The old carriage had stood on Siding Nine for thirty years. The railway society wanted it ready for a visitor inspection by nine o'clock the next morning. Anneke had been restoring its woodwork since spring. Luca had been hired three weeks earlier to replace the wiring. In all that time, they had agreed on nothing.
这节旧车厢在九号侧线上停了三十年。铁路协会希望它能在明天上午九点之前准备好，迎接参观检查。安内克从春天起就一直在修复它的木制部分。卢卡三周前被雇来更换线路。这段时间里，他们没有在任何一件事上达成过一致。
"You've drilled a hole in the original panel," Anneke said that evening, standing in the aisle with her arms crossed.
“你在原装嵌板上钻了个洞，”那天晚上，安内克抱着手臂站在过道里说。
"I've drilled a small hole in a panel that was already cracked," Luca answered. "If I had waited for your permission, we would still be sitting in the dark."
“我是在一块本来就裂了的嵌板上钻了个小洞，”卢卡回答，“要是等你批准，我们现在还坐在黑暗里呢。”
"Some of us think the dark has character."
“我们当中有人觉得黑暗自有它的特色。”
"Some of us have to pass an inspection."
“我们当中有人必须通过检查。”
It was a familiar argument. Anneke believed the carriage should look exactly as it had in its best years, with brass lamps, leather straps and varnished walnut. Luca believed that nobody would pay to visit a museum that might catch fire. They had been polite for the first week and rude for the second. By the third they had simply stopped looking at each other when they talked.
这样的争吵他们早已习惯。安内克认为车厢应该看上去和它最风光的年代一模一样：黄铜灯、皮带、上过漆的胡桃木。卢卡认为，没有人会花钱去参观一座可能着火的博物馆。第一周他们还彬彬有礼，第二周就出言不逊了。到第三周，他们说话时干脆不再看对方。
At seven o'clock, the heater died. It was an ancient iron box under the floor, and it gave a long sigh, a short rattle, and then nothing. Within an hour the carriage felt like the inside of a refrigerator.
七点钟，暖气坏了。那是地板下一只古老的铁盒子，它发出一声长叹，一阵短促的哐啷，然后就没了动静。不到一个小时，车厢里就冷得像冰箱内部。
"We can't leave," Anneke said, rubbing her hands together. "The varnish on the ceiling is still wet. If it gets too cold overnight, it will cloud over, and the inspector will see every mark."
“我们不能走，”安内克搓着手说，“天花板上的漆还没干。要是夜里太冷，漆会发白，检查员会看到每一个瑕疵。”
"And I can't leave either," said Luca. "Half of the lamps aren't connected yet. If the board arrives tomorrow and finds the lights out, they'll replace me with someone cheaper."
“我也不能走，”卢卡说，“有一半的灯还没接上。要是董事会明天来了发现灯不亮，他们会找个更便宜的人来换掉我。”
They looked at each other for the first time in days. Neither of them enjoyed what they saw, because each recognised the same tired, stubborn face.
好几天来，他们第一次对视了一眼。谁都不喜欢自己看到的，因为各自认出了那同样疲惫、同样倔强的脸。
"I suppose," Anneke said slowly, "that we should have started working together a week ago."
“我想，”安内克慢慢地说，“我们一周前就该开始合作了。”
"That is the closest thing to an apology I have ever heard from you."
“这是我从你嘴里听到过的最接近道歉的话了。”
"Don't get used to it."
“别习惯了。”
They made a plan, though neither of them would have called it that. Luca brought two work lamps and a long extension cable from his van. Anneke found a metal tray and a stack of old bricks in the storeroom. If the bricks were warmed under the lamps, they could stand around the wet varnish like small radiators. It was a crude idea, and it might easily have failed, but there was no one else to ask.
他们定了个计划，尽管两人谁也不会管它叫计划。卢卡从他的货车上搬来两盏工作灯和一根长长的延长线。安内克在储藏室里找到一只金属托盘和一摞旧砖头。如果把砖头放在灯下烤热，它们就能围在湿漆周围，像小暖炉一样。这是个粗糙的主意，很可能会失败，但没有别人可以问了。
By ten o'clock the carriage glowed with a yellow light, and the air near the ceiling had become tolerable. Luca crouched on the floor and wired the first brass lamp, while Anneke held it steady on the step ladder. For the first time, she watched his hands instead of his mistakes. They were quick and careful, and he talked quietly to the cables as he worked.
到十点钟，车厢里亮起了黄色的光，靠近天花板的空气也变得可以忍受了。卢卡蹲在地上接第一盏黄铜灯的线，安内克站在梯凳上帮他扶稳。她第一次看他的手，而不是看他的错误。那双手又快又仔细，他干活时还轻声对电线说话。
"You do that a lot," she said.
“你经常这样，”她说。
"Do what?"
“怎样？”
"Talk to the wires. You were doing it yesterday as well."
“跟电线说话。你昨天也这样。”
"Habit," he said, and shrugged. "Wires respond better to kindness than to shouting. People are the same, from what I've heard."
“习惯了，”他耸耸肩说，“电线对温和的话比对吼叫反应更好。我听说人也一样。”
Anneke laughed before she could stop herself, and the sound seemed to surprise them both.
安内克没忍住笑了出来，那笑声似乎让两个人都吃了一惊。
At midnight, a fuse blew. The work lamps went out, and the whole carriage dropped into darkness so thick that Anneke could not see her own hand. She heard Luca swear softly somewhere near the floor.
午夜，保险丝烧断了。工作灯熄灭，整节车厢陷入一片浓重的黑暗，安内克连自己的手都看不见。她听到卢卡在靠近地板的某处低声咒骂。
"Don't move," he said. "The fuse box is behind the third seat, and I'm not sure my phone has any charge left."
“别动，”他说，“保险盒在第三排座位后面，而且我不确定手机还有没有电。”
"Wait," said Anneke. "Look up."
“等一下，”安内克说，“往上看。”
Above the luggage rack on the left side, a small pale-green shape had begun to shine. It was a star, no bigger than a coin, glowing faintly against the dark wood. They both stared at it, as though it were a visitor.
左侧行李架的上方，一个浅绿色的小形状开始发光。那是一颗星星，不比硬币大，在深色的木头上微微发亮。他们俩都盯着它，好像它是一位访客。
"That wasn't there this morning," Luca said.
“今天早上它还没在那儿呢，”卢卡说。
"It was. It's one of those stickers children press onto windows. It must have been charging up under the work lamps all evening." Anneke squinted at it. "I've varnished around that rack six times and never noticed it. Somebody stuck it underneath, where only a person lying on the floor would see it."
“它早就在了。那是孩子们按在车窗上的那种贴纸。整个晚上，它一定是在工作灯下充了光。”安内克眯起眼睛。“我在那个行李架周围刷了六遍漆，从来没注意到它。有人把它贴在下面，只有躺在地板上的人才看得见。”
"That could have been decades ago."
“那可能是几十年前的事了。”
"Maybe the last time the carriage ran. Maybe a child on the last summer train, lying on the seat with nothing to do."
“也许是车厢最后一次运行的时候。也许是最后一个夏天的列车上，一个孩子躺在座位上，无事可做。”
For a while neither of them spoke. The little star gave off just enough light to show the outline of the roof and the pale shape of Luca's face. Anneke found that it was easier to say things in the dark.
有一会儿，两人都没说话。那颗小星星发出的光刚好能让人看出车顶的轮廓和卢卡苍白的脸。安内克发现，在黑暗里更容易说出心里话。
"I should have listened to you about the wiring," she said at last. "I wanted the carriage to look the way it did when I was small. My father used to bring me here, and I think I've been trying to rebuild the afternoon more than the carriage."
“关于线路，我早该听你的，”她终于说，“我想让车厢看上去像我小时候那样。我父亲以前常带我来这儿，我觉得我一直想重建的是那个下午，而不是这节车厢。”
"I wanted to fix it because I didn't want it to burn," Luca answered. "But I could have asked what mattered to you before I started drilling."
“我想修它，是因为我不想让它烧掉，”卢卡回答，“但我在动手钻孔之前，本该问问你什么对你来说重要。”
"You could have."
“你本来可以。”
"So could you."
“你也一样。”
He found the fuse box by following the star as a landmark, and he replaced the fuse without another word. When the lamps came back on, the carriage seemed warmer than before, although it must have been the same temperature as ever. Anneke was surprised to find that she was disappointed the star had disappeared into the ordinary light.
他以那颗星星为路标找到了保险盒，二话没说换上了保险丝。灯重新亮起来时，车厢似乎比之前更暖和了，尽管温度肯定和以前一样。安内克惊讶地发现，那颗星星消失在普通的灯光里，让她有些失落。
They worked until five. Luca's solution was a compromise that neither of them had expected to accept. Anneke's brass lamps would stay, but each would hold a low-heat bulb and a hidden cable. The panel he had cracked was repaired with a thin strip of the same walnut, matched by Anneke's careful sanding. They carried the warm bricks along the ceiling one by one, and the varnish dried clear and smooth as glass.
他们一直干到五点。卢卡的方案是个双方都没想到自己会接受的折中办法。安内克的黄铜灯保留，但每盏都装上低热量灯泡和隐藏的电线。他弄裂的那块嵌板，用一条同样的胡桃木细条修补好了，再由安内克仔细打磨，使纹理吻合。他们把热砖头沿着天花板一块一块地搬过去，漆干了，清澈光滑得像玻璃。
At nine o'clock the inspector walked through the carriage with a clipboard. She nodded slowly at the lamps and touched the walls with her fingertips. She asked two questions about the wiring and none about the heater. At the end she paused beneath the luggage rack on the left side and pointed upward.
九点钟，检查员拿着记事板走过车厢。她缓缓地对着那些灯点头，用指尖摸了摸墙壁。她问了两个有关线路的问题，没有问暖气的事。最后，她在左侧行李架下停住，指着上面。
"Is this star part of the restoration?"
“这颗星星是修复的一部分吗？”
Anneke opened her mouth, but Luca spoke first. "We haven't decided yet."
安内克张了张嘴，但卢卡抢先开口了。“我们还没决定。”
The inspector made a note and moved on. When she had gone, Anneke leaned against the wall and laughed until her eyes were wet.
检查员记了一笔，继续往前走。她走后，安内克靠在墙上，笑得眼泪都出来了。
"We haven't decided yet," she repeated. "You could have just said it was an accident."
“我们还没决定，”她重复道，“你本可以直接说那是个意外。”
"It wasn't an accident, though, was it?" Luca said. He picked up his toolbox from the seat. As he turned, Anneke caught sight of a small, faded green shape on the back of it. It was the same pale colour and the same five-pointed outline, a little scratched, as though it had been there for years.
“可它并不是意外，对吧？”卢卡说。他从座位上拿起自己的工具箱。他转身时，安内克看到箱子背面有一个褪了色的浅绿色小形状。同样浅淡的颜色，同样的五角轮廓，有些磨损，仿佛已经在那里很多年了。
She looked at it, and then at him.
她看看它，又看看他。
Luca closed the lid, picked up the box, and walked out into the morning without saying a word. Anneke stayed where she was, counting the stars on the ceiling that were not there.
卢卡合上盖子，拎起箱子，一句话也没说，走进了清晨里。安内克留在原地，数着天花板上那些并不存在的星星。
