Ch1-The Ring of Truth

New York Times Bestselling Series Stallion by Starlight Marry Pope Osborne

《纽约时报》畅销书系列《种马》，作者：星光，嫁给教皇奥斯本

CHAPTER ONE The Ring of Truth "I love looking at your notebook," Annie said. "It helps me remember all of our adventures." She turned a few pages. "Aww, polar bears in the Arctic. The cubs were so cute… and Pompeii and the volcano! Oh my gosh, remember Hercules?" "Yep," said Jack without looking up.

“我喜欢看你的笔记本，”安妮说。 “它让我想起了我们所有的冒险经历。” 她翻了几页。“啊，北极的北极熊。 小熊们太可爱了，还有庞贝古城和火山！哦，天哪，还记得大力神吗？”“是的。”杰克头也不抬地说。

It was a warm day in June. Jack and Annie were sitting on the front porch of their house. While Annie thumbed through his notebook, Jack was reading a book about giant pandas in China. "Ooh," said Annie as she flipped through more pages. "The ghost town in the Wild West! The invisible piano player, remember?" "Yep." Annie turned another page. "Remember Australia? The baby kangaroo, the koala, the dingoes! The forest fire!" Jack looked up. "Yep," he said. "Look, that's all cool, but I can't talk now. I'm trying to read the last page of my book." "You're going to need a new notebook soon. This one is almost full." Annie closed the notebook and put it into Jack's backpack. She stretched. "I think I'll go for a bike ride," she said. "Maybe stop by the library… go to the pool." Jack closed his book. "Done!" he said. "Now I need something new to read. I'll ride to the library with you." As he pulled on his backpack, Jack caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. He turned, and what he saw was incredible.

这是六月里一个温暖的日子。 杰克和安妮坐在房子的前廊上。 当安妮翻阅他的笔记本时，杰克正在看一本关于中国大熊猫的书。 “哦，”安妮说着又翻了几页。 “狂野西部的鬼城！”那个隐形钢琴师，记得吗？”“是的。” 安妮又翻了一页。 “还记得澳大利亚?小袋鼠，考拉，澳洲野狗！森林大火！”杰克抬起头来。 “是的，”他说。“听着，这很酷，但我现在不能说话。 我在努力读我书的最后一页。” “你很快就需要一个新笔记本了。 这个差不多满了。”安妮合上笔记本，把它放进杰克的背包里。 她舒展。“我想我要去骑自行车，”她说。 “也许去趟图书馆……去趟游泳池。” 杰克合上书。“成交！”他说。 “现在我需要一些新的东西来读。 我和你一起去图书馆。” 当杰克拉上背包时，他的余光瞥见了什么东西。 他转过身来，眼前的景象令人难以置信。

A small penguin was standing on the sidewalk in front of their house. "Penny?" Jack said. "Oh!" cried Annie. "Oh! Oh! Oh!" She dashed off the porch. Jack ran after Annie. They both knelt down beside the little penguin. "What are you doing here?" Annie asked. Jack picked Penny up, and he and Annie stroked the penguin's downy head. "Hey, what's happening, Penny?" he said. "Why are you here?" Peep. "The tree house!" said Annie. "It must be back." "Hey, guys!" Jack and Annie's dad called from behind the screen door of their porch. Annie quickly jumped in front of Jack to hide the little penguin. "What is it, Dad?" she said. "I just made some fresh lemonade," their dad said. "Thanks!" Annie said. "We'll have some as soon as we come back!" "We're heading into the woods for a few minutes!" said Jack.

一只小企鹅站在他们家门前的人行道上。 “一分钱吗?”杰克说。“哦！”安妮叫道。 “哦!哦!噢!”她冲出门廊。 杰克追着安妮跑。他们俩都跪在小企鹅旁边。 “你在这儿干什么？”安妮问。 杰克抱起佩妮，他和安妮抚摸着企鹅毛茸茸的头。 “嘿，怎么了，佩妮？”他说。 “你为什么在这里？”偷看。“树屋！”安妮说。 “它一定回来了。”“嘿,伙计们!”杰克和安妮的爸爸从门廊的纱门后面喊道。 安妮迅速跳到杰克面前，把小企鹅藏起来。 “什么事，爸爸？”她说。 “我刚做了一些新鲜的柠檬水，”他们的爸爸说。 “谢谢!”安妮说。“我们一回来就吃！”“我们要到树林里去几分钟！”杰克说。

"Okay. It'll be in the fridge," their dad said. "Thanks," said Jack. "See you later!" "Let's go!" said Annie. Holding Penny in his arms, Jack hurried with Annie down the sidewalk. "Did you come here with Teddy and Kathleen?" he asked the penguin. Peep. "Is that yes or no?" asked Jack. Peep. "Yes," Jack said. "No," said Annie at the same time. "I guess we'll soon find out," said Jack. Jack and Annie crossed the quiet street and headed into the Frog Creek woods. As they hurried through the dappled light, the air smelled of summer. Squirrels scurried up trees. Crows cawed to one another. When Jack and Annie came to the tallest oak, they stopped. The tree house was nestled in the branches near the top. A long rope ladder dangled down to the ground. "Teddy! Kathleen!" shouted Annie. There was no answer. Peep.

“好吧。它会在冰箱里，”他们的爸爸说。 “谢谢，”杰克说。“再见！”“我们走吧！”安妮说。 杰克抱着佩妮，带着安妮匆匆走过人行道。 “你是和泰迪和凯瑟琳一起来的吗？”他问企鹅。 偷看。“是还是不是？”杰克问。 偷看。“是的，”杰克说。“不，”安妮同时说。 “我想我们很快就会知道了。”杰克说。 杰克和安妮穿过安静的街道，向青蛙溪树林走去。 当他们匆匆穿过斑驳的灯光时，空气中弥漫着夏天的气息。 松鼠爬上了树。 乌鸦互相鸣叫。 当杰克和安妮来到最高的橡树前时，他们停了下来。 树屋坐落在靠近树顶的树枝间。 一架长长的绳梯垂到地上。 “泰迪!凯瑟琳！”安妮喊道。 没有人回答。偷看。

"So you came here all by yourself?" Jack said to Penny. "Is something wrong in Camelot? Are Teddy and Kathleen okay? What about Morgan and Merlin?" "Let's go!" said Annie. She started up the rope ladder. Still holding the little penguin, Jack awkwardly climbed after her. "Oh, wow!" said Annie when she reached the tree house. "Oh, wow what?" asked Jack. He hoisted Penny into the tree house and climbed in after her. Then he also whispered "Oh, wow." An old man with a long white beard, a pointed hat covered in stars, and a red cloak stood in a shadowy corner. "Merlin!" breathed Annie. "I see Penny found you," the master magician of Camelot said in his velvety voice. The little penguin waddled to Merlin and stood beside him. "Yes," said Jack. "She came right up to our house."

“所以你是一个人来的？”杰克对佩妮说。 “卡梅洛特出什么事了吗？” 泰迪和凯瑟琳还好吗？ 摩根和梅林怎么办？”“我们走吧！”安妮说。 她爬上绳梯。 杰克仍然抱着小企鹅，笨拙地跟着她爬了上去。 “哦，哇！”安妮走到树屋时说。 “哦，哇什么？”杰克问。 他把佩妮吊进树屋，跟着她爬了进去。 然后他也低声说：“哦，哇。” 一个长着白胡子的老人，戴着一顶缀满星星的尖顶帽子，披着一件红斗篷，站在阴暗的角落里。 “梅林！”安妮轻声说。“我看到佩妮找到你了，”卡梅洛特的魔术师大师用他柔软的声音说。 小企鹅摇摇摆摆地走向梅林，站在他身边。 “是的，”杰克说。“她直接来了我们家。”