7 Running from Ghosts!
Ghost!” Shamrock shrieked.
“Come on, Shamrock,” Sapphire groaned. “We get it! Stop being mean.”
“Yeah, ha ha.” Comet rolled her eyes.
“No, no, look, look!” Shamrock said. His eyes felt like they were about to pop through his glasses. “The horn is—”
Twilight looked up to see what Shamrock was pointing at. “Coming right at us!” Twilight squeaked.
“Better get moving!” Sapphire shouted when she saw it too.
No one needed to be told twice. Shamrock scrambled up from the sand to run with his friends back to their tent, leaving the cupcakes and rock treasures for the ghost.
“Didn’t we want to find the ghost?” Comet, almost out of breath, reminded them as she ran.
“I guess we didn’t think about the fact that scary ghosts are, well, scary! So we gotta run faster!” Twilight yelled louder than any of them had heard her yell before.
When they got to the tent, they turned back to see the Glowing Horn still glimmering over the surface of the ocean. Shamrock looked at the tent and felt way too scared to sleep outside.
“Um,” Shamrock ventured in a shaky voice, “maybe we sleep in your room tonight?”
“Totally,” Sapphire agreed without even pausing to think. They all grabbed their bags and made their way into the big red barn.
Soon they were settled in Sapphire’s room—snuggled close together with the lights on—but they couldn’t stop thinking about the ghost. Shamrock could feel his friends shivering beside him. Of course, they had wanted to see it, but now they’d didn’t remember why! What if the ghost was mad that they tried to trick it? Shamrock took a deep breath to calm down and think rationally. But what was rational about a ghost?
“I don’t think I can sleep tonight,” Twilight admitted. “We just saw a ghost! And it’s still out there!”
“I’m sorry about earlier, guys,” Shamrock told them. “I was not being a good friend at all. You were right, and I was so, so, so very wrong.”
Comet waved her hoof as if to shoo away the apology. “Honestly, I thought this was just a fun game. I am as surprised as you are that we saw a ghost!”
“Me too! I am surprised our trap worked,” Twilight admitted. “I was only going along with it because I didn’t think the ghost was actually going to visit.”
“Me too,” Sapphire agreed. “I mean, I really did think I saw the ghost at first, but as the day went on, I kinda thought I’d imagined it.”
Everyone started laughing at once. Turned out Shamrock wasn’t the only one to think the ghost wasn’t real, after all! Their laughter broke the tension, and soon enough everyone was able to settle down to sleep.
Shamrock felt a little silly for being so serious about the ghost all day. His friends had just been having fun!
He lay awake longer than the others, not sure what to think about laying eyes on a ghostly being. What did it mean to have Uncle Sea Star’s story be real? Had he been telling the truth about other things too? It all made Shamrock’s head spin. Eventually, when his head was too full of questions for him to think anymore, Shamrock finally drifted off to sleep.
8 Sweet Discovery
Everything was different in the bright morning sunshine. As he sat up and yawned, Shamrock regretted being scared of the Glowing Horn. And now they had lost their chance to talk to a ghost. A missed scientific opportunity!
Shamrock, Comet, Twilight, and Sapphire ate breakfast at their tent that morning. Everyone agreed with Shamrock, that they were silly to have been afraid the night before.
“It’s not like it was being mean or anything,” Twilight pointed out.
“If anything, it was friendly! Coming over to say hello,” Comet added.
Sapphire shook her head. “I can’t believe we were all so scared. We totally missed our chance.”
“I don’t know about that,” Shamrock pushed back. He suddenly had a fluttering feeling. An idea was taking shape!
“But our parents are coming to pick us up this afternoon,” Twilight said.
“Yeah, we don’t have another night to look for the ghost,” said Comet.
Shamrock just smiled. “But we don’t need to wait for nighttime. Remember, Sapphire first saw the Glowing Horn during the day. Most might think a ghost will only appear at night, but we know that’s not true in this case. Even though we’re dealing with the supernatural, we can still approach this situation rationally. Now, what else do we know about this ghost?”
Sapphire was nodding enthusiastically. This was the type of adventure she was looking for. “Great thinking, Shamrock. We know the ghost appeared when we put the shining rocks out, like Uncle Sea Star said it would.”
“No, wait!” Comet said. “The ghost totally came for my cupcakes, remember? I mean, they are good. You know, I created the recipe myself. My great-aunt had a certain version, but she didn’t use cinnamon—”
Shamrock’s horn went into the air with a start. “And before that, it came out when we were having a picnic!”
“You’re right!” Twilight agreed. “This ghost is hungry.”
“And has a sweet tooth,” Shamrock added.
“I like this ghost. And I even have more cupcakes!” Comet said. They didn’t need treasure or sparkly things to talk with the ghost. They needed sugar!
“Okay, okay,” Sapphire said to get the group’s attention. “But what will we do this time if the ghost does come back?”
“Not run away,” Comet said.
Sapphire laughed. “Yeah, but how do we get it to tell us where the treasure is?”
“I think we should record the sights, sounds, and movements of this ghost,” Shamrock was quick to say. “This is quite a major discovery, and we must act like scientists. I mean, we could be interviewed for a book—”
“Personally, I prefer to act like a treasure hunter,” Comet interrupted.
“Either way, let’s just be nice to this ghost, and hopefully we’ll learn lots of different things,” Twilight said.
“As always, Twilight knows exactly what to say!” Sapphire said. Everyone laughed. They all knew that when Twilight said something, it was worth saying.
The four friends agreed to be nice and welcoming to the Glowing Horn. No one wanted to upset a ghost!
9 The Sweet Tooth
Like his friends, Shamrock carried sweets in a basket down to the beach. Not only did they bring Comet’s famous cupcakes but they found cookies and seaweed muffins as well. They wanted to bring a feast to tempt the ghost!
Shamrock’s heart fluttered with excitement. He couldn’t believe how wrong he’d been earlier. This was quite the scientific discovery. He thought more about what it would be like to be interviewed. Maybe they would meet a famous writer. Or maybe they would write their own book and become famous themselves! He was kicking himself for not using his ability last night. He had only recently discovered that he had a superpowered photographic memory that could take memory movies of what he saw. He could even access other people’s memories if he tried hard enough. He would have to remember to ask his friends to describe their own experiences with the ghost to him in detail later.
Down at the beach, the four unicorns laid a blanket down and piled all their treats together. Twilight, always the most artistic in the group, made sure to arrange things so they looked as beautiful as possible.
Everyone waited quietly. At first nothing happened, and Comet started shifting on her hooves, impatient to see the ghost again. Then Shamrock remembered they had been yelling about a muffin break when Sapphire had first seen the ghost.
“Wow, look at all these amazing sweets!” Shamrock shouted at the ocean.
Comet picked up on his thoughts immediately. “Wow, so many delicious things to eat!” she shouted.
“Never seen so many amazing sweets!” Shamrock yelled.
The four friends wiggled on their hooves and tried not to giggle as they waited. Each looked in a different dire
ction so as not to miss the ghost, and they continued yelling about their sugary picnic.
After what seemed like a long time but was perhaps just a few minutes, the Glowing Horn was back. And floating toward them!
This time the friends stood their ground. They were going to talk to the Glowing Horn.
“Steady, unicorns, steady,” Sapphire reminded them. “We are going to stay here and welcome the ghost.”
Shamrock felt his heart beating inside his chest as he watched the Glowing Horn get bigger and bigger as it rose out of the ocean. Even though they had decided not to be afraid of the ghost, Shamrock couldn’t help but be a little frighted.
The Glowing Horn was becoming much bigger than your average unicorn horn as it moved toward them. And it had that special glow, more like the stars on Shamrock’s backpack than the glitter of their own horns. Even in bright sunshine, they could see it glow!
Then, suddenly, Shamrock realized it wasn’t a ghost at all.
10 A New Friend
The creature’s head broke through the water, revealing the smile of the young blue narwhal floating toward them. “Hey, guys, do you think I could have a cupcake? All I’ve had is seaweed for weeks!”
All four unicorns just stared back in surprise.
“I’m Ned, by the way,” the young narwhal said. He raised his eyebrows when the unicorns still didn’t say anything back.
Shamrock was the first to find his words. “Hi, I’m Shamrock. Are you a narwhal? We thought you were the Glowing Horn ghost! But it’s strange, right? For a narwhal to be in these warm waters? Are you lost? And your horn is glowing! I’ve never read anything about narwhals having glowing horns.” All his thoughts spilled out so fast, he could hardly breathe. Having grown up in the mountains, Shamrock had never met a narwhal before. Of course, he’d read a ton about them. 1,000 Incredible and Astonishing Facts even had a whole page about how a narwhal horn could grow up to ten feet long. As always when he met someone new, Shamrock found himself babbling and spurting out facts. It reminded him of when he had met Twilight on their very first day of school.
Ned just laughed at all his questions. “No way! I mean, yeah, I’m a narwhal. But I’m not lost. I’m on vacation with my family. My horn is glowing ’cause of the special water in the hidden caves, you know?”
The four unicorns just blinked at him for a beat.
Then Sapphire finally said, “I’ve lived by this beach my whole life, and I’ve never seen a narwhal around here! And I’ve never heard of hidden caves.” She shook her head. Shamrock thought she would have been less surprised if she really had been talking to a ghost.
Ned laughed again. He smiled as he bobbed a little in the water. “Well, we usually stick to the deeper caves and don’t come up here, because the water is so warm and we like the cold. But I kept smelling and hearing about all these sweets, and we’ve had to eat boring seaweed for weeks now. And, well, I had to see if I could have some treats.”
“Totally!” Comet said, sounding like her old self again. “I baked these myself. Cinnamon is the trick to the recipe.”
Comet waved at the blanket with her horn, and Shamrock wondered how Ned was supposed to get a cupcake. He can’t walk on sand, right? Shamrock wondered before shaking his head. Of course he can’t! Be rational. Get a hold of yourself!
“I think you’ll need to toss him one,” Shamrock told Comet when he’d cleared his thoughts.
“Would you mind?” Ned asked a little sheepishly. “They do smell good.”
Comet tossed him two cupcakes in a row, and Ned caught them both in his mouth and swallowed them whole.
Shamrock started to wonder about the hidden caves. That really would be a scientific discovery for unicorns! He hadn’t read about them in any of his books.
“Um, could you tell us about the hidden caves?” Shamrock asked, after Ned had eaten another four cupcakes.
“Actually, I might be able to show you. It’s super cool. Everything glows and stuff,” Ned told him, his mouth still full. “But I think you’ll need a boat. Unicorns can’t swim that far, right?”
“No, not as far as narwhals anyway,” Sapphire admitted. “Luckily, we do know someone with a boat.”
Shamrock looked up to see Uncle Sea Star’s boat coming toward them. Somehow Sapphire’s uncle always arrived just in time. Shamrock smiled. He was starting to sound like one of the sea legends.
“Ahoy there!” Uncle Sea Star called to them. “A narwhal in Sunshine Springs? Well, I never heard of such a thing! Captain Sea Star at your service,” he said, bowing his head.
“I’m Ned! I was going to show my new friends the glowing caves. Care to give them a lift?”
Of course, Uncle Sea Star was always up for such an adventure. The five unicorns sailed after Ned as he led them farther out into the water. He stopped short in what seemed like the middle of the ocean, and Shamrock wondered what kind of special powers he had to make him see what unicorns could not. But Uncle Sea Star dropped the anchor, and the unicorns jumped into the ocean and swam after Ned. The entrance to the cave wasn’t too deep, and they just had to make a quick right before they popped up in a glowing dome filled with natural beauty.
At first Shamrock’s glasses were all fogged up from the swim, and he could only see the strange light coming off the walls. When the lenses finally cleared up, he looked around to see his friends talking with other narwhals and exploring the caves. Big rocks gleamed in bright oranges, reds, and purples all over the cave, and strange, friendly fish swam around them. He could see Comet teaching a younger narwhal how to high-U, and Sapphire had her serious face on as she listened to an older narwhal tell her the history of the caves.
Shamrock watched a little glowing, spotted fish use its suction-cup hands to climb out of the water and up the walls of the cave. Miraculously, the same fish flapped its fins to fly through a curtain of glowing vines. Shamrock felt like he was dreaming.
Twilight walked over to him with glitter on her nose. “I’ve been studying that extra sparkly wall over there,” she explained. “I think I’d like to paint a picture of this to remember it all by. Since not all of us have a special photographic memory.” She smiled and gave him a little nudge.
Shamrock smiled too. “We really have made an incredible discovery today. It’s not even included in 1,000 Incredible and Astonishing Facts!”
Twilight scrunched her nose and tilted her head. “But we didn’t discover this, Shamrock. The ghost story of the Glowing Horn means that unicorns have known about these caves forever. Not to mention how long the narwhals have known about them.”
Shamrock was speechless for a moment. Suddenly Uncle Sea Star’s words made sense to him. There is truth to the sea legends, even when they seem very untrue! By playing and experimenting with his friends, Shamrock had learned more today than if he had convinced them all to stick to his careful plans. Plus, they had made so many new friends. For a while, Shamrock could only stare at Twilight in wonder, his jaw just hanging open. He shook his head to gain some composure.
“The Glowing Horn brought us to the secret treasure after all!” Shamrock shouted. His old friends and his new friends looked over at him from around the cave and smiled. “Hear, hear!” Uncle Sea Star cheered back.
Shamrock felt like the luckiest unicorn in the universe.
More from this Series
Comet's Big Win
Book 4
Twilight, Say Cheese!
Book 1
Sapphire's Special Power
Book 2
Keep reading for a preview of
Comet's Big Win
by
Daisy Sunshine
Comet couldn’t believe her eyes. Unicorn University had been totally transformed!
Today was the school’s Club Fair, and there were tents with waving flags, horns trumpeting joyful music, and cheerful chatter all around her. It looked like a carnival she went to when she was little, but instead of circus performers there were students everywher
e. The dance club was performing on stage. The science club was bubbling up purple slime at a booth. There was even a juggling club balancing plates on their horns. All the activity made Comet smile. Growing up in a big family, Comet always felt more at home in big, noisy crowds. She felt like she could wander around all day.
Comet soon spotted her three very best friends huddled together over by the gardening club’s table. Plants of every color and shape were piled so high you could hardly see the unicorns in the booth behind them. Shamrock, a mint-colored unicorn with huge, black-rimmed glasses, seemed to be studying a large piece of paper. Twilight, who stood out with her jet-black coat and brightly painted hooves, was looking all around her, clearly distracted by everything that was going on. And Sapphire, a dark blue unicorn with long braids, was pointing to something on Shamrock’s paper with her horn. Comet was sure they were deciding which booth to check out next. I have to tell them about the baking booth! she remembered. The school’s chefs, Stella and Celeste, had told her a secret: the first students to get to the baking club booth would get a special treat! And no one made treats like Stella and Celeste. The fair was already in full swing, and Comet knew they had to get there fast. She started running over but—oh no!—she got a little too excited and her special flying power kicked in. Soon Comet was a rose-colored blur speeding right toward her friends, and with a crash, she knocked them over like bowling pins.
Comet untangled herself from the group while shouting funny apologies. A couple of other unicorns grumbled about the mess, but most unicorns were used to Comet’s dramatic entrances. She was still getting used to her magical ability and was always flying into things or accidently floating away.
Shamrock's Stable Sleepover Page 3