Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX, The wing hurtled towards Evie and Sunshine. Evie was sure it was going to hit them but at the very last moment time seemed to pause. The wing froze in the air above their heads. Sunshine reared backwards and then time restarted. Whumph! The marble wing thumped into the ground exactly where Evie and Sunshine had been a few seconds ago. "Evie! Sunshine! Are you OK?' cried Lyra. "What happened?" gasped Evie. "I thought it was going to hit us but it just stopped in mid-air!" "It was Flash!" Sam burst out, jumping off and hugging his unicorn. "I saw sparks fly from his hooves and I smelled burnt sugar. He must have got his magic– pausing magic! It will mean he can make things stop for a few seconds." "Oh, wow!" said Evie. "That's awesome magic. You saved our lives, Flash. Thank you so much. You're amazing!" Flash, a tall unicorn with a silver and green mane, looked very proud as everyone crowded round, congratulating him and Sam.

第六章，翅膀向伊薇和阳光扑去。 艾薇确信它会击中他们，但在最后一刻，时间似乎停顿了。 翅膀冻结在他们头顶的空中。 阳光向后倾斜，然后时间重新开始。 Whumph !大理石翅膀砰的一声落在地上，就在伊薇和阳光几秒钟前所在的地方。 “艾维!阳光!你还好吗？莱拉叫道。 “发生什么事了？”伊薇喘着气说。 “我以为它会撞到我们，但它在半空中停了下来！”“是闪电侠！”萨姆脱口而出，跳下来拥抱他的独角兽。 “我看到火星从他的蹄子里飞出来，我闻到了烧焦的糖。 他一定有他的魔法——暂停魔法！这意味着他可以让事情停止几秒钟。” “哦，哇！”伊维说。“这是令人敬畏的魔法。 你救了我们的命，闪电侠。 非常感谢。你真了不起!”闪电侠是一只高大的独角兽，长着银绿相间的鬃毛，当大家围过来祝贺他和萨姆时，他显得非常自豪。

"Now you've found your magic, we just need to bond and then we'll be able to graduate at the end of the year," said a beaming Sam, giving Flash another hug. "Something we're forgetting to ask," said Lyra, frowning as she looked at the chunks of marble lying on the grass all around them, "is why the statue exploded in the first place." "You didn't bump into it, did you?" Sienna asked Evie. "No!" Evie said indignantly. "It's really weird," said Lyra, riding round the plinth. "Statues shouldn't just explode for no reason. I guess we'd better tell Ms Rivers." "We'll tell her," said Sam. "We're the fastest dorm. Come on, guys!" He vaulted back on to Flash and he and the other boys raced off. Sienna scowled. "Sam can be so annoying." "He did save me and Sunshine though," said Evie. "I wonder why that statue exploded…" "Evie, can we go back to the stables now?" Sunshine said. "I'm feeling

“现在你已经找到了你的魔力，我们只需要团结起来，然后我们就能在年底毕业了，”笑容满面的山姆说，给了闪电侠另一个拥抱。 “有件事我们忘了问，”莱拉看着周围草地上的大理石堆，皱着眉头说，“就是雕像爆炸的原因。” “你没有撞到它吧？”西耶娜问伊维。 “不!”伊薇气愤地说。 “真奇怪。”莱拉骑着马绕着底座说。 “雕像不应该无缘无故地爆炸。 我想我们最好告诉里弗斯女士。” “我们会告诉她的，”萨姆说。 “我们是最快的宿舍。加油，伙计们！”他跳回到闪电身上，他和其他男孩一起跑开了。 黄土皱起了眉头。“萨姆真烦人。” “他确实救了我和阳光，”伊薇说。 “伊薇，我们现在能回马厩去了吗？”阳光说。 “我觉得

a bit shaky." "Of course," said Evie, patting her. "She turned back to the others. "You know, there have been quite a few explosions recently." "What do you mean?" asked Ivy. "Well, the sky berries exploded when you were at the stables and Sunshine's hay net burst the day before. I thought it was my fault, that I had stuffed it too full and hadn't tied it up properly but—" "Evie, I really do want to go back," interrupted Sunshine loudly. "I'm not feeling well." "OK," said Evie. "I'd better go," she told the others. "We'll come with you," said Lyra, riding up alongside them. "The boys have won the treasure hunt now anyway. So you think someone might be making things explode around us on purpose?" "Maybe it's someone who knows we've found the part of the map," said Sienna. "And they want to scare us." "Or injure us," said Ivy with a shiver. "But the only people who know we have a piece of the map are Dr Briar and Sam," said Evie. Lyra looked thoughtful. "The statue exploded just as Sam reached it and he was there that day in the stables when the sky berries exploded." Her mouth tightened. "I bet Dr Briar is getting him to scare us because she knows we've found part of the map and wants it for herself. I knew she was interested in it, even though she pretended it was worthless!" "But Sam can't be making things explode. Flash has pausing magic, not exploding magic," Evie pointed out. "True, but maybe there's a spell or potion that can cause explosions," said Lyra. "Well, Sam and Dr Briar had better watch out. They're not going to stop us finding the next part of the map. No way! We're going to search the folly on Saturday and then the third piece will be ours!" On Saturday the girls woke early. They had permission from Ms Rivers to go on a picnic ride, so they went to the dining room to collect their packed lunches. On the table next to their lunches there was also a packed lunch with Dr Briar's name on it. Lyra frowned. "Why does Dr Briar need a packed lunch?"

有点摇晃。”“当然，”伊维拍拍她说。 她转身对其他人说。 “你知道，最近发生了几次爆炸。” “你是什么意思？”艾薇问。 “嗯，你在马厩的时候，天上的浆果爆炸了，前一天阳光的干草网也爆炸了。 我想这是我的错，我塞得太满了，没有把它系好，但是——”“伊薇，我真的很想回去，”阳光大声打断他的话。 “我感觉不舒服。”“好吧，”伊维说。 “我得走了，”她对其他人说。 “我们和你们一起去。”莱拉说，骑着马跟在他们身边。 “不管怎样，男孩们现在赢了寻宝游戏。 所以你认为可能有人故意在我们周围制造爆炸？”“也许是有人知道我们找到了地图上的那部分，”西耶娜说。 “他们想吓唬我们。” “或者伤害我们。”艾薇颤抖着说。 “但唯一知道我们有地图的人是布瑞尔博士和山姆，”伊维说。 莱拉显得若有所思。“雕像在山姆到达的时候爆炸了，那天天空浆果爆炸的时候，他就在马厩里。” 她的嘴绷紧了。“我敢打赌布瑞尔博士是想让他吓唬我们，因为她知道我们已经找到了地图的一部分，她想自己占有。 我知道她对它很感兴趣，尽管她假装它一文不值！”“但山姆不可能让东西爆炸。 Flash拥有暂停魔法，而不是爆炸魔法。” “没错，不过也许有一种咒语或魔药能引起爆炸。”莱拉说。 “好吧，萨姆和布瑞尔医生最好小心点。 他们不会阻止我们找到地图的下一部分。 没门!我们打算星期六去找那件蠢事，然后第三件就是我们的了！”星期六，女孩们起得很早。 他们得到里弗斯女士的许可去野餐，所以他们去餐厅取盒装午餐。 在他们午餐旁边的桌子上还有一份盒装午餐，上面写着布瑞尔博士的名字。 莱拉皱起了眉头。“为什么布瑞尔博士需要盒装午餐？”

"Who cares," said Sienna. "Let's get going." They grabbed some fresh croissants to eat on the way and set off. It was another gorgeous day. Sparkle Lake glittered in the bright sunshine and the air was full of birdsong. The unicorns cantered through the meadows and then paused at the stream to give the unicorns a drink. They rode on through the beautiful academy grounds, but as they got closer to Spiny Copse the birds fell quiet and a shadow seemed to cross the sun. The tall, forbidding trees clustered closely together as if they wanted to keep people out. Creepers wound round their trunks and the shadows between them were dark and dense. The girls halted at the start of the path, no one wanting to be the first to enter. Ivy shivered. "What if the folly really is haunted?" "It's not," said Lyra. "There are no such things as ghosts." "You hope!" Sienna said. Evie thought back to what Ms Tansy had said about some students thinking they'd seen ghosts near the folly and hoped it was a rumour

“谁在乎呢，”西耶娜说。“我们走吧。” 他们在路上抓了一些新鲜的羊角面包吃，然后出发了。 又是美好的一天。 闪闪发光的湖在明亮的阳光下闪闪发光，空气中充满了鸟鸣。 独角兽们绕着圈穿过草地，然后在小溪边停下来给独角兽们喝了点水。 他们骑着马穿过美丽的学院场地，但当他们走近刺林时，鸟儿们都安静下来了，太阳似乎被一个影子遮住了。 高大的、令人望而生畏的树木簇拥在一起，仿佛想把人挡在外面。 藤蔓缠绕在树干上，树干之间的阴影又黑又密。 姑娘们在小路的起点停了下来，谁也不想第一个进去。 艾薇颤抖。“要是这傻东西真的闹鬼怎么办？”“不是。”莱拉说。 “世上没有鬼这种东西。” “你希望!”黄土说。艾薇回想起唐茜老师说过的一些学生认为他们在愚蠢的地方看到了鬼魂，并希望这是一个谣言

encouraged by Ms Evergreen to keep people away! Lyra rode into the trees and Sienna and Ivy followed. To Evie's surprise Sunshine hung back. "Come on," she said. "We don't want to get left behind." Sunshine cantered after the others but Evie could feel her trembling. She frowned. Sunshine wasn't usually timid when it came to adventures, so what was bothering her? The path was narrow and gloomy, the trees blocking out the light. The wood was strangely silent and the air felt like icy fingers stroking their faces. As the unicorns pushed their way along the overgrown path the branches tugged at their legs and tails and the shadows deepened. "I really don't like it here,' said Ivy nervously. "Neither do I," said Sunshine to Evie. "It's so dark." An eerie "WHOOOO-OOOO" rang through the air and a pale shape glimmered for a moment high in the trees before disappearing. Ivy shrieked and Evie grabbed a handful of mane as Sunshine shied violently. Sienna gasped. "Was that a ghost?" "It can't have been," said Lyra. She stroked Misty, who was trembling. "Ghosts aren't real." "I really don't like this, Evie," said Sunshine, her voice quivering.

被常绿女士鼓励远离人群！莱拉骑着马走进树林，西耶娜和艾薇跟在后面。 令伊薇吃惊的是，阳光退缩了。 “来吧，”她说。“我们不想落在后面。” 阳光跟在其他人后面，但伊薇能感觉到她在颤抖。 她皱起了眉头。当谈到冒险时，阳光通常不是胆小的，那么是什么让她烦恼呢？ 小路又窄又阴暗，树木遮住了光线。 树林里出奇地寂静，空气就像冰冷的手指抚摸着他们的脸。 当独角兽沿着杂草丛生的小路前进时，树枝拉着它们的腿和尾巴，影子越来越深。 “我真的不喜欢这里，”艾薇紧张地说。 “我也不知道。”阳光对伊薇说。 “太黑了。”空中响起了一声诡异的“呜——呜”，一个苍白的东西在高高的树上闪了一会儿，然后消失了。 艾薇尖叫着，抓住一把鬃毛，阳光猛烈地颤抖着。 黄土深吸一口气。“那是鬼吗？”“不可能。”莱拉说。 她抚摸着正在颤抖的米斯蒂。 “鬼魂不是真的。”“我真的不喜欢这样，伊维，”阳光说，她的声音颤抖着。

Evie took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll be OK," she reassured her. "Lyra's right: ghosts aren't real." "It's not the ghosts; it's the…" Sunshine's voice trailed off. "It doesn't matter," she muttered. "We've got to keep going," said Lyra, urging Misty forward. "Look, there's something over there, through the trees!" Evie caught a glimpse of golden stone in the distance. "I bet it's the folly. Come on, Sunshine, we're almost there!" They all rode on. As the track widened out, Evie saw a tall tower made of yellow stone In a clearing ahead. Its crumbling walls looked like they were being held together by the thick swaths of dark-green ivy that covered them. There was an old wooden door with a stone bench outside it. Excitement bubbled up inside Evie, squashing her fears. This could be it! They could be about to find the third piece of the map! Sunshine halted by the bench. "Oh, wow," breathed Evie, dismounting and walking towards the tower.

伊薇深吸了一口气，让她那跳动的心平静下来。 “别担心，我相信我们会没事的，”她安慰她说。 “莱拉说得对，鬼魂不是真的。” “不是鬼；是……”阳光的声音越来越小。 “没关系，”她喃喃地说。 “我们得继续走。”莱拉说，催促米斯蒂往前走。 “看，那边有个东西，穿过树林！”伊薇瞥见远处的一块金色的石头。 “我敢说这是愚蠢的。加油，阳光，我们快到了！”他们都骑着马继续前进。 随着铁轨的拓宽，伊维看到前面空地上有一座黄色的高塔。 它那摇摇欲坠的墙壁看起来像是被覆盖在上面的密密的深绿色常春藤紧紧地连接在一起的。 有一扇旧木门，门外有一条石凳。 兴奋的情绪在伊维的内心涌起，压碎了她的恐惧。 这可能就是它！他们可能马上就要找到地图的第三块了！阳光在长凳旁停了下来。 “哦，哇。”伊薇喘着气说，下了马，朝塔楼走去。