Chapter 1

The Ironwood Tree Book four of five.

《铁木树》第五卷中的第四卷。

Chapter One IN WHICH There Is Both a Fight and a Duel The engine of the station wagon was already running. Mallory leaned against the door, her everyday sneakers grungy against the bright white of her long fencing socks. Her hair was gelled and pulled back into a ponytail so tight that it made her eyes bulge. Mrs. Grace stood on the driver's side, her hands on her hips. "I found him!" Jared panted, running up to join them.

第一章战斗与决斗旅行车的引擎已经发动起来了。 马洛里靠在门上，平日穿的运动鞋在亮白色的击剑长袜的映衬下显得脏兮兮。 她的头发上了发胶，扎了一个马尾，扎得太紧，把她的眼睛都卷起来了。 格蕾丝太太站在司机那一边，双手叉腰。 “我找到他了！”杰瑞德喘着气，跑上前去加入他们。

"Simon," their mother called. "Where were you? We looked everywhere!" "The carriage house," Simon said. "Taking care of the... uh, a bird I found." Simon looked uncomfortable. He wasn't used to having to lie. That was mostly Jared's job. Mallory rolled her eyes. "Too bad Mom wouldn't leave without you." "Mallory," their mother said, shaking her head in disapproval. "All of you—get in the car. We're going to be late already, and I still have to drop something off." As Mallory turned to put her bag in the trunk, Jared noticed that her chest looked strange. Stiff and weirdly... big. "What are you wearing?" he asked, pointing. "Shut up," she said. He snickered. "It's just that you look like you've got—" "Shut up!" she said again, getting into the front seat of the car while the boys climbed in the back. "It's for protection, and I have to have it on."

“西蒙，”他们的妈妈叫道。 “你上哪儿去了？”我们到处都找遍了！”“马车房，”西蒙说。 “照顾好……呃，我找到的一只鸟。” 西蒙看起来很不自在。 他不习惯不得不说谎。 那主要是贾里德的工作。 马洛里翻了个白眼。“真可惜妈妈不肯丢下你走。” “马洛里，”他们的母亲说，不赞成地摇着头。 “你们所有人都上车。 我们已经要迟到了，我还得送点东西过去。” 当马洛里转身把包放进后备箱时，贾里德注意到她的胸部看起来很奇怪。 僵硬而怪异……大了。“你穿的是什么？”他指着问道。 “闭嘴，”她说。他窃笑起来。 “你看上去好像得了——”“闭嘴！”她又说了一遍，坐进了汽车的前座，孩子们则爬上了后座。 “这是为了保护，我必须戴上它。”

Jared smiled against the window and watched the woods go by. There hadn't been any faerie activity in more than two weeks—even Thimbletack had been quiet—and occasionally Jared had to remind himself that it was real. Sometimes it seemed like everything could be explained away. Even the burning water had been dismissed as simply being from a contaminated well. Until the old plumbing could be connected to a central line, they used gallons of supermarket water without Mom thinking it was strange. But there was Simon's griffin, and that couldn't be explained by anything but Arthur's field guide. "Stop chewing on your ponytail," their mother said to Mallory. "What is making you so jittery? Is this new team really that good?"

杰瑞德倚着窗户微笑，看着树林从他身边走过。 两个多星期以来，没有任何精灵的活动——就连西姆布兰蒂克也很安静——贾里德偶尔不得不提醒自己，这是真的。 有时似乎一切都可以用解释来解释。 即使是燃烧的水也被认为只是来自受污染的井。 在旧的管道可以连接到中央管道之前，他们使用了几加仑的超市水，而妈妈却没有觉得奇怪。 但有西蒙的狮鹫，这只能用亚瑟的野外指南来解释。 “别嚼你的马尾辫了，”妈妈对马洛里说。 “什么事让你这么紧张？” 这个新团队真的那么好吗？”

"I'm fine," Mallory said. Back in New York she'd fenced in sweatpants and a team jacket chosen from a pile. There had been a guy who'd hold up his hand on your side if you had scored. But at the new school, fencers wore real uniforms and had electric rapiers wired to a scoring machine that flashed lights when someone got hit. Jared thought that was enough to make anyone jumpy. Apparently their mother had another explanation. "It's that boy, isn't it? The one you

“我很好，”马洛里说。回到纽约，她穿着从一堆衣服中挑选的运动裤和队服。 曾经有一个人，如果你得分了，他会把手放在你身边。 但在这所新学校，击剑运动员穿着真正的制服，并将电剑连接到计分机上，当有人被击中时，计分机就会发光。 杰瑞德觉得这足以让人心惊胆战。 显然他们的母亲另有解释。 “就是那个男孩，对吗？”那个你

were talking to on Wednesday when I picked you up." "What boy?" Simon asked from the backseat, already starting to laugh. "Be quiet," said their mother, but she answered anyway. "Chris, the fencing captain. He is the captain, isn't he?" Their sister grunted noncommittally. "Chris and Mallory sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-IN- G," Simon sang. Jared giggled, and Mallory turned toward the backseat, eyes narrowed. "Want to lose all your baby teeth at once?" "Don't listen to them," their mother said. "And don't worry. You're a smart, pretty girl and a great fencer. I bet he likes you." "Mom!" Mallory groaned and sank lower in the front seat. Their mother stopped at the library where she worked, dropped off some paperwork, and returned to the idling car, somewhat out of breath.

星期三我来接你的时候和你说话的人。” “什么男孩?”西蒙坐在后座上问道，他已经笑了起来。 “安静，”他们的母亲说，但她还是回答了。 “克里斯，击剑队长。 他是船长，是吗？”他们的妹妹不置声色地哼了一声。 “克里斯和马洛里坐在一棵树上，K-I-S-S-IN- G，”西蒙唱道。 贾里德咯咯地笑了起来，马洛里眯着眼睛转向后座。 “想一次掉光乳牙吗？”“别听他们的，”他们的妈妈说。 “别担心。你是个聪明漂亮的女孩，还是个很棒的击剑手。 我打赌他喜欢你。”“妈妈!”马洛里呻吟了一声，在前座坐得更低了。 他们的母亲在她工作的图书馆停了下来，放下了一些文件，然后上气不接下气地回到空转的车上。