Chapter 6

Chapter six, The tunnel sloped downwards. Mosses and lichen clung to the craggy walls and the unicorns' hooves clattered on the stony floor. After they had been riding for some time, the ground levelled out. Several other tunnels joined theirs but at every junction they came to there was a little stone carving of Daybreak showing them which way to go. Lyra could hardly contain her excitement. Were they really about to find another piece of the treasure map? "Is that water?" asked Sienna as they heard a tinkly sound in the distance. "It can't be; we're underground," said Ivy. "Rivers and streams often run underground," said Evie as they rode on.

第六章，隧道向下倾斜。 苔藓和地衣攀附在嶙峋的墙壁上，独角兽的蹄子在石质地板上发出咔嗒声。 他们骑了一段时间后，地面变得平坦了。 另外还有几条隧道与他们的隧道相连，但在他们走到的每个路口，都有一个黎明的小石雕，告诉他们该走哪条路。 莱拉几乎无法抑制自己的兴奋。 他们真的要找到另一块藏宝图吗？ “那是水吗？”西耶娜问道，这时他们听到远处有叮当的声音。 “不可能；我们在地下，”艾薇说。 “河流和小溪经常在地下流淌，”伊薇一边骑着马往前走，一边说。

"Oh, wow!" Lyra breathed as they rounded another corner and the tunnel opened into a vast cavern. Its high ceiling arched above them and a glittering rainbow-coloured river flowed through it. The rocky walls glowed softly with a strange shimmering light. Gold-striped fish leapt in

“哦,哇!”莱拉喘着气，这时他们又拐了一个弯，隧道通向一个巨大的洞穴。 高高的天花板在他们头顶上呈拱形，一条闪闪发光的彩虹色河流从上面流过。 岩石墙壁闪烁着奇怪的微光，发出柔和的光。 金条纹鱼跳了进来

and out of the water while huge dragonflies with green iridescent wings darted above them. "Which way do we go?" said Ivy, looking up and down the river. "Here's another picture," Sienna said excitedly, as she stretched down from Sparkle's back to point at a boulder to the right. Sure enough, the boulder was marked with a tiny Daybreak. They rode beside the river, following the carvings until a sheer wall of rock rose up in front of them and the river disappeared into a narrow hole to continue its underground path. There was no way they could follow it. To their right were two tunnels. "Which one should we take?" Lyra shone her torch into each of them, looking for another tiny picture of a unicorn, but she couldn't find one anywhere. "That tunnel looks bigger. I bet it's this way," cried Sienna, riding past Lyra and Misty. Evie and Sunshine and Ivy and Flame followed her. Lyra felt a flicker of annoyance. This was her expedition, not Sienna's! "Hurry up, we're getting left behind," she said to Misty, who was stepping very cautiously over the uneven floor. The tunnel twisted and turned until they saw a circle of light ahead. "That must be the way out," said Evie. "But we still haven't found the map," protested Lyra. The others seemed more interested in seeing where they were going to come out. "I bet we're in the mountains," said Sienna. "Or we've walked a circle and we're back in the woods," said Evie. Lyra switched off her torch as they emerged, blinking, into the daylight. There was an old brick shed in front of them with a compost heap and a willow tree beside it. "Where are we?" asked Sienna, looking around. "We're in the vegetable garden," said Lyra as she rode Misty round the shed and saw the school gardens spread out in front of her. "Look," whispered Evie, who had followed her. "Sam and Flash are over there. It looks like they're cooling off after the crossnet tournament." "I wonder which dorm won," said Sienna. "I hope it wasn't Topaz or we'll never hear the end of it." "Don't let Sam see us," said Lyra. "He'll only want to know what

从水里出来的时候，巨大的蜻蜓带着彩虹般绿色的翅膀在他们头顶飞舞。 “我们该走哪条路？”艾薇说着，上下打量着河水。 “这是另一张照片，”西耶娜兴奋地说，她从斯巴克的背上伸直身子，指着右边的一块巨石。 果然，巨石上刻着小小的黎明。 他们骑在河边，沿着雕刻的方向，直到他们面前出现了一堵陡峭的岩石墙，河水消失在一个狭窄的洞里，继续它的地下通道。 他们不可能追上它。 他们的右边是两条隧道。 “我们应该坐哪一个？”莱拉用手电照了照每一张照片，想再找一张独角兽的小照片，可是到处都找不到。 “那条隧道看起来更大。 我打赌是这边。”西耶娜从莱拉和米斯蒂身边骑过，喊道。 艾薇、阳光、艾薇和火焰跟着她。 莱拉感到一阵恼怒。 这是她的探险，不是西耶娜的！“快点，我们被落在后面了。”她对米斯蒂说，米斯蒂正小心翼翼地走在凹凸不平的地板上。 隧道蜿蜒曲折，直到他们看到前面有一圈光。 “那一定是出去的路，”伊薇说。 “但我们还没有找到地图。”莱拉抗议道。 其他人似乎更感兴趣的是看他们会从哪里出来。 “我打赌我们是在山里，”西耶娜说。 “或者我们走了一圈，回到了树林里，”伊维说。 当他们眨着眼睛出现在阳光里时，莱拉关掉了手电筒。 他们面前有一间旧砖房，旁边有一堆堆肥和一棵柳树。 “我们在哪儿？”西耶娜环顾四周，问道。 “我们在菜园里。”莱拉骑着米斯蒂绕着棚屋转，看见学校的花园在她面前展开。 “看，”跟着她的伊维低声说。 “山姆和闪电侠在那边。 看来在交叉网比赛之后，他们已经冷静下来了。” “我想知道哪个宿舍赢了，”西耶娜说。 “我希望那不是托帕石，否则我们就听不完了。” “别让萨姆看见我们。”莱拉说。 “他只想知道是什么

we've been doing." They ducked back behind the dilapidated shed and waited for Sam and Flash to leave before they headed back to the stables. On their way they saw a group of students from Sapphire dorm clustered round a dainty unicorn with a bright orange and gold mane. "What's going on?" said Ivy curiously. Lexi and Katy, two of the girls in Sapphire dorm, saw them and waved. "Come and watch!" Lexi called. "Elise and Peony have just discovered Peony's magic. They're first in the year." "What can Peony do?" Lyra asked eagerly. Elise, a tall girl with curly red hair, beamed. "She's got summoning magic." She put her hand on her unicorn's neck. "Peony, please will you get my hoodie from the stables?" Peony stamped a hoof, blue sparkles flew up and a sweet smell of burnt sugar filled the air. A few seconds later, a blue hoodie came flying towards them. It hit Peony's head and she snorted in surprise as it caught on her ears and dangled from them.

我们一直在做的事情。”他们躲到破旧的棚屋后面，等山姆和闪电离开后，才回到马厩。 在路上，他们看见一群蓝宝石宿舍的学生围着一只长着亮橙色和金色鬃毛的漂亮独角兽。 “怎么回事？”艾薇好奇地问。 蓝宝石宿舍的两个女生莱西和凯蒂看到了他们，向他们挥手。 “过来看！”叫莱克斯。 “伊莉斯和牡丹刚刚发现了牡丹的魔力。 这是今年的第一次。” “牡丹能做什么？”莱拉急切地问。 伊莉斯，一个长着一头红卷发的高个女孩，笑了。 “她会召唤魔法。” 她把手放在独角兽的脖子上。 “牡丹，请你把我的连帽衫从马厩里拿出来好吗？”牡丹跺了一脚，蓝色的火花飞了起来，空气中弥漫着一股烧焦糖的香味。 几秒钟后，一件蓝色卫衣向他们飞来。 它击中了牡丹的头，牡丹惊讶地哼了一声，因为它挂在了她的耳朵上，在耳朵上晃来晃去。

Elise giggled. "We've still got some practising to do, but isn't it amazing?" She hugged Peony who nuzzled her. "It's awesome!" said Lyra, very pleased for Elise and Peony, but also feeling a flash of jealousy. Elise was so lucky! When would Misty discover her magic? "How did you find it out?" said Sienna, who also looked a bit envious. "It was when we were playing crossnet," said Elise. "The ball just kept flying out of other people's nets into mine!" "We were about to win the match twenty goals to one," said Lexi, "but then Ms Nettles realised what was going on and she gave the match to Topaz dorm." "Who won the tournament overall?" asked Ivy. "Topaz," said Katy.

伊莉斯咯咯笑了。“我们还有一些练习要做，但这不是很神奇吗？”她拥抱了用鼻子蹭她的牡丹。 “太棒了！”莱拉说，为伊莉斯和牡丹感到高兴，但也感到一阵嫉妒。 伊莉斯太幸运了！米斯蒂什么时候会发现她的魔力？ “你是怎么知道的？”西耶娜说，她看上去也有点嫉妒。 “那是我们玩交叉网球赛的时候，”伊莉斯说。 “球总是从别人的网里飞到我的网里！”“我们本来就要以20比1的比分赢得比赛了，”莱西说，“但后来内特尔斯老师意识到了问题所在，她把比赛交给了托帕兹宿舍。” “谁最终赢得了比赛？”艾薇问。 “黄玉，”凯蒂说。

Sienna groaned. Elise gave them a curious look. "Where were you lot?" "We had something else to do," Lyra said vaguely. Katy grinned. "The Topaz boys said you were scared they'd beat you!" "As if!" said Sienna. "I can't believe it," she went on grumpily as they rode away. "Now the boys think we were too chicken to play against them. If we'd been playing crossnet, we might have won the tournament and maybe one of our unicorns would have discovered their magic. Instead we just got to ride down lots of tunnels and found nothing at all." "We must have taken a wrong turning somewhere," said Lyra. "We should go back and try again. There's just enough time before dinner…" The others shook their heads. "No, not now. The unicorns are tired," said Evie. "And I'm hungry," said Ivy. "But—" Lyra began. "Chill!" Ivy interrupted. "Wherever the map is hidden, it's safe, Lyra." Sienna nodded. "Ivy's right. We can have another go at finding it tomorrow or at the weekend." Lyra sighed. She knew the others were right but she wanted to find the map now!

黄土呻吟着。伊莉斯好奇地看了他们一眼。 “你们去哪儿了？”“我们还有别的事要做。”莱拉含糊地说。 凯蒂咧嘴一笑。“托帕兹的孩子们说你害怕他们会打败你！”“好像！”西耶娜说。 “我真不敢相信，”他们骑马离开时，她又不高兴地说。 “现在男孩们认为我们太胆小了，不敢和他们比赛。 如果我们一直在玩交叉网，我们可能会赢得比赛，也许我们的独角兽会发现他们的魔法。 相反，我们只是沿着许多隧道行驶，什么也没找到。” “我们一定是在什么地方拐错了弯。”莱拉说。 “我们应该回去再试一次。 吃晚饭前还有时间……”其他人都摇了摇头。 “不，现在不行。独角兽们累了，”伊维说。 “我饿了，”艾薇说。 “可是——”莱拉开口了。“冷!”艾薇打断。 “不管地图藏在哪里，都是安全的，莱拉。” 黄土点点头。“艾薇是正确的。 我们可以在明天或周末再找一次。” 莱拉叹了口气。她知道其他人是对的，但她现在想找到地图！