《赛车总动员》第9章

3次大中小

"And we'll be right back to our Hank Williams marathon after a quick Piston Cup update," a voice announced over the radio on Lizzie's porch.

Lightning looked up. Piston Cup update? Had anyone even noticed he was gone yet? He wondered. Maybe they'd send a search party!

"Still no sign of Lightning McQueen," the announcer said.

Lightning's engine raced. They were looking for him! Maybe that minivan couple would tell someone they had seen him.

"Meanwhile, Chick Hicks arrived in California and today became the first car to spend practice time on the track," the voice went on.

"Yeah, well, it's just nice to get out here before the other competitors," Chick's voice boomed over the radio's speakers. "You know, get a head start."

Lightning glowered, imagining Chick and Tex laughing together at the Dinoco tent. He imagined Chick winning the Piston Cup, getting the big endorsement deals, starring in a Hollywood movie—getting everything Lightning wanted for himself.

Well, this race car isn't about to quit now, Lightning thought, snapping out of his vision. "Mater," he said to the rusty old tow truck, "let me get this straight. I can go when this road is done. That's the deal, right?"

"That's what they done did said," Mater agreed. That was all Lightning needed to hear. "Okay. Out of my way," he growled. "I've got a road to finish." Lightning focused, the way he did before a race. Then, in a moment, he was off! He put the hammer down and zipped through his work. Bessie wobbled and splashed tar across the road, groaning as the race car pulled her far faster than she was built to go.

A short while later, Mater burst into Doc's office. "He's done!"

"Done?" Doc grumbled. He wasn't sure whether to be impressed or suspicious. "It's only been an hour." He followed Mater out toward the street, where the rest of the town was gathered. They looked at their newly "fixed" road. It was a disaster.

"I'm done." Lightning panted heavily. "Look, I'm finished. Just say thank you," he said to Sally, "and I'll be on my way. That's all you gotta say."

"Whee-hoo!" Mater called as he drove to the opposite end of the road. "I'm the first one on the new road!" He drove over the bumpy splattered asphalt. "A-h-h-a-h!" he said as he was jostled back and forth. "It rides pre-etty smo-ooo-ooth!"

Sally cut to the chase. "It looks awful."

Lightning glared at her. "Now it matches the rest of the town," he shot back.

Red, the shy fire truck, was so hurt by Lightning's comment that he drove off into the woods, knocking over Luigi's tower of tires. The whole town could hear Red sobbing.

Furious, Sally wheeled to face Lightning. "Who do you think you are?" she demanded.

"Look, Doc said when I finished, I could go," Lightning said in frustration. "That was the deal."

"The deal was you fix the road, not make it worse," Doc snapped as he drove up. "Now, scrape it off; start over again."

"Hey, look, grandpa," Lightning said rudely. "I'm not a bulldozer, I'm a race car."

"Is that right?" Doc replied, clearly unimpressed. "Then why don't we just have a little race? Me and you."

Lightning cracked up. "Ho, ho, ho. Me and you," he said, unbelieving. "Is that a joke?"

"If you win, you go and I fix the road," Doc suggested. "If I win, you do the road my way."

Lightning couldn't believe his luck! This car probably does zero to sixty in about threepoint five years, he thought. I'll run the race and be out of here in half an hour. It was an offer he couldn't refuse.

"You know what, old-timer?" Lightning said. "That's a wonderful idea. Let's race."

荔枝婆门廊的收音机传来解说员的声音：“活塞杯赛事最新快讯后，欢迎回到我们的汉克·威廉姆斯超级马拉松赛。”

麦坤仰起头。活塞杯最新快讯？难道没人发现我不见了吗？他想了想。也许他们已经派出了搜寻队！

解说员说：“目前仍然没有闪电麦坤的消息。”

麦坤发动引擎。他们一直在找我！小货车夫妇也许会跟他们说见过我吧。

“此时，路霸已经抵达加州，并成为今天第一个在赛道试车的选手。”解说员继续说。

收音机的喇叭里传来路霸洪亮的声音：“太棒了!我比其他对手都先到！我赢在了起跑线。”

一想到路霸和老德在岱诺可帐篷里面笑成一团的场景，麦坤脸都气红了。在他的想象中，路霸拿了活塞杯，签了代言合同，主演了好莱坞电影——得到了麦坤想要的一切。

不过，我不会放弃比赛。想到这儿，麦坤把那些幻想从脑子里赶跑：“板牙，我直说吧，只要我把路修完，你们就放我走。对吧？”

“没错，他们是这样说的。”板牙表示同意。麦坤需要的就是这句话。“好了，闪开，我得修路了！”麦坤咆哮着。他集中精力，就像参加比赛一样。开工！麦坤放下锤子，行走在刚修的马路上。麦坤的速度太快，已经超出贝西的极限。贝西呻吟着，摇摇晃晃地把焦油铺到路上。

过了一会儿，板牙冲到博士的办公室说：“他把路修好了！”

“修好了？”博士嘟囔着。他不知道应该惊讶还是怀疑。“这才一个小时。”他跟着板牙来到路上。小镇上其他居民也都聚集在这里。他们看着新“修好”的路，那路修得简直糟糕透了。