Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE Zara waited until she and her friends were all back in the dorm and ready for bed before calling a meeting. She told them how she'd followed Mr Longnose to the tower room and how he had vanished into thin air. Phoebe's eyes widened. "Maybe Mr Longnose can use magic to disappear?" Zara frowned. "But how? He hasn't got a unicorn and I don't think there's any other magic that can make you vanish. We must keep spying!" The following day at lunch, Ms Nettles announced that afternoon lessons were cancelled so that the staff could hold an important meeting. "Let's go and sneak into Mr Longnose's room while the meeting is going on," said Zara. The others agreed. They waited until all the

第五章扎拉一直等到她和她的朋友们都回到宿舍准备睡觉时才召开会议。 她告诉他们她是如何跟着朗鼻nose先生来到塔楼的房间，然后他又凭空消失了。 菲比睁大了眼睛。“也许长鼻子先生能用魔法消失？”Zara皱起了眉头。 “可是什么?他没有独角兽，我也不认为还有什么魔法能让你消失。 我们必须继续监视！”第二天午饭时，奈特尔斯女士宣布下午的课取消了，以便员工们开一个重要的会议。 “开会的时候，我们溜进朗鼻nose先生的房间吧。”扎拉说。 其他人都同意了。他们一直等到所有的

adults had gathered together and then they hurried to his room. They tried the door but it was locked. Zara groaned in frustration. She felt sure if she could search Mr Longnose's room she would find a clue that would prove he was the culprit responsible for the bad weather. "Never mind," said Lily. "It's boiling inside. Let's make the most of having no lessons and take the unicorns to the meadow. We can all paddle in the stream." "Not that there's much stream left." Aisha sighed. "I really hope this heatwave doesn't go on much longer. All the streams and rivers are starting to dry up." They exchanged anxious looks. The water from Lake Sparkle was magical. Unicorns needed to drink the water in order for their magic to stay strong. It flowed away from the lake around the island in rivers and streams where it nourished crops, people and animals. If the water dried up then the unicorns would lose their magic powers and all of Unicorn Island would suffer. The girls headed to the stables. "I've had another vision!" Moonbeam told Zara excitedly when Zara entered her stall. "It happened just now. I saw a dark tunnel. It felt dangerous."

大人们都聚在一起，然后匆匆赶到他的房间。 他们试着开门，但门是锁着的。 扎拉沮丧地呻吟着。 她确信，如果她能搜查朗鼻nose先生的房间，就能找到一条线索，证明他就是造成恶劣天气的罪魁祸首。 “没关系。”莉莉说。“里面沸腾了。 让我们充分利用没有课的机会，带着独角兽去草地。 我们都可以在小溪里划桨。” “并不是说还有多少水流。” 艾莎叹了口气。“我真的希望这种热浪不要持续太久。 所有的小溪和河流都开始干涸了。” 他们交换了焦虑的目光。 火花湖的水很神奇。 独角兽需要喝下这些水才能保持强大的魔力。 它以河流和小溪的形式从岛屿周围的湖泊流出，滋养着庄稼、人和动物。 如果水干涸了，独角兽就会失去它们的魔力，整个独角兽岛都会遭殃。 女孩们向马厩走去。 “我又看到了一个幻象！”当Zara走进她的摊位时，月光兴奋地告诉Zara。 “刚才发生的事。我看见一条黑暗的隧道。 感觉很危险。”

Zara patted her. "OK, well, we'll watch out for dangerous dark tunnels and avoid them," she said, trying, but failing, to hide her grin. Moonbeam stamped a front hoof. "Don't laugh at me! I'm not making these things up, Zara!" "Sorry!" Zara said. But it was clear Moonbeam felt hurt. She refused to join Zara in the stream when everyone paddled, even when the paddling ended in a huge water fight. Zara tried being extra nice to her but nothing she said could tempt Moonbeam to join them in the water. As the sun started to sink in the sky, they headed back to the stables to get the unicorns some sky berries before going in for their own dinner. Sky berries were the unicorns' favourite food. They were full of the vitamins they needed to stay healthy and keep their magic strong. As they passed the barn next to the stables, Zara noticed the big doors were ajar. Hearing a noise, she peeked in and gasped as she saw a tall, thin figure duck behind some hay bales at the far end. "Come on, Zara, I'm starving!" called Aisha. Putting her finger to her lips, Zara frantically beckoned her friends over. She pointed to the bales of hay. "Someone's there," she mouthed. "I think it's Mr Longnose!"

扎拉拍了拍她。“好吧，那我们就小心危险的黑暗隧道，避开它们，”她说，试图掩饰她的笑容，但失败了。 月光踩着一只前蹄。 “别笑我！”这些不是我编的，扎拉！”“对不起!”Zara说。 但很明显，月光感到受到了伤害。 当每个人都划水时，她拒绝加入扎拉的行列，即使划水以一场巨大的水战结束。 扎拉试着对她特别好，但她说什么都不能吸引月光和他们一起去水里。 当太阳开始在天空中下沉时，他们回到马厩去给独角兽拿一些天空浆果，然后再进去吃他们自己的晚餐。 天空莓是独角兽最喜欢的食物。 他们有足够的维生素来保持健康和强大的魔力。 当他们经过马厩旁边的谷仓时，扎拉注意到大门半开着。 听到一阵声响，她往里瞥了一眼，看到一个又高又瘦的人影躲在远处的一堆干草后面，她倒吸了一口气。 “加油，扎拉，我饿死了！” 扎拉把手指放在嘴唇上，疯狂地招呼她的朋友过来。 她指着一捆捆干草。 “有人在那儿，”她用口型说。 “我想是长鼻子先生！”

She heard a rustle behind the bales and a soft click. Zara ran up to the wall of bales. "Got you!" she shouted. She stopped in astonishment as she looked over the top of them. "There's no one here!" she exclaimed.

她听到麦捆后面有沙沙声，还有轻轻的咔哒声。 扎拉跑到一排麦捆前。 “抓到你了！”她喊道。她望着他们的头顶，惊讶地停了下来。 “这里一个人也没有！”

Phoebe burst out laughing. "You're seeing things, Zara." "I'm not!" she exclaimed. "I'm sure I saw Mr Longnose!" She saw her friends swapping disbelieving looks. Zara flushed, suddenly realising how Moonbeam must feel when she wasn't believed. "There was someone here." "OK, but where?" Lily joined her and searched the barn. Suddenly she gasped and pointed to the floor. "What's that?" Crouching down, she showed Zara a sturdy ring in the floor that had been hidden under the loose hay. Zara brushed the hay away with her hands. The others, realising they'd found something, crowded round. "It's the handle of a trap door!" Zara heaved it open and it fell back with a heavy thud. "It's a secret passage," breathed Phoebe. "Oh, wow! My mum told me the school has lots of secret passages and tunnels," said Lily. "She and her friends found some when they were here. Maybe this is one of them." "Let's investigate," said Zara eagerly. "The person I saw just now must have escaped down it. Let's find out where it goes."

菲比突然大笑起来。 “你看到了一些东西，Zara。” “我没有！”她大声说。“我肯定看到了长鼻子先生！”她看到她的朋友们交换着不相信的眼神。 扎拉脸红了，突然意识到月光不被相信时的感受。 “这里有人。”“好吧，但是在哪儿呢？”莉莉也跟着她一起搜寻谷仓。 突然，她喘了口气，指着地板。 “那是什么?”她蹲下来，给扎拉看地板上藏在松散的干草下面的一个结实的戒指。 扎拉用手拂去干草。 其他人意识到发现了什么，便围了过来。 “这是活板门的把手！”扎拉把它打开，砰的一声摔了回去。 “这是一条秘密通道。”菲比轻声说。 “哦,哇!我妈妈告诉我学校有很多秘密通道和隧道，”莉莉说。 她和她的朋友们在这里的时候发现了一些。 也许这就是其中之一。” “我们去调查一下吧。”萨拉急切地说。 “我刚才看到的那个人一定是从那儿逃下来的。 让我们看看它去了哪里。”

"Zara, wait!" Moonbeam stepped forward. "I'm sure this is the dark, dangerous tunnel from my vision." "Vision?" echoed Phoebe, looking at Moonbeam. "What are you talking about?" "It's nothing," Zara said quickly. She didn't want her friends and their unicorns all laughing at Moonbeam. "Just Moonbeam daydreaming as usual. You know what she's like!" She saw a hurt expression cross Moonbeam's face and felt bad, but she was sure that if Moonbeam said she could see into the future everyone would tease her. "Come on," Zara urged. "Let's see where this goes." She looked round encouragingly at her friends then stepped down into the darkness.

“Zara,等等!”月光走上前去。 “我敢肯定，从我的视野来看，这就是黑暗、危险的隧道。” “幻象？”菲比望着月光，附和道。 “你在说什么？”“没什么，”扎拉很快地说。 她不想让她的朋友和他们的独角兽都嘲笑月光。 “和往常一样，只是月光在做白日梦。 你知道她是什么样的人！”她看到月光脸上受伤的表情，觉得很难过，但她确信，如果月光说她能看到未来，每个人都会取笑她。 “来吧，”扎拉催促道。“让我们看看结果如何。” 她鼓励地看了看周围的朋友，然后走下楼梯，消失在黑暗中。