Chapter 9

Chapter nine, Lyra and Misty had just reached the entrance to the tunnel in the rose garden when they heard the sound of hooves. Lyra swung round and saw the rest of Ruby dorm galloping across the moonlit grass towards them. "There they are!" "Lyra! Misty! Wait!" Sienna and Sparkle reached them first. "What are you doing?" Sienna demanded as Sparkle skidded to a halt. "I was about to go back to sleep when I realised you were fully dressed and that you had your explorer's bag," said Evie, catching up, "so I woke the others." "We went to the stables and saw that Misty was gone," Sienna continued. "Then we spotted some hoofprints on the frosty grass so we followed them." "And now we've found you!" finished Ivy. "You were about to go hunting for the map without us, weren't you?" Sienna grinned. "Well, it doesn't matter because now we're coming along too. An early-morning adventure, how awesome is that?" Lyra felt her heart lift. "Very awesome!" she said, grinning back. "But first we need to be prepared." She rummaged around in her bag and handed out torches. "OK, everyone ready?" They all nodded. "Then follow me!" Lyra and Misty led the way carefully into the tunnel, crossing the

第九章莱拉和米斯蒂刚走到玫瑰园的隧道入口，就听到了马蹄声。 莱拉转过身来，看见露比宿舍的其他人穿过月光下的草地向他们奔来。 “他们在那儿！”“莱拉!雾!等等!”西耶娜和斯巴克先到了他们那里。 “你在干什么？”西耶娜问，火花滑了下来。 “我正要回去睡觉，突然发现你穿得整整齐齐，还带着探险包，”伊薇赶上来说，“所以我叫醒了其他人。” “我们去了马厩，看到米斯蒂不见了，”西耶娜继续说。 “然后我们在结霜的草地上发现了一些蹄印，所以我们就跟着他们。” “现在我们找到你了！”艾薇说完。 “你本来是要丢下我们一个人去找地图的，是不是？”黄土咧嘴一笑。 “嗯，没关系，因为现在我们也一起去了。 一个清晨的冒险，这有多棒啊？”莱拉感到心情舒畅了。 “太棒了！”她笑着说。 “但首先我们需要做好准备。” 她在包里翻找了一下，然后分发了火把。 “好了，大家准备好了吗？”他们都点了点头。 “那就跟我来！”莱拉和米斯蒂小心翼翼地走在前面，穿过隧道

uneven ground until they reached the end and came out into the cavern where the sparkling river disappeared through the rocky wall.

他们走到尽头，来到山洞里，闪闪发光的河水从岩壁中消失了。

"We didn't find the map in this tunnel, so it must be in that one!" said Sienna, pointing to the smaller tunnel that they hadn't taken. "Are you sure? It doesn't have a picture of Daybreak either," Lyra pointed out. "I think we should go back to the last carving we found." "Lyra's right," said Misty. "If the pictures have led us this far, it doesn't seem right that they suddenly disappear. Let's go back to the last one and have another look around." Lyra felt a rush of gratitude to Misty for backing her up. She stroked her neck. "Thanks," she whispered as they retraced their steps. Misty snorted happily, and for the first time ever Lyra felt as if they were a real team. When they got back to the last picture of Daybreak there was only one way to go. Lyra thought that was odd. All the other carvings had been at tunnel junctions where they had to make decisions. Her mind whirred as she studied it. There was a faint circle surrounding it– identical to the one enclosing the picture on the stair back in their tower. Holding her breath, Lyra leant down from Misty's back and pressed it hard. Would it work? The carving moved under her fingers, followed by a loud grating noise. Everyone cried out as a section of the rocky wall at the end of the cavern slid to the side. Through the gap they could see the river widening out and flowing on through more caves. "That must be where we have to go!" cried Lyra. "Remember the clue: Find Daybreak, move stone, follow river deep!" Evie nodded. "Find Daybreak, move stone must have meant pressing the button." "So now we follow the deep river," said Lyra. Misty trotted to the gap. From there Lyra saw that the river had a wide bank on both sides and that there was a large wooden raft tied to a rock, which was bobbing gently on the moving water. "A raft! Let's use it to float down the river." "Awesome!" said Sienna. They all clambered through the opening. "Oh, wow, I've never been on a raft before," said Evie, sliding off Sunshine and scrambling across the bank towards the rafts. She reached out to pull it closer but as she did so she overbalanced, toppling into the water with a splash. She yelled and

“我们没有在这条隧道里找到地图，所以它一定在那条隧道里！”西耶娜指着他们没有走的那条小隧道说。 “你确定吗？”上面也没有黎明的照片。”莱拉指出。 “我想我们应该回到我们发现的最后一个雕刻。” “莱拉说得对。”米斯蒂说。 “如果这些照片把我们带到了这个地步，那么它们突然消失似乎是不对的。 让我们回到最后一个，再看一看。” 莱拉对米斯蒂支持她感到一阵感激。 她抚摸着自己的脖子。“谢谢。”她低声说，他们原路返回。 米斯蒂高兴地哼了一声，莱拉第一次觉得他们是一个真正的团队。 当他们回到《黎明》的最后一张照片时，只有一条路可走。 莱拉觉得这很奇怪。 所有其他的雕刻都是在隧道的交汇处，在那里他们必须做出决定。 她一边研究，一边脑子里嗡嗡作响。 它周围有一个模糊的圆圈——和他们塔里楼梯上那幅画的圆圈一模一样。 莱拉屏住呼吸，从米斯蒂的背上俯下身子，使劲地压着她。 这能行吗？雕刻在她的手指下移动，接着是一声刺耳的巨响。 当洞穴尽头的一段岩壁滑落到一边时，每个人都叫了起来。 透过缝隙，他们可以看到河水越来越宽，流过更多的洞穴。 “那一定是我们要去的地方！”莱拉喊道。 “记住这个线索：找到黎明，移动石头，沿着河深！”艾维-点了点头。 “找到黎明，移动石头一定意味着按下按钮。” “所以现在我们沿着那条深河走。”莱拉说。 米斯蒂小跑到缺口处。从那里，莱拉看到河的两岸都很宽阔，有一个大木筏拴在一块岩石上，在流动的河水上轻轻地摆动。 “大量!让我们用它顺河而下。” “棒极了！”西耶娜说。他们都从洞口爬了进去。 “哦，哇，我以前从来没有坐过木筏。”伊维说着，从阳光身上滑下来，爬过岸边的木筏。 她伸出手想把它拉近，但当她这样做时，她失去了平衡，扑通一声跌入水中。 她大叫着

thrashed about as the current started to carry her down the river. Sunshine whinnied in alarm and raced to the water. "Evie!" Sienna yelled, jumping off Sparkle. She ran to the edge of the bank and reached out her hand. "Evie, grab hold!" Lyra leapt off Misty too and also raced over, holding her hand out as well. If they could just grab Evie as she came past… "Be careful, Lyra!" Misty whinnied shrilly, stamping her hooves in agitation. Purple sparks suddenly swirled into the air along with the sweet

当水流开始把她卷到河下游时，她四处颠簸。 阳光惊叫着跑到水里。 “艾维!”西耶娜大叫着，从斯巴克身上跳下来。 她跑到岸边，伸出手来。 “伊薇，抓紧！”莱拉也从米斯蒂身上跳下来，也跑了过来，也伸出了她的手。 如果他们能在伊维经过时抓住她……“小心点，莱拉！”米斯蒂尖叫着，激动地跺着蹄子。 紫色的火花突然和甜蜜一起在空中旋转

smell of burnt sugar. Glancing round, Lyra saw Misty surrounded by a swirl of iridescent purple bubbles. One bubble swelled as it floated towards the river, shimmering as it grew. It landed on the water, where it seemed to dissolve then reform around Evie. Lyra watched in amazement as the bubble carried Evie safely to dry land and then burst, sending thousands of tiny shiny bubbles spinning away overhead. "Wh-what just happened?" Lyra stammered as Sunshine started nuzzling Evie. "Misty's found her magic, you doughnut! What do you think just happened?" cried Sienna, thumping her on the back. "Oh, well done, Misty!" cried Ivy, and all the unicorns whinnied in delight. "Th-thank you, Misty!" stammered Evie, her teeth chattering. She was soaked and it was cold in the caverns. "I'm so sorry, everyone!" Lyra stared at Misty in awe. "You got your magic." "Bubble magic just like my mum," said Misty, looking delighted. "It means that I can protect things, make objects float in the air or even make bubble bridges. There's all sorts I'll be able to do once I've learnt to control it," she added. "It's brilliant magic!" said Ivy. Lyra threw her arms round Misty's neck, happiness shooting through her. Misty had found her magic! "Three cheers for Misty," said Sienna generously. "You found your magic at just the right time." "Yes, thanks again, Misty," said Evie. "We'd better go back and get you dried off," said Ivy, taking in Evie's dripping clothes and chattering teeth. "But what about the map?" Lyra said. "We've come this far. We can't go back now." "Evie will catch a chill if she stays in her wet clothes," said Sunshine, breathing warm air on Evie's face. Lyra felt bad. She didn't want to make Evie ill but they were so close to discovering the next clue. Suddenly she had an idea. Rummaging in her rucksack, she pulled out a shiny silver blanket and handed it to Evie. "Here, put this round you. It's a survival blanket. It's really light but it will keep you warm. I've also got spare gloves, socks and a hoodie too," she

有烧焦糖的味道。莱拉环顾四周，看见米斯蒂被一圈彩虹紫色的泡泡包围着。 一个泡泡在向河漂去的过程中膨胀起来，随着气泡的增大而闪闪发光。 它落在水面上，似乎溶解了，然后在伊维周围重新出现。 莱拉惊奇地看着泡泡把艾维安全带到陆地上，然后破裂了，成千上万个闪闪发光的小泡泡在头顶上旋转。 “刚才发生什么事了？”当阳光开始用鼻子蹭伊薇时，莱拉结结巴巴地说。 “米斯蒂找到了她的魔力，你这个甜甜圈！”你觉得刚才发生了什么事？”西耶娜拍着她的背叫道。 “哦，干得好，米斯蒂！”艾薇叫道，所有的独角兽都高兴地发出呜呜声。 “谢谢你，米斯蒂！”伊薇结结巴巴地说，她的牙齿在打战。 她浑身湿透，山洞里很冷。 “我很抱歉，大家！”莱拉敬畏地盯着米斯蒂。 “你有你的魔法。”“泡泡魔法就像我妈妈一样。”米斯蒂说，看起来很高兴。 “这意味着我可以保护东西，让物体漂浮在空中，甚至可以制造气泡桥。 一旦我学会了控制它，我就能做各种各样的事情。”她补充道。 “太神奇了！”艾薇说。 莱拉伸出双臂搂住了米斯蒂的脖子，幸福的感觉传遍了她的全身。 米斯蒂找到了她的魔力！“为米斯蒂欢呼三声。”西耶娜慷慨地说。 “你在正确的时间找到了你的魔法。” “是的，再次谢谢你，米斯蒂。”伊维说。 “我们最好回去帮你把身子擦干。”艾薇说，一边打量着艾薇淋漓的衣服和打颤的牙齿。 “那地图呢？”莱拉说。 “我们已经走了这么远。我们现在回不去了。” “如果伊薇穿着湿衣服，她会着凉的，”阳光说着，在伊薇的脸上呼吸着温暖的空气。 莱拉感到很难过。她不想让伊薇生病，但他们很快就会发现下一个线索。 突然，她有了一个主意。她在背包里翻找了一下，拿出一条闪闪发光的银色毯子，递给了艾维。 “来，把这个围起来。 这是一条救生毯。它很轻，但会让你暖和。 我还带了备用手套、袜子和连帽衫。