Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN Isla and Buttercup left the stables to go to the drill ride practice. I'll tell Diamond dorm about Valentina's letters just as soon as I get a chance to speak to them on their own, thought Isla. Diamond dorm were ahead of her, laughing with the boys from Topaz dorm as Matilda and Miki tried to trip each other up. Ms Nettles came marching towards the stables. "Matilda! Stop that this instant!" she shouted. "Sorry, Miss," said Matilda, giving her an apologetic grin as Miki stumbled.

第七章艾拉和毛茛离开马厩去练骑马了。 我一有机会和戴蒙德宿舍的人单独谈话，就把瓦伦蒂娜的信告诉他们，艾拉想。 钻石宿舍在她的前面，和黄玉宿舍的男生们一起笑着，玛蒂尔达和美琪试图绊倒对方。 荨麻女士大步走向马厩。 “玛蒂尔达!马上住手！”她喊道。 “对不起，小姐，”玛蒂尔达说，在米基绊倒时向她道歉地笑了笑。

"It was my fault too, sorry, Miss," said Miki. Ms Nettles ignored him. "Matilda, you will not ride this afternoon. Instead you'll write out a hundred lines saying I must behave more appropriately." Matilda gaped in shock. "But… I said sorry and we're about to practise the drill ride…" "Silence or I shall make that two hundred lines!" Isla and Violet exchanged astonished looks. The teachers were all uptight about finding Ms Willow, especially Ms Nettles, but she was never usually so fierce or unfair. Matilda looked close

“这也是我的错，对不起，小姐，”美琪说。 荨麻女士没有理睬他。“玛蒂尔达，今天下午你不能骑马了。 相反，你要写一百行字，说我必须举止得体。” 玛蒂尔达吓得目瞪口呆。“可是……我说了对不起，我们正准备练习骑马练习……”“安静点，不然我就写二百行！”艾拉和维奥莱特交换了惊讶的目光。 老师们都为找到威洛女士而紧张不安，尤其是荨麻女士，但她平时从来没有这么凶狠或不公平。 玛蒂尔达凑近看了看

to tears. "Please, Ms Nettles. We've so little time left to practice," Rosa begged. "Can't Matilda do lines later?" "One hundred lines for the whole of Diamond dorm!" Ms Nettles barked. Everyone gasped. Ms Nettles looked around. "Anyone else?" she enquired. No one dared to move. She nodded. "Diamond dorm, take your unicorns back and go inside now. The rest of you get on with your practise. Oh, and Valentina?" "Yes?" Valentina looked at her warily. Ms Nettles was her aunt, but she never showed Valentina any special favours. "I would like you to have a starring role in the drill ride." Valentina blinked. "But I'm not ready to graduate." Isla knew that at the start of the year, Valentina would have loved to have a main role. Now she looked almost upset. "Shouldn't I just do what everyone else does?" Valentina went on. Ms Nettles smiled at her. "Always so modest, Valentina. No, you deserve this role. Come to my

得流下了眼泪。“求你了，荨麻女士。 我们练习的时间太少了，”罗莎恳求道。 “玛蒂尔达不能等会再写台词吗？”“整个钻石宿舍要排一百排！”荨麻咆哮着。 每个人都气喘吁吁地说。荨麻女士环顾四周。 “还有其他人吗？”她问。 没有人敢动。她点了点头。 “钻石宿舍，把你们的独角兽拿回去，现在就进去。 剩下的人继续练习吧。 哦，瓦伦蒂娜呢？”“是吗?”瓦伦蒂娜警惕地看着她。 奈特尔斯女士是瓦伦蒂娜的姨妈，但她从来没有给过瓦伦蒂娜任何特殊的恩惠。 “我希望你能在演习中扮演主角。” 瓦伦提娜眨了眨眼睛。“但我还没准备好毕业。” 艾拉知道，在今年年初，瓦伦蒂娜会喜欢扮演一个主要角色。 现在她看起来几乎心烦意乱。 “难道我不应该像其他人那样做吗？”瓦伦蒂娜接着说。 荨麻对她笑了笑。“总是那么谦虚，瓦伦蒂娜。 不，你配得上这个角色。 来我的

study straight after dinner and we'll have a quick chat about it." She turned and strode away. As soon as Ms Nettles was out of earshot everyone started to talk at once. "What's going on?" hissed Himmat from Topaz dorm. "I've never known the Nettle Patch to be so prickly!" "It's not fair," said Miki. "I'm as much to blame as Matilda and Ms Nettles didn't give me lines." "I'm sure she'll give you some if you want," said Jake with a grin. "Just go and ask her." "Maybe not," said Miki, rolling his eyes. "But I do feel bad for Diamond dorm." Isla glanced at Valentina. Did she know why her aunt was in such a bad mood? Valentina looked up. "What are you staring at?" she demanded. "Nothing," Isla said hurriedly. When afternoon lessons were over, Isla went to the barn to meet up with Diamond dorm. "Did

晚饭后直接学习，我们可以快速聊一聊。” 她转身大步走开了。 荨麻女士一走到听不见的地方，大家就立刻开始议论起来。 “发生什么事了？”黄玉宿舍里的希玛特嘶嘶地问。 “我从来没见过荨麻地这么多刺！”“这不公平，”美琪说。 “玛蒂尔达和尼特尔斯女士都没有给我台词，这都怪我。” “我敢肯定，如果你想要的话，她会给你一些的。”杰克笑着说。 “去问她吧。”“也许不是，”三木翻着白眼说。 “但我确实为戴蒙德宿舍感到难过。” 艾拉瞥了瓦伦蒂娜一眼。 她知道她姨妈为什么心情这么不好吗？ 瓦伦蒂娜抬起头来。“你在看什么？”她问。 “没什么，”艾拉急忙说。 下午的课结束后，艾拉去谷仓和戴蒙德宿舍会合。 “

you get your lines done?" she asked them. They all nodded. "I still don't understand why Ms Nettles was so mean," said Violet. "It was very weird," Rosa agreed, "but we're here to discuss Ms Willow and how we're going to find her. We're running out of time." Isla felt suddenly hot. This was her moment to tell the others about Valentina's letters and the conversation she'd overheard between Valentina and Golden Briar. But now the moment was here, doubts filled her mind again. What if she'd made a huge mistake? She'd look like a complete idiot! "The good thing is, Ms Willow can't get into the school grounds," said Ariana. "The teachers have put protection spells on the boundaries to keep her out." Isla hesitated. If Ms Willow couldn't get into the grounds then how could Valentina be planning on meeting her? Ms Willow couldn't be the mystery letter writer. Isla swallowed and kept silent.

你们的台词都写好了吗？”她问他们。 他们都点了点头。“我还是不明白为什么荨麻老师那么刻薄，”维奥莱特说。 “这很奇怪，”罗莎表示赞同，“但我们是来讨论威洛女士以及我们如何找到她的。 我们的时间不多了。” 艾拉突然感到一阵热。这是她告诉其他人瓦伦蒂娜的信和她偷听到的瓦伦蒂娜和金荆棘之间的对话的时刻。 但是现在时机到了，她又开始怀疑了。 如果她犯了大错呢？ 她会看起来像个十足的白痴！“好消息是，威罗女士不能进入学校操场。”阿利安娜说。 “老师们在边界上施了保护咒，把她挡在外面。” 伊斯拉犹豫了。如果威罗女士都进不去那瓦伦蒂娜怎么可能计划和她见面呢？ 那封神秘的信不可能是威洛女士写的。 艾拉咽了口气，保持沉默。

After dinner, Isla left the table at the same time as Valentina. "We're going to the barn with the unicorns," said Violet, as Isla passed her. "Are you coming?" "I'll join you in a bit," said Isla. Valentina had been unusually quiet over dinner and she wanted to see if she could find out why. Maybe she'd had another letter? As Isla followed Valentina up the stairs, Ms Nettles appeared. "There you are, Valentina. Are you ready for our meeting? I hope so. Tonight, I want to help you." Valentina smiled as she and Ms Nettles went down the teachers' corridor together. Something bothered Isla as she watched them. What was it? Tonight, I want to help you. The words echoed in her head. They were the exact same ones that had been written in Valentina's mystery letters. Could it be a coincidence? Surely Ms Nettles couldn't be the letter writer, could she? Isla hurried along the corridor, tiptoeing the last few metres up to Ms Nettles' study. The door

晚饭后，艾拉和瓦伦蒂娜同时离开了餐桌。 “我们要和独角兽们一起去谷仓。”当艾拉从她身边经过时，维奥莱特说。 “你要来吗？”“我马上就来。”艾拉说。 瓦伦蒂娜在晚餐时异常安静，她想看看能否找出原因。 也许她又收到了一封信？ 当艾拉跟着瓦伦蒂娜上楼时，奈特尔斯女士出现了。 “你在这儿，瓦伦蒂娜。 你准备好开会了吗？ 我希望如此。今晚，我想帮助你。” 瓦伦蒂娜微笑着和荨麻老师一起走过教师走廊。 艾拉看着他们，心里有些不安。 是什么？今晚，我想帮助你。 这些话在她脑子里回响。 它们和瓦伦蒂娜的神秘信里写的一模一样。 这是巧合吗？ 当然，荨麻女士不可能是写信的人，对吗？ 艾拉匆匆走过走廊，踮着脚尖走了最后几米，来到了荨麻女士的书房。 门