8 IN THE LOOP

CHAPTER 8 IN THE LOOP After school, the sky was still partly cloudy and the ground was still partly wormy. "There are fewer night crawlers than before," said Alexander. "You're right," said Nikki. "I wonder where they oof!" She had stumbled over a mound of dirt. "Watch out for molehills," she said, pointing to a second dirt pile. Rip walked behind Alexander and Nikki, swinging his practice foil. "It's so awesome we get to take our swords home!"

第八章循环圈放学后，天空仍然阴云密布，地上仍然有一部分虫子。 “夜行动物比以前少了，”亚历山大说。 “你说得对，”妮基说。 “我不知道他们去哪儿了！”她被一堆土绊了一跤。 “小心鼹鼠丘，”她指着另一堆土说。 里普走在亚历山大和尼基后面，挥舞着练习花剑。 “我们能把剑带回家真是太棒了！”

Alexander rubbed his chin. "Don't you think Coach Gill is kind of... strange?" "No way!" said Rip, slicing at the air. "She's great!" "But what about her mask?" asked Alexander. "She never takes it off even outside of class."

亚历山大揉了揉下巴。 “你不觉得吉尔教练有点…… 很奇怪吗?”“不可能！”里普说着，向空中挥了一刀。 “她太好了!”“那她的面具呢？”亚历山大问。 “她甚至在课外也从不摘下它。”

"Coach Gill is a professional!" Rip lowered his foil. "You wouldn't understand, unless you were into sword-fighting." "You mean fencing," said Nikki. "Eat worms, weirdo!" Rip yelled. "Guys! Stop!" Alexander said. "Look!" He pointed to the sidewalk. Dozens of night crawlers had twisted themselves into a loopy squiggle. "Whoa," said Rip. "It's some kind of secret code." "That's no code," said Alexander. "It's fancy lettering! The worms are writing something." He squinted. "Can you guys read cursive?" "Nope," Rip said. "They don't teach cursive at Stermont Elementary."

“吉尔教练是专业的！”里普放下了他的剑。 “你不会明白的，除非你喜欢剑术。” “你是说击剑，”妮基说。 “吃虫子吧，怪人！”Rip喊道。 “男人!住手!”亚历山大说。 “看!”他指着人行道。 几十只夜行动物把自己扭成一个怪圈。 “哇，”瑞普说。“这是某种密码。” “那不是什么密码。”亚历山大说。 “字体真漂亮！”虫子在写东西。” 他眯起了双眼。“你们会看草书吗？”“不，”瑞普说。 “斯特蒙特小学不教草书。”

"I can read it," Nikki said. "What?" Rip snapped. "If I can't read it, then neither can you!" "Sure I can," Nikki said. "I learned cursive years ago." Rip cocked his head. "Years ago? Baloney! That's "Great!" said Alexander, putting a hand on Rip's shoulder. "So, Nikki, what are the worms trying to tell us?" Nikki peered at Alexander from under her hood. "Beware! The fish are coming!"

“我能读，”妮基说。 “什么?”Rip厉声说。“如果我看不懂，那你也看不懂！”“当然可以，”妮基说。 “我几年前学过草书。” 里普歪着头。“年前? 胡扯!“太棒了！”亚历山大说，一只手搭在瑞普的肩膀上。 “那么，妮基，这些虫子想告诉我们什么？”妮基从引擎盖下凝视着亚历山大。 “小心!鱼来了！”