1 The Kite in the Wind

WIND RIDERS SHIPWRECK IN SEAL BAY WRITTEN BY JEN MARLIN ILLUSTRATED BY MARTA KiSSi

海豹湾的风骑士沉船，作者：珍·马林，插图：玛尔塔·基西

Chapter 1 The Kite in the Wind The wind tugged at the cherry-red box kite in Sofia's hands. It almost flew out of her grip. "Whoops!" she exclaimed. "Max, are you ready? It wants to fly!" Max was hurriedly winding up the kite string. "Almost!" he called back. He finished winding, then unraveled a little bit of line from the spool. "Okay," he

风扯着索菲亚手里樱桃红色的盒子风筝。 它几乎从她手里飞了出去。 “哎呀！”她叫道。“麦克斯，你准备好了吗？” 它想飞！”马克斯匆忙地把风筝线缠上。 “快了！”他喊道。他绕完了线，然后从线轴上解开了一点线。 “好吧,”他

said. "One, two... three!" As Sofia let go, the kite strained at the line and floated straight up above them. "It's working!" Sofia cried. Max grinned. He lived with his grandpa, who was a retired fisher here in Starry Bay, and they had planned to go out in the boat this morning. But the wind was coming from the east, and Grandpa had told Max there was no point fishing when an easterly wind was blowing: Wind from the west, fish bite the best. Wind from the east, fish bite the least. Wind from the north, do not go forth. Wind from the south blows bait in their mouth. It was an old proverb, and Grandpa believed in it. But the east wind was perfect for flying kites! The kite swooped low as the wind stopped gusting for a moment. Max jogged across the sand, trying to keep tension in the string, and almost tripped over a towel and a plastic shovel. He passed a trio of kids licking ice cream, then ran around a propped-up umbrella and toward the marina, where tourists watched from wrought-iron tables. "Wait for me!" Sofia tightened her shoelaces and

说。“一个,两个…三!”索非亚一松手，风筝就拉紧了线，直飘到他们上方。 “这是工作!”索非亚哭了。 马克斯咧嘴一笑。他和爷爷住在一起，爷爷是星空湾的一名退休渔民，他们本来打算今天早上坐船出去。 但是风是从东方吹来的，爷爷告诉马克斯，在刮东风的时候钓鱼是没有意义的：风是从西边吹来的，鱼最容易上钩。 风从东来，鱼咬得最少。 风从北方吹来，走不出去。 南风把鱼饵吹进了它们的嘴里。 这是一句古老的谚语，爷爷相信它。 但是东风非常适合放风筝！风停了一会儿，风筝就低垂下来。 马克斯在沙滩上慢跑，试图保持绳子的张力，差点被毛巾和塑料铲绊倒。 他从三个正在舔冰淇淋的孩子身边经过，然后绕着一把撑着的伞跑向码头，游客们坐在锻铁桌子上看着他。 “等等我！”索非亚系紧了鞋带

then raced after him. She was a strong runner, and she caught up with him on the boardwalk, near the edge of the mangrove forest. As Max leaned over to catch his breath, the kite rippled in the wind. The sight of it reminded Sofia of something. "A scarlet macaw!" she said. "Doesn't it look like one?"

然后追上他。她跑得很快，在靠近红树林边缘的木板路上追上了他。 马克斯俯下身喘着气，风筝在风中飘动。 看到它，索非亚想起了什么。 “一只猩红色金刚鹦鹉！”她说。 “看起来不像吗？”

Max shot her another smile as he handed her the spool. He had known Sofia for only a short while, since her family had come to Starry Bay for the summer. But already, they shared a secret. They had discovered Wind Rider, a magical old boat that sailed to faraway places—like the Amazon rain forest, where scarlet macaws flew free. Just a few yards away, within the mangrove forest, that magical old sailboat waited for them. "Fly free, little kite," Sofia cheered as she held the string, but then she gasped as the kite dove toward the boardwalk, bounced twice, and landed on the dirt trail that led into the forest. "Max, look!" She pointed. There, beside the downed kite, stood a bird. It shook sand from its gray feathers and cocked its smooth white head. Then it fixed its wise, dark eyes on Max.

马克斯把线轴递给她时，又对她笑了笑。 他认识索非亚的时间不长，因为她的家人到星空湾来过夏天。 但他们已经分享了一个秘密。 他们发现了风骑士号，这是一艘神奇的旧船，可以航行到遥远的地方——比如亚马逊雨林，在那里猩红的金刚鹦鹉可以自由飞翔。 就在几码开外的红树林里，那艘神奇的旧帆船在等着他们。 “放飞吧，小风筝。”索非亚一边抓着线一边欢呼，但当风筝飞向木板路时，她倒吸了一口气，反弹了两次，落在通往森林的土路上。 “马克斯,你看!”她指出。那里，在被打倒的风筝旁边，站着一只鸟。 它抖掉灰色羽毛上的沙子，翘起光滑的白头。 然后，它那双睿智的黑眼睛盯着马克斯。

"It's our seagull!" Max whispered. This was the mysterious bird that arrived whenever it was time for another adventure on Wind Rider. "Are you sure?" asked Sofia. "Yes!" Max started chuckling. "It's got a splotch of ice cream on its beak! It's an even messier eater than I am." Sofia laughed, too. Their seagull friend was a notorious ice cream thief! They'd first met the bird when it had stolen hers. As if in response, the gull bobbed its head. Then it flapped its wings and led them toward the mangrove forest.

“是我们的海鸥！”马克斯低声说。 这是一只神秘的鸟，每当我们要在风骑士上进行另一次冒险的时候，它就会出现。 “你确定吗？”索菲亚问。 “是的!”麦克斯开始咯咯地笑起来。 “它的喙上有一块冰淇淋的斑点！”它吃东西比我还脏。” 索菲亚也笑了。他们的海鸥朋友是一个臭名昭著的冰淇淋小偷！他们第一次见到这只鸟是在它偷了她的时候。 好像是作为回应，海鸥摇了摇头。 然后它拍打着翅膀，带着他们向红树林飞去。