10 The World Under the Stairs

Ten The World Under the Stairs Swoosh! Swoosh! Pink air swirled all around the flying carpet. "We did it! We're free!" cried Keeah. She looked over the side until Plud was a tiny dot on the ground. Then she turned to Eric. "Thank you. You helped me, even though you didn't know me. Now let me get you home." Eric scanned the distance. "The magic stairs faded. I don't know where they are now." "I saw them in a dream once," Keeah said, narrowing her eyes. "They were in the ice hills of Tarabat. Let's try there. Julie, head north!"

第十章楼梯下的世界嗖的一声!粉红色的空气在飞毯周围旋转。 “我们成功了！”我们自由了！”基娅叫道。 她从侧面看了看，直到普拉德变成了地上的一个小点。 然后她转向埃里克。“谢谢。 你帮助了我，尽管你不认识我。 现在让我送你回家。”埃里克扫视了一下远处。 神奇的楼梯消失了。我不知道他们现在在哪里。” “我曾经在梦里见过他们，”姬娅眯起眼睛说。 “他们在塔拉巴特的冰山上。 我们去那里试试。朱莉，往北走！”

Julie pulled hard, and the rug swept upward. As they flew, snow began to swirl in the air. Cold winds howled over them. A few minutes later, they were swerving through narrow mountain passes and over icy peaks.

朱莉使劲拉，地毯向上卷了起来。 他们飞的时候，雪开始在空中打旋。 寒风在他们头上呼啸而过。 几分钟后，他们转弯穿过狭窄的山口，翻越冰峰。

Suddenly, a rainbow of colors glistened ahead of them. "There it is!" cried Neal. "We found it!" Julie tugged a fringe. The carpet dipped toward the hills. It slowed and hovered at the foot of the stairs. The three friends hopped to the bottom step. Eric turned to Keeah. "Galen was right. We did enter a world in trouble." Keeah nodded. "But a world with hope, too. Thanks to all of you, I can keep fighting Lord Sparr." Eric handed her Galen's invisible cloak. "Galen said we can't take anything with us." Keeah smiled. She held the soccer ball in her hands for a moment, then tossed it to Eric. "And don't leave anything behind!" Then she tugged on the carpet. Obediently, it pulled away from the steps. "Will we see you again?" Eric called out. The icy air began to sing all around Keeah. "If the magic works, you will!" A moment later, she soared over the hills. Eric stared into the snowy air until she was gone. "If the magic works?" "Better hurry," Julie said, starting up the steps, "or we'll be stuck in this snowstorm forever."

突然，彩虹般的色彩在他们面前闪烁。 “在那儿！”尼尔叫道。 “我们找到了！”朱莉拉了拉刘海。 地毯向小山倾斜。 它放慢了速度，在楼梯脚下盘旋。 三个朋友跳到了最下面的台阶上。 埃里克转向基娅。盖伦是对的。 我们确实进入了一个有麻烦的世界。” Keeah点点头。但这也是一个充满希望的世界。 多亏了你们，我才能继续和斯帕尔大人战斗。” 埃里克把盖伦的隐形斗篷递给她。 “盖伦说我们不能带走任何东西。” Keeah笑了。她手里拿着足球一会儿，然后把它扔给了埃里克。 “什么也别落下！”然后她拉了拉地毯。 它顺从地离开了台阶。 “我们还会再见到你吗？”埃里克喊道。 冰冷的空气开始在Keeah周围歌唱。 “如果魔法成功了，你就会成功！”过了一会儿，她飞越了山丘。 埃里克凝视着下雪的天空，直到她离开。 “如果魔法起作用了？”“最好快点，”朱莉说，开始走上台阶，“否则我们将永远被困在这场暴风雪中。”

The three friends ran up the stairs and entered the small room in Eric's basement. Eric turned to take one last look at the strange world of snow beneath them. "Good-bye, Droon," he said. He touched the wall next to him. Click! The light went on. The cement floor instantly took shape beneath them. The world under the stairs disappeared. As if it had never existed. The three friends just stared at one another for a long time. Finally Eric opened the door and walked out into the basement. It was still cluttered and messy. "I don't know," he said, dropping the soccer ball onto the dusty chair. "It does seem kind of impossible, doesn't it?" "Oh, yeah?" Neal said, holding his stomach. "I still feel that rug bouncing under me." "And we helped Keeah," Julie said. "That was real. It was too cool not to be real!" Eric slid a box in front of the door. "Galen told us to keep Droon a secret. And Keeah said we'll know we're going back, 'if the magic works.' Until then, I guess we just have to wait." Julie checked her watch. "We've been gone for hours. We'd better tell our parents we're okay."

三个朋友跑上楼梯，进了埃里克家地下室的小房间。 埃里克转过身，最后看了一眼他们脚下奇怪的雪地世界。 “再见，德鲁恩。”他说。 他碰了碰旁边的墙。 点击!灯亮了。他们脚下的水泥地面立刻成形了。 楼梯下的世界消失了。 仿佛它从未存在过。 三个朋友只是面面相觑了很长时间。 最后埃里克打开门，走到地下室。 房间里仍然乱七八糟。 “我不知道，”他说着，把足球扔到满是灰尘的椅子上。 “这似乎是不可能的，不是吗？”“哦,是吗?”尼尔捂着肚子说。 “我还能感觉到脚下的地毯在弹跳。” “我们还帮助了基娅，”朱莉说。 “那是真的。这太酷了，不可能不是真的！”埃里克把一个盒子塞到门前。 “盖伦叫我们对德鲁恩保密。 基娅说，如果魔法奏效，我们就会知道我们要回去了。在那之前，我想我们只能等了。” 朱莉看了看表。“我们已经走了好几个小时了。 我们最好告诉父母我们没事。”

Together they tramped up to the kitchen. Eric took a deep breath and opened the door. His mother was sitting at the dinner table. She had a shocked look on her face. "Eric?" "Mom, let me try to explain. We—" "Eric," she said, "you'll never get the job done if you give up so soon." She pointed to the clock. It was only ten minutes after two. "We did all that in ten minutes?" Neal said. Julie's mouth dropped open. "That means—" Mrs. Hinkle stood up. "You've finished the entire basement?" She started for the door. "Mom, no!" Eric said, blocking the door. "Actually, we didn't get far. There's still a lot to do." She glared at him. "Because after the basement is the attic. And the porch. And the garage—" Wham! The basement door slammed shut as Eric and his friends rushed back down the stairs. They stopped at the bottom and stared. Floating silently in the middle of the messy room was the soccer ball. Across the surface of the ball were letters written in thin blue ink.

他们一起迈着沉重的步子来到厨房。 埃里克深吸了一口气，打开了门。 他的母亲正坐在餐桌旁。 她脸上露出震惊的表情。 “埃里克?”“妈妈，让我解释一下。 我们——”“埃里克，”她说，“如果你这么快就放弃，你永远也完成不了这项工作。” 她指着钟。此时才两点十分。 “我们十分钟就做完了？”Neal说。 朱莉的嘴张得大大的。 “那就是说——”欣克尔太太站了起来。 “你把整个地下室都装修完了？”她朝门口走去。 “妈妈,不!”埃里克堵着门说。 “实际上，我们并没有走多远。 还有很多事情要做。” 她怒视着他。“因为地下室之后就是阁楼。 还有门廊。车库——“砰！”地下室的门砰地关上了，埃里克和他的朋友们冲下楼梯。 他们在水底停了下来，凝视着。 足球静静地漂浮在凌乱的房间中央。 球的表面是用蓝色细墨水写的字母。