儿童英语读物 The Sword of the Silver Knight CHAPTER 6 In the Kitchen

When The Aldens arrived at the park the next morning, they looked for Hannah. They finally found her in the kitchen building. She was talking to the chef, who was a large man in a white apron 1 and hat.



“I sure am happy to see you!” she called when she saw the Aldens. She motioned for the children to join her. “I think you mentioned that you like to cook?” she asked.



“We love to cook,” Benny said. When the children had lived in the boxcar, they had cooked all their own meals, and they still enjoyed cooking together.



“Great,” said Hannah. “This is Anthony, our chef.”



“And you must be the Aldens. I’ve heard so much about you,” Anthony said.



“I need you to help out in the kitchen. Anthony’s assistants didn’t come in today,” said Hannah.



Anthony explained, “One took the day off for a family emergency, and the other called in sick.” He sighed. “How am I supposed to get all the food ready without my staff?”



“Don’t worry, Anthony. The Aldens know how to get things done,” said Hannah, as she walked out of the kitchen.



Anthony nodded, but he looked as if he didn’t quite believe her.



“We need to wash our hands,” said Jessie. She was ready to get to work.



“The sink’s over there.” Anthony pointed 2. The children washed their hands with soap and warm water. Then they tied on the white cloth aprons 3 Anthony gave them.



“First we need to get the soup ready,” said Anthony. “To be really tasty, it needs to simmer for several hours.”



Anthony gave Benny and Violet vegetable scrapers and showed them where the bags of potatoes and carrots were. Benny and Violet washed and scraped the vegetables. They handed them to Jessie and Henry, who chopped them on a heavy wooden cutting board. Soon a huge pile of chopped carrots and potatoes filled the cutting board. Benny and Violet threw the long curls of brown potato skin and orange carrot peelings into the garbage.



When Anthony saw how quickly they’d chopped the vegetables, his face broke into a grin. “Great work!” he said. “Hannah was right —you do know how to get things done.”



Anthony showed them a large pot of broth 4 on the stove. The children gathered up the chopped vegetables and put them into the pot.



“There, now that can simmer while we prepare the rest,” said Anthony. “Of course, if this were a real medieval kitchen, this pot would be hanging over an open fire in a huge hearth 5. But here, we use a modern stove.”



Benny sniffed 6 the air. “That soup smells delicious.”



“It was delicious when we had it the other night,” said Violet.



Next Anthony got out flour, yeast 7, salt, and several large bowls. He gave each of the children a measuring cup to fill with water at the sink. Then, following Anthony’s lead, the children mixed the dough 8 for the bread. Then Anthony sprinkled flour all over the wooden table, and each of the children took the dough they’d made and kneaded it with their hands.



This was Benny’s favorite part. “This feels like molding clay,” he said.



After they had kneaded the dough for several minutes, Anthony took the mounds 9 of dough and placed them in large bowls to rise.



“Later, I’ll shape the dough into loaves and bake the bread,” he explained. “Now all we have left to prepare is the chicken.” He went to the large refrigerator and pulled out several trays of raw chicken and some bowls of a reddish-brown sauce. He handed the children large basting 10 brushes. “We’re going to brush the sauce onto the chicken before we roast it.”



The children dipped their brushes into the bowls and then painted the sauce onto the chicken.



“This is fun!” said Violet.



When all the chicken had been coated with the tangy sauce, Jessie and Henry helped Anthony put the trays back in the refrigerator.



Anthony put his hands on his hips 11 and looked around the kitchen with satisfaction. “We’re in good shape,” he said. “Nothing else needs to be done right now. Thank you so much for your help.”



“It was our pleasure,” said Jessie as they left to find Hannah and see what else she needed them to do.



The Aldens found Hannah in her office. “Are you done cooking?” she asked.



“Yes, Anthony said everything was ready,” Jessie said.



“Great, because now I need you to find Richard’s crown,” said Hannah.



“His crown?” Violet repeated.



“You don’t think it was stolen, do you?” asked Henry, his voice concerned.



“No, it’s just a prop—not valuable at all. Richard is always losing things. He lost his cape 12 earlier this week, and he’s had to use a replacement,” Hannah said. “He’s a bit of a slob.”



“We were in his tent last night,” said Jessie, nodding.



“So you know what I’m talking about,” Hannah said. “He’s in the main tent right now, having a cup of tea. I’m sure he won’t mind if you look in his tent.”



Mr. Worthington’s tent was still a complete mess, with piles of clothing everywhere.



“He really is a slob,” said Benny. “This room is even messier than mine!”



The others laughed, thinking of Benny’s messy bedroom.



“At least you don’t have hay all over,” said Henry, plucking a piece of hay off a chair.



“Hannah said he is always losing things—you don’t think he could have lost that sword and blamed it on Jonathan, do you?” Violet wondered.



“It’s possible,” Henry said.



The children set to work looking through the piles.



“Here’s the crown,” Henry said, picking it up from under a table where it had been left.



“Look at this,” said Violet, picking up a heavy book that had been buried underneath 13 a chair. “It’s called The Knights 15 of Old England, volume 1.”



“Cool!” said Henry.



“Can I see?” Benny asked.



The children gathered around Violet, who flipped 16 slowly through the book. It was illustrated 17 with colorful drawings of knights in armor. Violet noticed one marked with a small yellow sticker.



“Look, Mr. Worthington marked this page,” she told the others.



“I wonder why,” asked Jessie.



Violet scanned the page to see if there was anything unusual written there. Suddenly she gasped 18.



“What is it?” Henry asked.



“Maybe Richard was telling the truth,” she said. She sounded stunned 19.



“What do you mean?” asked Jessie.



Violet pointed to a picture of a knight 14 carrying a black-and-white banner with an eagle on it. Then she read the caption 20 below. “Historians believe this flag and emblem 21 were carried by the Worthington family of northern England.” Violet looked up from the page. “Maybe one of Richard’s ancestors really was a knight.”