Rosa and Crystal

by Julie Sykes

  A dark curtain of silky hair blew over Rosa’s face then her tummy swooshed as the snow twister swept her from her feet and twirled her high into the air. “We’re off to the Glittering Cavern!” she cried.

  To Fiona and Kirsty,

  who make the magic happen.

  “Good work, Rosa. Crystal is the cleanest unicorn I’ve seen today and those silver ribbons look very pretty in her blue and purple mane and tail – a very good choice!”

  “Thank you, Ms Rosemary.” Rosa blushed, her heart swelling with pride. She’d been at Unicorn Academy for a month now and she had been worrying recently that she’d done something to upset Ms Rosemary, the Care of Unicorns teacher. Rosa loved being the best at things and, even though she always put her hand up first to answer questions or volunteer for jobs, for some reason Ms Rosemary had stopped picking her and kept asking the others instead. Rosa couldn’t understand it.

  “Well done,” Crystal whispered, her warm breath tickling Rosa’s face.

  “Thanks!” Rosa stroked Crystal’s sleek white neck, patterned with swirls of shimmery pink. Crystal was extremely pretty and Rosa had been thrilled when Ms Nettles, the head teacher, had paired them together on their first day at the academy. Crystal was always happy to go along with whatever Rosa wanted to do and they’d made friends immediately.

  Ms Rosemary continued to inspect the other unicorns. The class was made up of the five girls from Diamond dorm – Rosa’s dorm – as well as the students from Topaz and Ruby dorms.

  “Whisper’s mane is plaited perfectly, Ariana,” Ms Rosemary said approvingly to the girl next to Rosa. Serious Ariana, who was always neat and tidy and whose clothes were spotlessly clean, looked very pleased.

  “But, Matilda … oh dear!” Ms Rosemary shook her head as she inspected Pearl, Matilda’s unicorn. The plaits in Pearl’s mane were all different sizes, some of them were coming undone already and the tangle of different coloured ribbons in Pearl’s tail looked as if they had been tied on at the very last minute. “What’s happened here?” said Ms Rosemary, holding up Pearl’s tail.

  A few of the students giggled. Rosa cringed. She couldn’t imagine anything worse than a teacher pointing out her mistakes in front of the whole class. Poor Matilda! But Matilda didn’t look upset.

  “Sorry, Miss,” said Matilda, pulling a small sketchbook out from her pocket. “But I was just about to do Pearl’s tail when I saw a robin land on the ribbon box. He was trying to pull out some ribbon and he looked so cute I just had to draw him. Look.” She held out the picture. She had perfectly captured the little robin’s cheeky expression.

  Ms Rosemary seemed to soften slightly. “It’s an excellent drawing but, Matilda, you are here at the academy to learn how to care for your unicorn and not to draw robins. You must try harder or you won’t graduate at the end of the year. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Miss.” Matilda pushed her tangle of red hair off her face and sighed. “It’s just sometimes my fingers feel like they simply have to draw, but I’ll try and stop them.”

  Ms Rosemary smiled and moved on.

  “Shall we do something fun together when the grooming inspection’s over?” Rosa whispered to Crystal.

  “Ooh, yes! How about we go to the play park?” Crystal said, her ears pricking.

  “Or we could go on the Safari Trail,” said Rosa persuasively. “It goes all around the academy grounds. Apparently there are fox cubs, cave spiders and, if we’re very lucky, we might even see a purple badger.”

  “OK, let’s do that,” said Crystal. “We can visit the play park another time.”

  “We could ask the rest of the dorm to come with us too,” said Rosa. She’d been really excited about making friends at the academy, but so far the others in her dorm had been quite reserved and quiet. The boys in Topaz dorm were often seen galloping around the grounds together, and the girls in Ruby dorm were usually in a big giggling group, but Diamond dorm weren’t like that. They were all quite different and most of the time went off on their own.

  Well, not any more, Rosa decided. It’s time we all had some fun together!

  Rosa waited for Ms Rosemary to finish her inspection and dismiss the class. Then she stood on an upturned bucket and clapped her hands together.

  “Listen up, Diamond dorm! Crystal and I think we should all go on the Safari Trail together.”

  The four other girls from Diamond dorm stared at Rosa. She squared her shoulders and smiled boldly back at her dormmates even though her heart was beating in double time. Have confidence! That’s what Rosa’s super-efficient mum was always telling her. “It’ll be fun!” she declared.

  “We’ll come, won’t we, Twinkle?” said Violet, pushing her dark plait over her shoulder.

  “Definitely,” whinnied Twinkle, her unicorn.

  Whisper nudged Ariana eagerly.

  “Whisper and I will come too,” Ariana said.

  “And me and Pearl,” said Matilda. She took off her glasses to polish them and a pencil that had been behind her ear fell to the ground. “So that’s where I put it!” she said, pouncing on it. “Look! I thought I’d lost it!” She beamed as she stood up with it.

  The other girls all giggled, apart from Ariana, who just rolled her eyes. She was very well organised and didn’t have much patience with scatter-brained Matilda.

  Rosa felt very relieved that the others seemed to like her idea. She’d felt quite nervous about standing up in front of them all. “Freya?” she called, her confidence increasing. “What about you and Honey? You’ll come too, won’t you?”

  Freya was staring intently at one of the automated trolleys that trundled around the stables, laden with sky berries for the unicorns to eat.

  “Earth to Freya. Are you even listening to me?”

  Freya jumped as Violet nudged her. “What’s that?” she asked, looking round.

  “Diamond dorm are going to ride the Safari Trail. Do you want to come with us?” Rosa repeated.

  “No, thanks.” Freya took out a tiny notebook from her pocket and began scribbling inside it.

  “But you have to!” Rosa demanded, flushed by her success with the other girls. “We’re all going. You have to come.”

  “Let’s go with them – please, Freya!” begged Honey, Freya’s unicorn.

  “Sorry,” said Freya, barely glancing up. “I’m too busy.”

  Honey looked very disappointed.

  “We’ll come with you. Jester and I love an outing. Where are we going?” Miki, a small boy with a cheeky smile, peered at Rosa through his long black fringe as he stopped on his way past them. His unicorn, a dainty creature with a shaggy dark blue mane and an exceptionally long tail, nodded enthusiastically.

  “Thanks, Miki, but maybe another time? This outing is for Diamond dorm only. We’re all going,” said Rosa, looking pointedly at Freya. She jumped off the bucket. “Come along, everyone!” She led the way outside but, as everyone regrouped in the courtyard, Rosa noticed that Freya and Honey had stayed behind in the stables.

  “Freya!” she shouted in exasperation.

  “She’s not coming,” said Miki, cheerfully tagging along with the group. “How about Jester and I pretend to be Honey and Freya?” He mimed opening a notebook and frantically writing something inside it.

  Everyone laughed, even Rosa, who couldn’t help but feel frustrated with Freya. How would the girls in Diamond dorm ever become best friends like the girls in Ruby dorm if Freya kept refusing to do things with the rest of them?

  “Sorry, Miki, but this is a Diamond dorm outing, and you’re in Topaz. It has to be Freya and Honey. You and Jester can come next time,” she said.

  “OK then,” Miki said. “Come on, Jester. Let’s go and explore the gardens.” He gave a dramatic sigh. “All on ou
r own!”

  Rosa felt bad, but she really wanted this to be a bonding experience for Diamond dorm.

  “Freya …” Rosa began, looking pleadingly to the blonde-haired girl who had now come out.

  “Nope,” Freya said as she walked past, her plaits bouncing on her shoulders. “I told you – I’m busy. Stop being so bossy.”

  Rosa felt her face redden, but she quickly recovered when Violet sent her a friendly smile.

  “Freya really is busy,” Violet confided. “She told me the automated stable trolleys had given her an idea for something she wants to build. Something that moves! You know how much she loves anything to do with engineering.”

  Rosa frowned. She didn’t care if Freya built a hundred moving things. How could going off on your own be as much fun as spending time with your dorm-mates and their unicorns? “We’ll just have to go without her then,” she said, rather crossly. “The Safari Trail starts in the orchard near the river. That’s where the red bills are supposed to be nesting. Get in line, everyone. Stay behind Crystal and me and don’t forget to be quiet!”

  Rosa and Crystal led the way through the apple trees to the stream at the bottom of the orchard. It was one of many brightly coloured streams that criss-crossed Unicorn Island, carrying the magical waters that nourished the land. The multicoloured water came from the centre of the earth, right there in the grounds of Unicorn Academy. It flowed up through a glittery fountain and into Sparkle Lake, before starting on its journey around the island. Rosa almost had to pinch herself as she started towards the orchard. It was hard to believe she was really here, at Unicorn Academy, and training to be a guardian of Unicorn Island.

  “I hope we do see a red bill,” Rosa said to Crystal.

  “We should do if we’re quiet,” Crystal reassured her.

  Rosa loved wildlife and had always wanted to train to be an island guardian. It had been a dream come true when she received the letter inviting her to Unicorn Academy. Most pupils were at the academy for a year before they graduated. Some got to stay for longer if their unicorns needed more time to discover their magic power, or if they hadn’t bonded with their unicorn. Rosa ran her fingers through Crystal’s shimmery silken mane. Bonding was the highest form of friendship possible and Rosa would know that it had happened because a lock of her own straight black hair would turn the same shimmery purple as Crystal’s mane. Rosa couldn’t wait for that to happen!

  “Red bills, two of them, and a chick, over there,” hissed a voice, startling Rosa out of her thoughts.

  In the middle of the stream, two red bills were fussing around a chick as it swam out of the reeds and splashed in the water. Rosa held her breath. The fluffy chick with its enormous crimson beak kept sneaking away from its parents to explore. Then the parents would chase after it, squawking with alarm, and herd it back. The second the red bill’s parents saw the girls approaching they fled, hustling their chick into a reed bed and vanishing out of sight.

  Rosa smiled at the sight and then turned to see who had spoken to her. “Miki!” she exclaimed, seeing the dark-haired boy. “What are you doing here? This is a Diamond dorm ride,” she added accusingly.

  “I told Miki he could come with us after all,” Violet said quickly.

  Rosa frowned. She was in charge of this expedition, not Violet.

  “Sorry, Rosa,” Violet rushed on. “But please let him stay. He knows a ton of stuff about the countryside. His parents keep a herd of reindeer in the north of the island. Miki spends a lot of time watching the wildlife while he’s minding the herd, don’t you, Miki?”

  Miki’s brown eyes twinkled mischievously as he nodded. “You’d have missed the red bills if I hadn’t pointed them out, Rosa.”

  Miki’s smile was so infectious that Rosa couldn’t help smiling back. “OK, you can stay,” she agreed. “But no overtaking. This ride was my idea so I’m in charge!” She beamed happily. She loved being the leader! “Come on, everyone. We’re going to have some fun!”

  The Safari Trail was a huge success. Miki, Violet, Ariana and Matilda chattered all the way back, saying what a brilliant time they’d had. Rosa felt very content as they rode back to the stables. The only thing that bugged her was that Freya hadn’t come too. How would Diamond dorm ever get to know each other and become friends if Freya kept refusing to join in? It wasn’t fair on Honey, Freya’s unicorn, either. She’d clearly wanted to come along.

  Rosa felt very sorry for Honey as they arrived back in the stable block. She was standing dejectedly in her stable, all on her own. She whinnied to them as they clattered inside.

  “Did you have a good time? What did you see? I want to know all about it! Oh, I wish Freya and I had come too!”

  While Rosa brushed the dirt from Crystal’s silky coat, Crystal told Honey all about the Trail ride. Honey hung on Crystal’s every word.

  “You should get Freya to join in more,” Rosa told her.

  “I do try,” said Honey sadly. “But she won’t listen.”

  When Rosa had settled Crystal with a large bucket of sky berries, she went inside. As she entered the academy buildings she noticed that the door to the Great Hall was open. The hall was one of Rosa’s favourite rooms and she couldn’t resist peeking inside. A ray of sunlight lit a path on the floor, drawing her in further. The hall had a domed roof that was made of coloured glass, and the rays of light shining through it made rainbow-coloured swirls on the floor. Rosa’s eyes fell on the centre of the room, where the magical map stood. It was an exact replica of Unicorn Island in miniature, with tiny green valleys, golden beaches and secret forests. Rosa went closer.

  “You’ve heard the news, then?”

  “Freya!” Rosa hadn’t heard the other girl coming up behind her. “What news?”

  “Didn’t you even notice the force field wasn’t working?” Freya said. “Didn’t you wonder why you could walk all the way up to the map?”

  Rosa realised that the humming, glimmering force field that normally protected the map wasn’t there any more. “I didn’t,” she admitted, cross with herself. She hated people being able to find fault with her. “So, what’s the news?”

  “The force field isn’t working because the magical map is broken. I just heard Ms Nettles telling Ms Willow, the new school nurse, about it. Ms Nettles thinks that Ms Primrose may have something to do with it. You’ve heard of Ms Primrose, right? The head teacher who was here last year.”

  “Everyone’s heard of Ms Primrose!” said Rosa. Ms Primrose and an unknown friend had tried to take control of the island by harming Sparkle Lake and Unicorn Academy. “It can’t be her, though. She was caught and she’s been locked up. My dad says that she’s so well guarded that she’ll never be able to harm Unicorn Academy or the island ever again.”

  “Yes, but my mum told me that before Ms Primrose was captured she stole the model of Unicorn Academy from the map.” Freya pointed to a gap next to Sparkle Lake, where a tiny replica of Unicorn Academy should have been. “And, just now, Ms Nettles told Ms Willow she thinks that’s why the map is broken. The map can take you anywhere on the island, but you need the model of the school to get back. The map is clever. It wouldn’t take you on an adventure unless it was certain that it could get you back safely. Watch this.” Freya leaned in and, touching a stretch of beach on the West Coast, she said, “I want to go to the beach.”

  “Freya!” Rosa gasped in alarm. What if the map suddenly whisked Freya away? The teachers would be furious. No one was allowed to use the magical map without Ms Nettles’ permission, not unless it was a dire emergency!

  “See?” said Freya, her hand still touching the sand. “The map really is broken. I wish I could fix it.”

  “If all the staff can’t fix it, what makes you think you could?” said Rosa.

  Freya shrugged. “I’m good at fixing things.”

  “But it’s a magical map,” Rosa pointed out. “It will need magic to fix it.” She heard a ringing. “There goes the dinner bell. We’d better hurry.”


  Freya was still staring intently at the map. Rosa tugged on her sleeve. “Come on, Freya. It makes all of Diamond dorm look bad if one person’s late.”

  Freya shook her off. “When have I ever been late? You really are bossy, you know.”

  Rosa stared after Freya as she stalked off. She didn’t know what it was about her and Freya, but the two of them always seemed to end up irritating each other.

  Dinner was eaten in the dining room. Diamond dorm sat at the table next to the tall windows that overlooked Sparkle Lake. Everyone was talking about the magical map.

  “I can’t believe it’s stopped working,” said Ariana, helping herself to hot garlic bread, oozing with butter, from a basket on the table. “What if we need to get somewhere on the island quickly?”

  Worry niggled in Rosa’s tummy as she chased a strand of spaghetti around her plate. The map was important to the island’s guardians, who needed to be able to react quickly if there was a problem on the island that required their help. What if something serious happened and no one could get there in time to sort it out?

  “If the reason for the map not working is that Ms Primrose stole the model of the school, then Ms Nettles should make her give it back,” said Rosa.

  “Maybe Ms Primrose doesn’t have it any more. Maybe she lost it,” said Matilda.

  “Like you would,” Ariana muttered, with a swish of her braids.

  Matilda grinned, not at all put out. “Yep!”

  “Maybe she hid it,” Violet suggested.

  Rosa’s eyes widened. “She might have done. It might even be somewhere here in the academy. We could try and find it. Think how thrilled Ms Nettles would be if Diamond dorm got the map working again. All the teachers would be so pleased with us. Who wants to help me look?”

  “I’m in,” said Violet, eagerly.

  “Me too,” said Ariana, and Matilda nodded.

  “We could start by searching Ms Primrose’s old study,” said Rosa, her mind whirling. “There might be a clue there. Eat up, everyone, and no asking for seconds. We’ve got important work to do.”