The Snow Unicorn

by Bridget McGowan

  When it was time to actually get ready for the ball, Elsie piled Caitlyn’s long curls onto her head in an elegant style. She gave her a cape, hat and gloves to wear.

  “Oh, but how will I ride Storm dressed like this?” Caitlyn asked.

  Elsie laughed. “My dear, you will ride in a carriage tonight. Storm will pull it.”

  When everything was ready, Elsie led Caitlyn outside, and a footman, standing beside a white carriage trimmed in blue and gold, helped her inside. After a moment, Storm started toward the castle.

  Off in the distance, Caitlyn could hear a noise. It took a few moments before she recognized it: the howl of a wolf. At first she was frightened. Then she remembered the prince had huntsmen who could dispatch the wolf if it came near. I sounded like only one wolf.

  When they arrived at the castle, the footman got down from the high seat beside the driver, and opened the door for Caitlyn. He dropped down a set of steps that were attached to the ledge of the carriage. He put out his hand to her and helped her down.

  One of the footmen from the castle took a card from Caitlyn’s footman and handed it to the butler, who announced her.

  “My Lady Caitlyn of the Otherworld,” he said, and she entered the hall.

  Someone took her cloak, and she entered the ballroom. The prince approached her. She curtsied when he stopped in front of her.

  “You look lovely,” he said.

  “Thank you.” She didn’t know what else to say to him.

  He wore a navy blue uniform with gold trim. His boots shone and clicked as he walked along the tiled floor.

  The prince led her over to the two thrones at the back of the hall and stopped. Seated on the thrones were his parents. He introduced them to Caitlyn, who curtsied to each of them.

  The queen smiled at Caitlyn.

  “Welcome to our kingdom. I hope you are enjoying it.”

  “Yes, Your majesty,” she said. “Everything here is so beautiful!”

  “I’m glad you like it. Please, enjoy your evening.”

  After the king smiled and nodded, Caitlyn curtsied again. Then the prince led her away.

  “Would you like something to eat?” the prince asked.

  “Not yet,” she replied.

  “Then perhaps you would like to dance?”

  Caitlyn didn’t know how to dance, but she really wanted to dance with the prince. He was so handsome and nice, she couldn’t believe her luck.

  “Yes, please,” she said.

  The prince faced her, took her hands and began to waltz around the room amongst the other dancers. To Caitlyn’s amazement, she was able to dance perfectly. She didn’t step on the prince’s toes.

  After two or three dances, the prince led Caitlyn to a table, and servants brought dishes of silver piled high with food and goblets of something sweet to drink.

  Caitlyn couldn’t finish all that was on her plate. Everyone else seemed easily able to eat that much. She wondered if they ate this way all the time.

  “Are you having fun?” the prince asked her.

  “Oh yes, your highness!” she said.

  He smiled in an odd way. “Call me Michael.”

  “Am I allowed to do that?”

  He laughed. It was a delightful laugh. “Yes. I told you that you can.”

  “Do others call you that?”

  “My family does. And you are from the Otherworld, so no one would mind if you did.”

  Caitlyn looked troubled for a moment. The prince noticed.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “I shouldn’t trouble you with it.”

  “If it happens in my kingdom, I should know of it.”

  “Well, tonight I heard – I think – the howl of a wolf.”

  “Ah,” Michael replied, keeping his face serious. You are worried for Storm.”

  “Yes.”

  “Our huntsmen will be on the lookout. One lone wolf would not attack a unicorn. If two or more wolves howl, then a hunt will begin.”

  “What if – if,” she said, trying not to cry, “something happened to Storm?”

  “Then I’m afraid you would instantly return to your world, and I would miss you terribly,” he replied, embracing her.

  Michael, she thought, was very nice to her. She was only nine, and he must be at least nineteen, yet he didn’t treat her like a child.

  “Come,” he said, releasing her, “let us put away worry and continue with the festivities. Storm is quite safe tonight, and knows how to take care of himself during the day. You must not worry about him. All is well here.”

  His confidence made her relax. How could anything happen to the unicorn in such a lovely country?

  The night passed too quickly for Caitlyn, and soon it was over. She sat back in the carriage and didn’t bother to look out into the dark night as they travelled home. She wanted to picture all she’d seen and done that night, especially remembering Michael’s face. Imagine what her friends at home would say when she told them she’d danced with a prince and met a king and queen! They’d never believe her.

  Home. She hadn’t thought much of home since she’d been here. Now, as she alighted from the carriage to go into Elsie’s cottage, Michael’s face slid from her mind, and she longed for her parents and her home. What if they were looking for her? They said time passed more quickly here, but some time must have passed at home. What if something sad had happened there?

  “Didn’t you like the ball?” Elsie asked when she saw Caitlyn’s sad face.

  “Oh, yes! It was wonderful. Prince Michael danced with me and treated me like I was a grown-up. And I met the king and queen.”

  “Ah,” Elsie said, taking the cloak and hanging it up, “then it must be thoughts of home that have caused your sadness.”

  “How did you know?”

  “I was once as you are now,” she said. “Soon it will be time for you to return home.”

  “But I like it here!”

  “Still, the snows melt and you cannot stay past snowmelt.”

  “What about Storm?”

  “He’ll be safe, and when next it snows in your world, you will have the opportunity to return.”

  She helped Caitlyn undress and took the gown and shoes back to the wardrobe while the girl climbed into bed. It seemed no time at all before she fell asleep.

  Watery sunshine woke her, and she felt cold on her face. She opened her eyes and discovered she lay on the snow in her yard. Only enough time had passed for her face to become cold. She sat up and discovered the chunk of snow that she had used as a horse had completely smashed, and the icicle had broken into three pieces. Her unicorn was gone!

  She shivered with the cold. She wanted to cry. Maybe she missed her family, but she was having fun in the magic world.

  She heard a crash as another row of icicles that had been dripping fell off the edge of the roof all at once. Even the snow around her looked slushy now.

  Caitlyn stood and went into the house. Once she had her boots and coat off, she tried to interest her mother in all she had seen and done in the magical world. Her mother smiled.

  “What a good imagination you have, Caitlyn. Imagine anyone thinking unicorns were real!”

  “No, Mom, it really happened. I was there and I’m going back.”

  “Caitlyn, there is no such place. It’s nice that you can pretend so well, but you’ve only been outside a half an hour.”

  “But time runs differently there.”

  “Get your things put away.”

  Mrs. Monroe returned to her housework.

  Grownups never believed anything they didn’t see themselves! She could tell her mother thought she’d made up the whole thing. Well, her friends would believe her.

  Her friends did not. The next day, when she returned to school, she told Sasha and Violet, her two best friends. They stared at her in disbelief and then began to laugh.

  “I thought you were serious there for a minute,” Sasha said. “There’s no such thing as a unicorn.”


  She laughed, too, to cover her embarrassment. Why wouldn’t anyone believe her? But when she thought about it, she probably wouldn’t have believed Sasha or Violet if either of them had said the same thing.

  “It’s a story I’m thinking about writing,” she said. “I wanted to see if you believed it first.”

  “We’re not stupid,” Violet said. “But it sounds like a good story.”

  Caitlyn decided to keep her adventures to herself.

  Every night she hoped it would snow again, but there was no more than a coating of snow for the rest of the winter. Snow plows didn’t come down the road, so there were no more chunks to make horses out of, and no icicles formed on the edge of the roof.

  She worried about Storm and the wolf. She wanted to see the prince and Elsie. But she had no way of contacting them, explaining what had happened. She didn’t know when she would ever be able to see them again.

  Spring came and Caitlyn realized she would have to wait until the next winter to have any hope of returning to the magical realm. She began drawing castles and unicorns and people who looked like her prince to keep the magical world in her head. She pinned the pictures to the bulletin board in her bedroom. When anyone saw the pictures they complemented Caitlyn on what beautiful pictures she drew. No one knew that they were based on real people she’d met.

  In school, when Miss Elftree asked the class to write a story, Caitlyn wrote about her adventures in the magical world. She was bursting to tell people about it, and knew no one would accept it as anything but a story. Only she knew the truth.

  Miss Elftree thought it was the best story in the class, and Caitlyn even got an award from the school principal.

  Because Caitlyn didn’t talk about her friends from the magical world, her mother thought she’d forgotten all about it. Then she got a note from Caitlyn’s teacher about what a wonderful story she’d written in class.

  Mrs. Monroe looked at the story. It told about a unicorn that a little girl rode through a woods and a magical kingdom. It told of how she met the king and queen and danced with the prince. It was the story Caitlyn had told, the one she believed was real. If she hadn’t heard it as truth from her daughter, Mrs. Monroe would’ve thought it was quite a lovely story. But knowing its origin, the whole thing worried her.

  “Caitlyn, why did you write this story?” her mother asked

  “It’s just a story. I thought it would be a good story for school. Don’t you like it? Miss Elftree said it was good.”

  Her mother wanted to believe Caitlyn. She didn’t ask any more questions.

  Caitlyn didn’t have any troubles in school, and never spoke to anyone about the magical realm. She knew her mother would think she was crazy if she mentioned it.

  A few weeks after she received the award, a teacher from another grade stopped her as she walked down the hall.

  “You’re Caitlyn, aren’t you? You’re the one who wrote the story?”

  “Yes.”

  “Was it real?”

  “What?” Caitlyn asked, wondering if this was a trick to make fun of her.

  “Did what you wrote actually happen? Were you the girl in the story?”

  “I’m the girl in the story, but – I”

  “So it did happen?”

  “I – you believe me?”

  “Yes, I do. I once went there. I know what it’s like when no one believes you. After a while you start doubting it yourself.”

  “You went there? You decided not to stay?”

  “I went there once. But many years passed without snow, and by the time it did snow again, I was too old.”

  “You never got to go again?”

  “Never.”

  “Would you have stayed?”

  “I don’t know. I at least wanted to bring something back to prove it was real.”

  “I wonder if that’s possible.”

  “If you ever get to go again, try.”

  The teacher walked away. She couldn’t believe she’d met someone who had also gone to the magical realm.

  Throughout the summer she occasionally thought about the kingdom and wondered what was happening there. She hoped they caught the wolf.

  Chapter 2

  “It’s snowing!” Caitlyn said when she woke up one winter morning and looked out the window.

  She had drifted through spring and summer, and when school started she did her work and played with her friends. But she appeared to everyone to be waiting for something. No matter what anyone said or did, nothing captured her interest fully. It was as if part of the girl was missing.

  The snow activated something in her that had been missing since the previous winter. Now her mother and her friends at school noticed the change in her.

  School closed early because the snow was getting heavy, and the roads became dangerous. Caitlyn could hardly contain herself. Once she arrived home, she practically threw her book bag into the closet.

  Caitlyn didn’t pause for an after-school snack. She made sure her scarf, hat, gloves and boots were on, and dashed out to her back yard. The snow plow came past just as she went out. She waited until it had turned onto the next street, and then went out to see what chunks of snow she could find. They were mostly small, but one had a slightly horsey shape.

  There were no icicles anywhere. She tried to make a horn with snow, but it kept falling off. She sat down in the snow holding her horse and started to cry. She had waited a whole year, and now she couldn’t make the unicorn.

  Her tears ran down her cheeks, and one dripped off her chin onto the horse. She felt like she’d been pushed. Her eyes were closed, so she wouldn’t have seen anyone approaching. No doubt her mother was about to lecture her about sitting on the snow. Then she felt a nudge on her shoulder.

  Caitlyn opened her eyes and saw the unicorn standing before her. She couldn’t believe her eyes. When she looked around she saw she was right outside Elsie’s cottage.

  “Storm!” she said, jumping up and hugging him. “I’ve missed you!”

  “I’ve missed you, too.”

  “Did they catch the wolf?”

  “Go and see Elsie. She will be glad you’re back.”

  “But I wanted to see you.”

  “Time enough for that.”

  “What about the prince?”

  “He will learn of your return. Don’t worry. There will be time for everything.”

  She couldn’t put her finger on what was wrong, but something had changed. Perhaps Elsie would answer her questions.

  “Lady Caitlyn!” Elsie exclaimed when the girl entered the cottage. “You’ve grown.”

  Caitlyn didn’t think she’d grown that much.

  “It’s good to see you, Elsie. How long has it been since I was here?”

  “Three years.”

  “Three years! What’s happened since I’ve been gone? I wanted to come back, but we had no more snow last year.”

  “Sit. I’ll make your dinner and we can learn everything about each other since we last met.”

  She told Caitlyn about some of the people she’d met on her last trip, but Caitlyn only wanted to know about Prince Michael. Still, she listened politely to all that Elsie had to say.

  Finally, after she had heard all about the local market, the local holiday celebrations and what sort of summer they’d had, Elsie came to the court news.

  “What do you think, Caitlyn? Can you guess what the greatest news of the realm is?”

  “No. What? It must be something important for you to be this excited.”

  “Prince Michael is to be married!”

  “Married? Is he old enough?”

  “He’s nearly twenty-three.”

  “Who is she? How did he meet her?”

  Elsie told her about a war between two countries that were friends of their realm. The king was forced to choose which side to help. He had wanted to stay neutral, but then one of the kings had done some treacherous things. To side with him or even to stay neutral in the face of some o
f the things he had done made Michael’s father shudder. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t take a stand against the injustice.

  The kingdom sent warriors to battle on the side of the king of Belgee. With the added knights and foot soldiers the war was soon won. Prince Michael proved himself to be a brave knight in battle, and was rewarded for his bravery.

  Michael suffered an injury in one of the final battles, but fought on until the battle was won. Afterwards, he was nursed back to health by the Belgeean healers. While recovering from his wounds – a broken arm and a stab wound to the leg – he met the Lady Alexandra. It took little time for them to discover their attraction to one another.

  Over the next year, they corresponded, and Michael made several visits to the land of the Belgee to see her. Only two months ago did Michael and Alexandra announce their engagement. Now the entire realm lived in expectation for the wedding day.

  Although she was disappointed that the prince would marry someone else, Caitlyn was glad to see Elsie, and of course, was glad to be back with Storm. She hoped she’d still be able to see the prince, and hoped she could like the lady who was to be his bride.

  Lady Alexandra, Elsie told her, was tall and slender with golden hair and blue eyes. She sounded more beautiful than anyone Caitlyn had ever seen in real life.

  After her lunch, Caitlyn when outside to see Storm. He waited for her and indicated that she was to ride him.

  She noticed there was no snow on the ground here, and wondered if it were still winter.

  “We are at the edge of winter. Tomorrow begins the spring,” Storm told her.

  They rode out toward the castle, Caitlyn noting the changes. The air smelled fresher, and more woodland creatures scurried about. The birds sang in the trees, and all felt right with the world.

  As they approached the castle, she worried that Prince Michael wouldn’t want to see her.

  “Why wouldn’t he?” Storm asked. “You’re his friend. He’ll be glad you’ve returned.”

  “But he’s getting married!”

  “All will be well,” Storm replied.

  When they arrived at the castle, she was greeted as before, and the footman took her to see Michael.