儿童英语读物《神奇树屋》 第二册 Knight At Dawn 08

9.月光下

杰克愣住了。

“是他。”安妮低声说。

武士伸出戴着手套的手。

“走，杰克。”安妮说。

“你上哪儿去?”杰克问。

“他想帮助我们。”安妮说。

“你怎么知道?”

“我就是知道。”安妮说。

安妮向马走去。骑士跳下马来。

骑士抱起安妮，把她放在马背上。

“来，杰克。”她叫喊着。

杰克慢慢地向骑士走去。这像是一场梦。

骑士也抱起他，把他放在马背上，让他坐在安妮的后面。

骑士坐在他们的后面。他猛甩一下缰绳。

月光照在护城河的水面上，黑马在岸边慢慢地跑着。

杰克在马鞍上前后晃动。风吹拂着他的头发。他感到特勇敢、特有劲。

他感到同这神秘的骑士在一起，他愿意骑着这匹马就这样永远奔驰。跨越海洋，跑遍世界，奔向月亮。

一只鹰在黑暗中尖叫了一声。

“树屋在那边。”安妮说。她指着一片树林。

武士驾着马向树林跑去。

“看，那就是。”安妮说着，指着绳梯。

骑士让马停下来。他跃下马，帮安妮下来。

“谢谢您，先生。”她说着，鞠了个躬。

接着是杰克，“谢谢您。”他说着，也鞠了躬。

骑士重新跨上马背。他举起戴手套的手，然后他猛拽缰绳，奔驰而去，消失在雾中。

安妮开始上绳梯，杰克紧跟其后。他们爬进漆黑的树屋，探头向窗外望去。

武士正朝着城堡的外墙驰骋。他们看见他进入外城门。

乌云又遮住了月亮。不到一会儿，杰克觉得自己看见了城堡后边的小山顶上骑士的盔甲微微闪光。

乌云把月亮全部覆盖，黑黑的雾吞没了大地。

“他已经走了。”安妮咕哝着。

杰克浑身透湿，直打冷颤，同时他一直在注视着黑暗的四周。

“我冷。”安妮说，“那本宾夕法尼亚的书在哪儿?”

杰克听见安妮在黑暗中摸索。他一直望着窗外。

“我想这本就是。”安妮说，“我摸到了丝绸书签。”

杰克心不在焉地听着，他希望能在远处再看见那个骑士的盔甲微微的闪光。

“行，我就用这本书。”安妮说，“我想这本书正是那本书。我要开始了，好，

我指着书了，我准备许愿了，我希望我们能去蛙溪镇!”

杰克听见风吹了起来。开始很温柔。

“我希望我指向了正确书中的正确的画。”安妮说。

“什么?”杰克回头看看她，“正确的书?正确的画?”

树屋开始摇晃。风越刮越猛，越刮越凶。

“我希望这不是那本恐龙书!”安妮说。

“停止!”杰克对着树屋大叫。

太迟了。

树屋开始打转。转得越来越快。

风在呼啸。

然后突然间一切都平静了。

绝对的平静。

9 Under the Moon

Jack froze.

“It’s him，” Annie whispered.

The knight held out his gloved hand.

“Come on， Jack，” Annie said.

“Where are you going?” said Jack.

“He wants to help us，” said Annie.

“How do you know?”

“I can just tell，” said Annie.

Annie stepped toward the horse. The knight dismounted.

The knght picked Annie up and put her on the back of his horse.

“Come on， Jack，” she called.

Jack moved slowly toward the knight. It was like a dream.

The knight picked him up， too. He placed Jack on the horse， behind Annie.

The knight got on behind them. He slapped the reins.

The black horse cantered beside the moonlit water of the moat.

Jack rocked back and forth in the saddle. The wind blew his hair. He felt very brave and very powerful.

He felt as if he could ride forever on this horse， with this mysterious knight. Over the ocean. Over the world. Over the moon.

A hawk shrieked in the darkness.

“There’s the tree house，” said Annie. She pointed toward a grove of trees.

The knight steered the horse toward the trees.

“See. There it is，” Annie said， pointing to the ladder.

The knight brought his horse to a stop. He dismounted and helped Annie down.

“Thank you， sir，” she said. And she bowed.

Then Jack. “Thank you，” he said. And he bowed also.

The knight got back on his horse. He raised his gloved hand. Then he slapped the reins and rode off through the mist.

Annie started up the tall ladder， and Jack followed. They climbed into the dark tree house and looked out the window.

The knight was riding toward the outer wall. They saw him go through the outer gate.

Clouds started to cover the moon again. For a brief moment， Jack thought he saw the knight’s armor gleaming on the top of a hill beyond the castle.

The clouds covered the moon completely. And a black mist swallowed the land.

“He’s gone，” whispered Annie.

Jack shivered in his wet clothes as he kept staring at the blackness.

“I’m cold，” said Annie. “Where’s the Pennsylvania book?”

Jack heard Annie fumble in the darkness. He kept looking out the window.

“I think this is it，” said Annie. “I feel a silk bookmark.”

Jack was only half-listening. He was hoping to see the knight’　s armor gleam again in the distance.

“Okay. I’m going to use this，” said Annie. “Because I think it’s the right one. Here goes. Okay. I’m pointing. I’m going to wish.

I wish we could go to Frog Creek!”

Jack heard the wind begin to blow. Softly at first.

“I hope I pointed to the right picture in the right book，” said Annie.

“What?” Jack looked back at her. “Right picture? Right book?”

The tree house began to rock. The wind got louder and louder.

“I hope it wasn’t the dinosaur book!” said Annie.

“Stop!” Jack shouted at the tree house.

Too late.

The tree house started to spin. It was spinning and spinning!

The wind was screaming.

Then suddenly there was silence.

Absolute silence.