Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

第四章

Isabel hung on tightly as her feet frantically sought for a rung. She finally found it and a relieved cheer rang up from below. "Come down," said Scarlett. She sounded breathless. "The dare's off. Valentina and Golden Briar just cantered away." Isabel was too scared to move again. "I'll be down in a minute," she squeaked, wishing her hammering heart would slow down. One minute passed, then two… "What are you waiting for?" called Scarlett. Suddenly Isabel heard Cloud's voice. "Don't worry, Isabel. I'm right here, just beneath you." His voice was calm and soothing. Isabel swallowed and glanced down. The ground was a long way off but she could see Cloud looking up at her. Her gaze met his and some of the tension left her as she saw the

伊莎贝尔紧紧地挂着，她的脚疯狂地寻找着一个横档。 她终于找到了，下面响起了一阵如释重负的欢呼声。 “下来吧，"思嘉说。 她听起来喘不过气来。“大冒险开始了。 瓦伦蒂娜和金荆棘就这样溜之夭夭了。” 伊莎贝尔吓得不敢再动了。 “我马上就下来，”她尖声说，希望她那怦怦直跳的心能慢下来。 一分钟过去了，又过了两分钟……“你还在等什么？"思嘉叫道。 突然，伊莎贝尔听到了克劳德的声音。 “别担心，伊莎贝尔。我就在这儿，就在你下面。” 他的声音平静而抚慰。 伊莎贝尔咽了口气，低头看了一眼。 地面离她很远，但她能看见云抬头看着她。 她的目光与他的目光相遇，当她看到他的眼睛时，她的一些紧张感消失了

reassurance in his eyes. "I promise I'll catch you if you fall," said Cloud. "Come down slowly, one rung at a time." Gradually Isabel unclenched her fingers and bravely moved a foot. She came down the ladder, rung by rung, hoping Scarlett and Blaze hadn't noticed her fear. "That's it, you're almost on the ground," encouraged Cloud. Isabel's heart slowed down to normal speed. Reaching the last rung she stepped on to solid ground. "I'm so glad you're safe!" Scarlett hugged her. Cloud nuzzled her, breathing on her hair and whickering softly. "You did it! Well done."

他眼中的安慰。“我保证，如果你摔倒了，我会扶住你。”云说。 “慢慢下来，一次一个梯级。” 渐渐地，伊莎贝尔松开了她的手指，勇敢地挪动了一只脚。 她一阶一阶地走下梯子，希望思嘉和布雷兹没有注意到她的恐惧。 “好了，你快到地面了。”云鼓励道。 伊莎贝尔的心跳减慢到正常速度。 到了最后一个梯级，她踏上了坚实的地面。 “我真高兴你平安无事！”思嘉抱住她。 云儿用鼻子蹭着她，对着她的头发呼吸，轻声低语。 “你做到了！”做得好。”

Isabel threw her arms round Cloud's neck. "Thank you," she whispered so the others couldn't hear. "You really helped me up there." Cloud breathed out happily. "That's what

伊莎贝尔搂住克劳德的脖子。 “谢谢你。”她小声说，不让其他人听见。 “你真的帮了我大忙。” 云高兴地喘了口气。 “这就是

unicorns are for." Burying her face in his mane, Isabel felt a wave of love hit her. Right then, she wouldn't have swapped Cloud for any of the unicorns in the academy. He was perfect! "What is going on here?" Ms Nettles' sharp voice rang out. Isabel, Scarlett and the unicorns jumped guiltily and swung round. Ms Nettles was striding towards them with Valentina and Golden Briar at her side, both looking unbearably smug. "Um… Nothing!" said Isabel quickly. "Don't lie, girl. I just saw you step off the ladder to the clock tower. Were you climbing up it?" "No," Isabel lied, trying to look innocent. Ms Nettles sucked in her cheeks and gave Isabel a disbelieving look. "I sincerely hope not. Climbing the clock tower would be irresponsible and dangerous and could lead to expulsion." She shook her head. "Hmmm, I'm

独角兽是用来。”把脸埋在他的鬃毛里，伊莎贝尔感到一股爱的浪潮向她袭来。 那时候，她不会用克劳德换学院里的独角兽。 他是完美的！“这是怎么回事？”荨麻女士尖锐的声音响了起来。 伊莎贝尔、思嘉和独角兽们内疚地跳了起来，转过身来。 荨麻女士大步朝他们走来，瓦伦蒂娜和金·布赖尔在她身边，两个人都得意得令人难以忍受。 “嗯……没什么！”伊莎贝尔赶紧说。 “别撒谎，姑娘。我刚看到你从梯子上走到钟楼。 你是爬上去的吗？”“不，”伊莎贝尔撒谎，努力装出无辜的样子。 纳特尔斯女士吸了吸脸颊，用怀疑的目光看了伊莎贝尔一眼。 “我真心希望不会。爬钟楼是不负责任和危险的行为，可能会被开除。” 她摇了摇头。“嗯,我是

not sure that you can be trusted to organise your free time sensibly, Isabel. See me after dinner in my study. I have several boxes of old books that need cataloguing." Isabel bit back a groan. Ms Rosemary had organised an inter-dorm quiz after dinner. There was no point asking Ms Nettles to reconsider. She had a reputation for extending a punishment if anyone dared to argue. "Yes, Miss." Isabel glared at Valentina, wishing she could turn her permanently bright blue. That would serve her right for deliberately getting her into trouble! By the end of dinner the rain had turned heavy again. Isabel glanced out of the window as she made her way to Ms Nettles' study. The swollen lake had broken its banks. Its sparkly water, now dulled with mud, swirled across the lawn. Dread uncurled in her stomach. She'd ignored

我不确定你能不能合理安排你的空闲时间，伊莎贝尔。 晚饭后在书房见我。 我有几箱旧书需要编目。” 伊莎贝尔忍住了呻吟。罗斯玛丽老师在晚饭后组织了一次宿舍间的小测验。 要求内特尔斯重新考虑是没有意义的。 如果有人敢争辩，她就会加重惩罚，这是出了名的。 “是的，小姐。”伊莎贝尔怒视着瓦伦蒂娜，希望瓦伦蒂娜能把她的脸永远变成明亮的蓝色。 这是她故意让她陷入麻烦的罪有应得！晚饭结束时，雨又下得很大了。 伊莎贝尔朝内特尔斯女士的书房走去，向窗外瞥了一眼。 涨水的湖决堤了。 河里闪闪发光的水，现在被泥浆弄得浑浊了，在草坪上打转。 恐惧在她的肚子里蔓延开来。 她忽略了