。

16 innocently   

ad.无恶意地，无害地

参考例句：

• 'Oh, Sue went too, did she?' I asked innocently. “哦，休也去了吗？”我故作天真地问道。
• He had innocently blundered into a private dispute. 他稀里糊涂地卷入了一场私人纠纷。

17 ail   

v.生病，折磨，苦恼

参考例句：

• It may provide answers to some of the problems that ail America.这一点可能解答困扰美国的某些问题。
• Seek your sauce where you get your ail.心痛还须心药治。