My Secret Unicorn

by Linda Chapman

  Mrs Fontana always knew best, she decided. I won’t keep asking what the matter is. He’ll tell me if he wants to.

  She turned back to her tack cleaning. For a while neither of them spoke then Michael said, ‘Are we still going to go flying tonight then?’

  ‘You bet!’ Lauren answered. ‘I’ll meet you in Twilight’s field again at midnight.’ A thought struck her. ‘Oh, but do you know about snow and unicorn magic?’ She didn’t want to say any more in case she was giving away a secret power, but to her relief Michael nodded.

  ‘The purple sparks? I found out about flying through snow last winter.’

  Lauren grinned. ‘It’s so cool, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Michael said. ‘We’ll have a great time tonight. We can play tag in the snow and have some serious fun!’

  After Michael had gone home with his mum, Lauren thought about what he had said as she carried her tack back to the tack room. It was lovely having fun with their unicorns, but she knew it was important not to just use a unicorn’s magic for fun – if you did that, they got ill. They had to keep doing good deeds to keep their magic strong.

  I wonder if Michael knows that, she wondered.

  As she thought about it, she realized that there was an easy solution. As Jodie and Michael had been getting into the car to go home, Lauren had heard Jodie telling Mrs Foster about her problems finding mistletoe to take back to the city.

  All Michael has to do is get some mistletoe tonight, Lauren thought. Twilight and I will go and see that Rosie is all right earlier in the evening and then, when we meet up with Michael, we can get the mistletoe so we’ve both done good deeds. Then we’ll be able to have fun for the rest of the night. Problem solved.

  Feeling pleased with herself, she smiled and hurried into the tack room.

  As soon as her mum and dad went to bed that night, Lauren crept out of the house. ‘Let’s check on Rosie,’ she told Twilight, as she let him out of the stable. They flew to the bottom of the field where there were some rose quartz rocks.

  ‘Rosie!’ Twilight said, touching his horn to one of the rocks. As the purple smoke cleared, Lauren and Twilight saw Rosie in the rock. She was in her bedroom. The moon was shining in through the window. As they watched, Rosie sat up and turned her bedside light on.

  Lauren saw there was another girl asleep on a camp bed next to Rosie’s bed. Rosie went over and gently shook her awake. Lauren leaned closer to the rock so she could hear what Rosie was saying.

  ‘It’s time, Ellie!’

  The other girl sat up and pushed a hand through her red hair. It was the same girl they had seen the night before when Sparkle had touched his horn to the rock.

  ‘Time for what? What are we going to do, Rosie? Why won’t you tell me?’

  ‘I have told you. I’m going to show you that your mum is OK.’

  ‘But how can you possibly do that?’

  Rosie looked at her friend. ‘Trust me. We need to get dressed and go to Sparkle’s field. He’s going to help show you your mum’s OK.’

  Lauren caught her breath. ‘No!’ She sat back and looked at Twilight in alarm. ‘It sounds like Rosie’s going to let Ellie see Sparkle as a unicorn!’

  ‘But she can’t!’ Twilight exclaimed. ‘No one must ever be allowed to see a unicorn unless they’re a Unicorn Friend themselves!’

  Lauren grabbed a handful of Twilight’s mane and swung herself on to his back. ‘Quick! We have to stop her!’

  CHAPTER

  Eight

  As Twilight rose into the air, Lauren suddenly remembered something. ‘Wait!’ she gasped.

  Twilight slowed down. ‘What is it?’ he demanded.

  ‘Do you remember when we first started doing magic and Jessica ran away because she was really upset that her dad was about to marry again? She thought her stepsister, Samantha, hated her but we used the rose quartz to show her how worried Sam was that she’d run away.’

  ‘I remember,’ Twilight said. ‘Jessica isn’t a Unicorn Friend but we were still allowed to show her the magic and let her see me. Mrs Fontana told us how to make a magic potion that would mean she forgot everything afterwards.’

  ‘Yes!’ Lauren exclaimed. ‘Well, can’t we use the potion again? Ellie would have to agree to take it, but if she does then Rosie could let her see Sparkle and look in the rose quartz.’

  ‘That’s a great idea! Where’s the recipe for the potion?’ Twilight asked.

  ‘I don’t know,’ admitted Lauren. ‘I had it on a piece of paper but I haven’t seen it for ages. It had two moonflowers in it but I can’t remember what else.’

  Twilight thought for a moment. ‘Maybe Mrs Fontana wrote it down in her journal!’

  ‘Fly back down, Twilight,’ Lauren said. ‘The chest is in the tack room. Let’s check in the journal and see!’

  Twilight dived to the ground. Lauren raced to the tack room, where she had left the chest. Fingers trembling she threw open the lid and pulled the journal out. She flicked quickly through the pages. It would be about two and a half years ago that Mrs Fontana had told her about the Unseeing Potion. Her eyes skimmed across the pages, looking for entries marked L and T.

  Got it! she thought as she found the right section.

  L and T are trying to help J. She needs to look in the rose quartz. I have given them the recipe for the Unseeing Potion. By drinking it J will forget all about having seen T and his magic but the memory of happiness will remain inside her even after the actual memories have gone.

  The Unseeing Potion

  Take two moonflowers and a hair from a unicorn’s mane and put them in water in the light of the moon. After ten seconds the flowers and the hair will have dissolved in the water and the potion will be ready to drink. Within thirty seconds the person who has drunk it will have forgotten they have ever seen a unicorn.

  Lauren jumped to her feet. This was just what they needed! There was an empty jam jar with a lid on the side. Grabbing it, she filled it with water at the sink. Now they just needed to stop at the clearing and pick two moonflowers. She put the lid on and raced outside. ‘I know what to do, Twilight! Come on!’

  They swooped over the woods and down towards the copse of trees where they had met Rosie and Sparkle before. There was no one there but as Twilight landed, they heard the sound of two voices through the trees.

  ‘Rosie! What are we doing?’

  Lauren recognized Ellie’s voice from the rose quartz.

  ‘We have to be somewhere quiet and secret before I can show you your mum’s OK,’ she heard Rosie reply. ‘I shouldn’t really but I know you won’t tell anyone.’

  Lauren felt a rush of relief. She and Twilight had got there in time!

  She scrambled off Twilight’s back.

  ‘You’d better hide in the trees, Twilight,’ she hissed. ‘Ellie mustn’t see you until she’s agreed to take the potion.’

  Twilight trotted into the trees just as Rosie led Sparkle into the clearing, Ellie beside her.

  ‘Lauren!’ Rosie gasped. ‘What are you doing here?’

  Ellie looked astonished. ‘Who are you?’ she asked, looking at Lauren.

  ‘My name’s Lauren,’ Lauren told her quickly. She turned to the blonde girl. ‘Rosie, I need to talk to you. Ellie, could you hold Sparkle, please?’

  ‘But-but how do you know my name?’ stammered Ellie.

  ‘I just do,’ said Lauren, her heart pounding. ‘Rosie! I really do need to talk to you!’

  Rosie gave Sparkle’s leadrope to Ellie and followed Lauren to the far side of the clearing. ‘What are you doing here?’ she hissed. ‘I was about to help Ellie. I know normal people aren’t supposed to see unicorns, but I’ve just got to help her! I’ve checked in the rock and her mum’s fine – it’s just that the radio links are down in the place where she’s camping. I’ve tried telling Ellie that everything is OK, but she won’t believe me. I have to let her look in the rose quartz. There’s no other way to show her that her mum’s all right.’

 
‘OK, but you have to use this.’ Lauren handed her the jar of water and took the two moonflowers out of her pocket. ‘You can’t just let her see a unicorn. You can use this water and these flowers to make a potion that will make Ellie forget what she’s seen afterwards. Listen!’ She quickly told Rosie how to make the Unseeing Potion. As she finished, she saw Ellie frowning in their direction. ‘You’d better go back to her. You must make her promise that she will drink the potion before you turn Sparkle into a unicorn.’

  ‘I will. That’s brilliant. Thanks, Lauren!’ Rosie was about to run back to her friend when she stopped. ‘Hang on. This won’t work. If the potion makes Ellie forget about having seen a unicorn then won’t she also forget about her mum being OK?’

  ‘Not completely,’ Lauren said, remembering the words in Mrs Fontana’s journal and also remembering what had happened with Jessica. ‘She’ll feel much happier though she won’t quite know why. The memory won’t be there but the happiness will be. Go on!’ she urged, seeing Ellie starting to lead Sparkle towards them. ‘Twilight and I will wait through the trees. Good luck!’ Before Ellie reached them she quickly slipped away.

  Twilight whinnied softly. Lauren reached him and put an arm round his neck. ‘I hope this works!’

  She and Twilight watched as Rosie spoke to Ellie. Ellie frowned then nodded, and Rosie turned Sparkle into a unicorn. Ellie looked absolutely amazed. Trotting over to some rose quartz, Sparkle touched his horn to it. As the smoke cleared Rosie pulled Ellie over and pointed into the stone.

  ‘It must be a picture of Ellie’s mum,’ Lauren whispered to Twilight as a look of delight spread across Ellie’s face.

  Ellie watched until Sparkle said something to her. She nodded and he touched his horn to the rock again. Ellie hugged him and Rosie. She looked like a great weight had fallen off her shoulders – her eyes were sparkling.

  Rosie said something to her. Ellie nodded. Rosie opened the jar of water and put the moonflowers and a hair from Sparkle’s mane inside. Then she stood it in the moonlight. The water changed from clear to purple.

  ‘It’s ready to drink,’ Lauren said to Twilight as Ellie picked it up. Rosie turned Sparkle back into a pony and she and Ellie began to lead him back towards the house. Just as they entered the trees on the other side of the copse, Rosie handed the leadrope to Ellie and hurried back towards Lauren and Twilight.

  ‘Lauren?’ she said, entering the shadows of the trees. ‘Twilight?’

  ‘We’re here!’ Lauren called softly.

  Rosie ran over to them. ‘Thank you!’ she exclaimed. ‘Ellie’s so much happier now! She saw her mum in the rock and she knows she’s OK. She’s going to drink the potion when we get back to my room. I thought it might be best that way otherwise I’ll have to explain to her what we’re doing outside.’

  ‘Good thinking,’ said Lauren.

  ‘Thank you for telling me what to do!’ Rosie frowned. ‘I don’t understand, though. I thought you weren’t supposed to tell me things – I thought I had to work them out for myself.’

  Lauren suddenly realized that she was right. Had she helped the other girl too much?

  But then Mrs Fontana told me about the Unseeing Potion, she thought. So why shouldn’t I have told Rosie?

  ‘I think it’s all right,’ she said. ‘I guess I’m not allowed to tell you exactly what Sparkle’s powers are, but I can help you work out how to use them.’ She let out a breath. ‘Oh dear, it’s all so difficult,’ she admitted to Rosie. ‘You’re the first person I’ve helped since I became Keeper of Secrets. I feel so confused half the time.’ It was a relief to get the words out.

  ‘Well, I think you’re a good Keeper of Secrets,’ said Rosie, hugging her. ‘I thought the way you used a mint to help me and Sparkle find out about touching the rose quartz with his horn was really, really clever. You didn’t tell me what I had to do but you helped me find out for myself.’

  ‘I didn’t know you had seen that,’ said Lauren. ‘Mrs Fontana wouldn’t have done it like that.’

  ‘But you’re not Mrs Fontana, you’re you,’ Rosie said to her. ‘Surely it doesn’t matter how you do things, as long as you help people. Right?’

  Lauren felt a bit better. ‘I guess so.’

  ‘You really helped me, Lauren. Thank you,’ said Rosie. She smiled at her. ‘Will you still visit me even when I’m not having problems? It would be great to go flying together.’

  Lauren thought about how much fun she’d had with Michael the night before and grinned at her. ‘Yeah! That would be cool!’

  ‘Well, I’d better go now,’ Rosie said quickly. ‘I need to put Sparkle away and then Ellie has to drink the potion. See you soon!’

  ‘Yeah. Bye!’ Lauren called as Rosie turned and ran through the trees.

  She hugged Twilight. ‘We helped. We really helped!’

  He nodded. ‘It’s a brilliant feeling, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes,’ Lauren said happily. ‘I think Rosie’s right. I can’t be Mrs Fontana – I have to help people in my own way.’

  ‘That must have been what Sidra meant when she told you to follow your heart,’ Twilight said.

  Lauren kissed him. ‘Well, from now on, that’s what I’m going to do. Come on! Let’s go and find Michael!’

  CHAPTER

  Nine

  They reached Twilight’s field just as Michael arrived on Moonshine. ‘Hi!’ Lauren called, flying to meet him. She saw that he was looking worried. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘Jodie’s really upset,’ Michael replied. ‘We tried to drive over to her friends’ house to get the sleigh this afternoon but more snow fell and the roads were blocked. We’re going to have to go back home without the sleigh and the mistletoe now.’

  ‘Well, she doesn’t have to go back without mistletoe,’ Lauren said. ‘We can easily go and get her some.’

  ‘But I don’t want to get mistletoe, I want to play tag!’ Michael said quickly.

  Lauren was very surprised. It wasn’t like Michael to be so selfish.

  She hesitated. ‘You can’t just have fun with a unicorn, Michael,’ she told him slowly. ‘If you do they get sick. You have to keep doing good deeds to keep their magic strong.’

  Michael looked alarmed. ‘I didn’t know that. So if I don’t do good deeds Moonshine will get ill?’

  ‘Yes,’ Lauren told him.

  ‘But if I do good deeds, then –’ He broke off and quickly turned away. He brushed his hand across his eyes.

  Lauren suddenly felt as if a light bulb had gone on in her head. Suddenly she realized what was worrying him. ‘Oh, Michael, you think Moonshine’s going to go back to Arcadia if you do good deeds, don’t you?’ Everything clicked into place. She remembered him reading the page of the unicorn book, which showed a Unicorn Elder taking a chosen unicorn back to Arcadia. Ever since, he’d been in a strange mood.

  Michael looked at her. ‘She will, won’t she?’

  ‘No. At least not yet!’ Lauren felt awful. How could she not have realized that this was what was bothering him? She remembered how upset she’d been when she had first heard about unicorns going back to Arcadia. ‘It doesn’t happen when they do a certain number of good deeds or anything like that.’ She remembered what Mrs Fontana had said to her at the time. For a moment she wondered whether to say the same thing – after all, hadn’t she just decided to be more like herself and help in her own way? But the words were so right. She could still hear Mrs Fontana saying them to her. ‘Moonshine will stay with you as long as you need her – and as long as you can do good together,’ she told Michael.

  ‘But I’ll always need her,’ Michael said.

  Lauren smiled. It was exactly what she had said when Mrs Fontana had spoken the same words to her. Twilight put his head on her shoulder.

  ‘So it’s OK?’ said Michael, looking very relieved. ‘We can do good deeds? It won’t mean Moonshine has to go back?’

  ‘No,’ said Lauren.

  ‘I’ve been so worried about it,’ Michael said. />
  ‘You should have said,’ Lauren told him. Or I should have asked, she added to herself, realizing she could so easily have put his mind at rest.

  A grin broke out on Michael’s face. ‘I feel loads better now! What are we waiting for? Let’s get the mistletoe for Jodie!’

  ‘OK. I’ll get some scissors in the tack room,’ said Lauren. ‘We’ll need them to cut the mistletoe off the trees.’

  Twilight dived down. Lauren jumped off his back, hurried to the tack room and came back with the scissors. ‘What are we going to collect the mistletoe in?’ she asked, getting back on Twilight.

  ‘Pity we haven’t got the sleigh!’ Michael said. ‘We could have put it in that. That really would be a surprise for Jodie in the morning!’

  Lauren nodded. ‘I wish we could get it for her.’

  ‘Couldn’t we go and fetch it?’ Twilight said.

  ‘I suppose we could,’ said Lauren. ‘But we’d never be able to explain to Jodie’s friends about you.’

  ‘That wouldn’t matter,’ said Michael. ‘They’re not there. They’ve gone away for Christmas. The sleigh’s in a shed. We were supposed to pick up the key from under a plant pot near the door.’

  ‘So we could get it?’ Lauren said.

  ‘Well, we could fly there and get it out of the shed,’ said Michael. ‘But I’m not sure how we’d get it back. It’s a horse-drawn sleigh, but even if we could attach the sleigh to Moonshine or Twilight, they wouldn’t be able to fly with it.’

  Moonshine whinnied softly. ‘Maybe we could.’

  Michael looked at her. ‘But how?’

  ‘Magic,’ said Moonshine.

  For a moment they all looked at each other.

  ‘We could have a go,’ said Twilight.

  Lauren nodded. ‘I think we should.’ She looked at Michael. ‘I don’t know exactly how we’ll do it but sometimes you just have to believe in magic and try anyway.’