儿童英语读物《神奇树屋》 第十册 Ghost Town at Sundown 01

1 How Wild?

Jack and Annie were sitting on the porch of their house.Annie was gazing down the street at the Frog Creek woods.Jack was reading a book.

“I have a feeling we should check the woods again，” said Annie.

“Why?” said Jack without looking up.

“A rabbit’s hopping by，” said Annie.

“So?We’ve seen rabbits before.”

“Not like this one，” said Annie.

“What do you mean?” Jack stood up and looked with her.

He saw a rabbit with very long legs hopping down their street. Soon the rabbit left the sidewalk and headed into the woods.

“He’s a sign，” said Annie.

“A sigh of what?” said Jack.

“That Morgan’s back，”said Annie. She jumped off the porch. “Come on!”

“But what about dinner?” Jack said. “Dad said it would be ready soon.”

“Don’t worry，” said Annie. “You know when we leave in the tree house， time stops.”

She ran across their yard.

Jack pulled on his backpack. “Back in ten minutes!” he called through the screen door. Then he followed Annie.

They hurried down their street and into the Frog Creek woods. The sun was setting above the trees.

“There he is!” said Annie.

The rabbit was standing in a ray of sunlight.When he saw them， he took off.

Jack and Annie followed the rabbit until he vanished behind the tallest tree.

“I told you!See?” said Annie， panting. She pointed up at the tree.

Morgan le Fay was waving to them from the magic tree house high in the branches.

Jack and Annie waved back to her. As always， Jack was very happy to see the enchantress librarian again.

“Come on up!” she called.

Annie and Jack started up the rope ladder. They climbed up to the tree house.

“We followed a strange rabbit here，”said Annie.“Is he your friend?”

“Perhaps，”said Morgan.She smiled mysteriously. “I have many odd friends.”

“Including us，” said Annie.

Morgan laughed. “That’s right.”

“How are you?” said Jack.

“I’m still having problems with Merlin，” said the enchantress， “which leaves me little time to do my real work. But soon you both will become Master Librarians， and that will be a big help to me.”

Jack smiled. He was going to be a Master Librarian who traveled through time and space. It was almost too good to believe.

“Are you ready to solve another riddle?” asked Morgan.

“Yes!” said Jack and Annie together.

“Good，” said Morgan.“First， you’ll need this for research…”

She pulled a book from her robe and handed it to Jack. It was the book that would help them on their journey.

The title of the book was Days of the Wild West. On the cover was a picture of a western town on a prairie.

“Oh， wow，” said Annie. “The Wild West!”

Jack took a deep breath.Just how wild?he wondered.

Morgan reached into the folds of her robe again and pulled out a scroll. She handed it to Annie.

“Read this when the tree house lands，” she said.

“Is it the riddle?” asked Jack.

“Yes，” said Morgan. “Then you’ll only have two more to solve. Are you ready to go?”

Jack and Annie nodded. Annie pointed to the picture on the cover of the Wild West book.

“I wish we could go there，” she said.

The wind started to blow.

“Good-bye!” said Morgan. “Good luck!”

The tree house started to spin.

Jack squeezed his eyes shut.

The tree house spun faster and faster.

Then everything was still.

Absolutely still.

Jack opened his eyes.

Morgan le Fay was gone.

A fly buzzed around his head.

1有多狂野?

杰克和安妮坐在房前的门廊上。安妮的目光顺街而下，凝视着蛙溪树林。而杰克则正在读着一本书。

“我觉得我们还应该再把树林搜一遍。”安妮说。

“为什么?”杰克头也不抬地问。

“刚有一只兔子跳了过去。”安妮说。

“那又怎么样?我们又不是没见过兔子。”

“这只可不一样。”安妮说。

“你什么意思?”杰克站起身和她一起张望着。

他看见一只腿非常长的兔子在街上一路跳了过去。很快，那只兔子离开街道跳进了树林。

“它一定意味着什么。”安妮说。

“意味着什么?”杰克问。

“意味着摩根回来了。”安妮说着跳下了门廊。“快来。”

“可是晚饭怎么办?”杰克问，“爸爸说晚饭马上就做好了。”

“别着急。”安妮说，“你忘了，树屋一带我们离开，时间就停止了。”

安妮说着就跑过了院子。

杰克背上背包，隔着纱门喊了一声：“我们十分钟就回来。”然后就跟着安妮跑了出去。

他们匆忙地沿着街道跑进了蛙溪树林。太阳已经开始落山了，仿佛挂在树枝间。

“在那儿呢!”安妮喊道。

那只兔子正站在一束阳光之下，一看见杰克和安妮转头就跑。

杰克和安妮跟着兔子，直到它消失在一棵最高大的大树后面。

“我说的吧!你看!”安妮气喘吁吁地说，一面指着那棵树。

摩根·拉菲正从高高的树枝间的那个神奇树屋里向他们挥手呢。

杰克和安妮也冲她挥挥手。和往常一样，杰克很高兴能再次见到这位有魔法的图书管理员。

“快上来!”摩根喊道。

安妮和杰克沿着绳梯爬上了树屋。

“我们是跟着一只奇怪的兔子到这儿来的。”安妮说，“它是你的朋友吗?”

“可能吧。”摩根说，一面诡异地笑着，“我有很多奇怪的朋友呢。”

“包括我们。”安妮说。

摩根笑了起来，说道：“是啊。”

杰克问道：“你还好吗?”

“我和巫师梅林之间还是有问题。”女巫说，“这使得我没多少时间能做我真正的工作。不过你们很快就能成为万能图书管理员了，这就能帮上我大忙了。”

杰克笑了。他就要成为一名能穿越时间和空间的万能图书管理员了，真是美妙得令人难以置信。

“你们准备好解开另一条谜语了吗?”摩根问。

“是的!”杰克和安妮异口同声地答道。

“很好。”摩根说，“首先，你们要想进行研究就会需要这个……”

说着摩根从袍子里拿出一本书交给了杰克。这本书能在接下来的旅程中帮助他们。

书名叫做《在狂野西部的日子》，封面上画着一个坐落在大草原上的西部小镇。

“哇!”安妮说，“狂野西部!”

杰克深吸了一口气，琢磨着：能有多狂野呢?

摩根又把手伸进她袍子的褶缝里，掏出了一个卷轴，把它递给了安妮。

“树屋降落的时候就把这个打开来读。”摩根说。

“这就是那个谜语吗?”杰克问道。

“是的。”摩根答道，“等解开它之后你们就只剩两条谜语要解开了。准备好出发了吗?”

杰克和安妮点点头，安妮指着狂野西部这本书封面上的图画说：“我希望我们能到这里去。”

风吹了起来。

摩根说：“再见，祝你们好运!”

树屋开始打转。

杰克紧紧地闭上了眼睛。

树屋转得越来越快。

然后一切都平静了。

绝对的平静。

杰克睁开眼睛。

摩根·拉菲已经不见了。只有一只苍蝇在他头上嗡嗡地飞。