by Kate Gordon
Chapter Three
Brrrrp-a-do! Brrrrp-a-do!
Lily woke with a start, eyes open in the dark. The alarm of her mobile phone chirped again. She fumbled to stop it playing a third time and hoped the volume was quiet enough that no one else in the house were woken.
Her tummy was tight with excitement and a strange fear that meeting the unicorns and pegasus last night was all, somehow, in her imagination. Lily rushed to dress super quietly then eased her door open to listen.
Silence, except... A low droning sound from the bedroom next door had her wondering for a precious minute.
Oh, it’s Kuia snoring.
Lily padded to the back door, grabbed a torch, and slipped on her boots and a jacket. With a quick plea that Sky, with his supersonic doggie hearing, was still sound asleep by her parents’ bed, she was out into the pitch dark and away down to the barn as fast and as quietly as she could.
Before she’d turned out her light last night, Lily had decided she couldn’t not tell her best friends. She’d sent them a text, asking them to meet her at her barn with their ponies at five o’clock the next morning.
That was now. But what if Sasha and Chloe didn’t come? What if they couldn’t get out of their houses without being heard? And even if they did come, she didn’t know how to tell her friends about the unicorns. Would they even believe her until they’d seen the unicorns themselves? She could still hardly believe it herself that real-life unicorns had asked her for help.
“What the heck, Lily!” Sasha Graham’s voice hissed from the dark as Lily rushed into the barn.
“Shoot! Don’t scare me like that.” Lily eased the door closed and turned on the torch. “Why are you in here?
“Duh, it’s cold outside.” Sasha’s face glowed eerily in the torchlight, her eyes intent on Lily. “Are you for real? Asking us to come and meet you before dawn?”
Lily jumped as the door creaked open. Her other best friend Chloe Cho appeared. “What on earth’s going on? I’ve got to be back home for breakfast and a piano lesson in two hours.”
“Well?” Sasha demanded.
Lily took a breath. “Last night...” How best to tell them? “I came across something very special, and I want to show you.”
“In the middle of the night?” Sasha’s voice went up in disbelief.
“It’s very early morning, so don’t be picky, Sash. But it’s really important and really secret.”
“It better be important, Lil,” said Chloe in her gentle voice. “Because my mum’s already threatened to sell Angel if she thinks I’m not studying hard enough. I can’t afford to get into any trouble.”
Lily’s heart sank. How could Chloe’s mother say Angel might be sold? The palomino mare was the loveliest pony and just perfect for Chloe.
What if she was getting her friends into trouble by involving them with the unicorns? She didn’t know what was going to happen. What if the witch followed the herd to New Zealand?
But Sasha and Chloe were her best friends. How can I keep the unicorns a secret? They’re just so beautiful, so magical. Every pony-mad girl’s dream, right?
She took a breath. “It’s not trouble, I promise.” She crossed her fingers and silently willed it to be true. “Come with me for a quick ride into the pine forest. I’ve got to be back to pick herbs with Kuia, so we’ll be as quick as we can, but you really need to see for yourself.”
Lily grabbed Rainbow’s tack, and Sasha eased the barn door open. She always wanted to be first. “Come on then. Turn off that torch. The sooner our eyes adjust to the dark, the better.”
The girls’ ponies were tethered by the barn, and both Rainbow and Gracie were leaning over the gate to see what was going on. Lily slipped the reins of Rainbow’s bridle over his neck and asked him to move away from the gate. Gracie followed, letting the others come through into the horse paddock. Chloe held Angel and Sasha’s pony Tommy while Sasha helped Lily fumble around in the dark to tack up Rainbow.
“Sorry I haven’t groomed you, Rainbow,” Lily whispered as she pulled the girth tight. “I’ll do it really well after school.” She swung up in the saddle and looked around. Gee, it was dark. The moon was nearly down, and there was no sign of dawn on the horizon. She hoped it might have been getting a little bit lighter by now. But she had the torch.
“Where are we going?” Sasha hissed once she mounted her chestnut gelding. “You know, we really can’t be late back for Chloe.”
“Like I said, through the pine forest.” Lily led the way across the big horse paddock, Gracie tagging along behind. “I’m sure we can get where I want to go and back in time.”
“Oh, Lil, it’s going to be so dark in there,” Chloe said quietly over the padding of the ponies’ hooves across the short grass. “Will the ponies be okay?
“They can see better than we can,” Sasha replied.
“We can use the torch once we’re among the trees.” Lily patted her jacket pocket. Yep, the torch was still there.
Lily looked intently at the forbidding mass of trees beyond the far fence-line of the big horse paddock. Oh fudge, it was really dark!
“So it’s not a new horse, then.” Sasha’s voice sounded less antsy now she was riding her beloved Tommy. “Not that that would be much of a secret or involve riding through the forest in the pitch dark when we normally have to ask permission to ride there in regular daylight.” She didn’t sound cross, more excited. Sasha loved adventures.
Lily’s heart sank as she looked at Sasha, just able to make out her friend’s smiling face under her riding helmet. “Oh, you’re right, Sash. I was so set on introducing you to...this special thing, that I forgot about that.”
Chloe nudged Angel closer to Rainbow. “We’re meeting someone? Who?”
“Someone really special.” She reached out to grab her friend’s hand and squeezed. “It will be worth it, and you’ll get home in time, promise. We can leave Angel with our guys if you haven’t got time to take her back to the Pony Club paddocks.”
They reached the gate into the forest, and Lily dismounted to deal with its fiddly latch.
“Are you sure about this, Lil?” Chloe looked down at Lily as her golden pony stepped lightly through the gate.
A tremor of excitement and nerves made Lily’s hands shake as she shut the gate. Sasha was right, they weren’t meant to ride in the forest without permission, but she couldn’t wait to see the unicorns again. I hope I’m doing the right thing. Surely Ambrosius won’t mind me bringing my friends. They simply had to know about the unicorns as well. It was too special not to share. Decision confirmed.
She mounted Rainbow and fished the torch out of her pocket. “Yes, I’m sure.” The torchlight showed a gravel road through the tall pine trees snaking away and up a long slope.
“Come on then.” They walked the ponies three abreast, Lily in the middle. “The track’s pretty good. Let’s trot.”
Lily felt alert to every possible sight and sound as the scent of pine trees wove round them. Her vision was narrowed to the bright beam of the torch showing the stony, car-width track, and the dark green pines on either side. The ponies trotted eagerly alongside each other, the odd snort and jingle of a bit the only other sound over the trotting hooves.
“Possum!” Sasha pointed up into the trees where the torchlight reflected off a pair of blinking eyes.
“Yuck,” said Chloe with feeling.
They reached the top of a long slope and a T-junction. “Left,” said Lily without hesitation.
“Are we going onto Sanderson Road?” Sasha asked.
“That’s right.”
Then it was back to just the sound of trotting hooves and the intense contrast between the torchlight and the darkness around them.
Lily was thankful her friends weren’t asking more questions. She wanted to check her watch for the time, but obviously couldn’t shine the torch away from the track. Hopefully they were doing okay. It wasn’t far to the dead-end of Sanderson Road now. But how long will it take u
s to find the unicorns on the farm?
They trotted steadily down the other side of the long slope of pines. Lily thought they weren’t far from the gate onto the road.
Sasha must have been thinking the same thing. “What if the gate’s padlocked?”
“We’ll just have to jump it, won’t we?” Lily wasn’t stopping now. “You know we’ve jumped the fence beside the gate before.”
“In daylight.”
“Think of it as a new challenge.” Lily tried to put a smile in her voice but wondered if maybe she was leading them on a crazy adventure.
Reaching the gate, Sasha nudged Tommy up to it as Lily shone the torch. “It’s not padlocked!”
“Whew!”
Ponies all safely through, they trotted briskly up the middle of the empty gravel road. The torch beam reached across the wide grass verge to show continuous wire and batten fences, and then a gateway on the left.
Relieved they’d got this far without any delays, Lily said, “We’re turning in here.”
“Here?” Sasha asked as she followed Lily up the weed-lined, dirt driveway. “Isn’t this where Kahurangi was found? With that bad guy?”
“Yes, but he’s gone now. The farm is empty. The someone I want you to meet is on the farm somewhere. Hopefully they’ll be pretty obvious, and we can find them quickly.”
“You don’t actually know where they are?” Chloe sounded anxious as she bought Angel up beside Rainbow.
“Not exactly, but I’m sure they won’t be too hard to find.” She crossed her fingers around Rainbow’s reins.
The three ponies crested the first rise of the long drive and slowed to a walk. Lily shone the torch from side to side.
To the right, a falling-down farmhouse and rusty dog kennels. Lily shivered. She was glad the mean man was gone, but the feeling of sadness and pain lingered. It didn’t feel like a nice place to have suggested to the unicorns, but at least no one would find them here for now.
In front of them, the rough driveway continued into the blackness. Swinging left, the torch beam found an open gate in a sagging fence-line. Her eyes followed the light across the paddock, and then silvery horse-like shapes appeared.
“They are here,” Lily whispered, relieved to have found the unicorns so quickly. But should they have hidden themselves better from anyone coming onto the farm?
Outside the beam of the torch, faint circles of light glowed around each unicorn. How and why did they do that?
“Wow,” Sasha stage-whispered. “Did you bring us to see these horses... Oh, they’re not horses...”
“No, they’re not horses, Sash. They’re unicorns!” Lily whispered back, still feeling weird that she was even saying such a thing. Unicorns were for legends and fairy tales, not real life. She felt Chloe’s hand reach for hers and clasped it. “It’s okay, Chlo. I met them, well, one, the main one, last night.”
Sasha stood up in her stirrups to look around more. “Holy moly, Lil, how did you not burst wanting to tell us?”
“Of course I wanted to, but it seemed easier to just show you. Would you have believed me?”
“Not a chance,” Sasha replied. “Turn the torch off. There’s enough moonlight.”
With the harsh beam of the torch gone, the golden nimbus of light around each unicorn created magical circles dotted around the field.
“Amazing.” Sasha’s voice was hushed with wonder.
Lily glanced at Chloe and smiled. The moonlight showed her gentle, quiet friend was clearly entranced by the sight before them.
As the night before, the big warrior unicorn charged. This time Lily felt fairly sure he’d stop in time, but she moved Rainbow to stand in front of Chloe and Angel in case Sigvard frightened them.
“It's you again, is it?” said the unicorn. “I wonder the wisdom of allowing Ambrosius to get close to another human, but our leader seems set on fostering the connection he says he has with you. And now you bring others with you.” Sigvard snorted with disgust.
“I said I would come, and you know I only want to help.” Lily realised as she spoke that she truly did want help. She had a lot of other things going on, but somehow, overnight, the unicorns had become very important to her. Especially Ambrosius. “I’m sure the others want to help just as much as I do.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sasha nodding, even though Sasha didn’t yet know anything about the unicorns or the evil sorceress Ambrosius mentioned last night.
“Could you take us to Ambrosius, please?"
“He will insist upon it.” Sigvard’s words left no doubt that he disagreed with his king, but then Lily noticed he kept looking at Sasha. Why? “Our sire is with Brökk,” he continued. “Follow me.”
In the light glowing from the king’s lieutenant, they trotted across the rolling pasture. Unicorns grazed or rested alone, in pairs of mares and foals, and in small groups. Like her friends, Lily couldn't stop looking around, drinking up the sights and sounds of the herd.
"The foals are so sweet!" whispered Chloe. "Some are really tiny. How on earth did they get here? How did any of them get here?"
“I saw them arrive, but honestly have no idea how the process worked,” replied Lily. “I’m sure Ambrosius will explain more this morning.”
Chloe looked at Lily. “Okay but remember we can’t stay too long.”
“Yep, keeping that in mind.”
Sigvard trotted beside Sasha and Tommy. Again, Lily saw him glancing at her friend. For a unicorn who wasn’t keen on people, she thought he seemed very interested in Sasha.
They reached Ambrosius and Brökk, the unicorn king standing guard over the herd’s magical leader resting on the ground. Lily sensed a great sadness around the pair and walked her pony to stand beside Ambrosius, wondering how she could help them.
“Ah, Lily, you found us.” There was that smile in his voice again. It bought a kind of warmth to her heart, inexplicable but true.
She reached out to run her hand along the strong crest of his neck. His silvery mane was long and tangled. It could do with a good brush. She smiled at the idea of grooming the huge unicorn stallion. A deep tingle ran down her arm into her chest and Lily closed her eyes, the feeling of happiness real as the connection ran through her.
It’s okay. He’s here. I didn’t imagine him. I didn’t imagine this.
“It’s good to see you, Lily.” Ambrosius’ rich voice rumbled around and through her as Lily’s eyes flicked open and locked onto his.
The sense of connection she’d felt last night was, if anything, stronger now.
She swallowed and said the words she had been worried about saying ever since she’d woken that morning. "I hope you don't mind that I brought my friends with me, Ambrosius. To meet you is the most amazing experience of my life, and to share it with my best friends, well, I couldn't think of anything better."
His eyes locked on hers. “I trust you, Lily. If you trust your friends to keep our secret, then I say we shall be glad of any assistance they can provide in this land which is so foreign to us. I must say the grazing is very good, and our mares are pleasantly surprised at how quickly they feel rested and well-fed.”
Tears of relief welled, and Lily swallowed hard before she could reply. “Oh, thank goodness you’re not upset with me.” She wiped her eyes. “I’d better introduce my friends then. This is Sasha on her chestnut Tommy, and this is Chloe on her palomino Angel.”
“Pleased to meet you, Sasha and Chloe.” Ambrosius bowed his head. “In turn, let me introduce Brökk.”
Bathed in the light emanating from his colleagues, the stricken unicorn raised his head and greeted them in a croaky voice.
Lily slipped from Rainbow’s saddle, handing his reins to Chloe. “Brökk, I’ve been so worried about you. May I see your injuries?” She stepped closer to the darkest unicorn of them all. “My grandmother is a great natural healer, and she might be able to make a remedy to help you.”
Brökk nodded and Ambrosius moved so his light helped Lily see
better.
She ignored Sigvard’s restless movements behind Ambrosius but figured what it was about. “I’m not going to tell my grandmother about you, of course, Sigvard. I simply will say something about a friend’s pony being injured.”
She knelt beside Brökk. His breathing was laboured as his big dark eyes assessed her. She sensed a powerful force within him, but also great pain and tiredness. “How are you injured, Brökk? I can see burns on your leg.” From his knee down, Brökk’s foreleg was blistered with very little normal-looking skin or hair.
“Ja.” His voice was raspy. “I have many burns.” A deep cough sounded painful. “Damage inside too, I think.”
Lily looked up at Ambrosius. “I think it’s going to take more than rest for him to heal. Unless there’s some magic I don’t know about.”
Ambrosius nodded. “We have our empath Mikaela spending most of her time with Brökk. She can generate feelings of strength and healing which help, but she needs to rest too. Your idea of your grandmother’s remedy is also good. We must do all we can to assist Brökk. If Abellona follows us when Brökk is not at full strength, we are in grave danger. When do you think you can get back to us with something to help Brökk?”
Lily saw Sasha and Chloe glancing at each other and back to Ambrosius. They looked confused. She felt like she’d made them jump into the middle of a story without reading the first chapters.
Chapter Four
Ambrosius was waiting for Lily’s answer. “Hopefully tonight,” she said. “Kuia asked me to help this afternoon with some herbs that I want to try for Rainbow, so I’ll ask her about this too. I’ll just have to get out once everyone’s gone to bed.”
“I’ll come with you, Lil,” Sasha said straightaway. “You shouldn’t be riding through the forest alone at night.”
“I can accompany you if that helps.” Sigvard looked at Sasha as he spoke. “If you explain what path you reach to get here, I will be there to light your way.”
Sasha smiled at the big warrior unicorn. “Much easier than Lily trying to carry that big torch like she did this morning.”
