Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE An hour later, Scarlett rubbed her eyes. Closing the book in her lap, she tucked it under her arm then climbed the ladder for the umpteenth time to put it back on the top shelf. She didn't know how many books she had read but none of them had said anything about removing a freezing spell. Replacing the book, Scarlett reached for its neighbour, but someone else got there first. "Layla!" Scarlett put a hand on the book. "I really need this. Can I borrow it first?"

第九章一个小时以后，思嘉揉了揉眼睛。 她把书放在腿上合上，夹在腋下，然后爬上梯子，无数次地把它放回顶层书架。 她不知道自己读了多少本书，但没有一本提到如何解除冰封咒。 思嘉把书放回原处，伸手去拿邻座的书，可是别人先到了。 “蕾拉!”思嘉把手放在书上。 “我真的需要这个。我能先借一下吗？”

"Why don't we look together?" said Layla. "I spend a lot of time in here, reading about unicorns." Scarlett had wanted to solve the problem of the lake by herself, to make it up to Isabel and to prove to everyone, particularly Layla, that she could be serious when it mattered. But Layla was clever and she clearly meant well, even though she could be incredibly annoying. Maybe she could help her. "OK, let's work together," Scarlett said. She explained her suspicion about the freezing spell. It hardly took Layla any time at all to work out which book they needed. Minutes later, they were sitting on purple cushions with a massive book on seasonal and elemental spells on their knees and their backs to the reading tree– a real tree with multicoloured leaves that magically grew in the library. Scarlett couldn't believe how quickly Layla could read, her eyes rapidly skimming over the pages. They found a chapter

“我们为什么不一起看呢？”莱拉说。 “我在这里花了很多时间，读关于独角兽的书。” 思嘉本想自己解决湖的问题，补偿伊莎贝尔，并向大家，特别是蕾拉证明，在紧要关头她是认真的。 但蕾拉很聪明，而且她显然是出于好意，尽管她有时会非常烦人。 也许她能帮她。“好吧，我们一起干吧，"思嘉说。 她解释了她对冰冻咒的怀疑。 莱拉几乎没花什么时间就想出了他们需要的那本书。 几分钟后，他们坐在紫色的靠垫上，膝盖上放着一本关于季节咒语和元素咒语的大书，背靠阅读树——一棵长着五颜六色叶子的真树，神奇地长在图书馆里。 思嘉简直不敢相信莱拉读得这么快，她的眼睛飞快地浏览着书页。 他们找到了一章

on freezing spells near the end. "Breaking a freezing spell sounds really complicated," Scarlett said doubtfully as they read through the chapter. "There are so many different spells and potions you can use." "And they all need such strange ingredients to work," said Layla. "Wait!" she added. "What's this? It says here that any water- freezing spell can be broken if a diamond from the Diamond Glacier in the Frozen Wastelands is placed upon the frozen water."

在接近尾声的冰冻法术上。 “打破冰封咒听起来真复杂，"思嘉一边读这一章，一边怀疑地说。 “你可以使用很多不同的咒语和魔药。” 莱拉说：“它们都需要这么奇怪的成分才能起作用。” “等等！”她补充道。“这是什么? 这里说，只要把一颗来自冰封荒原钻石冰川的钻石放在冰封的水面上，任何冻结水的咒语都能被打破。”

Scarlett caught her breath. "So if I could get one of those diamonds, I could break the spell on the lake." "You could, but the Frozen Wastelands are miles away," Layla pointed out. "It would take days to get there." An idea popped into Scarlett's head. "Not if I used the magical map in the hall!" The magical map in the centre of the school hall was a miniature model of Unicorn Island. It had tiny mountains, valleys, ice, sea and even Unicorn Academy complete with a lake and fountain. The map was extremely powerful and could take you anywhere on the island if you just touched the place you wanted to go. "But you can only use the map with Ms Primrose's permission," Layla reminded her. "And she only lets people use it in emergencies." "This is definitely an emergency. I'm going to go and ask her right now," said Scarlett,

思嘉屏住了呼吸。 “所以如果我能得到其中一颗钻石，我就能打破湖上的魔咒。” “你可以，但冰封荒原在几英里之外。”蕾拉指出。 “到那里需要几天的时间。” 思嘉突然想到一个主意。 “如果我用大厅里的魔法地图就不会了！”学校大厅中央那张神奇的地图是独角兽岛的微缩模型。 它有小山、山谷、冰、海，甚至还有一个湖泊和喷泉的独角兽学院。 这张地图非常强大，只要你触碰你想去的地方，它就可以带你去岛上的任何地方。 “但是你只有得到迎春花女士的允许才能使用这张地图。”莱拉提醒她。 “而且她只让人们在紧急情况下使用它。” “这绝对是紧急情况。 我现在就去问问她，"思嘉说，

jumping to her feet. She thought about asking Layla if she'd go with her but quickly changed her mind. Layla wasn't brave enough for this adventure. "Will you really go to the Wastelands if Ms Primrose says you can use the map?" Layla asked. Scarlett nodded. "I have to." Layla twisted her plait around her hand in a thick coil. "I'd better come with you. We should ask Blaze and Dancer along too." "Really? You'll come with me?" said Scarlett Layla didn't look totally sure but she squared her shoulders. "Absolutely." Scarlett's eyes sparkled. "Thanks! Let's go and see Ms Primrose." But when they knocked on the headteacher's door there was no answer. Layla looked relieved. "Oh well, I suppose we'll just have to wait until Ms Primrose comes

跳起来。她想问莱拉是否愿意和她一起去，但很快就改变了主意。 蕾拉没有足够的勇气去冒险。 “如果樱草花女士说你可以用地图，你真的会去荒原吗？”蕾拉问道。 思嘉点了点头。“我必须这么做。” 蕾拉把她的辫子在手上缠成一个厚厚的卷。 “我最好和你一起去。 我们应该叫Blaze和Dancer一起去。” “真的吗?你愿意跟我一起去吗？"思嘉·蕾拉说，虽然她看上去并不十分肯定，但她还是挺起胸膛。 “绝对”。思嘉的眼睛闪闪发光。 “谢谢!我们去看看迎春花女士吧。” 但是当他们敲校长的门时，没有人回答。 莱拉看上去如释重负。“哦，好吧，我想我们只能等到樱草花女士来了

back." "No!" said Scarlett. "I'm sure Ms Primrose won't mind us using the map without asking. After all, if we're right about the spell, we could save the whole island by getting this diamond!" "I really don't think we should go without checking with her first," said Layla doubtfully. "You can stay here if you want." Scarlett's mouth set in a determined line. "I'm going." "But you can't go on your own! The Wastelands are the coldest, bleakest part of the island. There's nothing there except steep glaciers and dangerous man-eating bears." Layla shivered. "No, if you're going then I'm going too!" Scarlett was surprised but didn't want to waste time talking about it any more. "OK, let's go!" They ran to the stables and explained their plan to Blaze and Dancer– Layla's small, slightly shaggy blue and silver unicorn. Both

回来。”“不！"思嘉说。 “我相信樱草花女士不会介意我们不用问就用地图的。 毕竟，如果我们对魔咒的猜测是对的，我们得到这颗钻石就可以拯救整个岛！”“我真的认为我们不应该先和她商量一下，”莱拉怀疑地说。 “如果你愿意，你可以留在这里。” 思嘉咬紧牙关。 “我走了。”“但是你不能一个人去！”荒原是岛上最寒冷，最荒凉的地方。 除了陡峭的冰川和危险的食人熊，那里什么也没有。” 蕾拉不禁打了个哆嗦。“不，如果你要去，那我也要去！”思嘉很吃惊，但不想再浪费时间谈论这件事了。 “好吧，我们走吧！”他们跑到马厩，把他们的计划告诉了Blaze和Dancer——Layla那只小小的，有点毛茸茸的蓝色和银色的独角兽。 两个