A croaking¹ frog woke Carl the next morning. He sat up and yawned. "Morning, sweetheart," he said, staring up at the house. The balloons were starting to look a little limp. "We better get moving." Carl looked around the camp.

"Huh. Bird's gone," he said to himself. "Maybe Russell won't notice." He raised his voice. "All right, everybody up!"

Russell sat up. "Where's Kevin?" He jumped to his feet. "He's wandered off! Kevin! Dug, find Kevin!"

Dug sniffed² frantically³. "Find the bird. Find the bird. Point!" Dug pointed⁴ to the left.

Russell looked to the right. "Oh, look! There he is!"

Kevin was on top of the house. The bird let out a squawk.

Kevin stacked a banana on top of a large pile of food. A tomato rolled from the pile and landed at Carl's feet with a splat.

"Hey!" Carl complained. "That's my food! Get off my roof."

"Yeah!" Dug agreed. "Get off his roof!"

Kevin turned toward a large mass of rock and let out a call.

"What is it doing?" Carl asked.

Dug had spent enough time tracking the bird to know the answer. "The bird is calling to her babies," he explained.

"Her babies! Kevin's a girl?" Russell asked in surprise. He smiled at the thought that there were baby Kevins.

The bird called again. After a moment, Russell heard a faint peeping.

Kevin called again, and Carl tilted⁵ his head. He could hear the peeping, too.

Kevin answered the call. Then she gobbled the food and slid down the side of the roof.

"Her house is over there in those twisty rocks," Dug explained as Kevin started toward the large mass of rocks. "She has been gathering⁶ food for her babies and must get back to them."

Kevin turned to Russell. She wrapped the boy in her wings.

"Wait, Kevin's just leaving?" Russell asked in dismay.

Kevin patted Carl on the head with her beak⁷. She hissed⁸ at Dug. Then she headed off toward the rocks.

Russell turned to Carl. "But you promised to protect her. Her babies need her. We've got to make sure they're together."

Carl looked at the rocks. They were far away— and in the wrong direction. "Sorry, Russell. We've lost enough time already. She can take care of herself. And don't you want to earn your badge?"

Russell looked after Kevin, hesitating. Then he followed Carl. The two started walking, dragging the house once again.

Russell sniffled as he trudged⁹ along. "This was her favorite chocolate," he said, chewing on a candy bar. "Because you sent her away, there's more for you."

Carl rolled his eyes. Suddenly, he heard the nearby leaves rustle¹⁰.

"Kevin?" Russell asked hopefully.

But instead, three large dogs burst through the bushes. Barking furiously, they circled Dug, Russell, and Carl.

Alpha stalked toward Dug."Where's the bird?" he snarled¹¹. "You said you had the bird."

"Oh, yes," Dug said nervously¹². "Oh, yes. Since I have said that, I can see how you would think that."

"Where is it?" the Doberman demanded, narrowing his yellow eyes.

Dug looked over at Carl. "Uh, tomorrow. Come back tomorrow and then I will again have the bird."

Alpha snapped at Dug. "You lost it.Why do I not have a surprised feeling?" He stalked toward Russell and Carl. "Well, at least you now have led us to the small mailman and the one who smells of prunes¹³."

Dug lowered his head, whimpering. He hadn't meant to lead Alpha to Carl and Russell!

"Master will be most pleased we have found them," Alpha snarled, "and will ask of them many questions." He looked at Carl. "Come!"

"Wait!" Carl shook his head. "We're not going with you! We're going to the falls."

Gamma and Beta growled¹⁴ and barked, baring their fangs¹⁵.

"Get away from me!" said Carl.

But the dogs didn't listen to him. It was clear that Carl and Russell had no choice but to follow them.

Carl looked over his shoulder and sighed. The frightening dogs were leading them away from Paradise Falls. This is the wrong direction, he thought with every step. We're going backward!

To make matters worse, the ground was getting rockier. There were fewer trees and more twisted stones. Walking was becoming harder. And they weren't allowed to rest.

Finally, they rounded a bend. A large cave yawned in front of them.

Alpha led the group up to the cave entrance. Carl and Russell peered hesitantly inside. Glowing eyes were emerging from the darkness. It took Carl a few moments to realize that it was a pack of dogs. The glowing eyes were actually the lights on their high-tech¹⁶ collars.

"He approaches!" Alpha barked, and the others joined in. "He approaches! He approaches!"

A tall, shadowy figure appeared. "You came here in that?" the man asked Carl slowly. "In a house? A floating house?"

The figure stepped from the shadows. It was an old man. He stared up at the house, then started to laugh. "That's the darnedest thing I've ever seen!" He turned to his dogs. "You boys are slipping. Was it with them when you found them?"

Was what with us? Carl wondered.

Beta shook his head. "No, Master."

The man took a step forward. Carl noticed that, although the man was older, he was fit and strong. There was something strangely familiar about him. The way he stood, his leather flight jacket— everything about him gave Carl the feeling that they had met before. "Well," the man said, "this is all a misunderstanding. My, uh, dogs made a mistake."

"Mistake? I'll say it's a mistake. Your dogs just came out and assaulted us!" Carl said angrily.

"Well, you'd best hurry on your way," said the man. "The sun sets quickly around here. Good journey!" He turned on his heels and walked back into the cave.

Suddenly, Carl realized how he knew him. "Wait—" he called. "Are you Charles Muntz?"

The man hesitated. "Who wants to know?"

A thrill shivered through Carl. "Jiminy Cricket! Is it really you? The Charles Muntz? Could you … would you say it for me?" he asked.

Muntz gave Carl his famous thumbs-up. "Adventure is out there," he said.

"It's really him!" Carl shouted. "Charles Muntz! I'm so sorry I got steamed at you. My name is Carl Fredricksen."

Russell piped up. "I'm Russell!"

"You've been gone so long, I'm so glad to see you alive!" Carl shook Muntz's hand. "My wife and I, we're your biggest fans. We thought you were the bee's knees!"

Muntz perked¹⁷ up. "Is that so? You're a man of good taste!" He looked Carl over. "You must be tired. Hungry?"

Russell's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Well, come on in!" said Muntz. "I'll give you the nickel tour."

Carl and Russell followed Muntz into the cave.

It took a moment for Carl's eyes to adjust to the darkness. When they did, he saw that he was in a giant room. An airship was tied at the far end. It was the Spirit of Adventure! CHARLES MUNTZ—EXPEDITION 1934 was written on the side. "Go ahead and moor¹⁸ your airship right next to mine," Muntz said.

Carl's grin widened as a gangplank was lowered. "We're not actually going inside the Spirit of Adventure itself?"

"Oh," Muntz replied, "would you like to?" He started up the gangplank.

Carl and Russell raced to catch up with him. Carl felt giddy. Oh, Ellie! he thought. Look at our adventurers' club now!

"Not you," Beta said as Dug tried to follow Carl into the blimp.

"What do we do with Dug?" Gamma asked.

"He has lost the bird," Alpha snarled. "Put him in the Cone¹⁹ of Shame."

Gamma and Beta fastened the Cone of Shame around Dug's neck. It was a giant funnel²⁰ that went around his head. He looked like a doggie daffodil. Humiliated²¹, Dug skulked²² down the gangplank, alone. He glanced sadly over his shoulder. He sighed and mumbled²³ through his voice box, "I do not like the Cone of Shame."

Alpha had never liked Dug, and now he sneered²⁴ with satisfaction as he pulled a lever and the gangplank clanged shut.

 

第二天清晨，卡尔被一只呱呱叫的青蛙从睡梦中吵醒。他坐起来，打了个哈欠。“早安，亲爱的。”他抬头对着房子打了声招呼，却发现气球已经开始漏气了。“我们得快点儿了。”说完，卡尔环顾了一下营地。

“嘿，那只鸟不见了。”他自言自语道，“或许小罗发现不了。”之后他提高了嗓音：“好啦，大家都起床吧！”

小罗坐起身。“凯文呢？”他一下子跳了起来，“他不见了！凯文！道格，把凯文找回来！”

道格开始疯狂地四处乱嗅。“找到那只鸟，找到那只鸟。找到了！”道格指向左边。

小罗却看向了右边。“哦，瞧！他在那儿！”

原来凯文在房顶上。这只大鸟冲下面叫了一声。

凯文叼着一根香蕉，放在了屋顶成堆的食物上，接着一个西红柿从上面滚下来，“啪嗒”一声掉在了卡尔脚边。

“嘿！”卡尔抱怨道，“那是我的食物！给我从屋顶上下来！”

“就是！”道格附和道，“快从屋顶上下来！”

凯文却转身面向乱石堆，发出一声鸣叫。

“它在干什么？”卡尔问道。

道格花了很长时间追踪这只鸟，所以他知道原因。他解释道：“那鸟在呼唤她的孩子。”

“她的孩子！凯文是女的？”小罗惊讶地问道。想到有一群小凯文，小罗不禁微笑起来。

凯文又叫了一声。过了一会儿，小罗听到一阵微弱的啾啾声。

凯文又叫了一声。卡尔侧耳听了听，也听到了啾啾声。

凯文回应着远处的叫声，然后狼吞虎咽地吃了几口食物，从房子一侧滑了下来。

“她家就在那些乱石堆里，”看见凯文准备朝乱石堆走去，道格连忙解释道，“她是出来给孩子们找食物的，现在得回去喂他们了。”

凯文转向小罗，用翅膀抱了抱他。

“等等，凯文要走了吗？”小罗沮丧地问道。

凯文用嘴拍了拍卡尔的头，又冲道格嘶叫了一声，然后朝着那堆岩石走去。

小罗转向卡尔说道，“可你答应过要保护她的。她的孩子需要她，咱们得确保让他们团聚。”

卡尔看了看乱石堆。那里离这儿很远，而且和他们前进的方向相反，于是他说：“抱歉，小罗，我们已经耽误太多时间了。她能照顾好自己。而且你不想要徽章了吗？”

小罗的目光追随着凯文，他犹豫了。但最终他还是跟着卡尔走了。两人再次拖着房子，向目的地前进。

小罗艰难地迈着步子，边走边抽泣道，“这是她最喜欢的巧克力，”他拿着一条巧克力，边嚼边说，“你让她走了，所以剩下的这些都是你的了。”

卡尔翻了个白眼。突然，他听到附近的树叶“沙沙”作响。

“凯文？”小罗满怀期待地问道。

但令他失望的是，灌木丛中蹿出来的是三条大狗。他们绕着道格、小罗和卡尔一阵狂吠。

大宝大步走向道格。“那只鸟呢？”他吼道，“你说你抓到它了。”

“哦，是啊，”道格局促地说，“哦，没错。我是说过，所以我也知道你会怎样想。”

“它在哪儿？”这条杜宾犬眯了眯那双黄色的眼睛，开口问道。

道格看了看卡尔，然后说：“嗯，明天。你们明天再来，到时候那只鸟就又在我手上了。”

大宝冲道格厉声道：“你跟丢了。可我怎么一点儿都不觉得奇怪呢？”说完，他又大步走向小罗和卡尔。“不过，至少你让我们找到了这个小邮差，还有那个一身西梅干味儿的家伙。”

道格低下头，发出一声呜咽。他可从没想过让大宝找到卡尔和小罗！

“我们找到了这两个人，主人会很满意的，”大宝喊道，“他肯定有很多问题要问。”说完看向卡尔道：“走吧！”

“等等！”卡尔摇了摇头说道，“我们不跟你们走！我们要去瀑布那边。”

小宝和二宝冲着卡尔一阵狂吠，露出两排獠牙。

“离我远点！”卡尔说道。

但是这两只狗压根不听。很显然，卡尔和小罗别无选择，只能跟他们走。

卡尔回头看了看，叹了口气。这三只凶猛的狗把他们带得离天堂瀑布越来越远。他每走一步都会想，这个方向不对，我们这是在往回走！

路面越来越崎岖,情况也变得越来越糟糕了。树也越来越少，奇形怪状的石头越来越多。他们走得越来越艰难，但却不能休息。

最后，他们转过一个弯，眼前出现了一个大大的洞口。

大宝带着这一队人马走到洞口前。卡尔和小罗犹豫地朝洞里看了看。黑暗中出现了一些发着红光的眼睛。卡尔反应了一会儿才意识到，那是一群狗，发光的并不是眼睛，而是他们高科技项圈上的小红灯。

“他来了！”大宝喊道，其他的狗也跟着喊道，“他来了！他来了！”

一道高大模糊的身影出现在洞口。“你坐那玩意儿来的？”那个人缓缓开口问道，“一座房子？一座能飞的房子？”

那道身影从阴影中走了出来——是个老头。他抬头看了一眼房子，大笑起来：“这是我见过的最荒谬的事了！”随后他转向那群狗说：“你们的办事能力真是变差了。找到他们时，它有没有跟他们在一起？”

什么东西跟我们在一起？卡尔心想。

二宝摇了摇头说：“报告主人，没有。”

那人向前迈了一步。卡尔发现，尽管这个人上了年纪，但他看起来还是十分健壮。而且，卡尔对他有种莫名的熟悉感。他站立的方式，他身上的那件皮制飞行夹克——这一切都让卡尔觉得他们之前见过。“好了，”那人说道，“这完全是个误会。我的，呃，我的狗弄错了。”

“误会？我觉得这就是个错误！你的狗就那样忽然冲出来，袭击了我们！”卡尔气愤地说。

“好了，你们还是快赶路吧。”那人说，“太阳就要落山了。祝你们旅途愉快！”说完，他转过身，往洞里走去。

卡尔忽然想到他是怎么认识这个人的了。“等等！”他喊道，“你是查尔斯·蒙兹吗？”

那人迟疑了一下，问道：“你是谁？”

卡尔激动地浑身颤抖。“吉米尼·克里基特！真的是你？那个查尔斯·蒙兹？你能……能请你把那句话对我说一遍吗？”卡尔问道。

蒙兹冲着卡尔做出他的经典动作——竖起了大拇指，并喊着：“探险就要开始了！”

“真的是他！”卡尔喊道，“查尔斯·蒙兹！实在抱歉，我刚才冲你发火了。我是卡尔·费迪逊。”

小罗插嘴道：“我是小罗！”

“您离开这么长时间，现在又活生生地站在我面前，我太兴奋了！”卡尔上前握住蒙兹的手说，“我和我太太都是您的铁杆粉丝，我俩都觉得您太了不起了！”

听到卡尔这么说，蒙兹突然来了精神。“真的吗？你眼光不错！”他看了看卡尔说，“你们肯定累坏了。饿吗？”

小罗的眼睛一下子就亮了。

“好了，快进来吧！” 蒙兹说，“我将给你们带来一段精彩的旅程。”

卡尔和小罗跟随蒙兹走进山洞。

过了几分钟，卡尔的眼睛才适应了黑暗。这时候，他发现自己正站在一间巨大的屋子里。屋子的尽头吊着一艘飞船，正是“探险精神号”！船身上写着“查尔斯·蒙兹——1943年探险”几个大字。“来吧，把你们的飞屋系在我的旁边。”蒙兹说。

看见飞船上的舷梯降下来，卡尔咧开嘴笑了：“我们不会是真的要进入‘探险精神号’吧？”

“是啊，”蒙兹回答道，“你想上去吗？”说着便开始登舷梯。

卡尔和小罗加快脚步，追了上去。卡尔更是兴奋得快要晕过去了。哦，艾莉！他想道，现在来瞧瞧我们的探险家俱乐部！

“你不准进。”看见道格也打算跟着卡尔进入飞船，二宝阻止道。

“我们怎么处置道格？”小宝问。

“他把鸟跟丢了，”大宝咆哮道，“给他戴上‘耻辱锥帽’。”

小宝和二宝把“耻辱锥帽”套在道格的脖子上。其实这就是个巨大的漏斗，戴上它后，道格看起来就像是个狗狗形状的水仙花。他觉得这个样子很丢脸，便独自悄悄地从舷梯上走了下来，然后伤心地回头瞥了一眼，叹了口气，项圈的语音盒里传出了他的咕哝声：“我不想戴‘耻辱锥帽’。”

大宝一直都不喜欢道格，见此更感满意，他冷笑一声，拉下操纵杆，飞船的舷梯便“砰”的一声关上了。

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