by Lucy Knott
Just as Florence and the tiny being reached the trapdoor, their only escape, the barn doors swung open and in poured the army of soldiers.
‘What do we do now?’ a trembling voice asked by Florence’s feet.
Florence looked down at the little one by her side and smiled broadly. ‘We must call out for our unicorns. Only they can save us now,’ she said, feeling giddy at the thought of their unicorns coming to save them. The little face beamed, the emerald eyes sparkling with delight. ‘After three, we face the soldiers and we shout out for help. They will hear us,’ Florence assured her partner. ‘One, two, three.’
Florence and her accomplice stepped out from where they were cowering over by the trapdoor. The knights halted and stood proud and tall; weapons raised. Nodding at each other, Florence shouted ‘Silver’ while her friend shouted ‘Bob’ as they looked up to the sky.
‘Surrender now,’ one of the knights yelled to an echo of agreement.
‘Never,’ shouted the little girl by Florence’s feet.
‘There’s no way you can escape now. Give up the jewels,’ came another cry from a different soldier.
‘Wanna bet?’ the little girl retorted. ‘Our unicorns are on their way. I’d run if I were you,’ she added, filling Florence with pride at her increasing confidence.
‘Wait, what? No fair, they can’t have unicorns.’ Another solider spoke up causing Florence to stifle a giggle as the place erupted in huffs and another boy motioned, ‘Unicorns can defeat everything with their magic. Why didn’t we think of that?’
Just then the barn door opened, and Bronte skipped in. ‘Snack time,’ she sang to a chorus of cheers and clatter as the soldiers dropped their weapons. Leila tugged on Florence’s dress and so Florence squatted down to her level. ‘Miss Florence, can I keep my unicorn?’ she asked, her eyes wide and twinkling.
‘Of course. He’s yours now; he’ll always be with you,’ Florence told her and was gifted with a small hug before Leila ran off to join the others who were lining up at the door at Bronte’s request to make sure everyone was accounted for. When Florence stood up, she came face to face with a rather handsome knight.
‘Unicorns huh? That’s cheating,’ Jo said, releasing his curls from his cardboard helmet. Florence reached up and picked bits of paper from his hair, smirking as she did so.
‘You’re just jealous because you didn’t think of it first,’ she said playfully.
‘That much is true,’ Jo said with a laugh. After a morning of introductions and crafts, the afternoon had been a blast. Following the children’s lead, he and Florence had gone into battle, hunted for treasure and fought all sorts of mythical creatures. Florence looked radiant, the smile on her face never wavering. His heart tugged every time he caught sight of her with the kids, encouraging their imagination and joining in with their escapades. He too had been lost in their stories and was loving every minute. ‘I think unicorns might be my favourite animal,’ Jo said, placing his helmet with the others at the barn door.
‘Why a unicorn?’ Florence asked as she and Jo followed Bronte who had the children pretending to be animals as they hissed, growled, and roared over the hills towards Caffeine Heights.
Florence tilted her head to one side awaiting Jo’s answer. He looked dashing and rugged after running around with the kids all afternoon and her heart beat a little harder.
‘Because if you believe in something with your whole heart, it might just come true, and what a magical and wonderful thing to believe in,’ he said causing Florence to stop in her tracks. She allowed the children to walk a little further ahead, knowing they were safe with Bronte, and turned to Jo.
‘You think if you believe in unicorns enough, they will appear?’ Florence queried with a sparkle in her eyes, knowing that she and Jo were once again on the same page.
‘I know so,’ Jo replied pulling her towards him. Florence let out a happy giggle before Jo leant in and brought his lips to hers in a moment that made Florence believe in unicorns, magic, and all the fairy-tale kisses that had ever happened and all those that were yet to come.
If you enjoyed this, you’ll love ONE SNOWY WEEK IN SPRINGHOLLOW - click here to find out more!
Acknowledgments
My first thank you goes out to my former editor the wonderful Hannah Smith for being such a fantastic editor and someone who always makes me feel like I can do it. Thank you for championing Florence’s story from the beginning and for your initial input in the editing process. I loved your advice and guidance in making Florence’s story the best it could be. Thorne Ryan, my new and awesome editor, thank you for being so supportive and encouraging. Helena Newton, you are brilliant. I am forever grateful for your tweaks and changes and for catching all the things I might have overlooked. Lisa Brewster, thank you for such a beautiful cover that always brings a smile to my face. Thank you to the entire team at Aria Fiction; you are all amazing and I am incredibly grateful for all you do. Everyone at Aria who works to make my book what it is and helps to get it out into the world, thank you with all my heart.
Thank you to every reader who has picked up a copy of one of my books, you truly are incredible and fill my heart with so much love and I couldn’t be more thankful to you for making my dreams come true and for allowing me to bring my stories to life. Each time a character or story connects with you, it means the world and I don’t feel so alone. That connection is inspiring and is what motivates me and excites me to write more stories. A big shout out to Shelby, Kel, Nicole and Gem for never failing to make me smile with your reviews. Your support is everything.
Thank you Katie, Maxine, Rachel, Sam, Matt, Kayleigh and Amanda for being little balls of light and wonderful sources of positivity, inspiration and love.
And a massive, massive thank you to my incredible family who continually go above and beyond with their love and cheerleading. Jillian, Auntie Lynne, Auntie Georgina, Jo and June, thank you for reading my books and for always putting a smile on my face with your words of encouragement. It means the world that you enjoy the stories I write. Mum and Dad, thank you for always asking me how my writing is going, listening to my rambles and for being proud and impressed that I’m five books in. Chris, Kate and In, thank you for being huge inspirations to me each and every day. Kelly, Jen and Chris, it’s truly hard to put into words how much your love and unrivalled championing means to me. You’re with me during the good days and the bad days and never complain. I love you more than you know. To my grandparents, not a day goes by where I don’t think about you. You continue to inspire me and I love you with every piece of me.
I’m sorry to anyone that I may have missed. If you are reading this, please know that I think you are absolutely phenomenal. I hope you have enjoyed Florence and Jo’s story and that they inspire you to create the world you have in your mind and believe in fairy tales and the magic the world has to offer.
About the Author
Lucy Knott lives in Manchester England, just around the corner from her childhood home and less than five minutes from her twin sister Kelly and brother in law Chris. She loves spending time with her family in addition to writing, reading and cooking Italian food. When not buried in a book, scribbling in a notebook or having dance parties for one to Harry Styles, she works as a teaching assistant.
Lucy loves to write uplifting stories that she hopes will put a smile on your face, fill your heart with joy, encourage you to embrace the awesomeness that you are and believe that any dream is possible.
* * *
Visit her website to find out more: www.theblossomtwins.com
Hello from Aria
We hope you enjoyed this book! If you did, let us know, we’d love to hear from you.
* * *
We are Aria, a dynamic fiction imprint from award-winning independent publisher Head of Zeus.
* * *
At heart, we’re committed to publishing fantastic commercial fiction – from romance and sagas to book club reads and historical fiction. Visit us onl
ine and discover a community of like-minded fiction fans!