The Unicorn Thief

by R. R. Russell

  Ben opened his mouth to answer. But it just hung there. Open. He pointed behind Twig. She turned to see a group of riders approaching at a gallop. Two men on unicorns took the lead, and another rider on a larger mount was just behind them, followed by a row of five smaller figures and one riderless pony.

  Rain Cloud.

  Mr. Murley rode Bounce right alongside Merrill and Marble. Twig couldn’t help beaming with pride, even as she worried what he would say, how angry he would be. Mr. Murley didn’t ride with Merrill’s ease just yet, but he was a good, strong rider. Another Murley, riding a unicorn, in Terracornus.

  Mrs. Murley rode Feather, who couldn’t quite keep up with the unicorns, and Rain Cloud just about kept up pace with her, urging the other ponies to hurry—Taylor and Chatterbox, Mandy and Sparkler, Regina and Celeste, Janessa and Gadget, Casey and Story.

  The girls of Island Ranch formed a circle around Ben and Twig.

  The queen turned to Ben. “Who,” she said with a mocking smile, “is this?”

  Rain Cloud snorted. His nostrils flared, and his ears pinned back.

  Merrill cleared his throat and was about to introduce them, but Casey said, “Your Majesty, we’re the people of the island. The island you wanted to forget.”

  The queen’s face went white with rage. Her anger was a cold anger. So different from Ben’s temper. Oh no, Casey. Please, God, Twig prayed, don’t let her say anything stupider.

  But it was the queen who spoke next. “Then you do not belong here.”

  Neal drew his sword, looking all too eager to take out his anger over being left in the Death Swamp on someone.

  “Hey, now!” Merrill said.

  “Yes we do belong here!” Casey shouted. “We’re Twig’s family, and Ben’s too!”

  To Twig’s astonishment, the girls all cheered. Ben lifted his fist and cheered too.

  “And one day we’re going to be unicorn riders! All of us!”

  Oh, Casey. Casey with her crazy stories. Twig looked into those big brown eyes. Full of dreams, yes. But full of determination too. The kind of determination that could make such dreams real.

  This time, Twig was the first to shout. She raised her hand for Casey. “Riders!”

  “Riders!” the others cheered. Ben too.

  Mrs. Murley laughed out loud, a warm, teary laugh.

  “The riders of Island Ranch,” Mr. Murley agreed.

  Casey dismounted and threw her arms around Twig. Before she knew it, she and Ben were in a huddle of hugs and prayers. Rain Cloud poked his nose in and made sure he got a hug of his own.

  “I got your message,” Merrill said to Twig. “That you were going into the Death Swamp with Ben.” He shook his head. “I would’ve stopped you if I’d been here. I was delayed. Detained by the queen’s men until they could verify my pass. By the time they let me go, Emmie found me. I knew it was too late to stop you, and I owed it to your family to tell them what was going on.”

  “Oh, Twig,” Mrs. Murley said, “you’re too brave for your own good.”

  “You all came,” Twig said.

  “We’re in this together,” Mr. Murley said. “We should’ve been all along.”

  Ben turned to the crowd. The queen’s inner circle. Her finest soldiers. “And we should be too. Together, for the well-being of the unicorns. I faced the Death Swamp for all of us. For who we really are. You remember the days. You remember what it was to ride free. To watch over your herd, doing the same. You were herders, and Westland was free. We can be who we were—who we still are in our hearts—again!”

  “I stand for Griffin. For the return of the herders!” Pete, Merrill’s nephew, stepped forward.

  “What’s going on, Twig-girl?” Merrill said.

  Quickly, Twig whispered an explanation. Merrill joined Pete. Then, one by one, many of the onlookers did the same. They were split, half left by the queen’s side, half with Griffin.

  “Well then,” the queen said, “it seems the court of Westland has spoken, and they are divided.”

  “The herders of Westland have spoken,” Griffin said. “They are not divided.” He turned to his supporters. “I am humbled and honored. I don’t deserve your allegiance. But with your help, when I am king, Westland will become a land of herders again.”

  “Perhaps, Griffin. We will see when that day comes.” Though the queen smiled, the threat in her tone was undeniable. Her bright red tunic swished around her embroidered leggings as she turned her back on them. She cocked her head over her shoulder. “Go, Ben. Go back to your island with these people. With your father’s people.”

  Chapter 35

  Twig sat at the table, eying her drawing. She’d done this one on a piece of paper from a bigger drawing pad Keely had sent her. It took more space to capture such a moment—Twig and Ben on Wonder and Indy. Rain Cloud right beside Wonder. All the girls on their ponies, Mrs. Murley on Feather, Mr. Murley riding Bounce, and Merrill on Marble, just as they’d been, all together, in Terracornus.

  It was time to stop staring at it. Time to stop fiddling with it and call it finished. Twig took a deep breath, then chose a dark green pencil and signed her name in the bottom right corner: Twig Tupper.

  “Twig,” Mrs. Murley called from the entryway, “there’s something out here you should see.”

  Twig put down her colored pencil, gave her drawing one last glance, and went to the door. “What is it? Is Mr. Murley back from town?”

  Mrs. Murley smiled. “He’s back, and he brought you something.”

  Twig opened the door to the late spring sun, glittering on the grass, still wet from a morning rain. The pickup truck crunched over the gravel in the driveway. The passenger door flew open almost before the truck came to a stop, and a man in jeans and a new blue T-shirt got out.

  “Twig!”

  It had been so long since she’d heard her name in Daddy’s voice, without the muffling of distance, the slight something’s-in-between-us sound of a talk through Skype.

  Twig ran to him, right into his open arms. She felt light, dizzy, and not just because her feet flew off the ground and he whirled her around. He set her down and cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.

  “I know you don’t like surprises, but I got in a day early, and Mr. Murley thought you’d like this one.”

  Twig just nodded through her tears, then threw her arms around him again. He held her for a long, long time. Finally she tipped her head back and looked up into his face—tanned and creased with smile lines.

  It felt so good to make him smile. “I love you, Daddy,” she said. “I missed you.”

  It was true; she’d missed him so much. But now, instead of coming to rescue her, he’d come to take her away from the ranch and the island she loved. The unicorns and the people who needed her. It wasn’t fair. Twig pushed back the sob that wanted to come out. She could do this. Even this. She was a new Twig. She’d always be a herder in her heart, but she’d always be his daughter too.

  “I love you too, Twig. I hear you have a lot to show me.”

  “You have to meet Mrs. Murley and all the girls, and then the ponies and Wonder Light.”

  Twig introduced her dad to everyone, and then they headed straight for the stable. Casey tugged on Twig’s hand and whispered, “Don’t worry. Mr. Murley had Ben take Indy to the hollow for now. The plan’s still on.”

  Twig nodded. Her heart beat even faster, thinking of what else she had to show Daddy.

  ***

  Twig leap-galloped through the pasture, away from the others, then came bounding back. With a gentle nudge, she sent Wonder flying, soaring through the sunshine, bright and beautiful and white as the clouds in the sky. She saw Daddy’s smile of amazement, of pride, and her heart soared even higher.

  Twig saw Ben approaching, coming up the driveway as though he were just an ordinary boy.

  Twig d
ismounted and went to help Mr. Murley introduce Ben, merely as his nephew and Twig’s friend—for now.

  “Ben’s an even better rider than me,” Twig said.

  “You should see them ride together!” said Janessa.

  “Call Indy,” Taylor told Ben.

  Ben nodded. He whistled for Indy, just like they’d planned. Twig couldn’t ask Daddy to let her stay, but she could show him who she was. Indy bounded to Ben, and Ben ran alongside him and mounted in mid-leap. Twig mounted Wonder and whispered for her to go, to jump, to fly. The unicorns arched through the air together as their horns extended, spiraling, undeniably sharp and bright.

  Twig heard Daddy cry out, “Twig!” Her name came out half-choked.

  She slowed Wonder and trotted to her dad.

  “Is that—is that a…”

  Casey slipped her hand around Daddy’s. “It’s a unicorn, Mr. Tupper. It really is.”

  “Don’t worry,” Janessa said. “Twig and Ben are great riders, and Indy and Wonder won’t hurt you.”

  Twig and Ben turned their unicorns out in the pasture, and Mrs. Murley suggested they take her dad, still shaken from what he’d witnessed, inside to talk.

  They gathered around the table, and Twig set her latest drawing in front of her dad. “This is all of us, in Terracornus, the land of the unicorns.”

  He shook his head. His hand shook too as he carefully pulled the drawing closer. He was going to freak out. He was going to make her leave right now. Maybe even tell the authorities, and then all the other girls would have to leave too.

  But he reached out and covered Twig’s hand with his. “Tell me about it,” he said softly. “Tell me all about it.”

  Across the table, Ben smiled with relief. Twig smiled back.

  “Casey tells it best,” she said.

  “Yes!” all the others said. “Tell him about Terracornus, Casey.”

  Casey blushed a little. Then she cupped her chin in her hands and leaned over the table. “They said this island was haunted by ghost horses. The people who came here seen something, but that wasn’t what they seen. The white creatures moving in the mist—they were unicorns!”

  After more stories than Twig could count, and questions and trips to fetch Ben’s map and much flipping through Twig’s sketchbooks, a visit from Emmie, and four rounds of hot chocolate, Daddy tipped his chair back. He ran his hand over his freshly cut hair.

  “It’s real.”

  Twig nodded. “It’s real, all of it. The drawings, the stories Casey told you. It’s all real.”

  Daddy turned to the Murleys. They nodded. He blinked at Ben. “You’re a prince of this—Terracornus?”

  “Yes, sir. Westland, actually.”

  “His brother, Griffin, is going to be king,” Regina said dreamily.

  “I knew you were fighting a battle of your own over here, Twig, but I never dreamed…” Daddy shook his head. He slipped an arm around Twig. “I don’t understand all of this, but…I’m proud of you. I wish I had more time with you. I have six months at home, and then I have to leave again for some training.”

  “Can’t you get out?” Mandy said. “Can’t you quit?”

  “It’s what I do.”

  Twig squeezed Daddy back. She hated it, but she understood.

  “Mr. Tupper,” Ben said, “Twig saved this island. She saved Indy. She saved me. It’s too much to ask—I know it—but I need her. The island needs her.”

  “Ben,” Mr. Murley admonished softly.

  “I’m sorry,” Ben said.

  Twig’s dad gave him a nod.

  “If you stayed, what would you do?” he asked Twig.

  “Save the unicorns. All of us. Together.”

  ***

  Casey stood on the purple throw rug between her bed and Twig’s, clutching her old doll to her chest, shaking with silent tears.

  Twig yanked the huge gray suitcase Keely had sent her to Lonehorn Island with out of the closet. She hefted it onto her bed and unzipped it.

  Daddy came and stood in the open doorway. Casey rubbed at her tears, then ducked under his arm and out the door.

  “That’s an awfully big suitcase.” He went to the closet and rummaged around. He tossed a pair of Twig’s shoes aside and held up a small duffel bag. “How about something like this?”

  “That’s Casey’s.” Twig sniffed. “But there’s no way I’ll fit all my things in there anyway.”

  “I don’t think you’re going to need all your things.”

  Twig turned her back on the suitcase and looked at her dad.

  “Being a soldier…it’s what I do. And this…” He gestured at the drawings of ponies and unicorns dancing all over her walls, then out the window at the ranch. “This is what you do, Twig.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I want you to come back with me. Spend a couple months with Keely and the kids. And then I’ll bring you back here.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “You can’t leave your Wonder Light. You can’t leave that Casey girl who tells all the stories. You can’t leave Ben. And you can’t leave being a unicorn herder. We could give it a try and—”

  Twig threw her arms around him. “Thank you, Daddy. Thank you!”

  Footsteps pattered into the room, and a pair of smaller arms wrapped around Daddy’s waist. “Thank you, Mr. Tupper!”

  Daddy scooped Casey up. “You just make sure our Twig doesn’t get into too much trouble.”

  Casey’s smile disappeared. “I’m no good at that, Mr. Tupper.”

  “Well then, I guess you’ll have some more good stories to tell me next time.”

  The smile was back. “I will for sure. I’m going help Twig, and she’s going to help me be a unicorn rider one of these days.”

  Daddy brushed Twig’s hair back. He looked right into her eyes. “That’s my Twig,” he said, just as though she were sprouting leaves of pure gold.

  Epilogue

  The sweeping cedar boughs around the passage tree ripped open, and a blur of white, red, and gold charged through. Indy reared at the strange mare plunging into the circle of mist, and Ben struggled to settle him. The mare’s quicksilver eyes gleamed with eagerness for the Earth Land. It was the first time she’d set foot in this world.

  “This is Night Spark,” Griffin said once he had her under control.

  “She is magnificent,” Ben said. She was nearly as tall as Indy, gleaming white, with a cream-colored mane and a buttery stripe around her horn. It gave her a gilded look, as though she were meant to be royalty.

  Griffin ran his hand down the side of her neck. “Returning her to Mother was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. She was just learning how to be free. Mother tried to get me to tell her where I kept the others, but I wouldn’t do it.” He gave Ben an apologetic smile. “She didn’t haul me to the dungeon. She’s afraid now, of looking like a tyrant.”

  “Lucky for you.”

  Griffin shrugged. “Lucky for the unicorns.”

  “She let you take Night Spark out after you gave her back?”

  “Oh no. She told me to take her for good. She thinks she’s ruined.”

  “Ruined!”

  Griffin grinned. “Unruly. Uninterested in the arena.”

  Indy walked a slow circle around Night Spark, checking her out. The unicorns sniffed each other. After a minute, they settled nose beside nose, horns to the side, making soft, breathy sounds. Almost as if they were whispering in each other’s ears.

  “Well…” Ben said, “are you ready?”

  “Ready enough.”

  Darian’s grave was marked with a pile of stones, each chosen with care and carried from the beach. The smoothest, the whitest Ben could find.

  Ben read a passage from the Bible, and Griffin stood beside him, head bowed. Griffin dropped to his knees i
n the dirt, hands on the stones. Ben tucked the Bible back into the pouch at his hip and knelt next to his brother. Indy whickered softly. He bent down and nuzzled Ben’s cheek. Ben put one hand on Griffin’s back. With the other, he cupped Indy’s velvety muzzle. Night Spark edged close to Griffin, making quiet, encouraging sounds.

  Griffin looked at Ben. He took an object out of his pocket—the unicorn whistle Ben had refused to take in the Death Swamp.

  Ben thought he was going to offer it to him again, but instead he said, “This seems as good a place as any to bury it.”

  They buried the unicorn whistle together, under the white stones. After a while, Griffin sat back and wiped the tears from his face. He pulled another instrument out of his pocket.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “This one’s just a flute.” He sat back and began to play.

  Ben closed his eyes and listened, lost in the mixture of memory, of the familiarity of the song, and of the strangeness of being so close to his brother. Lost in the unanswered questions about what he was going to do, where he was going to stay, what his future was going to be. Ahead of him was the hollow, where Indy was waiting with Griffin’s unicorn. Behind him was the ranch, where everyone was waiting for Twig to come back, trying to figure out how to be Island Ranch without her.

  The final note drifted away, and Griffin lowered the flute.

  Ben didn’t know what he was going to do or where he was going to go tomorrow, but he knew what he needed to do today. He put a hand on Griffin’s arm. “Let’s go to the hollow and get something to eat.”

  Griffin just stared at Ben for a moment. He wasn’t going to come. What had he been thinking? The old, familiar resentment stirred in Ben.

  But then Griffin spoke. His voice cracked with emotion. “Would you really take me there?”

  Ben nodded slowly. “This is where Father died. You should see where he lived. Besides, I have Father’s old flute there. I never really used it, but…you could teach me how to play, I think.”

  “I’m going to be a prince and a herder,” Griffin said. “I was hoping you could help me with that.”