Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 Lily's first few days at the academy flew by. There was so much to do— teachers to meet, stable routines to work out, names to learn, and lessons to start. Lily concentrated really hard in all her classes, not wanting to give the teachers any excuse to be unhappy with her. She didn't like putting her hand up in class because she hated it when everyone looked at her, but she tried to make up for being quiet by putting lots of effort into her work. She was so tired at the end of each day that she fell asleep the minute she got into bed. "Can you believe we've been at the academy for three days?" she said to Feather on the fourth morning as she got her ready for their first lesson of the day— Care of Unicorns with Ms. Rosemary. Lily already thought of Feather as her best friend. She could talk to her about anything without feeling awkward or worrying about what Feather would think of her.

莉莉在学院的头几天过得飞快。 要做的事太多了——要见老师，要安排固定的日常工作，要学名字，要开始上课。 莉莉在所有的课上都很努力地集中注意力，不想给老师任何对她不满意的借口。 她不喜欢在课堂上举手，因为她讨厌每个人都盯着她看，但她努力通过努力学习来弥补沉默的不足。 她每天工作结束时都很累，所以一上床就睡着了。 “你能相信我们已经在学院呆了三天了吗？”第四天早上，她对羽毛说，一边帮她准备今天的第一节课——照顾独角兽。 迷迭香。莉莉已经把费瑟当成她最好的朋友了。 她可以和羽毛谈论任何事情，而不会感到尴尬，也不会担心羽毛会怎么看她。

"It's gone really fast," Feather agreed. "But…" "But what?' Lily prompted, lifting a strand of mane to comb it out. "I really like it here, but I still don't really know the other unicorns very well. They all act like they've known each other forever." "I feel like that too," Lily admitted. "Zara, Aisha, and Phoebe talk all the time, but I never know what to say so I usually don't say anything at all. I really like them, but I bet they all think I'm boring." "No one could think that!" said Feather. Lily smiled. "Thanks. I wish I could just speak out more…" She broke off as Phoebe, Zara, and Aisha arrived in the stables with a group of other students. Phoebe pointed dramatically at Lily. "It's Lily! She's safe!" Lily blinked. "What?" Phoebe waved a crumpled piece of paper with Lily's name in the corner. "I found this in the dorm when we got up. You seemed to have disappeared. We were sure that you'd been kidnapped and you were trying to write us a note before you were taken away."

“时间过得真快。”羽毛表示赞同。 “可是……”“可是什么？”莉莉提示道，举起一缕鬃毛，把它梳理了一下。 “我真的很喜欢这里，但我仍然不太了解其他的独角兽。 他们都表现得好像认识很久了一样。” “我也有这种感觉，”莉莉承认。 “Zara、Aisha和Phoebe一直在聊天，但我不知道该说什么，所以我通常什么也不说。 我真的很喜欢他们，但我敢打赌他们都觉得我很无聊。” “没人会这么想！”羽毛说。 莉莉笑了。“谢谢。当菲比、扎拉和艾莎和一群学生来到马厩时，她停住了。 菲比戏剧性地指着莉莉。 “莉莉!她是安全的!”莉莉眨了眨眼睛。 “什么?”菲比挥舞着角落里一张皱巴巴的纸，上面写着莉莉的名字。 “我们起床时，我在宿舍里发现了这个。 你好像消失了。 我们确信你被绑架了，你在被带走之前想给我们写张纸条。”

"Actually, it was Phoebe who was sure you'd been kidnapped," Zara put in with a sigh. "I was pretty sure you'd be here. You always get up early, before the rest of us. Your boots and coat had gone, and I noticed that you'd taken the roll of braiding ribbon that had been on your bedside table." "So is this yours?" Phoebe held out the piece of paper to Lily. "Yes, I meant to throw it away, but I must have missed," said Lily, stuffing the paper in a pocket. She loved folding paper into shapes, and she'd been trying to make a unicorn, but it hadn't gone very well. "It was just a bit of scrap paper, like Zara said. You're such a drama queen, Phoebe," said Aisha, shaking her head. "I might have been right," said Phoebe. "Lily might have been kidnapped." "Lily? Kidnapped?" Skye scoffed to Amber as they walked past. "Who'd want to kidnap quiet little Lily Mouse! She'd bore her kidnappers to death!" "Yeah," Amber agreed. "I bet the teachers wouldn't even notice she was gone, she's so quiet."

“实际上，是菲比确信你被绑架了。”扎拉叹了口气插嘴说。 “我很确定你会在这里。 你总是起得很早，比我们都早。 你的靴子和外套不见了，我注意到你拿走了放在床头柜上的一卷编织带。” “这是你的吗？”菲比把那张纸递给莉莉。 “是的，我本想把它扔掉的，但我一定是丢了。”莉莉说着，把报纸塞进了口袋。 她喜欢把纸折成各种形状，她一直在试着做一只独角兽，但做得不太好。 “就像扎拉说的，那只是一张废纸。 你真是个小题大做的人，菲比。”艾莎摇着头说。 “我可能是对的。”菲比说。 “莉莉可能被绑架了。” “莉莉吗?绑架?”他们走过时，斯凯嘲笑安布尔。 “谁会想绑架安静的小老鼠莉莉！”她会把绑架她的人烦死的！”“是的，”安布尔同意道。 “我敢说老师们根本不会注意到她走了，她那么安静。”

They giggled together as they went to get their grooming kits. Lily tipped her head forward so a wing of hair hid her embarrassment. The last thing she wanted was for Skye and Amber to look back and start squeaking at her. It was bad enough when they called her Lily Mouse. "Ignore them," said Aisha, glaring after Skye and Amber. Lily nodded. She knew that was the best thing to do, but it was easier said than done.

他们一边去拿美容用品，一边咯咯地笑着。 莉莉把头向前倾，一绺头发遮住了她的尴尬。 她最不希望的就是斯凯和安布尔回头看她，开始对她吱吱叫。 他们叫她莉莉老鼠已经够糟糕的了。 “别理他们，”艾莎说，瞪着斯凯和安布尔。 莉莉点了点头。她知道这是最好的办法，但说起来容易做起来难。

Ms. Rosemary arrived carrying a big box of colored ribbons. "Morning, everyone. As I told you yesterday, we're going to be practicing braiding today. I'm going to demonstrate on my unicorn, Blossom. Please make your way outside now with your unicorns and bring your grooming kits." Lily and Feather stayed behind as everyone rushed to go outside, tagging along at the back as the students and unicorns formed a large circle around Blossom. "Before you can start braiding, you need to comb your unicorn's mane out with either of these," said Ms. Rosemary, holding up a metal comb and a soft brush. "You start by sectioning the mane into small pieces, like this." As Ms. Rosemary began separating out Blossom's golden mane, Ms. Nettles appeared and beckoned her over. The two teachers broke off to talk in whispers, glancing toward Lily and Feather. "Lily, they seem to be looking at us," said Feather uneasily. "I know." Lily felt anxious as she watched Ms. Rosemary and Ms. Nettles glance at them again. Had Ms. Nettles realized she'd made a mistake in inviting her to train as a guardian? Had she heard how

罗斯玛丽女士带着一大盒彩带来了。 “早,每一个人。正如我昨天告诉你们的，我们今天要练习编辫子。 我要在我的独角兽布洛森身上演示一下。 现在请带着你们的独角兽出去，带上你们的化妆包。” 同学们和独角兽们围着布洛姆围成一个大圈，莉莉和羽毛留在后面，大家都跑出去了。 “在你开始编辫子之前，你需要用其中任何一种梳子把你的独角兽的鬃毛梳理出来。” 罗斯玛丽，拿着一把金属梳子和一把软刷子。 “你先把鬃毛切成小块，就像这样。” 罗斯玛丽开始梳理布洛森的金色鬃毛。 荨麻出现了，招呼她过去。 两位老师停了下来，小声说话，看了看莉莉和羽毛。 “莉莉，他们好像在看着我们。”羽毛不安地说。 “我知道。”莉莉看着她的女儿。 罗斯玛丽和荨麻女士又看了他们一眼。 难道奈特尔斯女士意识到邀请她来训练监护人是个错误吗？ 如果她听说

quiet she was in class? Was she going to send her home? Her heart sped up as Ms. Nettles walked over. Ms. Nettles smiled kindly. "Lily dear, I'd like to talk to you. It won't take long." Lily could feel everyone's eyes on her as she followed Ms. Nettles over to a drinking trough in a quiet corner of the yard. Her heart was now banging like a drum. Ms. Nettles turned to face her. "Please don't send me home!" The words burst out of Lily before Ms. Nettles could speak. "Please, Ms. Nettles! I really want to be a guardian. I don't want to leave! I'll try really hard to speak more." Ms. Nettles blinked in surprise. "Leave? Whatever are you talking about, Lily?" "I…I…," Lily stuttered. "I thought you were about to say that you'd made a mistake by inviting me to be a student here." Ms. Nettles's gaze softened. "I most certainly was not about to say that. Your teachers have all told me how pleased they are with you. They say you are one of our hardest-working students. Why ever would I want to send you home?" Lily looked at the floor. Ms. Nettles regarded her for a moment. "You

她在课堂上很安静？她要送她回家吗？ 当奈特尔斯女士走过来时，她的心跳加快了。 奈特尔斯女士和蔼地笑了。 “亲爱的莉莉，我想和你谈谈。 不会花很长时间的。”当莉莉跟在她身后时，她能感觉到每个人都在看着她。 荨麻走到院子里一个安静角落里的饮水槽边。 她的心像鼓一样砰砰作响。 奈特尔斯太太转过身来面对她。 “请不要送我回家！”这句话从莉莉面前脱口而出。 荨麻会说话。“请女士。 荨麻!我真的很想当守护者。 我不想离开！我会努力多说话的。” 奈特尔斯女士惊讶地眨了眨眼。 “离开?你在说什么呢，莉莉？”“我……我……”莉莉结结巴巴地说。 “我还以为你要说邀请我来这里读书是个错误呢。” 奈特尔斯的目光变得柔和了。 “我当然不会这么说。 你们的老师都告诉我，他们对你们非常满意。 他们说你是我们最用功的学生之一。 我为什么要送你回家呢？”莉莉看着地板。 奈特尔斯太太看了她一会儿。 “你