Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE Dinner that night was steaming bowls of stew with crusty bread followed by delicious sticky toffee pudding. Aisha was scraping up the last spoonful of toffee sauce when Ms Nettles stood up and clapped her hands for silence. "I'm afraid I have some very bad news. The two hailstorms today smashed most of the equipment in the playpark along with several windows in the school building. The teachers and I have decided that for everyone's safety, Unicorn Academy must close early." Ms Nettles paused as a huge groan went up from the room. "The graduation ceremony will be brought forward. It will now be in five days' time." "Five days!" whispered Aisha in dismay. "That's not much time to find Silver's magic," said Lily anxiously. Aisha bit her lip. "Your parents will be informed," Ms Nettles continued. "Please also check the weather carefully every time you go outside. Luckily, no one was hurt today, but it could have been a very different story. If the sky looks threatening, stay indoors. If you do get caught in a hailstorm then find somewhere safe to shelter. Do not try to make it back to the academy until the storm has passed." As she walked from the hall with the other teachers, the students erupted in noisy chatter. "What am I going to do?" said Aisha. "Five days isn't long enough to

第三章那天晚上的晚餐是热气腾腾的炖菜和硬皮面包，然后是美味的黏糊糊的太妃糖布丁。 艾莎正在刮掉最后一勺太妃酱，这时荨麻女士站了起来，拍着手让大家安静下来。 “恐怕我有一些非常坏的消息。 今天的两场冰雹砸碎了操场上的大部分设备和学校大楼的几扇窗户。 老师们和我决定，为了大家的安全，独角兽学院必须提前关门。” 房间里传来一阵巨大的呻吟声，荨麻女士停了下来。 “毕业典礼将提前举行。 再过五天就到了。” “五天！”艾莎沮丧地低声说。 “这么短的时间找不到西尔弗的魔法了。”莉莉焦急地说。 艾莎咬着嘴唇。“你的父母会被告知的，”奈特尔斯继续说道。 “每次外出时也请仔细查看天气。 幸运的是，今天没有人受伤，但这可能是一个完全不同的故事。 如果天空看起来很危险，就呆在室内。 如果你遇到了冰雹，那就找个安全的地方避雨。 在暴风雨过去之前，不要试图回到学院。” 当她和其他老师一起走出大厅时，学生们爆发出一阵嘈杂的闲聊。 “我该怎么办？”艾莎说。 “五天时间不够长。

find Silver's magic and bond with him, and I have to complete the music for our display ride." "The music is great. Forget about it and concentrate on you and Silver," said Lily. Aisha felt torn. She wanted to find Silver's magic and bond with him, but she wanted her music for the display ride to be perfect. Then, if she and Silver didn't get to graduate, at least the others would have wonderful music when they performed for the parents. "Five days isn't enough time to do anything!" exclaimed Phoebe. "We need to solve the mystery of the hailstorms," said Zara. "If we do that, we'll still have a whole month here. Let's follow Mr Longnose!" They quickly cleared their plates and left the hall. Mr Longnose and Ms Tulip were talking quietly further down the corridor. Zara nodded to the statue of a unicorn and the four of them ducked behind it. When Mr Longnose and Ms Tulip headed for the staff cloakroom, the girls followed, hiding in an empty classroom as Mr Longnose and Ms Tulip paused to put on coats and wellies. "Why are they always together?" whispered Lily. "I still think she might be in league with him!" Phoebe hissed back. Zara made frantic shh-ing gestures as Mr Longnose glanced in their direction. He stared around for a moment then said something to Ms Tulip and the two of them went out into the frosty night. The girls tiptoed after them across the grass. The pair seemed to be heading for the stables. They were talking, but their heads were close together and their voices were so quiet the girls couldn't catch what they were saying. Aisha felt a flicker of suspicion. What were they whispering about? Could Phoebe be right about Ms Tulip? Suddenly, Phoebe stepped on a frozen puddle and her feet slipped from under her. She shrieked as she fell. Mr Longnose and Ms Tulip swung round.

找到小银的魔力，并和他建立联系，我还得完成我们展示之旅的音乐。” “音乐很棒。忘了它吧，把注意力集中在你和西尔弗身上。”莉莉说。 艾莎感到很痛苦。她想找到小银的魔力，并与他建立联系，但她希望自己的音乐能完美无缺。 然后，如果她和西尔弗没有毕业，至少其他人在为父母表演的时候会有美妙的音乐。 “五天的时间根本不够做任何事！”菲比嚷道。 “我们需要解开冰雹的谜团，”扎拉说。 “如果我们这样做，我们还有整整一个月的时间。 让我们跟着长鼻子先生！”他们迅速收拾好盘子，离开了大厅。 Longnose先生和Tulip女士在走廊的另一端小声交谈。 扎拉朝独角兽雕像点了点头，四个人躲到它后面。 当Longnose先生和Tulip女士前往员工衣帽间时，女孩们紧随其后，躲在一间空教室里，因为Longnose先生和Tulip女士停下来穿上外套和雨靴。 “他们为什么总是在一起？”莉莉小声问。 “我还是觉得她可能和他是一伙的！”菲比嘶嘶地回答。 当朗鼻先生朝他们的方向瞥了一眼时，Zara疯狂地发出嘘的手势。 他向四周看了一会儿，然后对郁金香女士说了些什么，然后他们俩就走进了寒冷的夜晚。 姑娘们踮着脚尖跟在他们后面穿过草地。 这两个人似乎正朝马厩走去。 他们在说话，但他们的头靠得很近，声音很轻，女孩们听不清他们在说什么。 艾莎感到一阵怀疑。 他们在窃窃私语什么？ 菲比对郁金香小姐的看法是对的吗？ 突然，菲比踩到了一个结冰的水坑，她的脚从她身下滑了下来。 她摔倒时尖叫起来。朗鼻先生和郁金香小姐转过身来。

"Whatever are you all doing?" demanded Mr Longnose, striding over. "I expect the girls are here to settle their unicorns, Ivor, like they do every night," said Ms Tulip. "Yes, that's right!" said Zara quickly. "We're here for our unicorns." "Hmm." Mr Longnose gave them a suspicious look. "Are you OK, Phoebe?" Ms Tulip asked, as Lily and Aisha helped her up. "I'm fine, miss," said Phoebe. "Good. Let's hurry inside, out of the cold," said Ms Tulip. "Mr Longnose, why are you here?" Zara asked boldly as they all entered the stables. "You don't have a unicorn." The top of Mr Longnose's cheeks flushed red. "I'm… Um…" "Mr Longnose kindly offered to help me with evening stables," Ms Tulip said. "Now, come along, girls. It's getting late." She hurried away to the feed room with Mr Longnose following her. "Suspicious behaviour," Zara hissed to the others. "Very suspicious." Some more pupils arrived and, under the watchful eye of Ms Tulip, everyone set about making sure their unicorns had fluffy straw beds, full hay nets and clean water. Silver nuzzled Aisha as she tied up his hay net. "Maybe tomorrow we could go off together and see if we can find my magic," he said hopefully. "I think I'm very close to discovering it. I stamped my hoof earlier and I'm sure I saw a faint pink spark. That's one of the first signs– Feather told me." "Mmm," said Aisha, not really listening. She was watching Zara and Moonbeam in the next stable. Moonbeam's eyes were half shut, and she was swaying from side to side. Silver stamped a hoof. "Aisha, I'm beginning to think you don't care if I find my—" "Shh," Aisha interrupted, nodding at Moonbeam. Moonbeam's eyelids were fluttering. "The tall figure watches with his telescope. Look to the north. Silver… NO!" Moonbeam's eyes snapped open in alarm. Aisha and Silver hurried to the partition. "Was that another vision, Moonbeam?" asked Silver. Moonbeam nodded. "I saw the cloaked man with a telescope again. I saw you too, Silver, but then you just vanished." She looked worried. "I

“你们在干什么？”朗鼻大夫大步走了过来，问道。 Tulip女士说：“我希望女孩们来这里是为了解决她们的独角兽，Ivor，就像她们每天晚上做的那样。” “是的，没错！”扎拉很快地说。 “我们来这里是为了我们的独角兽。” “嗯。”朗鼻大夫怀疑地看了他们一眼。 “你还好吗，菲比？”当莉莉和艾莎扶她站起来时，郁金香女士问道。 “我很好，小姐。”菲比说。 “很好。让我们赶紧进去，远离寒冷，”郁金香女士说。 “长鼻子先生，你怎么在这儿？”当他们都走进马厩时，扎拉大胆地问道。 “你没有独角兽。” 朗鼻nose先生的脸颊上端涨红了。 “我是……嗯……”“长鼻子先生好心地提出要帮我打理晚上的马厩，”郁金香女士说。 “现在，走吧，姑娘们。时间不早了。” 她匆匆向饲料室走去，Longnose先生跟在后面。 “行为可疑，”扎拉低声对其他人说。 “非常怀疑”。又来了一些学生，在Tulip女士的监督下，每个人都开始确保他们的独角兽有毛茸茸的稻草床，装满干草的网和干净的水。 当艾莎把他的干草网系好时，西尔弗用鼻子蹭了蹭她。 “也许明天我们可以一起出去，看看能不能找到我的魔法，”他满怀希望地说。 “我想我离发现它很近了。 我之前踩过我的蹄子，我确定我看到了微弱的粉红色火花。 这是最初的征兆之一——羽毛告诉我的。” “嗯，”艾莎说，并没有认真听。 她在隔壁马厩看着扎拉和月光。 月光半闭着眼睛，身子左右摇晃着。 西尔弗跺着蹄子。“艾莎，我开始觉得你不在乎我是否找到我的——”“嘘。”艾莎打断了他的话，朝月光点了点头。 月光的眼皮在颤动。 高个子用望远镜看着。 往北看。银……不!”月光惊恐地睁开了眼睛。 艾莎和西尔弗急忙跑到隔墙那里。 “那又是幻象吗，月光？”西尔弗问。 月光点点头。“我又看见那个披斗篷的人拿着望远镜。 我也看见你了，西尔弗，但你就这么消失了。” 她看上去很担心。“我

had a real feeling of danger!" Silver gulped. "Oh." "How did he vanish?" asked Zara curiously. "He just disappeared!" said Moonbeam. "But where did I go?" Silver said, his voice trembling slightly. For once his confidence seemed to have left him. "I don't know," said Moonbeam. "Sorry." Ms Tulip came down the passage between the stables, whistling. The tune made an idea jump into Aisha's head for her piece of music for the display ride. It was jaunty and fun, just what she needed. She hummed a variation of it to herself. Yes– it was perfect! "Are you done, girls?" Ms Tulip said. "If so, you should be getting back to your dorm." Aisha's fingers were itching to try the tune out on her flute. "I'm finished, Ms Tulip." She dropped a quick kiss on Silver's cheek. "Night, Silver." "Wait, Aisha!" Silver pawed the ground. "We need to talk about Moonbeam's vision. What if I do just disappear?"

有一种真正的危险感！”银一饮而尽。 “哦。”“他是怎么消失的？”扎拉好奇地问。 “他就这么消失了！” “可是我上哪儿去了？”西尔弗说，声音有些颤抖。 这一次，他似乎失去了信心。 “我不知道。”月光说。 “对不起。”杜丽普女士吹着口哨从马厩之间的通道走下来。 这首曲子让艾莎产生了一个想法，那就是为展示骑行创作一段音乐。 这是欢快和有趣的，正是她所需要的。 她自己哼了一段变奏。 是的，它是完美的！“你们吃完了吗，姑娘们？”Tulip女士说。 “如果是这样，你应该回宿舍了。” 艾莎的手指痒痒地想用笛子吹出这首曲子。 “我完了，郁金香小姐。”她在西尔弗的脸颊上匆匆吻了一下。 “晚上,银”。“等等,阿以莎!”西尔弗用爪子刨地。 “我们需要谈谈Moonbeam的愿景。 如果我真的消失了呢？”