by Julie Sykes
Miki set off with the raccoon.
“Everyone else, back to grooming your unicorns, please,” said Ms Rosemary.
Ariana ducked inside Whisper’s stable, feeling glad that she hadn’t got as wet as some of the others. She picked up the brush again.
“Something’s not right,” she overheard Ms Rivers say to Ms Rosemary. “There have been several sightings of wild animals, birds and insects around the academy today. Now there’s a storm raccoon too.”
Ariana remembered the spider and lizard in Diamond dorm and the mice she’d seen on her way to the stables. She hurried and told the teachers. Both Ms Rivers and Ms Rosemary listened carefully.
“Thank you, Ariana, that’s very useful to know,” said Ms Rosemary.
“I will add these creatures to the list of sightings,” said Ms Rivers. “They must have come out of the woods.”
“Why?” asked Ariana.
“That is not your concern,” said Ms Rivers firmly. “We teachers will deal with it.” She marched away.
Ms Rosemary gave Ariana a friendly smile. “Don’t worry about it, dear. We’ll soon find out what’s going on.” She clapped her hands together. “Right, everyone, we’ve had a lot of excitement already this morning so I think we’ll go on a relaxing ride around the grounds. Put your grooming things away and assemble in the yard with your unicorns.”
Rosa, Violet and Matilda high-fived each other, but Ariana’s heart sank. She would really rather spend the time making the plaits in Whisper’s mane perfect than riding around the grounds getting muddy.
Whisper whickered happily. “Hooray! We get to go out!” he said, stamping his hooves.
“Yes,” Ariana sighed. “We do.”
As Ms Rosemary led her class on a ride around Sparkle Lake, even Ariana couldn’t keep wishing they’d stayed in the stables. The spring flowers were blooming in the flower beds, a riot of pink, lilac and purple, and the sunshine was making the lake glitter brightly. The marble academy building was reflected in the glassy surface. It was so clear that it looked as if there was a second Unicorn Academy floating right there in the water.
Ariana listened to the cheerful chatter of her dorm-mates as she rode alongside them, but most of her attention was taken up in making sure that Whisper didn’t tread in the muddy bits around the lake.
Ms Rosemary directed everyone along a path through the rose gardens that led to the maze and the play area on the edge of the woods. There she stopped and checked her watch.
“You have fifteen minutes of free time to do what you want while I check the woods for any unusual animal behaviour,” she said.
The rest of Diamond dorm and their unicorns headed for the play park.
“Let’s go with them, Ariana,” said Whisper eagerly.
Ariana hesitated. So far, she’d managed to avoid going to the play park. Every time her dorm-mates played on the equipment they came back covered in dirt.
“I’d really like to go to the maze again,” said Ariana. “I like it in there.”
“But the maze is boring if you go in it alone,” protested Whisper. “I want to go to the play park with the others. Please, Ariana, pleeeeease!”
Ariana didn’t want to disappoint Whisper. “OK then,” she agreed reluctantly.
“Hooray!” Whisper whinnied, setting off at a canter. “Let’s go on the trampoline first.”
“I don’t really want to,” said Ariana, looking at the mud around it. She slid off his back. “You go though.”
“Well, if you’re sure?” said Whisper. When she nodded, he cantered over to join his friends on the trampolines, leaving Ariana alone.
Ariana glanced around. Matilda was sitting at the top of the fort, her pencil skittering over her sketchpad as she captured something on paper. Violet and Rosa were in the swing boats seeing how high they could go. Freya was climbing the cargo net, while the unicorns played on the trampoline. Ariana didn’t feel like joining in with any of them so she went and sat on the wooden flying unicorn statue.
As she sat there, she began to think about all the insects and animals from the woods that had been found at the academy. A horrible thought struck her: what if some of the really dangerous creatures turned up at the academy – a wolf, a giant scarlet-horned cobra or a swarm of hex hornets?
Ariana was still deep in thought when something moved under the roundabout, catching her eye. Her heart beat double time. Was it another animal? A breeze blew and the creature came tumbling out of its hiding place towards Ariana. She gasped, but then stopped herself from squealing just in time.
It wasn’t an animal at all, just a large leaf! Ariana giggled, feeling a little silly. But as she started to relax, something whizzed past her ear. Was that a hornet? As Ariana batted it away, she lost her balance and toppled from the unicorn’s back, her arms flailing as she fell. Somehow, she landed on her feet. From the top of the fort, Matilda cheered and waved her sketchbook. Violet and Rosa, who’d also seen what happened, ran over.
“Are you all right?” asked Violet, steadying the trembling Ariana. “What happened? Did the butterfly surprise you?” She pointed to a large purple butterfly swooping around the play park.
“A butterfly?” Is that all it was?
“Are you scared of butterflies as well as spiders?” Rosa said incredulously.
“No, of course not,” said Ariana crossly. “I … I thought it was a hornet.” She blushed and rubbed at the smudge she’d just noticed on the sleeve of her hoodie. From the top of the fort, she could hear Matilda chuckling.
Ariana felt like stamping her foot. “I’m not scared of butterflies!” she shouted. She turned and stomped away from them.
Next time, I get to decide what Whisper and I do, she thought crossly. And it won’t be going to the play park with the others!
To Ariana’s relief, the rest of the day was less eventful. By bedtime, there’d only been one further sighting of an animal from the woods that had wandered into the school grounds, a timid three-antlered deer.
From her bedroom window, Ariana saw one of the gardeners lead the deer away. Ariana closed the curtains and went to the bathroom. When she came back, everyone was crowded around Matilda’s bed, their heads close together as they giggled over something. Seeing Ariana, Violet nudged the others and they all pulled away, returning to their own beds. Ariana wondered what they’d been looking at.
“Hi, Ariana,” said Violet quickly. “We wondered where you’d got to. Would you like a piece of chocolate? It’s got a strawberry filling.” She held out an opened bar of chocolate.
“No, thanks. I’ve just cleaned my teeth.”
“I’d better do mine,” said Matilda. Her cheeks were pink and she was holding something behind her back, before quickly shoving it into a drawer. “Now, where did I put my washbag?”
“Is this it?” Ariana picked up a flowery bag stuffed halfway inside a fluffy cat slipper that she’d just noticed was under her bed.
“Yes, it is!” Matilda replied, not quite meeting Ariana’s eye. “And that’s my cat slipper! I’ve been hopping around all week without it. Thanks, Ariana.”
Matilda set off to the bathroom and the rest of Diamond dorm followed her, clutching washbags and toothbrushes. Left on her own, Ariana stared at the pile of Matilda’s clothes heaped on the floor. It was as much of a mess as it had been that morning. Carefully, shaking them out to check for spiders first, she picked the clothes up and put them on Matilda’s bed.
Matilda was so untidy. She hadn’t even bothered to shut her drawer properly. But as Ariana leaned over to close it, she noticed something sticking out from the top, a drawing of a girl with braids. Ariana froze. Was that her? She pulled it out. It was her – there was no doubt about it. Matilda was a very good artist. Too good! Ariana’s eyes smarted as she studied the way Matilda had captured her, arms waving wildly, her mouth a huge “O” of surprise. In the picture, Ariana looked truly terrified as she sat atop a winged unicorn while a butterfly flew around her head.
Is that how the rest of Diamond dorm saw her – a scaredy-cat, frightened even of butterflies? Ariana shoved the picture into the drawer and slammed it shut. She got into bed, pulled the duvet up to her chin and shut her eyes tight. When the rest of Diamond dorm came back from the bathroom, Ariana pretended to be fast asleep.
The following morning, Ariana came in from the bathroom to find Rosa sitting on Matilda’s bed, giggling over a picture in her sketchbook. Ariana stiffened. Was it another drawing of her? She was beginning to really wish she was in another dorm.
“Look at this!” Rosa said, holding the picture up. It was a picture of Matilda after she’d been stuck in the bog on the cross-country ride. Her hair was hanging in mucky straggles and she had mud dripping off her nose. “And there’s one of Freya.” She held up a picture of Freya looking like a mad inventor, blonde plaits sticking out wildly as she tinkered with a machine. “And she did one of me too!” She held up another picture. It showed Rosa with her hands on her hips, nose in the air, bossing everyone about. It was a very good likeness. “You are so brilliant at drawing,” Rosa told Matilda. She posed like her picture. “It’s just like me when I’m in a bossy mood. Isn’t it, Ariana?”
Ariana didn’t say anything, feeling it would be rude to agree. She sat down on her bed, her thoughts racing. Last night she’d thought Matilda had been mean to draw that picture of her, but she’d actually been doing pictures of everyone in the dorm and no one else seemed to mind. In fact, judging by their grins, they all thought it was funny.
“I’ve got one of you too, Ariana,” said Matilda slightly sheepishly. “Do you want to see it?”
Ariana nodded and Matilda pulled the drawing from her bedside chest of drawers. Ariana tensed, waiting to feel hurt like she had the night before, but to her surprise she didn’t feel upset. Now she knew Matilda was drawing everyone, she was actually able to see how funny the picture was.
“It’s good,” she admitted. “Really good.” Matilda looked pleased. “But I’m not actually scared of butterflies, you know,” Ariana added.
“Duh! I know that!” said Matilda, rolling her eyes.
Ariana folded her pyjamas, feeling slightly confused. She really didn’t understand Matilda, but she was starting to see that her teasing wasn’t meant to hurt. Maybe she shouldn’t take it so much to heart. She shot Matilda a tentative smile. “Do you want a hand folding your clothes, or are you going for the crumpled look on purpose?”
Matilda looked surprised for a moment, but then chuckled. “I think Ms Rosemary would prefer the less crumpled look so, yes, please!”
Together, they picked up her clothes and folded them. By the time Ariana went down to breakfast with the others, she was feeling a lot lighter inside.
Breakfast was almost finished when, at the teachers’ table, Ms Nettles, the headteacher, stood up and clapped her hands together. Silence rippled around the room as the pupils turned to face her.
“I’m sorry to announce that today’s lessons are going to be cancelled.” Ms Nettles’ lips twitched as everyone started to whisper excitedly. “The teachers and I have decided that the whole school is going on a field trip.”
Rosa put up her hand. “Where to, Ms Nettles?”
“To the woods!” Ms Nettles declared. A ripple of excitement ran around the room. Ms Nettles raised her hand and silence fell again. “Over the last couple of days, there have been many sightings in and around the school of creatures that don’t belong here,” she said. “In fact, only this morning a family of purple badgers were discovered near the map in the great hall. We need to find out why the animals are coming out of the woods. The plan is for all students to ride to the outskirts of the woods to help conduct a survey of the animals, so that we can begin to chart which animals are leaving and why.”
“Only to the outskirts, Ms Nettles?” Matilda asked.
“Absolutely!” Ms Nettles fixed all the students with a stern look from over the top of her glasses. “Please remember there are some extremely dangerous creatures in the woods. Staff may venture further into the trees, but although students can enter the woods, they must stay near the edges. Ms Rivers will lead the expedition. After breakfast, please assemble by the lake, where you will be given the equipment you need.”
Ariana felt a shiver of fear. Usually the woods were out of bounds to students.
Beside her, Matilda was looking excited. “No lessons and a trip to the woods – how utterly brilliant!” she said, pushing her red hair out of her eyes.
Rosa was beaming from ear to ear. “Another adventure – I can’t wait!”
Diamond dorm chattered excitedly together as they finished breakfast. Even Freya, who was usually too busy with her inventions to join in, took part in the discussion. Only Ariana was quiet. She really wasn’t keen on the expedition. Of course, if there was some reason the animals were leaving the woods then they needed to find out why, but surely a whole school trip needed more planning? Would the teachers be able to supervise them properly and keep them all safe? Finishing her breakfast, she told the others she would see them in the dorm and hurried upstairs. If they were going out, she wanted to be properly prepared!
“Ariana, you look like you’re going away for a week!” said Violet, when Ariana met them all at the stables later on. Although she had been first to the dorm to get ready, she had been so busy packing stuff into a rucksack to take with her that she had been the last to get to the stables.
“Have you got a spare unicorn hidden in there?” giggled Matilda.
“It’s important to be ready for anything,” Ariana said defensively.
“What have you got?” said Violet.
“Rope, a torch, some sky berries, chocolate, a fishing net…”
“A fishing net!” Matilda echoed.
Rosa chuckled. “You really are Little Miss Organised, aren’t you?”
Ariana hesitated but, to her surprise, Freya came to her defence. “Ariana’s right – it is better to be prepared. We don’t know what we’ll find in the woods.”
“Excitement and danger, I hope!” said Rosa, her brown eyes shining with excitement.
Ariana frowned as she went to Whisper’s stable.
When everyone was ready, Ms Rosemary and Ms Rivers put the students into groups. Ms Willow, the new school nurse, was there too, giving out sandwiches for lunch, a whistle to call for help if they needed it and a small first aid kit. “Do be careful,” she was telling the students. “I really don’t think this trip is wise.” She shot a cross look at Ms Rosemary and Ms Rivers. “It could be very dangerous in the woods. Do make sure you stay on the outskirts.”
“We’ll be fine, Ms Willow,” Violet said. “Don’t worry.”
Ms Willow huffed, and hurried away.
Ms Rosemary handed out a list of creatures that they were supposed to tick off if they saw them. Diamond dorm were the last group she came to.
“Now, remember what Ms Nettles said at breakfast,” she told them as she handed them their list. “Please do not go deep into the woods. I know you had a great adventure when you went to the Glittering Cavern a few weeks ago, but if you go off exploring on your own again, you could get hurt. The woods are dangerous. Stay near the edges, do you understand?”
“Yes, Ms Rosemary,” said Rosa with a sigh. “We understand.”
Ariana remembered how excited Rosa had been leading their secret expedition to the Glittering Cavern last term. They’d been trying to find a model taken from the school’s magic map that was needed for the map to work again. They’d found it and got back safely – but only just!
“Time to go!” called Ms Rivers. She led the way on Lady, her unicorn, who had a stunning gold mane and gold and pink markings. The rest of the school followed behind, with teachers dotted at various intervals and Diamond dorm and Ms Rosemary bringing up the rear.
“Please avoid the mud, Whisper,” Ariana begged as they followed Matilda and Rosa towards the woods.
The other unicorns were splashing through
the puddles on the ground. “We are probably going to get quite muddy, Ariana,” said Whisper as he skirted around them.
“Oh, I hope not!” said Ariana with a shudder.
“Hey! Come and ride here with us, Ariana,” Matilda called over her shoulder.
“We’re talking about that story we read in Unicorn Myths and Legends class,” said Rosa. Pearl shifted to let Whisper trot up between her and Crystal.
“About the unicorn and the Cyclops? I loved that story,” said Ariana, forgetting about the mud as she eagerly joined in. “My favourite part was when the unicorn with the gold hooves—” Ariana broke off suddenly. Coming towards them was a long line of rabbits, their tails flashing white as they hopped along. “Where are they going?” she wondered aloud.
Rosa frowned. “They look like they’re running away from the woods.”
“I wonder why.” Bubbles of anxiety popped in Ariana’s tummy. What was making the rabbits leave the safety of the trees?
Ms Rivers halted Lady. “Well, here are the woods, everyone. Get looking for animals. If you need help, blow three sharp blasts on your whistle and we will come and find you. Be sensible. We simply need you to note down what animals you see. Do you understand?” Everyone nodded. “Then off you go!”
With a chorus of whoops, the groups set off.
“Race you to the trees, Diamond dorm! Watch out for the rabbits,” Rosa shouted as she and Crystal took off at speed. Freya and Honey chased after them, followed by the rest of Diamond dorm.
Not wanting to be left behind, Whisper broke into a gallop, his mane flying up in Ariana’s face.
“Whoa, slow down. I’m going to fall off!” Ariana cried out.
“Relax, Ariana. You know you can’t fall off. The island magic will keep you safe!” said Whisper and he galloped faster. Ariana knew he was right. If she fell, a magical bubble would form around her, cushioning and protecting her, but that didn’t help her to feel safe as they entered the woods. Falling off wasn’t her main concern – it was all the dangers they might face if they went too far in.