Chapter 1-5

The kidnappers had a hideaway camp near the top of a mountain, deep in the forest, well hidden from any rescue party. As they reached it a kidnapper said to Florizella, "Ha-ha-ha! Nobody will ever find you here." "And," said another, tying her to a tree, "you will never escape." Florizella, who had not forgotten the dagger in her boot, said nothing. But Prince Courier, who

绑匪们在山顶附近的密林深处有个秘密营地，藏得极好，任何搜救队都找不到。 他们赶到营地时，一个绑匪对着弗洛里泽拉哈哈大笑： “没人能在这儿找到你。” “还有啊，”另一个绑匪一边把她绑在树上一边说，“你也永远别想逃出去。” 弗洛里泽拉没忘记靴子里的短剑，她什么也没说。 可被绑在她旁边的信使王子，

was tied beside her, started to whimper. "Oh, do be quiet," Florizella said crossly. It wasn't very nice of her but she was learning to be a big sister, and she had only had a brother for three days. "Crying won't help." "But I'm cold!" Prince Courier cried in a whiny voice. "Why don't you light a fire?" "In case there is a rescue party and they see the smoke," one of the kidnappers said. "Just a little fire, and there'll be hardly any smoke," Courier pleaded. "Or I'll cry and cry and then I'll probably be sick." "Oh, all right, if you're such a softie," the kidnapper said. Florizella thought of telling Courier to man up; but she truly believed bravery was something that anyone could do. Same as being a bit weedy– boys and girls could be either, or a bit of both, whatever they thought best. Besides, now that the kidnappers had found some dry wood and lit a fire, it was rather cosy, and Courier had stopped complaining and fallen asleep.

开始抽抽搭搭地哭了起来。 “哎呀，你安静点行不行。”弗洛里泽拉不耐烦地说。 她这话确实不太客气，可她正在学着当一个好姐姐，而且她才刚有这个弟弟三天而已。 “哭根本解决不了问题。” “可是我好冷啊！” 信使王子哭唧唧地嚷嚷着。 “你们为什么不生个火呀？” “万一搜救队看到烟怎么办。”一个绑匪回答道。 “就生一小堆火，几乎不会有烟的。”库瑞尔央求着。 “不然我就一直哭一直哭，说不定等下还会吐哦。” “哦，行吧行吧，你可真是个娇弱的小宝贝。”绑匪妥协了。 弗洛里泽拉本想让库瑞尔有点男子气概， 可她也真心觉得，勇敢是每个人都能做到的事。 就像胆小也没什么不对——男孩女孩都可以勇敢，也可以胆小，或者两种都有点，全看自己怎么舒服怎么来。 再说了，现在绑匪已经找了些干木柴生起了火，暖乎乎的舒服极了，库瑞尔也不再抱怨，很快就睡着了。

The kidnappers found it cosy too, for first they warmed themselves, then they wrapped themselves up in blankets and lay down before the fire, and within moments everyone was fast asleep. All except Florizella. And, as it turned out, all except Florizella and her little brother. For Courier had been pretending to be asleep. In fact, he had been wide awake all along. "Have you still got your dagger?" he whispered in a very different voice from the whiny spoiled-prince voice he had been using. "Yes, of course," Florizella said, surprised. "Are you all right now? Don't want sweeties or a fire lit?" "Course I am! I was always all right. Can you get the dagger out of your boot and cut the knots at my wrists?" Prince Courier wriggled backwards to his sister and held out his bound arms. She bent over her feet and got the dagger from her boot with her teeth. Then holding the hilt between her feet, and with Courier leaning backwards over the blade,

绑匪们也觉得暖乎乎的，他们先烤暖了身子，接着裹上毯子，躺在火堆边，没一会儿就都睡熟了。 除了弗洛里泽拉。 而且后来才发现，没睡着的不止弗洛里泽拉，还有她的小弟弟。 因为库瑞尔刚才是在装睡。 实际上，他从头到尾都清醒得很。 “你那把短剑还在吗？”他小声问道，声音和刚才那个娇里娇气的小王子腔调完全不一样。 “当然在啦。”弗洛里泽拉惊讶地回答。 “你现在没事啦？ 不想要糖果，也不要生火啦？” “我当然没事啦！ 我一直都好好的。 你能把靴子里的短剑拿出来，割断我手腕上的绳结吗？” 信使王子朝姐姐的方向往后挪了挪，伸出被绑住的胳膊。 她弯下腰凑向脚边，用牙齿把短剑从靴子里叼了出来。 接着她用脚夹住剑柄，库瑞尔往后靠到刀刃上，

they managed to saw through the ties that bound his hands. Then it was quick work, once his hands were free, for him to take the dagger and cut through the ropes that tied his feet together.

两人合力，终于把绑住他双手的绳子锯断了。 他的手一松开，事情就好办多了，他拿过短剑，几下就割断了绑住自己双脚的绳子。

"Me now!" Florizella hissed at him. "Women and children first!" He shook his head. "I'll gallop off and get help like Bennett. You stay here, tied up, like a princess." "You know that makes no sense at all," she hissed at him. "You cut my ropes too." Quickly and quietly he freed Florizella. "Now," he said. "Help me heave our blankets on to the fire." "Wha—?" "For smoke," he said, and so they took all the blankets they had been given and threw them on to the flames. They took the blankets from the horses too, and burned them as well. At once the fire belched out great clouds of white smoke up into the sky, a clear signal to anyone who might be looking. Florizella grabbed Courier's arm and the two of them dived into the undergrowth. "What now?" Courier asked her. "Up a tree, I think," Florizella said. "I don't know our way home, and I'm sure Bennett will be

“现在轮到我了！” 弗洛里泽拉低声对他说。 “女士和小孩优先啊！” 他摇了摇头。 “我要像贝内特那样骑马飞奔去搬救兵。 你就待在这儿，像个公主一样被绑着就行。” “你这话说得一点道理都没有。”她压低声音冲他说， “你把我的绳子也割断。” 他又快又轻地解开了弗洛里泽拉的束缚。 “现在，”他说， “帮我把咱们的毯子都扔到火里去。” “啊——？” “要冒烟呀。”他说，于是他们把拿到的所有毯子都扔到了火焰里。 他们还把盖在马身上的毯子也拿了过来，一起烧了。 火堆立刻冒出滚滚白烟，直直冲上天空，不管谁在找他们，都能清楚看到这个信号。 弗洛里泽拉抓住库瑞尔的胳膊，两个人一头扎进了灌木丛里。 “现在怎么办？” 库瑞尔问她。 “我觉得我们爬到树上去吧。”弗洛里泽拉说， “我不知道回家的路，不过贝内特肯定会

coming to the rescue. He'll see the smoke signal and come in this direction." "Oh, he'll find us all right," Courier said certainly. "I set a trail." "You did?" "I dropped peppermints all the way here." Florizella looked at her little brother with something like respect. "You did? But why peppermints? Because they are white and shiny and showed up in the mud?" "Nope." He shook his head– he was still a little prince, not a big one yet. "I don't like peppermints," he said. "I didn't mind dropping them. I wasn't going to drop the jellies, was I?" Florizella shook her head in disbelief. "Up you go," she said, pushing him up into a tall pine tree. Up, up he went, and Florizella followed after him. They settled themselves into the crook of a branch many metres up, and watched the smoke streaming into the sky while the kidnappers slept below– none of them knowing that their hiding place had been betrayed by the Prince Courier bonfire and the Prince Courier peppermint trail.

来救我们的。 他会看到烟雾信号，往这边过来的。” “哦，他肯定能找到我们的。”库瑞尔很笃定地说。 “我一路留了记号。” “真的吗？” “我来的路上一路都在扔薄荷糖。” 弗洛里泽拉看着自己的小弟弟，心里生出了几分敬佩。 “真的呀？ 为什么选薄荷糖呢？ 是因为它们白白亮亮的，在泥地里显眼吗？” “不是哦。” 他摇了摇头——他毕竟还只是个小王子，还没长大呢。 “我不喜欢吃薄荷糖。”他说。 “扔了我也不心疼。 我才不会扔软糖呢，对吧？” 弗洛里泽拉哭笑不得地摇了摇头。 “你先上去。”她边说边把他往一棵高高的松树上推。 他爬呀爬呀，爬得很高，弗洛里泽拉跟在他后面也爬了上去。 他们在好几米高的树枝分叉处坐好，看着烟雾不断飘向天空，而绑匪们还在下面睡着——没人知道他们的藏身处已经被库瑞尔王子点的篝火，还有他一路撒的薄荷糖记号给暴露了。