The black and white terrier jumped up on to the counter by the till and sat down, his ears pricked. It was as if he’d understood every word Mrs Fontana had said.
Lauren followed Mrs Fontana to the children’s section at one side of the shop. There was an armchair and cushions on the floor. ‘So how’s Twilight?’ Mrs Fontana said, sitting down.
‘Fine,’ Lauren replied. She lowered her voice. ‘We’re trying to help this pony, Mrs Fontana. He belongs to my friend and he’s scared of jumping.’ She quickly explained about Shadow. ‘He’s so scared that it might take ages to get him jumping properly,’ she said. ‘Do you know if Twilight has any magical powers that could help?’
Mrs Fontana smiled. ‘Twilight has many magical powers, Lauren. But I cannot tell you what they are. A unicorn has to discover his powers for himself.’ She leaned forward and took Lauren’s hands in hers. ‘Don’t worry, Twilight is able to help this pony,’ she said. ‘But it is up to you to help him work out how, Lauren. You became a Unicorn Friend because you have a good heart and the imagination to believe in magic. Use those qualities and together you and Twilight will discover his powers.’
Letting go of Lauren’s hands, she straightened up. Her face looked less serious now. ‘So,’ she said, her eyes crinkling up at the corners in a smile, ‘has Buddy found out Twilight’s secret yet?’
Lauren stared at her. How had Mrs Fontana known about the problems she was having with Buddy?
Mrs Fontana seemed to sense her astonishment. ‘When I was a Unicorn Friend I had a dog who was very curious about my unicorn,’ she explained. ‘He almost found my secret out several times.’
‘You had your own unicorn?’ Lauren gasped. She’d known that Mrs Fontana had seen a unicorn, but the old lady had never told her that she too had once been a Unicorn Friend.
‘I did,’ Mrs Fontana said softly. ‘A long time ago.’
A hundred questions bubbled up inside Lauren. What had Mrs Fontana’s unicorn been like? What had it been called? How had Mrs Fontana discovered that it was a unicorn? And, most of all, what had happened to it? Why didn’t Mrs Fontana have it any more?
But before she could ask any of these questions, Walter barked.
‘A customer must need help,’ Mrs Fontana said, getting to her feet. She smiled at Lauren. ‘Good luck with Shadow, Lauren. I hope you and Twilight can find a way to help, and be careful with Buddy. Try not to let him find out Twilight’s secret.’
With that, Mrs Fontana went to the front of the shop where someone was waiting to pay for their books.
The shop door opened and Mrs Foster walked in. Lauren ran over. ‘Hi, Mum.’
‘Are you ready to go?’ Mrs Foster asked.
Lauren nodded. ‘Bye, Mrs Fontana,’ she said, glancing over to the desk where the old woman was wrapping up the customer’s purchases.
Mrs Fontana looked up. ‘Goodbye, Lauren,’ she said. She smiled. ‘And good luck.’
Six
That evening, Lauren crept out of the house again.
‘Are we going to see Shadow?’ Twilight asked.
‘Yes. Let’s be quick,’ Lauren said, getting on to his back.
As they flew to Goose Creek Farm, she told him what Mrs Fontana had said. ‘You have got powers that can help,’ she told him.
‘But how can I use them if I don’t know what they are?’ Twilight said.
‘I don’t know,’ Lauren admitted. She’d been thinking the same thing ever since she’d left Mrs Fontana’s shop.
Shadow was waiting for them. He whinnied.
‘You were great today, Shadow!’ Twilight said as he landed.
Shadow bowed his head, as if a bit embarrassed by the praise. He snorted.
‘He wants to know if he should have another go at trotting over the poles,’ Twilight told Lauren.
‘What about trying a small jump?’ Lauren suggested hopefully.
Shadow looked worried.
‘Go on, just have a go,’ Twilight said.
Shadow hesitated for a moment and then slowly nodded his head.
Before Shadow could change his mind, Lauren scrambled off Twilight and put up a tiny jump. ‘You can do it, Shadow!’ she said.
Shadow nodded his head and, turning towards the jump, he began to trot.
‘He’s going to do it!’ Lauren gasped to Twilight.
But then Shadow stopped dead.
‘Oh dear,’ Lauren sighed.
She and Twilight trotted over. Shadow was standing a few metres away from the jump. ‘What went wrong?’ Lauren asked him. ‘Why did you stop?’
The dapple-grey pony hung his head and snorted sadly.
‘He was just too scared,’ Twilight told Lauren.
Shadow looked so dejected that Lauren was sure that if ponies could cry, he would have been in tears.
Twilight stepped forward and touched his glowing horn to Shadow’s neck. ‘It’s OK,’ Lauren heard him say softly. ‘You tried your best. Don’t be upset.’
They stood there for a moment, and then Lauren saw the little dapple-grey pony’s ears flicker forward. He raised his head and whickered in a surprised sort of way.
‘What’s he saying?’ Lauren asked Twilight.
‘That he’s feeling a bit better,’ Twilight replied.
Shadow whickered again.
‘Much better,’ Twilight said.
Lauren saw Shadow look at the jump. His eyes suddenly seemed to be full of confidence. He whinnied.
‘In fact, he says he feels so much better that he thinks he might be able to clear the jump,’ Twilight said, looking astonished.
Shadow pricked up his ears and trotted away from them. Turning towards the jump, he started to canter. Lauren and Twilight watched in amazement as he flew over it.
‘He jumped it!’ Lauren exclaimed.
Shadow came cantering back to them, whinnying.
‘He says that when we were talking he suddenly felt really brave,’ Twilight said,
stamping his front hoof in excitement. ‘He says he’s never felt like that before, but it was as if he just knew he could do it.’
Shadow nuzzled Twilight and suddenly Lauren’s eyes widened. ‘Your horn!’ she exclaimed to Twilight. ‘You were touching him with your horn when he started to feel brave. Perhaps that’s one of your magical powers. Maybe by touching him you gave him your courage – a unicorn’s bravery.’
Shadow tossed his head and whinnied.
‘He says he doesn’t care what happened, he’s just glad that he could do it,’ Twilight said.
Shadow nodded his head, and then he turned and cantered over the jump again.
Lauren hugged Twilight in delight. ‘This is brilliant!’ she said. ‘Mel is going to be so pleased.’ Her heart sang. She couldn’t wait to see her friend’s face when she jumped Shadow tomorrow!
*
Lauren was even more pleased by their night’s work when Jade started teasing Mel again the next day at lunchtime.
‘Still planning on going to the meeting on Saturday, are you, Mel?’ Jade asked, coming over to them as they put their trays away. ‘I don’t know why you’re bothering. It’s not like Shadow will jump. Can’t your parents afford to buy you a better pony?’
‘Mel doesn’t want another pony,’ Lauren said, unable to bear their teasing a second longer. ‘Shadow’s fine.’
Jade laughed. ‘Yeah, right,’ she said, walking off laughing.
Lauren looked at her friend. Mel was biting her lip in frustration. ‘I hate her!’
she burst out. ‘I think I’m just going to tell Dad that I don’t want to go on Saturday.’
‘You can’t,’ Lauren said. ‘You’ve got to come, Mel. If you don’t, Jade and Monica will tease you again next week.’ Mel looked even more miserable. ‘Shadow will be good,’ Lauren went on. ‘In fact, when you ride him today I’m sure he’s going to jump.’
Mel looked at her doubtfully. ‘You think so?’
‘I know so,’ Lauren said confidently.
; As soon as Lauren got home after school, she gave Twilight a quick brush over and rode him round to Mel’s. ‘I can’t wait to see her face when Shadow jumps,’ Lauren said to him, as they trotted along the road.
Mel was just putting Shadow’s saddle on when they arrived. When they rode into the paddock, Lauren set up the jump exactly as she had done the night before. Then she got back on Twilight. ‘Try Shadow now!’ she called to Mel.
‘OK,’ Mel said. She turned Shadow towards the jump. His ears pricked up and he quickened his stride.
‘He’s going to jump it!’ Lauren whispered to Twilight in delight.
Shadow got nearer and nearer, his hooves thudding on the grass.
Then, a metre in front of the jump, he suddenly stopped.
Seven
Lauren gasped in disappointment. After last night, she’d been sure that Shadow was going to jump the fence.
Twilight snorted and Lauren knew he was just as surprised as she was that Shadow had stopped.
Mel turned the dapple-grey pony away from the jump. ‘I’ll try him again,’ she called. ‘It almost felt like he was going to jump it then.’ But when she tried again, Shadow wouldn’t go anywhere near the fence.
Mel rode back to Lauren looking bitterly disappointed. ‘I guess I should have known better than to think he would jump it,’ she said. Shadow hung his head sadly. Mel hugged him. ‘Don’t worry, boy. I still love you.’
Despite her words, Shadow looked very upset. He didn’t prick his ears up once, not even when they played catch.
‘I think I’ll take him in,’ Mel said at last. ‘He doesn’t seem very happy.’
Lauren nodded. ‘I’m sorry, Mel,’ she said, as they dismounted.
‘It’s not your fault,’ Mel said with a sigh.
Lauren didn’t hang around for long. She had a feeling that Mel wanted to be on her own and so, after a bit, she got back on to Twilight and rode him home.
‘What went wrong?’ she said to him. ‘Why didn’t Shadow jump?’
Twilight shook his head and snorted.
‘I’ll come down to your paddock tonight,’ Lauren told him. ‘We’ve got to sort this out.’
She was grooming Twilight back at Granger’s Farm when Buddy came running down the path towards them. He skidded to a stop and began to sniff around Twilight’s hooves.
‘Buddy, go away!’ Lauren said.
Buddy sat down and, cocking his head on one side, he whined at Twilight.
Just then, Max came running down the path. ‘There you are, Buddy!’ he said, as the puppy trotted over to meet him. Buddy licked his hand and then turned back to Twilight and woofed.
Max frowned. ‘Why does Buddy act so weird around Twilight, Lauren?’
‘I don’t know,’ Lauren said. ‘Look, I’m trying to groom him. Why don’t you take Buddy for a walk, Max?’
But Max didn’t seem to be listening. Suddenly his eyes widened as he looked at Twilight. ‘Maybe Twilight’s an alien, Lauren!’ he gasped.
‘An alien!’ Lauren stared at him.
‘Yeah, maybe Twilight’s an alien from another planet. He’s in disguise so that he can spy on us and Buddy knows it.’
‘Don’t be dumb, Max. Twilight’s just a pony,’ Lauren said, desperately trying to act as if Max was totally crazy.
‘So why does Buddy act so weird around him, then?’ Max said.
‘Because… because he’s not used to horses,’ Lauren said quickly.
But Max didn’t look convinced. ‘I’m going to tell Mum,’ he said and, turning, he ran back up the path.
Lauren stared after him. She was sure her mum would just laugh at Max’s idea about aliens, but the last thing she wanted was Max going on and on saying that there was something odd about Twilight.
‘You see all the trouble you’re causing?’ she said to Buddy, who was sniffing at Twilight’s tail.
Eight
It was Lauren’s turn to help wash the dishes after supper. Once they were all dried and put away, she pulled on her boots. ‘I’m going to see Twilight, Mum,’ she said.
‘OK,’ Mrs Foster said. She looked round. ‘Has anyone seen Max?’
Lauren and her dad shook their heads.
Mrs Foster smiled. ‘He’s probably in his room drawing aliens.’
‘Or Twilight’s spaceship,’ Mr Foster said with a laugh.
Lauren let herself out of the back door, feeling very relieved that her mum and dad were treating her brother’s suspicions as a joke.
‘Hi, boy,’ she called, as Twilight whinnied to her from the paddock gate. ‘Do you know why Shadow wouldn’t jump today?’ she asked Twilight as soon as she had turned him into a unicorn.
‘No,’ Twilight replied.
‘Let’s go and see him,’ Lauren said. ‘There has to be a reason.’
Twilight flew to Shadow’s field. The little dapple-grey pony was standing quietly, still looking very unhappy.
‘Oh, Shadow,’ Lauren said, sliding off Twilight’s back and going over to him. ‘What went wrong today? Why couldn’t you jump?’
Shadow whinnied.
‘Oh,’ Twilight said. He turned to Lauren. ‘Poor Shadow. He says he really wanted to, but he just didn’t feel brave enough without the touch of my horn.’
Shadow neighed sadly.
Lauren didn’t like to see Shadow looking so upset. ‘I don’t know what to do,’ she told Shadow. ‘You know Twilight can’t be a unicorn when there are other people around.’
Shadow nodded.
He didn’t try jumping again that evening. After all, they knew he could jump at night when Twilight was a unicorn – it was jumping in the day that was the problem.
Lauren sighed unhappily as she and Twilight flew home. She really wished there was something they could do to help.
The next morning at school, Mel looked serious. ‘I’ve decided that I’m not going to try and jump Shadow ever again,’ she told Lauren. ‘It just makes him so miserable and I’d rather get teased than make him unhappy.’
‘What will you do about the meeting on Saturday?’ Lauren asked.
‘I’ll have to say that I don’t want to jump him.’ Mel glanced across the classroom to where Jade and Monica were sitting. ‘And I’ll just have to put up with whatever those two say.’
Lauren squeezed her arm comfortingly. ‘Take no notice of them.’
‘Easier said than done,’ Mel sighed. She forced a smile on her face. ‘Will you still come over with Twilight this afternoon though? We could go for a trail ride.’
Lauren nodded. ‘Sure,’ she said.
When Lauren got to Goose Creek Farm that afternoon, Mel was already mounted on Shadow. ‘We’d better get going,’ Mel said. ‘Mum thinks there might be a storm coming.’
Lauren looked up at the overcast sky. The air certainly had a heavy, stormy feel about it.
They rode up the path towards the woods. Mr Cassidy was fixing a fence near to the hay-barn. ‘Don’t go out too far,’ he called.
‘We’ll stay close to the farm,’ Mel promised. ‘Come on, Lauren! Let’s go.’
They urged Shadow and Twilight into a trot.
‘Let’s go into the woods,’ Mel said. ‘There’s a great trail there with a sandy bit where we can have a canter.’
‘OK,’ Lauren said, shortening Twilight’s reins. His ears flickered back and forth. ‘Come on, boy,’ she said encouragingly.
A few minutes later, they entered the woods. The tops of the tall trees met over their heads like a green ceiling. Lauren smiled to herself. What would Mel say if she knew that Twilight had jumped over those very treetops with Lauren on his back?
‘Here’s the long canter,’ Mel said. The trail stretched out in front of them, straight and inviting. ‘Are you ready?’
Lauren nodded.
Mel leaned forward and gave Shadow his head. The dapple-grey pony bounded into a canter. Twilight hesitated for a moment and then, when Lauren squeezed his side, he followed.
The wind whipped again
st Lauren’s face as she leaned forward and urged Twilight on. His hooves thudded down on the sand and she could feel a broad grin stretch across her face. This was as good as flying!
At last, the trail began to narrow and they slowed Twilight and Shadow to a trot and then to a walk. Both ponies were breathing hard from the canter, so Lauren and Mel let them walk for a while.
Suddenly, they heard a deep, low rumbling noise. The leaves on the branches nearest to them seemed to shiver slightly.
‘Thunder!’ Mel said, looking at Lauren in alarm. ‘We’d better turn around.’
As they began to trot back along the trail, they heard a pitter-pattering of rain on the leafy canopy above them.
Mel nodded and Shadow and Twilight began to canter along the path. Lauren felt worried. Her parents had warned her lots of times about not being out in a thunderstorm.
As they reached the entrance to the woods, Lauren reined Twilight in. A jagged flash of lightning forked down, lighting up the darkened sky.
‘Maybe we should stay here,’ Mel stammered, looking frightened.
‘No, it’s really dangerous to stay near trees,’ Lauren said. ‘The lightning might strike one of them.’ She looked down the path towards the house. ‘If we gallop, we’ll be back in a minute,’ she said, looking at the lights shining invitingly out of the farmhouse’s windows. ‘Come on!’
She leaned forward and Twilight plunged out from the trees.
‘Come on, Twilight,’ Lauren urged, leaning low over his neck like a jockey. Twilight’s hooves pounded as he galloped down the track, passing the hay-barn and heading towards the barn with Shadow’s stall.
Suddenly, Lauren saw Mel’s dad standing in the barn’s entrance.
Reaching Mr Cassidy, Twilight skidded to a halt. Shadow was only a metre behind.
‘Quick!’ Mr Cassidy shouted above the noise of the storm. ‘Get into the barn before the rain gets any heavier!’
Lauren and Mel flung themselves off Twilight and Shadow’s backs and ran with them inside.
‘I’ve never seen a storm blow up so quickly,’ Mr Cassidy said.
Suddenly, there was a clap of thunder and at the same time the sky outside lit up with a bright white flash of lightning. There was a loud bang nearby.
Mr Cassidy ran to the entrance and looked out. ‘A tree by the hay-barn’s been hit. It’s on fire!’ he exclaimed. ‘I’m going to have to call the fire department. You stay here while I go to the house. I don’t want you outside in this.’
Dreams Come True Page 3
