Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT,

第八章,

"He's got the map! After him!" yelled Lyra. They leaped on their unicorns and thundered into the woods, chasing Sam. Ivy clung to Flame's mane as he weaved round trees, leaping over fallen logs and swerving to avoid tree roots and rabbit holes. Sam looked over his shoulder and yelled something to Flash. The unicorn dived to the left and pulled up behind a twisted old tree. He stamped on the ground and a few sparks spluttered from his hoof. Ivy felt Flame slow. Looking across to the others, she saw that their unicorns had too. Then all at once everyone sped up once more. Sam leaned forward, urging Flash to go faster as they galloped away again. "Flash must be tiring. His magic isn't working properly," Lyra shouted. "Come on! We can catch him and get the map back!" They burst out of the woods and galloped back over the hill and down the other side. As they rounded a bend in the track, Ivy saw the towers of Unicorn Academy glinting in the autumn sunlight. Flash seemed to get a second wind as he raced towards the school. "He's getting away!" cried Lyra. "I'll use my magic!" whinnied Sunshine. Stopping, she stamped her hooves into the ground. There was a loud bang and the path ahead of Sam exploded in a fountain of dirt. Flash skidded to a halt. Sienna and Sparkle raced towards Sam as Flash recovered, swerved round the rubble and began to gallop over the grass towards the lake.

“他拿到地图了！”追他！”莱拉喊道。 他们跳上独角兽，轰隆隆地冲进树林，追赶萨姆。 当火焰在树木间穿梭，跳过倒下的原木，避开树根和兔子洞时，常春藤紧贴在鬃毛上。 山姆回头看了看，对闪电侠喊了些什么。 独角兽向左俯冲，停在一棵扭曲的老树后面。 他在地上跺了一脚，蹄子里迸出几颗火花。 艾薇觉得火焰慢了下来。她看了看其他人，发现他们的独角兽也有。 突然，大家又加快了速度。 山姆向前倾着身子，催促闪电加快速度，他们再次疾驰而去。 “闪电一定很累。他的魔法不太管用。”莱拉喊道。 “来吧!我们可以抓住他，把地图拿回来！”他们冲出树林，策马跑过小山，又从另一边跑了下来。 他们在跑道上拐了一个弯，艾薇看见独角兽学院的塔楼在秋天的阳光下闪闪发光。 闪电侠奔向学校，似乎又恢复了精神。 “他要跑了！”莱拉叫道。 “我要用我的魔法！” 她停了下来，把蹄子踩在地上。 砰的一声巨响，山姆前面的小路炸开了，变成了一滩泥土。 闪电侠滑了下来。西耶娜和斯巴克跑向山姆，闪电恢复过来，绕过碎石，开始在草地上向湖边疾驰。

The pause gave Misty a chance to use her magic. She sent a huge bubble shooting towards Sam and Flash. The shimmering wall bent round them, swallowing them up. The bubble bounced lightly over the grass, carrying Sam and Flash back to the girls. Sam began to gesticulate, pointing wildly behind them. Ivy looked round. Horror filled her. Someone was galloping towards them on a tall unicorn. "It's Dr Briar!" she cried. "Yes! Quick, move it!" Sam shouted, the bubble wall reverberating and muffling his voice. The bubble landed close to the girls and popped, depositing Flash and Sam on the ground. "Flash, help them!" Sam begged his unicorn, stroking Flash's neck. "Please!" With a look of fierce determination Flash stamped his front hooves and

这段停顿给了米斯蒂施展魔法的机会。 她向山姆和闪电侠发射了一个巨大的泡泡。 闪闪发光的墙壁向他们弯下腰，把他们吞没了。 泡泡轻轻地在草地上反弹，把山姆和闪电带回到女孩们身边。 萨姆开始做手势，疯狂地指着他们身后。 艾薇环顾四周。她心中充满了恐惧。 有人骑着一只高大的独角兽向他们飞奔而来。 “是布瑞尔医生！” “是啊!快，快点！”萨姆大声喊道，泡沫墙的回声掩盖了他的声音。 气泡落在离女孩们很近的地方，然后破裂了，把闪电和萨姆摔在地上。 “闪电侠，救救他们！”山姆抚摸着闪电侠的脖子，恳求他的独角兽。 “请!”闪电侠一脸凶狠的决心，跺着他的前蹄，然后

silvery green sparks spiralled into the air. Dr Briar was almost upon them when her unicorn, Solomon, froze. Dr Briar remained like a statue on his back, leaning forward with her hands halfway up his neck. "It worked! Well done, Flash!" cried Sam. "Here, take this and go!" he urged, thrusting the final part of the map into Evie's hands. "Flash can't freeze time for much longer. Keep this away from my aunt!" "What's going on?" asked Evie in astonishment. "Sam, why did you take the map?" "Later," said Sam. "Just take it and go!" Ruby dorm galloped to the barn beside the stables. They raced inside and the girls jumped off their unicorns, but as Lyra and Sienna went to shut the enormous doors they heard a voice shout, "Wait up!" In a moment Sam and Flash had clattered inside. Sam jumped off Flash and ran back to the door to help the girls close it. "Phew!" he exclaimed as the door clanged shut. "Just as Flash's magic faded, Ms Nettles and Ms Rivers came riding round the lake, chatting together. My aunt saw them and galloped away. She won't risk getting caught on the school grounds." Sienna put her hands on her hips. "OK. Enough, Sam. What exactly is going on? What are you playing at?" "Yes, whose side are you on?" asked Ivy in confusion. "Yours." Sam spread out his hands. "Look, I'm sorry– I wasn't at first. I've been spying on you ever since you found the first part of the map. When you showed it to Aunt Angelica she suspected it might be valuable so she looked into it and discovered it was from a treasure map showing the location of the Unicorn's Diamond." "We know all that," said Lyra impatiently. "That's why Ms Evergreen, the headteacher here a hundred years ago, hid it," Sam went on. "The diamond has the power to give anyone who holds it their heart's desire. My aunt wants it. I thought she would use it for good and so I went along with her plans, but the more she talked about it, the more I realised she wants it for selfish reasons. Her goal is to have the biggest and best collection of precious artefacts on the island. Once the Unicorn's Diamond has helped her achieve that, she plans to hide everything away In a private collection. That's not right. Ancient artefacts should be displayed for everyone to enjoy. When Aunt Angelica trapped you in the tower, I was shocked. That's when I knew she'd stop at nothing

银绿色的火花在空中盘旋。 布瑞尔博士快追上他们时，她的独角兽所罗门僵住了。 布瑞尔博士像一尊雕像一样仰面躺着，身体前倾，双手伸到他脖子的一半。 “这工作!干得好，闪电侠！”萨姆叫道。 “拿着这个走吧！”他催促道，把地图的最后一部分塞到艾维手里。 “闪光不能冻结时间太久。 别让我姑妈看见！”“发生了什么事？”伊维惊讶地问。 “山姆，你为什么拿着地图？”“以后再说，”萨姆说。 “拿着它走吧！”林心如奔向马厩旁的谷仓。 他们冲了进去，姑娘们从独角兽身上跳了下来，但当莱拉和西耶娜去关上那扇巨大的门时，她们听到一个声音喊道：“等一下！”不一会儿，山姆和闪电侠就咔嗒咔嗒地走了进去。 山姆从闪电身上跳下来，跑回门口帮女孩们把门关上。 “呸！”门哐当关上时，他叫了一声。 就在闪电侠的魔力消失的时候，奈特尔斯女士和里弗斯女士骑着马绕湖而来，一起聊天。 姨婆看见他们，就疾驰而去。 她不会冒险在学校操场上被抓的。” 西耶娜把手放在屁股上。 “好吧。够了,山姆。到底发生了什么？ 你在玩什么把戏？”“是的，你站在哪一边？”艾薇困惑地问。 “你的。”萨姆摊开双手。 “听着，我很抱歉——一开始我没有。 自从你找到地图的第一部分我就一直在监视你。 当你把它拿给安吉莉卡姨妈看的时候，她怀疑它可能很值钱，于是她仔细看了看，发现它来自一张藏宝图，上面有独角兽钻石的位置。” “我们都知道。”莱拉不耐烦地说。 “这就是为什么一百年前这里的校长常绿女士把它藏起来的原因，”萨姆继续说。 “这颗钻石有一种力量，能让任何拥有它的人如愿以偿。 我姑姑想要它。我以为她会好好利用它，所以我同意了她的计划，但她说得越多，我越意识到她想要它是出于自私的原因。 她的目标是拥有岛上最大最好的珍贵文物收藏。 一旦独角兽钻石帮她实现了这一目标，她打算把所有东西都藏起来作为私人收藏。 这是不对的。古代文物应该展示给大家欣赏。 当安吉莉卡阿姨把你困在塔里时，我很震惊。 那时我就知道她会不择手段

until she had the map." "So you helped me escape from her?" said Evie. Sam nodded. "But why have you carried on spying on us?" demanded Sienna. Sam bit his lip. "I've been worried about what my aunt might do. When I found out you'd left your dorm the other night, I guessed that you'd solved the next riddle and were looking for the final part of the map. I knew she would know too. Solomon has listening magic; it only works when the person or people he's spying on are outside, but he can hear them from any distance. I decided to follow you today in case you needed help. And I'm really glad I did." "I am too," said Sienna. "If Flash hadn't used his magic, I'd be a splat on the forest floor!" "But why did you take the map?" asked Lyra in confusion. "I knew if I did, my aunt would chase after me to get it back. I thought that if she caught me, she'd be kinder to me than you." He sighed. "I guess I can wave goodbye to ever being an archaeologist now. As well as being a guardian of the island, I was going to be her assistant when I left school. I suppose that's not going to happen. She's going to be super mad at me." Evie pushed a strand of wavy brown hair back behind her ears. "Sam, you don't need your aunt. You're really clever and one day you'll be just as famous as she is." "You'll also be much nicer," said Ivy. "It's true," added Lyra, smiling at Sam. "Your knowledge of archaeology IS incredible. I hate to say it but it's even better than mine. You don't need your aunt to become an archaeologist; you can do that on your own." Sam turned a deep red. "So what happens now?" asked Sienna. "That's up to you," said Sam, shrugging. "You have all four pieces of the map now. You can give them to the teachers or try to find the treasure. But if you decide to go after the Unicorn's Diamond and find it, promise me you'll only use it for good."

直到她有了地图。”“所以你帮我逃离了她？” 山姆点点头。“可是你为什么老是监视我们呢？”西耶娜问道。 萨姆咬着嘴唇。“我一直担心姑姑会做什么。 那天晚上我发现你离开了宿舍，我猜你已经解开了下一个谜题，正在寻找地图的最后一部分。 我知道她也会知道的。 所罗门有倾听的魔力；只有当他要监视的人在外面的时候才有用，但他可以从任何距离听到他们的声音。 我决定今天跟着你，以防你需要帮助。 我真的很高兴我做到了。” “我也是，”西耶娜说。“如果闪电侠没有使用他的魔法，我就会成为森林地板上的一块碎片！”“可你为什么拿走地图？”莱拉困惑地问。 “我知道如果我这样做了，我姑姑会追着我把它拿回来。 我想如果她抓住了我，她会对我比对你好。” 他叹了口气。“我想我现在可以和考古学家的身份说再见了。 当我离开学校的时候，我不仅要做这个岛的守护者，还要做她的助手。 我想那是不可能发生的。 她会非常生我的气的。” 伊薇把一缕棕色的卷发推到耳后。 “萨姆，你不需要你的姨妈。 你真的很聪明，有一天你会和她一样出名的。” “你也会变得更好，”艾薇说。 “是真的。”莱拉对山姆微笑着补充道。 “你的考古学知识令人难以置信。 我不想这么说，但它比我的还好。 你不需要你的姨妈来成为考古学家；你可以自己去做。” 萨姆的脸涨得通红。“那现在怎么办？”西耶娜问。 “这取决于你，”萨姆耸耸肩说。 “你现在拥有地图的全部四部分了。 你可以把它们交给老师，或者试着去寻找宝藏。 但如果你决定去寻找独角兽的钻石，并找到了它，答应我你只会用它来做好事。”