Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE They all held hands and Zara touched the map. A warm wind carried the girls and their unicorns to the Ember Sands. The dusty red ground was parched and the desert seemed to stretch on for miles with nothing but thorny bushes and giant balls of springy tumbleweed to break up the monotony. The magic set the group down beside a huge rock. It towered over them and they stepped gratefully into its shade. Zara gazed up. The great mass of red rock looked just like a lumbering grizzly bear. Bear rock! Zara gasped. Moonbeam had said that the sun pearls were on the bear's nose, but it was impossible to see from down here. There was only one way to find out if they were actually there. "I'll climb up to the nose," she said to the others. "It shouldn't be too bad. There are plenty of handholds and footholds."

第九章他们手拉手，扎拉摸了摸地图。 一阵暖风把女孩们和她们的独角兽带到灰烬之沙。 尘土飞扬的红色地面被烤焦了，沙漠似乎绵延数英里，除了多刺的灌木丛和巨大的弹跳的风滚草球，什么也没有。 魔法使这群人在一块巨石旁坐下。 它比他们高得多，他们感激地走进它的阴影里。 扎拉抬起头来。巨大的红色岩石看起来就像一只笨重的灰熊。 熊摇滚!Zara气喘吁吁地说。月光说太阳的珍珠在熊的鼻子上，但从这里根本看不见。 只有一种方法可以知道他们是否真的在那里。 “我要爬到鼻子上，”她对其他人说。 “应该不会太糟。这里有很多支撑点和立足点。”

"But—" Moonbeam began. "No, Moonbeam, it should be me. I'm the best at climbing." "I'll come with you," said Aisha. "I'll find it easier to concentrate on my own," said Zara. She didn't want to have to worry about someone else being in danger. She studied the rock for a moment and then began to pull herself up its craggy face. She was a good climber but she had never climbed so high before. She went up and up, stopping occasionally to work out the best place for her sweaty hands to find a grip. Her friends' voices drifted up to her, shouting encouragement. Zara finally reached the bear's head and stopped to catch her breath. Glancing down, her stomach lurched. The ground was so far away and her friends looked so small! To her surprise, she realised that Moonbeam wasn't watching her. She was talking to Feather, who was stamping her hooves, sending pink sparks into the air. Whatever were they doing? Zara frowned and tore her eyes away. She couldn't afford to be distracted. Somehow, she had to edge up on to the head and then climb out on to the long protrusion of rock that formed the bear's nose. She could see a strange silver disc balanced

“可是——”月光开口了。“不，月光，应该是我。 我最擅长攀岩。” “我和你一起去。”艾莎说。 “我会发现自己更容易集中精力，”扎拉说。 她不想再担心别人有危险了。 她仔细端详了一会儿岩石，然后开始爬上嶙峋的岩石。 她是一个很好的登山者，但她以前从未爬过这么高。 她越爬越高，偶尔停下来，想找个最好的地方让她那满是汗水的手抓住。 她的朋友们的声音飘到她身边，大声鼓励她。 扎拉终于走到熊的头上，停下来喘口气。 她往下看了一眼，肚子一阵痉挛。 地面是那么遥远，她的朋友们看起来那么小！令她吃惊的是，她意识到月光并没有在看着她。 她在跟羽毛说话，羽毛正在跺着蹄子，把粉红色的火花喷向空中。 他们在干什么？扎拉皱起眉头，把目光移开。 她不能分心。 无论如何，她必须爬上熊的头，然后爬到形成熊鼻子的岩石的长突出处。 她看见一个奇怪的银盘平衡着

on it, like an enormous shiny saucer. A pillar in the centre of the disc was holding up a collection of round white objects. Sun pearls! She was sure of it! Her heart lifted. Moonbeam's vision had been right. I'll give her a huge hug when I get down and tell her I'm sorry I ever doubted her, she thought. She pulled herself up the bear's head and, with her feet balancing on the narrow footholds, crept across the face towards the nose. She swung herself up, her legs straddling it as if she were riding a unicorn. The sun pearls were shining brightly, their magic coming to life in the rays of the fierce desert sun. Zara realised that the shiny surface of the disc

就像一个巨大闪亮的碟子。 圆盘中央的一根柱子支撑着一堆白色的圆形物体。 太阳珍珠!她对此很有把握！她的心舒畅了。 月光的预见是正确的。 我下来的时候要给她一个大大的拥抱，告诉她我很抱歉曾经怀疑过她，她想。 她爬到熊的头上，双脚踩在狭窄的踏板上保持平衡，从熊的脸上爬到熊的鼻子跟前。 她荡了起来，双腿跨在上面，好像骑着一只独角兽。 太阳珍珠闪闪发光，它们的魔力在猛烈的沙漠阳光下复活了。 扎拉意识到圆盘闪亮的表面

must be reflecting the heat back on to the pearls, amplifying their magic and sending it all over the island. She could feel heat radiating from them. She would have to edge along the rock until she could reach the burning pearls. She just hoped the nose would hold her weight as well as the weight of the disc. She slowly crept towards the pearls. She pulled on one of the fireproof gloves then, bending forward and hanging on to the nose with one arm, she stretched her gloved hand out, but she couldn't quite reach them over the edge of the disc. She wriggled further, straining until– finally!– her fingers touched the pearls. Suddenly, the rock began to shake. She heard her friends cry out and the unicorns whinny in alarm. It was an earth tremor! Forgetting about the pearls, Zara pulled her hand back and hung on to the rock for dear life, clinging like a limpet to the bear's nose as the world shook violently. The tremor lasted a minute and then stopped. "Zara! Are you OK?" Moonbeam whinnied. "Yes!" Zara shouted, although every cell in her body felt like it was trembling. "I've reached the pearls now. I'll be down soon. Don't worry!"

一定是把热量反射回珍珠上，放大了它们的魔力，把热量散发到全岛。 她能感觉到热气从他们身上散发出来。 她必须沿着岩石慢慢移动，直到够到燃烧的珍珠。 她只希望鼻子能承受她的体重和椎间盘的重量。 她慢慢地爬向珍珠。 她戴上防火手套，向前弯下腰，用一只手臂抓住机头，伸出戴着手套的手，但她无法从圆盘的边缘够到。 她继续扭动着身体，直到——终于！她的手指摸着珍珠。 突然，岩石开始摇晃。 她听到她的朋友们在叫喊，独角兽们惊恐地发出呜呜声。 那是一场地震！扎拉忘记了珍珠，她把手缩回来，紧紧抓住岩石不放，像帽贝一样紧紧抓住熊的鼻子，尽管世界剧烈震动。 震颤持续了一分钟，然后停止了。 “Zara !你还好吗？”月光嘶叫。 “是的!”扎拉喊道，尽管她身体里的每一个细胞都在颤抖。 “我已经找到珍珠了。 我马上就下来。别担心!”

She leaned forward and, this time, her hand closed around the shining spheres. Just at that moment there was another tremor and the rock started to shake violently. Zara was only holding on with one hand and it wasn't enough. She felt herself slip and scrabbled for a handhold but with a yell she began to fall! She rushed towards the ground, her arms flailing. She waited to hit the hard earth but instead she landed on a huge mound of springy tumbleweed. She bounced up into the air with a surprised shriek. It was like being on a giant trampoline. How had it got there to break her fall? As she slowly came to rest, she heard the clamour of her friends' voices and the unicorns' whinnies. She sat up, her hair sticking out wildly. "What just happened?" she gasped, her heart pounding.

她向前倾着身子，这一次，她的手握住了那些闪闪发光的球体。 就在这时，又发生了一次震颤，岩石开始剧烈地摇晃起来。 Zara只用一只手抓着，但这还不够。 她觉得自己滑了一下，拼命想抓住一个把手，但她大叫一声，开始摔倒了！她朝地面冲去，双臂挥舞着。 她等着要撞到坚硬的土地上，却落在了一个巨大的有弹性的风滚草堆上。 她吃惊地尖叫一声，跳到了空中。 就像在一个巨大的蹦床上。 它是如何到达那里阻止她坠落的？ 当她慢慢入睡时，她听到了朋友们的喧闹声和独角兽的呜呜声。 她坐了起来，头发乱竖着。 “刚才发生了什么事？”她喘着气说，心怦怦直跳。

Moonbeam cantered over. "I knew you were going to fall. I saw it in a vision as you were climbing up so I asked Feather to use her magic to pull the tumbleweed into place just before the earth tremor so it would soften your landing." Zara stared. "Moonbeam! Oh, wow!" Shoving the pearls and glove in her pocket, she slid off the giant cushion of tumbleweed and flung her arms around Moonbeam's neck. "Thank you so much! You saved my life!" There was another rumble and the ground shook even more strongly. "I haven't finished saving it yet!" whinnied Moonbeam in alarm as there was a loud creaking sound from above them. "On my back! NOW!" Zara didn't stop to ask why. Trusting

月光绕了过来。“我知道你要掉下去了。 我在你爬上去的时候看到了它，所以我让羽毛用她的魔法在地震之前把风滚草拉到合适的位置，这样你降落的时候就会柔软一些。” Zara盯着。“月光!哦,哇!”她把珍珠和手套塞进口袋，从巨大的风滚草垫子上滑下来，伸出双臂搂住月光的脖子。 “非常感谢！”你救了我的命！”又是一声隆隆声，地面震动得更厉害了。 “我还没救完呢！”月光惊恐地尖声说，因为他们头顶上传来了一声响亮的嘎吱声。 “躺在我背上！”现在!”Zara没有停下来问为什么。 信任