The Frog Stones on Bo's Map

Gabi checks the clock above the office door for the third time in five minutes. It says ten past four. At five o'clock the water company will open the sluice gate upstream, and the quiet river beside the campsite will rise by almost a metre.

加比第三次抬头看办公室门上方的钟，五分钟里已经看了三回。钟上显示四点十分。五点整，自来水公司就会打开上游的水闸，露营地旁边这条平静的河会涨起将近一米。

The warning arrived by email at lunchtime, but nobody read it until now. Gabi has been the warden here for only two weeks, and the previous warden left a handwritten note instead of a proper handover. The note mentions the sluice twice. It never explains what to do when the river rises.

警告邮件中午就到了，可是直到现在才有人读。加比到这里当营地管理员才两个星期，前任管理员没做像样的交接，只留下一张手写的便条。便条里提到水闸两次，却从没说过河水上涨时该怎么办。

Nine tents stand on the flat meadow beside the water, and they are safe enough. Four more are pitched on the small island on the far side. A wooden footbridge at the end of the bank path leads there. The bridge is the problem. When the river rises, it floods first, and the families on the island will be cut off before dark.

九顶帐篷搭在水边平坦的草地上，那里还算安全。另有四顶搭在对岸的小岛上，要走河岸小路尽头的一座木头步行桥才能过去。问题就出在这座桥上。河水一涨，它最先被淹，岛上的几家人天黑之前就会被困住。

"I have to reach them before five," Gabi says aloud, to nobody in particular.

“我必须在五点之前赶到他们那里，”加比大声说，对着谁也不是。

"Reach who?" asks a small voice.

“赶到谁那里？”一个小小的声音问。

A boy of about eight stands in the doorway, holding a sheet of paper against his chest. His name is Bo, and he has been staying with his parents in the blue tent since Monday. Gabi has seen him all week on the bank, drawing with a box of wax crayons.

门口站着一个八岁左右的男孩，胸前抱着一张纸。他叫波，从星期一起就和爸爸妈妈住在那顶蓝色帐篷里。加比这一整个星期都看见他坐在河岸上，用一盒蜡笔画画。

"The families on the island," Gabi says. "The river is about to rise, and they need to move their tents. But the bank path is closed today, because tree surgeons are cutting up a broken willow across it. They cannot stop halfway, and they will not finish before ten to five. The long way round, by the road, takes nearly an hour."

“岛上的那几家人，”加比说，“河水马上要涨了，他们得把帐篷搬走。可是今天河岸小路封了，因为树木修剪工正在锯一棵倒在路上的断柳树。他们不能锯到一半停下，而且五点差十分之前也干不完。走大路绕过去，要将近一个小时。”

"Then you can't go that way," Bo says reasonably.

“那你就不能走那条路了，”波很有道理地说。

"No. And I cannot wade across the main channel. It is much deeper than it looks."

“是啊。我也没法蹚过主河道。那里比看上去深得多。”

Bo steps forward and puts his paper on the counter. "Maybe you can use my map."

波走上前来，把他的纸放在柜台上。“也许你可以用我的地图。”

Gabi almost says no. The sheet is covered in bright wax. There is a sun with a smiling face, a dragon hiding in the reeds, and the shower block drawn as a castle. Across the middle runs a wavy blue river, and in it there is a row of small grey circles, each with a number. Under them, in careful capital letters, Bo has written FROG STONES.

加比差点就要拒绝。那张纸上涂满了鲜艳的蜡笔画：一轮笑眯眯的太阳，一条藏在芦苇丛里的龙，淋浴房被画成了一座城堡。正中间有一条弯弯曲曲的蓝色河流，河里有一排小小的灰色圆圈，每个圆圈上都标着号码。圆圈下面，波用工整的大写字母写着：青蛙石。

"What are these?" Gabi asks, tapping the circles.

“这些是什么？”加比点着那些圆圈问。

"Stepping stones. Dad and I found them on Tuesday. You go through the gap in the hedge behind the showers, and then along the old orchard wall. There are seven stones, and they go all the way across to the island. The fifth one wobbles."

“垫脚石。星期二我和爸爸发现的。你从淋浴房后面的树篱缺口钻过去，再沿着老果园的围墙走。一共有七块石头，一直通到小岛上。第五块会晃。”

Gabi studies the drawing again. Behind the dragon and the smiling sun there is real information here. There is a gate marked with a cross, a tree shaped like a fork and a bin with a crooked lid. Every one of those things exists, because Gabi walked past the same bin that morning. A child who notices a crooked lid has probably noticed everything else too.

加比又仔细看了看这幅画。在那条龙和笑眯眯的太阳后面，其实藏着真实的信息：一道画了叉的门，一棵形如树杈的树，还有一个盖子歪着的垃圾桶。这些东西全都真实存在，因为那天早上加比刚好从那个垃圾桶旁走过。一个能注意到盖子歪了的孩子，多半也注意到了其他的一切。

It is eighteen minutes past four. Gabi decides.

现在是四点十八分。加比下了决心。

"Show me the start," she says. "Only the start. Then you go straight back to your parents."

“带我看看起点，”她说，“只看起点。然后你马上回你爸爸妈妈身边去。”

They hurry out through the back of the office and past the shower block. The hedge does have a gap exactly where the map says. Bo points at it with the confidence of a tour guide. Beyond the gap, an old stone wall runs down towards the water, half hidden by nettles.

他们匆匆从办公室后门出去，经过淋浴房。树篱上果然有一个缺口，正在地图上画的位置。波用导游般自信的架势指着它。缺口之外，一道老石墙朝水边延伸下去，一半隐没在荨麻丛里。

"Follow the wall until it falls into the river," Bo says. "That is where the stones begin. I drew an arrow."

“沿着墙一直走，走到它掉进河里的地方，”波说，“石头就是从那儿开始的。我画了一个箭头。”

"You did. Now run back to your father and tell him something for me. Every tent on the meadow must stay away from the bank until I return. After that, go to the camp bell and wait beside it."

“你画了。现在跑回去找你爸爸，替我带句话：在我回来之前，草地上所有的帐篷都要离河岸远一点。然后你去营地的钟那里，在旁边等着。”

"When do I ring it?"

“我什么时候敲？”

"At five o'clock exactly. Ring it once, as loudly as you can. Then everyone will know the river is about to change."

“正好五点的时候。敲一下，越响越好。这样大家就都知道河水要变了。”

Bo nods as if he has been given a very important job, which, Gabi realises, he has. He sprints away with his crayon box rattling in his pocket.

波点点头，仿佛接到了一项极其重要的任务，加比意识到，他确实接到了。他飞奔而去，口袋里的蜡笔盒哗啦哗啦地响。

Gabi follows the wall alone. It ends exactly where the arrow says, in a tumble of mossy blocks that disappear into the current. The first stone lies just below the surface, flat and dark and slippery. She steps onto it with both arms out like a child on a balance beam. The second stone is easier. The third is further than the map suggests, so she jumps, and a splash fills her left boot with cold water.

加比独自沿着石墙往前走。墙就在箭头所指的地方到了头，那是一堆长着青苔的石块，一路没入水流。第一块石头就在水面下一点点，扁平、乌黑、湿滑。她张开双臂踩了上去，像在平衡木上的孩子。第二块更容易些。第三块比地图上显示的更远，她只好跳过去，溅起的水花灌满了她的左靴，冰冷刺骨。

She does not stop. The river is wider here than it looks from the office, and the current pulls gently at her trousers. Stone four is wide and solid. Stone five has a tiny zigzag drawn beside it on the map, and Gabi remembers the word wobbles a moment too late. She tests the surface with her toe, feels it rock, and moves her weight to the very edge, where the stone rests against the gravel. It holds.

她没有停。这里的河面比从办公室看去要宽，水流轻轻拉扯着她的裤腿。第四块石头又宽又稳。第五块石头旁边，地图上画了一个小小的锯齿线，加比想起“会晃”这个词时已经晚了一步。她用脚尖试探石面，感觉它在摇，便把重心移到最边缘，那里的石头抵着砾石，纹丝不动。

Stone six. Stone seven. Then a bank of soft mud, a wall of reeds and, somewhere behind them, the sound of children laughing. Gabi checks her watch. It is 4:36.

第六块。第七块。然后是一片软泥滩、一堵芦苇墙，芦苇后面某处传来孩子们的笑声。加比看了看手表。四点三十六分。

The first family she finds is cooking supper on a small gas stove. A man in a straw hat looks up with a spoon in his hand and watches a wet, breathless stranger push through the reeds.

她遇到的第一家人正在一个小煤气炉上做晚饭。一个戴草帽的男人手里拿着汤勺抬起头来，看见一个浑身湿透、气喘吁吁的陌生人从芦苇丛里挤了出来。

"I am the warden," Gabi says between breaths. "The water company opens the sluice at five. The river will rise, and the bridge will flood. You must bring everything to the meadow now."

“我是营地管理员，”加比一边喘气一边说，“自来水公司五点要开水闸。河水会涨，桥会被淹。你们必须马上把所有东西搬到草地上去。”

"At five? That gives us twenty minutes," the man says.

“五点？那只剩二十分钟了，”男人说。

"Twenty-four, if we hurry."

“要是抓紧，还有二十四分钟。”

He puts the spoon down at once. Within a minute the island is full of voices. Gabi goes from tent to tent, repeating the same few sentences. The families answer her with the quick, practical calm of people who have decided not to panic. A woman pulls pegs from the ground two at a time. At ten to five the last branch of the willow falls. The tree surgeons switch off their saws and wave the families through along the bank path. Two teenagers carry sleeping bags across the planks in great squashed armfuls. A small girl drags a bucket of toys behind her, refusing every offer of help.

他立刻放下了勺子。不到一分钟，整座小岛都响起了人声。加比一顶帐篷一顶帐篷地跑，把同样的几句话重复了一遍又一遍。这些人回应她的，是那种决心不慌乱的人特有的、迅速而务实的镇定。一位女士两根两根地拔着帐篷钉。五点差十分，柳树的最后一根枝丫落了地。树木修剪工关掉电锯，挥手让这几家人沿着河岸小路通过。两个十几岁的孩子抱着睡袋，大把大把压得扁扁的，走过木板。一个小女孩拖着一桶玩具跟在后面，拒绝了每一个想帮她的人。

There are fourteen people in total, four tents and a surprising number of cooking pots. Gabi counts the planks of the bridge as they cross, and she counts the minutes too. At 4:50 the last tent is folded. At 4:54 the bridge is still dry, with only a thin dark line of water creeping towards its lowest board. At 4:57 the last family steps onto the meadow, and the man in the straw hat turns back to shake Gabi's hand.

一共十四个人，四顶帐篷，还有数量惊人的炊具。他们过桥时，加比数着桥上的木板，也数着分钟。四点五十分，最后一顶帐篷收好了。四点五十四分，桥还是干的，只有一条细细的深色水线正朝着最低的那块板爬过来。四点五十七分，最后一家人踏上了草地，戴草帽的男人转身回来和加比握手。

She is the last person off the island. She walks the planks slowly, one hand on the rail. A hard knot of worry loosens in her chest as the grass finally appears under her feet.

她是最后一个离开小岛的人。她缓缓走过木板，一只手扶着栏杆。当脚下终于踩到青草时，她胸口那个沉甸甸的忧虑结松开了。

On the meadow, the campers have gathered in a loose crowd. Bo's father stands in the middle with a hand on his son's shoulder. Bo himself stands beside the camp bell, with the rope wrapped carefully around his fist. He looks at Gabi, then at the clock on the office wall, then at Gabi again.

草地上，露营的人们松散地围成了一圈。波的爸爸站在中间，一只手搭在儿子的肩上。波本人站在营地的钟旁，绳子小心地绕在他的拳头上。他看看加比，又看看办公室墙上的钟，再看看加比。

"Is it time?" he whispers.

“到时间了吗？”他小声问。

"Almost."

“快了。”

They all stand in silence and look upstream, where the river still lies flat and silver in the afternoon light. A duck paddles past. Gabi finds that she is smiling, and that her left boot is still full of water, and that she does not mind.

大家都静静地站着，望向上游，那里的河面在午后的光线中依然平坦而银亮。一只鸭子划水而过。加比发现自己在微笑，发现左靴里还灌满了水，也发现自己一点也不在乎。

"Now," she says.

“现在，”她说。

Bo pulls the rope with both hands. The bell sings out over the meadow, and far away, beyond the bend, the first brown water begins to slide down the river.

波用双手拉动绳子。钟声响彻草地，而在远处，在河湾的那一边，第一股浑黄的河水开始顺着河道滑了下来。