by Donna Kunkel
“Why does Mandy have her ball in here?”
Alex headed out of the bedroom, trying not to rush. “I guess I missed it.” Alex set her clothes down on the table, took the ball from Mandy, and walked out to the barn to drop the ball.
The moment she got back to the cabin, Steve said, “I could have done that.”
“That’s okay.” She picked up her clothes. “It’ll remind me to be more careful the next time.” She went into the bathroom and pulled the sheet closed before he could ask another question. Or notice that Mandy didn’t have her ball when they’d first come in. “Poor Anna Belle,” Alex mumbled. With giving the unicorn some of the oats she’d have to give Anna Belle less or she’d run out too soon.
As soon as she was showered and dressed she said, “I think I’ll pack a lunch and head out earlier today. I want to get a little farther.”
“Are you sure? You were gone for several hours yesterday.”
Alex nodded as she pulled out some food for lunch. “I’ll get ready so I can get back sooner. You can take a long visit with Peter. I’m determined to make it all the way across today, so I’ll be gone for several hours again.” She headed into the bedroom and put a sweater on over her shirt. Steve was starting to wash the dishes when she came out. “I’ll be back a little earlier today,” Alex said. She put her hat on and started tucking loose hair in.
Steve walked over to her. “Are you sure you won’t get too tired?” He took her coat off the hook and helped her into it.
“The sun is out and it isn’t snowing. I want to enjoy this.” Alex said as she fastened her coat.
“Keep a watch out for clouds. If you see anything moving in, head back.”
“I know, the weather can change in minutes.”
Steve removed the bar and set it against the wall. “Be careful.”
Alex headed out and removed the snowshoes out of the box next to the door. “Don’t let all the heat out.”
He shut the door.
Alex looked back and didn’t see him watching out the window. She quickly slipped her wand out. She used it to get the snowshoes on and to make herself lighter. After putting the wand back in her coat, she slipped her gloves on and took off across the meadow. Today, she knew exactly where to go. She headed straight for the rock and through the trees for the unicorn’s cave. When she got close, she slowed down and started to hum a simple melody. She passed through the last group of trees. The unicorn guarded the entrance.
He shuffled and pawed the ground.
Alex continued to hum and slowly pulled the bag out of her coat pocket. She unfolded the top and carefully pulled the miniature bucket out. She placed it on the ground in front of her.
The unicorn paused.
Alex slowly pulled her wand out, making sure to keep it pointed away from the unicorn.
The unicorn snorted and lowered his head. The tip of his horn pointed at her.
“Amplifico,” she said and touched the bucket. Once it was full size, she laid her wand down and dumped the oats out.
The unicorn sniffed and raised his head.
Alex picked up her wand.
The unicorn pawed the ground but didn’t lower his head.
She used her wand and shrunk the bucket back down. Once she’d finished, she put her wand and the tiny bucket back in her coat. “Hope you enjoy the oats. I’ll try and bring you some more tomorrow.” She took a couple of steps back.
The unicorn sniffed some more and took a step closer.
Alex waved, turned, and headed off. She hummed again so the unicorn could hear her leaving.
The next day the unicorn stood there as she put the oats a little closer. He wouldn’t let her enter the cave yet, but he wasn’t making any aggressive movements. She did this again the following day. The day after that, she approached and he wasn’t standing outside. What if he’d been hurt?
She paused a minute then entered the gaping black hole. What am I doing? Her instincts screamed. Wild animals could be hiding inside, waiting for some unsuspecting prey to wander into their lair. She shook her head. No. The unicorn was inside; he wouldn’t let anything attack her. His magic called out to her. Normally she would use her wand to provide some light, but unicorns hate wands. They would allow wizards and young children to approach, only if they showed the proper respect.
She unfastened the snowshoes, propped them up against the rock face, and took a step in. Nothing happened. She took another hesitant step, then another. She took one glove off and reached out to touch the wall, running her fingers along the rough granite surface. The solid rock made her feel a little safer.
After another step, she touched fur. She dashed back to the opening and took a moment to slow her breathing. Once her heart had slowed a bit, she crept back in. This time when she felt the fur, she stopped and pulled the hairs off the protruding rock. She rubbed the coarse brown hairs between her fingers and noticed the musky scent of animal.
For a second, the scent reminded her of Steve, but that was stupid. It was only some bits of fur that some bear must have rubbed off as it moved through the crack. Of course some animal would use this cave as a home; these mountains didn’t provide many holes large enough for a big animal.
“There is no reason to fear the darkness,” Alex kept telling herself as she edged farther into the dark crevice. Her left hand’s fingers trailed across the cold stone wall guiding her in. She kept trying to see but gave up for a moment and closed her eyes. There wasn’t anything to see anyway. She shuffled her feet across the dirt floor, feeling for any change. The last thing she wanted was to step off a ledge or trip over a rock. With her luck, she’d trip over a rock and lose contact with the wall. Who knew how large the space was? Was it still a narrow passage or had it widened out into a large cavern? If she lost contact with the wall, she could wander around aimlessly and lose all sense of direction.
She patted her coat front with her right hand. Her wand was still there. If worst came to worst, she could use it as a light and find the way out again. It was a shame unicorns were so distrustful of wizards, or she’d already be using it. She kicked a small rock and on instinct she opened her eyes. A faint glow outlined the edge of a wall. The closer she got, the more shapes she could make out. The passage turned to the right. Alex paused and took a deep breath. The unicorn was in here, his glow providing the light.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” she whispered. She didn’t want to startle him. If he bolted, he’d run into her. The passage was too narrow for the both of them. She edged around the corner and with a couple more steps the crevice opened up to a sizable area.
The snow-white unicorn remained nestled against the farthest end of a slight ledge that ran along the left side. His coat cast a pale glow throughout the space. She paused when he snorted and shook his head.
Chapter 20
She’d found a wild unicorn here in the mountains.
She thought back to her lessons on approaching a unicorn. She bowed and waited. He snorted and bobbed his head, the signal that he’d allow her approach. She tried to approach slowly and held out the back of her open hand for him to sniff.
He snuffled her hand a moment then placed his muzzle under her palm.
She stroked his silky nose then moved over to the ledge to sit down. “So what brings you out here? I know it’s not me.”
He snorted, stood up, and pawed near a boulder.
Alex got up and moved over to the rock. The unicorn nodded his head again and again as he stepped back.
The rock he’d been lying against was smooth and in the general shape of an egg, a three-foot egg. Alex picked up some nearby leaves and used them to brush off the layers of detritus, thick dirt, and leaves. It must have been collecting junk for hundreds of years. She could feel the rock’s hard surface. She let go of the leaves and continued to wipe the surface with her gloves.
The unicorn stepped closer and hung his head over her shoulder.
The light wasn’t strong enough to see much of anyth
ing. Using the unicorn’s glow, she looked around the cave’s space. An old-fashioned mining lamp sat on the shelf inside the entrance. She walked over to it and the unicorn followed her across the room, managing to keep his muzzle slightly above her shoulder. A box of wooden matches lay next to the lamp. She gently shook the lamp, sighing when some liquid sloshed around. She picked up the matches, carefully removed one, and struck it against the box. The unicorn huffed, blowing the match out.
She pushed against the unicorn’s chest. “You need to take a step back.”
He moved back a foot, shook his head, and pawed the ground.
She opened the lamp’s glass door and struck another match, hurrying to light the wick before the unicorn blew it out again. Light flared around the space, sparkling off the quartz crystals in the rock walls. A pile of stones glittered over by the end of the ledge. She went over to look, picking up several of the stones to admire.
The unicorn nudged her in the back almost knocking her over.
“All right, already,” she said and placed the stones back into the pile.
The unicorn nudged her again.
She moved back to the two large stones and set the lantern down on the end of the shelf closest to the stones. Using her gloved hand, she cleaned the majority of the dirt off the two rocks. The lantern’s light reflected in the surface of the rocks. Alex picked up the lantern and moved it closer. The outside surface showed pieces of crystalline structures like a polished geode, except these crystals were over an inch long. The light danced along the facets and bounced off the walls.
She expected to see edges and points, but the rocks were as smooth as ice.
Alex took her other glove off and ran her fingers across the smooth surfaces. The closest rock was the midnight blue of deep ocean water whereas the second one was blood red. Both contained flecks of gold here and there among the spaces between the crystals.
The unicorn pawed the dirt, breaking the silence.
She stopped moving. These rocks aren’t cold. Could something be alive inside? Trapped inside the crystallized shell? Maybe even calling out that it can’t get out? But she couldn’t hear them. Maybe the unicorn could and that was why it was hanging around. Just waiting for whatever waited inside to break free or hatch.
“Now that is a scary thought,” she said to the unicorn.
The unicorn shook its mane.
“What could hatch from an egg this large?”
The unicorn watched her.
“A dinosaur?” she asked.
The unicorn shook his head.
“But as large or larger than a dinosaur?”
A nod.
“What could be as large as a dinosaur?” She reached out and caressed the surfaces.
No response.
She could feel an energy emanating from the stones. “Magical?”
A nod and foot paw.
Alex sat down next to the eggs and rested her hand on the midnight blue one. She thought about all the magical creatures she’d learned about in magic school. “Nothing I’ve studied lays an egg this large. It must be a creature that hasn’t been around for ages.”
A nod and whinny.
“What hasn’t been around? A creature from folklore. Comes from an egg.” She drummed her fingers, then traced a crystal’s outline.
“What likes crystals and gold?” She looked at the egg’s surface. “Gold,” she murmured and thought for several minutes.
She snatched her hand away from the egg and sprang up. She looked directly at the unicorn. “A dragon?” she asked and watched the unicorn nod its head. She jumped back a step. “Shit. I thought there weren’t any left.”
The unicorn hung his head low.
“Don’t tell me. This is the last pair.” Alex put her hands on her hips and took a step closer to the unicorn.
He gave a slight nod.
She placed a hand on his neck and stroked his warm flesh. “I know it’s not your fault. You just happened to find them.”
The unicorn pressed his face against her chest.
“But why now? They have probably been here for hundreds of years.”
The unicorn shoved her chest.
She took a step back. “Me? Why me?”
He nodded again.
She had to think. She wandered over to the ledge and flopped down. The wand inside her coat poked her in the chest. She took it out and laid it on the ledge next to her. The wood clattered in the quiet cave.
The unicorn looked over at the wand.
“I’m sorry. It was poking me.” She picked the wand up and started to place it back inside her coat.
The unicorn moved to her and touched the wand with his nose.
“My wand?”
He nodded several times.
“I found the eggs because of my wand?”
He nodded and shook his head.
“Now that’s just plain confusing. Which is it?”
He touched the wand and then her.
“I found them because I have a wand?”
He stepped back and pawed the ground a couple of times.
Then it dawned on her. She jumped up. “Because I’m a wizard!”
He nodded vigorously.
She walked back over to the eggs. “I must be the first wizard to have been in here.” She looked back at the unicorn. “I would never have found them if you hadn’t been here to lead me to them.”
He sauntered over to her and looked at the eggs.
Alex looked down at the eggs and laid a hand on his neck. “What am I going to do? Principal Vale would know. He has to be the smartest wizard I’ve ever known. But it’ll be several weeks before he can get out here to look at them.” She pulled her hand back and looked directly at the unicorn. “Can you stay here and protect them until then?”
He nodded his head several times.
“It will be a while.”
He nodded again.
“I’ll see if I can somehow get a bale of hay and some oats out here. I’m sure you’re having a hard time finding enough grass with all this snow.”
He pawed the ground.
“Oh, I forgot.” She pulled the miniature bucket of oats out, enlarged it, dumped the oats, shrank the bucket, and put it back in her pocket. “I’ll make sure no one else knows where you are. But I’ll have to use magic to get the food here; it’s too heavy for me.”
He nodded.
“I’d better cover these up again.” She started scooping up the loose dirt and throwing it back over the eggs. It took a lot of work to get the eggs hidden again.
She brushed off her hands and clothes, then knocked the dirt out of her gloves. “All done.” She placed the lantern back where she found it. “How am I going to see in the dark once I blow this out?”
The unicorn walked over to the entrance.
“Thanks. I’ll follow you.” She opened the lantern’s door and extinguished the light. At first, she couldn’t see anything in the darkness, then the unicorn’s glow became more obvious. She followed him through the crevice and reached the cave’s opening. Night had fallen.
“Shit! I’m so late. Steve has to be worried by now.” At least there was an almost full moon, so she could see shapes. Following her trail back would be another story. She pulled out her wand and spoke the spell for it to generate a weak light.
The unicorn backed up into the opening.
Alex looked back at him. “I’ll get some food here one way or another. See you later.”
The full moon lit up the landscape, but the trees cast deep shadows that stretched across her path. She used her wand to quickly get the snowshoes on and headed back along her earlier trail. Her wand’s faint light helped her stay on course and not veer off. She was probably halfway back when the wind started to pick up. The snow-laden branches started dumping their load, obliterating some of her steps. She hurried as fast as she could before the path became lost. Then she had to stop. No more tracks. She took a few steps in each direction but couldn’t find any tracks. �
��Now what?” she whispered to the creaking trees. The wind snuck in among the branches, blowing clumps of snow into her face.
She needed help, maybe the unicorn. She tried to whistle, but nothing came out. After cupping her hands around her face and blowing into them, her face warmed up. This time when she whistled, a clear note sounded. Within seconds, a branch behind her moved and the unicorn stepped into view. He must have been following her all along. She extinguished her wand and stuck it back in her coat.
“Thanks.” She walked to him and patted his neck. “I always seem to be owing you.”
He bobbed his head and shuffled his feet.
“Could you show me the way to the meadow?”
He started moving off at an angle to the way she had been going. His glow was enough to follow, but it didn’t show all the rocks and bushes. She ran into a couple of rocks and several bushes before she reached the open meadow. Her shins ached, but she ignored the discomfort and concentrated on her steps.
The unicorn stopped at the edge of the trees.
“Thanks for helping me.” She rubbed his neck in appreciation. “I’ll bring as many oats as I can manage. I owe you big time.”
He pawed the snow then disappeared back into the trees.
A faint light could be seen from the cabin. She performed the spell to make her lighter and stepped out onto the meadow. Within a few minutes she could hear the rumble of an engine. She hurried on as the sound got louder, and then she saw the headlight. The snowmobile started to veer off. There was nothing left to do but use magic. She pulled out her wand and used it to amplify her voice. When she yelled and started waving her arms, the snowmobile turned back toward her. Within minutes it had reached her.
Steve pulled up next to her and hopped off. He quickly removed the snowshoes, put her on the back, and tore back to the cabin. He put the snowmobile in the shed, grabbed her arm, and pulled her to the cabin. He set the tranquilizer gun down, removed her gloves, and began checking her fingers.
“I’m okay.” She pulled her hand back. She took off her coat and hung it up.
Steve stood near the door with his legs planted wide and his lips pressed tightly together.