雪地里的脚印之谜
开篇：润墨网以专业的文秘视角，为您筛选了一篇雪地里的脚印之谜范文，如需获取更多写作素材，在线客服老师一对一协助。欢迎您的阅读与分享！
方陵生 编译
The wind was so cold it made Lynn’s face sting. She liked snow, but this blizzard was too much. She turned around to let the wind hit her back instead. She held her hood close to her face to keep warm.
She was only going to her best friend Ann’s house, not to the North Pole! It was right next door! She turned around and looked at Ann’s house. She was only half way. She would never get there at this rate. They would come out and find a Lynn-shaped ice cube. She ducked her head in the wind and started to run, leaping over the snow, ignoring the gusts of ice and the cold, jagged breaths of air in her lungs. She leaped up on Ann’s porch and pounded on the door.
Ann’s mom, Mrs. Ibsen, threw open the door right away. She looked worried.
“Did you find him?” she asked.
“Find who?” said Lynn, as she gratefully stepped inside. The warm air of the house seemed to burn her cold skin. She rubbed her cheeks with her hands and took off her coat. Mrs. Ibsen did not answer because she was busy putting on her boots in a big hurry. Mr. Ibsen was wrapping his scarf around his face and Ann was getting flashlights out of the kitchen drawer.
“What’s wrong?” asked Lynn.
“Nick’s gone!” said Ann. Nick was Ann’s four-year-old brother. Just then Ann’s older brother Josh came in and knocked snow off his boots.
“I went out to the kennel,” he said, breathing hard. “There are footprints that go out over the hill toward Swanson’s farm.”
He rushed back outside, and Ann’s parents got up to follow.
“Ann, you stay here,” said Mrs. Ibsen. “If he comes back, turn the porch lights on and off several times so we can see it.”
They ran out into the snow, and the girls were left alone. Lynn turned to Ann.
“Why would Nick go to Swanson’s in the middle of a blizzard?”
Ann groaned and sat down on a kitchen chair.
“It’s all my fault,” she said. “Mom and Dad got him a pony for his birthday tomorrow. They were keeping it over at Swanson’s so it would be a surprise... but I blabbed.”
“You think he went to see his pony?”
“I know he did! He was so excited, he didn’t want to wait. We could hardly get him into bed.” She put her head in her hands and moaned. “It’s all my fault!”
This was terrible. Poor Nick lost in the snow. And Ann would feel guilty for the rest of her life. Lynn turned to look out the window at the cold, drifting snow. Something bothered her. “It’s so cold out,” she said. “Even Nick would realize after a few steps that he couldn’t make it all the way to Swanson’s.”
“He’s only four,” said Ann. Lynn shook her head thoughtfully.
“It doesn’t matter how old he is. It’s so cold it hurts. He would notice that.”
“My poor brother.”
“I want to look at those tracks,” said Lynn, putting her coat and scarf back on. “Maybe he circled around and came back.”
“You think so?”
“I would if I were him. Wouldn’t you?”
The girls each grabbed a flashlight and went out to the yard by the kennel where the Ibsen’s raised Saint Bernard show dogs. Near the door of the kennel, they could see a set of small boot prints leading out, around the corner and up the hill toward Swanson’s farm. Unfortunately, the wind drifted snow over the trail, and the prints vanished about halfway up the hill.
Lynn shone her flashlight all around the door.
“There are no footprints going in,” she complained.
“He probably went in before the snow fell,” said Ann.
“Maybe.” Lynn frowned and shined her flashlight across the yard. “There aren’t any prints of him coming back.” She sighed. She looked up at the hill, wondering where else he might have gone for shelter. Some place he could see from the hill, probably. She started walking up the hill. Ann followed, and the wind buffed them from behind. Both girls bent over and pulled their hoods around their faces.
“Why did he go into the kennel in the first place?” Lynn asked.
“Because it’s cold, like you said. Maybe he went in there to warm up along the way.” “But if he went in before it snowed, it would not have been so cold.”
Lynn stopped at the top of the hill and watched the people searching across the field below. Their flashlights danced back and forth across the sparkling whiteness like fireflies. Lynn could see nothing that looked like a place for a little boy to go for shelter.
“Did he go out before the storm?” she asked. “Wouldn’t somebody have noticed if he was gone that long?”
“We thought he was in bed. We didn’t know!”
“I’m sorry,” said Lynn. She could see Ann was very upset. “I guess I’m just making up problems again. Let’s go back and make some hot chocolate for when they come back.” They started back down the hill, but halfway down, the wind sent up another heavy gust, sending sharp flying crystals into their faces. Both girls automatically turned away, closing their eyes and covering their faces. They stood with their backs to the wind for a second.
“I’ve got it!” said Lynn, wheeling around to face the wind. It froze her face immediately, but she ran into it, down the hill. Ann tumbled after her.
“You’ve got what? A crazy spell?”
“Your brother. He did get too cold,” Lynn called over her shoulder. “He DID come back.”
She raced into the kennel and flipped on the light. There, in the middle of a warm pile of Saint Bernards, was Nick.
“Nicky!” cried Ann. She grabbed up her brother and hugged him.
“Is my pony here yet?” he asked sleepily.
They hurried him inside, and Ann made hot chocolate. Lynn flipped the porch lights on and off to signal to the searchers that they had found Nick.
“How did you know he was in there?” asked Ann, as they sat down to wait. “There were no tracks going in. Only going out, like you said.”
“Those WERE tracks going in,” said Lynn. “They were just backwards. When the wind got so cold, Nick did just like we did. He turned around and walked backwards so he wouldn’t have to face the wind.”
Ann turned to her brother, who was happily drinking hot chocolate. She tousled his hair.
“You’re smart,” she said.
“I’m smarter than Mom and Dad,” he said. “They’re still out in the cold.”
风那么冷，刮在琳恩的脸上如针刺般地疼。她爱雪，但是这样的大风雪却让人受不了。她转过身让风从背后刮来，然后把兜帽紧紧地裹住脸，这样也许会留住点热气。
她正在向她最好的朋友安妮家走去，可不是去北极！安妮家与她家是近邻。她转过脸看着安妮家的房子，她才走了一半路，这么走法，大概永远也走不到，也许当他们出来的时候，会发现琳恩已经被冻成了冰柱。她在风中低下头，开始奔跑起来，她在雪地上跳跃而行，任由一阵阵刺骨的寒风夹着冰雪向着她扑面而来，冷空气钻心透骨。她终于跳上了安妮家的门廊，重重地敲起门来。
安妮的妈妈伊布森太太哗啦一声打开了门，看上去很焦急的样子。
“你看到他了吗？”她问。
“看到谁？”琳恩说，一边说着一边往屋里跨。冰冷的皮肤猛然接触到屋里温暖的空气，有一种灼烧感。她用双手抹了把脸，脱下了大衣。伊布森太太顾不上答话，她正在急急忙忙地往脚上套靴子，伊布林先生正在用围巾裹脸，安妮忙着从厨房抽屉里往外拿手电筒。
“出什么事了？”琳恩问。
“尼克不见了！”安妮说。尼克是安妮四岁的小弟弟，正说着，安妮的大哥乔希回来了，进屋后就忙着拍打靴子上的雪。
“我走到狗舍那儿，”他说，重重地喘着粗气，“发现那里有脚印，脚印往外上了山，向斯旺森农场方向去了。”
说完他又匆匆忙忙转身出去了，安妮的父母也起身准备跟出去。
“安妮，你留在家里，”伊布森太太说，“如果弟弟回来，就将门廊的灯反复开关几次，我们就会看见的。”
说着他们就冲进了风雪里，只留下女孩一人在家，琳恩转脸看向安妮。
“尼克为什么要冒着这样的大风雪去斯旺森呢？”
安妮唉声叹气，在厨房的一张椅子上坐了下来。
“这都是我的错，”她说，“明天是他的生日，妈妈和爸爸要送给他一匹矮种马作生日礼物，他们将小马暂时寄放在斯旺森农场，想到时给他一个惊喜……都怪我嘴快泄露了秘密。”
“你觉得他会是去看他的小马了吗？”
“他会的！他是那样的兴奋，一刻也等不得了，我们简直都没办法将他弄上床睡觉。”他将头埋在两只手里，着，“都是我的错！”
这太可怕了，可怜的尼克一定是在大风雪中迷了路。尼克若有什么不测，安妮会负疚一辈子。琳恩转脸看向窗户外面，冰冷的雪花不停地飘飞着。有个想法困惑着她，“外面这么冷，”她说，“即使是尼克，走了几步后他也会明白，这样的大风雪他根本到不了斯旺森农场的。”
“可他只有四岁，”安妮说，琳恩若有所思地摇了摇头。
“这不是年龄大小的问题，这么冷他会受不了的，他不可能感觉不到这一点的。”
“我可怜的弟弟。”
“我想出去看看那些脚印，”琳恩说，她穿上大衣，围上围巾。“也许他转来转去又转回来了。”
“是吗？”
“如果我是他一定会是这样的，你觉得呢？”
两个女孩一人拿了一只手电筒，走到院子里的狗舍旁，伊布森家养了一条圣伯纳德赛狗，在狗舍边上，他们看见一对小靴子的脚印向外走去，在拐角处上了山，脚印向着斯旺森农场的方向而去，遗憾的是，大风不停地吹扫着雪地，渐渐地抹去了脚印的踪迹，脚印在半山腰处消失了。
琳恩的手电筒在狗舍门边四处照着。
“没有进来的脚印，”她叹道。
“他也许是在下雪之前进来的，”安妮说。
“也许是这样吧，”琳恩皱着眉头，手电筒在院子里四处照着。“没有他走回来的任何脚印。”她叹着气，抬头向山上望去，想着他会在什么地方躲避风雪呢？也许他在山上找到了什么藏身的地方。她开始往山上走去，安妮跟在她后面，风从她们身后刮来，两个女孩弯下身，将兜帽紧紧地捂住脸。
“为什么他会先去狗舍呢？”琳恩问。
“因为他冷，正像你说的那样。也许他想先到那里面暖和一下。”
“但是如果说他是在下雪之前进去的，他就不会冷成那样。”
琳恩在山顶上站住了，看着许多人在山下旷野里搜寻着。他们的手电筒在一片耀眼的雪光中来回舞动着，就像星星点点的萤火虫一样，琳恩看不出来哪里有可以让一个小男孩藏身的地方。“他是在大风雪之前出去的吗？”她问，“他出去这么长时间难道没有人发现吗？”
“我们都以为他在床上睡了，我们都不知道！”
“对不起，”琳恩说。她看得出来，安妮已经够难受的了。“我想我又让你难受了。我们回去吧，准备一些热巧克力，他们回来好吃。”于是他们开始往山下走，可是走到半途，又起了一阵大风，飞舞着的雪的晶粒尖利地刮在她们脸上，两个女孩不由自主地都转过身去，闭上眼睛，蒙住脸，让自己背对着风站了一会儿。
“我明白了！”琳恩叫道，她立即转过身，面对着寒风，她的脸立刻被冻僵了，但她继续向山下飞跑，安妮跌跌撞撞地跟在她后面。
“你明白了什么？疯跑什么呢？”
“你的弟弟，他太冷了，”琳恩转过头叫道，“他确实是回来了。”
她冲进狗舍，一下拧亮灯，躺在圣伯纳德赛犬的温暖毛皮中间的，正是尼克。
“尼基！”安妮大叫道，她一把夺过弟弟紧紧地拥抱住他。
“是我的小马来了吗？”他迷迷糊糊地问道。
她们赶紧把他抱回屋里，安妮去弄热巧克力，琳恩去开门廊的灯，灯光一明一灭地向搜寻者发出信号，告诉大家尼克已经找到了。
“你是怎么知道他在狗舍里面的？”当她们坐下来等大人回来时，安妮问道：“没有进来的脚印啊，只有出去的脚印，就像你说的那样。”
“那些正是进狗舍的脚印，”琳恩说。“只不过是倒着走的，风刮在脸上那么冷，尼克也会像我们那样倒着走的。他转过身来，倒退着走，这样他就不用将脸对着大风了。”
安妮转身看着弟弟，这会儿他正快乐地吃着热巧克力，她拨弄着他的头发。
“你真聪明。”她说。
“爸爸妈妈没我聪明，”他说，“他们还在风雪中没能回来呢。”