Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE Clutching a length of sparkly silver ribbons in one hand and a grooming box in the other, Sophia joined Rainbow in his stable. The unicorn whickered in delight. "Are the ribbons for me? Are you going to plait them in my mane and tail?" "I am," said Sophia, stroking Rainbow's neck. "But first I'm going to groom you. You've got sky berry juice on your face." Sophia hung the ribbons in Rainbow's stable but before she could reach for a brush a scream rang out. "Aaargh! Help! There's a gross frog with

第五章索菲亚一手抓着一段闪闪发光的银带，另一只手拿着一个梳妆盒，和彩虹一起走进马厩。 独角兽高兴地叫着。 “这些丝带是给我的吗？”你要把它们编在我的鬃毛和尾巴上吗？”“我是，”索菲亚抚摸着彩虹的脖子说。 “但首先我要给你打扮一下。 你脸上有天空莓汁。” 索菲亚把彩带挂在彩虹的马厩里，但她还没来得及伸手去拿刷子，就听到了一声尖叫。 “了!的帮助!有一只恶心的青蛙

bulgy eyes in my grooming kit." Valentina! Sophia recognised her shrill voice at once. "And there's one in mine!" "Mine too! Ugh! Yuck!" Sophia went to her door. There was chaos in

我的美容套装里有一双突出的眼睛。” 瓦伦提娜!索菲亚立刻听出了她那刺耳的声音。 “我的里面也有一只！”“我也是!啊!恶心!”索菲亚走到她的门口。 那里一片混乱。

the stables. Valentina had clambered into a hay manger for safety, where she was fending off three other girls who were trying to climb up too. The floor was covered with frogs, with knobbly blue skin and huge orange eyes. "Don't hurt them! Everyone, stand still," said Ava, rushing past Sophia with a bucket half-filled with water. Kneeling down, she began carefully putting the frogs into it. Sophia went to help. There was a large frog in her own grooming kit and she scooped it up in her hands then went in search of a bucket too. When the last frog had been rescued, the boys sauntered in, led by Billy. Sophia guessed at once from his amused expression that he'd been behind the prank. "Boys!" said Ava crossly, and strode towards Billy. She didn't even reach his shoulder but she put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "That was really mean of you. The poor frogs! You shouldn't treat animals that

马厩。为了安全起见，瓦伦蒂娜爬进了一个干草槽，在那里她挡住了另外三个也想爬上去的女孩。 地板上爬满了青蛙，它们有着凹凸不平的蓝色皮肤和巨大的橙色眼睛。 “别伤害他们！”每个人都站着别动，”艾娃说着，提着半桶水从索菲亚身边冲了过去。 她跪下来，开始小心翼翼地把青蛙放进去。 索菲亚过去帮忙。她自己的化妆包里有一只大青蛙，她用手捧起它，然后也去找了一个桶。 当最后一只青蛙被救出来后，男孩们在比利的带领下悠闲地走了进来。 索菲亚从他那逗乐的表情立刻猜到他是这场恶作剧的幕后主使。 “孩子们！”艾娃生气地说，大步走向比利。 她甚至没够到他的肩膀，但她把手放在臀部，怒视着他。 “你真是太刻薄了。 可怜的青蛙！你不应该那样对待动物

way." Sophia blinked in surprise. Ava was so gentle and sweet but she clearly had a temper too. "I hate it when people are unkind to animals!" Ava continued. "I won't let it happen!" Billy lifted his hands. "Whoa! OK, we're sorry. We won't do it again." "You'd better not!" said Ava, fixing him with a glare that was worthy of Ms Nettles. "Where did you find these frogs?" "In a pond in the woods—" Billy broke off as Ms Rosemary came up behind them. "What's going on here?" asked the teacher. The boys shuffled their feet uneasily. "Nothing, Ms Rosemary," said Ava, holding the bucket behind her back. Sophia was glad Ava hadn't told Ms Rosemary that the boys had been responsible. As annoying as the prank had been, the frogs

方式。”索菲亚惊讶地眨了眨眼。 艾娃是那么温柔可爱，但她显然也有脾气。 “我讨厌人们对动物不友善！”艾娃继续说。 “我不会让这种事发生的！”比利举起双手。 “哇!好吧，我们很抱歉。我们不会再这样做了。” “你最好别这样！”艾娃说着，狠狠地瞪了他一眼，那眼神配得上荨麻小姐。 “你在哪里找到这些青蛙的？”“在树林里的一个池塘里——”当罗斯玛丽小姐走到他们身后时，比利停住了。 “这是怎么回事？”老师问。 男孩们不安地拖着脚。 “没什么，罗斯玛丽女士，”艾娃说，把水桶放在背后。 索菲亚很高兴艾娃没有告诉罗斯玛丽女士是男孩们干的。 尽管恶作剧很烦人，青蛙们

hadn't been hurt. Sophia had a feeling that the boys would think twice about playing a trick like that again– especially when Ava was around! At lunchtime, instead of going to the refectory, Sophia, Rainbow, Ava and Star sneaked away to the woods. Sophia and Ava each carried a bucket of frogs. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Ava. "The woods are out of bounds and I've heard they're really dangerous." "We won't need to go far," said Sophia. "Billy said they'd only just started exploring the woods for a dare when they found the frogs." "Be careful, everyone," said Star. "There are dangerous creatures in here." Rainbow snorted. "I wonder if we'll meet any!" The four of them entered the woods. The

没有受伤。索菲娅有一种感觉，男孩们在玩这样的把戏时会三思——尤其是当艾娃在身边的时候！午餐时间，索菲亚、彩虹、艾娃和星星没有去食堂，而是偷偷溜到树林里去了。 索菲亚和艾娃每人提着一桶青蛙。 “你确定这是个好主意吗？”艾娃问。 “森林是禁区，我听说那里非常危险。” “我们不需要走很远，”索菲亚说。 “比利说他们刚开始在树林里探险，就发现了青蛙。” “大家要小心，”星星说。 “这里有危险的生物。” 彩虹哼了一声。“我不知道我们会不会遇到！”他们四个人走进了树林。 的

thick canopy of leaves overhead blocked out the sunlight and the air felt cold as they rode down a path that twisted its way round thorny bushes and ancient tree trunks. Sophia shivered and wrapped her hands in Rainbow's thick mane to keep them warm. The woods did feel scary and dangerous. She glanced at the shadows, wondering what might be hiding there. Rainbow pushed through some brambles as the path narrowed. Sophia looked into the bucket to check the frogs were OK and frowned. "Weird. The water in this bucket has changed! It was dusty and dirty before but now it's totally clear. Has yours changed too?" she asked Ava. Ava checked. "Yes!" she said in surprise. "It must be something to do with the frogs," said Star. Ava looked thoughtful. "It could be. Maybe there's some magic in them."

头顶上厚厚的树叶遮住了阳光，当他们沿着一条蜿蜒在荆棘丛生的灌木丛和古老的树干之间的小路骑行时，空气感到很冷。 索菲亚打了个寒颤，用彩虹浓密的鬃毛捂住双手取暖。 森林确实让人感到恐惧和危险。 她瞥了一眼阴影，不知道那里可能藏着什么。 随着小路的变窄，彩虹穿过了一些荆棘。 索菲亚看了看桶里的青蛙是否安然无恙，然后皱起了眉头。 “奇怪。这桶里的水变了！以前又脏又满是灰尘，但现在完全干净了。 你的也变了吗？”她问艾娃。 艾娃检查。“是的！”她惊讶地说。 “这一定和青蛙有关。”星星说。 艾娃看上去若有所思。“有可能。 也许里面有魔法。”