书名：Remember Miranda 《难忘米兰达》
作者：Rowena Akinyemi 罗伊纳·阿金耶米
简介：
这是凯茜·威尔逊的第一份工作：同哈维一家生活在一起，照看两个年幼的孩子和料理家务。凯茜父母双亡，也没有兄弟姐妹。她希望在新家里过得快乐，但她不时感到孤独。孩子们的父亲邓肯常常出差去伦敦。凯茜喜欢孩子们，也喜欢邓肯的母亲老哈维太太，但她没有朋友。
当然， 还有一个叫尼克的农场主，他住在田地的另一边。他的眼睛很蓝，笑容亲切而友善。但要和尼克交朋友并不容易，因为邓肯恨他，而凯茜同尼克出去吃晚饭也会让老哈维太太很生气。
但是邓肯为什么恨尼克呢？为什么尼克让凯茜在海滩屋要小心呢？为什么谁也不愿意谈到两年前过世的孩子们的母亲米兰达呢？哈维家有许多秘密，令凯茜产生了疑问。
很快，她开始揭开谜底，并终于明白了为什么每个人都忘不了米兰达……
Chapter 4
Not one of the family家里的外人
Winter came. The weather was cold and windy, but sometimes when the weather was a little better I walked on the beach with the children. Two or three times I saw Nick and he smiled and we talked a little. I liked Nick, but I was angry with him because of Juliet, and he didn’t ask me to dinner again.
冬天来了。天气寒冷而多风。但每当天气稍微好些，我就会和孩子们去海滩上散步。有两三次我看见了尼克，他微笑着，我们会说上几句话。我喜欢尼克，但因为朱丽叶，我在生他的气，而他也再没有邀我共进晚餐。
School finished for Christmas, and I drove the children to a farm near Cromer to buy a Christmas tree. After my mother and father died, Christmas was a bad time for me because I was lonely. ‘But this year,’ I thought, ‘I’m going to be with the Harvey family. Perhaps I can forget about Miranda’s accident and feel happy at Christmas.’
圣诞节快到了，学校放假了，我开车带孩子们去克罗默镇附近的一个农场买圣诞树。在我父母去世后，圣诞节对我来说是难捱的日子。因为我很孤独。“但是今年，”我想，“我将和哈维一家人在一起。也许，我可以忘掉米兰达的意外，过一个快乐的圣诞节。”
‘Christmas is coming! Christmas is coming!’ the children sang. They were very happy about Christmas.
“圣诞节快到了！圣诞节快到了！”孩子们唱着。圣诞节的到来让他们非常高兴。
We walked through the farm and looked at the Christmas trees. Tim ran up and down. ‘I want this tree, Cathy!’ he called. Then he ran up and down again. ‘I want this tree, Cathy!’ he called again.
我们在农场里逛，挑选圣诞树。蒂姆跑来跑去。“我想要这棵树，凯茜！”他叫着。然后又到处跑起来。“我想要这棵树，凯茜！”他又嚷道。
Suddenly he ran into a tree and then fell over. When he fell, his head hit a second tree. He began to cry.
突然，他撞上了一棵树，跌倒了。跌倒时，他的头又撞到了另一棵树。他哭了起来。
我向他跑过去。他的头被划了一道长长的口子，流了很多血。
‘Don’t cry, Tim. You’re going to be all right,’ I said quietly. ‘Let’s go to the hospital and see the doctor.’
“别哭，蒂姆。你会没事儿的，”我轻轻地说。“我们去医院看看大夫吧。”
‘Oh no!’ cried Susan. ‘The hospital! Is Tim going to die?’
“噢，不！”苏珊哭着说，“医院！蒂姆要死了吗？”
‘No, no. Tim’s going to be all right. But the doctor must look at this cut on his head,’ I said. I carried Tim to the car and drove quickly to the hospital. After we saw the doctor, I phoned Duncan and he came to the hospital.
“不，不。蒂姆会好的，但医生必须检查他头上的伤口。”我回答。我把蒂姆抱上车，迅速开车到了医院。看过医生后，我给邓肯打了电话，他到医院来了。
Susan ran to him. ‘Daddy, there was an accident, and there was a lot of blood. Is he going to die?’
苏珊向他跑去。“爸爸，出了意外，有很多血，他会死吗？”
Duncan sat down. His face was white, but he smiled at Susan and Tim. ‘Tim’s going to be OK. Look at him! He’s feeling much better now.’
邓肯坐下来。他的脸色苍白，但他笑着对苏珊和蒂姆说：“蒂姆会没事的。看着他！他现在感觉好多了。”
Duncan put his arm around me. ‘Thank you, Cathy,’ he said. ‘You’re very good with the children. Beach House is a happier home now, with you there.’ Slowly we walked out of the hospital. ‘Please come home in the car with us.’ Duncan said. ‘We can come back later for your car. Please.’
邓肯伸手搂住了我。“谢谢你，凯茜，”他说，“你对孩子们这么好。有你在，海滩屋现在都更快乐了。”我们慢慢地走出医院。“请上车和我们一起回家吧，”邓肯说，“我们可以回头再来取你的车。来吧。”
I liked Duncan then, and I wanted to go with him and the children. But I was afraid, too, because of Miranda’s accident. I didn’t want to talk to him, and so I went home in my car.
当时我喜欢上了邓肯，我想同他和孩子们一起走。但是我又害怕——因为米兰达的意外。我不想和他说话，于是我自己开车回了家。
The next day Juliet came to see Tim. She played with the children and then she stayed for dinner. After the children went to bed, she came to see me in my room.
第二天，朱丽叶来看蒂姆。她陪孩子们玩儿，然后留下来吃了晚餐。孩子们睡觉后，她到我的房间来看我。
‘I’m sorry, Cathy,’ she began. ‘I wanted to see you, but I was afraid because you’re angry with me.’
“对不起，凯茜。”她开口道，“我想见你，但又怕你生我的气。”
‘Yes, I am angry,’ I said slowly. ‘You were my friend. I went to dinner with Nick and I told you everything, but you didn’t tell me about you and Nick. Why not?’
“没错，我是很生气。”我慢慢地说，“你是我的朋友。我去跟尼克吃饭，我把一切都告诉了你，但你却没有告诉我你和尼克的事。为什么不告诉我呢？”
Juliet looked at me but said nothing.
朱丽叶望着我，但一言不发。
‘Why didn’t Nick tell me about you? Did he tell you about our dinner?’
“为什么尼克不告诉我你的事呢？他告诉你我们共进晚餐的事了吗？”
‘Yes, I was upset, but Nick likes to talk to women. He likes you and he wanted to take you to dinner. But he loves me and nothing is going to change that.’ She stopped. ‘I told Grandma about your dinner with Nick, because I didn’t want you to be friends with Nick.’
“是的，我很烦恼，但是尼克喜欢同女人搭讪。他喜欢你，想带你去吃晚餐。但他爱我，没有什么会改变这些。”她顿了顿，“我把你和尼克吃晚餐的事告诉了奶奶，因为我不想让你和尼克成为朋友。”
‘You don’t want her to know about you and Nick, but you told her about my dinner with Nick! Why? I don’t understand!’
“你不想让她知道你和尼克的事，可你却把我同尼克吃晚餐的事告诉了她！为什么？我不明白！”
‘I’m sorry. I love him very much; he’s everything to me. But our love is a secret. Duncan hates Nick, and I don’t want him to know about our love.’
“对不起。我非常爱他；对我来说，他就是一切。但我们的爱是个秘密。邓肯恨尼克，而我不想让他知道我们相爱。”
‘There are a lot of secrets in this family,’ I said. ‘Secrets about you and Nick. Secrets about Miranda. Why didn’t you tell me about Miranda’s accident?’
“这个家里的秘密很多。”我说，“关于你和尼克的秘密，关于米兰达的秘密。为什么你不告诉我米兰达的那次意外呢？”
‘How do you know about that?’ Juliet asked.
“你是怎么知道那件事的？”朱丽叶问。
‘I went to the library and read about it in the newspapers.’
“我去了图书馆，从报纸上得知的。”
Juliet stood up. ‘Nobody talks about Miranda’s accident,’ she said. ‘Nobody saw her when she fell down the stairs.’
朱丽叶站起来。“没有人提起米兰达的那次意外。”她说，“当她从楼梯上跌下来的时候，没有人看见。”
I wanted to ask about Duncan. I wanted to ask: ‘Why did the police question Duncan?’ but I was afraid of the answer. ‘Well, I don’t like living with all these secrets,’ I said. ‘Every time I go downstairs I remember Miranda.’
我想问问邓肯的事。我想问：“为什么警察盘问邓肯？”但我害怕听到答案。“嗯，我不希望同所有的这些秘密生活在一起，”我说，“我每次下楼都会想起米兰达。”
Juliet laughed then, and it was a cold laugh. ‘We all live with that, Cathy. You’re not one of the family; you’re not going to fall downstairs.’
结果，朱丽叶笑了起来，是冷笑。“我们都同这秘密生活在一起，凯茜。你不是这家中的一员，你不会摔下楼的。”
Tim felt better the next day, and in the afternoon Duncan took the children back to the farm to buy the Christmas tree. And then I phoned Nick.
第二天，蒂姆感觉好些了。下午，邓肯带孩子们回那个农场去买圣诞树。于是，我给尼克打了个电话。
‘I want to talk to you,’ I said quietly. ‘I need to talk to someone.’
“我想和你谈谈。”我平静地说，“我需要跟人说说话。”
‘Mmm,’ said Nick. ‘Let’s meet on the beach. At three o’clock.’
“嗯——”尼克回答，“我们就在海滩屋吧。3点钟。”
I waited in my room and listened to the sea and the wind. Perhaps Juliet was with Nick. I didn’t know, but I needed to talk to someone about the Harvey family. I walked slowly across the field and down the hill to the beach. It was a cold afternoon and there was a strong wind. The sea was dark. Nick wasn’t there; perhaps he didn’t want to talk to me. But in the end he arrived.
我在自己的房间里等待，听着海浪声和风声。也许，朱丽叶正和尼克在一起，我不知道，但我需要跟人谈谈哈维家的事。我慢慢走过田地，走下山坡，到了海边。那天下午很冷，刮着大风，大海昏暗一片。尼克不在那儿，也许他不想和我说话。但他最终还是来了。
‘What’s the matter?’ he asked.
“出什么事了？”他问。
‘I talked to Juliet last night,’ I began. ‘About Miranda. I don’t know why, but I feel afraid. What do you know about Miranda’s accident?’
“昨晚，我同朱丽叶谈了话，”我说，“关于米兰达，不知道为什么，我感到很害怕。有关米兰达的意外，你知道些什么？”
‘The police questioned Duncan,’ Nick said. His blue eyes looked past me. Suddenly his face changed. ‘Duncan’s here. Did you tell him to come?’
“警察盘问了邓肯，”尼克说，他的蓝眼睛越过我望着我身后。突然，他的脸色变了。“邓肯在这儿，你叫他来的吗？”
‘No, I didn’t. He left the house before I called you.’
“不，我没有。我给你打电话前他就离开家了。”
Duncan ran down the hill. ‘Cathy!’ he called.
邓肯跑下山坡。“凯茜！”他喊道。
‘what are you doing here?’ Nick said angrily. ‘Cathy wants to talk to me.’
“你来这儿干什么？”尼克生气地说，“凯茜想和我聊聊。”
‘Cathy, come home.’ Duncan said quietly.
“凯茜，回家。”邓肯平静地说。
‘She’s not going back with you. She’s afraid of you.’
“她不愿跟你回家。她怕你。”
‘Afraid of me? Why?’
“怕我？为什么？”
I said nothing. Duncan’s face was angry.
我什么都没说。邓肯一脸愤怒。
‘Why don’t you tell us about Miranda?’ Nick asked. His face was angry, too. ‘I want to ask you something. The police questioned you, Duncan. What did you tell them about that night?’
“为什么你不告诉我们米兰达的事呢？”尼克问。他的脸看起来也很愤怒。“我想问问你，邓肯，警察曾盘问过你，关于那天晚上，你告诉了他们些什么？”
‘So you’re asking me about Miranda,’ Duncan shouted. ‘You remember Miranda, then? Well, I remember, too. I remember her every day.’ Duncan looked at me, and then back at Nick. ‘You think I killed Miranda? Go to the police, then, and tell them that. Yes, I hated her, and I hated you, too. Nick. She wanted to leave me and the children because of you. She loved you. She told me that. But did you love her, Nick?’
“原来你是问我米兰达的事，”邓肯吼起来，“这么说，你还记得米兰达？啊，我也记得。我每天都想着她。”邓肯看着我，又转回去盯着尼克。“你认为是我杀了米兰达？那就去找警察吧，去告诉他们。是的，我恨她，我也恨你，尼克。就因为你，她想离开我和孩子。她爱你。她告诉我了。但是你爱她吗，尼克？”
‘Of course I didn’t,’ Nick said. His face was red. ‘I liked Miranda. We went to dinner four or five times, that’s all. She was lonely.’ He looked at me. His eyes were very blue, but suddenly I didn’t like his eyes and I didn’t like his face.
“当然，我不爱她。”尼克说。他的脸红了。“我喜欢米兰达。我们一起吃了四五回饭，仅此而已。她很孤独。”他望着我，他的眼睛很蓝，但突然我不喜欢他的眼睛和他的脸了。
‘She wanted to leave me and her children, but you didn’t love her,’ Duncan said. ‘You loved her sister. I know that. But Miranda didn’t know about you and Juliet. Why didn’t you tell her?’
“她想离开我和孩子，但你并不爱她，”邓肯说，“你爱的是她妹妹。我知道。可是米兰达不知道你和朱丽叶的事。你为什么不告诉她呢？”
I didn’t want to listen. I felt ill and very cold, and I began to walk back up the hill. I wanted to go home, but where was my home? I didn’t have one.
我不想听了。我感到很难受、很冷。我开始往回走，爬上山坡。我想回家，但我的家在哪里？我没有家。
