by Julie Sykes
Whisper stopped suddenly. Coming towards them was a long line of rabbits, their tails flashing white as they hopped along. Bubbles of anxiety popped in Ariana’s tummy. What was making the rabbits leave the safety of the trees?
For Antonia,
who is also magic.
Ariana woke to the sound of her unicorn alarm clock whinnying good morning. She stretched out a hand and switched it off, then carefully folded back her blue and silver duvet and swung her legs out of bed. Her toes sank into something soft and she frowned. What was that? Leaning over, Ariana saw Matilda’s hoodie crumpled on the floor.
“Matilda!” Ariana sighed, looking across at the girl in the next bed. Even in sleep, Matilda somehow managed to make Diamond dorm look untidy. Her red hair was spread over her pillow in a sea of tangles and her duvet hung from the edge of the bed.
As Ariana picked up the hoodie, a large spider with red stripes on its back scuttled across the sleeve. Ariana squealed and flung the hoodie back down, waking Rosa, Freya and Violet.
“Ariana, are you all right?” said Violet, sitting up quickly.
“What’s going on?” demanded Freya.
“Why did you scream?” said Rosa.
Only Matilda slept on, snoring softly.
“There’s a sp … sp … spider,” Ariana stuttered, pointing at the floor where the spider was picking its way over Matilda’s hoodie.
“I don’t like spiders.”
“Is that all?” Rosa groaned, flopping back against her pillow.
“Poor spider. It’s probably trying to find its way outside,” said Violet, pushing her dark plait over her shoulder and going to investigate.
“Let’s help it,” said Freya, joining her. Gently, she scooped the spider up in her hands. “Aren’t the red stripes on its back unusual? I’ve never seen one like it before. Open the window for me, Ariana.”
Ariana stared at Freya in horror. What was she doing picking it up? Red meant danger, didn’t it? What if the spider bit her?
“The window, Ariana!” Freya said impatiently.
Ariana hurried to the window and flung it wide open. She shrank back as Freya passed her, just in case the spider tried to escape. “Be careful!”
Freya rolled her eyes scornfully. “I can’t believe you’re scared of spiders. It’s not going to hurt us. Surely you know there are no dangerous spiders on Unicorn Island?”
Ariana bit her lip, not wanting to admit she didn’t know much about creepy-crawlies. She just knew she didn’t like them!
Freya held the spider as it sent out a thread of silk and sailed down the wall, but before she could close the window, Ariana saw a small emerald-green lizard climbing up the side of her wardrobe.
“Watch out!” she shrieked.
“Ariana, don’t freak out. It’s just a harmless lizard,” said Violet. She caught it and put it on the window sill. “It’s very pretty. I wonder where it came from – and the spider.”
“Probably from Matilda. She’s so untidy!” said Ariana, feeling better now that the spider and lizard were safely outside the dorm. “I bet she brought them in on her clothes. They’re always covered in grass and stuff. Look –” she gestured towards the dirty clothes around Matilda’s bed. “No wonder our dorm is full of bugs.”
“Bugs? Who’s got bugs?” Matilda yawned and opened her eyes. Reaching for her glasses, she accidentally knocked over her lucky duck toy. It immediately started quacking. “Whoops!” She picked it up and turned it this way and that. “I can never remember how to make this stop,” she said, frowning.
Rosa buried her head under her pillow with a groan. “Turn it down!”
“Good thinking!” said Matilda cheerfully. She shoved the duck under her pillow, muffling the quacking noise. “So, what’s going on?” she said, putting her glasses on and looking around at them all. “Why’s the window open? It’s freezing.”
“A spider and lizard decided to spend the night with us. We were just putting them outside,” said Freya, shutting it.
“It’s probably your fault.” Ariana frowned at Matilda. “I bet they came in on your clothes and you didn’t even notice. You’re so untidy! You really should fold your things and put them away.” Matilda flopped back with a sigh, sending the toy duck shooting out from under her pillow. Its loud quacks sent Rosa, Freya and Violet into a fit of giggles. Ariana broke off, feeling hurt. She’d hoped the others would back her up. Surely they couldn’t enjoy sharing a dorm with someone as messy as Matilda?
As Ariana turned away, Violet put a hand on her arm. “Don’t be upset, Ariana. I expect Matilda forgot to tidy up last night because she was working on a picture.”
“I was, actually,” said Matilda, her long red hair falling over her shoulders as she nodded earnestly. “My little cousin was so excited when I told her all about being at school here. I promised I’d draw her a picture of our dorm. I’ve got it here somewhere, if you want to see?” Matilda almost knocked a glass of water over as she began to sift through a pile of paper balanced on her chest of drawers.
“You can show me later,” said Ariana shortly. She sat down at the dressing table. Her long black hair was braided with colourful beads. She checked the beads were secure and tucked some braids behind her ear. Whatever Violet said, it wasn’t just last night that Matilda had forgotten to put her clothes away – she always forgot and it was really annoying! Back at home, Ariana lived with just her mum and dad, and they were very tidy and organised – just like Ariana. She had packed and repacked her suitcase several times before she left home to come to Unicorn Academy. She had been really looking forward to it, but she was finding it hard getting used to living in a dorm with four other girls, particularly untidy Matilda.
Remembering the scornful look Freya had given her when she’d carried the spider to the window, Ariana felt her stomach twist. Making friends was turning out to be so much harder than she had imagined. She hadn’t thought the other girls would be so different from her! Violet was easy to get on with, but Freya spent much of her time on her own with her engineering inventions, Rosa always wanted to be having adventures and Matilda was just annoyingly untidy and scatter-brained. I wish they were more like me, thought Ariana wistfully. I don’t really feel like I’ve got any friends here at all.
After a delicious breakfast of hot rolls and fresh fruit, Ariana was feeling better. She walked to the stables with the others, half-listening to their chatter, her hands buried in the pockets of her snuggly purple hoodie. She really did love Unicorn Academy. The spring sun was edging upwards in the forget-me-not-blue sky, its rays making the marble towers and domed glass roof of the academy sparkle and shine. Ariana breathed a happy sigh as she thought about Whisper, the unicorn she had been paired with. He had big brown eyes and long eyelashes, his white coat was patterned with trailing pink and blue flowers and his dark pink mane was streaked with strands of a lighter pink and purple. Ariana thought him the sweetest, most beautiful unicorn on the whole of Unicorn Island.
Like all the other girls and boys at Unicorn Academy, Ariana had joined the school in the January after she turned ten years old. Pupils usually stayed for a year, but if their unicorns hadn’t yet discovered their unique magic and bonded with them, then they stayed for longer. Ariana couldn’t wait for a lock of her hair to turn the same colours as Whisper’s pink and purple mane. This would show that they’d bonded, which was the highest form of friendship.
Everyone at the academy was training to become guardians of Unicorn Island. Guardians protected everything on the island, especially the magical water that flowed from Sparkle Lake around the land and kept all its animals healthy.
Usually, the island was very peaceful, but the year before, a group of students had foiled various wicked plans by
Ms Primrose, the school’s old headteacher, who had wanted to shut the academy down and take control of Sparkle Lake. Ms Primrose had been caught and imprisoned, but the teachers knew she’d been working with an unknown person who’d still not been found. Ariana hoped there wasn’t going to be any more trouble while she was at the academy.
Ahead of her, Rosa was chatting to Matilda and Violet. Freya was lost in her own thoughts.
“I can’t wait until we go out on the cross-country course again,” Rosa was saying. “I love cross-country jumping.”
“Me too!” said Matilda. “Though I always get lost when Ms Tulip makes us do a course. Do you remember last time we went out? Pearl and I ended up stuck in the middle of a bog.”
Violet grinned. “You looked like a mud monster afterwards!”
Ariana shuddered at the memory. Matilda and Pearl had been covered from head to tail in thick, gloopy mud. It was the sort of thing she had nightmares about, but Matilda and the others had thought it was really funny.
Just then, two mice scurried out from behind a rose bush and dashed across the path, vanishing into the shadows beside some trees. Ariana jumped back in alarm – she’d never seen mice at the academy before. She was about to tell the others when she remembered Freya laughing at her for being scared of spiders. Better not to say anything in case they teased her.
Ariana hurried into the stable block. It was a modern, airy building, beautifully clean and shiny, and she loved it. Each unicorn had their own stall inside and there were troughs that filled up with water from the lake to keep the unicorns’ magic strong. Remote-controlled trolleys trundled around carrying hay and buckets of sky berries – the unicorns’ favourite food.
As the girls entered the stables, Ariana wrinkled her nose. The air smelled strongly of stinky socks.
“Ariana! Watch out!” said Matilda suddenly. “There’s a spider on you!”
“What? Where?” gasped Ariana, brushing her clothes frantically.
Matilda giggled. “Only joking!” Rosa chuckled too.
“Ignore them,” Violet told Ariana. “You are so mean,” she said, shaking her head at Matilda, but there was a smile on her face.
Ariana stomped into Whisper’s stable. She hated being teased. It’s not my fault I’m scared of spiders, she thought crossly.
Whisper looked up from the hay net he was picking at and whinnied, his dark eyes lighting up. “Hello, Ariana,” he said, coming over and nuzzling her face.
“Hello back,” said Ariana, her crossness fading away as she stroked his cheek. She hugged him and then sniffed. “Poo, what is that awful smell?”
“It’s not me!” Whisper laughed. “I’ve stayed clean for once.” Whisper loved going outside and having fun and, no matter how neat and tidy he started the day, he nearly always ended up covered in dirt.
Ariana fetched a brush. “I don’t really mind if you get dirty. I like grooming you.”
“So, what are we doing today?” Whisper asked her eagerly as she started to brush him. “I’m in the mood for galloping.”
“It’s Care of Unicorns first thing,” said Ariana. “I think we’re going to practise grooming and plaiting.”
Whisper groaned. “Not more grooming and plaiting! Why can’t we do something more fun? We’re training to be guardians of the island, not to stand around looking pretty.”
“Grooming and plaiting is fun,” said Ariana, brushing the tangles out of his mane. “It’s important for guardians to look nice, and spending time together helps us to bond.”
“But we can also bond by galloping and having adventures. If we have adventures, we might find out what my power is,” said Whisper. He stamped a hoof impatiently. “I really want to discover my magic!”
“I know,” said Ariana. “I want that too.”
A little while ago, Rosa had discovered that her unicorn, Crystal, could make it snow and create wonderful snow twisters to whisk people from place to place. She’d bonded with Crystal soon after. Ariana thought being able to make it snow was a cool power. Maybe Whisper would have that too or, even better, a really useful power like being able to find things that were lost.
“I wonder what I’ll be able to do. I’d like magic that means I can go really fast, or maybe fire magic or flying magic,” said Whisper.
In the next stable, Matilda overheard. “I bet Ariana wants you to have cleaning magic, Whisper,” she said.
Whisper pulled a face. “You don’t wish I had something dull like that, do you, Ariana?”
Ariana blushed, glad he couldn’t read her thoughts. “No, of course not,” she said. “I don’t care what you have. I’ll love you anyway and always think you’re the best unicorn in the world.”
Whisper nuzzled her shoulder.
Ariana wrinkled her nose. “You know, that smell is getting even stronger.”
Whisper sniffed the air. “You’re right. It is.”
“EEEEEEEWWWWW!” There was a loud cry from the stable across the aisle from Whisper’s.
“What’s going on?” Ariana said in alarm.
She ran to the door, just in time to see Valentina, a second-year student, running out of Golden Briar’s stable with a carrot in her hand. “In the straw!” she shrieked, pointing back at the stable dramatically. “Sleeping in Golden Briar’s stable! EEEEEEEEK!”
“What is?” demanded Rosa. Everyone else came to their doors too.
“That!” shrieked Valentina as a large blue and grey storm raccoon, with blue fur ringing his eyes like a burglar’s mask and a long, stripy tail, appeared in Golden Briar’s open doorway.
It spotted the carrot in Valentina’s hand and sprang straight at her!
Valentina shrieked like a banshee as the storm raccoon bounded towards her. They were smelly, mischievous creatures. She threw the carrot at it, tripped over a water bucket and sat down in a pile of straw.
The raccoon caught the carrot, stuffed it in its mouth and then scampered to the water trough. It leaped on top and swished its tail, dark eyes gleaming cheekily.
“I’ll catch him,” called Miki from Topaz dorm, hurrying to the trough with his best friend, Himmat. “Stand back, everyone.”
“Don’t hurt him,” called Violet anxiously, joining them with Rosa.
“Don’t worry. Miki’s brilliant with animals,” said Himmat.
Miki produced a biscuit from his pocket and held it out flat on his hand. The raccoon cocked his head, his blue and grey ringed tail swishing as his eyes went from Miki to the biscuit.
Speaking softly, Miki said, “Go on, take it. I’m not going to hurt you.”
The raccoon hesitated then slowly reached out a paw.
“Don’t feed it, dumbo. We’ll never get rid of it if you do!” Valentina exclaimed as she struggled up from the straw. She grabbed a stripy rug hanging over a stable door and threw it over the raccoon. The startled creature let out an indignant squeak as the rug fell over it and it lost its balance, falling backwards into the water trough, showering the nearby pupils with multicoloured water.
The raccoon leaped out of the trough, splashing even more water, and charged around the stable block. There was uproar as some of the students chased after it, while others tried to keep out of the way. The unicorns whinnied and Valentina screamed as the raccoon flew at her, using her head as a springboard to jump to the ladder that led up to the hayloft.
“It touched my hair! Its smelly feet were on me!” screamed Valentina.
“Keep back,” cried Violet anxiously. “You’re scaring it!” She spread her arms wide to protect the raccoon, now scaling the ladder, with Miki climbing after it.
The raccoon didn’t stop until it reached the trapdoor to the hayloft. Miki waited a few rungs below, holding up the biscuit again. The raccoon peered down warily, chattering a warning each time Miki went to climb higher. Miki froze and for a long moment he and the raccoon stared at each other. Then the raccoon shook vigorously, water from its fur spraying Miki.
Miki burst out laughing, his dark b
rown eyes sparkling. The raccoon made a squeaky noise that sounded as if he was laughing too. He came down the ladder and jumped on to Miki’s shoulder, snatching the biscuit from him. Miki stood very still and the raccoon took a bite, his sharp teeth crunching noisily on the biscuit.
“I’m telling a teacher,” said Valentina, hands on hips. “You shouldn’t be feeding it, you stupid boy.”
The raccoon chattered at Miki. “Mm, I agree,” said Miki, pretending to understand. He grinned at Valentina. “He says you’re the stupid one and that if I hadn’t given him something to eat, we’d never have caught him. Oh, and he also says you’ve got straw on your bum.”
There were shouts of laughter from everyone watching. Valentina’s eyes narrowed and she turned round and marched back into Golden Briar’s stable in a huff.
“Whatever is going on?” a voice cut through the laughter.
They all swung round to see Ms Rosemary, the Care of Unicorns teacher, and Ms Rivers, the strict new Geography and Culture teacher, standing in the stable entrance.
“Miki, why have you got a storm raccoon?” Ms Rosemary said in astonishment.
“We’ve just found it in the stables,” said Miki.
Ms Rivers frowned. “Well, you shouldn’t be feeding it a biscuit!”
“See?” said Valentina, poking her head out of the stable. “I tried telling him that, but he wouldn’t listen. Raccoons are pests. They shouldn’t be encouraged, should they?”
“It’s not that,” said Ms Rivers, going over and stroking the raccoon. “Biscuits are not good for storm raccoons’ digestion. He’d be better with something less sweet.”
“Well done for catching him, dear,” Ms Rosemary said to Miki. “Now, why don’t you take him back to the outskirts of the woods in the grounds and release him there? I wonder what he’s doing here in school. They hardly ever venture out of the trees.”