Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 At dinnertime, Lily found out she was not the only one with family who'd been affected by a purple tornado. Reports had come in of other tornadoes that had struck, leaving a trail of damage and a thick layer of purple dust behind. "My aunt on the east coast lost every tree in her garden," Johan from Topaz dorm announced, twirling a strand of spaghetti around his fork. "One tree landed across her front door. The neighbors had to rescue her." "My dad was taking a bath when the roof blew right off our house," said Spike. "He said he'd never grabbed a towel so quickly!" There was a lot of laughter. Spike grinned and ran a hand through his red hair. "It's true," he added. "And my granny was staying over, and her false teeth ended up in the paddock with Franny, the donkey. Mom only just stopped Franny from eating them." Lily giggled. Sometimes she didn't know who

晚餐时，莉莉发现她不是唯一一个有家人受到紫色龙卷风影响的人。 其他龙卷风袭击的报告陆续传来，留下了一连串的破坏和一层厚厚的紫色灰尘。 “我在东海岸的阿姨把她花园里的树都弄丢了，”来自Topaz宿舍的约翰一边在叉子上捻着一根意大利面一边宣布。 一棵树落在她的前门上。 邻居们不得不去救她。” 斯派克说：“屋顶被风吹走的时候，我爸爸正在洗澡。” “他说他从来没有这么快抓起毛巾！”大家都笑了。 斯派克咧嘴一笑，用手捋了捋他的红头发。 “这是真的，”他补充说。“我奶奶在这里过夜，她的假牙和驴子弗兰尼一起落在了围场里。 妈妈只是不让弗兰妮吃。” 莉莉咯咯笑了。有时她不知道是谁

told taller tales— Spike or Phoebe. "Hmm. I wonder what's causing all these tornadoes." Zara pulled a tiny notebook and pencil from her pocket. She wrote the date at the top of a new page. "It's extremely unusual to have so many all at once. I think we should make notes of where the tornadoes happened and at what time." "Wow, I feel so much safer now that Detective Zara is on the case," said Skye sarcastically, rolling her eyes at Amber. Zara glared at Skye. "My uncle actually is a detective and I've been learning lots of skills from him." "My uncle actually is a detective," Skye mimicked, sounding remarkably like Zara. "Get over yourself, Zara. The tornadoes are caused by freak weather. The fact there are so many is just a coincidence." Lily wished she could be like Zara and shrug off Skye's teasing. "Laugh all you want, Skye," Zara said. "But my uncle says a good detective should always question coincidences." "What if these tornadoes are caused by dark magic and they're part of an evil plot to take over the island?" said Phoebe, her eyes widening. "It could be Ms. Primrose or Ms. Willow again!"

说着更高的故事——斯派克或菲比。 “嗯。我想知道是什么导致了这些龙卷风。” 扎拉从口袋里掏出一个小笔记本和一支铅笔。 她把日期写在新页的顶部。 “一下子有这么多的人是非常不寻常的。 我认为我们应该记录龙卷风发生的地点和时间。” “哇，现在扎拉侦探在调查这个案子，我感觉安全多了。”斯凯讽刺地说，对安布尔翻白眼。 扎拉怒视着斯凯。“我叔叔实际上是个侦探，我从他那里学到了很多技巧。” “我叔叔其实是个侦探，”斯凯模仿着，听起来很像Zara。 “别自以为是了，Zara。龙卷风是由反常的天气引起的。 有这么多只是一个巧合。” 莉莉希望自己能像扎拉一样，对斯凯的取笑耸耸肩。 “想笑就笑吧，斯凯，”扎拉说。 “但是我叔叔说一个好的侦探应该总是质疑巧合。” “如果这些龙卷风是由黑魔法引起的，它们是占领这个岛的邪恶阴谋的一部分呢？”菲比说，她的眼睛睁得大大的。 可能是普里姆罗斯女士，也可能是普里姆罗斯女士。 柳!”

"No, it couldn't. They're both in prison," Zara pointed out. "But it could be someone else! It's a mystery!" said Aisha in excitement. "Oh, puh-lease!" scoffed Skye. "It's just a few tornadoes caused by bad weather. You're all so silly!" Zara turned her back to Skye. "It could just be bad weather," she said to Aisha, Phoebe, and Lily. "But I think there may be more to it. I wonder if there's a pattern to these tornadoes?" Lily had a thought— could the magic map help them? Maybe it would now show the damaged buildings and trees, and if they looked at it, they might be able to see if there was a pattern to where the tornadoes were hitting. She was going to suggest it to the others, when she hesitated. What if they went to the map and there wasn't any damage marked on it? She'd look really stupid. Someone else will probably think about checking the map, she thought. So she stayed quiet. Everyone continued to argue about whether the tornadoes were part of an evil plan or just freak weather. It began to make Lily's head hurt. Quietly, she left the table and ran to the stables.

“不，不可能。他们都在监狱里，”扎拉指出。 “但也可能是别人！”这是个谜！”艾莎兴奋地说。 “哦，拜托！”斯凯嘲笑道。 “这只是由恶劣天气引起的几次龙卷风。 你们都太蠢了！”扎拉转身背对着斯凯。 “可能只是天气不好，”她对艾莎、菲比和莉莉说。 “但我认为可能还有更多的原因。 我想知道这些龙卷风是否有一个模式？”莉莉有了一个想法——魔法地图能帮助他们吗？ 也许它现在会显示受损的建筑物和树木，如果他们观察它，他们可能会看到龙卷风袭击的地方是否有一个模式。 她正要向其他人建议，却犹豫了。 如果他们去看地图，发现地图上没有任何损坏标记呢？ 她会看起来很傻的。别人可能会考虑查看地图，她想。 所以她保持沉默。每个人都在争论龙卷风是邪恶计划的一部分，还是只是反常的天气。 这开始使莉莉头疼。 她悄悄地离开餐桌，跑向马厩。

Feather was in her stall picking at a net of hay. She left it immediately, coming over to softly nuzzle Lily's hands. "Lily, is everything all right?" "Yes," said Lily, rubbing her forehead. "The others are arguing about all the purple tornadoes that have been hitting the island, so I thought I'd come and talk to you instead." Feather rubbed her muzzle against Lily. "I'm glad you did. I always like seeing you." She blinked at her. "It makes me feel warm inside."

费瑟在她的隔间里捡干草。 她马上离开了，走过来轻轻地用鼻子蹭了一下莉莉的手。 “莉莉，一切都好吗？”“是的。”莉莉揉着额头说。 “其他人正在争论袭击这个岛的紫色龙卷风，所以我想我来和你谈谈。” 羽毛用嘴摩擦莉莉。 “我很高兴你这么做了。我总是喜欢见到你。” 她朝她眨了眨眼睛。“这让我内心感到温暖。”

Lily put an arm around her neck. "I feel like that too. I've never had a best friend before, Feather. I…" She hesitated and then decided to say what she wanted to, even if it was a bit embarrassing. "I feel like I have one now." "Me?" asked Feather. Despite her embarrassment, Lily laughed. "Of course you!" Feather gave a happy sigh. Lily rested her cheek on her neck. For a few moments, they just stood there in contented silence. "I wish we could do something to stop the tornadoes," Lily said. "They sound awful. What if one comes to the school?" She thought of the beautiful building and its grounds being wrecked. It would be horrible. "Do you think one might actually come here?" asked Feather anxiously. "I'm not sure. Zara thinks there might be a pattern. Maybe we would be able to see one if we looked at the magic map." She glanced at Feather, wondering what she would think. "That's a great idea!" said Feather. "Why don't you go look?" Lily nodded, feeling pleased. "It's a bit late now. I'll go tomorrow. I might even ask Aisha, Zara,

莉莉伸出一只胳膊搂住她的脖子。 “我也有这种感觉。我从来没有过最好的朋友，费瑟。 我……”她犹豫了一下，然后决定说出她想说的话，即使这有点尴尬。 “我觉得我现在有了一个。” “我？”羽毛问。尽管很尴尬，莉莉还是笑了。 “当然是你！”羽毛高兴地叹了口气。 莉莉把脸颊靠在脖子上。 有好一会儿，他们只是静静地站在那里，心满意足。 “我希望我们能做些什么来阻止龙卷风，”莉莉说。 “听起来很可怕。如果有人来学校怎么办？”她想到这座美丽的建筑和它的场地被毁了。 那太可怕了。“你觉得真的会有人来吗？”羽毛焦急地问。 “我不确定。扎拉认为这其中可能有规律。 如果我们看一下魔法地图，也许就能看到一个。” 她瞥了羽毛一眼，不知道她会怎么想。 “好主意！”羽毛说。 “你为什么不去看看呢？”莉莉点点头，感到很高兴。 “现在有点晚了。我明天去。 我甚至会问艾莎，扎拉，

and Phoebe to come with me." Being with Feather made her feel so much braver. Yes, she told herself firmly. Tomorrow I'll ask the others to come and look at the magic map with me, and we'll see if we can figure out what's going on… and if the academy's in danger!

菲比和我一起去。” 和羽毛在一起让她觉得自己勇敢多了。 是的，她坚定地告诉自己。 明天我会叫其他人来和我一起看魔法地图，看看我们能不能弄清楚发生了什么……学院是否有危险！