The Stolen Unicorn

by Carolyn Keene

  The Stolen Unicorn

  For show-and-tell Mari held up a beautiful white unicorn. “She’s called Silvermane,” Mari told the class. “The silver tail and mane are made from real horsehair.”

  “I can’t believe it,” Julia said. “I’ve wanted Silvermane ever since I saw her in the mall.” She reached out to touch the shiny horn on the unicorn’s head.

  “No!” Mari snatched the unicorn away. “I’m not going to pass her around. Silvermane is too special.”

  Soon show-and-tell was over, and so was the rest of the afternoon. It was time to go home. But as the class was ready to leave, Mari cried out, “Silvermane! She’s gone!”

  Contents

  Chapter 1: The New Girl

  Chapter 2: The Search for Silvermane

  Chapter 3: A Very Nice Suspect

  Chapter 4: The Camera Doesn’t Lie

  Chapter 5: Mystery Meat Mess

  Chapter 6: Superballs and Flower Fairies

  Chapter 7: Real Detectives

  Chapter 8: The Return of Silvermane

  1

  The New Girl

  I have a secret,” Alison Wegman told Nancy Drew during recess. Alison put her arm around her best friend, Brenda Carlton.

  “And you’re not allowed to know,” Brenda said to Nancy. She twisted her dark hair around her finger and gave Nancy a mean smile.

  “That’s not fair,” George Fayne said. She was Nancy’s best friend. “I told you about my in-line skates before I showed them to the class.”

  “Okay. I’ll give you a hint,” Alison said. “It’s silver and white, and it’ll be the best show-and-tell you’ve ever seen.”

  Nancy rolled her eyes and looked at George. Alison was such a show-off.

  It was show-and-tell week for the girls’ third-grade class. Everyone had to bring in something from home to talk about in front of the group. Nancy wished they could have show-and-tell every week. It happened only four times a year.

  “Hey, there’s Bess with the new girl.” George pointed across the schoolyard. “What’s her name?”

  Nancy waved to the two girls. “Mari Cheng.”

  Bess Marvin waved back as she and Mari headed toward the group. She was George’s cousin and Nancy’s other best friend. Bess was also Mari’s “school buddy” for the week. That meant she was helping Mari get used to the way things were done at Carl Sandburg Elementary School.

  “Mari seems pretty nice,” Alison said. “My mom and I met her at the toy store last Saturday. I found out that Mari was going to be in our class before anybody else did. I wonder what she has for show-and-tell.”

  “Who cares?” Brenda sneered. “She thinks she’s too good for the rest of the class and won’t talk to anybody.”

  Nancy crossed her arms. “Just because Mari’s quiet doesn’t mean she’s stuck-up. Maybe she’s shy.”

  “Give Mari a chance,” George added. “After all, she’s only been in Ms. Spencer’s class since Monday.”

  Nancy’s blue eyes twinkled. “You mean Mrs. Reynolds, not Ms. Spencer.”

  “Whoops.” George put her hand over her mouth and laughed. “I keep forgetting our teacher is married now.”

  “Hi, guys!” Bess said when she and Mari reached the girls. “What’s up?”

  “Oh, nothing.” Brenda looked at Mari and giggled. “We were just talking.”

  Nancy glared at Brenda. Then she turned to the new girl. “Hi, Mari.”

  “Hi,” Mari said softly. She looked down at her shoes. Her shiny, black hair covered her face.

  “So, Mari, what did you bring in for show-and-tell?” Alison asked. “Your row is up next.”

  Mari shrugged. “I—I brought . . . um . . . it’s kind of . . .”

  “She doesn’t want to tell us,” Brenda snapped.

  “It isn’t really a big thing.” Mari’s voice was so low, Nancy had to lean in closer to hear her. “It’s—”

  “You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to,” Alison broke in. “I’m keeping my show-and-tell a secret, too.”

  “Let me guess, Alison,” Bess said. “Are you showing your new Flower Fairy perfume?”

  “No,” Alison said. “Even though I am the only one in class who has it. My surprise is even better.” She turned to Mari. “Have you heard of Flower Fairy?”

  Mari shook her head.

  “I’m wearing it right now.” Alison stuck out her arm. “Here, smell my wrist.”

  Mari was just leaning over to sniff Alison’s wrist when Mike Minelli and Jason Hutchings came crashing into the group. The boys were in the middle of a game of tag and knocked Mari right to the ground.

  “Hey, watch where you’re going!” George shouted to the boys.

  Nancy helped Mari back to her feet.

  “Sorry,” Jason said. He was laughing so hard, Nancy didn’t think he sounded sorry.

  “I forgot to tell you about Mike and Jason,” Bess told Mari. “They’re always starting trouble and playing dumb tricks.”

  “Our tricks aren’t dumb,” Mike said. “The people we play tricks on are dumb.”

  “That’s right,” Jason said. “We’re smart! We always have something up our sleeves. Don’t we Mike?”

  “Yup!” Mike grinned. “So you’d better watch out, Mari!”

  Mari’s eyes grew wide. “What do you mean?”

  “You’ll find out,” Mike said. Then he tagged Jason. “You’re it!” he yelled, running away.

  Jason chased after him.

  Later that afternoon Bess showed the class her fancy gold locket for show-and-tell. It was a gift from her aunt.

  The day before, Nancy had shown a beautiful picture of her mother, who had died when Nancy was three years old. It was Nancy’s favorite photograph.

  Now it was Mari’s turn. She walked slowly up the aisle holding a pink duffel bag. Her face was as red as a tomato.

  Show-and-tell must be really hard for someone as shy as Mari, Nancy thought. I’ll clap extra loud when she’s done.

  Mari put her bag on top of Julia Santos’s desk, in the front of the room. Julia peeked inside Mari’s bag.

  “Awesome,” Julia said.

  One by one, Mari began taking seven beautiful toy horses out from her bag. “I love horses,” she said. “My room is full of them. I have horse books, horse posters, horse videos—everything.”

  Nancy noticed that Mari seemed to like talking about something she loved.

  “These horses are all different breeds and in all kinds of poses,” Mari said, putting the last one on Julia’s desk. Then she took something else out of her bag.

  “This is my newest one. It isn’t exactly a horse, but it’s my favorite.” Mari held up a beautiful white unicorn. “She’s called Silvermane. The silver tail and mane are made from real horsehair that I can brush with a special comb. She has her own stand, too.”

  Nancy had to smile when she saw Alison’s mouth drop open at the sight of the unicorn. Even Brenda looked impressed.

  “I can’t believe it,” Julia said out loud. “I’ve wanted Silvermane ever since I saw her in the mall.” She reached out to touch the shiny horn on the unicorn’s head.

  “No!” Mari snatched it away. “I’m only going to pass around the other horses. Silvermane is too special.”

  “Sorry.” Julia sank in her chair.

  As Mari passed around the horses, Jason raised his hand.

  “What do the horses do?” he asked Mari. “Do they walk? Do they fly?”

  “Well, no,” Mari said. “You have to use your imagination.”

  Jason pretended to yawn. “Borrrring!”

  Mike jumped out of his seat. “But they do fly! See?” He tossed two toy horses in the air. “Bombs away!”

  Jason threw a toy Arabi
an horse at Mike. “Attack!” he cried.

  Mike laughed and flung an Appaloosa across the room. “It’s a bird. . . . It’s a plane. . . . It’s Superhorse!”

  “Stop!” Mari cried out.

  Mrs. Reynolds leaped from her seat. “Mike and Jason, pick up those horses! The two of you are staying after school.”

  Mike and Jason each picked up a horse from the floor. Brenda and Alison found two others. They all put the horses back inside the duffel bag on Julia’s desk.

  “Now apologize,” Mrs. Reynolds said, frowning at the boys.

  “Sorry, Mari,” the boys muttered.

  “That was a fine presentation, Mari,” Mrs. Reynolds said as Mari lugged her bag back to her seat. “All right, everyone. It’s time for us to pack up and go home.”

  As the class gathered their things, Nancy walked over to Mari. “Great show-and-tell,” she said. “Your horses are really cool.”

  But Mari wasn’t listening. She was searching through her duffel bag.

  “What’s wrong, Mari?” Nancy asked.

  “It’s Silvermane!” Mari cried out. “She’s gone!”

  2

  The Search for Silvermane

  Somebody stole Silvermane!” Mari burst into tears.

  Mrs. Reynolds made her way over to Mari. “Did you search your bag carefully?” The teacher looked through the duffel bag.

  “It isn’t here,” she said finally. “No one is leaving until this classroom is searched from top to bottom.”

  The class groaned.

  “Come on,” Mrs. Reynolds said, clapping her hands. “Start looking. I want that unicorn found.”

  The class spread out to look.

  “Who cares if her dumb old unicorn is missing?” Nancy heard Brenda say. “She’s a show-off anyway.”

  Alison looked under a chair. “Can’t we look tomorrow?” she asked. “It’s past three o’clock.”

  George turned to her. “If you want to go home, then find Silvermane.”

  “We will,” Brenda said, moving closer to Alison. “And when we do, I’ll write all about it in the Carlton News.”

  Brenda’s father helped her make a newspaper on their home computer. Nancy thought the Carlton News was just like Brenda—mean and gossipy.

  Nancy started looking through a cluttered bookshelf. Maybe the boys threw the unicorn over here, she thought. Then she remembered that Mari didn’t pass Silvermane around. The boys couldn’t have thrown it.

  Maybe Mari was right, Nancy thought. Maybe someone did steal it.

  Julia was close by, looking near Mrs. Reynolds’s desk. “What do you think Mrs. Reynolds will do to the person who took the unicorn?” she asked Nancy.

  “They’ll probably get in big trouble.” Nancy started looking by the teacher’s desk, too. Then she noticed something on the floor. “Wait a minute, Julia,” Nancy said. “What’s that under your shoe?”

  Julia lifted her foot. Nancy picked up a small plastic comb with a silver S painted on it.

  “It’s Silvermane’s,” Julia said, staring at the comb. “How did that get there?”

  Maybe you were hiding it, Nancy thought. She gave the comb to Mrs. Reynolds.

  The class searched for a little while longer. But the unicorn was nowhere to be found.

  Mrs. Reynolds sighed. “All right, everyone. Get your things together and line up to go home. I’m sorry, Mari. I’m sure we’ll find your unicorn tomorrow. In the meantime, I’ll alert the Lost and Found, okay?”

  “Okay.” Mari sniffled. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying.

  Mrs. Reynolds looked around the room. It was crowded with all kinds of science, art, and show-and-tell projects. “What a mess,” she said. “No wonder Silvermane is lost. I’m going to have to stay after school to do some cleaning.”

  Nancy almost jumped out of her chair. “I’ll help!” Then she leaned over to Bess, who sat at the desk next to her. “I want to stay and look for clues,” Nancy whispered. “That unicorn couldn’t have just disappeared.”

  Brenda heard her. “Oh, brother,” she said. “Nancy thinks she’s a detective again.”

  “She is a detective!” George shouted from her seat. “You’re just jealous.”

  “I bet I can find out what really happened to that unicorn before Nancy does,” Brenda said.

  “You’re always saying things like that,” George said. “And you never do.”

  Brenda’s face turned red. She looked ready to explode.

  “Girls! Stop arguing this instant,” Mrs. Reynolds commanded. “Nancy, if you’d really like to help me clean up, you may. But first call home from the telephone in the main office to get permission.”

  “Can we stay, too?” George and Bess asked.

  “Yes, if you call home and get permission,” Mrs. Reynolds said. “Now, let’s walk out to the yard for dismissal. I want Nancy, Bess, George, Mike, and Jason to stay by me. We’ll all be coming back to the room together.”

  As the class walked down the stairs, Nancy felt someone from behind tap her arm. She turned to see Mari’s hopeful face. “Are you really a detective?” Mari asked.

  “Yes,” Nancy said. “I’ve solved lots of cases.”

  “Will you help me find my unicorn?” Mari said.

  Bess placed a hand on the new girl’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Mari. You’ll have your unicorn back in no time.”

  Nancy hoped in her heart that Bess was right.

  After dismissal, Nancy, Bess, and George called their homes. They were all allowed to stay after school. Later the Drews’ housekeeper, Hannah Gruen, would pick up the three girls and drive them home.

  “Meet me at the Double Dip,” Hannah told Nancy over the phone. “You can all have a little ice cream while you wait for me.”

  “Thanks, Hannah!” Nancy said. She hung up the receiver.

  Mrs. Reynolds phoned Mike’s and Jason’s homes. Then she led the way back to the classroom. “Just a minute,” she told the girls. “Let me deal with these two first.”

  She faced Mike and Jason and told them they would have to write about what they did wrong. “Use up both sides of your paper,” she said.

  The boys went to their desks.

  “All right, volunteers.” Mrs. Reynolds smiled at the girls. “It’s time to clean.”

  Bess sighed.

  Nancy knew why. Bess hated to get dirty.

  “I’m only doing this to help Mari,” Bess said to Nancy. Then Bess looked at Mrs. Reynolds. “And help you, too, of course,” she added with a smile.

  Mrs. Reynolds patted Bess on the shoulder. “I think you’ll be able to search for Silvermane and help me clean at the same time,” she said.

  “Where would you like us to start?” Nancy asked.

  “Take those stacks of construction paper from the windowsill and put them neatly in the supply closet, please,” Mrs. Reynolds said.

  No one had looked in the closet, Nancy thought. Maybe someone hid Silvermane in there.

  Nancy grabbed the paper and walked inside the big closet. She put the paper on an empty shelf. Then she checked the other shelves. She saw boxes of chalk, rolled-up charts, and some textbooks wrapped in plastic.

  Nancy’s shoulders slumped. “There’s no unicorn in here.”

  As Nancy turned to leave the closet, she saw Mike looking inside Mari’s desk. Mrs. Reynolds was busy going through some papers. She didn’t see him.

  He looks like he just did something sneaky, Nancy thought as she watched Mike straighten up and glance around the classroom. Then he tiptoed back to his desk and gave Jason a thumbs-up signal.

  What are those boys up to? Nancy wondered, stepping out of the closet. She checked to see what her two friends were doing. Bess was erasing the chalkboard, and George was lining up the desks into neater rows.

  I bet no one else saw him, Nancy thought. I’d better find out what he did.

  “Nancy,” Mrs. Reynolds called before Nancy had a chance to look inside Mari’s desk.

  Nancy walke
d over to the teacher.

  Mrs. Reynolds handed Nancy a pile of used paper. “Could you toss these in the recycling bin?”

  When Nancy threw the stack into the blue plastic pail, she caught sight of a large ball of paper. What’s this? she thought as she reached inside the bin and pulled it out.

  Nancy unraveled the top sheet. It was an old copy of the Carlton News. Then she unwrapped the rest and gasped.

  Nestled inside the crumpled paper was a plastic stand that had one word printed across it: Silvermane.

  3

  A Very Nice Suspect

  Nancy gave Silvermane’s stand to Mrs. Reynolds.

  “It looks as though the unicorn really was stolen,” Mrs. Reynolds said, shaking her head. She put the stand in one of the drawers of her desk.

  Then Mrs. Reynolds looked around the classroom. “Our room looks great. Thanks for your help, girls,” she said. “Especially you, Nancy. Good work finding Silvermane’s stand.”

  Nancy, Bess, and George grabbed their knapsacks and said goodbye to Mrs. Reynolds. Mike and Jason were still working on their essays when the girls headed out to the Double Dip.

  “Poor Mari,” Bess said as the three girls left the school. “I can’t believe someone in our class stole Silvermane.”

  “Yeah,” George said. “What a crummy way to start her first week at a new school. She must hate it here.”

  “We’ve got to get that unicorn back,” Nancy said.

  At the Double Dip the girls ordered an ice cream sundae to share. George carried the sundae, Bess carried three spoons, and Nancy led the way to a little table by the window.

  As they sat down, Nancy took out her detective’s notebook and her favorite purple pen from her knapsack.

  Nancy’s father had given her the special notebook to use just for solving mysteries. It had a shiny blue cover.

  She turned to a clean page. On the top she wrote, “The Missing Unicorn Mystery.”

  “Let’s think of who would want to take the unicorn and why,” Nancy said. “I already have a few ideas.”

  Farther down the page, Nancy wrote the word “Suspects.” On the top of the list Nancy wrote two names—Mike Minelli and Jason Hutchings.