《神奇树屋》 第二十册 Dingoes at Dinnertime 10 Dreamtime

　　The boy was on the ground on his hands and knees.

"Meet my young helper from Camelot," saidMorgan.

The boy glanced up. He had a friendly freckled¹ faceand twinkly dark eyes. His hair was the same colorthat Teddy's fur had been. He looked a bit older thanJack, about ten or so.

"Am I back?" he asked.

"You're back," said Morgan.

The boy leaped up and hugged her. "Thank you!" hecried.

"And I hope next time you'll ask before trying thespells in my spell book," said Morgan.

The boy grinned sheepishly.

"I promise." Then he looked at Jack³ and Annie. "Iaccidentally changed myself into a dog," he said.

Annie laughed.

"But at least I got to have exciting adventures as adog!" he said.

"You were a great dog," said Annie. "We liked youas Teddy. What's your real name?""If you like, you can keep calling me Teddy," theboy said. "Or how about Ted²?""Okay, Ted," said Annie.

Jack just nodded. He was still in shock.

"Ted is training to work in my library at Camelot,"said Morgan. "He has a rare gift for magic.""Cool," said Annie.

"You--you helped us a lot, Ted," said Jack, finallyfinding his voice.

"Oh, no, it was both of you who helped me," saidTed. "You helped break the spell. And I found newstories to take home.""You did?" said Annie. Ted nodded.

"The story of the Titanic⁴, the story of White BuffaloWoman, the story of the wounded tiger, and the storyof the Rainbow Serpent," he said. "I'll write themdown as soon as I get home. So people can read themin Morgan's library.""And home is where we must go now, I'm afraid,"said Morgan.

"Oh," said Annie sadly.

"That's too bad. Yeah," said Jack. He was sad, too.

"I know we will meet again someday," said Ted.

"I hope so," said Jack.

"Me, too," said Annie. "Bye!" She started down theladder.

Jack pulled on his pack. With a heavy heart, hefollowed.

When they got to the ground, they looked up.

Morgan and Ted were at the window. They bothseemed to glow in the late afternoon light.

"The magic tree house will return for you soon,"said Morgan. "I promise.

She waved, and they waved back. "Good-bye, Jackand Annie," she said.

Arf!." said Ted.

In a flutter of time... in the spin of a whirlwind...

the magic tree house was gone.

For a long moment, Jack and Annie stared at theempty tree.

"Ready for dinner?" Annie asked softly. Jacknodded.

He felt dazed as they walked silently through theFrog Creek⁵ woods.

When they came to their street, the sun was setting.

A flock of black birds flew through the silvery pinksky.

Annie broke their silence as they headed for theirhouse.

"We had great adventures with Teddy--I mean Ted-didn't we?" she said.

"Yeah," said Jack. "It was like..." He searched for theright words.

"Like... Like living in Dreamtime," said Annie.

"Yeah," said Jack. He smiled. That was exact in whatit was like.

The End

1 freckled   

adj.雀斑；斑点；晒斑；（使）生雀斑v.雀斑，斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her face was freckled all over. 她的脸长满雀斑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Her freckled skin glowed with health again. 她长有雀斑的皮肤又泛出了健康的红光。 来自辞典例句

2 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

3 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

4 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

5 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。