Chapter 1

Evie and Sunshine

伊薇和阳光

Chapter one "That was yummy," Evie said as she licked crumbs of chocolate cake from her fingers. The girls from Ruby dormitory were having a picnic in a corner of the walled orchard while their unicorns grazed on the lush grass. It was late spring, the apple trees were covered with white blossom and the bright sunlight, dappling through the branches, warmed Evie's face. "OK," said Lyra, packing away the picnic things and double-checking that no one else was in sight. "Now for the important business that we came here to discuss." "To solve the riddle on the treasure map!" said Sienna eagerly. She poked Ivy, who was lying on her back with her eyes shut. "Ivy, wake up!" Ivy wriggled away. "I am awake. Have you got the map, Lyra?" She turned herself on to her tummy.

“真好吃，”伊薇边说边舔掉手指上的巧克力蛋糕屑。 鲁比宿舍的女孩们正在围墙果园的一角野餐，她们的独角兽在茂盛的草地上吃草。 时值晚春，苹果树上开满了白花，明亮的阳光透过树枝照得斑驳，温暖着伊薇的脸。 “好吧。”莱拉说，一边收拾好野餐的东西，再三确认周围没有其他人。 “现在说说我们来这里要讨论的重要事情。” “解开藏宝图上的谜语！”西耶娜急切地说。 她戳了戳仰面躺着闭着眼睛的艾薇。 “艾薇，醒醒！”艾薇扭动着离开了。 “我醒了。你拿到地图了吗，莱拉？”她趴在她的肚子上。

Lyra carefully pulled two yellowed squares of paper from her pocket. They crackled as she unfolded them and smoothed them out, placing them side by side on the picnic rug. Each one was part of a map that had been cut into four pieces. These two each had a small picture of a crying unicorn in their outside corners. Together they made up the top half of the map. They formed a picture of Unicorn Academy and, further down, part of a maze with half of a big X in the centre. The girls didn't know what the treasure in the maze was but they were determined to find out! They had discovered the first piece hidden in a secret room above their dorm and Topaz dorm. A riddle on the back had led them to the second piece, which they had found behind an underground waterfall in the school

莱拉小心翼翼地从口袋里掏出两张泛黄的正方形纸。 她打开它们，把它们弄平，并排放在野餐地毯上，发出噼啪声。 每一个都是地图的一部分，地图被切成四块。 这两个人都有一张小照片，上面是一只哭泣的独角兽。 它们一起构成了地图的上半部分。 他们组成了一幅独角兽学院的画面，再往下，是一个迷宫的一部分，中间有半个大X。 女孩们不知道迷宫里的宝藏是什么，但她们决心要找到它！他们在宿舍和托帕石宿舍楼上的一间密室里发现了第一块宝石。 背面的一个谜语指引他们找到了第二个碎片，那是他们在学校的一个地下瀑布后面发现的

grounds. They hoped that the riddle written on it would direct them to the third piece. "This riddle is really annoying!" said Lyra. "What does it even mean?" Evie pushed her wavy brown hair behind her ears. She had already memorised the riddle and recited it for the others: "In a new folly that phantoms keep safe There's a space you can enter and leave with no trace. A cold place to rest hides the circular key, Press once and enter the d-da-dark cavity." As Evie stumbled over the last few words, she blushed. Sometimes her mouth just couldn't seem to keep up with her brain and her words came out muddled. Luckily her friends never mentioned it, but she hated when it happened. Similarly, when she was moving fast or playing sport, she often tripped over. But Evie didn't mind about not being great at sport– she preferred reading and wanted to be a scientist when she was older. "I don't understand the first line," said Sienna. "Phantoms are ghosts. But how can ghosts keep anywhere safe?" "And what's 'a new folly'?" asked Ivy. "'Folly' means foolish," said Evie shyly. "A new foolish that ghosts keep safe?" said Lyra. "That doesn't make any sense." She rubbed her forehead in frustration. The word folly was bothering Evie too. She'd heard it before and thought it had another meaning but she couldn't remember what. "A cavity's a hole," said Sienna. "Could the dark cavity be the secret room where we found the first part of the map? You have to press a hidden circular button to open it up." Her eyes lit up. "Yes, maybe that's it!" "But the secret room isn't dark," Lyra argued. "It has a window and it's not really a cavity." Evie reached for the map but, as she did so, her arm knocked against her water bottle. She hadn't screwed the top on properly and water splashed out. She tried to grab it but her fingers fumbled and instead she sent it rolling towards the precious paper. "No!" shrieked Sienna. Luckily Lyra swept up the pieces of map before the water could reach them. "I'm sorry!" cried Evie, jumping to her feet as Ivy pulled some tissues out of her pocket and started to mop up the water.

理由。他们希望写在上面的谜语能指引他们找到第三块。 “这个谜语真烦人！” “这到底是什么意思？”伊薇把她那卷曲的棕色头发捋到耳后。 她已经记住了这个谜语，并背诵给其他人听：“在一个幽灵保护的新愚蠢的地方，有一个空间，你可以进去，离开，不留痕迹。 一个寒冷的地方隐藏着圆形的钥匙，按一下，进入黑暗的洞。” 伊薇结结巴巴地说着最后几个字，脸都红了。 有时她的嘴似乎跟不上她的大脑，她的话就会含糊不清。 幸运的是，她的朋友们从来没有提起过这件事，但她讨厌这件事的发生。 同样，当她快速移动或做运动时，她经常被绊倒。 但是Evie并不介意不擅长运动——她更喜欢阅读，长大后想成为一名科学家。 “我不明白第一句，”西耶娜说。 “鬼就是鬼。可是鬼魂怎么能保证任何地方的安全呢？”“什么是‘新的愚蠢’？”艾薇问。 “‘愚蠢’的意思是愚蠢，”伊薇害羞地说。 “一种被鬼魂保护的新傻瓜？”莱拉说。 “这没有任何意义。” 她沮丧地揉着额头。 愚蠢这个词也困扰着伊维。 她以前听过这句话，以为还有别的意思，但她不记得是什么意思了。 “洞就是洞，”西耶娜说。 “那个黑暗的洞会不会就是我们找到地图第一部分的密室呢？” 你必须按下一个隐藏的圆形按钮才能打开。” 她的眼睛亮了起来。“是的，也许就是这样！”“但是密室并不黑。”莱拉争辩道。 “它有一个窗口，而不是一个真正的空洞。” 艾维伸手去拿地图，但她的胳膊撞到了水瓶上。 她没有拧好盖子，水溅了出来。 她想抓住它，但她的手指摸不着，反而让它滚向那张珍贵的纸。 “不！”西耶娜尖叫道。幸运的是，莱拉在水还没淹到地图碎片之前，把它们扫了起来。 “对不起！”艾薇叫道，跳了起来，从口袋里掏出纸巾开始擦水。

"What's going on?" Sunshine, Evie's elegant unicorn, came trotting over with the other unicorns– Misty, Flame and Sparkle. "Just Evie being a clumsy doughnut again," said Sienna, grinning. "Honestly, Evie, I think we should ban you from being around food or drink. You always spill something!" Even though Sienna was only teasing, Evie felt awful. She tried to help by brushing the remaining liquid from the rug but, as she stepped back, she tripped over Lyra's bag and fell over. "Oh, Evie!" groaned Sunshine. She was a very pretty unicorn with yellow, turquoise and deep-pink patterns on her white coat that matched her long mane and tail. "Evie, please go and stand by Sunshine and we'll clear up," said Ivy. Evie went over to Sunshine and stroked her mane to hide her blushes. She wondered if Sunshine wished she had been paired with a different student– someone who wasn't so embarrassing. Sunshine hated being the centre of attention almost as much as Evie did. How will we ever bond and graduate if Sunshine is embarrassed by

“发生什么事了？”阳光，伊薇优雅的独角兽，和其他的独角兽——迷雾、火焰和火花一起小跑过来。 “只是伊薇又变成了一个笨拙的甜甜圈，”西耶娜笑着说。 “老实说，伊薇，我觉得我们应该禁止你靠近食物或饮料。 你总是洒东西！”尽管西耶娜只是在开玩笑，伊薇还是觉得很难受。 她想帮忙刷掉地毯上残留的液体，但当她往后退时，被莱拉的包绊了一下，摔倒了。 “哦，伊维！”阳光呻吟道。 她是一只非常漂亮的独角兽，白色的皮毛上有黄色、绿松石色和深粉红色的图案，与她长长的鬃毛和尾巴很相配。 “艾薇，请你去站在阳光旁边，我们会清理干净的。”艾薇说。 伊薇走到阳光身边，抚摸着她的鬃毛，遮住她的脸红。 她想知道阳光是否希望她和一个不同的学生——一个不那么尴尬的人。 Sunshine几乎和Evie一样讨厌成为众人关注的焦点。 如果让阳光感到尴尬，我们怎么能建立关系，怎么毕业呢

me? Evie thought anxiously. During their time at Unicorn Academy the students learned how to become guardians of Unicorn Island. They couldn't graduate until they had bonded with their unicorn and discovered their unicorn's magic power. Bonding was the highest form of friendship and Evie would know when it happened because a lock of her hair would turn the same colour as Sunshine's mane. Lyra and Misty were the only ones in Ruby dorm to have bonded so far– Lyra now had a purple, yellow and green streak in her hair to prove it. Misty was also the only unicorn in Ruby dorm to have found her magic. She could form protective bubbles around people in danger. Evie couldn't wait to discover what Sunshine's magic was! "I vote we go and explore the hidden room again," said Sienna as Lyra and Ivy packed the rug and water bottles away. "But for now let's make the most of the sun and have an obstacle race. I bet there's some stuff in that shed we could use!" Sienna ran to a nearby garden shed and began to pull things out. The others went to help but Sunshine stopped Evie. "Let's just watch," she said. Evie guessed Sunshine was worried that she would embarrass her if they tried to take part. "OK," she said with a sigh. The others came back laden with buckets, beanpoles, plant pots, hoops and beanbags. Sienna instructed everyone where to put everything, and when the course was set up she shinned up an apple tree with a beanbag and balanced it on a branch. "Listen up!" she said, sliding easily back down the trunk. "This is the course. First you gallop to the line of poles. You weave through them then race to the upturned bucket where you have to reach down and pick up a plant pot. Next, ride to the pole near the apple tree, put the pot on top then climb the apple tree to get the beanbag. Once you're back on your unicorn it's a race to the end, jumping over the fallen log and throwing the beanbag through this hoop as you cross the finishing line. Fastest time wins. Evie and Sunshine, you're up first." Evie shook her head. "I'll just keep the times for everyone." "Oh no, you've got to join in. We can all take turns at timing," said Sienna. "Yes, please take part," said Ivy. "Pleeeease, Evie!" begged Lyra. "It'll be more fun if we all do it."

我吗?伊薇焦虑地想。 在独角兽学院学习期间，学生们学会了如何成为独角兽岛的守护者。 直到他们与独角兽建立了联系，发现了独角兽的魔力，他们才能毕业。 亲密无间是友谊的最高形式，伊薇知道什么时候发生了，因为她的一绺头发会变成和阳光的鬃毛一样的颜色。 到目前为止，莱拉和米斯蒂是鲁比宿舍里唯一的两个亲密无间的人——莱拉的头发上有一条紫、黄、绿相间的条纹可以证明这一点。 米斯蒂也是鲁比宿舍里唯一发现自己魔法的独角兽。 她可以在处于危险中的人周围形成保护泡泡。 伊薇迫不及待地想知道阳光的魔力是什么！“我建议我们再去探索一下那个隐蔽的房间。”西耶娜说，莱拉和艾薇把地毯和水瓶收拾好。 “但现在让我们充分利用阳光，来一场障碍赛吧。 我敢打赌那棚子里有些东西我们可以用！”西耶娜跑到附近的花园小屋，开始把东西拔出来。 其他人去帮忙，但阳光阻止了伊维。 “我们就等着瞧吧，”她说。 伊薇猜阳光是担心如果他们想参加，她会让她难堪。 “好吧，”她叹了口气说。 其他人带着水桶、豆杆、花盆、铁箍和豆袋回来了。 西耶娜指示每个人把东西放在哪里，当跑道设置好后，她拿着一个豆袋爬上一棵苹果树，并把它放在树枝上保持平衡。 “听着！”她说着，轻松地滑下箱子。 “这就是课程。首先你飞奔到杆子线。 你穿过他们，然后跑到向上的水桶，在那里你必须伸手拿起一个花盆。 接下来，骑到苹果树附近的杆子上，把罐子放在上面，然后爬上苹果树去拿豆袋。 一旦你回到你的独角兽上，这是一场比赛，直到终点，跳过倒下的原木，把豆袋扔过这个圈，当你穿过终点线。 最快的时间获胜。伊薇和阳光，你们先上。” 伊薇摇了摇头。“我给大家留点时间。” “哦，不，你必须加入。 我们都可以轮流轮流，”西耶纳说。 “是的，请参加，”艾薇说。 “求你了，伊维！”莱拉恳求道。 “如果我们都这么做，会更有趣。”