by Julie Sykes
Evie saw the warmth in her friends’ eyes and the knot of anxiety in her chest loosened. For the first time she started to believe that the rest of her dorm really didn’t care that she was always having accidents and that maybe they did like her just the way she was.
“You’re so clever, Evie,” Ivy said, yawning as she turned off the light. “We wouldn’t know nearly as much as we do now if we didn’t have you.”
I wish Sunshine felt the same, Evie thought as she snuggled down in bed. Sunshine had been fine with her when they’d been riding out to the tower but she’d been quiet on the way home and when they got back she’d seemed keen for Evie to leave her. Evie remembered all the times in the last week when Sunshine had wanted her to go away. I wish she liked me more, she thought sadly, but I bet she wishes she had another partner.
She comforted herself by remembering what her friends had just said. I love being in Ruby dorm, thought Evie happily, and with a smile she fell asleep.
At midnight the girls got out of their beds, dressed and crept down the stairs. Evie was glad of her warm coat as she stepped outside. The night was chilly. Unseen creatures rustled and squeaked from the bushes and somewhere nearby, an owl hooted. Evie glanced back and saw a shadow move behind one of the upper windows where the staff bedrooms were. Her heart leapt into her throat. Was someone there, watching them? But no. When she looked again, the shadows behind the window were still.
“Come on!” Ivy grabbed her hand and they ran silently across the dew-soaked grass to the stables, Ivy’s grip tightening on Evie’s whenever Evie’s feet tripped on a tuft of grass.
Entering the stables, Evie’s cheeks tingled with the sudden warmth. She went quickly to Sunshine’s stall, treading softly so as not to disturb the other unicorns, snuffling and snoring in their sleep.
Sunshine was awake, her dark eyes full of anxiety.
“We’re still going then?” she asked Evie.
“Yes.” Evie sensed her unicorn’s reluctance. “Why? Don’t you want to?”
Sunshine looked awkward. “I do. It’s just …” She trailed off.
Evie braced herself, sure that Sunshine was worried she was going to embarrass them in some way tonight. “What is it, Sunshine? Please tell me what’s bothering you.”
Sunshine glanced at her through her eyelashes. “I’m … I’m scared of the dark, Evie!”
Evie blinked. Of all the things she had been expecting Sunshine to say, it wasn’t that. Hiding her surprise, she stroked Sunshine’s cheek. “Really? But why?”
“I always have been.” Sunshine shuddered. “The copse was bad enough by day; it’s going to be even more scary at night.”
“But Lyra’s got a torch, so we’ll have light,’ said Evie gently. “And we’ll all be together. Nothing will happen to you.” As she reassured her, she felt a rush of relief. So this was why Sunshine had been quiet on the way home. It wasn’t because she had been worried about Evie embarrassing her; it was because she’d been feeling scared about going back in the dark. “I’m really glad you told me,” she said softly as Sunshine nuzzled her hands.
“Thanks for not laughing at me, Evie,” Sunshine said gratefully. “I didn’t want to say anything because I was worried that you’d think I was stupid.”
“I’d never think that,” said Evie, stroking her.
Sunshine blew softly at Evie’s face. “I’m really glad that you’re my partner, Evie. Look, there’s something I need to tell you—”
“Are you two ready?” interrupted Lyra, looking into Sunshine’s stable. “We haven’t got much time,” she added.
Evie sent Sunshine an apologetic look. “Tell me later,” she whispered.
They followed the others outside and, mounting their unicorns, they set off at a gallop.
When they reached Spiny Copse, they stopped. A bat swooped past chasing a moth as Lyra shone her powerful torch down the path.
Sienna gulped. “What if we see that ghost thing again?”
“It wasn’t a ghost,” said Lyra firmly.
“So what was it? It certainly sounded spooky. Whooooo,” said Sienna, mimicking the sound.
“I don’t know what it was, but I promise you it wasn’t a ghost,” said Lyra, and she rode Misty into the trees.
Evie felt Sunshine hesitate and stroked her neck. “Don’t be scared,” she whispered. “Just focus on the light of the torch.”
Sunshine nuzzled her leg before trotting after the others. To Evie’s relief they reached the clearing with no ghostly encounters.
When they got there, they saw that Dr Briar had secured the tower’s wooden door with a sturdy new padlock.
“Hopefully we won’t need to use the door,” said Lyra. “Where’s that button, Evie? Let’s press it and see what happens.”
Evie slipped off Sunshine and crouched by the bench. Her fingers found the round indentation underneath it. “Here goes!” She pushed it in.
There was a creaking, rumbling sound and part of the outer wall of the tower juddered slowly back.
“Oh, wow! There’s a secret space between the tower’s inner and outer walls,” said Lyra, jumping off Misty and going over.
“A cavity!” exclaimed Sienna. “Just like the riddle said.”
The space inside was as black as ink. Evie felt very impressed as she peered inside. Ms Evergreen must have been a brilliant engineer to have constructed such a thing.
“I’m going in,” said Lyra excitedly. They all followed – unicorns too. “Everyone look for the map!”
Evie’s eyes followed the beam of the torch as Lyra shone it around. The cavity ran all round the outside of the tower. High above them was a window with no glass. It had a wide, thick window ledge and there was something bulky on it, but it was impossible to see what it was in the darkness. “Lyra, shine your torch up there,” she said.
Lyra did so and Evie saw a large nest of twigs. Four spectre owlets with fluffy grey baby feathers that glowed in the moonlight peered over the top, their large round eyes glowing in the torch beam.
Just then there was a hooting noise – “WHOOOO-OOOO” – and the mother owl flew in through the window, the feathers on her silvery wings shimmering. She landed on the nest and peered down curiously at the girls.
Evie burst out laughing. “I think we’ve just found our ghost!”
“It was a spectre owl!” said Ivy, her face a picture of relief. “They glow in the moonlight.”
Sienna heaved a sigh. “Phew!”
“I wonder if Ms Evergreen encouraged spectre owls to nest here all those years ago,” said Evie. “To make people think the folly was haunted.”
Lyra swept her torch away from the nest so as not to disturb the owls any longer and they continued to explore round the wall.
They were about halfway round when Ivy cried out. “Stop, Lyra! There’s an alcove here.”
Lyra shone the torch up the wall, revealing a small space carved into the stone about two metres up. Lyra scrambled on to Misty and stood up on her back. She reached into the alcove and gasped. “There’s something here! I can feel it!”
She pulled out some folded paper. Her eyes were huge in the torchlight as she sat down on Misty’s back and held it out for everyone to see. It was old and yellow with spots of brown. Lyra’s breath caught in her throat as she opened it up. “It’s the third piece of the map!”
She turned it over and they saw four lines of writing on the back.
“Another clue!” Evie exclaimed.
“If we solve it, we’ll get the final part!” said Ivy in excitement.
“And then we can find the Unicorn’s Diamond!” cried Sienna.
A grating noise echoed round the tower wall. Lyra’s head snapped up. “What’s that?”
The walls were moving, and groaned as they scraped across the ground to close up the gap.
“The entrance is shutting again! Move it, everyone!” Lyra yelled.
They turned and raced back to where they had come in but they were too late. Wi
th a deafening crash the two walls met and the entrance disappeared. Evie’s heart pounded against her ribs. They were trapped!
“What happened?” cried Sienna, banging on the crack between the walls where the entrance had been.
“Why did the walls just shut like that?” said Ivy, her eyes scared.
“Listen!” Lyra motioned for everyone to stop talking.
Muffled voices came from the other side of the tower’s walls. It sounded like two people arguing.
“There’s someone out there,” said Sienna, frowning.
“Let us out!” shouted Lyra, thumping on the stone. The others joined in.
A sheet of paper suddenly slid through the crack between the two walls. Evie grabbed it. The paper was folded in half. Her fingers shook as she opened it and read aloud:
“HAND OVER THE MAP PIECES. IN RETURN YOU WILL BE SET FREE. NO MAP, NO ESCAPE.”
The girls stared at each other.
“Someone’s locked us in here on purpose!” said Ivy.
“Dr Briar, it has to be,” said Lyra grimly.
“She can’t have the map – not when we’re so close to finding the treasure,” said Sienna.
Evie bit her lip. “We don’t have a choice. Unless we hand it over, we could be trapped here forever.”
Lyra’s torch flickered. “The batteries are running out.” She shook the torch in alarm.
“You mean we’re going to be trapped in the dark?” Sunshine burst out.
“It’s OK, Sunshine,” said Evie soothingly. “Just stay calm.”
“I can’t!” Sunshine’s voice rose in panic as the torch beam flickered again. “No!” she whinnied, stamping her front hooves. Sparks flew up and hit the wall. The stone shattered, and the girls shrieked as their unicorns dodged the flying shards.
Lyra gasped. “What just happened?”
“It was Sunshine!” Ivy said, her eyes wide.
“Sunshine, you’ve just found your magic!” exclaimed Evie. “You’ve got exploding magic!”
To her surprise Sunshine hung her head. “Actually I, um … I haven’t just found it. I discovered it a few days ago. All the explosions that have been happening – they’re all my fault. Whenever I feel anxious and stamp my hooves, things just explode around me.”
Evie stared at her. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Sunshine swallowed. “I didn’t think you’d be very happy about me having exploding magic.”
“Oh, Sunshine,” said Evie, hugging her. “Of course I’m happy. Exploding magic is cool.” A thought struck her. “Is this why you’ve been asking me to leave you alone all week? You didn’t want me to find out?”
Sunshine nodded. “I can’t control it and I thought you’d find that really embarrassing. It’s awful. I almost killed us when the unicorn statue exploded.”
“So that was you, not Dr Briar or Sam?” Sienna said.
“Yes,” muttered Sunshine
“You should have told me. I could have helped you,” said Evie. She hugged her unicorn tightly. “I thought that you wanted a different partner. I’m so embarrassing. It’s true,” she added when Sunshine started to shake her head. “I’m always having accidents. I know that’s why you try to stop me from doing things.”
“It’s not that,” said Sunshine in surprise. “I only want to stop you from getting hurt.” She nuzzled Evie. “But what about you? Are you OK about me having exploding magic? You don’t like being the centre of attention and my magic is pretty hard to ignore.”
Evie grinned. “I’m accident-prone and that’s very tricky to hide! Sunshine, your magic makes you different and special, and I’d love you whatever magic you had.”
“Really?” asked Sunshine hopefully.
“Really,” said Evie firmly.
Sunshine buried her head in Evie’s arms and Evie hugged her.
“Your hair, Evie!” gasped Ivy. She reached out and held up a strand of Evie’s brown hair that had turned pink, turquoise and yellow. “You’ve bonded!”
Evie felt a rush of delight. “We’re partners forever, Sunshine!”
“Partners and best friends,” said Sunshine happily.
“Now let’s use your awesome magic to help us get out of here,” said Evie. “Can you blow a hole in the wall so we can escape?”
“I’ll try,” Sunshine said, tossing her mane. “Stand back, everyone, and watch out for flying stones.”
Lyra put the new bit of map in her pocket with the original pieces. Everyone shuffled back down the passageway, leaving Evie alone with Sunshine by the closed-up entrance.
“What if I blow the whole tower to smithereens and hurt everyone?” asked Sunshine.
“You won’t.” Evie felt confident. “I know you’re going to get your magic exactly right because you’re the best, Sunshine!”
Sunshine took a deep breath and stamped her front hooves down hard. Bright pink sparks shot up in the darkness. There was a strong smell of burnt sugar and, as the sparks hit the stone wall, a deafening bang. The stones exploded outward in a cloud of dust, making everyone cough. Through the swirling dust, Evie saw Flash and Solomon, Dr Briar’s unicorn, rearing backwards in surprise. Dr Briar and Sam clung to their manes, struggling to keep their balance. The explosion seemed to have caught them in the middle of an argument.
Dr Briar spluttered. “You’re not going to get away with this!” she shouted. “Give me the map!”
“No way!” yelled Lyra, galloping out on Misty. “Ruby dorm, back to the academy, NOW!”
Evie and Sunshine raced after their friends. “Are you OK?” Evie gasped to Sunshine. Magic was tiring for a unicorn when they first discovered their powers.
“I’m fine,” said Sunshine. “I’ve already had quite a bit of practice at blowing things up!”
Evie hung on tightly to Sunshine’s mane as they weaved through the trees. She could hear hooves pounding behind them. Glancing round, she saw Dr Briar coming up fast on Solomon with Sam and Flash a short way behind.
“Hurry, Sunshine!” Evie yelled.
Solomon reached Sunshine and pushed alongside her. Dr Briar leaned out to grab Evie’s arm. “Give me the map!” she shrieked.
There was a sudden flash and a flurry of blue sparkles. Dr Briar’s hand froze a millimetre away from Evie, and Solomon stopped as if suspended in time. Evie’s and Sam’s eyes met for a fleeting second. He nodded, as if urging her on.
“Go!” yelled Evie to Sunshine.
Sunshine’s hooves thundered loudly as she galloped out of the trees. At the edge of the woods Evie glanced back. There was no sign of Dr Briar or Sam but she’d caught up with Misty, Sparkle and Flame. By the time they arrived back at the stables, all four unicorns were dripping with sweat, their sides heaving.
Evie’s legs were like jelly as she slid from Sunshine and threw her arms round her neck. “I thought Dr Briar was going to grab me back in the woods.”
“I can’t believe Sam!” Sienna’s eyes blazed. “He must have been in league with his aunt all along. He’s a total snake!”
“No, he’s not!” Evie protested. “He helped me escape just now.” She told the others what had happened. “If Flash hadn’t frozen time, Dr Briar would have pulled me off Sunshine.”
Lyra frowned. “When we escaped, it looked like Sam and Dr Briar were arguing. Maybe he was trying to stop her.”
“Hmm,” Sienna said, not looking convinced. “I still think he’s a snake.”
“Well, whoever’s side he’s on, the important thing is that we all got back safely,” said Ivy.
“Should we tell the teachers what happened?” Evie asked.
“We’d get into really big trouble for sneaking out at night,” said Sienna doubtfully.
“And they’d make us hand over the map, and then we wouldn’t be able to find the treasure,” said Lyra.
“Let’s not tell!” they all said together.
They grinned at each other.
“So this stays as our secret,” said Lyra.
Evi
e nodded. “We’d better watch out for Dr Briar though. She’s not going to give up that easily. Hopefully, she won’t try anything here at school though, not with the teachers so close by.”
Lyra nodded. “We’ll have to be extra careful. This next clue will lead us to the final piece of the map and then we can find the treasure!” She patted her pocket. “I’m not going to let any of the pieces out of my sight.”
The girls hurried into the stables and fetched their unicorns buckets of sky berries. Evie tipped the berries into Sunshine’s manger then kissed her on the muzzle. “Goodnight, Sunshine. See you tomorrow.”
“Night, Evie.” Sunshine blew her a kiss back, her dark eyes shining happily.
Evie’s heart filled with joy. She was so glad she and Sunshine had sorted everything out. Now she had found her magic and they had bonded, they would definitely be graduating at the end of the year and be together forever.
“You know, I could always stay here in the stable with you tonight,” said Evie, not wanting to leave.
“You mean have a sleepover?” said Sunshine in delight.
Lyra poked her head into Sunshine’s stable. “A sleepover in the stables! That’s a brilliant idea! We could all squeeze in here together.”
“But what about Dr Briar?” said Evie, frowning. “She might try and attack us.”
“Not with all the teachers’ unicorns here,” Lyra reassured her. “They’d raise the alarm in no time. I bet she won’t try anything now we’re back at school.” She called to Ivy and Sienna. “What do you think about having a sleepover here tonight?”
The others agreed it was a great idea. While Ivy and Sienna fetched some warm rugs from the tack room, Lyra and Evie got some more straw and made Sunshine’s bed super thick. Then they all squeezed inside. The unicorns lay down in the straw and the girls curled up next to them, covering themselves with the rugs and their unicorns’ manes.
“Night, everyone,” said Sienna, yawning sleepily.
One by one they fell asleep. Leaning her head against Sunshine’s neck, and closing her eyes, Evie’s heart swelled with happiness. She had the best friends in the world, a wonderful unicorn who loved her, and another adventure was waiting just round the corner.