The crash of the dam bursting was earth-shaking. Water roared into the cavern¹.

 

The powerful moving wall of water knocked down a pillar as Flynn ran. Dashing at top speed, he caught up with Rapunzel and Pascal. Flynn grabbed an armload of Rapunzel's hair as the two ran for cover. The Stabbingtons were washed away in a flood of water. An enormous pillar cracked and began to topple under the power of the rushing water. Rapunzel and Flynn had ten feet to get to the safety of a small shelte, a sort of cave — but the pillar was falling right toward them. Their legs pumping, Flynn and Rapunzel took one last mighty² leap. The pillar crashed down just behind them as they ducked into the cave. They covered their heads as an avalanche³ of broken rocks showered down and blocked the entrance.

 

The palace guardsmen and Maximus were swept away in the rushing water outside.

 

Flynn and Rapunzel were safe for now, but the tunnel's entrance was blocked by the rubble⁴ from the fallen pillar. Flynn, Rapunzel, and little Pascal were now sealed inside a rocky cavern.

 

The sealed cavern did not protect them from the rushing water. Within minutes, Flynn and Rapunzel were waist deep in water — water that was rising quickly. Flynn dove down, searching for an exit. He hardly noticed the huge gash⁵ on his hand as he grasped for any opening among the jagged rocks.

 

"It's no use," he said, gasping⁶, as he emerged from the dark water. "I can't see anything."

 

Rapunzel took a deep breath. She was about to dive underwater when Flynn took her wrist. "Hey, look," he said, "there's no point, Blondie. It's pitch-black down there."

 

Flynn and Rapunzel looked at each other helplessly. Having come so far together, they would die together in this little cave.

 

"This is all my fault," Rapunzel said. "Mother Gothel was right. I never should have done this. I'm so sorry, Flynn." Rapunzel couldn't help thinking of Mother Gothel's warnings about the world outside the tower, and yet ... Mother Gothel had been wrong about some things. She had told Rapunzel that the tavern⁷ thugs and Flynn were evil, but the thugs had become her friends, and Flynn —

 

"Eugene," he said as he grasped Rapunzel's hand. It was a dying man's confession⁸. "My real name's Eugene Fitzherbert. Someone might as well know."

 

After a moment of silence, Rapunzel blurted⁹ out her own secret: "I have magic hair that glows when I sing." She couldn't believe it — she had broken one of Mother Gothel's rules by telling Flynn about her hair!

 

"What?" Flynn wasn't sure he'd heard her correctly.

 

"I have magic hair that glows when I sing!" As she spoke¹⁰, Rapunzel realized that her hair might help them find a way out of the cave.

 

Flynn stared at her speechlessly as she began to sing. Within moments, her hair started to glow, lighting¹¹ up the cave.

 

Rapunzel took a deep breath and dove underwater, lighting their way. Following her, Flynn saw a small opening in the corner of the cave. He took her hand and they swam to it. Yanking at stones with all his energy, Flynn broke through at last.

 

The water burst through the opening, carrying Flynn and Rapunzel out into the river.

 

Coughing and gasping for air, Rapunzel, Pascal, and Flynn threw themselves onto the riverbank. Lying face down, the three took a few moments just to breathe.

 

"I'm alive!" Rapunzel choked out.

 

Flynn looked at Pascal. Flynn was pale, and his eyes were wide with disbelief. He had done many daring things in his life, but he had never, ever experienced anything like this! "Her hair glows!" Flynn stifled¹² a tiny shriek¹³ as he spoke to Pascal.

 

"I'm alive!" Rapunzel screamed joyfully¹⁴, not even hearing Flynn.

 

"I didn't see that coming," Flynn desperately¹⁵ whispered to Pascal. The chameleon¹⁶ stared right back at him, unblinking. "The hair actually glows!"

 

"Eugene!" Rapunzel called out.

 

"Why does her hair glow?" Flynn asked Pascal, but the chameleon could only shrug¹⁷.

 

"Eugene!" Rapunzel shouted, trying to get his attention.

 

"What?" Flynn shouted in reply. He was still in shock, trying to figure it all out. Rapunzel began dragging her hair out of the water. As she squeezed it dry, she stared at Flynn's injured hand. It looked terrible.

 

Rapunzel sighed. Flynn was freaked out by her. But she needed to help him. "It doesn't just glow," she added.

 

Flynn's jaw¹⁸ dropped. He looked at Pascal, who was staring at him with a very wide grin spreading impishly across his face. The chameleon knew that Flynn was in for an even bigger surprise.

 

大坝决堤的隆隆声惊天动地。洪水咆哮着涌进洞穴。

 

费林刚跑开，汹涌澎湃、快速推进的水墙便冲毁了一根石柱。他全力奔跑，赶上了乐佩和帕斯考。费林抱着乐佩的一股头发，两人跑着寻找躲避的地方。钉刺兄弟被奔腾的洪水冲走了。奔流的洪水势不可挡，一根巨大的石柱被撞裂倒塌。还有十英尺，乐佩和费林就能抵达一个小小的安全隐蔽处了，一个类似小山洞的地方——但是一根石柱正朝他们倒下来。费林和乐佩屈伸双腿，进行了最后一次跳跃。他们刚刚躲进小洞穴，石柱就倒在他们身后。崩落的碎岩石像雪崩一样纷纷落下，堵住了入口。他们紧紧抱住了头。

 

外面，宫廷卫兵和捍马都被洪水卷走了。

 

费林和乐佩暂时安全了，但是地道的入口被坍塌的石柱的碎石给堵住了。费林、乐佩和小帕斯考现在被封在岩石洞穴 里了。

 

封闭的山洞并不能阻止洪流，保护他们。不过几分钟，费林和乐佩就站在齐腰深的水里了——水位上升很快。费林跳下水，搜寻出口。他根本没有注意到自己在嶙峋的岩石上摸索出口的时候，手上被划开了一个大口子。

 

“没有用，”他从幽暗的水里浮上来，喘着气说，“我什么也看不见。”

 

乐佩深深吸了口气。她正要跳下水，费林拉住了她的手腕。“嘿，听我说。”他说，“没有用的，金发美女。水下一片漆黑。”

 

费林和乐佩无助地望着彼此。两人共同经历了这么多，他们还将一起死在这个小洞穴里。

 

“这都是我的错，”乐佩说，“高瑟妈妈是对的。我不应该这么做。我很抱歉，费林。”乐佩不禁想起了高瑟妈妈关于塔外世界的警告，可是……高瑟妈妈在一些事情上还是错了。她告诉乐佩酒馆里的恶棍和费林都是坏人，但是恶棍们成了她的朋友，而费林——

 

“尤金，”他抓住乐佩的手说。这是一个将死之人的坦白。“我的真名是尤金·费茨赫伯特。你最好也知道。”

 

一阵沉默之后，乐佩脱口说出了她自己的秘密：“我有神奇的头发，我唱歌时，它会发亮。”她不敢相信——她居然把头发的事告诉了费林，这违反高瑟妈妈的规定！

 

“什么？”费林不能确定自己听明白了她的话。

 

“我有神奇的头发，唱歌时会发光！”乐佩说着，她意识到自己的头发说不定能帮他们找到山洞的出路。

 

她开始唱歌时，费林盯着她，没有说话。一会儿，她的头发开始发光，照亮了山洞。

 

乐佩深深吸了一口气，跳进水里，照亮了前路。费林紧跟着她，看到了山洞一角的一个小洞。他抓住她的手，他们游向那个洞。费林用尽全身力气猛拽石块，终于突破一个口子。

 

水冲开这个口子，将费林和乐佩带进了河里。

 

乐佩、费林和帕斯考趴在河岸上，咳嗽着，大口大口呼吸着空气。他们三个脸朝下趴着，喘了好一会儿。

 

“我还活着！”乐佩哽咽着说。

 

费林看着帕斯考。费林脸色苍白。他的眼睛睁得老大，流露出怀疑的目光。他这一生做过许多胆大妄为的事，但是他从未经历过这样的事！“她的头发会发光！”他捏着嗓子尖声对帕斯考说。

 

“我还活着！”乐佩快活地高声喊叫，根本没有听到费林说什么。

 

“我没想到有这种事。”费林拼命地对帕斯考低语。变色龙回瞪着他，眼睛一眨不眨。“头发真的会发光！”

 

“尤金！”乐佩大声喊他。

 

“她的头发为什么会发光？”费林问帕斯考，但是变色龙只会耸耸肩。

 

“尤金！”乐佩大叫，试图引起他的注意。

 

“什么？”大声回答。他仍然震惊不已，想搞明白到底是怎么回事。乐佩开始把自己的头发拖出水面。她一边拧干头发，一边盯着费林受伤的手。伤口看起来很严重。

 

乐佩叹了口气。费林被她吓坏了。但她要帮助他。“头发不只会发光。”她加了一句。

 

费林非常吃惊。他看着帕斯考，帕斯考也在瞪着他，调皮地咧着一张大嘴。变色龙知道，还有更大的惊喜在等着费林。

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