Chapter 88

LADYBUG, LADYBUG, FLY AWAY HOME. ... YOUR house is on fire, and your children will burn. ...”
After listening to Call 51, Ethan had no doubt that some of the first fifty recordings¹ also contained messages of value to him, but he did not think he dared take time to review them, and he knew that he didn’t need to hear them in order to solve the riddle².
Twenty-two ladybugs. The twenty-second of December.
Today. And only a little more than three hours remained until the calender turned to December 23. If something terrible were going to happen, it would occur soon.
His pistol was in his apartment.
By now Fric must be waiting there, as well.
He fled the white room, leaving the blue door open behind him.
No need to panic. The perimeter³ alarm would shriek⁴ at the first breach⁵ of door or window. Between wails⁶ of the siren, a voice module⁷ would announce, in a clear computerized voice, the room in which the break-in had occurred.
Besides, the men in the security office would know the moment anyone crossed the estate wall, long before an intruder could reach [546] the house. At the first evidence that the property had been violated, they would call 911 and the private armed-response security firm.
Nevertheless, with no time for the elevator, first to the back stairs in a sprint⁸, then down six flights, down and around he went in a thunder, slamming through the door at the bottom of the stairs, into the ground-floor west wing.
He threw open the door to his apartment, called to Fric, and got no answer.
Evidently the boy was still in the library. Not good. He had gotten through ten years of life alone more often than not, but he wouldn’t make it through this night by himself.
Ethan hurried to the desk in the study. He had left the pistol in the top right-hand drawer.
Pulling open the drawer, he expected to find that the gun had been taken. But there it was. A beautiful thing.
As Ethan slipped into the shoulder holster, he surveyed the items on top of the desk, between the computer and the telephone.
Nursery rhymes.
Your house is on fire, and your children will burn. ...
Wednesday’s child is full of woe¹⁰. ...
Nursery rhymes.
Foreskins circumcised from ten men. Ten because Fric was ten years old. What are foreskins? Rags of tissue. Scraps¹¹. Snips¹².
And snails¹³ are snails.
The book of dog stories, Paws for Reflection, a collection of puppy-dog tales. Different spelling, same word to the ear. Tails.
What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails, and puppy dogs’ tails.
That’s what little boys are made of.
The note that had come with the apple lay on the desk: THE EYE IN THE APPLE? THE WATCHFUL¹⁴ WORM? THE WORM OF ORIGINAL SIN? DO WORDS HAVE ANY PURPOSE OTHER THAN CONFUSION?
In this case, confusion was their sole purpose. The sixth object had [547] been the easiest to interpret, so the professor, whoever the hell he was, had confused the issue with distracting—and mocking—words.
The eye in the apple is blue, the same color as the famous eyes of Charming Manheim. Not the eye in the apple. The apple of his eye.
Not that good Fric was ever the apple of his father’s eye. He was the blind spot in his father’s eye, too often overlooked, never seen in the fullness of his character. In this instance, the sender of the black boxes had made an incorrect assumption. The Face himself was the apple of his own eye, and there could be no other.
If you knew the true relationship between this father and this son, you might be forgiven for not making the connection between the doll’s eye nestled in the black-sutured apple and the wonderful boy. Yet Ethan cursed himself for missing the clue.
He pressed INTERCOM on the telephone keypad and then the line number for the security office at the back of the estate. “Pete? Ken⁹? We might have a situation brewing¹⁵.”
No one answered.
“Pete? Ken? Are you there?”
Nothing.
Ethan snatched up the handset. No dial tone.

1 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

2 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。

3 perimeter   

n.周边，周长，周界

参考例句：

• The river marks the eastern perimeter of our land.这条河标示我们的土地东面的边界。
• Drinks in hands,they wandered around the perimeter of the ball field.他们手里拿着饮料在球场周围漫不经心地遛跶。

4 shriek   

v./n.尖叫，叫喊

参考例句：

• Suddenly he began to shriek loudly.突然他开始大声尖叫起来。
• People sometimes shriek because of terror,anger,or pain.人们有时会因为恐惧，气愤或疼痛而尖叫。

5 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

6 wails   

痛哭，哭声( wail的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The child burst into loud wails. 那个孩子突然大哭起来。
• Through this glaciated silence the white wails of the apartment fixed arbitrary planes. 在这冰封似的沉寂中，公寓的白色墙壁构成了一个个任意的平面。 来自英汉非文学 - 科幻

7 module   

n.组件，模块，模件；(航天器的)舱

参考例句：

• The centre module displays traffic guidance information.中央模块显示交通引导信息。
• Two large tanks in the service module held liquid oxygen.服务舱的两个大气瓶中装有液态氧。

8 sprint   

n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过

参考例句：

• He put on a sprint to catch the bus.他全速奔跑以赶上公共汽车。
• The runner seemed to be rallied for a final sprint.这名赛跑者似乎在振作精神作最后的冲刺。

9 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

10 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

11 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。

12 snips   

n.（剪金属板的）铁剪，铁铗；剪下之物( snip的名词复数 )；一点点；零星v.剪( snip的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• With a few quick snips of the shears he pruned the bush. 他用大剪刀几下子就把灌木给修剪好了。 来自辞典例句
• Pick up the snips of cloth and thread from the floor. 拾起地板上的布片和线头。 来自辞典例句

13 snails   

n.蜗牛；迟钝的人；蜗牛( snail的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think I'll try the snails for lunch—I'm feeling adventurous today. 我想我午餐要尝一下蜗牛——我今天很想冒险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Most snails have shells on their backs. 大多数蜗牛背上有壳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 watchful   

adj.注意的，警惕的

参考例句：

• The children played under the watchful eye of their father.孩子们在父亲的小心照看下玩耍。
• It is important that health organizations remain watchful.卫生组织保持警惕是极为重要的。

15 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。