Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN, "Hello, girls." Dr Briar smiled brightly as a tall, slim unicorn came out of the tower beside her. "Ms Nettles mentioned you were going out for a Picnic ride today. I hope you weren't planning on exploring this folly?" The Ruby girls gaped at her. Even Lyra seemed lost for words. Dr Briar sighed. "It is a very interesting building but I'm afraid that you can't come inside. My research suggests that a previous headteacher may have hidden a special artefact here. Ms Nettles has given me permission to conduct a search. The tower and these woods are now out of bounds to all students until I have completed my work. I'm sure you understand." She continued to smile but Evie saw a distinct hint of triumph in her eyes. "How did you get here so fast?" said Lyra, finding her voice at last. "You were still at school when we left." "Solomon and I used the magic map," said Dr Briar, patting her unicorn. "It makes travelling between here and the school so much easier, but, of course, students aren't allowed to use it. Now, off you go. I'm sure you can find another place to have your little–" she paused– "picnic." Evie couldn't bear the thought of Dr Briar finding the next clue before them, but there was absolutely nothing they could do about it. She walked heavily over to Sunshine but as she reached her, her foot snagged on a tree root, sending her sprawling. "Are you OK?" Ivy called. "I'm fine." Evie put her hand on the stone bench to pull herself up but as she did so her eyes fell on a small round indentation under one arm of the bench. The circle contained a tiny picture of a crying unicorn. Evie gave a strangled gasp. It looked exactly like the button that opened the staircase to the hidden room where they had found the first part of the map.

第七章，“你好，姑娘们。” 一只又高又瘦的独角兽从塔里走出来，布瑞尔博士在她身边露出灿烂的笑容。 “荨麻女士提到你今天要出去野餐。 我希望你没有打算探索这个愚蠢的地方吧？”红宝石家的女孩们目瞪口呆地看着她。 就连莱拉似乎也说不出话来了。 布瑞尔医生叹了口气。“这是一座非常有趣的建筑，但恐怕你不能进去。 我的研究表明一位前任校长可能在这里藏了一件特殊的文物。 荨麻女士允许我进行搜查。 在我完成我的工作之前，塔楼和这片树林现在禁止所有学生进入。 我相信你会理解的。”她继续微笑着，但伊维在她的眼睛里看到了明显的胜利的暗示。 “你怎么这么快就到这儿来了？”莱拉说，终于开口说话了。 “我们离开的时候，你还在学校。” “所罗门和我用了魔法地图，”布瑞尔博士拍拍她的独角兽说。 “这使得这里和学校之间的交通更加方便，但是，当然，学生是不允许使用它的。 现在，你可以走了。我相信你会找到另一个地方来——”她顿了顿，“野餐。” 伊薇无法忍受布瑞尔博士会在他们面前找到下一个线索，但他们对此绝对无能为力。 她沉重地向阳光走去，但当她走到阳光身边时，她的脚被树根绊住了，把她甩了出去。 “你还好吗？”常春藤。“我很好”。 伊薇把手放在石凳上，想把自己拉起来，但当她这样做的时候，她的目光落在了长凳一条胳膊下面的一个小圆凹痕上。 圆圈里有一张独角兽哭泣的小照片。 伊薇喘了口气。 它看起来就像打开通往隐藏房间的楼梯的按钮，他们在那里找到了地图的第一部分。

A line from the clue jumped into her head: A cold place to rest hides the circular key. Could this be it– the way to find the third piece? After all, the bench was definitely a cold place to rest… "Evie?" said Lyra in concern. "Are you hurt?" "N-no," Evie stammered, getting to her feet. She could feel Dr Briar watching them but didn't want to say anything in front of her. "I'm fine. Let's go." She got back on to Sunshine and the girls left. "I can't believe Dr Briar is searching the folly!" Lyra hissed when they were out of earshot. "It's so not fair!" said Sienna. "Dr Briar's bound to find the next part of the map before us now," groaned Ivy. "Maybe not," said Evie, her eyes shining. They all looked at her. "What do you mean?" asked Lyra. "I'll tell you when we're somewhere properly private," said Evie, glancing around at the trees. There was no knowing who or what was lurking in them. "Come on!" Only when they reached a meadow far away from the copse did Evie ask Sunshine to stop. She slid off and the others joined her as she sat down on the grass. "I saw something," she said. Even though they were absolutely on their own, she kept her voice low as she told them about the button she'd spotted under the bench. "Think of the other two bits of the map," Evie said eagerly. "They were

线索中的一行跃入她的脑海：一个寒冷的休息地方隐藏着圆形的钥匙。 这就是找到第三块的方法吗？ 毕竟，长凳绝对是个冰冷的休息场所……“伊薇？”莱拉担心地说。 “你受伤了吗？”“不，不。”伊薇结结巴巴地站了起来。 她能感觉到布瑞尔医生在看着他们，但不想在她面前说什么。 “我很好。我们走吧。”她回到阳光上，女孩们离开了。 “我真不敢相信布瑞尔博士居然在调查这件蠢事！”当他们走到听不见的地方时，莱拉嘶嘶地说。 “这不公平！”西耶娜说。 “布瑞尔博士现在肯定比我们先找到地图的下一部分了。”艾薇呻吟着说。 “也许不是，”伊维说，她的眼睛闪闪发光。 他们都看着她。“你是什么意思？”莱拉问。 “等我们到了一个僻静的地方，我会告诉你的。”伊薇说着，朝周围的树瞥了一眼。 谁也不知道他们里面潜伏着什么人。 “来吧!”直到他们来到一片远离森林的草地上，伊薇才让阳光停下来。 她滑了下来，其他人也跟着她一起坐在草地上。 “我看到了一些东西，”她说。 尽管他们完全靠自己，她还是压低了声音，告诉他们她在长凳下面发现的那个纽扣。 “想想地图的另外两部分。”伊维急切地说。 “他们

really well hidden. There's no way Ms Evergreen would have just left the third piece lying around in the tower. She's bound to have put it in a good hiding place. I think the button is important. Remember the riddle. It says: 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 dark cavity." She looked at her friends. "I think the button is the circular key, and the map's hiding place– the dark cavity– will be revealed if we press it!" "I bet you're right!" Lyra cried. "So Dr Briar won't find the map unless she finds that button," said Sienna, smiling. "But because she hasn't seen the second piece, she won't even know to look for it!" "We can still beat her!" exclaimed Ivy. "How are we going to get into the tower without her seeing?" asked Evie. She sighed. "I guess we just have to wait until she abandons her search." Lyra grinned. "Or we go to the tower when she's not there– at night!" "No way!" Ivy squeaked. "I'm with Ivy. Those woods are scary enough in the day," agreed Sienna. "You want to find the map, don't you?" Lyra said. They nodded. "Then stop worrying about ghosts and get ready for a midnight adventure!" she declared.

真的隐藏得很好。常绿女士不可能把第三块丢在塔楼里。 她一定把它藏在了一个好地方。 我认为按钮很重要。 记住这个谜语。上面写着：在一个由幽灵保护的新地方有一个空间，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，按一下就能进入黑暗的洞穴。” 她看着她的朋友们。 “我想那个按钮是圆形的钥匙，地图的藏身之处——那个黑暗的洞——按下它就会露出来！”“我打赌你是对的！”莱拉哭了。 “所以布瑞尔博士找不到地图，除非她找到那个按钮，”西耶娜笑着说。 “但是因为她没有看到第二块，她甚至不知道要去找它！”“我们还能打败她！”艾薇叫道。 “我们怎么才能在不被她看见的情况下进入塔楼呢？” 她叹了口气。“我想我们只能等到她放弃寻找。” 莱拉咧嘴一笑。“或者我们趁她不在的时候到塔上去——晚上！”“不可能!”艾薇发出“吱吱”的响声。 “我和艾薇在一起。那些树林在白天已经够吓人的了，”西耶娜同意道。 “你想找到地图，是吗？”莱拉说。 他们点了点头。“那就别担心鬼了，准备好午夜冒险吧！”她说。