Muntz glared at the three wet dogs standing¹ before him. "You lost them?" he growled². He slammed his cane³ against the floor.

"It was Dug," Beta said quickly.

"Yeah, he's with them," Gamma agreed. "He helped them escape!"

Muntz groaned⁴ in frustration⁵, then stopped suddenly. "Wait. Wait a minute. Dug…"

Muntz flipped⁶ a switch. It was a tracking switch, and it could trace Dug's collar anywhere. Dug didn't even notice when the tracking light on his collar lit up. He was standing on the edge of a cliff, looking out over the rocks below and sniffing⁷.

"See anything?" asked Carl.

"No, my pack is not following us!" said Dug. "Boy, they are dumb." He scampered⁸ back to Carl and Russell and began leading the way through the twisty rocks.

Russell and Carl followed, pulling the house. Kevin was on the front porch, resting.

Russell looked up at the bird. "You okay, Kevin?" She picked at her bandage, then settled back down.

"You know what, Mr. Fredricksen?" Russell said as they walked along. "The wilderness⁹ isn't quite what I expected."

"Yeah? How so?" Carl asked.

"It's kinda … wild," Russell said. "I mean, it's not how they made it sound in my book."

"Get used to that, kid," Carl answered.

"My dad made it sound so easy. He's really good at camping." Russell thought for a moment. "He used to come to all my sweat lodge¹⁰ meetings. And afterwards we'd go get ice cream at Fenton's. I always get chocolate, and he gets butter-brickle. Then we'd sit on this one curb¹¹, right outside, and I'll count all the blue cars and he counts all the red ones, and whoever gets the most wins. I like that curb."

Russell looked up at Carl. "That might sound boring," he said, "but I think the boring stuff is the stuff I remember the most."

Carl thought about that. It was the same way with Ellie. What he missed most was just being with her. Looking at clouds. Cleaning the house. That's not so weird¹², he thought.

The baby birds called out. Kevin looked up and returned the call.

"Look, there it is!" Russell shouted, pointing to the rocks. He tried to run, but his tether stopped him.

Carl pulled on it to get his attention. "Hold on, Russell. Stand still."

Carl unclipped the hose, first from Russell and then from himself. Then he tied the house to a tree.

Russell helped Kevin off the porch. Then Kevin squawked and darted¹³ up the hill toward her babies. Carl, Russell, and Dug ran after her.

"Kevin! You're feeling better!" exclaimed Russell.

Carl laughed. "Look at that bird go!"

"That's it!" Russell hollered. "Go, Kevin. Go find your babies!"

Kevin was just at the entrance to the maze¹⁴ when a spotlight¹⁵ fell on her. It was Muntz! He had followed them in the Spirit of Adventure.

"Run, Kevin!" Russell screamed. "Run!"

Kevin ran, but a huge net shot out of the blimp. It forced her to the ground.

Kevin cried out.

Russell gasped¹⁶. "Oh, no!"

Carl and Russell ran toward the bird. "Russell, give me your knife!" Carl cried. Russell handed it over, and Carl sawed at the net.

"Get away from my bird!" Muntz shouted.

Carl turned and gasped. He stopped sawing the net.

Muntz's dogs were moving toward them, and they were dragging something behind them. It was Carl's house.

Carl froze. Ellie's clubhouse!

Muntz threw the lantern toward the house. The lantern broke, sending flames across the ground. The flames shot up. They licked at the bottom of the house.

"No!" cried Carl.

A balloon popped. Then another. Then more. The house sank toward the flames. The flames rose toward the house…

A moment later, the house was on fire!

The bird cried out.

Carl felt his heart breaking. Ellie's clubhouse! The house they had lived in together for more than thirty years! The floor where they had danced …

He couldn't watch it burn. He couldn't.

"No!" The knife fell from Carl's hand.

The dogs swarmed¹⁷ toward Kevin. The bird cried out, terrified. "No!" Russell screamed as the dogs dragged Kevin up the gangplank, into the blimp.

"Careful," said Muntz as he turned and followed the dogs. "We'll want her in good shape for my return."

"Let her go!" Russell ran after the blimp as it took off. But it was no use. Russell watched as the blimp soared into the sky, taking Kevin with it.

Carl ran toward his burning house. He pulled it away from the fire and beat the flames with his jacket until they disappeared. He could feel Russell and Dug looking at him.

"You gave away Kevin," Russell said accusingly. "You just gave her away."

Carl sighed. How can I explain that I didn't "just" give her away? he thought. They were burning Ellie's house! "This is none of my concern!" he snapped. "I didn't ask for any of this!"

"Master," Dug said gently. "It's all right."

"I am not your master, and if you hadn't shown up, none of this would have happened!" Carl shouted. "Bad dog! Bad dog!"

Dug slunk away with his tail between his legs.

Carl put his harness back on. "Now, whether you assist me or not," he announced to Russell, "I am going to Paradise Falls if it kills me."

He started trudging¹⁸.

Russell couldn't think of anything to do but follow.

The balloons were limp. The house dragged as Carl struggled over the rocky ground. When he looked over his shoulder, he saw Russell's harness. It was empty. Russell was following, but he wasn't assisting anymore. He was staring at the ground, his blood boiling with anger.

Finally, Carl reached the spot he wanted. He let the house settle almost to the ground, the balloons barely holding it aloft. Then he walked to the edge of the tepui. The sound of the falls pounded in his ears as they poured down the steep mountainside.

Carl took out Ellie's childhood drawing. He'd placed her house exactly where she had drawn¹⁹ it.

I did it, Carl thought. Finally. This adventure nearly killed me, but I kept my vow²⁰.

He wondered why he didn't feel happy.

Russell walked up to Carl. "Here," he said. He tossed his Wilderness Explorer sash on the ground. "I don't want this anymore."

Carl picked up Russell's sash. Then he watched as Russell walked away and sat down on a rock. Carl turned toward his house. It was barely floating now. He could step right onto the porch.

Carl went inside. The living room was a mess. Lamps had toppled, the table was broken, books were lying on the floor.

Carl began to tidy up. He picked up his chair and stood it in its proper place. He put Ellie's chair next to it.

Finally, Carl sat down. He closed his eyes.

It was quiet. The only noise was the steady roar of the falls outside. It should have been relaxing… only it wasn't.

Carl opened his eyes. Everything around him was the same… but he felt different.

Ellie's adventure book was lying at his feet. He opened it and put Ellie's drawing carefully in its place. He looked at the page for a long time. Then he flipped to the next page, and then through the pages of newspaper clippings about Muntz and the photos of South America—Ellie's dreams.

He turned the page. STUFF I'M GOING TO DO, it read.

Carl drew in a deep breath. His fingers hovered²¹ at the edge of the page, afraid to turn it. He didn't want to see the empty pages. All the adventures Ellie never had … all because Carl hadn't kept his promise.

But he forced himself to look.

To his surprise, the pages weren't blank. And they weren't plastered with fantastic adventures she had dreamed up, either. Instead, they were full of pictures of their life together. There was a photo of their wedding. The two of them at Yosemite National Park. Playing at the beach. Photo after photo …

Carl felt his throat tighten²².

The last photo was of them together. They were old. They were sitting side by side, in their chairs. They looked happy.

Ellie had written something below the photo.

Thanks for the adventure, it read. Now go have a new one. Love, Ellie.

Carl smiled. Ellie had seen their simple life as an adventure. She had gotten her wish after all.

He looked over at her chair, but it was empty.

Russell's sash was lying across the arm. Carl picked it up. He gently touched the empty space and crossed his heart.

Carl hurried outside. "Russell?" he called. But Russell was nowhere in sight. Carl looked up just in time to see Russell rising into the air. He was holding a large bunch of balloons and a leaf blower as a steering²³ device.

"I'm gonna help Kevin even if you won't!" Russell called to Carl. He zoomed²⁴ away, steering awkwardly with the leaf blower.

"No!" Carl shouted. "Russell! No!" He ran back to his house and struggled to lift it. But it was no use. The house wouldn't budge²⁵. He couldn't fly after Russell. Furious, Carl tossed a chair off the porch.

The house rose. Just a little, but it rose.

That gave Carl an idea.

 

蒙兹瞪着面前这三条湿漉漉的狗咆哮道：“你们竟然把他们给跟丢了？”他将手杖狠狠向地面戳去。

二宝连忙解释：“都怪道格。”

“没错，道格跟他们是一伙的。”小宝赞同道，“他还帮他们逃跑！”

蒙兹叹了口气，非常失望。忽然，他想到了什么。“等等，等等，道格……”

蒙兹按下一个开关，这是个追踪开关，无论道格身在何处，它都能追踪到道格项圈的位置。项圈上的追踪灯亮起时，道格根本没有注意到。此时，他正站在悬崖边上，望着下面的岩石，嗅着附近的气味。

“有什么动静吗？”卡尔问道。

“没有，那群狗没追上来！”道格说，“太好了，他们蠢透了。”他迅速跑回卡尔和小罗身边，准备带他们穿过乱石堆。

小罗和卡尔拖着房子，跟在道格身后。凯文卧在房前的走廊上休息。

小罗抬头看了看凯文，问道：“你还好吗，凯文？”凯文起身轻轻啄了一下腿上的绷带，又重新卧了回去。

“你知道吗，费迪逊先生？”小罗边走边说，“野外跟我想的不太一样。”

“是吗？怎么不一样？”卡尔问道。

“有点儿……太荒凉了。”小罗说，“我是说，这跟我在书上看到的不一样。”

“慢慢习惯吧，孩子。”卡尔回答道。

“我爸爸说得可简单了，他真的很擅长露营。”小罗想了一下后又说，“以前每次帐篷大会，他都会来。开完会后，我们就一起去吃‘芬顿’冰激凌，我总是点巧克力的，而他就点黄油脆皮的。然后我们就坐在店外的马路边，我数蓝色的车，他数红色的，最后谁数得多谁就赢了。我喜欢那个马路边。”

小罗抬头看了看卡尔，继续说道：“也许听起来很无聊，但这些无聊的事却是我最难忘的。”

卡尔对此深有感触，他对艾莉也是这种感觉。他最怀念的就是和艾莉待在一起，看看天上的白云，整理整理房间。这并没有那么奇怪，卡尔心想。

走着走着，一阵鸟宝宝的鸣叫声传来。凯文抬起头，回应着这阵叫声。

“瞧，就在那儿！”小罗指着一堆岩石喊道。他想跑过去，但被身上拴着的软管拖住了。

卡尔拽了一下软管，提醒小罗说：“等一下，小罗。站着别动。”

说完，卡尔解下小罗身上系着的软管，又解下自己身上的，然后把房子拴在了一棵树上。

小罗帮凯文从门廊上跳下来。落地后，凯文大声鸣叫着，飞奔向对面的山头，朝自己的孩子跑去。卡尔、小罗和道格紧紧跟在她后面。

“凯文，你看起来好多了！”小罗喊道。

卡尔也大笑着说：“瞧她跑得多快！”

“就是那儿！”小罗大喊道，“去吧，凯文。去找你的孩子吧！”

就在凯文刚跑到迷宫入口时，一道闪光灯打在她身上。蒙兹来了！他乘着“探险精神号”追来了。

“跑啊，凯文！”小罗尖叫道，“快跑！”

凯文向前跑去，但飞船中撒下一张巨网，将她牢牢地困在地面上。

凯文大叫。

小罗倒吸了一口气，大喊道：“哦，不！”

卡尔和小罗向凯文跑去。“小罗，把刀给我！”卡尔喊道。小罗把刀递给卡尔，卡尔立即开始锯网绳。

“离我的鸟远点儿！”蒙兹大喊。

卡尔转过头，倒吸一口气，停下了手上的动作。

他看见蒙兹的狗正向他们跑来，身后还拖着什么东西，定睛一看，竟是卡尔的房子！

卡尔整个人都呆住了。那是艾莉的俱乐部！

蒙兹把灯笼丢向那个房子，灯笼碎了，里面的火苗蹿了出来。火焰四溅，火舌舔舐着房子底部。

“不！”卡尔大喊。

一个气球爆了，紧接着又一个爆了，越来越多的气球在火焰的烤炙下爆裂了。房子沉入火焰，火焰爬上了房子……

不一会儿，整座房子都陷入了熊熊烈火之中。

凯文又大叫了一声。

卡尔的心都要碎了。那可是艾莉的俱乐部啊！那是他们一起住了三十多年的房子啊！里面有他们跳过舞的地板……

他不能眼睁睁地看着房子就这样被烧掉，决不能！

“不！”刀从卡尔手中滑落了下来。

一群狗向凯文涌去，凯文发出恐惧的叫声。他们把凯文拖上舷梯，带进了飞船，小罗尖叫道：“不！”

“当心点！”蒙兹说着，转身跟那群狗进入了飞船，“我们要把她完好无损地带回去。”

“放开她！”飞船起飞时，小罗在后面追着，但这只是徒劳。他只能眼睁睁地看着飞船升向天空，带着凯文远去。

卡尔冲向燃烧着的房子，他把房子从火海中拉出来，用夹克扑打着火焰，直到不见一丝火苗才停手。他能感觉到小罗和道格都在看着他。

“你让他们把凯文抓走了，”小罗用责备的语气道，“你就这样丢下了她。”

卡尔叹了口气。我要怎么解释我并不是“就这样”丢下了她？他想道，他们可是要烧掉艾莉的房子啊！“这不关我的事！”他厉声说，“我也不想这样！”

“主人，”道格柔声地说，“没关系的。”

“我不是你的主人，要不是你的出现，这一切都不会发生！”卡尔喊道，“恶狗！恶狗！”

听到这些，道格夹着尾巴走开了。

卡尔重新套上软管，对小罗说：“现在，不管你帮不帮忙，我就是拼了老命，也要去天堂瀑布。”

他吃力地向前走去。

小罗不知道自己还能做什么，只好跟着卡尔。

气球变得更瘪了。卡尔费力地拉着房子，经过一片岩石地时，他感觉房子快要拖到地上了。他转过头，看见了小罗的那根软管，但软管头上却空空如也。显然，虽然小罗还跟着他，却不再帮他了。他盯着地面，快要气炸了。

终于，卡尔到达了目的地。他安顿下来，让房子自然地飘浮在离地面不远的高度，此时的气球已经不能让房子飞得那么高了。然后他走到特普伊山崖边，望见瀑布倾泻而下，翻腾的水声从峭壁半山腰传来，冲击着他的耳膜。

卡尔拿出艾莉儿时的画作，他终于把房子带到了艾莉画中的地方。

卡尔想，我终于来了。尽管这次冒险几乎使我丧命，但我还是遵守了承诺。

但令他奇怪的是，他并没有想象中那么开心。

小罗走过来，把野外探险家肩带丢到地上，冲卡尔说道：“都给你！我不要了！”

卡尔捡起肩带，看着小罗走向远处，坐在了一块岩石上。他转身向房子走去。这时，房子几乎落到了地面上，他甚至可以一脚踏上门廊。

卡尔走进屋子，发现客厅一团糟，灯掉落在地上，桌子破了，书也摊得到处都是。

他开始收拾屋子。他先把自己的椅子扶起来，放回原位，又把艾莉的椅子摆在了自己的椅子旁边。

收拾好这一切后，卡尔坐了下来，闭上眼睛。

周围安静极了，只有屋外的瀑布不断地怒吼着。这本应是十分放松的时刻，然而他却并没有那么轻松。

卡尔睁开眼睛。周围的一切还是老样子，但是，他却感觉有什么变得不一样了。

艾莉的探险书就躺在他脚边，他翻开书，把艾莉那幅画小心翼翼地放回原位，久久地注视着这一页。然后他翻到下一页，再往后翻，后面几页上贴着新闻简报，都是关于蒙兹的报道，还有艾莉的梦想之地南美洲的照片。

他又翻了一页，上面写着几个大字：心愿单。

卡尔深吸了一口气。他的手指在书页边缘徘徊着，不敢再往下翻。他不想看到后面那一片空白。全都怪自己之前没有履行诺言，艾莉这辈子都没经历过任何探险……

但是，他还是强迫自己翻下去。

令他惊讶的是，那些页面并不是空白的。当然，上面也不是艾莉曾经梦想的奇幻探险，而是贴满了他们一起生活的各种照片。有婚礼的照片，有两人在约塞米蒂国家公园的照片，有他们在沙滩上玩耍的照片，一张接一张……

卡尔感到喉咙有些发紧。

最后一张是他们两人的合照，照片上他们都老了，并排坐在两把扶手椅上，看起来非常幸福。

艾莉在这张照片下面写了一些话。

谢谢你同我一起探险，现在，去开始一场新的探险吧，爱你的艾莉。

卡尔笑了，看来艾莉是把他们简简单单的生活当成了探险。原来，她的愿望已经实现了。

他望向艾莉那把椅子，但上面已没有她的身影。

小罗的那条肩带挂在椅子扶手上，卡尔把它拿过来，轻轻摸了摸奖章间的空隙，在胸口画了个十字。

然后，卡尔急忙冲出屋子，大喊道：“小罗？”但他并没看到小罗。卡尔抬起头，恰好看到小罗升到了半空中。小罗抓着一大捆气球，手里还拿着个吹叶机作为转向装置。

“就算你不去，我也要去救凯文！”小罗冲卡尔喊道。他笨拙地操纵着吹叶机，很快就飘远了。

“不要！”卡尔大喊道，“小罗，不要！”他转身冲到房子前面，试图把房子抬起来，但却毫无作用。房子一点也没动，他没法飞去追小罗。一气之下，卡尔从门廊上扔下一把椅子。

房子升高了一点。虽然只是一点点，但也确实升高了。

卡尔顿时有了主意。

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