Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN Pearl cantered towards a bright orange bush at the edge of the clearing. Its twisted leaves looked like a roaring fire. "It's too small to hide us both!" cried Matilda. "We need something bigger!" Sparks shot up in front of them and a smell of burnt sugar filled the air. Matilda squeaked in surprise and Pearl skidded to a halt as the bush suddenly doubled in size. "What just happened?" gasped Matilda. "It's my magic!" said Pearl. "Those sparks came from my hooves. I was wishing the bush

第七章珠儿向空地边上一丛明亮的橘黄色灌木走去。 它扭曲的叶子看起来像熊熊燃烧的火焰。 “它太小了，藏不了我们俩！”玛蒂尔达叫道。 “我们需要更大的东西！”火花在他们面前蹿起，空气中弥漫着烧焦糖的味道。 玛蒂尔达吃惊地尖声叫了起来，而珠儿也刹住了脚步，因为灌木丛突然扩大了一倍。 “刚才发生了什么事？”玛蒂尔达喘着气说。 “这是我的魔法！”珠儿说。 “那些火花来自我的蹄子。 我在许愿

was bigger and suddenly it was!" She dashed behind it. "I must have glamour magic– it means I can create illusions for a short time. My aunt has it too, it's awesome." "Glamour magic! Oh, wow!" That explained all the strange things Matilda had seen recently– the wings, the sleeping bag. But she didn't have time to think any more about it. "Shh!" she hissed as she peered round the bush and saw the hooded figure cantering into the clearing. "Um, Matilda, I don't know how long I can hold the glamour for," Pearl whispered, her breath tickling Matilda's ear. "My aunt always told me it's hard to control a glamour at first. Stay as still as you can, that should make it easier for me." Matilda nodded, pressing a finger to her lips. Her heart pounded loudly as she watched the person leap from their unicorn in a swirl of black cloth. Matilda tried to see their face but the hood hid it well.

突然间变大了！”她冲到它后面。 “我一定有魅力魔法——这意味着我可以在短时间内制造幻觉。 我阿姨也有，太棒了。” “魅力魔法!哦,哇!”这就解释了玛蒂尔达最近看到的所有奇怪的东西——翅膀，睡袋。 但她没有时间再多想了。 “嘘！”她嘘了一声，从灌木丛里往外看了看，看见那个戴兜帽的身影跑进了空地。 “嗯，玛蒂尔达，我不知道我的魅力还能保持多久，”珠儿低声说，她的呼吸使玛蒂尔达的耳朵发痒。 “我姑姑总是告诉我，一开始很难控制魅力。 你尽量站着别动，这样我就容易些了。” 玛蒂尔达点点头，把一根手指放在嘴唇上。 当她看到那个人从他们的独角兽身上跳下来，在黑布的漩涡中跳跃时，她的心砰砰直跳。 玛蒂尔达想看看他们的脸，但兜帽把它遮住了。

Furtively, the figure glanced around and then walked over to the Heart Tree. They took out a round glass bottle from a bag tied at their waist

那个身影偷偷地环顾四周，然后向心树走去。 他们从绑在腰上的袋子里拿出一个圆形玻璃瓶

and set it at the foot of the Heart Tree. Then they drew something else from under their cloak. It flashed in the sunlight. Matilda almost gasped out loud. A knife! The figure made a long, deep cut in the tree's trunk. Tossing the knife on the ground, the figure lifted the bottle to the cut and caught the deep-red sap that oozed from the trunk. Matilda could hardly bear to watch as the magical sap drained into the bottle. The tree's branches drooped even further as their life force drained away, leaving just a few stray droplets glittering on the bark. If only she could get a glimpse of the figure. She leaned forward… "Matilda!" Pearl whispered in alarm. "Don't move! The glamour's fading!" Matilda's breath caught in her throat as the pretend bush hiding them started to tremble and dissolve. "Make another one!" hissed Matilda. "I can't," Pearl panted. "My magic's not

把它放在心树脚下。 然后他们又从斗篷里掏出了别的东西。 它在阳光下闪闪发光。 玛蒂尔达几乎喘不过气来。 一把刀!那个身影在树干上划了一个又长又深的口子。 那个身影把刀扔在地上，把瓶子举到伤口处，抓住了从树干中渗出的深红色汁液。 玛蒂尔达几乎无法忍受看着神奇的汁液流进瓶子里。 随着生命力的耗尽，树枝进一步下垂，只留下几滴零星的水滴在树皮上闪闪发光。 要是她能瞥见那个身影就好了。 她向前倾着身子……“玛蒂尔达！”珠儿惊恐地低声说。 “不要动!魅力正在消失！”玛蒂尔达的呼吸哽在了喉咙里，隐藏着他们的假装灌木开始颤抖和溶解。 “再做一个！”玛蒂尔达嘶嘶地说。 “我不能，”珠儿喘着气说。“我的魔法不行

strong enough yet." "Then gallop!" screamed Matilda, vaulting on to Pearl as the figure glanced round. Pearl raced into the woods, heading for the track that led back to the campsite. Matilda dared to look back, expecting to see the dark figure and the unicorn with the golden mane chasing after them, but to her astonishment she saw that the chinchillas had come charging out from the bushes and had leapt at the person's cloak, hanging on to it with tiny claws and running up the sleeves. "No! Get off, you little pests!" It was a woman's voice but Matilda didn't stop to hear any more. Leaning forward, she urged Pearl through the dense trees until they broke out on to the track. Matilda realised that Pearl was not galloping as fast as normal– doing magic had clearly tired her out.

够坚强了。”“那就快跑吧！”玛蒂尔达尖叫着，趁那人影回头一看，跳到了珠儿身上。 珠儿跑进树林，奔向通向营地的小路。 玛蒂尔达敢于回头看，以为会看到黑影和金色鬃毛的独角兽在后面追着他们，但令她吃惊的是，她看到龙猫从灌木丛中冲出来，扑向那个人的斗篷，用小爪子抓住斗篷，顺着袖子往上爬。 “不!滚开，你们这些小坏蛋！”那是一个女人的声音，但玛蒂尔达没有停下来听下去。 她向前倾着身子，催着珠儿穿过茂密的树林，直到他们跑到铁轨上。 玛蒂尔达意识到珠儿跑得不像平时那么快了——施魔法显然把她累坏了。

"Keep going," Matilda urged her. "Come on, Pearl!" She stroked Pearl's neck, hoping her unicorn would feel her love. Finding an extra surge of energy, Pearl raced along the track, leaving the sinister figure behind. "Look! There's everyone, up ahead." Matilda sat back and Pearl slowed down. "We're safe now. I don't think they followed us. Well done, Pearl. You did brilliantly."

“继续走。”玛蒂尔达催促她。 “来吧，珠儿！”她抚摸着珠儿的脖子，希望她的独角兽能感受到她的爱。 珠儿找到了一股额外的能量，沿着跑道狂奔，把那个邪恶的身影甩在了后面。 “看!大家都在前面。” 玛蒂尔达往后一靠，珠儿放慢了脚步。 “我们现在安全了。我想他们没有跟踪我们。 干得好，珠儿。你做得很出色。”