by Pip Bird
“HEY!” The noise paused, and Team Sloth looked over in surprise to see that it was Raheem who had yelled. He had climbed up onto a rock. “Arguing isn’t going to get us anywhere,” said Raheem. “We’ll take a vote. And whatever the vote decides, we do—no arguing!”
“How about the ones who want to do the obstacle keep going, and the ones who are too scared go back?” said Anja.
Raheem shook his head. “We should stick together. No one on Team Sloth gets left behind.”
Mira felt a huge surge of pride for her friend, and she could see that Brave felt the same. He was standing next to Raheem with his head held high, even though his eye was twitching and he kept looking around for spiders.
“So,” said Raheem. “Who wants to stay in the forest and cross the terrifying rickety bridge obstacle?”
Flo put her hand up and so did Anja and a few others. Mira’s hand moved—she wanted to keep going and tackle the obstacle—but then she looked at Raheem and Brave. Even though they definitely didn’t want to stay in the forest, they were still making sure that everyone got a say. That was good teamwork. Mira kept her hand down.
“Who wants us to find our way out of the forest?”
Raheem put his own hand up, Brave put his hoof up, and other hands went up, including Yusuf’s, Sarah’s, and Flo’s.
“You can’t really vote for both options,” Mira said to Flo, as she put her hand up.
“But I’d be happy with both,” said Flo.
Raheem counted the hands three times to make sure. Then he announced the result: “We are going to find our way out of the forest!” Most of Team Sloth, even the ones who had voted for the rickety bridge, looked relieved.
They turned back the way they came—only to find there was not one path leading back, but lots of paths, all leading in different directions.
Somewhere nearby a bird shrieked and something rustled, making them all jump.
Suddenly, Unicorn School felt very far away …
CHAPTER NINE
Unicorns Pointing North
“We’re lost!” said Jimmy, as his unicorn snorted nervously.
“It’s okay,” said Raheem. “We’ll just use our emergency fanny packs.”
Mira looked at him. “Raheem, we don’t have emergency fanny packs.”
“Really?” said Raheem. “It’s my dad’s motto: Never leave the house without your emergency fanny pack.” He rolled up his lost-and-found tracksuit top and unzipped a blue fanny pack. “I always carry an emergency map, an emergency pencil case, emergency socks, and an emergency cookie.” Raheem jumped when he saw Dave had suddenly appeared next to him. “I’ll just use this protractor to divide the cookie into—oh, Dave ate it.”
Raheem unfolded his map and studied it. “Okay,” he said. “So we just have to head north, and in about ten minutes, we should come out by the sports field.”
“Hooray!” cheered Team Sloth. Jimmy patted Raheem on the back and said, “Let’s go!”
No one moved.
“Which way is north?” said Ali.
“Um…” Raheem’s face fell. The Toms sighed.
“The unicorns will tell us,” said Flo, who was furiously brushing Sparkles’s mane.
They all looked at her. “What?” said Raheem.
Flo looked up. “They point north.”
“What do you mean?” said Mira.
“If you leave them standing on their own for a bit, they point north,” Flo explained. “Sparkles is always doing it.”
Everyone looked unsure, but they climbed off the unicorns, moved back a few paces, and waited. The unicorns just stared back at them.
“This is silly…,” Anja started to say, but she trailed off. The unicorns were starting to move. They shuffled and turned around in a circle. Then they stopped. All the horns were pointing in the same direction. Even Dave’s! “Hooray!” cheered Team Sloth for the second time. The children hopped back onto their unicorns, and they all started down the path that led north.
As they rode along, they sang songs and made up Team Sloth chants. Mira stroked Dave’s tufty mane and smiled to herself. Team Sloth might not win—but they were having the BEST time, AND they were working together as a team.
“You were great, Raheem!” she said, as Brave trotted up next to her and Dave.
“Thanks!” Raheem grinned. “I bet you’ll be getting yourself an emergency fanny pack now.”
“Yeah,” said Mira (thinking she probably wouldn’t).
Team Sloth cheered again as they emerged from the forest. They could see the sports field, with the other three teams lined up near a table of juice and cookies. The teachers were looking around and checking their watches, obviously wondering where Team Sloth had gotten to.
“There they are!” someone called.
As they arrived at the table, Madame Shetland marched toward them.
“Where have you BEEN, Team Sloth?”
“We turned back at the flesh-eating plants, and the unicorns pointed us home,” said Flo.
“I beg your pardon?” said Madame Shetland.
“We had trouble finding the obstacles,” said Raheem.
“Well, I’m not sure how you managed that when there were enormous signs to show you the way,” Madame Shetland said.
“We—” said Mira, but before she could tell her that it was the enormous signs that had pointed them into the forest, the principal had spun on her heels and started marching back toward the refreshments table.
Darcy wheeled over with Star trotting alongside. “You guys are in the final dash with Team Rhino!” she said.
“WHAT?” said Mira.
“Really?!” said Raheem.
“Yes!” said Darcy. “Team Lions or Tigers won the Cross-Country Obstacle Race, so Sloths and Rhinos are still tied for first place!”
Mira couldn’t believe they had reached the final. When they’d turned back in the forest, she thought all was lost. “Well done on winning the Cross-Country, Darcy!” she said.
Darcy waved her hand. “Oh, it was super easy. Just boring old cones and bits of rope. Nothing dangerous at all—SO pathetic. Plus, I told my team that all the obstacles were electrified so they had to go really quickly.”
“Team Sloth and Team Rhino, line up for the final dash!” bellowed Miss Hind.
Team Rhino were ready, and their unicorns were snorting and stamping their feet impatiently. At the other end of the field, in the distance, was the finish line and the trophy cabinet.
Mira looked around for Dave. She saw with despair that he’d fallen asleep underneath the refreshments table with his head in the cookie bucket.
“Dave!” she said, poking him. “Quick—we’ve got to race!” Dave lifted his head—it was completely stuck in the bucket.
Brave whinnied. He was getting impatient, too. Mira saw that Raheem had decided to completely unlace and re-lace his sneakers. “Just making sure they fit exactly right,” he said cheerily.
Brave sighed.
“ON YOUR MARKS!”
Mira looked at Brave. He was easily the fastest unicorn on their team.
“GET SET…”
Mira looked at Dave. He was staggering around, knocking over people and jugs of rainbow juice with his bucket head.
She remembered Jake at lunch talking about Dave’s stumpy legs. And Rani talking about him being the world’s awfulest unicorn.
Wouldn’t it be nice to stand a chance of winning, just once?
“Raheemdoyouwanttoswapunicorns?” said Mira quickly.
“What?” said Raheem. He’d still only re-laced half of one shoe.
Mira ran over to Brave and jumped onto his back. She heard a loud POP and turned to see that Dave had pulled his head out of the bucket. He saw Mira, and his ears and tail drooped.
“Dave, it’s okay—we’re going to win!” she said, and she patted Brave’s neck. “Go, Brave! Let’s win this for Team Sloth!” Brave gave a surprised whinny, but he shot forward into a gallop.
The wind bl
ew through Mira’s hair, and everything whooshed past in a blur. They were going so fast! Soon they reached the front of the pack of unicorns, with only Jake and Pegasus ahead of them. And then they were neck and neck. And then they edged into the lead. The finish line was getting closer and closer— they were going to win!
And then she heard a whinny she knew very well.
Mira looked over her shoulder.
Way back, near the starting line, Raheem and Dave were trotting along. Raheem gave Mira a thumbs-up, and Dave gave a snort.
Mira looked at the finish line and then back at Raheem and Dave. She looked at Jake and Pegasus, edging nearer to them again. “Watch your back!” called Jake smugly.
And Mira knew what she had to do.
Mira nudged Brave so that he wheeled around in a circle. At first he tried to turn around again, but then he saw Raheem. Brave gave a happy neigh and started to gallop toward him.
There were shouts of surprise from the other riders as Mira and Brave passed them, going the wrong way.
Raheem and Dave looked equally surprised when they reached them.
“But, Mira—you were going to win!” said Raheem.
“Everyone should finish the race on their own UBFF,” said Mira. “That’s more important than winning. No one on Team Sloth gets left behind.”
There was a loud sniff, and Mira saw that Brave was wiping a tear from his eye with his hoof. Raheem’s face broke into a smile. “Are you sure?”
Mira grinned at him. “Of course!”
They swapped unicorns.
“Remember, Brave—slow and steady wins the race.” Brave rolled his eyes, but Mira could see he was happy to be reunited with his HBFF. They set off painfully slowly.
Dave gave Mira a nudge with his nose, which was his way of saying he was happy to be back with her, too. She hopped onto his back, and the plump little unicorn stamped his foot.
“Okay, Dave—let’s do this!” said Mira. “Go, Team Sloth!”
Dave set off as fast as his little legs would carry him.
In completely the wrong direction.
CHAPTER TEN
The Mystery Quest
Madame Shetland stood at the front of the Great Hall. All the children sat with their teams for the prize-giving ceremony.
“Tied in third place, we have Team Cobra and Team Lions or Tigers,” said the principal. “With a special mention for Darcy, from Class Red, who I am told really motivated her team through the Cross-Country Obstacle Race.”
“WHOOP! WHOOP!” called Darcy, and her team cheered, although several flinched. Both teams went up to the stage to collect their medals and high-fived one another.
“In second place we have Team Sloth,” said Madame Shetland.
Mira’s team went wild, cheering, hugging, and high-fiving as they went up to collect their medals. When they returned to their seats, Mira grinned at Dave. She didn’t mind about not winning. They’d gotten to the final, and she’d finished the race on her UBFF!
“I’m sorry I abandoned you for a moment, Dave,” she said.
Dave shrugged. But Mira could tell he was still a little upset. Luckily she’d been able to sneak back to her dorm room and get something …
“Why don’t you take a look in your lunch box?” Mira said, sliding it over to him.
Dave looked up at her in surprise, and with a swift horn movement he opened the lunch box. It was full of doughnuts again!
“I brought spares.” Mira smiled at her unicorn, who was happily munching away. Now she knew she was definitely forgiven!
“And now,” said Madame Shetland, “the winners of Unicorn School Field Day—with a special mention for Jake and Pegasus, whose brilliant final dash clinched the victory for them—Team Rhino!”
Madame Shetland led the applause as Jake and Rani’s team walked up to the front of the Great Hall to get their winners’ medals and lift the trophy. Miss Hind threw open the trophy cabinet.
The trophy was tiny. And it seemed to be made from a couple of egg cartons sprayed gold.
Team Rhino looked disappointed. But not for long, because soon it would be time to reveal the mystery quest.
Just then something tumbled out of the trophy cabinet. It was a pile of rainbow tracksuits!
“How did they get in there?” said Raheem. Mira shook her head—SO many things hadn’t made sense today.
Miss Glitterhorn brought the tracksuits over and sat down next to Team Sloth. “Never mind, Team Sloth—you did very well.”
“Yes, Miss Glitterhorn—we tried our best,” said Anja.
“And some of those obstacles were very tricky.” Their teacher smiled at them all.
“I know—we didn’t even do the rickety swamp bridge!” said Flo.
“Yes, the—what?” Miss Glitterhorn looked confused.
“The rickety bridge. Over the piranha swamp. In the middle of the forest,” said Flo.
Miss Glitterhorn got them to explain. She said that the obstacle course had NOT gone through the forest—the route went through the fields. “Didn’t you follow the big red arrows?” she said.
“We did—they pointed into the forest,” said Raheem.
Miss Glitterhorn went over to talk to the other teachers. Then Madame Shetland walked back over to the front of the hall.
“It appears that there was an act of sabotage in the final event,” said the principal gravely. “Someone moved the arrows to send Team Sloth into the forest. Anyone who knows anything about this should speak up now.”
There was a hushed silence around the hall.
Then a hand went up near where Mira was sitting.
“I found this next to one of the signs,” said Anja, from Team Sloth. “I thought one of us had dropped it, but maybe it was the person who moved the sign?” She walked forward and handed something to Madame Shetland.
“Does anyone recognize this?” said Madame Shetland, holding up a fluffy pencil case.
Mira swallowed—she knew who it belonged to. But she didn’t say anything. She remembered that the arrow pointing to the forest had THIS WAY scrawled on it. She had thought it didn’t look quite right. AND it had been written in gel pen.
“Anyone?” said Madame Shetland.
“It’s mine.”
Rani walked forward. Murmurs echoed around the hall.
“So she WAS sabotaging you, Mira!” said Jimmy.
“I didn’t move the signs, though—or do any of those other things,” said Rani. “I swear!”
Madame Shetland looked at her. “Can you explain why your pencil case was found there?”
“I have no idea!” said Rani desperately.
Madame Shetland frowned. “Rani, I’m going to give you one more chance to tell me the truth.”
Mira looked down at her feet. She didn’t think her sister was lying. But what other explanation was there? Then she noticed that there were still bits of unicorn mane in her laces.
WAIT A MINUTE!
Before she knew it, Mira was running to stand next to her sister. “Madame Shetland! Rani’s telling the truth—she didn’t do it!”
Rani’s eyes met Mira’s. Her expression was a mixture of gratitude and confusion.
Madame Shetland turned to Mira. “And what makes you say this, Mira?”
“Because I think I know who DID do it.”
Madame Shetland raised her eyebrows and waited for Mira to continue.
“It was Angelica—her unicorn.”
Rani’s hand flew to her mouth. And then she spun around to see Angelica’s face. But Angelica was tiptoeing away from Team Rhino and toward the door.
“I think Angelica knew how much Rani wanted to win—so she tried to make sure it happened,” Mira continued.
“Angelica?” said Rani, horrified.
The unicorn walked back to join Rani, hanging her head in shame.
“I think she just wanted to make you happy,” said Mira. “I mean, I wanted to beat you, too!”
Mira thought about how desperate she’
d been to beat her sister’s team. So desperate that she’d abandoned her UBFF! Dave trotted over to join her, and Mira gave him a squeeze.
“Well,” said Madame Shetland. “I don’t feel that Team Rhino should lose out because of the actions of one of their team.” There was a big sigh of relief from Team Rhino. Rani looked the most relieved—even though she hadn’t known what Angelica was up to, Mira knew she would still feel bad that Angelica had done it for her.
“But Team Sloth could have won more points if they hadn’t been sabotaged.” Madame Shetland paused for a moment. “I declare that Team Sloth are honorary joint winners—they will share the trophy. AND go on the mystery quest!”
There was a pause as this sunk in, then Team Sloth went wild!
They ran to the front of the hall, jumping up and down and singing the songs they’d made up on their trip back from the forest. They picked up Mira and Dave and got them to crowd-surf.
Team Rhino took it well. They were mostly pleased to still be going on the quest.
When her team eventually put her down, Mira looked around for her sister.
Rani was in the corner of the hall with Angelica and Madame Shetland.
“At least you’re going on the quest!” said Mira.
“I’m not,” said Rani.
“But you didn’t do anything…” Mira looked from Rani to Madame Shetland.
“Angelica is going to spend tomorrow in detention,” explained Madame Shetland. “I know she was trying to do a good thing for her human, but what she did put you all in danger. We simply can’t allow her to go on the quest. Rani has agreed to stay here with her.”
Rani nodded. “It’s fine,” she said quietly.
Mira thought for a moment. Her sister was a pain, but she was still her sister. She thought of all the silly games they played at home (which Mira was banned from mentioning at Unicorn School on PAIN OF DEATH). And the way they had spent hours playing with their imaginary unicorns, years before they’d come to real Unicorn School. She didn’t have fun with anyone like she did with Rani. And she knew how much Rani adored quests.