THE GENTLY CIRCULATING WATER IN THE POOL stirred the light that rose through it, causing shimmering1 auroras and shadows to quiver ceaselessly across the limestone2 walls and barrel-vaulted ceiling.
Fric brought a linen3 tablecloth4 to one of the poolside tables and arranged place settings of good china and silverware.
He almost added candles, but figured that two guys wouldn’t have dinner by candlelight. Maybe by the glow of a firepit or Polynesian party torches, maybe beside a campfire in a forest full of prowling wolves, but not by candlelight.
With a dimming switch, he adjusted the sconces on the limestone columns until they produced a soft golden glow.
In good weather, Fric enjoyed eating by the outdoor pool, when he was the sole member of the family in residence and when Ghost Dad’s girlfriends weren’t lying around in bikini bottoms, thickly slathered in number-fifty sunblock, like plucked ducks in a marinade.
The indoor pool didn’t measure up to the one outdoors: only eighty feet long and fifty-two feet wide, not quite large enough if you wanted to hold powerboat races. The room was warm in winter, however, and [489] a double shitload of palm trees in huge pots gave it a pleasant tropical feeling.
Three walls of the pool room featured big windows framing the parklike grounds. The windows in the third wall were shared with the conservatory5, offering a view into its jungly realms.
A poolside dinner appealed to Fric because in the adjacent conservatory he had carefully prepared his deep and special secret place. Given the slightest reason to believe that Moloch was coming, he could bolt for cover and be out of sight as quick as a rabbit.
Weirdly6, he suspected that Mr. Truman, too, expected Moloch. The voltage-flow-testing story was crap. Something must be up.
He hoped that Mr. Truman wouldn’t page him by intercom, as he had earlier paged him in the library. Not even under duress7 would Fric press the RESPOND button, because he was afraid that like *69, it might connect him with that place from which something had tried to squirm through the handset cord and into his ear.
Finishing the table preparation sooner than expected, he checked his wristwatch. Mr. Truman would not arrive with the food for perhaps ten minutes.
The rain-soaked, fog-swaddled grounds beyond the windows were revealed by many landscape lights, but the theme was enchantment8 and romance, which meant that shadows ruled. If Moloch had scaled the estate wall without being detected by the security system, he might be out there, shrouded9 in the murk, watching.
Fric considered hurrying to the kitchen under the pretense10 of lending a hand with dinner, but he didn’t want to appear to be needy11, nerdy, geeky.
If he actually might run away and join the Marine12 Corps13 someday, instead of hiding out in Goose Crotch, Montana, he ought to start thinking like a Marine and behaving like one, sooner rather than later. A Marine wouldn’t be spooked by the darkness beyond a window. A Marine would sneer14 at that darkness and boldly piss on it. He’d open the window first, of course, so as not to mess up the glass.
[490] Fric wasn’t up to that level of Marine confidence just yet. Instead, he sat at the table, wishing the minutes would speed past.
He withdrew the photograph from a back pocket, unfolded it, and stared at the pretty lady with the special smile, distracting himself from the watching night. His make-believe mom.
As yet he had not done as Mysterious Caller had suggested, had not asked anyone if they knew who this woman might be.
For one thing, he hadn’t been able to concoct15 a convincing story to explain either the origin of her photo or why he was so interested in knowing her identity. He was a lousy liar16.
Besides, the longer he didn’t ask anyone about her, the longer she would be his, and his alone. As soon as he found out who she was, she could no longer be his make-believe mom.
Something rapped against a window.
Fric sprang from the chair, dropping the photo.
The face at the window was hooded17 and hideous19, but the hood18 was rain gear, and the face belonged to one of the security guards, Mr. Roma. Because he had a long upper lip and a small nose, Mr. Roma could pull his lip over his nose, and it would stay that way, so his face looked deformed20 and his teeth appeared to be huge. Held at his chin and aimed upward, the beam of a flashlight enhanced this effect.
“Ooga-ooga,” said Mr. Roma, because without the use of his upper lip, he couldn’t pronounce the b in booga.
When Fric went to the window, Mr. Roma allowed his face to pop back into shape. The guard said, “How you doin’, Fric?”
“I’m fine now,” Fric replied, raising his voice to be heard through the glass. “For a second there, I thought you were Ming.”
“Ming’s in Florida with your dad.”
“He came back early,” Fric said. “He’s out there walking in the rain somewhere.”
Mr. Roma’s smile froze.
“He wanted me to walk with him,” Fric said, “so he could teach me all about how rain washes the planet’s spirit or something.”
[491] The frozen smile cracked, crumbled21. Mr. Roma lowered the light from his face and turned his back to Fric, sweeping22 the night with the beam.
“You’ll probably run into him,” Fric said.
Realizing that the flashlight pinpointed23 his position, Mr. Roma switched it off. “See you, Fric,” he said, and dashed away into the foggy gloom.
Although Fric was a lousy liar and had not sounded convincing even to himself, Mr. Roma didn’t dare call his bluff24 if there was a one in a thousand chance that Ming, in a talkative mood and in full guru mode, might be in the vicinity.
收听单词发音 |
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shimmering
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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limestone
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| n.石灰石 | |
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linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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tablecloth
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| n.桌布，台布 | |
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conservatory
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| n.温室，音乐学院；adj.保存性的，有保存力的 | |
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weirdly
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| 古怪地 | |
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duress
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| n.胁迫 | |
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enchantment
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| n.迷惑，妖术，魅力 | |
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shrouded
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| v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密 | |
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pretense
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| n.矫饰，做作，借口 | |
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needy
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| adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的 | |
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marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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concoct
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| v.调合，制造 | |
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liar
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| n.说谎的人 | |
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hooded
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| adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的 | |
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hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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deformed
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| adj.畸形的；变形的；丑的，破相了的 | |
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crumbled
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| （把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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pinpointed
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| 准确地找出或描述( pinpoint的过去式和过去分词 )； 为…准确定位 | |
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24
bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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